Tech News October 2005

NewsOct 31, 2005June 29, 20140

DH Review:Dell 2405FPW
Driver Heaven :: Monday, October 31, 2005

The first impressions can be really summarized with only one word: huge. Being a previous owner of a Iiyama Vision Master Pro 454 (an excellent 19? CRT monitor which has served me well for the past three years, and continues to do so even now), I was accustomed to large monitors, but a 5 inch increase in real estate is something you are never really prepared for. Just to give you an analogy, imagine being used to working with a 14? monitor, only to jump to a 19? monitor after that. Yes, the difference is that big. Widescreen is something you also have to grow accustomed to; especially if you come from the CRT world (like most of us). Fortunately the transition is smooth ? as soon as your eyes get used to the enlarged size of the panel (as already stated, the monitor is huge), you will appreciate the extra desktop real-estate you will have; and all that, without having to resort to wearing glasses. At 1920×1200, everything is crisp, and fonts and icon sizes look normal.

Silentmaxx HD-Silencer @ TheTechLounge
The Tech Lounge :: Monday, October 31, 2005

“A couple of years ago I had to give up my dedicated computer room and move my systems into the sitting area by my front room. When things were in the old room, I didn’t mind the constant hum of my firewall or my main system; I could always turn the speakers up a bit to drown it all out. When it was all moved into close proximity to the TV, however, things began to change. The little Sun SPARC classic and its noisy power supply fan became too much to take and I had to trade it out with a typical DSL router. That made things quieter, but the main system with three 80mm fans was still grating on my ears.

It just so happens that Silentmaxx, producer of silent PC components, makes a hard drive enclosure that manages to cool your drive as well as make it quieter. QuietPC USA is the exclusive distributor of Silentmaxx products in North America and they were nice enough to send me the Silentmaxx HD-silencer for review. With its heatsink-ish exterior, this enclosure promises to keep your drive and your ears happy, but will it deliver?”

Razer Copperhead Gaming Mouse Review
OCIA :: Monday, October 31, 2005

“At this point, I was already pretty impressed with the Copperhead, but the real shock came when I switched back to my old Logitech mouse. One word: WOW. Never before had I realized that my mouse was sooo freaking slow! The pointer was practically crawling across the screen; I wanted to reach in and drag it myself.”

Ergonomic Mouse round-up
InsaneTek :: Monday, October 31, 2005

Quote: “Intel’s current flagship chipset continues to be the 955X. Gigabyte has taken that chipset and made a wonderful board out of it. The GA-8I955X Royal provides great performance, great overclocking headroom, and has a big bundle of goodies.”

Swiftech Apex Watercooling Kit Review
OCIA :: Monday, October 31, 2005

“Filling the system was a breeze. I poured the bottle of HydrX into a cleaned out 1 liter soda bottle, topping it off with distilled water. Next I filled the system through the reservoir as the instructions show. Adding a little water, then tipping the case back, I got a good amount of water in the tubing. After powering on the system some more fluid was immediately required as the pump should never be allowed to run dry. After tipping the case and adding more fluid a few times, the fluid level was just below the inside edge of the fill-hole. I then let the system run for a while allowing all of the bubbles to work their way out of the system, which also gave me time to sit and check for any leaks or seeps at the connections.”

Innovatek Premium XXS Watercooling Kit review @ Xtreme Resources
Xtreme Resources :: Monday, October 31, 2005

“Innovatek is one of the pioneers in the watercooling industry, being one of the first companies that offered watercooling products for the PC enthusiasts. No wonder, like most of the oldest companies they are a company located in Germany, a country with somewhat of a ‘tradition’ on watercooling and a large market reflecting that. Innovatek has built the reputation of delivering top quality and silent products. Today we will take a look on a full watercooling kit, the Premium XXS, a simple and small but very effective kit for the average enthusiast. Let us see what Innovatek does to make their products differ from the masses.”

Title: Watch Out For GeCube Reviews on Other Websites
Hardware Secrets :: Monday, October 31, 2005
“You need to be very carefull when reading VGA reviews from GeCube on other websites. GeCube is sending out “fine tuned” boards to media, models that aren’t easily found on the market. In our case, we’ve got from them one Radeon X800 GTO running at 472 MHz for core and 1 GHz for memory, while the original specs for this board is 400 MHz for core and 1 GHz for memory. With this “fine tuning”, GeCube Radeon X800 GTO would be faster than a Radeon X800 Pro (475 MHz for core and 950 MHz for memory). The whole problem is that they didn’t tell us that the sample they sent us was overclocked. Officially, GeCube was selling this overclocked model in a “special limited quantity” offer, however this model is already sold out. Also, we couldn’t find any reference for the overclocked specs on the box, on the manual or on their website of this model we’ve got.”

Symphony OS BETA 1 Preview 1 @ Phoronix
Phoronix :: Monday, October 31, 2005

Summary: “Symphony OS, among the latest Linux distributions receiving quite a bit of attention by the general public, has released their first BETA candidate (BETA 1 Preview 1) after a series of ALPHA releases. Rather than using GNOME, KDE, Fluxbox, or another one of the many desktop environments Symphony OS has created the Mezzo Desktop Environment to allow for a visually attractive and easy-to-use interface. In addition, this Knoppix-based distribution packs a punch when it comes to its standard set of packages and user friendly features.”

Ultra X-Finity 2nd Generation 550 watt Power Supply
Hi-Techreviews :: Monday, October 31, 2005

Ultra Products is constantly coming up with new and exciting for us computer junkies whether it be fan controllers or computer memory they are always coming up with something new. Today we have the pleasure of reviewing the latest addition to the power supply line-up with the Ultra X-Finity 2nd Generation featuring Flex-Force Cabling.

We mention the cabling because at last there is finally a way to beautify you case with a little help from the power supply. To learn more about the Flex-Force cabling you will have to read the review.

HEXUS.reviews :: Shuttle XPC SD11G5 SFF
Hexus :: Monday, October 31, 2005

One stumbling block Shuttle faces in marketing the SD11G5 is price. A search of online retailers shows it to retail at around the £340 mark. That’s a lot of wedge to pay for a motherboard, case (albeit a stylish one), and cooler. There’s also the lack of relative gaming performance from the onboard graphics. Playing any modern game is an absolute no-no, as far as we’re concerned. Shuttle, though, is aiming the SD11G5 at style gurus and those interested in an ultra-quiet, powerful machine. In that respect and if you can put up with the price, it succeeds well.

3 New Power Supplies: SinTek 500w SLI, Enermax Liberty 500w, Silverstone Strider 600w at 3DXtreme
3dXtreme :: Monday, October 31, 2005
A stable source of power is the heart of every working PC. Overclockers can appreciate a stable and sufficient Power Supply as this could be the ‘make it or break it’ component within their PC. As of late there is a growing sense of awareness within the industry of the importance of a high quality Power Supply and today 3DXtreme is taking a look at three new comers to the market. Dual Core Processors and SLI based PCs are upping the power requirements and the marketing departments are doing a good job getting this information to the consumer. Here are the Power Supply Units that arrived for review in the last two weeks and they will be pitted against one another.

Corsair 2GB TWINX PC4400 DDR550 Pro Series Memory @ BonaFideReviews
Bona Fide Reviews :: Monday, October 31, 2005
Quote: “After reviewing 1GB of Crucial’s PC3200 Ballistix memory and 1GB of OCZ’s Gold PC3200 memory we continue the trend of enthusiast RAM with 2GB of Corsair’s PC4400 TWINX Pro Series memory. The keyword here is enthusiast as the TWINX comes in a 2GB package with a speed rating of 275MHZ (DDR550). Perhaps not today, but certainly in the near future (6-12 months) having 2 gigabytes of memory in a computer will be the standard.”

OCZ PC4000 2GB EB Platinum Ed.
Overclockers Online :: Monday, October 31, 2005
Quote: Gone are the days when the best performance is provided by 1GB kits of memory. OCZ has given us an alternative that provides amazing performance, solid overclockability, and 2GBs of memory in the form of two 1GB modules running in dual channel at timings that are un-heard of anywhere else on the market. As you saw from the overclocking, this kit not only runs DDR500 @ 3-3-2-8 but it actually runs DDR500 @ 2.5-3-2-7 and 2-3-2-7 up to DDR450+!

Thermaltake Blue Orb II Review @ PC Modding Malaysia
PC Modding Malaysia :: Monday, October 31, 2005

Content: “Being one of the heaviest CPU coolers tested here, the Blue Orb II is unlike anything we have seen. Thermaltake made the Blue Orb II stand out from the crowd by adding blue LED fans to the cooler to match it with the blue aluminium fins on the heatsink. Although the heatsink was made of copper core and aluminium fins, the performance was slightly better than the full copper heatsink we compared it against. It runs pretty silent at 1700RPM and performs as advertised.”

Vapochill Micro Review @ Legit Reviews
Legit Reviews :: Monday, October 31, 2005
“I have to say that I found the Vapochill Micro to be an outstanding product. Not only did it obliterate the stock AMD cooling solution, but the temperatures produced by the Extreme and High End models were on par with both water cooling kits I use on my system, at least at stock speeds… ”

XG Ninja 2 Case @ ThinkComputers.org
Think Computers :: Saturday, October 29, 2005

Quote: “Feeling Well, Today I have another review for an Xgbox product, the last few reviews I did of Xgbox products were power supplies, today I will be taking a look at one of their new entry level PC Cases, the Ninja 2. Xgbox has gotten some great scores from ThinkComputers in the past for their great products; will the Ninja 2 keep up with this tradition? The Ninja 2 is inexpensive, considered an entry level gaming case, but it has many features of the more expensive cases out there. Xgbox has a great reputation so far for their great products, and I have to say from my first impression, the Ninja 2 looks to keep that reputation.”

Fable: The Lost Chapters @ Techgage
Techgage :: Saturday, October 29, 2005

Quote: Imagine a world of good and evil: With the power to choose your own place between the two. If you like to bring the devil out in you, or be a little good boy, or maybe a little bit of both. Then this game is definitely one for you.

Zalman CNPS9500 LED @ InsaneTek
InsaneTek :: Saturday, October 29, 2005

“Zalman has always made some great aircooling heatsinks that provided excellent performance at low noise levels. Their new CNPS9500 continues that trend with a bit of uniqueness and style.”

The TechZone reviews the OCZ Technology Rally USB 2.0 Flash Drive.
The Tech Zone :: Saturday, October 29, 2005

We’ll get right to the point; the OCZ Technology Rally USB 2.0 Flash Drive is the fastest USB flash drive we have ever tested. If you’re looking for the fastest flash drive money can buy, the OCZ Rally is it. How does the Rally get it amazing speed? With Dual Channel technology. OCZ Technology is among the first memory makers to use dual channel in a flash drive. The result is a flash drive that leaves the competition sucking dusk.

[News]Powercolor X800GT graphics card review @ Xtreme Resources
Xtreme Resources :: Saturday, October 29, 2005

“ATi has a new trump card for the midstream market. After the X700 line, which came out a little bit too expensive and had trouble to easily compete with the nVidia 6600GT, a new release comes from ATi, the X800GT. Based on the X800 series but featuring a very competitive price, it certainly makes all competition sweat. Powercolor released a very impressive line-up of X800 based mid-stream cards recently and they were nice enough to let us have a sample of the X800GT card for review, so let us take a look at it.”

The Accessories Your Notebook Can’t Live Without!
AMDboard :: Saturday, October 29, 2005
With Santa Claus around the corner, it could be time to think of a little gift for your devoted laptop for its daily abnegation… AMDboard.com has a list of the crème de la crème for both of you and you can’t stay insensitive to its enumeration: First, we have the Logitech notebook V200 cordless mouse that can work a whole year with a single alkaline AA battery, second, the great Chrysalis WIFI seeker that spot the WIFI hot spots in second with indication of the signal strength, third, the Jetart Notebook NP6900 stand with cooling, USB hub, card readers and much more, fourth, the USB fan that will send, right in your face, the morning breeze at any time of the day and, fifth and last, the IDE 2.5in HDD adaptor for a quick connection of your notebook HDD to any desktop IDE connector. So, whether you own a AMD Turion 64 or an Intel Centrino notebook, you will definitely find here the perfect present for the two of you and it’s all at AMDboard.com here

PimpRig Review // Fatal1ty FS-V7 VGA Cooler & Fatal1ty FS-C77 CPU Cooler
PimpRig :: Saturday, October 29, 2005
“The Fatality line-up has a red theme to it, so Zalman dyed the coolers red and added red LED fans to them to finish up the Fatal1ty look. The red LEDs are not the only thing Zalman added, the fans are a little faster for that extra few degrees. We all know cooler temps help for a more stable system.”

X-micro Video MP3 400 Review
Hardware-Pacers :: Saturday, October 29, 2005

“X-Micro’s Video MP3 400 is one of the most innovative things on the market today. Sure there are other companies that make MP3 and video players, but none of them succeed in making them small enough to be carried around the neck. Just imagine this player’s applications; one can watch his/hers favorite show or the Yankees re-run game while waiting in line in DMW, riding the bus, sitting in the park on a beautiful day. Great job X-Micro!”

EYEpad Gaming Mouse Pad Review @ PC Modding Malaysia
PC Modding Malaysia :: Saturday, October 29, 2005

Content: “Overall, the EYEpad is another excellent gaming mouse pad from Corepad. Corepad did the right thing when teaming up with EYEBALLERS and they have made a pretty impressive mouse pad here. Unlike most mouse pads, users can save up extra cash by not paying for all that fancy packaging. Looks like Corepad is going to keep the EYEpad as an OEM version thus this will certainly appeal to more gamers and perhaps system builders. Priced at $15.61 for the EYEpad standard and $20.43 for the EYEpad XL, both of these pads are very affordable. Considering the quality you get for that price, the EYEpad is certainly a steal. If you’re looking for a lightweight, easy-to-use, high-quality mouse pad, you should probably give the EYEpad a try.”

Sunbeamtech Theta TP-101 Fan Controller
Big Bruin :: Friday, October 28, 2005

Quote: Sunbeamtech has offered the typical fan controller (rheobus) in a variety of styles in the past, but the software based Theta TP-101 is much different. Instead of using knobs to mechanically vary resistance, a Windows interface is used to automate this through software, while providing on screen information for up to eight fans and eight thermal probes.

OCZ EL DDR PC-4000 2GB Gold Edition Dual Channel @ Pro-Clockers
Pro-Clockers :: Friday, October 28, 2005
With the introduction of graphic intense memory hungry games like Battlefield 2 and recently released F.E.A.R. the need to increase ram is more important now then ever. And with the average gamer and enthusiast running at least one gig of memory the only logically choice to upgrade to will be two gigs. Looking thought any forum today the talk to the town are high performance one gig modules. Today we got ahold of a kit of OCZ’s EL DDR PC-4000 2GB Gold Edition. So if gaming is your forte, you may want to look into this one.

