Footy season is well under way which always means it’s time for EA and Konami to roll out their annual soccer franchises within a hairsbreadth of one another. Theirs are just two of the great line up of demo’s we’ve picked up this month, six more are waiting for you within the roundup.

Follow these links for our other ‘issue 259′ web packs:
The gamers guide to online communications!
Take a peek at Windows 8 today!
Release the full potential of your broadband and Wi-Fi!
Issue 258 game demo roundup!

Battle Academy
Battle Academy may not be the most stunning, or indeed technically accomplished squad turn-based game ever launched, in fact it’s approach is quite entry level. Yet there is something quite appealing about it’s casual approach, so getting stuck in is instant without regard of understanding dozens of complex controls, interface buttons and game specifics. Employing sound tactics is still wanted during engagements, utilising your units and environmental cover will make or break your chances in each mission. After about 30 minutes in I realised something felt familiar and reminds me of the classic X-COM combat system. Hardcore war gamers may find Battle Academy missing depth and complexities, but Frozen Synapse fans who fancy some WWII action will certainly find this title worth some attention. (demo version)
Download from here

Hard Reset
The problem with robots is we quite like their labour saving benefits, but what happens in the distant future they decided to turn on their squishy human masters, well it will be “game over man”. Hard Reset gives us an insight into this possible reality. Who would have thought a descendant of Big Trak  would be handing our asses back to us. Please forgive me Big Trak, I had no idea carrying the cat would burn your fragile battery powered engine. I was just a kid! (demo version)
Download from here

Owlboy
I’m of the grand age of that the retro games of today were the cutting edge of my youth. I have fond memories of my Spectrum and Commodore 64, though I’m seriously not going to break out my pristine boxed Speccy and wait 35 minutes to load Kevin Toms Football Manager from tape, no matter how much I loved it then. I’ve moved on, and so should games in my opinion.
Yet I do appreciate there are among us many who actually prefer the simplistic games of yesteryear and in all fairness (going completely against my aversion to faux retro) Owlboy is quite fun with impressive production values, offering a large and varied fantasy world and story. (demo version)
Download from here

PES 2012
Silly Konami, it’s still 2011 and you’ve released next year’s game early! And if this edition is an accurate predictor of the future, then apparently in the year 2012, soccer will only be played by bikini clad super models. With mud wresting at half-time. Though I may have dreamed all this! (demo version)
Download from here

Strategic Command: WW1 1914-1918 The Great War
War games hand up the opportunity to change the outcome or reach the same conclusions using different strategies, and welcomed in this latest instalment of the Strategic Command franchise. The generalised modern take on World War I doesn’t go much beyond the Blackadder Goes Forth interpretation of No Man’s Land, stalemate, trenches, going over the top and being cut to pieces by machine guns. Of course trench warfare is a major feature of this game, but you’ll also have access to all other technologies of the era such as the first tanks and early planes to recreate the battles. (demo version)
Download from here

FIFA 12
It’s unlikely many punters will stretch their budgets to accommodate both PES and FIFA so it’s rather fortuitous to be presented with demo’s of these titles to try on for size. Reviews so far push the advantage this year towards Fifa’s goal line, but both titles have built upon last years editions with some great tweaks and features, so we urge you to play test both out. (demo version)
Download from here

Sengoku
Set in the time of feudal Japan and the rule of the Shogun. The year is 1467 and civil war has broken out. With no overall ruler, the provinces are fighting each for power. You’re the head of a noble Samurai family with ambitions to unite the land and take rule. This grand strategy game requires both force and diplomcy in equal measures, a game where the same goals can be met with peaceful negotiations or battle depending on your play style. (demo version)
Download from here

Wasteland Angel
Some games demand gamepad controllers and Wastland Angel is right up that list unless you enjoy hand pain. Though some of this could be the lack of a key binding option to cope with my left-handed-ness affliction. The trailer video is plenty enough to give a sense of what’s on offer. A handful of survivors are left clinging onto existence in the classic post World War III wastelands we are led to believe. Your role is to protect some of these survivors from slavers intent on capturing these poor folk. The that end, Mad Max vehicular combat ensues. You’ll be doing a Rambo through wave upon wave of enemy, upgrading your weapons and on the whole making yourself very unpopular with the bad guys. (demo version)
Download from here

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Or, grab a digital subscription of PC Format magazine

Alternatively, you can order single issues of PC Format magazine
or single issues of the digital edition of PC Format magazine

We all want to ensure we’re getting the most from our internet connections, whether maximising download speeds or online gaming experiences! Coming up in issue 259 (on sale 24th October) we’re covering this subject in full. To support the feature we’ve served up the following essential free resources to help you manage your bandwidth, troubleshoot problems, and generally extracting the most from those copper and fibre optic wires.

