Tech News October 2004

NewsOct 31, 2004June 29, 20140

Kingwin KT-424 Aluminum Midtower Case @ TheTechLounge
The Tech Lounge :: Monday, November 01, 2004

“It’s been a little over a year since I last reviewed a PC case, and for good reason. Lately the market has been so saturated with cheap-looking, pre-modded variations of classic cases such as the Dragon that, quite frankly, it disgusts me. I know I’m not the only one with a bad taste in my mouth from the current chassis trend, and that is why today I am checking out at an oldie that looks promising. Today I will be taking a look at the anodized black, windowed version of Kingwin’s KT-424. Even though this case has been around for over a year, it is still in production and continues to have more potential than many other cases on the market.”

Scythe FCS-50 Heatlane @ Phoronix
Phoronix :: Monday, November 01, 2004

“In the United States, SUV’s are a very common car – but does bigger always mean better? In today’s review of the Scythe FCS-50 Heatlane, we will see if this massive heatsink really does the job of cooling our warm processor, or if it’s just another gas-guzzler like many SUV’s.”

SilverStone SST-TJ06 Temjin 6
Overclockers Online :: Monday, November 01, 2004

“ It’s seldom we see cases this innovative. The Temjin 6 is one of the most unique designs we’ve seen to date. Implementing thermal zones and a wind tunnel, this case is a sight to behold. “

Meridian Tech. XClio Jr. Case
SystemCooling :: Monday, November 01, 2004

“It would not be fair or accurate to say the XClio Jr. (referred to as just Junior hereafter) is just a smaller version of the XClio. True, they share the distinctive Silver “X” styling, the top mounted USB/ Firewire ports, the mesh-grilled side panel and the lighted 80mm fan mounted on it, but that’s where the similarities end: It is completely different from its larger brother internally. Don’t let “Junior” moniker bother you though, because most of the features on the XClio are present on Junior, just executed in different ways. As always, it is up to the reader to determine which case best fits his or her needs.”

Pentium4 at 1066MHz System Bus
t-break :: Monday, November 01, 2004

“One of the changes that the Pentium4 is supposed to go through is the bump to a 1066MHz System bus (or 266MHz FSB) from the current 800MHz (or 200MHz FSB). We’ve been wanting to test the P4 at 1066MHz FSB for some time now but the very limited overclocking abilities of the 915/925 chipsets prevented us from reaching such high speeds on any motherboards. Luckily, DFI sent us their 875P chipset board with an LGA775 socket and at the same time Corsair sent us some memory modules that work at DDR533 speed. We decided to use both of these components with our unlocked Pentium4 CPU to emulate a 1066MHz bus CPU.”

Western Digital WD360 36GB SATA Hard Drive Review @ The Tech Zone
The Tech Zone :: Monday, November 01, 2004

“Designed for servers and NAS/SAN systems, the drive of choice for high-performance workstation and gaming systems, the WD Raptor hard drive is a new class of drive that matches SCSI performance and reliability while providing simplified connectivity. Make no mistake about it, the Raptor is for serious speed freaks. If you don’t run a server farm or play cutting edge 3D games then this is not the drive for you. However, if you’re a power nut who wants – no needs – the fastest ATA drive available then this is your baby, or dinosaur as the case may be.”

Cooler Master Real Power 450W @ InsaneTek
InsaneTek :: Monday, November 01, 2004

“Cooler Master has come up with so many new products lately that I’ve lost track. The new cases are classy and offer users plenty of space to work with. Their new heatsinks have earned themselves a good reputation in the enthusiast crowd. And now with the introduction of their power supplies, Cooler Master continues to offer their fans more of what Cooler Master is all about.”

Intel P4 EE and i925XE @ Hexus
Hexus :: Sunday, October 31, 2004
“AMD has moved on but Intel’s top-level performance has remained largely the same, so whilst I’m a fan of all the good aspects of 925X/XE chipsets, I find it hard to recommend it as a performance platform when the Extreme Edition is still playing catchup, most notably in gaming. Cast aside any company-specific favouritisms and ask yourself objectively what you would rather have if money was not an issue – an AMD FX-55/nForce4/DDR1 2-2-2-5 memory setup or 3.46GHz Extreme Edition/i925XE/DDR2?”

Scythe Kamakaze 2 @ Phoronix
Phoronix :: Sunday, October 31, 2004

“At the turn of the century, mobsters stood out from other mob members for two reasons. First, some of them did such a great job that they were thanked and appreciated for their work. On the other hand, a handful of mobsters messed up a lot and needed to be taken care of. Will the Scythe Kamakaze 2 be another member of the mob that needs to be buried in Brooklyn, or will this heatsink stand the tests and make itself a leader?”

Intel @ 1066 FSB – The 925XE Chipset & P4EE 3.46 CPU @ hardCOREware
hardCOREware :: Sunday, October 31, 2004
“After just four months, Intel in launching a new revision of the 925x chipset. The new part is called 925xe, and it is identical in every single way, except one – it supports a frontside bus of 1066 MHz (266 MHz quad-pumped), up from 800 Mhz (200 MHz quad-pumped).

To go with this new FSB rate, Intel has paired it up with their fastest flagship processor – the Extreme Edition. There wasn’t much in the way of clock speed increases this time – the CPU runs at 3.46 Ghz, up from 3.40 GHz. We’re going to compare the two FSB rates on these Extreme chips, and find out what 1066 FSB does for us today.”

Intel’s 925XE Chipset & 1066FSB Processors Arrive @ Legit Reviews
Legit Reviews :: Sunday, October 31, 2004
“The Intel 925XE chipset and the 1066FSB 3.46EE Processor are a step in the right direction for Intel. If you were waiting for the new chipsets to come that support 800 and 1066 FSB processors your wait is over…”

Intel’s 1066MHz FSB – D925XECV2 and P4EE 3.46GHz Review @ Beyond3D
Beyond3D :: Sunday, October 31, 2004
“Its often been the case that Intel have increased the CPU and system FSB in step with the memory speeds, for instance, when the 800MHz FSB was introduced it also came with a Dual Channel DDR400 memory interface. This trend was bucked a little with the introduction of the 925X chipset as although Intel kept the FSB at 800MHz they moved the RAM across to 533MHz DDR2. With the 925XE chipset this has been redressed by moving the FSB to 1066MHz, which puts it instep with the Dual Channel 533MHz DDR2 memory interface.”

ACON Fatal1ty Great Wall Shootout @ Hexus
Hexus :: Saturday, October 30, 2004
“Fatal1ty has an envyable lifestyle: Travel the world playing games, shattering the egos of many wannabe gaming kings and queens. Recently, Fatal1ty’s gaming conquest took him to the Great Wall of China for the ACON Fatal1ty Great Wall Shootout. It was there that he met his match.”

Silverstone TJ06 Case @ Bjorn3D
Bjorn3D :: Saturday, October 30, 2004
“Let’s face it: Every computer has to have a case, and cases aren’t anything new. From case to case, they are all pretty much a rework of the same basic design. Every now and then, however, there is a product that truly stands out…and Silverstone has done so recently with their Temjin 6 series. I must extend my greatest thanks to Sundial Micro Inc. for providing me the opportunity to review this product.”

Discovering The Lighter Side Of The Internet @ The Tech Zone
The Tech Zone :: Saturday, October 30, 2004
“We all know the Internet is a great tool for finding out information and sharing knowledge. But as a human sometimes sitting at a computer all day can get quite tedious, especially if it is your job 5 days a week. This feeling can be compounded by other problems in one’s personal life, and the result can mean little productivity because of a sour mood. Well humanity does have a lighter side, and this too can be explored on the Internet. Sometimes a little humor or interesting trivia can really take the edge off a bad moment. You’d be surprised at how much comedy and insight is expressed on the Net. I’ve been exploring what’s out there and I just can’t stop laughing. Laughter of course is the ultimate medicine and some believe it to be the highest form of life. My only warning is don’t get hooked on this stuff as your work ethic will probably become worse than ever!”

Anti-Spyware info @ I Am Not a Geek
I Am Not a Geek :: Saturday, October 30, 2004
“We continue to spend most of our time focusing on the fight against spyware! We continue adding the top ad/spyware related files to our File DB.”

Win a UV X-Connect PSU! @ PimpRig
PimpRig :: Saturday, October 30, 2004

“The entries are coming in for our pumpkin carving contest but there is still time to get yours done. Remember that you have until the end of the 31st to enter your pumpkin for a chance to win a 500W UV X-Connect PSU!”

Swapfile Optimization Guide Rev. 4.0 @ rojakpot
Tech ARP :: Saturday, October 30, 2004

“Even today, the swapfile is still very important component of the operating system. No matter how much memory you have, you will always find the swapfile in great use. Therefore, its performance is of great importance. An optimized swapfile will greatly improve the performance of the computer.

Today, we will take an in-depth look at the swapfile, what it really is and how to optimize it! We will also take a thorough look at making a contiguous swapfile. Come and check out the definitive Swapfile Optimization Guide!”

Spider II Case Give-Away @ Hi-Techreviews
Hi-Techreviews :: Saturday, October 30, 2004
“Thanks to the fine people at Logisys Computer we are giving away and brand spanking new Spider II Computer Case to some lucky winner. But that’s not all, included along with the computer case Hi-Techreviews.com is tossing in a new Albatron PX875B PRO motherboard. Then to speed that little Intel board along we are including 1GB of Kingston HyperX PC4300 DDR memory.”

Mushkin LII-V2 1024MB PC3200 Review @ IpKonfig
IpKonfig :: Friday, October 29, 2004

“Mushkin has recently introduced its next generation of High Performance memory, called V2, in 256MB and 512MB modules. The new memory sweeps in with a custom 6 layer PCB using high quality componets available to the memory industry.

As we’ve mentioned in previous reviews and articles, the memory industry has become a vast growing area trying to meet or beat the demand of hardware and consumer wants. Mushkin seems to be doing well from what we’ve seen over the years, and keeps pushing harder with each new version, and is making consumers very happy.”

DDR RAM Guide III @ Overclockers New Zealand
Overclockers New Zealand :: Friday, October 29, 2004
“Users were begging for memory chips like the legendary Winbond BH-5 or Samsung TCB3 (back in DDR-333 days). Luckily, Samsung recently released its TCCD which people found to be a very good all-purpose ram, as it is capable of 2-2-2-5 at DDR-400.”

Epox BT-HS02 Bluetooth Headset Review
Designtechnica :: Thursday, October 28, 2004
“The Epox BT-HS02 offers up a decent attempt at a Bluetooth headset. Few things hamper it from being one of the better units out there, but those things are enough to keep it from being the best it could be. On the positive side, the BT-HS02 is one of the smaller Bluetooth headsets on the market and also offers a solid battery life between charges. It is also a good value on the dollar. The pluses however are offset by the general problem which plagues most wireless headsets: moments when listening quality, on both the receiving and sending ends, is spotty.”

OCZ DDR Booster Review @ hardCOREware.net
hardCOREware :: Thursday, October 28, 2004
“Today we’re reviewing the DDR Booster from OCZ. With such a generic name, you’d never guess what it does. Turns out that it is basically a ‘volt mod in a box’. It fits into an open DDR dimm slot, and has two molex power connectors.

OCZ makes some pretty hefty claims for this device, such as “vdimm adjustments up to 3.9V*” and “compatible with most DDR motherboards**”. If you’re like us, the first thing you noticed were the asterisks. Check out our review to see how the DDR Booster performed for us (once we were able to find a board that supported it!)”

Logisys Spider II case reviewed @ Hi-techreviews.com
Hi-Techreviews :: Thursday, October 28, 2004

” It’s almost Halloween time and what better time to review a computer case that uses spider webs for accents on the bezel and side window. The case I’m referring to is the Logisys Spiders II. One other thing that makes this case rather unique is the fact that it has blue LED thermal display in the front bezel thus allowing you to monitor your processor temperature or case temperature depending on which way you configure the probe.”

Shuttle SN95G5 Reviewed @ VR-Zone Hardware
VR-Zone :: Thursday, October 28, 2004
“Here we can see the latest rendition of Shuttle’s ICE (Integrated Cooling Engine) cooling solution for the SN95G5. From the picture you can see that the base of the ICE cooling system is made of copper with heatpipes connecting to the aluminum exhaust portion of the cooling unit. Installation of the ICE cooling unit was very easy, with it being just like any other Shuttle SFF system. You attack the heatsink, fasten it tight with the included fastener, and just install the 80mm exhaust fan.”

Asetek Hard Drive & Antarctica Socket T Waterblock Review @ ocprices.com
OcPrices :: Thursday, October 28, 2004
“Renowned for their high-end cooling products, Asetek has recently announced their new hard drive waterblocks as well as updating their Waterchill series to be compatible to Intel’s new Socket T (LGA775). We have their hard drive waterblock as well as the Antarctica Socket T waterblock for testing. Read on to find out more…”

OCZ Announces 600Watt PowerStream Power Supply
OCZ Technology :: Thursday, October 28, 2004
OCZ Technology Group, a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high-reliability memory, today announced the release of the PowerStream 600 Watt power supply. OCZ will also be releasing the international versions of the PowerStream 420/520/600 Watt power supplies with 220V Active PFC (power factor correction) and a standard European AC cord.

In addition to PowerStream’s exclusive features, such as the ultra-quiet PowerWhisper, PowerFlex, and stabilizing PowerShield technology, the more powerful 600W power supply includes ATX12V 2.01, sleek, black cable sleeving, a PCI Express connector, and 220V Active PFC (International version only). With these complementary features, OCZ has developed a truly complete power supply with unprecedented performance capabilities. The OCZ 600 Watt PowerStream is an effective solution for PC-users searching for maximum performance, power, and versatility.

Link: http://www.ocztechnology.com/aboutocz/press/2004/113

PQI Turbo DDR-2 5400 Memory @ PCstats.com
PCStats :: Thursday, October 28, 2004
“While not as well known as some of the other manufacturers, PQI has been in business since 1998 and produces a wide variety of memory based products from simple DIMM’s to flash card readers. Today PCStats has the opportunity to play with some of PQI’s latest and greatest in the form of their Turbo PQI25400-1GDB dual channel memory kit. Officially rated to run at PC5400 speeds, or DDR2-667, the PQI Turbo memory uses conservative timings of 4-4-4-12 by default; it seems companies from Corsair to Crucial, Kingston and OCZ are being conservative with their ratings these days.”

PrimoFlex Tubing Review @ GruntvillE.com
GruntvillE :: Thursday, October 28, 2004

“PrimoFlex and is a silicon-base tubing which means it has all the same qualities, but is much softer and therefore more flexible. In addition, PrimoFlex tubing is available in 3 UV reactive colors. Clear, which glows a slight purple in UV light, green, and blue. The green and blue are opaque so that they retain their color under regular light, which means no more need for dyes.”

ePower Tech Xscale-600 @ Phoronix
Phoronix :: Thursday, October 28, 2004
“Due to the release of PCI Express, a warrant is issued for upgrading your current power supply, simply since in most cases your ATX PSU can’t handle the demands that come with PCI Express and the new LGA 775 processors. ePower has just recently released a brand new power supply, the Xscale-600 that provides a whopping 600 watts of power, support for AGP Pro, PCI Express, and 20, 24, 8, and 4 pin connectors for your motherboard!”

A.C.Ryan Accessories Review
Mikhailtech :: Monday, October 25, 2004

“Next up we have what A.C.Ryan calls Conductx. These are cable splitters available in 4-pin, 3-pin, and PCI Express varieties with up to 4 additional connectors. Color choices are UV green and UV blue. Similar to the Backy, the connectors, mesh, and heatshrink are all UV reactive. What’s unique about these cables are the soldered UV LEDs near the tips. They’re permanently attached to the positive and ground wires leads and encased in clear heatshrink.”

Mushkin PC2-4200 (DDR2) Reviewed
Hi-Techreviews :: Monday, October 25, 2004

“Last week we reviewed Mushkin’s high performance L2V2 DDR and this week we have a go at their PC2-4200 DDR2 memory. This memory has a JEDEC Spec CAS rating of 4-4-4-12 and in our testing we were able to run this memory rock stable at frequency of 334.1 MHz (668.2 MHz DDR) for two solid hours of prime95/Seti@home combo testing.”

Xtreme Gamer Vigor 500W Power-Supply
TechFreaks :: Monday, October 25, 2004

“The MGE Xtreme Gamer Vigor 500W is a solid performer. It pairs looks with performance to produce a very affordable, quality power-supply. Priced just a bit under $70, the Vigor 500W is a steal compared to the Antec TruePower 380W ($71) or OCZ PowerStream 420W ($100). The rails were very stable, even under a very pressuring load. The lights and sleeved cables are welcomed features; and if blue isn’t your thing, the Vigor 500W also comes in red and green colors.”

X-Micro Combo Bluetooth Printer Adapter (XBT-PACX) Review
Hardware-Pacers :: Monday, October 25, 2004

“The X-Micro Combo Bluetooth Printer Adapter is one of X-Micro’s most recent additions to the wireless technology product line. The adapter can allow users to connect wirelessly to printers from multiple Bluetooth enabled devices. While using the new Combo Printer Adapter, users can seamlessly print from laptop computers, handhelds, and other Bluetooth devices.”

RAID Optimization Guide
Tech ARP :: Monday, October 25, 2004

“IDE RAID seems to be the rage these days. Practically every motherboard manufacturer has several motherboards with IDE RAID features built-in. With RAID support built into most motherboards and hard disk prices dropping, more and more people are opting for RAID solutions as a cheap way to improve performance or reliability.