Aspire X-Plorer Case @ Viperlair
ViperLair :: Friday, October 28, 2005
“Aspire has delivered a very attractive design, on the outside. Once you open the case up, you run into some old fashioned design concepts with some not so thought out solutions and positioning of fans and air-ducts. Although in my situation I have a specific motherboard that causes a position issue, there should be a plan in place for that, as DFI is not exactly a small motherboard supplier in the enthusiast market space.”

[ocnz-news] Albatron K8SLI nForce4 SLI Motherboard Review
Overclockers New Zealand :: Friday, October 28, 2005
“The Albatron K8SLI exhibits an extraordinary level of overclocking potential, reaching 332MHz “FSB”. (Note overclocking is NOT guaranteed and may vary from sample to sample.) Based on our sample, Albatron K8SLI entered the same realm as the famous DFI LanParty series!! However, the board is lacking a bit in terms of raw performance, as it is slower than Gigabyte’s K8NXP-SLI.”

DFI NF4 Ultra Infinity @ InsaneTek
InsaneTek :: Friday, October 28, 2005

“We all know that DFI makes some killer AMD nF4 motherboards through their LANParty series. They’re out again with a more budget oriented nF4 motherboard that also excels in performance and overclocking.”

[News] Sin-Tek 500w SLI Power Supply Review @ Virtual-Hideout
Virtual-Hideout :: Friday, October 28, 2005

Quote: ” Power supplies in general have improved by leaps and bounds over the past few years, and the Sintek unit is a great example of the state of the art. The modified ATX connector is a nice feature, making the use of an adaptor unnecessary.”

NEW CONTENT (Storage) – BYTECC LanDisk – Cost conscious Network Attached Storage
TweakTown :: Friday, October 28, 2005
QUOTE: “While we’ve seen any number of external hard drive enclosures, just about every single one of them is accessed through either the USB or IEEE1394 (Firewire) ports. The LanDisk, as the name implies, relies on networking a hard drive – it’s a NAS product or Network Attached Storage. This puts a new twist on external storage from what we’ve become accustomed to.”

Virtual Handshakes All Around
Designtechnica :: Friday, October 28, 2005
‘Some people hate goodbyes – me, I despise introductions.

How uncomfortable were you the first time you met your friends at school? The initial moment you shook hands with your significant other? The time you sat there stunned as someone plopped a Playstation 2 controller into your outstretched paws and said, “Get to know this – it’ll change your life.” (OK, so that last one’s a stretch – still, wasn’t it a pain in the ass learning that dual analog joystick setup?)’

shake your hands in the air like you just don’t care

StarTech 2 Port USB Mini KVM Switch
Futurelooks :: Friday, October 28, 2005
KVM switches are the way to go for controlling 2 or more PCs, saving you space, time, and money. But just how good do these new USB-based switches perform? We take the new StarTech unit for a test drive.

Flat Panel Furniture Buying Guide
Designtechnica :: Friday, October 28, 2005
‘Does your old, pressboard IKEA TV stand from grad school look out of place with your new plasma screen? If so, check out the following suggestions to help you organize and jazz up your home entertainment theatre quicker than you can find something decent to watch on TV.’

HEXUS.reviews :: ECS PA1 MVP Extreme
Hexus :: Thursday, October 27, 2005

It pains me to say so but being a solid, dependable mainboard – even at a pretty excellent £90 including VAT – sometimes isn’t enough to make a recommendation. There are better Pentium 4 mainboards out there (and ECS sell some of them!) and currently Crossfire is fairly forgettable. Overclocking the PA1 was an exercise in frustration although it appears a coming BIOS might solve some of those problems. Stability was there to go with all the other upsides.

FSP Group Blue Storm 500W PSU @ ThinkComputers.org
Think Computers :: Thursday, October 27, 2005
Quote: “Feeling down in the dump? Well then this might not be the review for you. Reason being, this power supply is very VERY blue! It’s made by FSP Group, which has been around since 1993 and currently is the 10th largest power supply vendor world-wide. They are focusing on green power products and looking forward to strengthening their product line as well as the range. The unit which I received for review is the Blue Storm 500 with (passive) PFC, they also have three smaller sizes and these all have the option to have PFC or not.”

Bigbruin.com Review: Enermax MESH Pandora CA-3030 ATX Case
Big Bruin :: Thursday, October 27, 2005

Quote: The CA-3030 boasts some impressive features not normally found in lower priced, almost entry-level cases… like: tool-less drive mounting system, fan filter, flip down drive bay covers, and it is also great looking. But the nicest feature has to be the ability to run two full sized 120mm fans. This should provide enough quiet cooling for all but the hottest running machines.

Thermaltake Max 4 @ Techgage
Techgage :: Thursday, October 27, 2005

Quote: Do you want a hard drive enclosure that not only lives up to your expectations, but looks classy at the same time? We are taking a look at the Thermaltake Max 4, which does just that… and well!

Antec Take 4
Overclockers Online :: Thursday, October 27, 2005
Quote: This 4U rackmount case is designed for studio professionals looking for quiet superior performance, so who better to test its abilities than an overclocker? I must admit that I cannot wait so let’s take this show on the road and get to the package and contents section.

CodeWeavers CrossOver Office v5.0 @ Phoronix
Phoronix :: Thursday, October 27, 2005

Summary: “Complementing the release of the WINE v0.9 is CodeWeavers’ CrossOver Office v5.0 Standard and Professional. In addition to being based upon this recent WINE release, CrossOver Office now supports the running of Microsoft’s Office 2003 and the introduction of CrossOver “Bottles” capabilities. Although in our initial tests we didn’t find this v5.0 to be perfect, it’s much improved upon its previous version and a demo of this software is always available via BitTorrent for a full 30 day trial period. In this article we have a few snapshots of this latest WINE (Wine Is Not An Emulator) advancement.”

More than we bargained for in ‘Byrne’s place’?
Hexus :: Thursday, October 27, 2005
Quote:

The codename of ATi’s forthcoming successor to its just released RADEON X1800 XT (R520) – the 90nm R580 is called ‘Rodin’.

Named, we think, after the great French sculptor Auguste Rodin (1840–1917), whose works included ‘The Thinker’ and the exquisitely risqué ‘The Kiss’.

Crucial Ballistix DDR2-800 @ Phoronix
Phoronix :: Thursday, October 27, 2005

Summary: “When it comes to system memory, Crucial Technology is a name that comes to mind for many enthusiasts. Unlike a majority of the other system memory manufacturers, Crucial employs its own DRAM chips manufactured by their parent company – Micron Technology. Not only does Crucial utilize Micron chips on its memory modules but it also brings fourth superior technical support and competitive prices. Up for testing in this article is Crucial’s Ballistix DDR2-800 PC2-6400 2 x 512MB memory modules.”

Athlon 64 Cores
Hardware Secrets :: Thursday, October 27, 2005
Here is a snippet: “Enthusiasts love to know which “core” their processor is based on. “Core” is the silicon chip version used inside the CPU. Even in some ads you may find a reference to which core the CPU uses. To the regular user the core reference looks like Greek, so we decided to post a quick guide to all Athlon 64 cores released to date.”

Abit NI8 SLI @ InsaneTek
InsaneTek :: Thursday, October 27, 2005

“Intel fans who look for SLI performance now have a new choice on their motherboard list. Abit’s NI8 SLI is a solid board that performs well without any issues. Overclocking is probably the only department that needs help.”

E-Power Silent Engine Tiger 550 PSU Review @ Hi-techreviews.com
Hi-Techreviews :: Thursday, October 27, 2005

E-power’s latest power supply looked like a winner on paper, with its support for SLI, high output current on all rails. It was our job to find out if this power supply was really the Tiger they claimed it to be.

So come on along as we take a closer look at the outside – inside and see what makes the Tiger tick.

Beginners Guides: Flash Memory Data Recovery and Protection @ PCstats.com
PCStats :: Thursday, October 27, 2005
“Stuck with lost data on a USB memory key or Flash card and don’t know what to do? Recovering data from flash memory devices is possible, and not to complex, so follow along and we’ll help you get those pictures back! In this Beginners Guide, PCSTATS is going to look at how flash memory works, what can go wrong with it, and how to recover and protect your data in case the worst does happen. ”

Asetek VapoChill Micro @ InsaneTek
InsaneTek :: Thursday, October 27, 2005

“Asetek makes their entry into the aircooling crowd with a big bang. The VapoChill Micro performs well at minimal noise levels and has the capability of cooling up to 150W of heat! Your toasty CPU can now thank you for prolonging its life.”

Ultra Products Fan Commander
Big Bruin :: Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Quote: Ultra Products has a new fan controller called the Fan Commander which can control up to seven fans, and monitor three temperature probes. Controlling all your fans in one location will help you save time while also achieving the perfect balance between noise

Socket Science from AMD @ CoolTechZone.com
CoolTechZone :: Wednesday, October 26, 2005
“Every once in a while when you are sitting alone, thinking back to all those years you’ve spent on technology, you realize that standards are meant to be updated and consistency isn’t the hardware industry’s strong suit.”

Jetart JAK801 Athlon64 Heatsink Review @ FrostyTech.com
Frosty Tech :: Wednesday, October 26, 2005
“It might be a little strange to be testing out the Jetart JAK801 Socket 754 AMD Athlon64 heatsink, but remember there are plenty of single-channel DDR Socket 754 processors out there, and lots of Sempron’s too. The Jetart JAK801 is an all-aluminum extruded K8 heatsink with a pretty standard set of accouterments. Its 15x70x70mm fan operates at a single speed, and is not temperature responsive.”

Titan TTC-G3T Aluminum Notebook Cooler Review @ Virtual-Hideout
Virtual-Hideout :: Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Quote: Using the TTC-G3T Value Aluminum Notebook Cooler was a no-brainer experience. It really doesn’t get much easier to “setup” and use a product than this. Simply sit it down, place the notebook on top, and plug in the cooler to an available USB port.

Neoseeker Review: Powercolor X800GT
Neoseeker :: Wednesday, October 26, 2005
“Seeing as this card was designed to be overclocked, it comes as no suprise that we were able to top out at 170 (!) MHz over the base spec. This is 100 MHz over the overclock that Powercolor ships the card with. This is extremely impressive and anyone who either owns or ends up owning this card should at least consider using its high performance potential.”

PimpRig Review // Thermaltake Armor Full Tower Case
PimpRig :: Wednesday, October 26, 2005
“The front panel on the Armor appears massive. The most noticeable feature on this case is the two aluminum doors that swing out to expose the drive bays. Serving no real purpose other then looks, these drive bay doors do in fact add attractive appeal to this case. The hinges on the doors are easily removable and could be removed if the user chooses not to have the doors on the case. The front of the case is nothing but options to the user. The power and reset button are interchangeable to any of the 11 bays on the front of this case. The “Power Box” also serves as an adapter that allows you to mount a 3.5” drive in one of the 5.25” bays.”

XClio “Goodpower” 500-watt PSU Review
TweakTown :: Wednesday, October 26, 2005
“For many, the name XClio may be rather new. While not one of the mega-companies we’re accustomed to hearing about, they have been in the market of making products for the DIY segment for a little while now. They created some case designs that have been hitting the circuits and they have what they call a “Goodpower” power supply.”

Full FEAR Tweak Guide @ TweakGuides.com
TweakTown :: Wednesday, October 26, 2005
I’ve finished my full FEAR Tweak Guide, and it comes complete with all the known tips and tweaks for FEAR. The guide includes screenshot comparisons of some of the harder-to-spot setting differences, more detailed setting descriptions, all the working advanced tweaks, and a ton of links to useful resources for troubleshooting FEAR problems. Give it a read through.

Antec P180 Advanced Mid Tower Computer Case Review @ Tweaknews.net
Tweaknews :: Wednesday, October 26, 2005

“With the recent introduction of the P-180 chassis, the latest in their Performance One series, Antec has made an attempt to address both the cooling problem and the noise issue. I think you’d be hard pressed to find a PC enthusiast who hasn’t heard of, much less owned any Antec products. Antec has a reputation for marketing high quality products that perform as advertised. The P-180 chassis has a distinctive look and a plethora of innovative features. Let’s take a closer look at this product and see if it lives up to Antec’s venerable reputation.”

Gigabyte 3D Aurora GZ-FSCA1-AN Aluminium Case
PCStats :: Wednesday, October 26, 2005
“While fancy plastic and steel cases are now the order of the day, aluminium cases still have a high-end niche in the market and have retained a lot of their initial cachet. Gigabyte seems to have a hand in every conceivable PC market these days, and cases are now no exception. Today we’ll be looking at the company’s first stand-alone computer chassis, the high-end Gigabyte 3D Aurora aluminium case which is designed to especially accommodate watercooling systems. Let’s see how it measures up.”

Scan 3XS AMD Chameleon
Hexus :: Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Now powered by an AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ (dual core and overclocked) and overclocked NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GTX SLI, the basic canons of performance that we saw in the development 3XS Chameleon have been cemented and improved. Still wearing coats of paint more expensive than a decent spec PC, the fully-loaded Chameleon has been used and abused by us over the course of the last few days.

Silverstone Strider ST60F 600watt Power Supply @ Pro-Clockers
Pro-Clockers :: Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Quote: Class, sleek and powerful are just a few words that I can think of to describe anything that comes from Silverstone. From the TJ line of cases to the ST series of power supplies nothing says quality like Silverstone. Another one of their quality products is in our lab today, The Strider ST60F 600 watt power supply. Boasting a boatload of power and modular cables, this maybe your next power unit.

Thermaltake VB6000 Swing Mid-Tower ATX Case Review at 3DXtreme
3dXtreme :: Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Lacking any fancy LED fans, powering up the Thermaltake Swing Case was uneventful. The Thermaltake Swing Case is the perfect marriage of budget, usability, and looks. This Case has room to grow, so as an entry level Case the Swing would be an ideal purchase. Also, with its $60 price tag it’s within reach of many peoples’ budget – our only ding was that it doesn’t include a Power Supply Unit. In any case, the Thermaltake Swing fits its’ price point perfectly giving the user features found on more expensive Cases.

DFI Infinity NFORCE4 Standard Motherboard
hardCOREware :: Tuesday, October 25, 2005
We have soft spot for motherboards that offer nothing more than the basics, but are superb overclockers and performers. When the price is low and performance is high, these motherboards always get our attention.

DFI sought out to do just that with their Infinity line of NFORCE4 boards. While they may not look as snazzy as their Lanparty boards, they are certainly worth your attention if you care more about performance than flashy lights and glowing colours.

Thermaltake Golden Orb II CPU Cooler @ Bjorn3D
Bjorn3D :: Tuesday, October 25, 2005
For its Golden Orb II,Thermaltake decided to go the route of the slow-spinning, large-diameter fan. This makes it ideal for people looking to limit the extra noise coming from their PC. The fan also includes a blue LED to add a nice glow to a PC case. The Golden Orb II also features a pure copper base and is compatible with most Intel LGA775 and AMD socket 754, 939, and 940 processors.

check out their orb… just stay away from the “throbbing orb”.

