I ran a 3 test series on the new blackbird and came up with an average performance of 16,440. Which is a small gain over the air cooled 8800's in the pre-production system.
/Casey Annis
Monday, November 26, 2007
Friday, November 23, 2007
New HP Blackbird 002 Dedication Edition Has Arrived
I wanted to post an update!
The replacement unit for the pre-production model of the Blackbird has made it to my front door. This system is very sleek and has some refinements that the other unit was lacking. The paint job is more polished, and the LED accent lighting is much nicer and much much brighter than on the pre-prod model.
This new unit is lacking the Aegia PhysX card, and the Blu-Ray Re-Writer/HD-DVD Drive, but I was being very optimistic when I was hoping for these additions in the replacement unit. The Blu-Ray drive is a $393.00 upgrade from the base price and the almost $200.00 for the Aegia PhysX card. I didn't expect HP to toss them in the deal..
After I get a chance to get the drives configured again, I will run the new 3DMark 06 tests to see if the scores have changed any.
Regards,
/Casey
The replacement unit for the pre-production model of the Blackbird has made it to my front door. This system is very sleek and has some refinements that the other unit was lacking. The paint job is more polished, and the LED accent lighting is much nicer and much much brighter than on the pre-prod model.
This new unit is lacking the Aegia PhysX card, and the Blu-Ray Re-Writer/HD-DVD Drive, but I was being very optimistic when I was hoping for these additions in the replacement unit. The Blu-Ray drive is a $393.00 upgrade from the base price and the almost $200.00 for the Aegia PhysX card. I didn't expect HP to toss them in the deal..
After I get a chance to get the drives configured again, I will run the new 3DMark 06 tests to see if the scores have changed any.
Regards,
/Casey
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
I'm Baaaaack!
Ok I am now back from Nassau, Bahamas; however I haven't had any more news on the Blackbird shipment. I am going to write HP after the Holiday and figure out what is up.
/Cannis
/Cannis
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Greetings From The Bahamas
Hey There Readers!
Greetings from North Eleutreha Bahamas!... I've been here since Saturday afternoon working on some video surveillance equipment. I wanted to drop a line and let you know that I will be posting more regularly once I get back to the States. As is my access to the intarwebz is very sporadic at best. So if you don't hear anything out of me within five days or so, send a rescue party because we've been lost at sea.
Just Call Me Gilligan...
On A Three Hour Tour,
Casey
Greetings from North Eleutreha Bahamas!... I've been here since Saturday afternoon working on some video surveillance equipment. I wanted to drop a line and let you know that I will be posting more regularly once I get back to the States. As is my access to the intarwebz is very sporadic at best. So if you don't hear anything out of me within five days or so, send a rescue party because we've been lost at sea.
Just Call Me Gilligan...
On A Three Hour Tour,
Casey
Friday, November 16, 2007
The Verdict Is In... New Dedication Edtion being shipped.
Hey There Readers,
The official word is in for the winners of the Federated Media Blackbird Sweepstakes, after a phone call from Chris Sutton at HP GGD we now know the outcome.
Chris informed me of what happened over at HP to cause the delay in the support process, but all that has been straightened out and Chris will be taking charge of our Blacbird builds and will be sending out new Dedication Edition systems for us. They will be cross shipping the units and we get to keep our HDD's from the pre-production units. Hooray .. no new data swapping to be done.
This also means that I get to put out some new 3DMark06 scores becasue of the Liquid Cooled 8800 Ultras. Woot Cickles!!!!!
One of my readers has been having some issues with his Blackbird DE not wanting to play Crysis or CoH, so I will relay here what I told him in an earlier comment.
When I started out trying to install the Crysis MP Beta, and the SP Demo I was having the same issue until I downloaded the latest beta drivers from Nvidia's website.
So before you think about sending back the sytem just give the beta drivers a whirl. They have been running extremely well for me.
Thanks,
Casey
The official word is in for the winners of the Federated Media Blackbird Sweepstakes, after a phone call from Chris Sutton at HP GGD we now know the outcome.
Chris informed me of what happened over at HP to cause the delay in the support process, but all that has been straightened out and Chris will be taking charge of our Blacbird builds and will be sending out new Dedication Edition systems for us. They will be cross shipping the units and we get to keep our HDD's from the pre-production units. Hooray .. no new data swapping to be done.
This also means that I get to put out some new 3DMark06 scores becasue of the Liquid Cooled 8800 Ultras. Woot Cickles!!!!!
One of my readers has been having some issues with his Blackbird DE not wanting to play Crysis or CoH, so I will relay here what I told him in an earlier comment.
When I started out trying to install the Crysis MP Beta, and the SP Demo I was having the same issue until I downloaded the latest beta drivers from Nvidia's website.
So before you think about sending back the sytem just give the beta drivers a whirl. They have been running extremely well for me.
Thanks,
Casey
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Ahh The Dulcet Tones of Top Notch Support
At the risk of sounding like a Fan Boi, I am going to have to sing the praises of the HP Global Gaming Division's support staff, and their crew. If you have been reading along you will have no doubt noticed that I haven't been using a final production version of the Blackbird 002. This was due to a shipping error which just happens sometimes. To make the long story short, I have been working with HP, and Federated Media to help straighten this out for myself and the other two winners in the contest.