Today, we are going to take a look at how you can optimize your IDE RAID solution. Let’s see what’s the best RAID solution for your needs!”

Cooler Master Cavalier 2 CAV-T02 Case Review
MODTHEBOX! :: Monday, October 25, 2004

“One of the highlights of the Cooler Master Cavalier 2 CAV-T02 Case is the inclusion of a 60’s style analog meter. The analog meter by default can be connected to the audio output of any sound card which will measure the overall sound level. Below the analog meter is an oversize chrome power button and LED indicators for Power and HD activity.”

HEXUS.net Breaking News: Alienware SLI
Hexus :: Monday, October 25, 2004

“I’ve got some great news for you here. Alienware are releasing a system based upon SLI graphics from NVIDIA.”

Radeon X700 XT and PRO Review
Beyond3D :: Monday, October 25, 2004

“The reduction in die size, in order to get a chip of such a configuration down to the mainstream price points, is also probably the primary reason that a 256-bit memory bus is not utilised. Whilst transistor sizes scale down with new processes, the pads (chip to packaging interconnects) do not similarly scale down, hence 256-bit buses actually require a large die size in order to facilitate all the connections and the die size of RV410 may not be large enough to facilitate such a bus.”

Akasa Amber Fans
Phoronix :: Monday, October 25, 2004

“Remember the days of amber black and white monitors? Well amber’s back! No, not in monitors, but the color has made its way into Akasa’s new line of ultra quiet fans. Check out the review, as we take a look at the 80 and 120mm Amber fans.”

PQI Memory Giveaway – Only at SystemCooling.com
SystemCooling :: Monday, October 25, 2004

“This PQI Memory giveaway will run from Oct. 25th to Nov. 21st, it is open to those living in the United States and Canada. To enter simply send an email to contest@systemcooling.com with the subject line “PQI Memory Giveaway” include your name and email address in the entry. On Nov. 22nd we’ll randomly draw the winners, after which will draw which prize goes to which winner. If you have any questions just drop by the PQI Memory Giveaway thread in the forum and good luck!!!”

ModdersHQ 1 year anniversary contest…Complete H2O kit
ModdersHQ.net :: Monday, October 25, 2004

“It’s a tough pill to swallow but ModdersHQ turns 1 year old this Month. To help show our appreciation to you, the Modders, we are giving away (with the support of our sponsors CrazyPC and DangerDen) a complete custom DIY water-cooling kit.”

Wintec AMP-X PC2-5400 DDR2 review @ OcPrices
OcPrices :: Saturday, October 23, 2004
“Ultra low latencies on DDR2 were pretty much unthinkable, let alone possible a few months back. However, with the recent yields of Micron’s DDR2 chips, 3-2-2-x timings (tightest timings possible on most i925x motherboards) have been reported achievable by some enthusiasts. Of course, we were immediately interested, and obtained a Micron-based DDR2-675 Dual Channel Kit from a relatively unknown (at least to many enthusiasts) company – Wintec Industries”

LG GSA-4160B Double Layer 16X DVD Recorder @ CDRInfo
CDRInfo :: Saturday, October 23, 2004
“The LG GSA-4160B can burn a full Single Layer disc in less than 6 mins. It can write +R media at 16X, -R media at 8X and can re-write at 4X. Of course, Double Layer media is also supported, at 2.4X writing speed”

Logisys Streamline Illuminated Keyboard @ Phoronix
Phoronix :: Saturday, October 23, 2004

“A while back, we examined the Logisys Xenix keyboard, which was a very visually appealing keyboard, especially with its illuminated keys. However, the keyboard possessed a few flaws. Logisys has redesigned the keyboard and released the Silver Streamline Illuminated Keyboard.”

October 2004 Giveaway @ Mikhailtech
Mikhailtech :: Saturday, October 23, 2004

“There’s still 1 week left to enter our giveaway for a chance to win some Kingston memory (total of 3.5GB up for grabs!).”

RaidMax Virgo Case review @ Overclocker Cafe’
Overclocker Café :: Saturday, October 23, 2004

“For a price of only $60 you get a mid-tower case complete with 420W PSU and a nice large thermal readout display on the front of the case. The looks of a case are always going to be subjective to an individuals taste, but the Virgo does have clean exterior lines, a smooth finish on the paint job with a large side panel window. With the stock cooling options, the case is quiet enough to be a contender for your money.”

X-raypad Thunder8 Mousepad Review @ PC Modding Malaysia
PC Modding Malaysia :: Saturday, October 23, 2004

“The Thunder8 was in fact a good mouse pad to work with. With its dual surface and easy lift corner, changing sides can be done in seconds. The ABS surface was very sturdy and sits well on the desk. However, the cord clip often pushes the mouse backwards if placed too near to it. The deluxe tin box was definitely an upper hand for the Thunder8 as it easily catches anyone’s attention.”

Enermax Noisetaker v2.0 470W Power Supply Review @ 3DXtreme
3dXtreme :: Saturday, October 23, 2004
“This is what we as enthusiasts and gamers want from our hardware and Enermax is there to deliver again. We would most definitely recommend this power supply for any application. ”

Ultra X-Connect 500 Watt Modular Power Supply @ Bjorn3D
Bjorn3D :: Saturday, October 23, 2004
“Ever since I first saw modular power supplies at several modding supply stores on the WWW, I was hooked and had to have one. After several failed attempts to get one for review, I just decided it was a luxury I didn’t need. Then, several months ago I noticed that several companies, namely Ultra and Antec, were going to release a mass produced modular PSU. This obviously wouldn’t be the first time that a company ‘borrowed’ an idea started by modders, but it’s one that I strongly welcome. I love the clean looks and flexibility offered by modular PSUs. As a matter of fact, I hope that most PSUs go this route in the near future. It just makes too much sense not to. ”

Aspire 500 Watt PSU Review @ OCIA
OCIA :: Saturday, October 23, 2004

“Check out the heatsink on the fanbus. Aspire thought of everything. I know, I know, some of you are thinking that they should have put it in a bay instead of PCI slot. Well, what size should they have included? What color should it have been? What if the case has a stealth cover that a knob wouldn’t fit under? No, they did the best thing by putting it in an empty PCI slot.”

SilenX iXtrema Pro 400W Power Supply Review @ Hard-h20
Hard-h2o :: Friday, October 22, 2004

“Today we’re analyzing a power supply with a remarkably low noise level (14db), good power (400W), nice looks and very stable power output. A real performer with minimum noise.”

HEXUS.net Review: A trio of budget CPU’s
Hexus :: Friday, October 22, 2004

“Which value processor should you choose?. If your budget resembles a shoestring then a bottom-end Sempron (Socket A, obviously) or Celeron D 320 are the natural choices. Both CPUs have a number of cheap-ish supporting motherboards that often feature integrated video as standard. If your budget is set a little higher, say, at £80 for a processor (or ~£150 for a processor/motherboard bundle), AMD’s K8-class Sempron 3100+ is comfortably the best choice. It’s just a shame that it’s been stripped of 64-bit goodness, though.”

AMD Personal Internet Communicator (PIC) Photos @ AMDboard
AMDboard :: Friday, October 22, 2004
“We all heard about the latest AMD “50×15″ initiative intended to bring Internet in the emerging countries with a very low cost device; The AMD Personal Internet Communicator (PIC) – code-named Emma – is the one and it is relying on a vely low-power AMD Geode processor with 128MB of memory, 10GB hard disk, a 56KB Modem and a special version of Microsoft® Windows® CE with MS Internet Explorer and MS Messenger, to connect 50% of the world population to the World Wide Web by 2015. Thanks to a very low market price of 185$ without monitor and 249$ with, the AMD Personal Internet Communicator (PIC) is a unique opportunity to empower people around the world and this is a great initiative from AMD that definitely deserves a Nobel price! AMDboard, the AMD specialist, has the first picture ever released and it’s right here…”

Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia Deluxe 2005 Review
Hardware-Pacers :: Friday, October 22, 2004

“The Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia Deluxe 2005 is a phenomenal program that can give users access to a wealth of information. With more than 63,000 articles, 20,000 images, 200 videos and animations, 2000 sound and audio clips, and 36,000 map locations, Encarta Encyclopedia Deluxe can provide information for virtually any subject. With many features and functions such as the Encarta Search Bar, dynamic timeline, 2D virtual tours, games and much much more, the Microsoft Encyclopedia Deluxe 2005 program will give users access to as much information as they need for almost any topic they can think of.”

Dual Connect DH-720G Dolby Headphone and the NC-760 Noise Canceling Headphones!
OCZ :: Friday, October 22, 2004
HC Technology Inc., an audio and wireless technology manufacturer with offices around the globe, has finally stepped from behind the curtain. Formerly an OEM-only (Original Equipment Manfacturer) company, HCT has just released two new smokin’ products direct to retail. The following products are now available for purchase from the HCTStore.com website, which was recently launched to handle their direct to retail sales.

The dual connect DH-720G Dolby Headphone set is rich in features and loaded with connectivity options. Using sophisticated room modeling techniques, HCT Dolby Headphones combine the 5.1 surround signals to create an amazingly vivid surround sound environment. It is a perfect solution for travelers and late-night movie viewers. The Dual Connect features allows two music, movie and video game lovers to enjoy rockin’ Dolby/DTS sound without disturbing anyone around them.

For the low to mid-range user, HCT offers their NC-760 Noise Canceling Headphones. These stylish “earbud” headphones come complete with noise cancelling module — with the flip of switch, all background noise is hushed and quieted for unhampered listening. By picking up ambient sound with a microphone and reproducing it out of phase through the feedback circuit, we can actively cancel out background noise by adding the two out of phase sounds. Along with noise-features, the Noise Canceling Headphone let you mix in an audio signal. That allows you to minimize background noise while quietly listening to music.

For more information or to buy these products please follow this link: http://www.hctstore.com

AC Ryan launches a new power supply in the Ryanpower2 series
AC Ryan :: Friday, October 22, 2004
“AC Ryan’s Ryanpower2 series gets fast and furious! Already the second power supply release within a month!! AC Ryan launches the Ryanpower2 CableFREE + FanFREE. The Ryanpower2 CableFREE + FanFREE is built on the already successful Ryanpower2 CableFREE concept. This new power supply adds on the new technology of FanFREE™ perfectly suited for the HomeTheater PCs, LivingRoom PCs and esp. new Media Centers!. FanFREE makes this power supply unique from the other Ryanpower2! Free of fans, free of noise!

Ryanpower2 CableFREE + FanFREE gives 350 Watts with PFC to your system without breaking a sweat, more than enough juice for all the media PCs, home theaters and silent-focused systems. The massive copper-electroplated heatsink absorbs and distributes heat with the same technique also applied in our XTOR Xilencer HDD Silencer and Cooler. No odd shape with a huge extruded back heatsink on it – au contraire! The power supply is the same shape and size as any other power supply; if you don’t look clearly, you might not even notice the FanFREE’ness at all! This means no-fuss installation, easy placement on the desktop, no un-needed space taken up!! Quality low heat generating power components makes the FanFREE zero-noise and rock-stable performing piece of technological art.

More information on this power supply can be found here: http://www.acryan.com/_powersupply/ACR-PS2131.shtml

Mushkin LIIV2 Dual Channel 1GB CL2 PC3200 @ GideonTech
GideonTech :: Friday, October 22, 2004
“When talking about memory, Mushkin ranks right up there with the best of them. Producing some of the highest performance modules in the past, their new LII V2 CL2 DDR line should not be any different.”

AMD Athlon64 – 64-bit vs. 32-bit, A Head On Comparison
PCStats :: Friday, October 22, 2004

“A new era of 64-bit computing is coming though, and it got us to thinking… what does 64-bit, specifically the 64-bit support built into AMD’s Athlon 64 and AthlonFX processors, have to offer the gamer and enthusiast markets? In this article PCstats will examine the performance of the AMD Athlon 64 processor using conventional Windows XP and 32-bit benchmarking software, and compare those results to the same tests using the 64-bit ‘x64 edition’ beta version of Windows XP.”

XTrac Ripper XL Optical Mousepad
GideonTech :: Friday, October 22, 2004

“Today we are taking a look at the Ripper XL mousepad from XTrac. With a cloth top, anti-skid rubber backing, and the biggest surface area I have ever seen, this mousepad might be what you have been searching for.”

Asus Star Ice Cooler
Driver Heaven :: Friday, October 22, 2004

“With today’s extremely powerful processors the enthusiast market who don’t want to delve into more exotic areas like watercooling or phase change still demand high quality air cooling, with this in mind we are going to take a look at one of the largest coolers I’ve ever seen, the Asus Star Ice. I’ve had good experiences with some quality Asus components lately, the AX800XT PCIe graphics card and the Slot 775 P5AD2 Premium Motherboard, so I had high hopes for this new product.

The Asus Star Ice is very versatile with compatibility for Socket 478/754/939 and 775.”

Thermalright SI-97 Socket A Heatsink
SystemCooling :: Friday, October 22, 2004

“Lately, owners of AMD Socket A systems have had reason to be sad, since all the new and cool (figuratively and literally) heatsinks coming from Thermalright have been geared toward P4 and AMD64 systems. With the fade from the limelight of Socket A systems, this is not really surprising, but as it turns out, Thermalright has at least one more trick up its sleeve for the aging platform. The heatsink we’re looking at today, the SI-97, is a brand new heatsink cut from XP-120/XP-90 cloth, but made for use on the Socket A platform. We’ll put it through its paces, and see if AMD XP owners have a reason to rejoice.”

Alpine KCA-420i iPod Adapter Review @ The Tech Zone
The Tech Zone :: Friday, October 22, 2004
“The Alpine KCA-420i was announced way back in January at the 2004 Consumer Electronics Show. Alpine promised the greatest Apple iPod interface for the car ever made and that it would be available within a month or two after CES. That never happen. The KCA-420i has to be the greatest paper launch in history. It would be 10 months after CES before the KCA-420i made it to the market. However, I’m happy to report that wait has been worth it. The KCA-420i is everything Alpine had promised it would be and then some.”

OCZ PC3700 Gold Revision 3 review
OcPrices :: Friday, October 22, 2004

“OCZ’s PC3700 Gold has earned quite a reputation as an excellent overclocker. In my review of the first generation 3700 Gold back in July of ’03, I was very impressed with the 3700 Gold’s excellent performance. Today I have a look at the latest and greatest version of 3700 Gold. How does it stack up? Read on.”

Corsair Announces 550 MHz CAS2.5 DDR Modules
Corsair :: Friday, October 22, 2004
Corsair Memory, Inc., a global leader in ultra-performance DDR memory modules for PC gamers and enthusiasts, today announced their fastest ever DDR memory module, a DDR550 module that supports very aggressive 2.5-4-4-8 latencies. These modules typically support 2-2-2-5 latencies at 400MHz clock speeds. The new parts are:

– TwinX1024-4400C25 matched pair of 512MB, DDR550, 2.5-4-4-8, black XMS modules
– TwinX1024-4400C25PT matched pair of 512MB, DDR550, 2.5-4-4-8, platinum XMS modules

Both these parts are available immediately from resellers worldwide, and are also available as individual 512MB modules. TwinX kits are tested as a matched pair at their rated specifications and packaged together immediately after passing test, guaranteeing that the customer receives a product that has been verified in the dual channel environment. These modules include Corsair’s classic black or platinum aluminum heat spreaders for improved heat dissipation.

The ultra high clock speeds supported by these modules make them an ideal choice for extreme overclockers seeking the ultimate in performance. According to Corsair VP of Applications Engineering John Beekley, “we’ve tested these modules in our labs on a number of 875P, 865PE and 939-pin Athlon ™ 64 FX based motherboards with extremely impressive results. This is the first time we’ve been able to run memory at 550 MHz on both Intel and AMD platforms… and at CAS 2.5!” Corsair R&D engineers have validated these modules on both Intel and AMD based platforms, but Corsair’s production test lines for these parts employ the Asus P4C800-E motherboard. “Moreover, we’ve driven our manufacturing cost down dramatically on this module compared to our earlier XMS4400 product, which will translate into surprisingly affordable street prices”, Mr. Beekley added.

Detailed specifications on this product will be posted to Corsair’s web site soon at www.corsairmemory.com/corsair/xms.html. These modules can be purchased through Corsair’s authorized sales channels listed at www.corsairmemory.com/corsair/buy.html.

Corsair Twin2X DDR2 5400C4 ProSeries Review @ Ninjalane
Ninjalane :: Friday, October 22, 2004
“System memory can only be as fast as the slowest link so it is important to install matched memory modules whenever possible for the best performance.”

ASRock 775i65GV @ Phoronix
Phoronix :: Friday, October 22, 2004

“With the vast variety of motherboards coming around that support the Intel LGA 775 processors, it can be a bit troubling finding the perfect match for your system. In this article, we will take ASRock’s 775i65GV for a spin to see how well it can really perform.”

Etymotic High-End Earphones Roundup – ER-6i, ER-4P, and ER-4S Models
CoolTechZone :: Friday, October 22, 2004

“Etymotic Research Inc., while not as well known as some of the other manufacturers such as Bose and Ultrasone, has been catering to the needs of audiophiles for a long time. Headphones and earphones are the latest trend in the audio world and thankfully manufacturers are able to keep up with the standards that many users are now used to. Currently produced headphones and earphones are just as comparable to the stand alone speaker units, which is a delight, but what is not appreciating is their tremendously high prices. Let’s face it; such high prices for headphones and earphones are completely justifiable. After all, the more you research and improve technologies in a smaller form factor, the more the users will have to pay to cope up with higher production costs, but when will these technologies become affordable to everyday users? Sure enough, a common user who is planning to listen to music for an hour or so per day will probably pass on sub $100 price tags and only the die-hard music fan will invest in an expensive pair of earphones.”