Modding, Where to next? What happened to it? What is it really? @ ThinkComputers.org
Think Computers :: Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Quote: “This isn’t really an article, more of something to think about. Things that I observe, questions that I would like answered. Taking a look around the modding community you can see lots of things, the major thing you can see is that modding is becoming more and more mainstream. Is this a good thing? There are 2 TV shows that I know of that are dedicated to modding, but it still is not fully mainstream yet. Some consider it an art form, some consider it a hobby and some say ‘What’s modding?’ Browsing all the forums I see lots and lots of mods, some are great and some are not so great. I see many people modding their computers with some theme in mind, some pull it off well and others do not…”

Opera 9.0 Technology Preview 1 for Windows
TekBunker :: Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Quote – Browser wars are on the go again. With FireFox and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 7 Beta’s getting the beta test development treatment, Opera has snuck in the back door with a “Technology Preview 1 for Windows.” Here is a words and pictures preview of the latter browser. Just around the corner, Opera 9.0.

out it check, you will

Look at Flock Developer 0.49 Build @ Techgage
Techgage :: Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Quote: There’s a new browser in town, and it has great potential if you use RSS feeds and other social networking sites regularly. Based on the Firefox browser, it should prove just as secure. Let’s check it out, and see if it has a chance to battle Firefox and Opera.

Case Gear X-Plug 450W Modular Acrylic PSU
Big Bruin :: Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Quote: All of the eye candy the Case Gear X-Plug PSU offers up is great, but to me what counts the most is how well it supplies clean, stable power to the various voltage rails in the computer. Unfortunately, it stumbled a little bit in this area… The Case Gear X-Plug PSU voltage rails never fell out of specification, but all of the voltage rails did a lot of ‘dancing’ around within the 5% allowable tolerance.

PimpRig Review // RaidMax X-1 Gaming Case
PimpRig :: Tuesday, October 25, 2005
“The exterior of the steel case is finished in black high gloss paint, with an aluminum door. You also have the option to purchase the case in gloss white and the aluminum door. The black power button is almost hidden, being flush with the front of the case, under the LED display. I like that, I’m tempted to remove the markings from the button, just so it’s totally hidden. A real-time thermal LED temperature display shines brightly for you to show off your cool or not so cool temperatures. They should have added a feature to switch the display over to Celsius; it would have been a nice touch.”

Sansun SN-C001 BAT @ Phoronix
Phoronix :: Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Summary: “The fictional superhero Batman was originally conceived in 1939 when appearing in an issue of Detective Comics, and since that point Batman’s popularity has increased tremendously and is still popular with its Batman Begins movie, and video game, out this year as well as other merchandise. Attempting to capture onto the popularity of Batman, the relatively unheard of Sansun Group Company has created the SN-C001 BAT Case and we have this themed ATX chassis with us today for testing.”

Seagate 7200.9 Hard Drive @ CoolTechZone.com
CoolTechZone :: Tuesday, October 25, 2005
“Man’s need for storage is insatiable. We initially thought that we could make do in a few kilobytes; however, we then moved up to megabytes, gigabytes and now hundreds of gigabytes. Emphasizing this trend is the new drive series from Seagate, the 7200.9.”

Article: Video Coverage of Peter Moore’s XBOX 360 Keynote
Primo Tech :: Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Peter Moore’s entire XBOX 360 keynote address from last week’s Digital Life expo in New York is now available in video form here:

Centon Advanced A2X512S4400HB 1GB Dual Channel Kit @ InsaneTek
InsaneTek :: Monday, October 24, 2005

Quote: “Centon has really made some impressive releases through their Advanced line. Their Advanced PC4400 part uses the highly overclockable TCCD ICs and comes with great overclocking headroom.”

Introduction to Logic Gates
Hardware Secrets :: Monday, October 24, 2005
Here is a snippet: “Logic gates are the basic components in digital electronics. They are used to create digital circuits and even complex integrated circuits. For example, complex integrated circuits may bring already a complete circuit ready to be used – microprocessors and microcontrollers are the best example – but inside them they were projected using several logic gates. In this tutorial we will teach you everything you need to know about logic gates, with several examples.”

Getting In “The Zone” @ The TechZone
The Tech Zone :: Monday, October 24, 2005
Recently, I’ve had the pleasure of being in “The Zone!” Personally, I’ve got to say that it was nice being there. Just what is “The Zone”? Well, you’ve heard of athletes talk about being in “The Zone” – that magical place where everything clicks. The physical and mental processes are working in coordination, and everything happens just right. In any athletic, competitive sport, the professional athlete trains and works hard for those special moments.

[Phoronix] Doom 3 v. Quake 4 Performance
Phoronix :: Monday, October 24, 2005

Summary: “Now that Quake 4 has been available here in the United States for a couple of days along with the Linux client and server binaries, we’ve gathered some results comparing the frame-rate performance of Quake 4 against Doom 3, as Quake 4 is using a tweaked version of the Doom 3 engine.”

Steel Sound 5H-USB Professional Gaming Headset Review Rev. 2.0 Posted!
Tech ARP :: Monday, October 24, 2005

Quote – “The new Steel Sound 5H-USB professional gaming headset looks just like any other gaming headset. But looks are deceptive for this headset boasts of unique features like a specially-tweaked USB sound card, a retractable microphone as well as the ability to be dismantled for easy transportation! Check it out now!

G.SKILL F1-4400DSU2-1GBFC PC4400 1GB @ techPowerUp
techPowerUp! :: Monday, October 24, 2005
G.SKILL uses Samsung TCCD or TCC5 chips on these DDR memory modules. The timings of 2.5-4-4-8 are pretty much what you would expect from modules using these chips. During our overclocking tests we could get DDR600 speeds out of the sticks, at a rather small voltage of 2.8V. The best about this memory? It’s the price. You can find a 2x 512MB kit for around $170 online.

Sansun 500W Arctic Modular PSU Review @ PC Modding Malaysia
PC Modding Malaysia :: Monday, October 24, 2005

Content: ” Sansun Arctic is a modular cable power supply which is not only good for cable management but also good for case inner airflow. Since there are many power supply manufacturers have produced modular power supply, but the main advantage of the Sansun Artic power supply is its cheap price; USD79.99/ RM300. The price is considered very cheap for a 500W ATX12 V2.03 modular cable power supply. Hence, we recommend this power supply for those are looking for a decent performance modular power supply on a tight budget. ”

Corsair XMS 3600LL 2 GIG review
Driver Heaven :: Monday, October 24, 2005
“Corsair has advertised their new 2 GB TWINX2048-3500LLPRO matched memory kit, as specifically designed for motherboards using chipset’s with dual memory channels (AMD Athlon 64 platform). This memory kit consists of two CMX1024-3500LLPRO memory modules, that have been tested together on a current production AMD motherboard at DDR437 (218 MHz). This memory sports extremely low latencies of 2-3-2-6 (CAS-TRCD-TRP-TRAS), utilizing a Command Rate of 1. These TwinX memory kits are designed to provide the ultimate in performance and stability in dual channel boards. As an added benefit of Corsair’s XMS ProSeries, each module includes the high-efficiency aluminum XMS heatsink, and 18 activity LED’s that show the level of memory activity on each bank.”

Hiper Modular TypeR 580W Power Supply @ Pro-Clockers
Pro-Clockers :: Monday, October 24, 2005

Quote: Although you may not have heard of Hiper, over the past few years they have produced some of the finest power supplies available to the mainstream user and enthusiast alike. However, their new TypeR range of PSUs is scheduled to blow competitors out of the water; with its huge 580W power output, and flashy looks. The particular model I will be reviewing is the Modular TypeR 580W model. TypeR, a name synonymous with speed and power. Let’s see if Hiper’s flashy boy racer can stand up to this prestigious name.

[News] Performance-Pc’s Custom Lian Li V-1000B Review @Virtual-Hideout
Virtual-Hideout :: Monday, October 24, 2005

Quote: ” Overall the work that Performance-Pcs has done with this chassis just makes a great case even more pleasing to the eyes. Their attention to detail and high quality work leave little to the imagination. ”

Razer Copperhead Gaming Mouse @ ThinkComputers.org
Think Computers :: Monday, October 24, 2005

Quote: “The overall feel of the mouse does take some getting used to, the rubber grips on the side protrude out a bit too far in my opinion. The mouse itself is very lightweight, and moves with little resistance across my mousepad, which is an Xray Thunder9, rough surface pad. The buttons on the left side of the mouse were easily accessible, but the buttons on the right were a bit difficult to reach, especially the second one located farther back on the mouse. I found myself actually moving my whole hand over to find the buttons, the reason for this was, again, the rubber grip protrudes a bit to far, the buttons are located under the grip itself, and you have to essentially maneuver your finger around and under the grip to reach the buttons, I found this very awkward and difficult to get used to.”

News] Shuttle P2500G SFF System review @ Xtreme Resources
Xtreme Resources :: Monday, October 24, 2005

“The P2500g (also known as the SN25P) was the first small form factor computer to offer HyperTransport and PCI Express. The XPC SN25P uses the new P chassis, a member of Shuttle’s fifth generation XPC chassis family. The P makes a number of improvements over the earlier G, G2, G4 and K series chassis which will be mentioned in more detail later in this review. Paraphrasing from Shuttle’s press kit, the XPC concept utilizes high performance, industry standard desktop components, using minimum size possible while preserving component compatibility and expandability, and finally Shuttle’s continued high focus on quality, using best-of-class materials, construction and industrial design.”

Centon Advanced A2X512S4000LLU 1GB Dual Channel Kit @ InsaneTek
InsaneTek :: Monday, October 24, 2005

Quote: “Although Winbond UTT is not as popular as before, there are still enthusiasts who love memory based on the IC. Centon is here to satisfy those enthusiasts with the Advanced PC4000 memory.”

Beginners Guides: Website Hosting With Apache @ PCstats.com
PCStats :: Monday, October 24, 2005
“In this Beginners Guide, PCSTATS is going to walk you through setting up a personal website on the web using Apache web server for Windows. We’ll introduce you to the terms and concepts you need to understand in order to host a website, show you how to prepare a system for web hosting, then go through the steps of configuring Apache server and hosting a website.”

Lian Li PC-777 Anniversary Case Review
Overclocker Café :: Sunday, October 23, 2005

The Lian Li PC-777 Anniversary Case is a definite head turner. Its design absolutely screams ‘look at me!’ A few of my qualms with the basic functioning of the case such as the access ports and power button on top as well as the mesh side panel window (aka dust intake) can be easily tolerated by the end user, as any change to them would disrupt the clean conch look that Lian Li has achieved. The list of pros with the PC-777 reads like a litany of what every case should be and have in the way of features.

The Future of Wireless Connectivity @ CoolTechZone.com
CoolTechZone :: Sunday, October 23, 2005
“Post Centrino, more and more notebooks are becoming Wi-Fi enabled. In fact, built-in Wi-Fi has become standard on newer notebooks, and the feature is common enough for the trickle effect to commence and make cell phones Wi-Fi compatible as well.”

ThermalRock Mystic HTPC Case @ ThinkComputers.org
Think Computers :: Sunday, October 23, 2005

Quote: “HTPC cases, we are seeing more of them as HTPC’s are becoming more popular, and easy to setup. My current HTPC is sitting in a Raidmax Scorpio Case. Which as you can see is not the best case for an HTPC. Today we will be taking a look at ThermalRock’s Mystic HTPC case. ThermalRock is a subsidiary of Thermaltake, who we all know are known for making good products. This is my first HTPC case so I’m excited to take a look at it! We will see if it will replace the Raidmax case, and become part of my home theater system.”

How to Find Out Your Motherboard Manufacturer and Model
Hardware Secrets :: Sunday, October 23, 2005
Here is a snippet: “Sooner or later you will need to know the manufacturer and exact model of your motherboard, especially if you do plan to upgrade your computer, since the upgrade capabilities of your computer are set by the motherboard model you have. You will need to know this information if you need to perform a BIOS upgrade or download your motherboard manual or drivers. A BIOS upgrade is needed to make your computer to recognize a new CPU, and the manual is necessary if you want to check how much RAM your computer is able to recognize, for example.”

Dh Review:AMD Athlon64 X2 3800+
Driver Heaven :: Sunday, October 23, 2005

A few months back we took a look at a couple of AMD’s X2 CPU’s in the form of the 4800+ and the 4400+. Both provided excellent performance in all tasks however they did come at quite a hefty price. Since publishing those articles AMD released the 3800+ which provides AMD users with all of the benefits of Dual Core computing – however at a much lower cost. Aimed to compete directly with the Pentium D 820 in terms of price and performance we were very interested to see just how well the new chip would compete with our previous Gold Award winner.

Foxconn WinFast 6150K8MA-8EKRS
Overclockers Online :: Sunday, October 23, 2005
Quote: The Foxconn WinFast 6150K8MA-8EKRS packs a lot of punch into a tiny little package. The lack of DVI monitor and component video outputs does take away from some of the shine that was put on this motherboard by the performance it offers. With that said, I don’t think we can hide from the fact that this is one heck of a solid package in the price range it is being offered. Foxconn has once again put a smile on my face with the overclocking options and performance out of the Micro-ATX WinFast 6150K8MAA-8EKRS and I think it is an exceptional offering in what is sure to become a very competitive market.

id Software Quake 4 @ Phoronix
Phoronix :: Sunday, October 23, 2005

Summary: “Released earlier today from id Software was both the client and server Linux binaries for Quake 4 and with that we bring a plethora of new screenshots. Although the v1.0.2147 release does contain a few bugs, overall these Linux binaries are phenomenal and from our experience thus far we’ve very much enjoyed both the single and multi-player gaming. For your viewing pleasure today, we’ve bundled 120 pictures from the first seven levels of Quake 4, to ensure we don’t spoil this excellent gaming experience.”

Crucial Ballistix PC2-6400 @ Viperlair
ViperLair :: Sunday, October 23, 2005
“Lastly is the price of the RAM, a rather large question especially since there isn’t a lot of difference, performance wise to PC5300 RAM. As of this moment its around the $200 (US) mark, which puts it around the other PC6400 RAM around. The upside is that it has tighter timings than the competition, at least at the moment, at 4-4-4-15 rather than 5-5-5-15.”

Arctic Cooling NV Silencer 5 (Rev. 3) Review @ PC Modding Malaysia
PC Modding Malaysia :: Sunday, October 23, 2005

Content: “Arctic Cooling impressed us again with their latest NV Silencer 5 (Rev. 3) and it is still one of the highest performing VGA cooler we have tested up to date. The retail package is quite catchy and it comes with everything to get you going. If you look at the performance, it simply outperforms the stock cooler by quite a margin but it does not end there. The major difference between the stock cooler and NV Silencer 5 is the levels of noise it makes. To be frank, we could not hear the NV Silencer 5 during operation but the stock cooler can be clearly heard especially when we set the fan speed to maximum.”

HEXUS.reviews :: EQS A72K9-CF Crossfire Edition Mainboard
Hexus :: Sunday, October 23, 2005
EQS enabled HEXUS with its EQS A72K9-CF CrossFire Edition mainboard literally weeks before we got our grubby paws on the ATi Master graphics board required to complete the platform for our analysis on the launch of the CrossFire platform. That timely showing, has enabled us to really get to know the EQS A72K9-CF CrossFire Edition mainboard for this HEXUS article.