Follow these links for our other ‘issue 258′ web packs:
Take a peek at Windows 8 today!
Visit the website

Speedtest.net
Want to check your broadband provider hasn’t stitched you up on their bandwidth claims? You can test your broadband speed here. They have servers placed in many locations to ensure accurate results. (free)
Solwise,  devolo, TP-LINK, Google it

Propel Accelerator
You’re average run-of-the mill home broadband connection will often be advertised at a speed vastly in excess of the real-world rates you’ll be able to achieve with it. Using this fine web service you’ll be able to turbo charge your connection so it’s slight closer to the throughput you were originally drawn to. (commercial service)
Visit the website

Traffic Shaping
Your internet connection only stretches so far between a house full of users all contesting for the same bandwidth. To spread the load evenly it’s possible to limit download and upload speeds of specific applications or the ports they use and throttle their hogging ways. You’ll need to poke around the router admin settings for the QoS (Quality of Service) settings to make these adjustments. Refer to the router manual or the vendors website for instructions. It’s not very complicated, but may take a bit of tinkering to get this just right. (router settings)

DNS jumper
Switch DNS servers easily using this piece of freeware. What’s a DNS server and why would you care? A DNS, or name server is technology that maps URLs to IP addresses and they all vary a surprising amount in terms of reliablility and speed. So if you find that your browser isn’t resolving web addresses as fast as you’d like then use DNS jumper to switch to a different superior domain name server. (free version)
Download from here

inSSIDer
Diagonose problems with your wireless network no mattter the operating system. Unlike other tools inSSIDer works with Windows XP, Vista and 7 with support for both 32-bit and 64-bit incarnations. For example too many networks in close proximity on the same channel can be troublesome. With this program you’ll be able to view which is the least used channel so you can adjust your router’s configuration. (free version)
Download from here

NetStress
Troubleshoot your network with the help of this free application that’s capable of generating network traffic and then reporting on the performance of the data’s throughput. In an ideal world you’ll benchmark your wireless network when its fresh and working perfectly. Then when performance drops off you’ll be able to use NetStress to diagnose what might be the source of your woes. (free version)
Download from here

NetWorx
An ailing data throughput is normally the first sign that things are not quite right on your home network. With NetWorx you can configure alerts that inform you when a connection goes down or when there’s some suspicious activity like some unusually heavy data flow on your copper cables or microwaves. Everything is logged so you can always view statistics showing your daily, weekly and monthly bandwidth usage. (free version)
Download from here

Orbit Downloader
Who are we to argue with the developer billing this as the ‘ leader of a download manager revolution’? With big-hitting functionality like its web 2.0 capability meaning you can download media from social-networking stalwarts like Myspace, YouTube, Imeem, Pandora and more, it’s difficult to see why you’d need another download manager. But we’ll leave you to mull that one over.(free version)
Download from here

SG TCP Optimizer
Tune your internet connection without having to resort to solder or a soldering iron. Install this freeware and you’ll be able to dive right into some seriously advanced algorithm manipulation and bandwidth delay features for helping you find the best TCP Window for your specific connection speed. Couple this with functionality for tweaking TCP/IP parameters, such as MTU, RWIN and we thinkg you’re onto a winner! (free version)
Download from here

SPEEDbit Video Accelerator
More and more internet service providers are slapping ridiculous quality of service restrictions on products that already teeter on the verge of being falsely advertised. If you’re the vicitim of bandwidth restrictions because of slight overuse you’ll probably find video streaming has been hit. But with this software you can either download the movie for a later viewing or use the built-in acceleration to eke a little more out of your connection. (free version)
Download from here

Wireless Wizard
Should you find that your any of your WiFi, LTE, WiMAX, 3G, or 2G wireless networks aren’t performing as they should you can use this program to increase reliability. Wireless Wizard makes it easy to aim your wireless adapter, measure network performance and quickly identify and fix wireless broadband problems. So if you can’t fix a problem with this great tool it may be time to invest in new hardware. (free version)
PC Format magazine today
Or, grab a single issues of PC Format magazine
or single issues of the digital edition of PC Format magazine

NVIDIA’s GTX 590 is not a card that needs to be overclocked for gaming performance. Two GF110 GPUs, as found on the GTX 580, working in unison will kick any game’s behind, and the idea of being short of frames with the card’s stock clock settings is wild and preposterous.