Does Service Pack 2 slow you down?
Short-Media :: Friday, October 22, 2004

“Microsoft released Service Pack 2 and millions installed it. Did boat anchors come with the enhancements? We threw 108 benchmarks at Service Pack 1 and Service Pack 2 in an attempt to declare a winner.“

VisionTek 1GB Go Drive
Beyond3D :: Friday, October 22, 2004

“Always on the go? Do you need to store a CD and a half worth of stuff and have it at your side at all times? Well, either way you can benefit from having a USB flash drive with you. These drives have hit the market running and are beginning to take over the old and busted floppy drives of yore. Good riddance to the floppy for all I care, and a big hello to the VisionTek Go Drive! A huge gigabyte of data, USB 2.0, and a very compact size make for a sweet little removable storage solution. I don’t know about you, but the fact that I can hold a full gigabyte of data in my pocket and have it to use in any PC with a USB port on it turns my frown upside down.”

Crucial Ballistix PC3200 C2 @ Viper Lair
ViperLair :: Friday, October 22, 2004

“As for the performance results we see that for the most part, the two sticks of RAM performed very close to each other even with the differences in timings. The latency of the Crucial memory at its tightest timings was a good bit lower than the Corsair memory, and provided better synthetic numbers. The real world differences between timings was less than 3% in basically all cases.”

DVD2XViD 2.0: The ultimate guide @ Short-Media
Short-Media :: Friday, October 22, 2004
“The ultimate step by step guide to XViD. Every step explained. Every setting explained.”

OCZ Announces PC2-4200 DDR2 Platinum Revision 2 with 3-2-2 Timings
OCZ Technology :: Friday, October 22, 2004
OCZ Technology Group, a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory, today announced the release of the revision of PC2-4200 Enhanced Bandwidth DDR2 Platinum Edition series. OCZ’s PC2-4200 Platinum Revision 2 possesses 3-2-2 timings, delivering significantly lower latencies than standard 533 MHz DDR2 modules.

“With the adoption of DDR2 into the mainstream, coupled with the negligible performance advantage of stock DDR2 over performance DDR1, OCZ saw the demand for an ultra-high performance DDR2 part at 533MHz,” said Dr. Michael Schuette, Director of Technology Development at OCZ Technology Group. “With the new revision of Enhanced Bandwidth DDR2, OCZ once again sets the industry pace for maximum memory bandwidth and performance.”

For more information please visit this link http://www.ocztechnology.com/aboutocz/press/2004/112

SuperTalent, Geil, Wintec Amp-X Budget Memory Roundup Review at 3DX
3dXtreme :: Friday, October 22, 2004

“Today 3DXtreme takes at a look some budget memory covering a wide spectrum from PC3200 to PC3700 and varying from CAS 2 to CAS 3. We have Wintec Amp-X Gaming modules, SuperTalent 512MB CAS2 modules and some Geil Value PC3200. This gives us an opportunity to evaluate lesser known brand names to see how they compare to a more well known brand. Like a lot of electronics today it doesn’t take much to create a product, all that needs to be done is base it on a well established IC chip like Samsung or Infineon and the result is a product that performs nearly as well as the top of the line memory for considerably less. Let’s have a look at our memory offerings today and see how well they performed.”

Ultra Mini Portable Hard Drive Enclosure
Overclockers Online :: Friday, October 22, 2004

“ The Ultra Mini Portable Hard Drive Enclosure is a good solution in my book. While it is certainly not perfect, it’s small size, simple looks, connectivity, and performance are enough to leave me feeling satisfied using this as a portable storage solution. The convenience of being able to carry so much space over to the next room, a friends house, or on vacation and simply plugging it in makes it extremely useful. “

Ultimate Mobile iPod Project @ The Tech Zone
The Tech Zone :: Thursday, October 21, 2004
“There are many companies that make interface modules to integrate your iPod to your car but without a doubt the Alpine KCA-420i is the best. Alpine can teach AMD a thing or two about doing a “paper launch”. The KCA-420i was announced back in January at the 2004 CES but have just now hit the market. My advice to Alpine: If you announce a new product, it’s best to ship it within a month or two from the announcement date.”

Cooler Master CoolViva Review @ pcmoddingmy.com
PC Modding Malaysia :: Thursday, October 21, 2004

“The entire surface of the heat sinks and heat pipe is really hot during operation. This further proves that the heat pipe is doing an excellent job in transfering the heat efficiently to the rear heat sink which further helps to dissipate the heat faster. Cooler Master’s Cool Viva is definitely a great graphic card cooler which is guaranteed to be able to cater for future graphic processing unit cooling as well. Being the first graphic cooler from Cooler Master, Cool Viva really shines in both performance and silence.”

Scythe Kama CPU Cooler @ Phoronix
Phoronix :: Thursday, October 21, 2004
“Scythe, a company focused on manufacturing reliable cooling components, has eight CPU coolers on the market right now. They also offer hard drive cooling, a fan-less case, and other additional cooling accessories. Will the Scythe Kama perform up to expectations or will it be another heatsink to throw into storage?”

NV Silencer 5 Review @ HTPCnews.com
HTPCnews :: Thursday, October 21, 2004
“When it comes to silently cooling the ultra high end video cards these days, the option list isn’t long and one main company that comes to mind is Arctic Cooling. Today HTPCnews takes a look at the Arctic Cooling NV5 Cooler, which is made solely for cooling the Nvidia 6800 series cards. They test its noise performance along with it’s overall cooling performance in comparison to the stock cooler on a NV6800 card.”

Cooler Master Real Power 450W PSU Giveaway @ Systemcooling
SystemCooling :: Thursday, October 21, 2004
“Once again, it’s contest time!! Systemcooling.com has teamed up with our friends at Cooler Master to offer one another great Cooler Master product. This time around, one lucky winner is going to walk away with a shiny new Real Power 450W PSU!! Not only that, but we also have some great consolation prizes for you as well. See the forum thread for contest details. Good Luck!!!”

Asus AX800XT/TVD Videocard Review @ PCstats.com
PCStats :: Thursday, October 21, 2004
“In this review PCstats is testing one of Asus’s flagship Radeon videocards, the AX800XT/TVD. Built on the extremely popular ATI Radeon X800 XT Platinum Edition VPU, I’m sure you can already guess that the benchmark results are going to be fast… like hella-fast! ATI offload the production of their graphics processors to TSMC’s now aging 0.13 micron manufacturing process, and each one of these little slabs of silicone contains a full 160 million transistors. Backing those 160 million transistors is 256MB of Samsung 1.6ns DDR-3 memory, clocked at 1.12 GHz.”

MGE XG Sidewinder Case Review @ OCIA.net
OCIA :: Thursday, October 21, 2004

“Turning the case around we see the acrylic window and the two 80mm fans mounted to the side facing inward. I like the idea of two 80mm fans mounted like this, it should make for good airflow throughout the case. The acrylic window is secured with 8 screws, and it does not rattle one bit. I’ve had a couple of windows rattle around in previous cases just when taking the side off or moving the tower, and it just makes them feel cheap.”

Gigabyte 3D Rocket Pro Cooler @ PCReview
PCreview :: Thursday, October 21, 2004
“Since fitting an XP3200 to my machine, I’ve suffered cooling problems. At full load the CPU would peak at 65C with case temp hovering around 42C – which is obviously unacceptable.

After searching for an alternative, I found the Gigabyte 3D Rocket Pro Cooler in an attempt to solve my cooling problems. This particular cooler also comes with a fan speed module, allowing you to change the RPM of the fan. The cooler even comes fitted with 4 Blue LEDs which light up when in use, making this particularly attractive to case modders.”

AMD Athlon 64 4000+ Processor review @ Short-Media.com
Short-Media :: Thursday, October 21, 2004
“Short-Media takes a look at AMD’s newest Athlon 64 4000+ processor and how it stacks up against the competition.”

Soltek K8AN2E-GR nForce 3 250GB Motherboard Review
Overclockers New Zealand :: Monday, October 18, 2004

“Given its price, Soltek K8AN2E-GR would be a good choice for system builder, provided future BIOS releases increase the board’s stability. ”

CaseArts Molex Sleeving Kit Review @ VH
Virtual-Hideout :: Monday, October 18, 2004

“A custom case isn’t finished until all the details have been taken care of. One of the last tasks that needs to be accomplished is wire management. Even if your case doesn’t have a window in it, keeping the inside of the case free from clutter is important for cooling. For a case that is windowed, it is even more important to try your best to give the case a finished look. Neatly bound and sleeved wiring harnesses show others that you care about the details, and that can make your case a winner in a field of also-rans. Today I’ll be looking at the CaseArts Molex Sleeving Kit provided by the good folks at Directron.”

Swiftech H20-120 Water Cooling Kit @ Envy News
Envy News :: Monday, October 18, 2004

“The Swiftech H20-120 kit has two things different from other recently-released kits by Swiftech: Firstly, there’s the new MCP650 Pump from Swiftech’s recent acquisition. Then there’s the new MCR120-FB 120mm copper-core radiator implemented after requests by the community. And we are sure glad Swiftech listened! One 120mm radiator is preferred over 2x80mm radiators that Swiftech was previously offering.”

Corsair TWIN2X1024-5400C4PRO @ Viper Lair
ViperLair :: Monday, October 18, 2004

“Corsair has earned a reputation as makers of fast and reliable ram, and this tradition continues from past ram formats and into DDR-2. While not earth shattering, performance-wise today, DDR-2 is forward thinking as Intel scales their clock speeds, and the TWIN2X Pro Series is up to the task.”

Gigabyte GA-8GPNXP Duo @ Bjorn3D
Bjorn3D :: Monday, October 18, 2004

“Of course, companies like Gigabyte like to get in on the action in the enthusiast market. It’s the area where margins are higher and where a company can really get noticed. To that end, Gigabyte developed its flagship 8Sigma line of motherboards. This family of motherboards is billed by Gigabyte as a ‘Fusion of Top Innovations’, and it features support for Intel’s LGA775 Pentium 4 processor, DDR and DDR2 memory, Intel’s High Definition Audio, dual gigabit ethernet, and Gigabyte’s patented U-Plus D.P.S. eight-phase power circuit. I have been fortunate enough to get my hands on the GA-8GPNXP Duo from the 8Sigma line, and that is what we will be taking a look at in this review.”

Fortron Blue Storm 400W FSP400-60THN-R
InsaneTek :: Monday, October 18, 2004

“It’s a relatively unknown fact, but Fortron is a leading competitor when it comes to making quality power supplies. It was only last year that enthusiasts realized the quality and capabilities of Fortron power supplies. The 530W version stood out among the others. It has enough wattage to power everything you throw at it, and is backed up by quality stable rails. The most praised feature of the power supply is the adjustable potentiometers. It allowed enthusiasts to adjust the voltage rails to do some serious overclocking. Fortron continues to innovate in search of better power supplies and this time they’ve added some looks. The new Fortron Blue Storm is an all blue power supply and supplies a decent 400W of power. With such good looks, let’s hope they continue the quality they’re known for.”

October 2004 Giveaway @ Mikhailtech – 3 Weeks Left!
Mikhailtech :: Monday, October 18, 2004

“Just a heads up; there’s still almost 3 weeks left in our giveaway this month. Kingston is donating 5x 512MB HyperX memory kits and a 1GB CF card.”

Lian Li PC-V1000 Aluminum Case
SystemCooling :: Monday, October 18, 2004

“Looking back a few years, I remember when owning an all aluminum case brought a sense of prestige and absolute quality. Aluminum cases offered sleek and innovative designs, superb cooling and a fit and finish that steel cases could not match. But all of these improvements came at a high price and case manufacturers such as Lian Li, Cooler Master, Chenming and a few others were in fierce competition to win over a handful of potential customers. Recently the progress of all aluminum cases seems to have faded. Today we’re beginning to see more and more so called hybrid case that feature an all aluminum front with steel chassis. What is also noticeable is a bit of a relaxed attitude towards really refining these new cases and making them something special.”

Etymotic ER-6 Isolator Earphones Review
CoolTechZone :: Monday, October 18, 2004

“Audiophiles want not only the best speaker sets, but also the best pair of earphones and headphones for their portable enjoyment. The high demand from these enthusiasts and the commoners has led to the production of numerous high-end models that are produced by unlimited manufactuers. The enthusiast community, whether it is in computer hardware components or in audio, determines the strength and the path of the product and the market segment while being a rather small group when compared to average consumers. What we, as audiophiles, want in a pair of earphones or headphones is the highest possible quality of music. We want everything to be perfect and even want our earphones to outperform our speaker sets. ”

Silverstone SST-SP54 VFD display review @ ModdersHQ
ModdersHQ.net :: Monday, October 18, 2004

“Lets say you’re looking for a device with a customizable display that fits nicely in your 5.25 drive bay. You want this device to display such items as CPU temps, Winamps playlist and your folding@home User Rank. Today we are reviewing the SST-SP54 VFD (Vacuum Flurorescent Display), a product that claims to fit the bill by SilverStone.”

Epox EP-5EGA+ 915G Motherboard Review
PCStats :: Monday, October 18, 2004

“The Epox EP-5EGA+ is a next generation board which is based on the new Intel 915G and ICH6R chipsets. The standard flavour is the 915P, but as you guessed it, the 915G boasts its own Intel GMA900 integrated video package. It also comes with the high bandwidth PCI Express x16 slot for graphics cards, so there are couple options video-wise. If your computing requirements include high bandwidth peripherals like SCSI controllers or standalone Gigabit Ethernet NICs, there are two PCI Express x1 slots that have an amazing 250MB/s worth of bandwidth just waiting to be tapped! That is almost twice the regular PCI bus bandwidth! Of course, there are still four PCI v2.3 slots for your legacy devices, like sound cards, wireless LAN cards, or what have you.”

Arctic Silencer DIY Guide Posted!
Tech ARP :: Monday, October 18, 2004

“Most of us know of the Arctic Cooling Arctic Silencer graphics card cooler. Their latest iterations have an improved design, utilizing a copper base and thin aluminum fins. Today, I will show you how to make a similar GPU cooler, all for less than S$26 (USD 15)! How did I do it? Check out the guide and you will find out!”

XGI Volari V3XT @ Phoronix
Phoronix :: Monday, October 18, 2004

“With the emergence of the latest graphics processors from both ATI and NVIDIA, enthusiasts are mainly focused on the RADEON and GeForce cards. However, there are other manufacturers other than these two giants. At Phoronix we will take a look at one of XGI Technology’s latest offering, the Volari V3XT.”

AudioBUG AB-250 FM Wireless Transmitter Review
Futurelooks :: Monday, October 18, 2004

“This ingenious little device will enable you to play your music wirelessly to any FM radio receiver. Read on for more details…”

uilding The Ultimate LAN Party Computer
The Tech Zone :: Monday, October 18, 2004

So I was reading the latest issue of Mobile PC magazine where they tested 14 “desktop replacement” notebooks and proclaimed in big bold letters “Ding Dong The Desktop’s Dead!” It seems they were so impressed by some of these new breed of desktop replacement laptops that they feel no one needs a desktop anymore. They even went so far as to say these are the new LAN party machine kings.”

Akasa PaxPower @ Phoronix
Phoronix :: Saturday, October 16, 2004

“With the latest computer systems consuming more power than ever before, especially due to x16 PCI Express placing a strain on the power supply, a low-grade PSU will simply fail. In this article, we are going to be testing the PaxPower 460W from Akasa that comes complete with dual 12-volt rails and active PFC.”

Ground Control 2 review @ ocprices
OcPrices :: Saturday, October 16, 2004
“Ground Control was released four years ago and was a cult RTS game. While it literally horrified many loyal RTS fans by removing the traditional need to build bases and accumulate resources Ground Control impressed many by focussing on combat only. I was one of those who was impressed, so was excited by the news, previews and screenshots that headed my way when it’s sequel started to approach our monitors. The question is can Ground Control II: Operation Exodus live up to the high expectations that the first game has set?”

Gigabyte GA-8GPNXP Duo 915P Motherboard @ PCStats
PCStats :: Friday, October 15, 2004
“The Gigabyte GA-8GPNXP Duo will support up to 4GB of DDR-2 or DDR memory (though not at the same time); which is one the nicer features of the 915P chipset.There are two sockets for DDR-2 RAM, and four sockets for DDR RAM. Onboard components consists of an IDE RAID controller, IEEE 1394b fireware, four SATA channels, three PCI x1 slots, 7.1 channel Intel ‘High Definition Audio’, a PCI Express based Broadcom 5751 Gigabit NIC, a second PCI-based Gigabit Marvel NIC, an 802.11G wireless LAN card, and twin BIOS’. The software bundle includes all the typical fodder, including a copy of Norton Internet Security 2004.”

Coolmax Ultimate OS Backup Drive @ FastLaneHW
FastLaneHW :: Friday, October 15, 2004
“Viruses, worms, Windows system crashes, not a problem if you are the proud owner of Coolmax’s new Ultimate “OS” backup drive. Your Windows XP system restore feature did not work, once again not problem with the ultimate “OS” back up drive from Coolmax.”