[GeekExtreme] Logitech wireless mouse roundup @ Geekextreme.com
Geek Extreme :: Sunday, October 23, 2005
“Today we’re going to take a look at three of Logitech’s new wireless mice: the Cordless Mini, the V200, & the LX 7. The Cordless Mini & the V200 fall into Logitech’s “Notebook Mice” category, while the LX 7 is simply in the “Cordless Mice” category. This is interesting to me, because the LX 7 is basically the same size as the V200, but there are some differentiating features between the two that certainly separate them into those categories.”

Prime Cooler Water Cooling Preview @ Phoronix
Phoronix :: Sunday, October 23, 2005

Summary: “Prime Cooler, who has been in business since 1998 but isn’t widely recognized in the United States, recently unveiled their initial line of water cooling components. These products range from a lift pump with water tank to a triple 120mm fan radiator, and today we have an exclusive preview of what’s to come from these Prime Cooler Water Cooling components. Continue on as we dive into these frigid waters.”

PimpRig Review // OCZ Rally High Performance USB 2.0 (Dual Channel) Flash Memory Drive
PimpRig :: Friday, October 21, 2005
“Unless you force this drive into a socket it isn’t meant to fit in, the install for this drive is pretty much fool-proof. I have to add the “pretty much” part since I am sure there is some very anti-ingenius fool out there who can figure a way to screw it up somehow. :) All you have to do is uncap the drive and plug it into a USB plug. Done. Within seconds the drive is ready to receive files.”

Enermax Liberty 620w Power Supply Review @ Virtual-Hideout.net
Virtual-Hideout :: Friday, October 21, 2005

Quote: ” I must say I was extremely surprised, and impressed at the near perfect Power efficiency (PFC) of the Enermax Liberty 620w Power Supply, even beating out the ultra-efficient Seasonic! ”

Evercool Lander HDD System Review @PC Modding Malaysia
PC Modding Malaysia :: Friday, October 21, 2005

Content: “The Evercool Lander is certainly one of the more “spartan” devices that I’ve ever come across which simply employs a tried, tested and proven method to help cool down a device by simply manipulating air and blast it on a hot surface. However, in our tests it has proven itself to be effective and most importantly does its job in fighting heat problems. At least now my stock fan doesn’t have to work overtime, the max RPMs average about 4300 RPM, that’s bearable as the noise from the stock fan itself will drown out any other whirs that may come from any other fans.”

OCZ Platinum PC2-6400 EB 1GB Dual Channel Kit @ InsaneTek
InsaneTek :: Friday, October 21, 2005

“OCZ has been dead silent in the DDR2 category that it has been disappointing. With the new Platinum PC2-6400, OCZ is back and ready to challenge all competitors. Low latencies and high speeds never sounded so good.”

Windows Vista Build 5231 Review @ CoolTechZone.com
CoolTechZone :: Friday, October 21, 2005

“This is possibly the only application with more anticipation surrounding it than Internet Explorer 7, if not Vista itself. We wonder if Microsoft would bundle Windows Media Player 11 with Vista exclusively or would it be available for download separately for Windows XP as well. It most certainly will end up looking a lot better (graphically) than most music players out there, iTunes included. Although it appears to look pretty straightforward, the interface has changed drastically, which makes it far more attractive than Windows Media Player 10 as well as competing applications.”

ThermalRock Mystic HTPC Case @ ThinkComputers.org
Think Computers :: Friday, October 21, 2005

Quote: “HTPC cases, we are seeing more of them as HTPC’s are becoming more popular, and easy to setup. My current HTPC is sitting in a Raidmax Scorpio Case. Which as you can see is not the best case for an HTPC. Today we will be taking a look at ThermalRock’s Mystic HTPC case. ThermalRock is a subsidiary of Thermaltake, who we all know are known for making good products. This is my first HTPC case so I’m excited to take a look at it! We will see if it will replace the Raidmax case, and become part of my home theater system.”

Zalman ZM-RS6F 5.1 Real Surround Sound Headphones/Headset Review @ Tweaknews.net
Tweaknews :: Friday, October 21, 2005

Tweaknews.net has released yet another review onto the internet. I was wondering if you could please post it in today’s news for me.

Thermaltake Silent PurePower TWV500W Power Supply Review.
3dXtreme :: Friday, October 21, 2005
We’ve posted a new review on 3DXtreme.net – Today 3DXtreme is taking a look at Thermaltakes’ Silent PurePower Series, ATX 12v 2.0 TWV500W Power Supply Unit. Thermaltake once again delivered their latest product to 3DXtreme and this time around has some extremely unique features that will be interesting to look at. The TWV500W features a modular cable management system and Total Watts Meter Module as well as Dual PCI-E connectors. Other features include Active PFC and dual 12v rails. This is one of those “last one you’ll need to buy” products that should keep you covered for quite awhile to come.

Shuttle SD11G5 XPC @ t-break
t-break :: Friday, October 21, 2005
Based on the 915GM+ICH6M chipset, the SD11 supports almost all of the new technologies such as SATA, DDR2 for which Shuttle provides two slots and PCI Express which is provided in the form of one x16 slot and another x1 slot. Since this is a G version of the chipset, you have onboard video in the form of Intel GMA 900 and Shuttle does good by not only providing DSUB and DVI connections, but an S-Video output port as well allowing you to connect the XPC directly to the TV.

BIOS Optimization Guide Rev. 8.5 Posted!
Tech ARP :: Friday, October 21, 2005

Quote – “As promised, here is the Complete FREE BIOS Optimization Guide Rev. 8.5!

This will bring the FREE BIOS Optimization Guide Rev. 8.5 to over 300 BIOS features!

This release features these 10 new BIOS features :-

Execute Disable Bit
No-Execute Memory Protect
OverWrite Rx6C
OverWrite Rx6D
PCI Bus Parking
PCI Master Bus Timeout
PCI Master Bus Timeout Control
PSB Parking
Rx6C OverWrite
Rx6D OverWritecheck it out FrontX Panel @ ThinkComputers.org
Think Computers :: Friday, October 21, 2005

Quote: “With more people building their own computers there are a ton of cases to use. Depending on the decision you make, you may lack front or side connections. This is where the FrontX panel comes into play. By using the FrontX panel you have the ability to bring just about any type of port to the front of your system, this is a great product that you can configure to your own need and usage.”

check it out

Nyko Airflo EX @ ThinkComputers.org
Think Computers :: Friday, October 21, 2005

Quote: “Nyko was founded in 1995 and is based out of Los Angeles, California In that short ten years, they have proven themselves as qualified developers, manufacturers and marketers of innovative peripherals to enhance the digital lifestyle. They produce peripherals for every major console, as well as PCs and the iPod. Their latest foray into the PC game market brings us the Nyko Airflo EX, and brings PC gamers closer to the console.”
check it out

World Premiere! Sansun Arctic 550W PSU
AMDboard :: Friday, October 21, 2005
With the arrival of Athlon 64 X2 dual core and power-hungry graphic chips like ATI Radeon X1000 or NVIDIA GeForce 7800, power supply makers have seen the need for more powerful PSUs loaded with more and more features like sleeved cables, modular design, ATX 2.0 compliance, 120mm LED fan, active PFC, 6-pin PCI-express connection, dual 12V rails and much more. The Sansun Artic 550W PSU is one of these and it also offers an impressive level of performance for a price that should not exceed 95$. AMDboard.com is first to review this new PSU and it’s right here:

TITAN Serina @ InsaneTek
InsaneTek :: Friday, October 21, 2005

“Who doesn’t own a laptop these days? Your thin notebook with that itty bitty heatsink is causing your CPU fan to spin at full speeds. Need better cooling for your laptop? The Serina from TITAN will be a good candidate.”

AeroCool AeroEngine II Reviewed
Hi-Techreviews :: Thursday, October 20, 2005

It’s time for our monthly AeroCool case review and today we are going to be looking at a case that was designed for a lower price point but in my opinion it looks like it could sell for far more than the $75.00 that Newegg is currently charging. I’m not normally a fan of mid-sized cases but the AeroCool AeroEngine II won me over this time, it has enough good features to make me forget the bad ones I associate with the smaller cases. So come on along as we check out this little gem and perhaps you will become a believer as I did that this is indeed a very nice little case.

Logisys Black LED Office Keyboard Review
Techgage :: Thursday, October 20, 2005

Quote: Are you in the market for a new keyboard? It has to have functions such as internet navigation, volume controls, and all those ease of use accessories that we have come to depend on. Today we are looking at an Illuminated Office Pro keyboard from Logisys; let’s see if it stands up in our tests.

Thermaltake Tide Water @ techPowerUp!
techPowerUp! :: Thursday, October 20, 2005

Brief: Thermaltake has engineered a completely new video card cooling concept. A self-contained water cooling unit which is mounted into two PCI slots keeps the GPU cool. People who think watercooling requires a lot of maintenance or leaks easily will be proven wrong. The installation is also remarkably easy. What makes this unit even more attractive is its competitive price. Powercolor liked it so much, that they use it on their X800 GT EVO series.

OCZ Platinum PC4000 EB 2GB Dual Channel Kit @ InsaneTek
InsaneTek :: Thursday, October 20, 2005

Quote: “The enthusiast 2GB solution from OCZ started off in their Gold line and came with loose timings. They are back with yet another enthusiast solution that offers much better timings at high speeds.”

News: AMD’s Opteron 254 processor reviewed at TR
The Tech Report :: Thursday, October 20, 2005
FOR THE PAST 12 months, Intel and AMD have praised the merits of their respective dual-core CPU designs and focused on thread-level parallelism as the key to better perfomance, while gradually distancing themselves from the old “clock speed” performance standard. Although Intel beat AMD by a handful of weeks when it came time to formally launch dual-core desktop systems, AMD was the first company to offer dual-core solutions across the server, workstation, and desktop markets.

With dual-core CPUs firmly established, neither manufacturer has been talking much about single-core processors in the workstation market–but the high-end single-core processor still has a hand or two to play before it makes a final exit. AMD’s recent stealth launch of the Opteron 254 at 2.8GHz ensures that the limelight stays focused on their dual-core products, while the Opteron 254 offers an intriguing option for buyers caught on the fence between lower-speed, dual-core and higher-clocked, single-core processors.

Inside Pentium 4 Architecture
Hardware Secrets :: Thursday, October 20, 2005
Here is a snippet: “In this tutorial we will explain you how Pentium 4 works in an easy to follow language. You will learn exactly how its architecture works so you will be able to compare it more precisely to previous processors from Intel and competitors from AMD.”

[News] Seasonic S12 430w Power Supply Review @ Virtual-Hideout
Virtual-Hideout :: Thursday, October 20, 2005

Quote: “You can see above that Seasonic tells no lies when it comes to the superb efficiency of their S12 power supplies. The active PFC makes a large difference in the watts consumed and other areas noted above in the tests.”

DH Review: Logitech Driving Force Pro
Driver Heaven :: Thursday, October 20, 2005
The PS2 has received a plethora of driving games ranging from the rigorous realism of driving simulators to the fast paced action of high speed arcade races. Regardless of the type of driving game you prefer, sometimes the dual analog stick setup just isn?t enough for gamers looking to go beyond the meager default setup. Luckily, Logitech released the Driving Force Pro to create an unparalleled driving experience, no matter what type of racer you are.

[Phoronix] Quake 4 Has Arrived!
Phoronix :: Thursday, October 20, 2005

Summary: “Over four years ago was the first time we had heard rumors that Quake 4 was indeed under development and that it would be developed by Raven Software while of course working closely with id Software. Quake 4, which runs off a modified version of the Doom 3 engine, is finally available today – October 18, 2005. However, the Linux binaries for the client and server remain curtained.”

E Power Tiger 550W Modular Power Supply
SystemCooling :: Thursday, October 20, 2005

snip: “E Power Technology has released two new power supplies in their Silent Engine series. The new Tiger 550W and Tiger 650W Silent Engine power supplies feature dual +12V outputs, dual PCI-Express connectors, and a quiet, variable speed fan. Both Tiger power supplies are fully modular and support Intel, AMD, multiprocessor and dual core motherboards.”

Verbatim 1GB Store ‘n’ Go U3 Smart Drive Review @ The TechZone
The Tech Zone :: Thursday, October 20, 2005

With the U3 platform, users can launch portable applications from the smart drive without requiring the applications to be installed on the computers. As a result, users can work in familiar environments and don’t have to worry about leaving any personal information or traces of their visit behind. Everything remains stored on the USB smart drive. Users can carry their emails, applications, personal settings, bookmarks and favorites, folders and documents with them wherever they go without always having to carry a laptop, or risk not having a needed application on a borrowed PC.

News – Danger Den Acetal Maze4 GPU Block
Techniz.co.uk :: Thursday, October 20, 2005

Quote: “Overall, the Danger Den Acetal Maze4 GPU water block is performing very well during in the testing section. The package includes all the necessary components for proper assembly. Furthermore, it was totally silent during the operation. The installation was very simple, just took about few minutes is able to install the Maze4 GPU water block on to the VGA card. But, it does not bundle with any RAM sink for the VGA RAM. So, the recommended Ramsinks to purchase is the OCZ Copper BGA Ramsinks. Anyway, the retail price for the Acetal Maze4 GPU block is at US $44.95 which is a very affordable price and the 8 pieces of OCZ Copper BGA Ramsink is at US $18.99.”

News: First stage of HTPC project proves tricky
The Tech Report :: Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Ever since we first reviewed an early version of Snapstream’s B1eyond TV, I have had some form of Shuttle box or the like running this program in Damage Labs, ready to stream video over the local network to any box in the house. This setup’s existence has been suspended for many months between my intentions–to build a real HTPC for use in the living room to replace the TiVo–and various realities involving the relative difficulty of building a truly adequate TiVo replacement and my own available time. Then my HTPC project got a jolt over the weekend when, out of nowhere, the Toshiba DVD player in my living room gave up the ghost. Suddenly, it was time to build a basic HTPC right away.

Enermax Liberty EL620AWT (620W) Power Supply @ Pro-Clockers
Pro-Clockers :: Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Quote: When Enermax releases a new power supplies onto the market, you know that you are going to get a quality part. From the Whisper line to the Noisetaker unit, Enermax has not disappointed us yet. And with the release of the new Liberty line of power supplies, I am sure the quality is there. Boasting modular cables and a dark metallic paint job you are in for a treat. And our model puts out 620 watts of pure power.

A Look At Quantum Computing @ The TechZone
The Tech Zone :: Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Imagine a computer whose memory is exponentially larger than its apparent physical size; a computer that can manipulate an exponential set of inputs simultaneously; a computer that computes in the twilight zone of space. You would be thinking of a quantum computer. Relatively few and simple concepts from quantum mechanics are needed to make quantum computers a possibility. The subtlety has been in learning to manipulate these concepts. Is such a computer an inevitability or will it be too difficult to build?

Seagate Momentus 5400.2 & Scythe Katana CPU Cooler Reviews Updated!
Tech ARP :: Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Quote – “Till today, notebook users have to content with a single hard disk and often a small one at that. Hard disk sizes of 40GB and 60GB are not only unheard of but actually in common use!