While it has been a lengthy process, it has been a rewarding glimpse into the support and marketing aspects of a sweepstakes such as this. It has been interesting working with the HP GGD, and I am happy to report that they have been extremely helpful throughout the entire process.
I hope to be able to report the details of the outcome shortly. I want to speak with HP first and make sure the details are confidential.
Regards,
/Casey
While it has been a lengthy process, it has been a rewarding glimpse into the support and marketing aspects of a sweepstakes such as this. It has been interesting working with the HP GGD, and I am happy to report that they have been extremely helpful throughout the entire process.
I hope to be able to report the details of the outcome shortly. I want to speak with HP first and make sure the details are confidential.
Regards,
/Casey
Anyone that is Curious..
The HP Blackbird 002 configurator is working on http://hp.com/blackbird site now.
For those with bottomless pockets the maxed out config came in at $9,103 Dollars as I had it configured.
/Casey
For those with bottomless pockets the maxed out config came in at $9,103 Dollars as I had it configured.
/Casey
The Move to North Carolina is Done
It occurs to me that I mentioned on other sites and not here that I was going to be offline for a few days whilst I relocated for a new position in North Carolina. So uhmm yeah I have moved and I was offline for a few days. My Bad!...
Any way I am back and as soon as I get my recording gear set back up I will finish my audio blog. Stupendious .. yeah I know .. but don't let it go to my head.
The Blackbird traveled very well, no loose components, extra surprising if you have ever driven through Kentucky on I-40. I will post again later today.
Thanks,
/Cannis
Any way I am back and as soon as I get my recording gear set back up I will finish my audio blog. Stupendious .. yeah I know .. but don't let it go to my head.
The Blackbird traveled very well, no loose components, extra surprising if you have ever driven through Kentucky on I-40. I will post again later today.
Thanks,
/Cannis
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Ahh: Crysis MP Beta Footage
Hmmm .. What to say..
Fory anyone who has been wanting to see what Crysis would look like on the HP Blackbird, here is a small sample of meaningless wandering through Beta Island out of combat. I chose an empty server so I could run around and demonstrate the environment with out constantly showing you how badly I play FPS games. I've always been more of an RTS/RPG player so no laughing at my a) driving ability, b) uncontrollable straffing.. ;)
Video: http://stage6.divx.com/user/canniscam/video/1810360/Crysis-MP-Beta-Footage
Fory anyone who has been wanting to see what Crysis would look like on the HP Blackbird, here is a small sample of meaningless wandering through Beta Island out of combat. I chose an empty server so I could run around and demonstrate the environment with out constantly showing you how badly I play FPS games. I've always been more of an RTS/RPG player so no laughing at my a) driving ability, b) uncontrollable straffing.. ;)
Video: http://stage6.divx.com/user/canniscam/video/1810360/Crysis-MP-Beta-Footage
Coming Later Today!
I know I promised Crysis footage days ago, but it's been rather hectic around here as I am getting to ready to switch jobs, and move out of state. However it will have slowed down a bit today, so not only will I post the Crysis MP Beta footage, I will also put up Edition 2 of the Podcast. I still need to write Edition 2, but it shouldn't be hard now that I actually have some hands on with the HP Blackbird 002. I will review the Pre-Production model that I received in error, and discuss options for different OC profiles.
You may have noticed the 3Dmark Scores in the previous post, and I must say I am quite pleased with the score. I know they aren't the best, but then again I don't ever plain on putting a LN2 cooler chamber on my QX6850. That is the only way to crank out a 29,000+ 3D Mark, or at least I think it is. I am not the world's OC authority.
It is possible to bring this CPU up from 3.00Ghz per core to a not so paltry 3.5Ghz just by adjusting the CPU multiplier, and that is without touching the core voltage. By adjusting the voltage to 1.45 Volts with a 10x multiplier you can get a stable 3.7Ghz from this chip. Not too shabby. I haven't been brave enough to try it myself, but I will reference the online resources where I have been doing my research. I will also make sure to add the elusive show links this time, I sort of blew it off last time.
G'night,
Cannis
You may have noticed the 3Dmark Scores in the previous post, and I must say I am quite pleased with the score. I know they aren't the best, but then again I don't ever plain on putting a LN2 cooler chamber on my QX6850. That is the only way to crank out a 29,000+ 3D Mark, or at least I think it is. I am not the world's OC authority.
It is possible to bring this CPU up from 3.00Ghz per core to a not so paltry 3.5Ghz just by adjusting the CPU multiplier, and that is without touching the core voltage. By adjusting the voltage to 1.45 Volts with a 10x multiplier you can get a stable 3.7Ghz from this chip. Not too shabby. I haven't been brave enough to try it myself, but I will reference the online resources where I have been doing my research. I will also make sure to add the elusive show links this time, I sort of blew it off last time.
G'night,
Cannis
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