What’s intriguing about the spec sheet of the 590 though is that each GPU has been down-clocked significantly to sit safely on the same bit of circuit board (any lisping readers are invited to read that last part aloud). While a big performance increase is evident from single to dual-GPU cards, the GTX 590 doesn’t produce twice the performance of the 580. That means there’s potentially some untapped power in the 590 – so let’s tweak her.

Obviously the clock settings have been tamed for the sake of power and temperature. After all, there’s only one fan lying between the two chips, and it’d be an awful shame to overheat the card and damage so much expensive circuitry. Why risk it?

Well, firstly it’s a lot safer to mess around with clock settings since NVIDIA implemented a core voltage limit in their v267.91 driver release. The default 0.938V is now locked down. Okay, that’s slightly less headroom for overclocking, but voltage is unwise to mess with unless you’re really sure what you’re doing. There are already fables of people exploiting the previously unlocked voltage control and blowing up their GTX 590s. Remember to update your NVIDIA drivers before you start tweaking, eh?

Number crunching
The best thing about overclocking your graphics card is that you can do it all in Windows – being able to push the numbers up and check stability without constantly restarting and going back into the BIOS saves a lot of time. Using MSI Afterburner allows you to not only alter shader/core and memory clocks and fan speeds, but also monitor temperature too.

The reference GPU core clock is 607MHz on a GTX 590, and 772MHz on the 580, and the processor clocks match up 1,215MHz to 1,544MHz. There’s also a 300MHz down-clocking of the memory clock as well.

Those huge gaps makes it tempting to ramp up the clocks by large implements immediately (using the logic that it’s the same GF110 chip) but it’s quite simply impossible to match the 580′s spec. Don’t see that as the final objective.

Instead, bump up one individual core in 10MHz increments, leaving the cores you’re not overclocking at stock levels. That said, MSI Afterburner allows the core and shader clock adjustments to be synced, which is recommended as manipulating these cores independently can lead to unnecessary instability. Instead of heat or voltage holding you back, these cores simply don’t operate properly when one’s hugely overclocked and the other isn’t.

Slow and stable
Moving up in such minute amounts sounds slow and painful, but you’ll soon see if your system’s stable by running a benchmark like Unigine’s Heaven. If it crashes, your system’s not stable…

The reference fan attached to that GTX 590 is mild-mannered at low speeds, but at 100 per cent it’s a hair dryer from hell. In order to get the biggest overclock, it will need to be running at full speed.

Once you’ve found the tipping point for each core, it’s time to overclock multiple cores. It really helps to run a benchmark that gives you minimum, maximum and average frames per second as this will show which cores are boosting performance the most, and as such which are worth trying together. Again, don’t expect miracles, log every benchmark result and crash.

Hitting the heights
Overclocking results will never translate directly from one machine to another, particularly with different PSUs: there are too many variables. However, we managed to get the core clock running at a stable 687MHz with no other cores overclocked, and again the individually overclocked memory core running at 1,957MHz without any tantrums.

When both GPUs are overclocked together, core and memory clocks run stably at 657MHz and 1,857MHz respectively. And, give or take a few megahertz here and there, most systems with a decent PSU should be able to handle similar settings.

That’s a respectable step-up in raw numbers and adds a few extra frames to the games it already blitzes. But then, it was never about improving gaming performance, was it? The GTX 590 is a graphics card for reaching extremes, and those extremes are that little bit more satisfying for having reached them yourself.

Pick up a subscription to PC Format magazine today
Or, grab a digital subscription of PC Format magazine

Alternatively, you can order single issues of PC Format magazine
or single issues of the digital edition of PC Format magazine

It’s sad the Crysis 2 demo is only DirectX 9, it’s sad the depth of support for changing graphical setting is limited to the amorphous descriptions ‘Hardcore’, ‘Advanced’ and ‘Gamer’. But something that makes us happy is that we can still tweak it despite all of this.