Today, we are going to take a look at the new Seagate 120GB Momentus 5400.2 PATA notebook hard disk, which not only comes with 120GB of storage space but also 8MB of cache!

Crucial CT2KIT6464Z40B 1GB Kit @ ThinkComputers.org
Think Computers :: Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Quote: “Modding Crucial is most commonly known now for their Ballistix line of high performance, high speed, top quality memory. What if you don’t want or have a need for enthusiast, overclocker memory, but you still want quality, stable memory? Well today for review I have 1 gig of Crucial’s PC3200 desktop memory. It is what would be considered by some, plain, vanilla memory, no fills, no activity LEDs, no flashy, shiny heat spreader, it’s just a couple of sticks of ram like we used to have in our systems before it became common place for companies to ‘bling’ their memory to get attention to it.”

7800GT vs x1800xl Review
AMD Review :: Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Quote: “Today we got our hands on both an ATI X1800XL and NVIDIA 7800GT, so we decided to benchmark each of these cards with the same configuration to see what happens and how much bang you get for your buck.“

Corsair 2GB PC4400 DDR Kit – TWINX2048-4400PRO
Bjorn3D :: Wednesday, October 19, 2005
‘ Corsair, in a partnership with Asus, recently released a 2GB low-latency PC3500 kit. The company doesn’t plan to stop there though, as it is also releasing a 2GB PC4400 kit, which happens to be the focus of this article. The kit won’t be on shelves for at least a couple more weeks, so consider this article a preview of what you can expect from the TWINX2048-4400PRO. ‘

Ultimate Ears Super.Fi 3 Studio Earphones Review @ CoolTechZone.com
CoolTechZone :: Wednesday, October 19, 2005
“We’ve evaluated an abundance of high-end earphones and headphones, and even though they all claim to be the best products in their category, the truth is that unless you are a professional musician who needs perfect audio (whether or not you can hear it), there’s no need to spend $500 on a pair of earphones or headphones.”

DFI Infinity nF4 Ultra Review @ Ninjalane
Ninjalane :: Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Feel free to sample a small quote from the article or use the one provided below. Quote: When DFI launched the LanParty line of motherboards they targeted at a very narrow though highly vocal sector of the hardware market with one purpose in mind, to get DFI known in the enthusiast community. The marketing and products were solid and as a result DFI and the LanParty series are household names.

MSI Theater 550PRO @ Viperlair
ViperLair :: Tuesday, October 18, 2005
“For the cool price of $74 USD, the MSI Theater 550PRO is a pretty good value when compared to many other TV Tuners, including ATI’s own TV Wonder Elite which goes for almost double the price. Considering there isn’t much difference between the two in terms of software bundles and hardware, we’d lean towards MSI’s version of the card if you’re in the need of a tuner for your HTPC box.”

Zalman CNPS 9500 LED @ techPowerUp
techPowerUp! :: Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Under-hyped or Overrated? The Zalman CNPS 9500 LED is Zalman’s newest addition to their top of the line air coolers. This full-copper heatsink comes with a fan controller so you can optimize for performance or fan noise. In our testing it even beats a watercooling kit and proves that it is well worth your money. Watch as we put it to the test on the Pentium 4 Prescott 561 at 180 Watt TDP.

HEXUS.review :: Shuttle XPC SD31P
Hexus :: Tuesday, October 18, 2005

The one word that describes Shuttle’s SD31P XPC is competent. Just add a hard drive, preferably SATA, optical drive, RAM, and an LGA775 CPU and away you go. Everything works just as it should, and installation is a real cinch for even novice XPC builders. Performance is also good when judged in comparison to ATX-sized i945G and i955X motherboards, and the ability to specify a Pentium 4 Extreme Edition or dual-core CPU, GeForce 7800 GT, 2GB RAM, and 1TByte of storage, should your pocket be deep enough, is eminently possible in this larger-than-normal XPC.

News – X-Ray Aqua2 Series Professional Mouse Pad
Techniz.co.uk :: Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Quote: “The Aqua2™ series is a great and professional mouse pad for any PC enthusiast and even office users. Whether it is for gaming, designing, or general computer tasks, this mouse pad is an ideal choice. The surface is amazingly fast and accurate. And the base was a non slip base. It was working excellent for optical mouse. With the combination of the Zerofriction Infinity™ mouseskates, it will even more smooth and accurate with any mouse moving over the Aqua2™ professional mouse pad.”

The Dark Side Of Blogs @ The TechZone
The Tech Zone :: Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Blogs use a powerful form of psychology know as “social proof” where we look to others to help us understand how we should view, feel, or react to news and information. Since the glut of information only gets more massive online with each passing day and rates impossible for one person to get through completely on their own, we look to others to help us sort the piles of data. When you combine this with another online phenomenon, virtual anonymity, you get a volatile combination where any social responsibility for what gets posted flies out the window in many cases. People can and do post whatever they want because no “hall monitor” can call them down for blatant intellectual hooliganism.

Sunbeamtech X-1300 Laser Mouse Review at 3DXtreme
3dXtreme :: Tuesday, October 18, 2005
“The “X-Sharp MS-X777″ is the perfect choice for the gaming enthusiast who wants to take their gaming experience to the next level but does not want to spend a lot of money on un-necessary buttons and fancy features. I would recommend this unit to anyone looking for something basic that will give them the extra edge in their game play.”

PimpRig Daily Disturbance // A Quick History Lesson About Halloween
PimpRig :: Tuesday, October 18, 2005
“Most of you may not know the real history behind this Halloween tradition. Its origin is somewhat hazy and certainly not 100% factual, but I tend to think it is. Back during the time when the Celts practiced their pagan religion rite of summer’s end and winter’s beginning (called Samhain), they believed that it was a night where the thin veil that seperates the living from the dead was lifted. Some thought that the spirits would roam the countryside at night in search of bodies and/or homes to possess for the next year. In an effort to spare their house and home, they began to leave food out on the doorsteps as an offering to help in their search thinking that the spirit would take pity.”

DDR2 800MHz Roundup: A-Data, Kingston, & Mushkin @ Legit Reviews
Legit Reviews :: Tuesday, October 18, 2005
“The Mushkin eXtreme PC2-6400 modules loaded Windows at 1060MHz on the first try. Although we later found that 1060MHz was unstable this was an impressive achievement. After RST Pro2 testing we found that 1042MHz was 100% stable on our 2GB memory kit… ”

Hiper Type-R 480W PSU Review @ PC Modding Malaysia
PC Modding Malaysia :: Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Content: “Hiper’s midrange offering in their high performance Type-R series is in the form of the M Label 480W (HPU-4M480). We have tested it thus far to be very a respectable power supply and stands strong among the big names. Couple that with the price of USD 73 (MYR 276), it is simply an excellent price/performance ratio. Aesthetically, it looks quite sleek with the black chassis along with the sleeved cables, albeit not fully sleeved. Everything from the packaging, manual, performance, to the workmanship speaks quality. To sum it all up; Price + Performance + Aesthetics + Quality = A very worthy product. Definitely recommended!”

Seagate Momentus 7200.1 Notebook Hard Drive Review Rev. 2.0 Posted!
Tech ARP :: Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Quote – “Till today, notebook users have to content with a single hard disk and often a small one at that. Hard disk sizes of 40GB and 60GB are not only unheard of but actually in common use!

Today, we are going to take a look at the new Seagate 100GB Momentus 7200.1 PATA notebook hard disk, which not only comes with 100GB of storage space but also 8MB of cache!

Arctic Cooling NV Silencer 5 Rev.3 *7800 Series* Compatible @ PureOverclock.com
Plextor :: Tuesday, October 18, 2005

“I’m going to get right to the point here. The Arctic Cooling NV Silencer 5 Rev.3 costs around £15 from UK Vendors. For me it’s a no brainer. If you are lucky enough to own a 7800 you owe it to yourself to buy one. It’s incredibly easy to install, looks great and the performance is so very worth even double the price they charge.”

Zalman Fatal1ty FS-C77 CPU Cooler Review @ Tweaknews.net
Tweaknews :: Tuesday, October 18, 2005

“Fatal1ty has partnered with Zalman, among other companies, to market high-end products to the computer gaming community. The FS-C77 CPU cooler is one of Zalman’s first products to carry the Fatal1ty moniker and the company touts it as the “ultimate CPU cooler.” Let’s take it for a spin and see what all the hype is about..”

[Phoronix] eVGA e-GeForce 6800GT PCI-E
Phoronix :: Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Summary: “Although the NVIDIA 7800GTX has a definitive advantage over the 6800GT, the GeForce 6800GT remains a respectable card for enthusiasts not wishing to shell out nearly $500 USD for a graphics upgrade. With us today we have the eVGA GeForce 6800GT 256MB and will see just how well this card can fare through overclocking and just how the card can fare against a 7800GTX in a dual-core environment.”

Title: Project Spire
MetkuMods :: Tuesday, October 18, 2005

“This is the most expensive case I have made. The laser cutting and the plexis (with TFT stand) cost about 180 euros. I estimate laser cutting plexi parts for a regular shaped case would not cost even close to 100 euros. If you can use Autocad or similar software, laser cutting is quite a cheap way to build a professional looking case.”

Bigbruin.com Review: Thermalright SI-120 CPU Cooler
Big Bruin :: Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Quote: On top the excellent CPU temperatures, another bonus is that the large wingspan of the Thermalright SI-120 allows cool air to be delivered to the motherboard’s voltage regulating chips as well as the system memory. Knocking a few degrees off of both of these components is good for system longevity, and will definitely help with any overclocking efforts.

[Phoronix] Kate OS v2.2
Phoronix :: Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Summary: “Kate OS, the Linux distribution designed for just about everyone ranging from programmers to home-users, have released their 2.2 version. Contained in this release is the 2.6.13 kernel with Reiser 4 file-system support along with the GTK+ v2.8.3 library and support for GNOME 2.12, however, XFCE continues to be the default desktop environment of choice. As always, Kate OS developers have done a magnificent job on the default theme.”

MGE XG Magnum 500 watt PSU Review
Hi-Techreviews :: Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Every once in a while you come across an item that makes you say “Wow” and the MGE XG Magnum Power Supply just happens to be one of those items. When you combine such things as the 100% aluminum case and the heatpipe cooling system you end up with a power supply that is out of the ordinary in both looks and performance. During our testing we found the Magnum to … You will have to read the review to find out what we found out about it.

Why Microsoft Backed HD DVD Standard @ CoolTechZone.com
CoolTechZone :: Monday, October 17, 2005
“Microsoft, as is long suspected, decided to back HD DVD and (with Intel) pitched itself firmly in the anti-Sony camp for Blu-Ray, which is pretty much common news, but disregarding the common opinion that it did so due to their differences in the gaming console arena, we find that it really did have very pertinent reasons to go the HD DVD way and of course, Xbox 360 vs. Sony PS3 could be one of the reasons.”

Asus 7800GTX TOP 256 review
Driver Heaven :: Monday, October 17, 2005
We’re always happy to look at Asus products at Driverheaven, time after time we receive things from them which really are top quality so when they offered us their 7800GTX we immediately accepted. Thinking back to excellent products such as the V9999 Gamer Edition or the Extreme AX800XT it was clear that this product had a lot to live up to, did it manage? Lets see?

Corsair XMS2 TWIN2X2048-6400PRO 2GB Dual Channel Kit @ InsaneTek
InsaneTek :: Monday, October 17, 2005

Quote: “Corsair’s DDR2 solutions continue to surprise us. This time it’s a 2GB offering of great Micron fatbody D9s. Added to that is Corsair’s signature flashing activity LEDs! Sounds good? We sure think so.”

Sunbeam Tuniq Tower 112 Heatsink Review
OCIA :: Monday, October 17, 2005

“The fan & bracket removed — I find out later that having only two screws securing the fan, then mounting this part horizontally, makes for a very annoying rattle and vibration. I just pulled it out and placed two more screws to fix this.”

News – SimpleTech 80GB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive
Techniz.co.uk :: Monday, October 17, 2005

“The SimpleTech Portable Drives will provide the needs for home and even office users. It was specially design for portability, performance and reliability for storage and even backup purposes. The SimpleTech’s high speed and high capacity drives are ideal for any storage need, including digital music, movies and photographs. Every SimpleTech External Hard Drive comes with StorageSync software that consists of a lot of functions such as automatic backup, restore, data synchronization and lots more.”

News – Cooler Master Ammo 533
Tech-PC :: Monday, October 17, 2005
Quote: The Ammo 533 is definitely one of those cases that you would either buy or turn away because of its looks. Ultimately, the Ammo 533 is a unique case and definitely a good LAN case. The screwless design, handle, meshed side panel and oversized buttons really set it apart from other cases on the market today.

Mashie Design MDVA @ ThinkComputers.org
Think Computers :: Monday, October 17, 2005

Quote: “Modding products, where did they go? It seems like we never see any new case mods at all. Well if you’re into case modding at all, then I’m sure you have heard of Mashie. If not take a look at his website. As you can see he is very talented. He has come up with a great product that you will not see in other PC’s out there. It comes from his case mod called Anemone, and it is called the Mashie Design Visual Audio, or MVDA. Finally, a new modding product, are you excited??”

News: AMD outlines future technology directions
The Tech Report :: Monday, October 17, 2005
AMD HAS BEEN rather tight-lipped about its future plans recently, as we’ve noted. Its public CPU roadmap was last revised in March and doesn’t extend beyond the end of this year, with no major product changes slated between now and then. This situation has led us to puzzle over exactly what AMD has in store for 2006 and beyond, and Friday’s grand opening of Fab 36 presented an opportunity to find out. AMD’s new CTO, Phil Hester, led a brief session about AMD’s future technology directions, where he sketched some of the company’s microprocessor plans. Afterwards, we had the chance to ask him a few questions, as well.

We still didn’t get a roadmap update with product code names and target dates, but we did get a sense of what features AMD is planning to build into its CPUs in the coming months and years. Among them: more extensions to AMD64, four or more CPU cores per chip, and “reconfigurable” cores that can act like on-chip coprocessors.

[News] Sunbeam 550w NUUO Power Supply Review @ Virtual-Hideout
Virtual-Hideout :: Monday, October 17, 2005

Quote: “The SunbeamTech NUUO is one of the best power supply values on the web, if not THE best! It has remarkable stabilty, quality build, quiet operation, and even comes with a 3.5″ controller/monitoring device, all at an unbeatable price!”

Corsair XMS2 TWIN2X1024-5400UL 1GB Dual Channel Kit @ InsaneTek
InsaneTek :: Monday, October 17, 2005

Quote: “Corsair wowed us with their blazing fast PC2-8000UL DDR2 memory. The PC2-5400UL is the first low latency DDR2 that started it all. Is it still a formidable choice for overclocking enthusiasts?”