Native Command Queuing & Seagate’s Barracuda 7200.7 @ ViperLair
ViperLair :: Friday, October 15, 2004
“For most home users, there will be no tangible benefit from Native Command Queuing. While benchmarks may look nice, our real-world tests said otherwise. That is not to say that NCQ is useless altogether, but for the majority of desktop computers, you’re not going to see a performance gain as you would with a jump to a newer processor. However, in situations when Hyper-Threading is being tapped, we saw some improvement in the results that would not be seen without a major hardware upgrade.”

Chenbro Xpider II Case Review @ Envy News
Envy News :: Friday, October 15, 2004

“No, this case does not belong to Spider-Man. Chenbro has transplanted their Gaming Bomb’s successful designs into a completely new line of ATX cases: The Xpider II. Chenbro has taken into consideration the questions and ideas handed to them by consumers and gamers worldwide in the hopes to better the Gaming Bomb’s design and provide a distinct case, in terms of features, with a distinct look. Was it successful? Read on to find out.”

PC Case Buyer’s Guide @ Mikhailtech
Mikhailtech :: Friday, October 15, 2004

“It is possible to build a fanless, or nearly fanless case, but it’s more costly and you will sacrifice some level of performance depending on your budget. A more practical solution is one with fewer, larger, slower spinning (and therefore quieter) fans. This is what office/quiet computer users and HTPC builders should strive for. Pick out a case with good airflow and preferably 120mm fan slots (instead of 80mm ones). You will get the same/greater airflow with less noise. Chances are it won’t be bling, but that’s not a main priority when building a “peaceful” PC. HTPC cases will rarely have 120mm fans due to their desktop form factor, so consider purchasing quiet 80mm fans. It’s not going to be the most demanding system so heat output will be lower.”

T-Balancer Temperature and Noise Balancer Review @ OCIA
OCIA :: Friday, October 15, 2004
“Face it, geeks are gadget freaks. We love neat “stuff”, especially those cool little gadgets designed for our computers. Many of us are also very concerned with fan noise. If you have read my earlier reviews, you have found that I have become somewhat anal about having a quiet rig. Well, I have discovered the mother of all “silent PC” gadgets, the mCubed T-Balancer.”

Thermalright XP-90 Review @ InsaneTek
InsaneTek :: Friday, October 15, 2004

“Thermalright has been busy coming up with great quality heatsinks at an affordable price. They listen to their customers and come up with excellent cooling solutions. First, they beef up the NB-1, resulting in the all copper NB-1C. Then, they blow up their heatpipe heatsink to accommodate large 120mm fans. The XP-120 reviewed recently was amazing. The heatsink was massive and provided excellent cooling with quiet operation, something extremely difficult to do. Yet, everything has its downfalls. The XP-120 does not fit all motherboards. The large heatpipes and fins get in the way of capacitors on some motherboards. The XP-120 also comes with a rather steep price tag. The massive heatsink comes in at a retail price of $49.95. It’s true that the performance is worth the money, but there is also the risk of having compatibility problems. On that note, the XP-90 steps in.”

Image Design Contest @ Overclockers Online
Overclockers Online :: Friday, October 15, 2004
“We will be giving our lucky graphics designer a Zalman ZM80D HP VGA cooler! Albatron has just stepped in and said they’ll be giving away one of there video cards to make this contest even better! Get your entries in before November 15th 2004!”

10 Tips To Safe Online Shopping @ The Tech Zone
The Tech Zone :: Friday, October 15, 2004
“The internet has changed our buying habits. Many people have found the convenience of online shopping to be a great experience. You can easily click and see the product. You have a fun time shopping, browsing, reading and getting informed about products. And you don’t have to take time out from your busy schedule to fight traffic, crowds and lines to buy the perfect gift for your recipient.

No wonder Internet business generated $301 billion in revenue last year, by a University of Texas estimate.

If you compare shopping online to offline you would think as far as security goes, it would favor offline shopping, right? Not really.”

Cooler Master CoolDrive 6 @ Systemcooling
SystemCooling :: Friday, October 15, 2004

“When Cooler Master grafted the Aerogate II multifunction panel onto a CoolDrive 3 hard drive cooler, they immediately had one of the best multifunction devices on the market in the CoolDrive 4. Never one to rest on their laurels though, they came up with a whole new version of this great device. Their newest effort in the hard drive cooling world, the CoolDrive 6 (don’t know what happened to the CoolDrive 5…maybe it’s a secret weapon :-D) aims to better the CoolDrive 4 with some features you’d expect as well as some you’ve never seen before in such a device.”

Imation 1GB USB 2.0 Swivel Flash Drive @ Bjorn3D
Bjorn3D :: Friday, October 15, 2004
“If you have a USB flash drive, you probably have a little cap you have to keep track of when you use the device. Imation has a solution for this hassle and risk (we all lose little things, after all) in the form of the USB 2.0 Swivel USB Flash Drive.”

Silverstone SST-SP54 VFD display review @ ModdersHQ
ModdersHQ.net :: Thursday, October 14, 2004

A quote “Lets say you’re looking for a device with a customizable display that fits nicely in your 5.25 drive bay. You want this device to display such items as CPU temps, Winamps playlist and your folding@home User Rank. Today we are reviewing the SST-SP54 VFD (Vacuum Flurorescent Display), a product that claims to fit the bill by SilverStone.”

Intel & AMD Dual Core CPU’s Explained @ DataFuse.net
DataFuse :: Thursday, October 14, 2004
“Both AMD and Intel are racing towards the next step of processor technology. Ever since Intel’s Pentium 4 it has become much harder to run cpu’s at higher speeds.

LeadTek WinFast A400 Ultra/GT TDH 6800 Review @ Beyond3D
Beyond3D :: Thursday, October 14, 2004
“At a glance, the only noticeable difference between the two boards is the additional Molex connector visible on the 6800 Ultra-based card – aside from that, both boards use the same, near-silent two slot cooling solution. Despite its ‘monster cooling’ look, the fan noise from these boards is indeed reasonably quiet, and certainly not noticeably loud over the rest of the components in an average system, even in an open case.”

Review: XTrac Ripper XL Optical Mousepad @ GideonTech.com
GideonTech :: Thursday, October 14, 2004
“Today we are taking a look at the Ripper XL mousepad from XTrac. With a cloth top, anti-skid rubber backing, and the biggest surface area I have ever seen, this mousepad might be what you have been searching for.”

Gigabyte GA-8GPNXP Duo @ Bjorn3D
Bjorn3D :: Thursday, October 14, 2004
Of course, companies like Gigabyte like to get in on the action in the enthusiast market. It’s the area where margins are higher and where a company can really get noticed. To that end, Gigabyte developed its flagship 8Sigma line of motherboards. This family of motherboards is billed by Gigabyte as a ‘Fusion of Top Innovations’, and it features support for Intel’s LGA775 Pentium 4 processor, DDR and DDR2 memory, Intel’s High Definition Audio, dual gigabit ethernet, and Gigabyte’s patented U-Plus D.P.S. eight-phase power circuit. I have been fortunate enough to get my hands on the GA-8GPNXP Duo from the 8Sigma line, and that is what we will be taking a look at in this review.

Arctic Silencer DIY Guide Posted!
Tech ARP :: Thursday, October 14, 2004

“Most of us know of the Arctic Cooling Arctic Silencer graphics card cooler. Their latest iterations have an improved design, utilizing a copper base and thin aluminum fins.

Today, I will show you how to make a similar GPU cooler, all for less than S$26 (USD 15)! How did I do it? Check out the guide and you will find out!”

ED#28 : Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier Updated!
Tech ARP :: Thursday, October 14, 2004

“I’m proud to announce that my book, Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier : The Definitive BIOS Optimization Guide for PCs will be available all over the world by October 15th. We will also be launching a mega-contest simultaneously with prizes worth almost USD 5000! The book is 368 pages thick and will cover many topics on the BIOS. It won’t just be a compilation of the BIOS feature descriptions in our online BIOS Optimization Guide. This will be a complete guide on how to optimize the BIOS and how to recover from any problems that may occur.”

Designtechnica Looks at the PCMCIA Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Notebook
Designtechnica :: Thursday, October 14, 2004
“Owners of average notebooks (i.e. most of us) are generally happy with the Internet and office related functions our machines provide us. What about multimedia and gaming though? It tends to be the case that the audio we hope for is either at the mercy of highly inferior built-in speakers, or confined to limited stereo options through the headphone/portable speakers jack. To get around this, Creative thinks they’ve found a solution to get us the same high-end surround sound and dramatic audio quality we have on our souped-up desktops at home.”

Coolmax 3.5 Xtreme Files (F1) Review
Hardware-Pacers :: Thursday, October 14, 2004

“Coolmax’s new Xtreme Files 5-in-1 OS Backup / Data Backup / Restore system is a truly outstanding innovation. This system provides a user with 80GB of storage space to backup files or operating systems, or restore files. This system has a spectacular design and can be used right out of the box for data storage, or after a few simple steps can be used for operating system backups.”

October 2004 Giveaway @ Mikhailtech – 3 Weeks Left!
Mikhailtech :: Thursday, October 14, 2004

Just a heads up; there’s still almost 3 weeks left in our giveaway this month. Kingston is donating 5x 512MB HyperX memory kits and a 1GB CF card.

How To Turn A Computer Into A Book Case @ The Tech Zone
The Tech Zone :: Thursday, October 14, 2004
Strip the old work horse down to the bones… and sell what you can on eBay (don’t tell work though, they though this heap o junk was for the scrap heap!)

News Flash – AudioBUG AB-250 FM Wireless Transmitter Review
Futurelooks :: Thursday, October 14, 2004
“This ingenious little device will enable you to play your music wirelessly to any FM radio receiver. Read on for more details…”

Saitek Cyborg Evo review @ ModdersHQ.net
ModdersHQ.net :: Thursday, October 14, 2004

“In the past, people only used joysticks for Flight Simulator games but now there is a vast selection of PC games incorporating the use of joysticks. Now imagine a joystick that is completely customizable to fit your hand. This is definitely the stick of choice on paper…let’s see how it handles in real life.”

Building The Ultimate LAN Party Computer @ The Tech Zone
The Tech Zone :: Thursday, October 14, 2004

So I was reading the latest issue of Mobile PC magazine where they tested 14 “desktop replacement” notebooks and proclaimed in big bold letters “Ding Dong The Desktop’s Dead!” It seems they were so impressed by some of these new breed of desktop replacement laptops that they feel no one needs a desktop anymore. They even went so far as to say these are the new LAN party machine kings.

The desktop’s dead, huh? I’ll show you how dead it is! The above photo shows my version of the ultimate LAN party machine. When Mobile PC reads this they’ll be shaking in their pink slippers. The above system carries so much fire power it will eat the Aviator GX7 for lunch and spit out the bones.

Memory PCB Selection Matters
Legit Reviews :: Thursday, October 14, 2004

“We found that at tight timings (2-2-2-5) the difference in PCB’s is minimal and insignificant. So, if you are not an enthusiast/overclocker then this article will not impact your buying decisions. If you are an overclocker looking to get the highest possible FSB/Memory performance at loose timings, then we just showed you a secret that can help you gain up to 42MHz on your memory overclock….”

HEXUS.net Feature: 3DMark05 – A closer look
Hexus :: Thursday, October 14, 2004
“Given that 3DMark05 is a benchmark where, ideally, repeatable, equivalent workloads should be performed providing cards are of equal capability, it’s a shame to see DST acceleration make it into 3DMark05 as a default choice until such time as it’s the case that the feature ships with a majority of hardware. PCF even more so, for visual output reasons too. Their inclusion in the default benchmark of the free download version of 05 means that non-equivalent work is being done when you’re comparing cards where one or more of them don’t have accelerated DST capability.”

Soltek K8AN2E-GR nForce 3 250GB Motherboard Review
Overclockers New Zealand :: Thursday, October 14, 2004
“Given its price, Soltek K8AN2E-GR would be a good choice for system builder, provided future BIOS releases increase the board’s stability. ”

Fortron Blue Storm 400W FSP400-60THN-R
InsaneTek :: Thursday, October 14, 2004

“It’s a relatively unknown fact, but Fortron is a leading competitor when it comes to making quality power supplies. It was only last year that enthusiasts realized the quality and capabilities of Fortron power supplies. The 530W version stood out among the others. It has enough wattage to power everything you throw at it, and is backed up by quality stable rails. The most praised feature of the power supply is the adjustable potentiometers. It allowed enthusiasts to adjust the voltage rails to do some serious overclocking. Fortron continues to innovate in search of better power supplies and this time they’ve added some looks. The new Fortron Blue Storm is an all blue power supply and supplies a decent 400W of power. With such good looks, let’s hope they continue the quality they’re known for.”

Jetart Multi-Function Xpanel Review @ pcmoddingmy.com
PC Modding Malaysia :: Thursday, October 14, 2004

“You’re building your dream machine and you happen to find some cool looking fans to go along with it. You installed the fan and found that it’s making unwanted noise even when your system is idling. So you look for a perfect controller that suits your budget and you plan to get a hard drive cooler at the same time. If you need a fan controller cum hard drive cooler, look no further. Jetart has the right product for you, the Xpanel. Therefore we took a look at the Multi-Function Xpanel (DT5000) in this review.”

XGI Volari V3XT @ Phoronix
Phoronix :: Thursday, October 14, 2004

check it outSummary: “With the emergence of the latest graphics processors from both ATI and NVIDIA, enthusiasts are mainly focused on the RADEON and GeForce cards. However, there are other manufacturers other than these two giants. At Phoronix we will take a look at one of XGI Technology’s latest offering, the Volari V3XT.”

Epox EP-5EGA+ 915G Motherboard Review
PCStats :: Thursday, October 14, 2004
“The Epox EP-5EGA+ is a next generation board which is based on the new Intel 915G and ICH6R chipsets. The standard flavour is the 915P, but as you guessed it, the 915G boasts its own Intel GMA900 integrated video package. It also comes with the high bandwidth PCI Express x16 slot for graphics cards, so there are couple options video-wise. If your computing requirements include high bandwidth peripherals like SCSI controllers or standalone Gigabit Ethernet NICs, there are two PCI Express x1 slots that have an amazing 250MB/s worth of bandwidth just waiting to be tapped! That is almost twice the regular PCI bus bandwidth! Of course, there are still four PCI v2.3 slots for your legacy devices, like sound cards, wireless LAN cards, or what have you.”

PolarFlo TT Chipset Block Review
GruntvillE :: Wednesday, October 13, 2004

“There are 3 pieces; the base, cover, and mounting ring. Simply put, the base and cover screw together and the mounting ring sits between them along with an O-ring for seal. With this design, you have the ability to purchase a new base from PolarFlo when the next generation blocks are released. If you upgrade in another year from the Intel 875P motherboard to a K8T800 or Intel 925X and need a new mounting ring, simply order it from PolarFlo. And if PolarFLO has a new and improved copper base, order that too and replace the old one.”

AGP-e Slot on 915 boards compared
t-break :: Wednesday, October 13, 2004

“Basically, an AGPe slot is formed by converting two PCI slots into an AGP slot. Theoretically, the bandwidth supported by the PCI slot is 66MB/s and thus two slots would yield 133MB/s. This is a far cry from an AGP 8X slot’s theoretical 2.1GB/s bandwidth which is almost 16 times more. However, things don’t necessarily work at their peak rates and thus today we take a look at Albatron’s PX915P-AGPe motherboard featuring both- an AGPe and a PCI-E slot and compare the difference using identical or similar graphics cards- the nVidia 6800GT and the 5750/5700Ultra”

Athlon 64 3200+ 90nm (S939) – The next P4 2.4 “C” ?
Madshrimps :: Wednesday, October 13, 2004

“Combining affordable pricings, good overclockability, top level performance and the ability to keep things cool is what we enthusiasts pursue in our quests to build high performance computers. Does the new S939 3200+ 0.09µ have these attributes? Find out as we compare to an expensive FX53, a cheaper S754 3400+ and a mid-range S939 3500+ CPU.”

FIC Condor SFF Reviewed
Techwarelabs :: Wednesday, October 13, 2004

“FIC has introduced a new machine to the market, targeting those in search of a powerful, upgradeable, and portable small form factor (SFF) machine. The Condor does all this, in a stylish, tool-free SFF case, which houses an Intel motherboard with onboard video, an AGP 8x slot, and two PCI slots, for huge potential power from a portable machine.”

OCZ PowerStream Featured in ABS High-Performance Gaming Systems
OCZ Technology :: Tuesday, October 12, 2004
OCZ Technology is happy to announce that ABS Computer Technologies will be featuring the OCZ 520 Watt PowerStream as the top upgrade option for power supplies on their Awesome 6500 and Ultimate X6 gaming systems. ABS is one of the nation’s largest System Integrators and have over fourteen years of experience in the industry and have won countless awards and accolades. “We are excited to be able to offer OCZ PowerStream power supplies in our line of high-performance power systems and gaming systems. With features like PowerFlex, we are ensuring that our customers are getting the absolute top performance possible out of their systems,” said Roger Wong, ABS Marketing Supervisor.

Link: http://www.ocztechnology.com/aboutocz/press/2004/111

Viper ATX Gaming Case @ AMD Review
AMD Review :: Tuesday, October 12, 2004

“When I first opened the packaging I was excited to see all the features packed into this nice mid-tower aluminum ATX case, which included an 500w power supply. I noticed the nice glossy red paint of this case. The chassis is painted flat red to match the glossy exterior. This model is also available in blue. The case was made with the idea of gaming in mind, noticing the handles and the lightweight aluminum construction.”