It turns out the game engine is still able to take the usual console settings via the command line when you launch the game. For simplicity we’re going to concentrate on the standalone version rather than the Steam version.

The easiest way to get going this way is to create a short cut to the game’s executable that you can find at:

“x:\Program Files (x86)\Electronic Arts\Crytek\Crysis 2 Demo\bin32\Crysis2Demo.exe”

Right-click on the Crysis 2 Demo icon drag and drop it on your desktop and choose Create shortcut here. Right-click on this and choose Properties, in the Target box after the line that should be the same as above, after the last quote symbol add a space and you can start adding console commands. So as an example our launch line looks as follows, with the game store on the E drive.

“E:\Program Files (x86)\Electronic Arts\Crytek\Crysis 2 Demo\bin32\Crysis2Demo.exe” +g_skipintro 1 +cl_fov 85 +r_glow 0 +r_motionblur 0

As you should be able to guess this disables the intro movies, adjusts the field of view to 85 degrees and removes any traces of glow and motion blur. A comprehensive list of CVARs can be found here, it is rather too long and many won’t have an effect as they’re locked in the demo.

So we’ve provided a quick run down on the most important below. However if you find playing with your own CVARs a little dirty then why not try this handy tweak tool that’s now updated to version four.

We’re going to run off and attempt to get some sensible benchmarks, though that can be somewhat tricky in a MP environment!

Update 1
So experimenting a little with the setting we get a default ‘Hardcore’ result of Min: 24 Max: 35 Avg: 30 tweaking the settings this ups the frame rate by just over 10 percent and from what we can see for little hit on image quality, improving the frame rate to Min: 30 Max: 37 Avg: 34. These results are from modest gaming hardware running a HD 4870 on a Core 2 E6420.

Crysis 2 Demo CVARS

r_FSAA [0/1] Enables multisampled AA
Default is 0

r_UseEdgeAA [0/1/2/3] Toggles edge blurring
Default is 1, 2 activates AA mode, 3 activates laplace edge AA

r_Glow [0/1] Toggles the glow effect
Default is 0, set to 1 to activate

r_MotionBlur [0/1/2/3] Enables per object and camera motion blur
Default is 1 on, 2 object and camera blur. 3 debug mode

r_NoDrawNear [0/1] Disables drawing near objects
Default is 1 on

r_PostMSAA [0/1/2] Enables amortized multisampling
Default is 1. 1: 2x quincunx, 2: 4xmsaa

r_PostProcessEffects [0/1/2] Enables post processing special effects.
Default is 1 (enabled). 2 enables and displays active effects

r_PostProcessGameFx [0/1] Enables post processing special effects game fx.
Default is 1 enabled. 0 disabled

cl_fov=[float] Set the current field of view in degrees
Default is 55

20+4 ATX
The main motherboard connection. ATX has 20 or 24 pins. Many supplies separate the last four pins to be compatible with older 20-pin systems.

4+4 EPS12V
ATX 2.0 has an 8-pin CPU connector, while ATX 1.3 and 1.0 have a 4-pin connector. Many power supplies split the 8-pin into two for compatibility.

6-pin PCI Express
The PCI Express 2.0 slot delivers 75W, which isn’t enough to get some graphics cards out of bed in the morning. 6-pin connectors double that. Some graphics cards need two of them.

6+2 PCI Express
An 8-pin connector was added to PCI Express to bring in another 150W of power. Some split this into a 6 plus 2 connector so you can use it as a 6-pin PCI Express too.

SATA power
These carry 12, 5 and 3.3V lines for your drives. If the orange wire is missing (as on some old power supplies and cables), you’re stuck if your drive needs it.

Molex peripheral
Named after the company that developed it, this 4-pin socket and pin connector has been standard for years. It’s used by IDE drives.

Floppy drive
Oh yes, you still find these old boys on sparkling new power supplies. Is it nostalgia? Habit? There must still be a market for PCs with 3.5-inch floppy drives somewhere.

This is part of the PC Format guide to… Power Supply Units

Filtering coils
Electromagnetic interference is a problem all over the PC, with so many voltages and components packed in together. These coils counteract EMI caused internally by the switching of the power supply itself.

Transformer
The main component and the one that cuts voltage down into something usable. These days it’s a high frequency model with a ceramic ferrite core. PSUs usually make do with a single transformer to supply both 12V and 5V.