Zalman NCPS7700-Cu Cooler Review @ The TechZone
The Tech Zone :: Monday, October 17, 2005

Just how big is the CNPS7700-Cu? Try 5.5-inch in diameter! It’s also 2.6-inch tall and weighs in at, hold on to your hat, 918 grams! This exceeds the maximum weight for an Intel P4 cooler over 100%! Special care should be taken when moving a computer equipped with CNPS7700-Cu as Zalman Tech is not responsible for any damage that may occurs when moving the computer. The CNPS7700-Cu is so big that Zalman has a List of Motherboards that will not fit on this cooler!

check dis mutha out

Bigbruin.com Review: Thermaltake Tai-Chi Super Tower Chassis
Beyond3D :: Monday, October 17, 2005

Quote: Installation is a dream. There is so much room in the case you don’t have to worry about whether or not everything is going to fit. In fact, the toughest part about the install was deciding exactly where I wanted my 5.25″ drive bays to be installed in relation to the power switch. Ultimately, there is nothing wrong with the front panel layout, because it’s left totally up to you to determine what works the best for your install.

It’s Time To Take Back Instant Messaging
The Tech Zone :: Monday, October 17, 2005

Today the world of instant messaging (IM) is a disjointed mess, and it’s time for a citizen’s revolt. Like many people, I use IM throughout the day for business and personal communications. It’s maddening when I want to send an IM to a user only to realize that they’re unreachable because they happen to be on a different network. IM should function like email or the phone system where one address/number lets you communicate with everyone.

X-Micro Mini DisGo Reviewed
Hi-Techreviews :: Monday, October 17, 2005

Capitalizing on Toshiba’s new 1.8″ hard drives X-Micro has introduced a line super-small portable hard drives that will surely be be applauded by those of us wanting more space than a thumb drive, speed equal to a full-size hard drive and small enough to drop into a shirt pocket.

During testing, the Mini DisGo proved itself to quite the little workhorse, benchmarking numbers that were equal to a comparatively sized notebook drive.

Sony VAIO VGN-S480 Review at Designtechnica.com
Designtechnica :: Monday, October 17, 2005
“The Sony VAIO S480 is the perfect notebook for people that don’t want to compromise on performance when it comes to their lightweight laptop. With a 2.13GHz processor, 100GB hard drive, DVD+/-RW dual layer drive, and integrated GeForce Go 6200, the S480 has the power to replace a modest desktop PC. But, with a 13.3″ XBRITE widescreen display and a weight of just 4.3 pounds, this powerhouse just barely misses a classification of an ultra lightweight laptop. While the battery life could be better, and this first class package comes at a first class price, the VAIO S480 is a top contender all around.”

Video Interview: Peter Moore on the XBOX 360
Primo Tech :: Monday, October 17, 2005
After his keynote at this year’s Digital Life tech expo in New York City, we had a chance to talk to the Corporate Vice-President of Marketing and Publishing for Microsoft’s XBOX and Home and Entertainment Divisions, Mr. Peter Moore. Here is, in nifty video format, our interview.

DFI LAN Party UT nF3 Ultra-D Review @ PC Modding Malaysia
PC Modding Malaysia :: Saturday, October 15, 2005

Content: “Overall the DFI LAN Party UT nF3 Ultra-D is a very powerful socket 939 AGP motherboard. While it may seem to tail the K8N Neo2 Platinum in terms of performance, the potential of the nF3 Ultra-D is unlimited. The overall board layout is superb and the BIOS offer plenty of memory tweaking options that the Neo2 lacks. The nF3 Ultra-D also works up to 3.6V with a DDR Booster as opposed to the Neo2 at just 3.4V with the Booster. Users who are looking into the 300HTT range with 1:1 ratio would love this motherboard as we had no problem exceeding DDR600 at 1T…”

Corsair TWINX2048-3500LLPRO @ ThinkComputers.org
Think Computers :: Saturday, October 15, 2005

Quote: “There are but a few names that come to mind when you mention quality memory, even fewer when you mention high performance memory. There are many companies out there now that are making it or trying to get into the high performance memory market. One name that stands out when you think of high quality, high performance memory is Corsair. Corsair is one of the top makers of reliable, high performance ram. Today for review I have an entry by Corsair that promises to deliver something we haven’t seen yet, a CAS latency of 2 at speeds of PC3500.”

Do Computers Rule Our Lives? @ The TechZone
The Tech Zone :: Saturday, October 15, 2005

There are many games to get addicted to and many programs that are disguised as games that make computers seem like a fun pastime. This is all a ploy. People make these programs so that they hook even the most anti-computer person into computers and then convince him that he ‘needs’ to keep adding new “toys” to his computer. I do want to stress that computers are an important part of our advancing culture, but the obsession and dependency is nothing more than a marketing scheme.

Silverstone Strider ST60F 600W Modular SLI Power Supply Video Review #609
3dgameman :: Saturday, October 15, 2005

Silverstone Strider ST60F 600W Modular SLI Power Supply Video Review #609: “The Silverstone Strider ST60F offers plenty of power for today’s most demanding hardcore computer systems. While 600 watts of quality power is tremendous it’s also modular and has a quiet 120mm fan. Additionally, all the leads are sleeved which cuts down on all the cable mess and increases air flow inside the case. This is one Badass product! Watch the Video to find out more…” ~3dGameMan.com

[Phoronix] XG Magnum 500W
Phoronix :: Saturday, October 15, 2005
Image Link: http://www.phoronix.com/images/picture.php?id=284&image=logo Summary: “Looking for a good power supply? Can’t stand noisy fans? Well today we have XG’s beastly fan-less supply; the Magnum 500W. This unit features an all aluminum chassis, copper heatpipe cooling technology, modular cables, and LCD wattage and temperature display, pretty much all you can ask for in a power supply. Last thing to consider, however, is how does it perform? Let’s take this out to our test bench and give it a run!”

Phoronix] Gaming & Cheating
Phoronix :: Saturday, October 15, 2005

Summary: “John Guzman, our outspoken editorialist here at Phoronix who’s never scared to speak his mind, is expressing his views today about gaming and all of the cheating that’s now involved. He even brings us back to the days of Contra on the NES. Since that point in time when you could simply enter a sequence of ten buttons to achieve these mystical lives, cheating has evolved into programming aim-bots and auto-miners. When will cheating in games be eradicated?”

BenQ E520 & E510 Digital Cameras Posted!
Tech ARP :: Saturday, October 15, 2005

Quote – “Recently, Team ARP was invited to the launch of the new BenQ E520 and E510 digital cameras which boast the Pentax SMC zoom lens and BenQ Senseye technology.

OSC releases decision in ATi insider trading case
PCStats :: Saturday, October 15, 2005
TORONTO – The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) issued a decision today in the matter of Betty Ho and K. Y. Ho. The allegations of OSC staff against the respondents were dismissed by the independent panel of Commissioners.

News – Asetek Vapochill Micro Extreme CPU Cooler
Techniz.co.uk :: Saturday, October 15, 2005

Quote: “This Vapochill Micro Extreme Performance CPU Cooler from Asetek is an extreme performance CPU cooler. This CPU cooler is an ideal choice for those users who wish to overclock their CPU. The entire cooler is really looks different compare with others. Not only that, the performance of the Vapochill Micro Extreme Performance CPU Cooler from is very good as you can see in the performance section, it really gives what you want. This Vapochill Micro Extreme Performance CPU Cooler from price is ranging from US $45-50, it was a good buy CPU cooler in terms of the performance and weight.”

News – Overclockers Online Birthday Contest!
Overclockers Online :: Saturday, October 15, 2005
Quote: Here’s a little teaser of what you can win: XC Cube EY Deluxe from AOpen, Aeolus PCZ6200TC-DV64 from AOpen, NF4SK8AA 8EKRS from Foxconn, 2*1GB TwinX20488-3200Pro from Corsair and MGE Dragon from XG BOX. Of course, the entry is extremely simple so there’s no reason not to get involved!

[News] MGE XG Dragon Case Review @ Virtual-Hideout
Virtual-Hideout :: Saturday, October 15, 2005

Quote: “If you can’t make it faster, make it shinier. Well, since they don’t have much control over the speed of a computer, MGE decided to go all out on the lighting and the shine.”

HEXUS.reviews :: PowerColor X800 GT Xtreme 256MB and X800 GT EVO Tide Water 256MB
Hexus :: Saturday, October 15, 2005

We’ve looked at a couple of PowerColor X800 GT cards and have come away with the feeling that whilst both offer something new in the marketplace, the respective asking prices takes away much of their shine. Novel, exciting products? Yes. Value-for-money? Not quite.

Corsair XMS TWINX2048-3500LLPRO 2GB Dual Channel Kit @ InsaneTek
InsaneTek :: Saturday, October 15, 2005

Quote: “Corsair’s recent PC4400PRO 2GB is not their only 2GB enthusiast solution. They quickly follow the high speed memory with another offering that provides low latencies at a slightly overclocked speed.”

News – MGE Dragon
Overclockers Online :: Friday, October 14, 2005
Quote: If you want to hear a buzz when you walk into your next LAN party, then you will definitely want to walk in with the Dragon swinging from your right hand. It’s portable, it’s cool looking, and it performs very well. The features speak for themselves and that list of features is a long one, you definitely won’t be disappointed with the Dragon from MGE.

Spire KestrelKing V CPU Cooler Review
Techgage :: Friday, October 14, 2005

Quote: If you have an Athlon 64 and are looking to upgrade your stock cooling solution, Spire may have the answer. Today, We are taking a look at their KestrelKing V. Let’s jump in and see how much of a real upgrade this is from stock!

[Phoronix] Ubuntu v5.10 (Breezy Badger) Released
Phoronix :: Friday, October 14, 2005

Summary: “After a preview release and multiple colony development builds, Ubuntu Linux has finally released v5.10 (Breezy Badger). Looking at this release first hand, it continues to look incredibly promising for the GNU/Linux movement and we hope that Mark Shuttleworth continues to invest in this valuable commodity. Some of the major improvements to Ubuntu 5.10 include thin client integration, OEM installer support, and Launchpad integration. Other advancements include GNOME 2.12.1, OpenOffice.org 2.0 BETA 2, GCC 4.0.1, and a wealth of other improvements to the hardware support and usability.”

PimpRig Review // Ergodex DX1 Input System
PimpRig :: Friday, October 14, 2005
“To place a key, first you peel off the protective cover off of the adhesive, then press it down firmly on the DX1 pad. To remove the key, simply twist it off. The instructions say not to pry, but I tried it anyway. I pried as hard as I dared, and the damn thing wouldn’t budge. Gave it a twist, and off it came.”

How To Build Parallel Port Prototypes
Hardware Secrets :: Friday, October 14, 2005
Here is a snippet: “The computer parallel port is the easiest way to control devices outside the PC, like LEDs, lights and even home appliances. In this tutorial we will teach you how to use the computer parallel port to control circuits outside your computer.”

Thermaltake Swing Series Case @ ThinkComputers.org
Think Computers :: Friday, October 14, 2005

Quote: “Today for review we have another Pre-mod PC case. This one comes from a company that has become very popular and well known for lots of reasons. Thermaltake is considered a big name in the PC community, they make lots of various products, I’m sure you have heard of them. Today I have the new Swing PC case for review, it is what Thermaltake considers a ‘Stylish’ mid-tower case. Is it? Read on to find out just what makes this a ‘Stylish’ case.”

X800 GTO and GTO2 Mod Article updated @ techPowerUp
techPowerUp! :: Friday, October 14, 2005
More and more people have reported success in modding the Connect3D X800 GTO to 16 pipelines, that’s why we have updated our article with a special Bios, which has been customized to enable 16 pipelines on these cards.

Bigbruin.com Review: Thermaltake Muse USB 3.5″ Drive Enclosure
Big Bruin :: Friday, October 14, 2005

Quote: The Thermaltake Muse USB 3.5″ Hard Drive Enclosure is an all aluminum fanless portable hard drive case with many features that set it apart from the crowd of enclosures. The well built case has a brightly illuminated analog data transfer meter that indicates when the enclosure is in use. The fanless aluminum design keeps your work area quiet, while the 4ft long USB cable allows plenty of room for those hard to reach USB connections.

XG Magnum 500W @ InsaneTek
InsaneTek :: Friday, October 14, 2005

“Having a quality power supply is the most important thing to keep in mind when building a computer system. XG is here with their new Magnum power supply that uses copper heatpipes to help in cooling.”

[Phoronix] SunbeamTech X-1300 Gaming Mouse
Phoronix :: Friday, October 14, 2005

Summary: “With the Razer Copperhead, and its 2000 DPI laser engine, and the Logitech G5, with its 2000 DPI laser, receiving much of the attention lately when it comes to computer mice, many smaller competitors such as the SunbeamTech X-1300 Sensor-X Gaming Mouse haven’t received much mindfulness. With us today we have the X-1300 optical mouse that features a 1300/650 DPI switch and a sleek ergonomic design.”

Corsair TWINX2048-4400 PRO @ Viperlair
ViperLair :: Friday, October 14, 2005
“Does anyone really need 2GB though? Our answer is yes. Even if your system is fine at 1GB, I can tell you that Microsoft will probably say something like “1GB is the recommended amount of ram a user needs for Vista”. Using our rule, 1GB will probably be the minimum for Vista, and truth be told, we feel 1GB is the minimum anybody should have in their system now.”

Dynatron P22 Intel Socket 775 heatsink @ Pro-Clockers
Pro-Clockers :: Friday, October 14, 2005

Quote: When I first pull the P22 from Dynatron out of the plain brown it came in I was thinking that this cooler would just barely beat out the Intel stock cooler. By the time I got to the end of the testing, I have never been so wrong. How well did it perform? Read the following pages and find out.

ASRock 939Dual-SATA2 Motherboard – An Upgrader’s Dream
TweakTown :: Friday, October 14, 2005
“Today we’ve got a brand new motherboard on the chopping block from ASRock, a sub division of ASUS who produce value orientated motherboards. The ASRock 939Dual-SATA2 motherboard is based on ULi’s new M1695 chipset and offers many innovative features. It has many features such as PCI Express and AGP support and upgradeability to upcoming AMD processors – it’s an upgrader’s dream.”

Foxconn WinFast 6150K8MA-8EKRS Motherboard Review
PCStats :: Friday, October 14, 2005
“Foxconn is one of the first manufacturers to release an GeForce 6100-series motherboard, and the 6150K8MA-8EKRS specifically uses the best of class nVidia GeForce 6150 iteration and nVidia nForce 430 Southbridge. The Foxconn 6150K8MA-8EKRS mini-ATX motherboard which supports all Socket 939 AMD Athlon64 X2/FX processors on the market, as well as up to 4GB of PC3200 DDR RAM. In terms of goodies, the motherboard incorporates onboard analog video, a 7.1-channel Azalia audio codec, a single Gigabit LAN port and IEEE 1394a.”

Multicolored MobiBLU DAH-1500i MP3 Player Review @ CoolTechZone.com
CoolTechZone :: Friday, October 14, 2005
“A few days ago, we reviewed MobiBLU’s DAH-1500i MP3 player, which is the smallest in the world. After our analysis and performance testing, we found the player to be attractive and high quality. Even though we reviewed the black version of the player, MobiBLU offers a vast majority of colors to match it with your sense of style. These colors include orange, blue, pink, black, red and silver. All of these colors provide a sense of vibrancy with the overall exterior and the integrated OLED screen.”