CoolerMaster AquaGate Watercooling System
AusPCWorld :: Tuesday, October 12, 2004

“WaterCooling has been around for a while, but has always been either too expensive, too complex or the thought of running a liquid throughout your PC has put many PC users off using a kit of this nature. However companies such as Coolermaster have invested time and money into developing a kit that is not only simple to install, but does the job it is supposed to do – Cooling your CPU with Liquid. Today we take a look at the Coolermaster Aquagate Liquid Cooling Kit.”

Mushkin PC3200 V2 Enhanced Latency DDR Review
Overclocker Café :: Tuesday, October 12, 2004

“Being able to retain its factory tight 2-2-2-5 timings at 211MHz and then capable of hitting a whopping 254MHz with them loosened up speaks volumes. I believe the low latency DDR400 memory products is the place to be. You get phenomenal performance at DDR400 speed and by loosening up the timings, bl-ingo you have DDR500. Pricing is right in line with the other products in this category. While $320 is nothing to sneeze at you do get what you pay for and in this case, then some.”

Antec NeoPower 480
Bjorn3D :: Tuesday, October 12, 2004

“Another trend that is obvious to those of us who follow modding, even if just a little, is the increasing demand for so-called ‘modular’ PSUs. A modular PSU is one that allows you to connect only the cables that you need for your system, thus reducing clutter and hopefully increasing airflow inside your case. This type of unit allows for instant customization and a great amount of flexibility. At first, modular PSUs were only seen at online retailers that offer custom products and modding supplies. Now, there are several modular PSUs being mass produced, and one of those is the NeoPower 480 from Antec.”

Ultra XConnect 500 Watt Power Supply @ OCIA.net
OCIA :: Tuesday, October 12, 2004

“Installation is basically the same as for any other power supply. I first mounted the power supply in my case, then figured out the minimal amount of cables that I could utilize for powering all of my hardware. After that, all that is left is the simple task of plugging them in. The cables are rather stiff near the ends (plugs), so if you have a case with a side-ways mounted hard drive rack, it may be a very tight fit, if they fit at all.”

SimpleTech PC3700 Nitro Series Memory Review
CoolTechZone :: Tuesday, October 12, 2004

“If you have been following our memory analysis for the past month or so, you will realize that DDR1 is clearly the choice over DDR2, at least for now. DDR1 is simply too mature when it comes to directly comparing it with DDR2. However, it is not anyone’s fault and we can’t blame anyone for the perfomance competition between the previous generation and next generation products. Intel was right in its own defense; it had to introduce newer and higher performing products in order to compete with AMD, but apparently their strategy didn’t work as well as they hoped it would.”

Swiftech MCX478-V Heatsink
Hard-h2o :: Tuesday, October 12, 2004

“Today we review the well known Swiftech MCX478-V heatsink. It is nice heatsink designed with a huge cooper base and aluminium pins instead of fins. This version uses 478 socket and it is very easy to install.”

500 Watt Ultra X-Connect Power Supply Review
The Tech Zone :: Tuesday, October 12, 2004

“The X-Connect 500 is the next generation of power supplies. Ultra Products has taken power supply design to the next level and then some with this baby. I have never seen such an innovative design before, as the X-Connect is both practical and beautiful. The detachable power lines are sheer genius, allowing you to keep your case looking super clean by letting you detach unused power lines. Topping all this off is the low price, just $99.99! 500 watts for less than $100? Simply amazing! The X-Connect Ultra would be a bargain even at twice that price.”

Socket 939 Motherboards – MSI and nVidia vs. ABIT and VIA
TweakTown :: Tuesday, October 12, 2004

“Mike has served us up some AMD related content today where he compares two Socket 939 Athlon 64 motherboards. The first is the MSI K8N Neo 2 Platinum which is based on nVidia’s nForce3 Ultra chipset and the second is the ABIT AV8 3rd Eye which is based on VIA’s K8T800 chipset. We tested with an Athlon 64 FX-53 along with a whole bunch of benchmarks over a whooping 24 pages.”

Abit SV-1A Socket 939 motherboard with PCI-X and integrated ATI Rage XL Graphics
AMDboard :: Tuesday, October 12, 2004

“Just after its first dual-AMD Opteron SU-2S and PCI-Express Socket 939 AX8, Abit is shaking again the AMD universe with the SV-1A, an incredible socket 939 motherboard! Sporting a VIA K8T800 Pro northbridge and a VIA VT8237 southbridge, the mainboard offers, thanks to VIA VPX II, the PCI-X controller from the chipset king, a complete 3-slots PCI-X support that goes with 1 PCI slot, 6 to 10 S-ATA connectors (2 S-ATA I and 4 to 8 S-ATA II), Gigabit LAN, integrated ATI Rage XL Graphics and much more. Complete specification and photos of this new hardware marvel are all at AMDboard, the AMD specialist:”

MSI 865PE Neo2-P Platinum Edition Motherboard Review
PC Modding Malaysia :: Tuesday, October 12, 2004

“With its overclocking potential and stability, the Neo2-P can take overclocking to another level. Being said so, the NB heatsink might require an active cooler as it tends to get quite hot there. Also, if you’re planning to transfer huge chunks of video files using Firewire, you can forget getting this motherboard as it does not come with a Firewire port. However, getting a PCI Firewire solution will solve your problem. Using the CoreCenter and LiveUpdate functions cetianly made overclocking and BIOS updating a relieve! The nicely designed packaging will definitely get into your attention and with a budget price tag on its box, you can’t go wrong with the Neo2-P. Moreover, the Neo2-P also received a TUV award for certified durability. We can’t recommend you more to go and get this motherboard if you’re on a tight budget.”

Asetek Vapochill Light Speed Review @ ocprices.com
OcPrices :: Tuesday, October 12, 2004

“Asetek has been at the top of the PC phase change cooling industry for many years now, and whilst competitors have come and gone, they remain supreme as the only firm who have lasted the distance. The latest fallen competitor, nVENTIV, formerly known as Chip-Con had a very powerful base unit cooler called the Prometeia Mach II. Asetek’s Vapochill LS is quite a similar unit, but has a more powerful compressor, comes with an LCD display and aluminium cladding as standard, making it considerably better value than the Mach II.”

Antec TruePower 330W Power Supply Review
PCStats :: Tuesday, October 12, 2004

“Today we’re going to be checking out a budget-oriented Antec power supply called the TruePower 330W PSU. It’s doesn’t have flashy lights, LED fans or other gimmicky items. With a retail price of $73 CDN ($57 US) the Antec TruePower is not the cheapest 330W PSU around, but it should be among the best you can get in its class.”

Professional Headphone & Audio Accessory Roundup Review
Hardware-Pacers :: Tuesday, October 12, 2004

“While many people in the world find wearing headphones a ‘Necessary Evil’ that comes with portable music listening, HeadRoom Corporation knows about and caters to the large segment of the population that enjoy listening to music through the wonderful world of headphones. Some unsavvy consumers will find 15 dollar headphones that come with portable music players acceptable, however, many music connoisseurs have found listening to music using traditional means is lacking in quality. HeadRoom has an extensive product line that will accommodate any music buff that desires increased performance from personal audio equipment. Whether the consumer wishes to own the most extravagant audio headphones and accessories, or simply wants quality audio with a small budget, HeadRoom has the product line to meet the needs of the customer.”

Vantec NexStar NST-350UF External HD Enclosure Review
MODTHEBOX! :: Tuesday, October 12, 2004

“The NexStar NST-350UF is a first generation external hard drive enclosure and is available in two different models. The NST-350UF is a dual combination enclosure that supports both USB and Firewire technologies. The premise behind this product is that it has been designed for home networks, offices, and small to medium businesses.”

WireWeight Review @ PC Modding Malaysia
PC Modding Malaysia :: Sunday, October 10, 2004

“It doesn’t matter whether you are a gamer or not. If you have a mouse wire weight problem, WireWeight is a good solution for you. The price is acceptable at only USD11.59. Besides the efficiency of WireWeight, it is stylish, portable, and easy to install. Now with this WireWeight, you can finally gain back the control over your mouse wire and once again feel the return of the freedom on mouse movement.”

Logisys UV Molex Sleeve Kit Review @ Mikhailtech
Mikhailtech :: Sunday, October 10, 2004

“The rations struck me as odd. Generally UV sleeving kits are meant for PSU mods so it makes sense to have the ATX, AUX, P4 12V, floppy, and 4-pin female molex connectors. However, there are no power supplies that make direct use of male 4-pin molex connectors. I’m assuming these extras were included for swapping out connectors of other components that hook up to the PSU (such as fans). There are also no SATA ones present. Another oddity is the UV sleeve length: only 5ft. This may seem like a lot, but unless you have a generic PSU with few, short cables, you’ll run out before you cover even half the wires, meaning you’ll need to purchase at least two of these kits for a complete overhaul. Finally, there’s no heatshrink so you’ll need either buy your own or use tape cover up the tips of your cable mesh to prevent parting. On a brighter note, the female Molex connectors have grips on both sides for easier removal once they’re hooked up to a device.”

SilverStone Temjin TJ-05 Case Review @ 3dXtreme
3dXtreme :: Sunday, October 10, 2004
“The SilverStone TJ05 is just a monster of a Case, it’s spacious and rigid. The quality behind this Case was never and will never be questioned. If you are looking for a LAN Party Case, look elsewhere. If you are looking for something to last a lifetime – this is it!”

Value Gaming PC Buyer’s Guide @ Sharky Extreme
Sharky Extreme :: Sunday, October 10, 2004
“Our October Value Gaming PC Buyer’s Guide has been posted, and once again we’re armed with $1,000 in cash and are looking for performance Intel and AMD gaming systems.”

CoolerMaster AquaGate Watercooling System @ AusPCWorld
AusPCWorld :: Sunday, October 10, 2004
“WaterCooling has been around for a while, but has always been either too expensive, too complex or the thought of running a liquid throughout your PC has put many PC users off using a kit of this nature. However companies such as Coolermaster have invested time and money into developing a kit that is not only simple to install, but does the job it is supposed to do – Cooling your CPU with Liquid. Today we take a look at the Coolermaster Aquagate Liquid Cooling Kit.”

GeIL Ultra-X PC3200 Memory Review @ PCStats
PCStats :: Saturday, October 09, 2004
“As usual we started with the Athlon64 overclocking first, and without much fan fare the GeIL DDR reached timings of 2-2-2-5 on an Asus K8V motherboard with absolutely no problems. After raising the motherboard clock speed a few MHz at a time, we ran into a few stability problems at the 210 MHz mark. Increasing the DIMM voltage to 2.8V solved this issue and we continued on to 227 MHz. Unfortunately, any speeds higher would cause instability, but 227 MHz is certainly not too bad for PC3200 memory!”

CoolerMaster X-Dream III Review @ OCIA
OCIA :: Saturday, October 09, 2004

“Well, I’m still trying to lower the noise level of that noisy rig that sits about 2 feet from my head while I’m at my desk. I’ve installed an Ultra-Quiet PSU, a nice, quiet cooler for the video card, and even added some acoustic foam. Each time I’ve added “silent” hardware, everything else sounds louder. Now I’m going to try to lose some decibels from the CPU cooler, with the ACC-L81, also known as the Cooler Master X Dream III CPU Cooler”

Antec NeoPower 480 PSU Review @ GruntvillE
GruntvillE :: Saturday, October 09, 2004

“Since then, I have run up to 10 Laser LEDs, 6 CCFL’s, 15 fans (8 LED and 7 non-LED), 3 HDs, a CD writer, DVD writer, various video cards, etc, etc. Get the point? Not once, have I had an issue with power. Until today, I have been running my Antec TrueBlue non-stop, pushing the max at times. With all the new products, come new innovations. Power Supplies today have lights, fans, and are modular. What? Modular, meaning the cables can be added according to the users needs. No more silly floppy connector if you aren’t using a floppy.”

Wisetech ATA 100/133 Round IDE Cables @ GideonTech
GideonTech :: Saturday, October 09, 2004
“These days most everyone in the modding community runs round IDE cables in their computers. What was once a time consuming and risky process of rounding your own cables has now been replaced by manufactured cables that are round right out of the box. Wisetech has sent us some samples of their new ATA 100/133 round cables for us to take a look at.”

CoolMax Xtreme Files F1 @ Phoronix
Phoronix :: Saturday, October 09, 2004

“CoolMax, a company which was founded in 1992 with an ambition for manufacturing AC and DC voltage fans, but had later diversified its outlook and began developing an entirely new assortment of products, has recently released the Xtreme Files (F1): The “OS” Ultimate 5-in-1 External Enclosure for HDD. This device can backup/restore your operating system or selected files at the touch of a button.”

Abit IC7-MAX3 Motherboard Review @ PC Modding Malaysia
PC Modding Malaysia :: Friday, October 08, 2004

“The IC7-MAX3 comes with a hefty price tag but considering the amount of features and functions you get, it’s worth the price. The OTES cooling system not only looked great, but it serves a good purpose in keeping the MOSFETs cool. The Softmenu functions in the BIOS makes overclocking a breeze thus giving unlimited access to the user to various voltage, speed and ratio settings on their system.”

Asetek WaterChill Antarctica (Socket T) @ Overclockers Online
Overclockers Online :: Friday, October 08, 2004
“With Intel’s new socket T platform, asetek had to redesign their waterblock’s cover for compatibility. In this look, we compare the performance of this new cover to that of the stock cooler Intel provides.”

Gigabyte GO-U0128B USB Flash Drive Review @ PCStats
PCStats :: Friday, October 08, 2004
“Gigabyte’s entry into the world of Hi-Speed USB flash drives is the aptly named GO-U0128B, and it has to be one of the most compact flash drives we have ever tested. The whole device measures 45 x 20 x 9mm when the USB jack is retracted into its protective case. The GO-U0128B flash drive comes encased in an aluminum and plastic shell, and a small thumb catch allows users to extend the USB jack out (click to lock it!) when they want to use the device. No cap? Wonderful!”

Case Modding Contest – One week left @ InsaneTek
InsaneTek :: Friday, October 08, 2004
“There is exactly one week left before the contest ends. Hurry and submit your beautiful projects before it’s too late!”

Cable-Safe Cable Manager @ PimpRig
PimpRig :: Friday, October 08, 2004

“This review was brought to you by a couple of guys that had a rat’s nest of cables behind seven systems. I have a hard enough time with two to three systems let alone seven of them! They figured that there has to be a better way. With serious conviction of thought, research, and creativity, they developed the Cable Manager.”

Logisys Dracula Special Edition @ Phoronix
Phoronix :: Friday, October 08, 2004
“When we first came across the Logisys Dracula ATX case, we were startled by its appearance. Whilst the majority of the case is mid-night blue there is a good amount of chrome, making the Logisys Dracula one of the most unique looking cases we have seen to date!”

LIS 2 Indicator VFD Display Device Review @ Short-Media
Short-Media :: Friday, October 08, 2004
“The L.I.S. 2 Indicator is more than a pretty face. It’s a fan controller too. Virtual Lab System took the VFD display device one step further by incorporating a 4-channel fan controller. The L.I.S. 2 Indicator surpasses other units in aesthetics, price and features but there are areas that didn’t quite measure up.”

Coping with a Serious Data Loss @ The Tech Zone
The Tech Zone :: Friday, October 08, 2004
“Data loss is an expensive reality. It’s a hard fact that it happens more often then users like to admit. A recent study by the accounting firm McGladrey and Pullen estimates that one out of every 500 data centers will experience a severe computer disaster this year. As a result, almost half of those companies will go out of business. At the very least, a data loss disaster can mean lost income and missed business opportunities. ”

Antec Sonata @ Phoronix
Phoronix :: Thursday, October 07, 2004

Summary: “Antec, a name common in the computer industry for manufacturing reputable power supplies and cases, recently gave us an opportunity to examine the Antec Sonata, which is dubbed the quietest case available, but is it really worth your hard-earned paycheck?.”

The Paperless Office Editorial @ The Tech Zone
The Tech Zone :: Thursday, October 07, 2004
While predictions of the paperless office began over 10 years ago, statistics show that 90% of the world’s information is still on paper. Can this change? Will it? After spending more than 20 years in offices of all sizes, from one-person home-based businesses to the offices of the largest corporations in the world, I contend that a more important question is “Can you find the information you need when you need it — regardless of the form it takes?” I have yet to find a company that was able to manage its electronic information effectively without first learning to manage the paper? Why? Because we haven’t addressed four fundamental questions of information management.

Professional Headphone and Audio Accessory Roundup Review
Hardware-Pacers :: Thursday, October 07, 2004

“While many people in the world find wearing headphones a ‘Necessary Evil’ that comes with portable music listening, HeadRoom Corporation knows about and caters to the large segment of the population that enjoy listening to music through the wonderful world of headphones. Some unsavvy consumers will find 15 dollar headphones that come with portable music players acceptable, however, many music connoisseurs have found listening to music using traditional means is lacking in quality. HeadRoom has an extensive product line that will accommodate any music buff that desires increased performance from personal audio equipment. Whether the consumer wishes to own the most extravagant audio headphones and accessories, or simply wants quality audio with a small budget, HeadRoom has the product line to meet the needs of the customer.”