Bridge rectifier
This device is a set of four diodes that transforms alternating current into direct current, standardising the polarity in the process. The size of the bridge rectifier is proportional to the output of the PSU.

Smoothing capacitors
These take the output from the bridge rectifier and try to smooth out the line as they alternately charge and discharge as the current rises and falls. This is one area where expensive PSUs can score.

This is part of the PC Format guide to… Power Supply Units

Do the Barts, man…

Based on the successful Cypress GPU, the HD 6850 and HD 6870 aren’t direct replacements for AMD’s top-end HD 5870 and HD 5850 cards, despite the fact those have now been discontinued. Instead the HD 6870 is a designed as a cross between the HD 5850 and, frankly irrelevant, HD 5830, with the 6850 featuring an even more cut-down core.

But with GPU overclocking being on the Abbi Titmuss side of easy why don’t we see if we can put some bounce back into their stride?

The apps of choice
With the help of MSI’s Afterburner, the Furmark GPU stress-tester and Unigine’s Heaven 2.1 benchmark you can increase the clocks on pretty much any GPU out there.

But even though it is easy and safer than ever, we have to say there is always a risk pushing your card beyond the clockspeed it is rated at, and any overclocking can invalidate your warranty too. So, you’ve been warned.

Each manufacturer does have its own software, and if you want to get down and dirty with the voltage tweaking then using the OC suite created by your card’s maker is generally your only option. Their application will give you full access to the voltage tweaking elements of your card.

But if not you can still do all the memory, core clock and shader you need using MSI’s Afterburner. Voltage tweaking is probably the easiest way to shorten the life of a GPU, so be wary.

MSI’s Afterburner is a solid bet for GPU overclocking. The detachable hardware monitor allows you to keep tabs on the temperature.

In terms of tweaking software, we use Unigine’s Heaven 2.1, but if you can’t be dealing with its long loading time we’d suggest using FurMark. You can leave this application running on your Windows desktop as you tweak, helping you look out for artefacts as you go.

Keep on, keep on clocking
The process for overclocking graphics cards hasn’t changed much recently, which requires stepping up the memory frequency by increments of 5 to 10MHz, applying the settings, then check the FurMark window for signs of artefacting for at least a couple of minutes. If everything appears satisfactory then step it up another notch.

Keep doing this until signs of artefacting appears. Once you hit the limit, step it back a notch and hit Heaven 2.1 Benchmark for a serious stress-test.

Move over to the core/shader clock slider and start again, remembering to reset the memory slider to its default position.

Essentially, it’s the same drill as with the memory clock. Once the core limit is found, bring up the memory clock to the previous stable overclock and stress test with both clocks.

The overclocking results
We managed to boost the clockspeeds on both cards, but in each case we had to push the fan speed too by 50 to 60 per cent. But the AMD stock cooler isn’t the quietest at high speeds. Heaven 2.1 was tested at 2,560 x 1,600 and the rest of the benchmarks are at 1,680 x 1,050.

Taking the HD 6850 first, the news isn’t great on the overclocking front. From the original 775MHz core clock and 1,000MHz memory clock we could only boost that to 840MHz and 1,080MHz respectively.

The memory clock was especially resistant to change, but the 65MHz jump on the core clock should do good things. Unfortunately the whole overclock only managed an extra 4fps and we had to push the fan speed up to a wind turbine-esque 60 per cent.

The overclock may smooth your gaming out slightly but the noise will be more noticeable than the extra frames.

The news is a bit better for the pricier HD 6870, but not by much. The new AMD card comes with a core clock of 900MHz and a memory clock of 1,050MHz; We managed to push that to 970MHz and 1,170MHz respectively.

On the whole that still doesn’t add up to a hell of a lot extra performance in games, bizarrely apart from Far Cry 2. The jump in clockspeeds gave a huge boost, especially at the 1,680 x 1,050 resolution. Here we saw the HD 6870 garner an extra 16fps, which will really make a noticeable difference in-game.

In DiRT 2 and Just Cause 2 however the boost was much less tangible, giving us almost as few extra frames per second as the HD 6850 produced.

So, as well as being limited in vanilla flavour the new, DirectX 11 cards from AMD are also quite poor overclockers too. That shouldn’t be surprising however as the Barts core is a slightly refined version of the Cypress GPU found in the HD 5870 and HD 5850 and so is already performing at near its peak.