[News] Innovatek Fan-O-Matic Micro Review @ Virtual-Hideout
Virtual-Hideout :: Friday, October 14, 2005

Quote: “Innovatek has built a strong product that many people should find useful for either water cooled systems or air cooling. It does everything for you, the only adjustments you make are to the manual temperature knob. ”

Kingston U3 DataTraveler USB Drive Review @ The TechZone
The Tech Zone :: Thursday, October 13, 2005

With the launch of the U3 DataTraveler, Kingston has open up a whole new world of smart drive computing whereby any PC user moving between various locations and Windows 2000 SP4 or XP-based systems has the freedom to work with their own personal workspace – carried on a device small enough to fit on a keychain. The new U3 DataTraveler allows mobile workers to access personal e-mail, photo organizers, music players, graphics software and productivity applications wherever they go. Think of it as a personal workstation on a stick.

PimpRig Review // Zalman CNPS9500 LED CPU Cooler
PimpRig :: Thursday, October 13, 2005
“As formidable as the CNPS7700 is, it is unfortunately incompatible with many motherboards because of it’s huge size. The damn thing 5.35 inches across so if it doesn’t cover your memory, it probably will rub up against your video card. The smart guys at Zalman knew they couldn’t increase performance by making their heatsinks any bigger, so they stood the fan up on end and added 3 heatpipes to the mix.”

Antec P180 Advanced Super Mid Tower @ ThinkComputers.org
Think Computers :: Thursday, October 13, 2005

Quote: “BMW, Mercedes, Ferrari, etc these are all considered luxury cars. In the computer case industry we have the same luxury products Lian-Li, Cooler Master, Silverstone. Now Antec is not quite up to that point yet. What I consider luxury is something that has quality, and added features that you do not see on other cases. Antec is known for quality, and all the cases we have reviewed were quality. The cases were well made and really had no problems with them, it was just they were lacking the added features. Well today we are going to look at a case that will bring Antec up into the luxury category. So without further ado I present to you the Antec P180 Mid-Tower Case.”

XClio GoodPower 500 watt Power Supply Unit review @ Xtreme Resources
Xtreme Resources :: Thursday, October 13, 2005

“Between the amateur computer user, who will use any power supply unit provided in his pre-assembled system and the hardcore enthusiast who will purchase a power supply unit that costs more than his/her bed, there is another league of users who simply want a strong, good quality power supply unit which will not let them down and keep the system safe while it must not cost an arm and a leg. In the so called ‘middle stream’ market, there are many companies and many products to choose from. Yet a new product comes into that market from XClio ( Meridian) to grab a piece of the pie, the GoodPower 500W power supply unit. Boasting strong reliability, visual factor, enough power and great value for money, it certainly will draw enough attention if the claims are true. Are they true? Let’s find out!”

News] Logisys Digital Thermal Controller Review @ Virtual-Hideout
Virtual-Hideout :: Thursday, October 13, 2005

Quote: “This product worked fantastic. For someone looking for a fresh look to their pc as well as a way to make sure your not overheating, then this is a must for you. For me, this is a near perfect thermal monitor.”

ECS PF88 Extreme Hybrid – Intel/AMD Motherboard
hardCOREware :: Thursday, October 13, 2005
Not many people noticed when two of the most boring Motherboard OEMs merged last summer. ECS and PC Chips were never really known for making amazing or innovative products, instead focusing on low end, mainstream hardware.

But they assured us, times were changing. Starting with some flashy purple boards that were a nice start, but failed to impress. Now they have the PF88, featuring their very own bus type and a highly portable SiS chipset allowing the board to support both Intel and AMD processors (and potentially more!).

Bigbruin.com Review: Thermaltake Schooner Fanless VGA Cooler
Big Bruin :: Thursday, October 13, 2005

Quote: Where I can see the Thermaltake Schooner being best implemented is an HTPC environment. Silence is of course a key consideration in an HTPC, but you still need to address cooling. By taking a good part of your graphics card’s heat straight out of the case, the case’s cooling system has less heat load to deal with. This could translate to slower spinning case fans and less noise, with even better temperatures.

Used Lens Buying Guide Rev. 3.1 Posted!
Tech ARP :: Thursday, October 13, 2005

“With digital SLR cameras so affordable now, it’s inevitable for techies and budding photographers alike to snap them up like hot cakes. But while the cameras are cheap, the lenses are not.

But fret not, because you can actually buy used lenses instead! Used lenses are a real bargain but there are some things you should be aware before you buy them. And that’s what this guide is all about!

Tt Silent Water H2O Kit Review
Overclocker Café :: Thursday, October 13, 2005

The Thermaltake Silent Water has lots of good points. The first of these is the absolute ease of installation. When a water cooling kit requires no more effort to install than does any higher quality air cooler, you know you really have something special. Second is the performance. Only a two degree difference was observed from running the Silent Water at full and low speed setting on its fan.

Phoronix] ATI Display Driver v8.18.6
Overclockers New Zealand :: Thursday, October 13, 2005

Summary: “Days after the launch of ATI X1K series, and availability of CrossFire Technology, ATI has released their monthly 5.10 (October) update for their Windows CATALYST users and have accompanied the release with a new build of their Linux drivers. These drivers are dubbed v8.18.6 and are available in RPM format as well as through ATI’s relatively new driver installer program that we’ve been accustom to seeing since their v8.14.13 release.”

OCZ EB DDR PC-4000 2x1024MB Platinum Edition Dual Channel Kit Review at 3DXtreme
3dXtreme :: Thursday, October 13, 2005
The OCZ EB PC-4000 is another great product worthy of the Editor’s Choice Award. If you haven’t yet moved up to 2GBs of memory, consider this product for any system – its fast, stable and pushes the boundaries of what is possible with two 1GB sticks of memory.

Vantec Stingray Water Cooling Kit @ Hi-Techreviews.com
Hi-Techreviews :: Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Vantec as a company has never released a water cooling product of any type prior to this, so we were really quite curious of what the large box might have in store for us when we received it. After examining the parts it became very clear that Vantec had not rushed this product to the market, it was evident that they had really put forth and effort to deliver a water cooling kit that was easy to install and still performed well. So now come on along and we will find out if it answers yes to both of those questions.

Phoronix] SME Server v7.0 Beta 5
Phoronix :: Wednesday, October 12, 2005

“SME Server, formerly known as e-Smith, has released its fifth BETA for the upcoming v7.0 release. Among many improvements to the language translations and enhanced server controls, there is numerous installer changes and DNS improvements. SME Server/e-Smith has been at work since 1999 on creating a reliable distribution for handling small to medium enterprise server needs and SME Server v7.0 Beta 5 is very evident of their hard work at hand, and today we have some new snapshots from their web-interface.”

Rag Doll Kung Fu Review
Techgage :: Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Quote: The Kung Fu game market is hardly large, so when one does pop up, it’s noticable. Kung Fu games also have their own uniqueness to them, but here’s a game that is even more so. This is a creation of Mark Healey, an indepentant game developer. Many people relate independant games to being sub-par or boring, but this is one game to tell them otherwise. Let’s jump right in, and take a hard look at Rag Doll Kung Fu!

Intel 945P Motherboards from Gigabyte – Dual Core Compared
TweakTown :: Wednesday, October 12, 2005
“Today we’re looking at two new motherboards from Gigabyte based on Intel’s 945P chipset, the replacement for the Intel 925XE chipset. The first is the Gigabyte GA-8I945P Pro which offers Dual Core CPU support at a good price and the second is the Gigabyte GA-8I945P Dual Graphic which is a similar motherboard but features two PCI Express x16 slots for dual graphics and up to four monitor support. We’ll see what you get for your dollars and which of these motherboards is worth your hard earned cash.”

Corsair TwinX2048-4400 PRO PC4400 DDR Memory
PCStats :: Wednesday, October 12, 2005
“In PCSTATS own tests, we have basically seen that higher memory capacities affect a select few applications, generally very recent programs or games. However, faced with building a PC with 1GB or 2GB of installed DDR to start with, the consumer has a couple decisions to make. Though before making that decision, perhaps it is best to first consider the effects of Corsair’s new 2GB (2x 1024MB modules) TwinX2048-4400 PRO DDR RAM. Rated to run at speeds of up to 275 MHz, who says you had to sacrifice speed for larger capacity?”

BFR Review: Crucial Ballistix 1GB PC3200 DDR Dual Channel Memory
Bona Fide Reviews :: Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Quote: “Crucial, from my exposure, only advertised their value memory on television to try and appeal to the general consumer. But as we all know the enthusiast market has recently exploded and now all memory providers have an enthusiast based line of memory. Crucial’s enthusiast brand is called Ballistix and today we have a chance to compare 1GB of their PC3200 memory to OCZ’s Gold PC3200 memory.”

check it out, it’s Bona Fide!

Designtechnica: What is RSS and How to Use it
Designtechnica :: Wednesday, October 12, 2005
“If you are confused by all of this talk of RSS, RSS feeds, aggregators and readers, and are having trouble wrapping your brain around it, here’s a really simple explanation of Really Simple Syndication (RSS) and how to use it. A word of caution, once learning how to receive the feeds on your favorite subjects, you may soon be annoying your friends with all of your infinite wisdom on everything. You have been warned.

RSS is a notification system used to alert subscribers to changes made to their favorite web sites, blogs, music sites, etc. The favorite site must offer this free service in order for people to add it to their lists. It is easy to discern that the site is RSS-enabled because of the orange rectangular button that is labeled with either RSS or XML somewhere on the page.”

Exclusive Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard Review
Everything USB :: Wednesday, October 12, 2005
“In my experience as a LAN party goer, there are two kinds of gamers. There are those who liken to smaller, compact keyboards without number pads so they have weight to haul into a LAN and more space for the joystick, and there are the gamers who like a full sized keyboard for their tactile keys, number pad, and familiar design. Logitech has catered to the later group with the G15, and has actually expanded this. The G15 is by far the largest keyboard I have ever used, surpassing even the Microsoft Natural keyboard. It’s a full 21.5″ long and 10.5″ tall with the wrist rest attached, 2″ longer than the Logitech Elite, and 3.5″ longer than your basic OEM keyboard. In order to accommodate the larger footprint, I had to turn my mouse pad sideways so they could both fit on the keyboard tray.”

How To Select A LCD For Gaming @ The TechZone
The Tech Zone :: Wednesday, October 12, 2005
The LCD monitor isn’t just for spread sheets anymore. With faster response time, smaller dot pitch and a host of other display technologies, the LCD monitor has become a viable choice for gaming. We should you what to look for.

Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400 PRO 2GB Kit @ Viperlair
ViperLair :: Wednesday, October 12, 2005
“In regards to the Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400 PRO itself, the memory is Corsair’s usual high quality stuff. Performance is on par with the Ballistix kit, winning some, losing some, and is a good overclocker. This is pretty important for those of you still using 915P/925X based boards where 533MHz is the current official ceiling, so there’s plenty of headroom to move upwards. One thing to point out though is your overclocking success will vary depending on the hardware setup you have.”

Scythe Katana Heatpipe Cooler @ Pro-Clockers
Pro-Clockers :: Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Quote: With the success of the Ninja heatpipe cooler, Scythe is now being looked at as a company that can compete with the best of them. The Ninja is right up there with the likes of the Thermaltake Big Typhoon, Cooler Master Hyper 6 and the Thermalright XP-120. Now we have in our mitts the little brother to the Ninja. The Scythe Katana. Today we will see how well it stacks up to big brother.

ARP’s Downloads Hub – New Files Added!
Tech ARP :: Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Quote – “We would like to inform you that the following files have been added into the ARP Downloads Hub.

– nForce 430/410 and GeForce 6150/6100 drivers – nForce4 SLI X16 Drivers These are NEW, UNRELEASED, UNLAUNCHED NVIDIA chipsets and graphics chips drivers!”

Windows Xp64 Support.. And Why did I buy a 64bit processor again? @ ThinkComputers.org
Think Computers :: Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Quote: “Well, Windows Xp 64 has been out for quite a while now, I for one have already upgraded and there is a noticeable difference, better in some respects, while not better in other. The ‘not better’ part is driver support. 64Bit is the future, pretty soon all CPUs will be 64bit, so why would anyone want to run WinXp 32 with a 64bit CPU, isn’t that like putting Ultra High Test Premium gas in a Yugo? There are no drivers for most of the hardware I own, sure there are workarounds I can do to get my hardware to work, but it is a workaround.”

check the 64-bit goodness

HEXUS.reviews :: ASUS Extreme N7800GT Dual
Hexus :: Tuesday, October 11, 2005

As an engineering showcase and just as a cool piece of hardware, the Extreme N7800GT Dual presses all the right buttons. The PCB design on its own is worth a separate article, the issues you have when supplying power to two GPUs from a single power input and the layout issues to overcome are fascinating in their own right and in that respect, ASUS’s engineers responsible for the card should be proud.

Thermaltake T-Type H20-temp Indicator Review @ Madshrimps
Madshrimps :: Tuesday, October 11, 2005
“Thermaltake provides an easy to use T-Type digital water-temp meter. Reading your H20-cooling system anywhere in the loop you like, the unit features a water-temp alarm, if for example your pump were to fail. Is the unit accurate? Read on to find out.”

Google: The Microsoft of Tomorrow @ CoolTechZone.com
CoolTechZone :: Tuesday, October 11, 2005
“People love bashing poor old Microsoft for no reason. Sure it has made more than a few terrible propositions throughout its existence (like buying out small firms that possessed unique bits of technology) to disarm startup competition, but is it all that dreadful? Okay, maybe it is…”

check out the Google Factor

News- HIS X800GTO IceQ II Turbo 256MB
Overclockers Online :: Tuesday, October 11, 2005

ECS KN1 Extreme NF4 SLI Motherboard Review @ Legit Reviews
Legit Reviews :: Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Today we take the ECS KN1 Extreme SLI motherboard out for a spin. Looking at the specifications the board is based on NVIDIA’s NF4 chipset and features SLI technology, so should we expect to see a solid motherboard if done right. ECS told us to expect more from this SLI board than the original KN1 Extreme. Read on to see the results.

Designtechnica How-To: Setup a Recording Studio on Your Computer
Designtechnica :: Tuesday, October 11, 2005
“It all started with the four-track cassette recorder, really. That gave budding bedroom musicians the chance to make their own music (it was also the start of the lo-fi movement, as if people had forgotten that much of the great music of the ‘60s was made on four-track machines, with very good sound, but that’s another story).

That was just the first herald of the recording revolution, however. These days, anyone with a halfway decent computer can record, mix, and put their own music on CD. And, thanks to technology, you don’t even need to play an instrument to do it.

Obviously, the better your computer, the faster the speed and CPU capacity, which you’ll need to make music. Have Windows 98 or higher. A hard drive of at least 15GB is good, and at least 128 MB RAM. Most importantly, make sure you have a good soundcard, otherwise whatever software you use either won’t operate, or won’t work properly and to its full potential.”