DawG PounD Giveaway, 2 TrackIR 3 Pros @ GruntvillE.com
GruntvillE :: Thursday, October 07, 2004

“Natural Point is working hard to get all of the game developers to include support for the unit and is having quite a bit of success in doing so. We all know what success means, no not just hot chicks and nice cars, it means more development on the unit. Who knows, in a few years, it might not be fun to play a First Person Shooter without one! ”

TweakTown New Content Alert! (4th October 2004 – DDR vs. DDR-2)
TweakTown :: Thursday, October 07, 2004
“Today we have posted an article for you which investigates the current state of DDR vs. DDR-2 memory in the industry. We have included in-depth information about what is different about the two technologies, possible adoption problems for AMD with Athlon 64 and benchmarks comparing both on an MSI motherboard which supports both memory standards. If you’re wondering what we are to make of it all… Read on!”

ARP Editor’s Choice Award Winner Steelpad S&S Professional Gaming Mouse Pad Review Posted!
Tech ARP :: Thursday, October 07, 2004

“The professional gaming gear manufacturer Steel co-developed the Steelpad S&S gaming mouse pad with members of Clan Shroet Kommandos. As such, it’s no wonder the Steelpad S&S has won the favour of many professional gaming clans out there like 4-Kings and Team 3D.

But is it really as good as gamers say it is? Today, we will take a close look at this professional gaming mouse pad. Let’s see if it lives up to its reputation!”

Designtechnica Reviews the Uniden EXAI 5180 Cordless Phone
Designtechnica :: Thursday, October 07, 2004
“Following hot on the trail of our Motorola MA560 phone review, we get a chance to review one of Unidens newest 5.8GHz phones, the EXAI 5180. Where the Motorola MA560 we reviewed last month was lacking in style, it made up for its bad looks with solid features and good reception. Unidens EXAI 5180 certainly is attractive, but we will have to see how it compares to the Motorola MA560’s performance.

While Motorola is relatively new to cordless phones in the consumer market, Uniden has thrived here for several years. The EXAI 5180 is priced around $80 and can be found at most office and consumer electronics stores. ”

Geil Ultra Platinum PC3200 Memory @ PCstats.com
PCStats :: Wednesday, October 06, 2004
“In this review PCstats is testing something a little more mainstream, but no less interesting; a pair of GeIL’s Ultra Platinum PC3200 512MB DDR RAM DIMM’s. Each DDR memory module has a liquid crystal thermal monitoring sticker attached, which shows the temperature in both Celsius and Farenheit. Each stick of Ultra Platinum PC3200 DDR is rated to run at 200 MHz, while keeping memory timings of 2-2-2-5 at a voltage of just 2.55V. To help protect the memory from physical damage, tin coated copper heatspreaders are utilized.”

Coolmax Xtreme Files HDD Enclosure @ SystemCooling
SystemCooling :: Wednesday, October 06, 2004

“Performing backups is probably one of the most overlooked yet vital tasks one can do. Whether it’s important documents, family pictures, music or movies, a back up can prove to be a lifesaver. But unfortunately backing up can seem to many like a tedious and daunting task. Others may think that they need expensive hardware and software or simply the entire process seems too overwhelming. Today we’ll be taking a look at an external hard drive enclosure the Coolmax Xtreme Files “4-in-1″ that will take the mystery and hassle out of backing up and restoring.”

OCZ Technology Group and Inphi Corporation Introduce ZB-DDR
OCZ Technology :: Wednesday, October 06, 2004
OCZ Technology Group, a world leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high-reliability memory, in a collaborative effort with Inphi Corporation (www.inphi-corp.com), a leader in precision timing and high-speed electronic components, announced the release of Zero-Buffer DDR (ZB-DDR) technology (patent pending) for unbuffered memory modules.

“Using discreet zero-delay clock buffers, ZB-DDR technology combines the robustness of server class memory with the low latency of unbuffered modules, resulting in better data integrity, lower noise, and lower susceptibility to interference over a wider frequency spectrum while still remaining fully compatible with all current motherboards.”

Please follow this link for more information.

Seasonic PowerAngel Power Monitor @ Systemcooling
SystemCooling :: Wednesday, October 06, 2004

“Did you ever wonder how much power that computer sitting next to your desk is really using? Or for that matter, how about any other electrical device in your house? What’s running efficiently, and what’s making the little meter spin? The device we’re looking at today, from Sea Sonic Electronics Co., is the Seasonic PowerAngel power monitor. Designed to identify power-wasting appliances, help forecast electrical expenses, and assist in troubleshooting problems, the PowerAngel also makes a great companion for the computer enthusiast.”

Thermalright XP-120 Review
InsaneTek :: Wednesday, October 06, 2004

“Heatpipes have been the recent trend among heatsinks and Thermalright is no exception. The popular SP-94 and SP-97 both use heatpipe technology and have been top performers in their respective classes for a while now. Thermalright seems to have hit a size/weight limit with their copper heatsinks and have introduced a few aluminum products. They started with the ALX-800, which is like an aluminum version of the SLK-800. Then they released their first northbridge heatsink fan, the NB-1, which was also aluminum. Their latest releases, the XP-120 and XP-90, use heatpipe technology and the advantages of aluminum to differentiate themselves from the rest of the crowd.”

Tech-Mods.net End of Summer Giveaway
Tech-Mods.net :: Wednesday, October 06, 2004

” Tech-Mods is at it again, giving away great prizes that is! this giveaway is the simplest one yet. Up for grabs is one Samsung ML-1710 Laser Printer thanks to Samsung.ca and also three awesome cooling products. one X-blower 2-channel VR fan kit, one Volcano 11+ Xaser Edition, and one Spark Series 7+ all thanks to Thermaltake.com.”

Plextor PX-712A DVD Writer Review
CoolTechZone :: Wednesday, October 06, 2004

“12X DVD writers are currently the sizzling sensation of the optical storage market and Plextor was the first one to introduce their PX-712A 12X DVD writer to the market. What we will take a look at today is a PATA version of their 12X writer. Plextor has recently released a SATA version of the same writer, which will analyze in the near future. Without further ado, let’s begin…”

Cooler Master TAC-T01EK Wave Master review
Hexus :: Wednesday, October 06, 2004

“I’ve been pining after a quality aluminium chassis with a door for my ugly beige opticals, that’s aesthetically pleasing to the eye (to my own tastes of course) and that doesn’t break the bank. I think the Wave Master fits the bill.

If you want something a little different and the plus points of the design and implementation are appealing, pick one up. I’ll be replacing the sample with my own as soon as it has to go back, I can’t give it a higher recommendation than that.”

Koolance Exos-Al @ Hexus.net
Hexus :: Wednesday, October 06, 2004
“Minor quibbles aside, Koolance has shown that it manufacturers some of the finest external watercooling kits currently available. Excellence in ease of use and cooling performance is enough for the Exos-Al kit to receive a coveted HEXUS recommendation.”

Temjin 5 Case review @ Techware Labs
Techwarelabs :: Wednesday, October 06, 2004
“The Temjin 5 case features a sleek black design that combines unique and thoughtful components of design and functionality into a user-oriented, efficient package. This case brings ease of use far beyond the thumbscrews that many cases still don’t even include.”

PPA 9-in-1 Card Reader Review @ Mikhailtech
Mikhailtech :: Wednesday, October 06, 2004

“The most impressive feature is the size: it’s no larger than a standard credit card. It’s about half an inch tall, so it’ll fit pockets nicely. Overall I was impressed with the simplicity of the reader: it’s not oversized to include a compartment for storing the cable and neither is it flashy or obtrusive like other readers I’ve seen. The only downside is the lack of at least one LED to let you know when the reader is working. Ideally, there would be one for every card slot so you could tell if a card was being accessed before removing it.”

The Chenming ATX-602 Aluminium Case Review @ RojakPOT
Tech ARP :: Wednesday, October 06, 2004

“What makes a good case? Build quality? Accessibility? Space? The enthusiast would probably choose all of those criteria. Of course, it should also be reasonably priced, for those of us not blessed with deep pockets!

This brings us to the Chenming ATX-602 Aluminium Case. It’s certainly one of the cheaper all-aluminium case in the market. But is that its only advantage? We think not. Find out why this case impressed us so much that we gave it our Reviewer’s Award!”

Gigabyte GA-8ANXP-D Motherboard Review
PCStats :: Wednesday, October 06, 2004

“With the Socket 775 Intel processor introducing so many legacy free technologies at once, it’s going to be simpler and less costly for consumers to just implement everything at once. Or…. not at all and side with AMDs solutions. In this review, PCstats.com is testing out Gigabyte’s new Intel Pentium 4 flagship motherboard, the GA-8ANXP-D. Based on the 925X chipset, the Gigabyte GA-8ANXP-D supports the new Socket 775 Intel Pentium 4 processor formfactor, and can be run with up to 4GB of DDR-2 memory.”

MSI K8T Neo2-FIR
ViperLair :: Wednesday, October 06, 2004

“The only thing really keep us from getting overly excited is the lack of native SATA, and the inability to run 4 x double sided ram at 400MHz.. All the other issues are really minor, and doesn’t change the fact that MSI put together a good, solid motherboard.”

The RD3XP Gladiator Super Shielded Round IDE Cable Review
Tech ARP :: Wednesday, October 06, 2004

“Rounded IDE cables improve air flow and are more flexible compared to the standard flat IDE cables. They also look a lot better and are much easier to install. That’s why rounded cables have always been the choice for those serious about cooling and case modding.

Today, we will take a look at the RD3XP Gladiator Super Shielded Round IDE Cable. Of course, you can tell that this is no ordinary round IDE cable. But what’s so special about it? That’s what we intend to find out in this review!”

Iwill ZMAXap SFF Review
TweakTown :: Wednesday, October 06, 2004

“While over at Computex in Taiwan this year we saw Iwill showing off their new line of small form factor PCs that were just about ready to hit the market – it was a bit hard to miss all the hype of the new Iwill small form factor systems with all the Taiwanese folks walking around the halls with the small form factor systems sitting on top of their heads. We have the ZMAX (AP) here today that utilizes Intel’s 865G chipset which we haven’t used for a while now with the array of motherboards coming in utilizing the new 915 and 925 chipset from Intel.”

ASUS AX800XT/2DT PCI-Express @ HEXUS.net
Hexus :: Wednesday, October 06, 2004
“The ASUS AX800XT/2DT package has a number of positive features going for it. The card is small, well-built, quiet, and looks damn good. The very fact that you can pop it into a small PCIe-based system is a real bonus. ATI/ASUS also use a native PCI-Express design with no bridge chip in between. The benefits of the faster PCIe link won’t manifest themselves until applications require massive streaming from motherboard to GPU (and vice-versa), but it’s nice to know that architectural bottlenecks aren’t going to hold up progress.”

Leadtek WinFast A400 Ultra TDH (GeForce 6800 Ultra)
Bjorn3D :: Wednesday, October 06, 2004

“If you want the fastest graphics engine for gaming on the planet, you basically have two choices: ATi’s Radeon X800 XT or NVIDIA’s GeForce 6800 Ultra. Each one has its strengths and weaknesses, and each one can dominate the other depending on the game or benchmark being run at the time. Until now, we had only reviewed one of each of these graphics powerhouses in retail form.”

DDR vs. DDR-2 – What are we to make of it all?
TweakTown :: Wednesday, October 06, 2004
“Today we have posted an article for you which investigates the current state of DDR vs. DDR-2 memory in the industry. We have included in-depth information about what is different about the two technologies, possible adoption problems for AMD with Athlon 64 and benchmarks comparing both on an MSI motherboard which supports both memory standards. If you’re wondering what we are to make of it all… Read on!”

Swissbit SWISSMEMORY TwistPro 2 Gigabyte USB 2.0 Portable Memory Drive
Futurelooks :: Wednesday, October 06, 2004

“Go big or go home! That’s what the folks at Swissbit decided to do when they sent us one of their new USB Mini Drives wtih a whopping two gigabytes of storage space. Could this be the mini memory drive of your dreams?”

What Is Wardriving And How Can You Prevent It @ The Tech Zone
The Tech Zone :: Wednesday, October 06, 2004
“Imagine a car equipped with nothing more than a laptop computer, a portable GPS receiver, and a wireless network card slowly strolls through your neighborhood. Unknown to any onlookers, this is no ordinary vehicle; rather, it is a wardriving machine. As the car strolls past homes and businesses, a wireless network card (available at any electronics store for as low as $25) scans for any wireless access points. Anyone with a wireless network (and there are many out there) is vulnerable.”

SWISSMEMORY USB Victorinox 128MB Drive Review @ HardExtreme.org
HardExtreme.org :: Wednesday, October 06, 2004
“The SWISSMEMORY USB Victorinox at first glance looks like an average Swiss Army Knife. It comes with a scissors, a knife and a nail filer with a screw driver. It also comes with a built in LED as well as a pen. An enclosed 128MB USB drive makes this a hot item. You can carry around the unit on your keychain or a lanyard and transfer data on the fly. The unit weighs a mere 1.2 oz and can fit in your shirt pocket. The SWISSMEMORY USB Victorinox is Swiss made as Swissbit and Victorinox are headquartered in Switzerland. There is also a slimmed down version of the unit called the Victor Flight which just includes the LED, pen and USB drive. This version is perfect if you travel frequently.”

Thermaltake POLO12
techPowerUp! :: Monday, October 04, 2004

“Traditionally, power supplies have been sold either as stand-alone or together with cases. Now Thermaltake has put together a kit to silence your PC consisting of PSU, CPU heatsink and 120mm case fan.”

SuperTalent PC3500 Memory Review
GruntvillE :: Monday, October 04, 2004

“The stock speeds of the SuperTalent RAM were more than acceptable when compared to the Crucial 4000. Scoring right behind the Crucial, the SuperTalent RAM has an excellent score at Stock speeds. Of course, when overclocked, the Crucial 4000 comes out on top. Once again, you can see the benefit that Dual Channel RAM provides. The SuperTalent wallops the single stick of Geil.”

Razer eXactMat Mousepad Review @ VH
Virtual-Hideout :: Monday, October 04, 2004

“Mousepads have definitely come a long way since the days of the soft cloth pad. Years ago, as hardcore gaming began to overflow into the mainstream computer markets, few companies were there to cater to our mousing surface needs. In the past couple of years, however, the performance mousepad market has exploded with new comers. In fact, not too long ago, we published a rather extensive round-up of most all the big players in this new market. Unfortunately, the eXactMat wasn’t yet ready, so we couldn’t include it. Now, we’ve finally got our hands on one!”

OCZ PowerStream 470W Power Supply Unit Review
3dXtreme :: Monday, October 04, 2004

“Without a doubt the OCZ PowerStream owned the competition. The Antec 550 True Control was tweaked to its maximum allowable adjustable settings and the OCZ PowerStream was tested at its default settings – we never adjusted the Fine Tune adjustments – we never had to! Even though the Antec was rated for 550 Watts, the OCZ PowerStream provided much better power levels even when under immense load.”

ABIT AA8 DuraMAX Motherboard (Intel 925X)
Bjorn3D :: Monday, October 04, 2004

“ABIT is probably not a name that many of you are unfamiliar with. Always innovating and striving for top performance, ABIT has been an industry leader for over 15 years. When you think about the top enthusiast-oriented motherboard and video card manufacturers, ABIT will definitely make the list. The company produces many of the best performing products on the market. ”

Gigabyte GA-8TRS350MT Radeon 9100 IGP PRO Review
PCStats :: Monday, October 04, 2004

“Gigabyte introduced a micro ATX motherboard featuring this ATI chipset, and called it the GA-8TRS300M. It was one of the few companies that actually produced a Radeon 9100 IGP motherboard in fact. And now Gigabyte is releasing the GA-8TRS3500MT, a micro ATX motherboard touted as an ideal solution for system integrators, and packed with video features more common for a videocard. The Gigabyte GA-8TRS350MT is based around ATI’s new RS350 core logic, which the company insists is better than equivalent integrated graphics solutions from Intel.”

Corsair PC2 5400 Pro DDR2 and the sky
Overclocker Café :: Monday, October 04, 2004

“As you can see, with the memory running at this speed, the benchmark results pretty much blow all the comparison results away. Even though our overclock was well over the rating of this memory, I personally believe the true ceiling for the memory is much higher. Neither our CPU or the memory failed. Anything above 258MHz on the FSB would POST, but the HDD would not be recognized.”

GALAXY Glacier GeForce 6800 128MB
Hexus :: Monday, October 04, 2004

“GALAXY has gone about the design of its GeForce 6800 line in stark contrast to most manufacturers and partners. Recruiting Arctic Cooling, purveyors of high-quality cooling, was the first step towards a non-reference design. The oversized VGA silencer carries the two-fold benefit of reducing core temperature and fan speed. GALAXY’s obviously confident enough with Arctic Cooling’s efforts to warrant a 15/25MHz (depending on whether you consider 325MHz or 335MHz the default 6800 speed) increase over reference models. GALAXY Technology also adds in some super-fast Hynix DDR1 RAM, rated to a nominal 900MHz, yet chooses to go with NVIDIA’s 700MHz RAM speed recommendations.”

Logisys Phantom Case Reviewed
Hi-Techreviews :: Monday, October 04, 2004

“If you saw the musical Phantom of Opera you know that the Phantom tried to stay hidden because of an injury to his face, with the Phantom case from Logisys Computers about the last thing you will want to do is keep it hidden. With its stylish good looks and engraved window and 485 watt PSU, this is a case that will be placed on your desktop for you use and other to admire.”

AC Ryan Blackfire4 Fans
Phoronix :: Monday, October 04, 2004

“If you are tired of those old generic fans sitting inside your case, you should be pleased to know about AC Ryan’s UV-LED Blackfire4 series. These fans come in 80mm, 92mm, and 120mm sizes and are ideal for computers with case windows. In addition, they come in an assortment of colors, so it can match with existing lighting of any sort.”

Corsair 675MHz DDR2 (Twin2X1024-5400C4PRO) @ Bjorn3D
Bjorn3D :: Saturday, October 02, 2004
“Surely, by now you’ve all heard that DDR2 currently doesn’t offer any compelling performance gain worthy of a serious upgrade involving a new DDR2 motherboard and PCI-Express video card. I emphasize ‘currently’ because it probably won’t be long before DDR2 really starts to show off its true muscle as newer, lower-latency, and faster modules are developed.

Today, I’m going to take a quick look at some DDR2 from Corsair in the form of the TWIN2X1024-5400C4PRO 1GB kit. You might be thinking to yourself, ‘5400!?!’ Oh yeah…this RAM is designed to run at 675MHz. The fastest DDR I reviewed was 550MHz, so I was definitely excited to check out this DDR2 kit from the top performance memory company on the planet.”

Aerocool VM-101 GPU Heatsink Review @ GruntvillE
GruntvillE :: Saturday, October 02, 2004

“Minus it’s excessive length and the fact that it doesn’t have a solid base, the VM-101 could almost pass as a common day CPU cooler. From an overhead perspective, the unit almost takes on a Thermalright SP-94 personality; with its dual heatpipes and massive fin array. The nickel plating definitely adds a nice touch of class to the unit; easily helping it to stand out from other components in your PC.”

A Day at ATI @ Viper Lair
ViperLair :: Saturday, October 02, 2004
“Given some of the demos we’ve seen that day, we asked for his opinion on benchmarks, particularly synthetic vs real-world. Both are important he says. The problem of course is possible driver optimization, so a balance with real-world benchmarks is needed. On that note, we bugged him a little about the performance gap with NVIDIA regarding Doom 3. Stanley recognizes that scores can be improved, but timedemo’d benchmarks are not true indicators of actual gameplay.”

MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum Motherboard Review @ PCStats
PCStats :: Saturday, October 02, 2004
“Over the next few pages PCstats will be sussing out the MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum motherboard to see just how it performs, and the features it offers up. Built upon the nVidia nForce3 Ultra chipset, the MSI K8N Neo2 supports the socket 939 AMD Athlon64 or AthlonFX processor, and will support up to 4GB of PC3200 DDR memory. With respect to its onboard components, users of the MSi K8N Neo2 Platinum will find two onboard Gigabit NICs, IEEE1394 Firewire, 7.1-channel audio, four Serial ATA ports with NVRAID (RAID 0, 1, 0+1), and MSI’s own CoreCell technology. That might not sound like a lot, but remember the four Serial ATA channels are integrated, as is Serial ATA/IDE RAID, and all this runs us about $140USD.”

OCZ PowerStream 470W PSU Review @ OcPrices
OcPrices :: Saturday, October 02, 2004
“OCZ is a company that has over the years developed a well deserved reputation as a top choice for overclockers. When the company decided to add power supplies to their product range, obviously a simple re-badge of a Fortron Source or some other generic PSU with a fat price increase was not going to cut it. The PowerStream series from OCZ are designed to take on the best of the best. I have the 470W version on the bench, read on to see if it succeeds.”

Asetek Hard Drive Water Cooler Kit Review @ PC Modding Malaysia
PC Modding Malaysia :: Saturday, October 02, 2004

“These days, water cooling for CPU is quite normal as many cooling solution manufacturers keep on producing high end water cooler kits with progressively cheaper prices. However, water cooling for a hard drive is something quite new for many of us and there not as many manufacturers that are willing produce it probably due to the customers having less heat issues with the hard drive. Not so long ago, Asetek just introduced 2 types of hard drive water cooler; one is for CDROM bay and the other one is for FDD bay. In this review, we took a look at the FDD bay version; hard drive water cooler KT92-L20.”

Editorial on Digital Audio @ Overclockers New Zealand
Overclockers New Zealand :: Saturday, October 02, 2004
“The upgrade went without a hitch which is a bit of surprise, as AMD64 and nF3 are still relatively new products. However, I noticed multi-channel audio was gone in games and audio applications from my AV receiver that is hooked up to the onboard S/PDIF connector; the receiver was playing back stereo sound even though it is a 5.1 receiver and the driver was set correctly. What went wrong? Why didn’t the 5.1 receiver give me the 5.1 audio via S/PDIF in games?”

Enermax Noisetaker 470W Review @ InsaneTek
InsaneTek :: Saturday, October 02, 2004

“When I first started getting into the computer overclocking, Enermax was the highest recommended power supply by overclockers. It provided stable power and kept the systems running nice and smooth under heavy operations. After they earned their well deserved recognition, Enermax quieted down somewhat, and remained that way for about two years until the launch of the Noisetaker series. It was one of the first designed to have an adjustable fan and kept systems running nice and quiet. Today, Enermax continues the Noisetaker series with a few adjustments to comply with Intel’s new 12v v2.0 requirement.”

Silverstone TJ05 PC Case Review @ Short-Media
Short-Media :: Saturday, October 02, 2004
“The Silverstone TJ05 has got every angle covered; cooling, temperature monitoring and control, tool-less design, front USB, 1394, audio ports, abundant space for components and stylish design. It’s the PC case with all the features most others don’t have but is it too much? Did Silverstone try to put too much into one case?”

D-Link AirPlus ExtremeG (DI-624) router Review @ DataFuse.net
DataFuse :: Monday, November 01, 2004

“The Range of the DI-624 is very good. At first I was able to go to the end of my drive way, but after I updated the firmware, the range increased by about 50 feet and the stability greatly increased.. There is an option to enable extended range, but no matter what, it covers my entire house. ”

Gateway M520S Laptop
Designtechnica :: Monday, October 25, 2004

“The truth is that you will be very hard pressed to find a real desktop replacement notebook with 512MB of RAM and a desktop class processor for under $1000. We checked out desktop replacements from Sony, Toshiba, HP and Dell and could not find a system that matched or beat the Gateway M520S in price. Our recommendations: finance or save $500 dollars more and get the Sony A320 notebook which is a killer multimedia system and only costs $1799 – money well spent. If you just cannot see yourself spending that much on a system consider going with a Centrino based system such as the Gateway M320, or Gigabyte N512.”

Kingston DataTraveler II, II Plus, & Elite Flash Drives Review @ Mikhailtech
Mikhailtech :: Friday, October 22, 2004

“USB flash drives are without a doubt the floppy of the 21st century. Their small size, high capacity, amazing durability, and fast transfer rates make them an ideal portable storage solution. It comes as no surprise that so many companies embraced this technology. In the past we’ve had the opportunity to check out 3 different drives, specifically the plain 64MB FlashDisk, sleek 64MB TX50, and Kingston’s original 128MB DataTraveler. Since then much has changed. The greatest improvement came in the transition to USB2.0 which bumped up transfer rates significantly and made flash drives all the rage. A couple weeks ago Kingston announced their latest series of toys: the DataTraveler II, DataTraveler II Plus, and DataTraveler Elite. This second revision got a complete overhaul: USB2.0 support and impressive transfer rates, at least on paper. We’re here to find out if this new lineup has what it takes to make pro league.”

D-Link AirPlus Xtreme G Wireless
The Tech Lounge :: Friday, October 22, 2004

“D-Link has been a staple of the networked community for a very long time. I even remember purchasing one of their home network starter kits for Ethernet (that’s 10 Mbps for the younger readers). Since that time, much has changed in the world of networked components, one being that we no longer need those pesky wires we were so fond of many years ago.

D-Link was nice enough to send me a full AirPlus Extreme G wireless network setup. This consisted of the DI-624 wireless router, a DWL-G520 PCI card, and a DWL-G650 wireless PCMCIA card. With these components I should be able to share my Internet connection and files, all wirelessly. Unlike the old 802.11b standard with transfer speeds published at 11 Mbps, the new G standard has a published rate of 54 Mbps. This is quite an increase in speed for such a short period of time. All this is great, and most would say that going from 11 to 54 Mbps was quite a feat, but the fine folks at D-Link have decided to go one step further. Using an entire D-Link setup, it is reported that their equipment can reach speeds of 108 Mbps.”

Steelpad S&S Mouse Surface @ TechFreaks
TechFreaks :: Thursday, October 21, 2004

“It all comes down to one question, which is the better pad: the Steelpad S&S or the Xtrac Hammer? By a slight margin, the Steelpad S&S. The slight margin can be attributed to many circumstances, the first being that the S&S has only been used for two-weeks, not nearly enough time to show any signs of wear or dullness. The Xtrac Hammer, on the other hand, has been my primary mouse-pad for a bit over six months, and not until recently had it shown any signs of wear.”

Kingston Data Traveler Elite KUSBDTE/1GB USB Drive Review
MODTHEBOX! :: Monday, October 18, 2004

“While USB flash drives are extremely convenient, the small size and ease of use open up many possibilities for being easily misplaced resulting in the loss of what was otherwise important or personal data. This being a common concern, several similar flash drive units incorporate a variety of approaches to secure your data should the drive be lost. In order to cater to this situation, the Kingston Data Traveler Elite KUSBDTE/1GB USB Drive features a two-layer security mechanism that uses a combination of user authentication and hardware based 128-bit AES encryption.”

Waffer PC AirCon PAC 400
3dXtreme :: Monday, October 18, 2004

“The PAC 400 is basically an air conditioning unit for your PC. It’s designed to provide cooler ambient air into the computer system in the hopes of dropping the internal and CPU temperatures. It sounds like a great idea, but can it live up to the marketed expectations?”

Steelpad S&S Mousepad Review @ OCIA
OCIA :: Saturday, October 16, 2004

“I could immediately tell the difference the mousepad made. Small movements were so much more accurate it was incredible. I made several kills that I probably wouldn’t have made using my previous setup (no mousepad), as the mousepad made me much faster on the draw. Don’t get me wrong, I still got my butt kicked, but I was amazed at how many more butts I kicked in the meantime.”

D-Link Central Home Drive @ Phoronix
Phoronix :: Friday, October 15, 2004
“Over the years, networks have developed substantially. With this booming growth, a demand to share files among other computers on your network has become a common occurrence, however many users simply don’t have a spare computer they can setup as a SOHO file server. D-Link has luckily jumped to the rescue with a 40GB Central Home Drive.”

BTC 9019 URF Wireless Keyboard Review
Hardware-Pacers :: Thursday, October 14, 2004

“The BTC 9019 URF Wireless Multimedia USB Keyboard with Dual Mode Joystick Mouse is one of the world’s finest gaming keyboards on the market today. It is small in size yet powerful in its functionality. Handy function buttons, and superior joystick response and sensitivity make this keyboard ideal for gamers. Easy installation creates a hassle free environment during setup. Full featured functionality create a smooth sailing keyboard experience for gaming and keyboard input during any computing function.”

Kingston Data Traveler Elite KUSBDTE/1GB USB Drive Review @ MODTHEBOX.COM
MODTHEBOX! :: Thursday, October 14, 2004

“While USB flash drives are extremely convenient, the small size and ease of use open up many possibilities for being easily misplaced resulting in the loss of what was otherwise important or personal data. This being a common concern, several similar flash drive units incorporate a variety of approaches to secure your data should the drive be lost. In order to cater to this situation, the Kingston Data Traveler Elite KUSBDTE/1GB USB Drive features a two-layer security mechanism that uses a combination of user authentication and hardware based 128-bit AES encryption.”

Waffer PC AirCon PAC 400 Review at 3DX
3dXtreme :: Thursday, October 14, 2004
“The PAC 400 is basically an air conditioning unit for your PC. It’s designed to provide cooler ambient air into the computer system in the hopes of dropping the internal and CPU temperatures. It sounds like a great idea, but can it live up to the marketed expectations?” We would appreciate a posting in your Daily News!

Logitech MX1000 Laser Mouse Review
Designtechnica :: Tuesday, October 12, 2004

“Rewind the clock for two years, we were completely blown away by the revolutionary Logitech MX700 Cordless Mouse and its advanced features. We thought the essential input device of a computer couldn’t get much better with MX700’s precise MX Optical Engine, Fast RF wireless technology, recharging base station, and the ergonomic design. Well, we were wrong. Two years later, Logitech has done it again, releasing a refined version of their ultimate cordless mouse with a second to none laser sensor that is twenty times more sensitive than traditional optical sensors. In addition to the surface tracking technology, many other aspects of the mouse have also been vastly improved. Let’s take a close look at what’s new and what’s hot about the Logitech MX1000 Laser Cordless Mouse in this review.”

Steelpad Steel Grip
Phoronix :: Tuesday, October 12, 2004

“Most of the time mice are designed quite well but sometimes you just have to wonder what the design team was thinking. We have no problem gripping our better-designed mice but for whatever reason the staff here a Phoronix always seems to have some mice that are more difficult to use. To aid us with this problem Steelpad has sent us their latest product, the Steel Grip.”

BTC 9128CRF Wireless Office Keyboard Kit @Hi-Techreviews
Hi-Techreviews :: Saturday, October 09, 2004
“We reviewed one of BTC’s wireless keyboards a week ago and this week we are checking out their BTC 9128CRF Wireless Office Keyboard Kit. It offers multi-function shortcut keys along great looks and ease of setup. Plus it made be give switch from one brand to another.”

Apple 4th Generation iPod Review @ The Tech Zone
The Tech Zone :: Wednesday, October 06, 2004
“The biggest change between the 3rd generation and 4th generation iPod is the new wheel used by the 4th gen. Where as the old iPod features a touch wheel and four buttons; the new iPod moves those buttons onto the touch wheel itself. You still use the wheel as a touch pad to scroll though lists or control volume, but if you press down on the edges of the wheel, you activated the buttons lurking underneath. It sounds more complex than it is but after about 10 seconds, the controls feel completely natural. The merger of the buttons with the wheel is a gigantic improvement over the original iPod interface. It’s a lot easier to navigate by touch when you don’t need to find the buttons above the wheel.”

Microsoft Optical Desktop Elite for Bluetooth @ HTPCnews.com
HTPCnews :: Wednesday, October 06, 2004

“HTPCnews takes a look at the newest Keyboard / Mouse set in the arsenal from Microsoft, the Optical Desktop Elite for Bluetooth, today and reports back on how this latest combo does. With it’s Bluetooth technology they’ve increased the usable range on this unit to a very decent 30 feet and gave the set an impressive look and feel. Added extras include a built-in faux leather “padded” wrist rest, multimedia keys, programmable keys, and a two tone paint job. Head on over to HTPCnews and see how this unit performed in a variety of tasks and if it’s worth your hard earned cash.”

BTC 9019 URF Wireless Keyboard w/ Dual Mode Joystick Mouse Reviewed
Hi-Techreviews :: Wednesday, October 06, 2004

“Wireless keyboards are not something I get to worked up about because they either work or they don’t. That changed when I got a chance to review and use the BTC 9019 URF Wireless Keyboard with Dual Mode Joystick Mouse. This keyboard just might be the perfect solution for anyone that has a Home Theater PC. Yes it’s a wireless keyboard but it also offers a dual mode joystick as well. The joystick can be switched to operate either as a mouse or a plain gamers joy stick. Now that is nice. Come take a look and I’ll bet you will agree.”

Samsung ML-2551N Laser Printer Review
Tech-Mods.net :: Monday, October 04, 2004

“With the cost of inkjet cartridges the laser printers steels the show when it comes to performance and production costs. Having a network laser printer in a small to medium office for all to share is better yet. Today we will be looking at the Samsung ML-2551N Network laser printer that not only can be shared over a network but can also print on both sides of a sheet of paper. ”

Kodak EasyShare DX7440
The Tech Lounge :: Monday, October 04, 2004

“In front of me today I have one of Kodak’s latest digital cameras, the DX 7440. This camera sports a 4.23MP CCD (4.0MP effective resolution), 4x optical zoom and 4x digital zoom (16x total zoom), 2.2” TFT display with 153K pixel resolution, pre-programmed scene modes, PASM modes, and of course Kodak’s EasyShare functionality.”

Microsoft Optical Mouse by S+ARCK Review @ Everything USB
Everything USB :: Saturday, October 02, 2004
“The S+arck mouse certainly is an attention grabber. At first glance, it doesnâ€™t even look like a mouse, but more like a silver and orange egg. Essentially, there are the two mouse buttons running the full length of the mouse much like Appleâ€™s Pro Mouse. The smooth, silver body matches the silvery finish of our speakers and monitor, and goes great alongside a PowerBook. When viewed from the side, the silver body is interrupted only by the extruding scroll wheel. Down the center is an orange stripe which houses the wheel and four bright LEDs, casting a spiffy looking glow, Ã la TRON.”

Kingston DataTraveler Elite 512MB USB Flash Drive Review @ GideonTech
GideonTech :: Saturday, October 02, 2004
“Today we have the DataTraveler Elite 512MB USB Flash drive from Kingston. Sporting USB 2.0 support and some rather nifty security features, this may well be the last USB drive you will ever need.”

Albatron Trinity PCX5750 @ Viper Lair
ViperLair :: Monday, November 01, 2004

“In current games such as Serious Sam SE and UT2004, this card can play 1024*768 without any real problems, and for the most part you can enable AA and ansiotropic filtering while still keeping playability. Newer games such as Splinter Cell also are playable at 1024*768, but only without the extra quality settings enabled. New games such as Doom 3 and Far Cry are playable at 800*600 without AA and ansiotropic filtering, but I wouldn’t really suggest going beyond that.”

Gigabyte 6800 Video Card Review @ CoolTechZone
CoolTechZone :: Monday, November 01, 2004

“NVIDIA launched their GeForce 6 series of GPUs a while back and now every board partner has their versions of 6800 flavors, most notably the regular 6800. This is the most popular version of NVIDIA’s GeForce 6 family of products – maybe because of the poor chip yields. If you are not aware of this, both NVIDIA and ATI are having a difficult time producing chips for their GT/Ultra and PE line of products, which has led to ridiculous price increases for the aforementioned models from NVIDIA and ATI. Recently, at an online retailer, we found NVIDIA’s 6800 Ultra to be around $735.00, which is way higher than its retail price of $500.00. What’s even more annoying is that both NVIDIA and ATI have launched the products, but they are having a hard time bringing them into retail channels. In an effort to compete against each other, they forgot the sufferers of their actions – end-consumers. Why is it that we have to wait months before we can purchase high-end cards for our needs? We like to call this a mere business monopoly. The only difference is we have two companies creating the monopoly instead of one. Just as an advise to NVIDIA and ATI, we would like to see the high-end cards soon in the market.”

S3’s OmniChrome S4 @ Hexus
Hexus :: Saturday, October 30, 2004
“Overall, S3 still need to do some serious work with OmniChrome to bring it up to scratch. If you can suffer the downsides, great; it’s cheap and does the basic TV-tuning-with-good-softwre-and-remote job fine. But those downsides are pretty dire in a 2004 TV tuning product. HDTV input and output don’t save it for me. If you have the basic facility to actually record or watch HDTV signals properly, you’ve got the need for something more than mono audio from the TV tuner.”

ATI HDTV Wonder – Remote Control Edition @ SystemCooling
SystemCooling :: Saturday, October 30, 2004

“High Definition Television (HDTV) continues to gain in popularity and market share. ATI is bringing this technology to the desktop with the introduction of the HDTV Wonder. At the heart of the HDTV Wonder Remote Control Edition is a PCI tuner card that allows receiving both traditional analog TV signals and the newer over-the-air (OTA) high definition digital television signals. The received video signals are decoded and passed to the PC’s main video card for display on a standard computer monitor.”

ATI’s TV Wonder USB 2.0 @ Hexus
Hexus :: Saturday, October 30, 2004
“I prefer the PCI version for latency reasons, but if USB2.0 is the interface you need for a TV tuner and multimedia product without breaking the bank, the TV Wonder USB 2.0 is highly recommended. The software needs significant spit and polish, to rectify some aesthetic and usability issues, but coupled with a RemoteWonder II, the TV Wonder is how I’d enjoy low-cost, high-quality TV tuning on my PC.”

ATI HDTV Wonder Review
Designtechnica :: Thursday, October 28, 2004
“There’s no denying the incredible picture improvement of HD broadcasts over regular analog TV. The ATI HDTV Wonder does a good job of allowing you to enjoy this amazing video on your computer at a fraction of the cost of an HDTV. Of course, an HDTV is often much larger than a computer monitor and if you get an HDTV set, chances are you will just get an HD tuner from your cable company – allowing you to enjoy all of the HD cable channels as well as the over-the-air broadcasts.

Unfortunately, the system requirements are quite demanding – in our opinion more so than what even ATI suggests. Even if you have a powerful enough system, HD performance is dependent upon your proximity to a broadcast tower and other environmental factors. As a result, you really won’t know if the HDTV Wonder will work well with your system and in your house until you actually try it. Considering it may take several hours to set up the HDTV Wonder and get it working properly, this is just too much time and effort for the average computer user to dedicate to such a project.”

PowerColor Radeon X800 Pro VIVO Review @ InsaneTek
InsaneTek :: Thursday, October 28, 2004

“PowerColor provides a numerous line of ATI Radeon cards. From low end budget solutions to high end enthusiast favorites, PowerColor has a graphics card to suit everyone’s needs. Many enthusiasts can probably remember the success of PowerColor’s highly popular and moddable Radeon 9800SE. Although the card’s performance was only considered to be mediocre, there was a hidden secret that unleashed the full potential of the “cheap” card. With a simple BIOS flash, the 9800SE turned into a full fledged 9800 Pro. Of course there were certain things to be aware of, such as choosing the 256-bit versions and providing good cooling. What we have in today is the enthusiast’s favorite: the X800 Pro VIVO. The VIVO line, although not an “official” release by ATI, offers the same exact hardware components as the full fledged X800XT PE, something that definitely shows promise.”

Samsung CLP-550 Colour Laser Printer Review
The Tech Zone :: Monday, October 25, 2004

“Samsung has jumped into the colour laser fray with their CLP-500 series printers. The higher end of the series, the CLP-550, is the model we’re reviewing. Priced at an MSRP of $599.00, this printer is definitely priced with the budget conscious in mind. You’d hardly think “budget printer” when you see the list of features that include a built in duplexer, an LCD display, and a generous paper capacity. Add to that the rated speeds of 24ppm monochrome and 5ppm colour you certainly have a great package.”

MSI Radeon RX800XT-VTD256E Videocard Review @ PCStats
PCStats :: Friday, October 22, 2004
“Architecturally identical to the ATI Radeon X800XT PE, the 16-pipeline Radeon X800XT core is clocked a whole 20 MHz slower than the Platinum Edition, and so it sits at 500 MHz. The DDR-3 memory backing up the ATI R420 core is clocked at an even 1 GHz, down from 1.12 GHz for the X800XT PE version. MSI’s RX800XT-VTD256E direct competition comes from the nVidia GeForce 6800GT class videocard, as both PCI Express cards are one step down from the top of the heap. However, as you’ll soon see in PCstats benchmarks, the MSI RX800XT-VTD256E does very well for itself!”

Logitech Z-3 Review @ Overclockers Online
Overclockers Online :: Friday, October 22, 2004
“For my last test, it was time to load up Doom 3. Overall the Z-3s performed very well, but without having rear speakers it’s hard to create the same atmosphere as my Z560s do. Nevertheless, the Z-3s made Doom 3 fun to play. I should also note that you may want to turn up the bass for games when compared to music in order to feel the explosions and bullet sounds more.”

ATI HDTV Wonder @ Viper Lair
ViperLair :: Friday, October 22, 2004
“If you don’t have digital cable, and you don’t want to spend close to $1,000 for Satellite equipment and a HD capable television, you can use this to get HDTV… ”

Altec Lansing FX6021 2.1 Speakers @ TheTechLounge
The Tech Lounge :: Monday, October 18, 2004

“2.1 or 5.1? Where do you fit in? Are you the type of person that has an incurable need to be surrounded by acres of speakers just to watch “The Matrix,” or do you treasure your personal space? Do you despise bulky cabinet speaker boxes filling up your living room? Are you sick of my questions?

If you are a space saver, protective of your precious desktop real estate, yet are a touch on the audio snob side, Altec Lansing is looking for you. Altec Lansing’s new FX6021 is a set of 2.1 speakers featuring a hefty subwoofer and svelte satellite speakers, and they aim to pack a stealthy sonic punch. Let’s put them to the test, shall we? Sorry, that was another question.”

BFG GeForce 6800 Ultra Overclocked @ HEXUS.net
Hexus :: Monday, October 18, 2004

“Any and every GeForce 6800 Ultra is an excellent gamers’ card. BFG’s effort is above average, as the company offers a pre-overclocked core at default core prices. BFG’s popularity is on the rise and it’s easy to see why. If BFG can beef up the entire bundle, add, say, basic VIVO, and keep a keen price, its range of 6800-series cards will be hard to beat. As it is, you can literally place the names of NVIDIA’s AIBs into a hat and pick any one. Most cards keep to the reference design and most range between 400-450MHz core.”

Logitech Z2200 THX Certified 2.1 Computer Speaker System Review @ Tweaknews
Tweaknews :: Saturday, October 16, 2004

“Testing this product interested me right from the first time I picked it up to move the product box to the office. The incredible heft of this two channel system speaks volumes for the thick robust construction and large powerful speaker magnets that make this product what it is. Everything about this system is oversized, powerful, heavy and can only be described as a thumping and deafening tank for your computer system. And because of these traits, I have loved it from the first press of its’ power button. The sound reproduction is powerful, full ranged and crisp, the subwoofer is large enough to be strapped into that car stereo system in the local teenager’s civic you hear thumping down your local street and the satellites will just laugh at you when you crank them up to full volume. Why? Because you ear drums will be on your lap long before these speakers even come close to popping.”

Samsung HLN617W 61″ DLP Television Review @ PCStats
PCStats :: Friday, October 15, 2004
“We took a look at Samsung’s enormous 61″ HLN617W DLP flat screen TV this week, and even found time to run through a few DOOM3 games on it!. Off the cuff, the Samsung HLN617W boasts a laundry list of features as you might expect. For starters the display is a little over 19″ deep, and a hundred pounds light. At the heart of the unit rests a second generation Texas Instruments 0.8″ Digital Micro Device, which has a native resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels. This resolution matches HDTV’s 720p, pixel for pixel, and for television signals it features automatic conversion to 720p.”

HEXUS.net Review: GeCube Radeon X800 PRO
Hexus :: Thursday, October 14, 2004
“X800 PRO pricing sits around the £280 mark in the U.K. at the time of writing and GeCube promise us that if you find the X800 PRO CS:CZ Limited Edition in the U.K. or indeed elsewhere, it’ll be competitive with any and all X800 PRO pricing from other manufacturers.

Given that, and the derivative PRO performance (no bad thing!), it’s hard not to recommend the card to anyone who asks. If you’re desperate for X800 PRO, if NVIDIA’s hardware isn’t your thing or you’re annoyed with GT availability at the moment, GeCube’s board is as good as any to spend your money on.”

Altec Lansing FX6021 2.1 Speakers @ TheTechLounge
The Tech Lounge :: Thursday, October 14, 2004
“2.1 or 5.1? Where do you fit in? Are you the type of person that has an incurable need to be surrounded by acres of speakers just to watch “The Matrix,” or do you treasure your personal space? Do you despise bulky cabinet speaker boxes filling up your living room? Are you sick of my questions?

If you are a space saver, protective of your precious desktop real estate, yet are a touch on the audio snob side, Altec Lansing is looking for you. Altec Lansing’s new FX6021 is a set of 2.1 speakers featuring a hefty subwoofer and svelte satellite speakers, and they aim to pack a stealthy sonic punch. Let’s put them to the test, shall we? Sorry, that was another question.”

NVIDIA’s GeForce 6200 Launch @ HEXUS.net
Hexus :: Wednesday, October 13, 2004

“Think 6600 and NV43. Think the same 0.11µ process production at TSMC. Think half the pixel power at the same clocks, without some optimisations before pixels are generated (Z opts) and after they’re written to their render buffers (colour opts), no SLI, but complete SM3.0. If that makes sense, you’re most of the way there.”

ATI X600 PRO Review @ Hi-tecreviews.com
Hi-Techreviews :: Tuesday, October 12, 2004

“When ATI started designing there first mid-priced PCI-Express video card you knew they were on pretty sound footing when you look at how closely it resembles their very successful Radeon 9600XT. So when we got a chance to review the new ATI Radeon X600 PRO we were extremely curious if this graphics card would perform as well as its AGP cousin did.”

SageTV and Hauppauge PVR-250 Review
GruntvillE :: Tuesday, October 12, 2004

“Nobody wants to come home from a hard days work, plop down in front of the TV and muddle through a windows/linux OS in order to watch their favorite shows. A DOS prompt and a task bar are the absolute last things I want to see when I’m trying to wind down. So apart from the obvious hardware requirements, an HTPC also needs an easy to use front end.”

Albatron PX915G Pro @ Viper Lair
ViperLair :: Tuesday, October 12, 2004

“This is a good board that has good performance and overclocks well, though it could do better if the PCI-E lock worked better. There were really no problems with this board, though there was nothing overly amazing, a good solid first LGA775 board.”

Mobile GPU Comparison Guide Rev. 2.2 @ Adrian’s Rojak Pot
Tech ARP :: Saturday, October 09, 2004
“These days, there are so many mobile GPU models that it has become quite impossible to keep up with the different configurations. Therefore, we decided to compile this guide to provide an easy reference for those who are interested in comparing the specifications of the various mobile GPUs in the market as well as those already obsolescent or obsolete.

Currently covering nearly 30 mobile GPUs, this comprehensive comparison will allow you to easily compare 14 different specifications for each and every GPU! We hope it will prove to be a useful reference. We will keep this guide updated regularly so do check back for the latest updates!”

SilverStone Lascala LC03V HTPC Case “Cool-n-Quiet” Custom Mod @ SystemCooling
SystemCooling :: Friday, October 08, 2004

“When Tommy asked me a few weeks ago if I would like to review one of the new SilverStone Home Theater PC (HTPC) enclosures I jumped at the chance. I was rewarded with a sleek Lascala LC03V sporting a new vacuum fluorescent display (VFD) and glossy black finish. The SilverStone LC03V has been designed to blend in perfectly with modern audio-video equipment and permits using both a full size ATX motherboard and standard ATX power supply.”

PowerColor A350A-VF (ATI) Motherboard @ Bjorn3D
Bjorn3D :: Friday, October 08, 2004
“Motherboards using NVIDIA, VIA and Intel chipsets can be found everywhere. Today however, I take a look at a motherboard from PowerColor that uses the ATI RADEON 9100 PRO IGP( RS350) + IXP 300 chipsets.”

Samsung SCD103 MiniDV Digital Video Camcorder Review @ Tweaknews
Tweaknews :: Friday, October 08, 2004

“Ok, I have to admit, this has been my first full camcorder experience other than a couple short video projects in college and university and thanks to the SCD103, it was a very smooth full introduction. You see, I walked in just like you would and I have had nothing but a positive experience with this affordable, feature packed and easy to use MiniDV camcorder.”

ATI TV Wonder USB 2.0 Review @ Beyond3D
Beyond3D :: Thursday, October 07, 2004
“Internally the we can clearly see TV Wonder USB 2.0 uses the large Philips analogue Tuner “can” which was previously used on most of ATI’s All-In-Wonder products, among other applications, which is obviously the main contributor to the size of the unit. Another component that is familiar from recent All-In-Wonder boards is the Theater 200 chip.”

Desktop Graphics Card Comparison Guide Rev. 7.2 Posted!
Tech ARP :: Thursday, October 07, 2004

Covering over 200 desktop graphics cards, this comprehensive comparison allows you to easily compare 14 different specifications for each and every card! If you need to find out about the specification of any card, just come over and check out our Desktop Graphics Comparison Guide!

Chaintech AA6800 Turbo Review @ OCC
Overclocker Café :: Wednesday, October 06, 2004

“A few other cards have hit the shelves that were overclocked at the factory to give themselves at edge in performance and market share. The problem with most of these is that the price gets jacked up to the point that you might as well spend a few extra bucks and get a 6800 GT. Surprisingly, there is an exception to this. Chaintech’s overclocked model, the AA6800 Turbo, carries a price at or even a hair lower than most standard 6800 cards.”

Albatron GeForce 6800 Ultra @ PCStats
PCStats :: Wednesday, October 06, 2004
“With so many differently clocked 6800 models to choose from, consumers have a couple of routes to follow. They can shop on price points alone, or shop smart and overclock for a little after-the-fact performance upgrade. For example, the Albatron GeForce 6800GT is not quite as fast 6800 Ultra version, but with its core running at 350MHz it is still plenty powerful, and a heck of a lot less expensive than a 6800 Ultra. It’s also safe to assume that the 6800GT is overclockable to Geforce 6800 Ultra levels (400MHz core), and in fact in our own round of testing we were able to push this card as fast as 433MHz!”

Altec Lansing XA2021
Phoronix :: Wednesday, October 06, 2004

“Altec Lansing has long been known as a reputable leader in the North American audio industry for producing outstanding audio systems. Altec Lansing has recently released yet another speaker system, the XA2021, to their already large selection of audio solutions.”

ATI Radeon X300 Reference PCI Express Videocard Review
Tweaknews :: Monday, October 04, 2004

“What I will be stating is that if you are moving to the new Intel LGA775 specification or the new Athlon64 PCI Express motherboard and you just need a basic 2D videocard, the X300 based alternatives on the market will make you more than happy. If you are even considering gaming, do yourself a favor and upgrade to an X600 if you want some decent playable framerates on any of the more recent or newly released games on the market.”

BFG Geforce 6800 OC Review @ InsaneTek
InsaneTek :: Saturday, October 02, 2004

“We all know that the Geforce 6800 series is Nvidia’s new generation comeback kid. It is the first video card to support Shader Model 3.0. There were glimpses in the Far Cry v1.2 patch of what the new SM3.0 was capable of. Unfortunately, Ubisoft pulled it off due to bugs with ATI video cards. The majority of you know the 6800GT is possibly the best performance/price ratio video card today. It has the full 16 pipelines, just like the 6800 Ultra, but with a price tag $100 less. The only difference between the GT and the Ultra lies within the clock speeds. The slower clocks can easily be remedied by overclocking, provided that you have good cooling. This, of course, is good news to the enthusiasts. We’d all love to save that $100 and still get the performance. What about saving another $100 and going with the vanilla 6800? That, my friends, is what we’re going to find out.”

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