[Phoronix] Ark Linux v2005.2-rc3
Phoronix :: Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Summary: “Ark Linux, a distribution aiming to hit the systems of desktop users, has released its 2005.2-rc3 candidate that now encompasses a predecease of KDE 3.5 and a GNU compiler for the D programming language. >From our initial encounter with Ark 2005.2 we’ve been impressed by its optimizations for use as a desktop system as well as various other improvements. This distribution is attempting to make it so easy to install and operate, a game of Tetrix is even playable while installing the data to your hard drive.”

News: ATI stakes claims on physics, GPGPU ground
The Tech Report :: Tuesday, October 11, 2005
One of the more surprising aspects of ATI’s Radeon X1000 series launch is something we didn’t get a chance to talk about in our initial review of the graphics cards: ATI’s eagerness to talk about using its GPUs for non-graphics applications.

ECS KN1SLI Extreme Review @ The TechZone
The Tech Zone :: Tuesday, October 11, 2005

The KN1 SLI is based on the NVIDIA nForce4 SLI media and communication processor (MCP) which has set the benchmark for the best desktop platform solution currently available. nForce4 SLI is a single-chip, highly integrated, high performance HyperTransport peripheral controller. The motherboard support up to 4 GB DRR RAM, ultra high performance graphics via two PCI Express slots, dual LAN, USB 2.0, 8-chanel digital audio and SATA II with RAID function. In other words, this is has all the trappings of a high end motherboard but without the high end price.

SwissBit Victorinox retroALOX 1GB @ ThinkComputers.org
Think Computers :: Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Quote: “What do you get when a company that makes fine quality utility knives and a company that makes memory products? You get a sophisticated and sleek next generation tool for the 21st century. What I am talking about is the retroALOX, created when Victorinox the famous makers of Swiss Army Knives and Swissbit, a maker of quality memory products collaborate together. The retroALOX is the culmination of history and the future combined.”

OCZ Gold Gamer eXtreme Memory Giveaway Contest – Final Day!
Tech ARP :: Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Quote – “There is only ONE more day left! You may still stand a chance to win an OCZ Gold Gamer eXtreme dual-channel memory kit for FREE!

This is a blistering fast DDR memory that can run at ultra-low latency? Now you can get some for FREE! So, hurry up before it’s too late! ”

get your free memory here

RoHS Explained
Hardware Secrets :: Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Everything you need to know about RoHS, the European environmental law that will affect the computer industry.

“Recently several PC hardware pieces were launched as “RoHS-compliant” and you should see more and more RoHS-compliant products reaching the market on the next months. In this tutorial we will explain what RoHS is and what is its impact to

find out WTH RoHS is

New Layout and Features @ TheTechLounge
The Tech Lounge :: Tuesday, October 11, 2005
“TheTechLounge is nearly three years old now, and it was time to make some changes. As you have no doubt noticed, the new site looks drastically different. We decided to update our old logo and graphics, which were created by Brian and Kurtis, to something that was more professional and better portrayed the image we wanted for TheTechLounge. The new logo was created by professional graphics designer, David Montooth. The new website design was a collaboration between Brian, Kurtis and designer, Naveed Lalani.

Aside from the visual aspect of the site, TheTechLounge required a new backend that could handle the new features and server load. Brian spent the past nine months developing a new content management system, dubbed TimberwolfCMS, that not only made this new site possible, but also allows for future expansion. Continue reading and we will walk you through many of the new additions to the site. We would also like to note that some additional features will be added in the weeks and months to come.”

[News] OCZ PC-3500 Gold GX Dual Channel DDR Review @ Virtual-Hideout
Virtual-Hideout :: Tuesday, October 11, 2005

“The OCZ PC3500 Gold GX memory lived up to its name, and performed as specified, providing some additional bandwidth beyond typical settings of 200MHz. The memory was stable and worked great at the better timings specified… ”

Review: Digital Media Server 701 by 2partsfusion @ HTPCnews.com
HTPCnews :: Tuesday, October 11, 2005

“Things that stood out to me were parts chosen for the sole purpose of building as quiet of a HTPC as possible without going to extremes. The fact that these guys who build the 2partsfusion HTPC’s are just HTPC enthusiasts like the rest of us is a major added bonus. This ensures that the unit is of overall high build quality and will perform as advertised. ”

Corsair TwinX2048-6400 PRO PC2-6400 DDR-2 Memory Review
PCStats :: Tuesday, October 11, 2005
“Battlefield 2 is especially well known for requiring at least 1GB of installed RAM memory to run smoothly… so why not aim high and upgrade to 2GB of installed RAM? To see what effect 2GB of system RAM will have on Battlefield 2, and a couple of other game titles PCSTATS is testing out a (2x1GB = 2GB) set of Corsair’s dual channel Twin2X2048-6400 PRO PC2-6400 DDR-2 memory. This is exactly what the doctor ordered for any memory-strapped dual core Intel Pentium 4 PC!”

Bigbruin.com Review: Ultra Products 2nd Generation 500W X-Finity PSU
Big Bruin :: Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Quote: One issue that Ultra Products seems to be avoiding is the power factor value. While most manufacturers are offering units with active (or passive) PFC resulting in PF values around 0.90 – 0.99… the Xconnect and previous X-Finity were both rated in the low 0.60 range, and the new X-Finity is slightly improved at 0.70, but that is still quite weak.

PimpRig Review // Ultra Products Fan Commander
PimpRig :: Tuesday, October 11, 2005
“All of the cables that are included with the Fan Commander are Silver braided and covered with a clear plastic which will make them look less unsightly inside a case. They needed to do something because think of it; once everything is installed you will be adding 12 cables to your interior. The braided cables are flexible and because of the Silver braiding they hold their shape well when you bend them.”

News – Thermaltake Blue ORB II CPU Cooler
Techniz.co.uk :: Monday, October 10, 2005

“The Blue ORB II CPU Cooler from Thermaltake is a good performance and good looking CPU cooler. This CPU cooler is an ideal choice for those users who wish for the fancy look and good performance. The entire cooler is just looks like a huge blue flower. Not only that, the performance of the Blue ORB II CPU Cooler is very good as you can see in the performance section. But, there is always a downside which is the size of this cooler, after install it onto the motherboard, it will block the 1st and 2nd RAM slot. However, it might not be a problem as long as the cooling performance is good. Furthermore, the 12cm fan on the Blue ORB II CPU Cooler is a Blue LED fan.”

Architecture Analysis R520 v G70
Driver Heaven :: Monday, October 10, 2005
Imagine a world where all graphics cards were made more equal. One in which the latest 7800 used 16 pipelines and 450/1000 clocks and the X1800 used its 16 pipelines at 450/1000 speeds. Which would perform better, and under what circumstances? Well imagine no more as here today we have a 16 pipeline NV47 going head to head with a R520 at 450/1000.

http://www.driverheaven.net/articles/efficiency/

The Story Of The First Internet Worm @ The TechZone
The Tech Zone :: Monday, October 10, 2005
Robert Tappan Morris was the first person convicted by a jury under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986. The story of the worm he created and what happened to him after it was released is a tale of mistakes, infamy, and ultimately the financial and professional success of its author.

How Gigabit Ethernet Works
Hardware Secrets :: Monday, October 10, 2005
“Gigabit Ethernet allows network transfers up to 1.000 Mbps using standard Cat 5 UTP (unshielded twisted pair) cabling. How can this be accomplished, since Cat 5 cables can run only up to 100 Mbps? We will explain this and also other very interesting issues regarding Gigabit Ethernet performance.”

Hitachi vs. Seagate 400 GB Hard Drive Comparison @ The TechZone
The Tech Zone :: Monday, October 10, 2005

So today we will review two of the biggest hard drives currently on the market. The first drive is the 400GB Hitachi Deskstar 7K400 which features five 80GB platters, 8MB of cache, a 7,200RPM rotation speed, and a 8.5ms average seek time. We will also look at the 400GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 which carries basically the same specifications as the Hitachi drive except that the Seagate has a 8ms average seek time rather than 8.5. Both the drives in this review use the SATA 1.5Gb/s interface. However, they are also available in PATA if needed.

Listen to Believe ProAmp 5.1 Headphone Amplifier and LTB True 5.1 Headphones
Think Computers :: Monday, October 10, 2005

Quote: “Listen to Believe; interesting name for a company, rather catchy actually, kind of makes you want to buy their product just to see if they are that good. With a name like Listen to Believe, you expect their products to be just awesome. Today I have for review something that I thought was pretty cool to be reviewing, I myself like good quality sound from all my audio equipment, and since my computer is such a large part of my life I feel that I need great quality from that as well.”

Microsoft Vista Build 5231 Leak w/ Screenshot
Microsoft :: Monday, October 10, 2005
“A new build of Windows Vista has leaked, a week before the new build is expected to be released to testers.

The October CTP build released to testers will incorporate additional functions than this leak, whilst likely retaining the same build number.

Released with build 5231 are Windows Media Player Version 11 (still under the guise of Windows Media Player 10), which includes a smart new interface, and the latest Beta of Internet Explorer 7, with tabs adopting the more conventional ‘below the address bar’ style. New sound features are added with active output and input monitors, so hopefully previous sound problems have been resolved.”

Scythe Katana CPU Heatpipe Cooler Review Posted!
Tech ARP :: Monday, October 10, 2005

Quote – “The latest cooler from Scythe is a relatively innocuous-looking heatpipe cooler. But beneath that lies a cooler with great potential.

News – Vantec Stingray All-In-One Water Cooling Kit
Techniz.co.uk :: Monday, October 10, 2005

“The Stingray All-In-One water cooling kit is the first water cooling kit that launch by Vantec, and they did a great job by producing such a great water cooling kit. This kit comes with all the block that you needed for cooling your high performance hardware. All the block is made of aluminum cover with the copper base and a powerful pump to give the best cooling performance to meet the Enthusiast needs. The universal clips are ready to support all type of system. The installation was very easy as well due to it was using the quick connector, the quick connector is one of the most safety hose connection for water cooling.”

Review: Flexiglow Cyber Snipa Gamepad @ GideonTech.com
GideonTech :: Monday, October 10, 2005
“What Flexiglow has done is taken the most important keys on a keyboard to a gamer and placed them onto a smaller gamepad. Equipped with it’s own wrist rest, it just might be the wrist and finger saving piece of equipment many gamers have been looking for.”

Cahintech VNF4 Ultra Motherboard Review @ TW Labs
Techwarelabs :: Monday, October 10, 2005
“Today we are going to take a look at a socket 939 motherboard that is based on the nForce4 Ultra chipset. The Chaintech VNF4 Ultra from their Zenith value edition series. Now this board is intended for the budget user so you can’t expect a load of features however it does it’s thing and still includes Gigabit ethernet and 7.1 audio as well as Serial ATA II.”

Gigabyte i-RAM – Affordable D.I.Y Solid State Storage
TweakTown :: Monday, October 10, 2005
“During the Computex 2005 trade show in Taiwan this year, much attention was drawn towards Gigabyte’s new i-RAM product. i-RAM is Gigabyte’s latest innovation which caters for users and businesses who require super quick data transfer over the SATA bus through the use of DDR memory modules. Read on as we take a look at Gigabyte’s first attempt at hitting into the solid state storage market – how does 150MB/s burst and average read speeds sound?”

SunBeam Trio @ Bjorn3D
Bjorn3D :: Monday, October 10, 2005
Can you remember the days when the typical computer case was grey or beige? I’m not sure who decided to use those colours but you couldn’t call computer cases good looking or cool. Those days are now long gone and these days we expect our to be able to keep our cases out in the open without being ashamed of the look.

SunBeam sent over a new case from them, the SunBeam Trio, which both has a low cost but also look pretty cool.

HP PhotoSmart 475 Printer Review at Designtechnica.com
Designtechnica :: Monday, October 10, 2005
“At first it was enough for photo printer makers to add a portable model to their mix. Now that most companies sell one, a little more creativity is required to separate one from the pack. HP has stepped up to the challenge with the Photosmart 475 ($279), a.k.a. GoGo, an unabashedly cute tagalong that prints not only the requisite 4 x 6 prints but 5 x 7 enlargements too. GoGo went a step further, adding 1.5 gigabytes of internal storage that can pack up to 1,000 images. Take it to the next family party, hook it up to a TV and you can run a slide show that lasts all afternoon.”

[Phoronix] SilverStone Strider ST405 400W
Phoronix :: Monday, October 10, 2005

Summary: “Although a great deal of the power supplies we look at on a regular basis are designed for high-end systems, occasionally we accept the offer to look at a lower-wattage power supply that may not be ideal for an SLI or CrossFire setup but continues to pack a punch when it comes to features. The power supply unit up for review today is the Strider ST405 400W from SilverStone Technology.”

Bigbruin.com Contest: Halloween PhotoChop Contest
Big Bruin :: Monday, October 10, 2005

Quote: BigBruin.com has teamed up with ClubIT.com on our latest contest. Up for grabs are two sets of assorted Cooler Master products, including a couple Cool Drive units and some UV/EL cables. The contest requires entrants to modify the ClubIT.com logo with a Halloween theme. Entries could be scary, funny, freaky, sexy, etc… Just make them so they can be displayed in public!

Windows Vista Build 5219 Review @ CoolTechZone.com
CoolTechZone :: Monday, October 10, 2005
“At the recent PDC, Microsoft started a new way of launching software, and we aren’t complaining. The deal is that it’ll showcase a monthly update to Vista, which would show progress from the last month in terms of added functionality, features, and graphics in addition to additional functionality. This is an excellent method as it allows Microsoft to gauge developer mood as well as check out how well the features are received overall.”

[News] Coolmax 24-pin PSU Tester Review @ Virtual-Hideout
Virtual-Hideout :: Monday, October 10, 2005

“With items like this on the market for less than $20, there’s no excuse to fry a system anymore from a bad power supply. This unit should be in every PC builders tool chest. ”

BrightSide DR37-P Extreme Dynamic Range Display @ The TechZone
The Tech Zone :: Thursday, October 06, 2005

The DR37-P takes display technology to a new level. This is the world’s highest dynamic range display. How high? Try contrast ratio of infinity! Well, it’s officially listed at 200,000 to 1 but it’s really infinite. I have seen this display in action and words (and following pictures) can not describe how amazing it is. The DR37-P is a 37″ display that offers 10 times the brightness of a standard LCDs and delivers over 100 times the contrast range plus provide much more vivid color. The display provides peak luminance in excess of 3,000 candela/m2, a contrast ratio in excess of 200,000:1 and it is the first display capable of accurately displaying 16 bit per color.

[Phoronix] NVIDIA Q4-2005 (1.0-7XXX) Driver Performance
Phoronix :: Thursday, October 06, 2005

Summary: “With the public release of the NVIDIA Linux 1.0-8XXX display drivers now coming toward the end of October, we felt it was time to offer another driver comparison of all the drivers released in roughly the past year, as we haven’t done any mass comparisons since early 2005.”

Enermax CA3030 Pandora Case Review @ OCIA.net
OCIA :: Thursday, October 06, 2005

“Sandwiched between the grill in the bezel and the front of the case is this nifty push-to-open filter slot. The panel slides out to reveal a washable, reusable foam filter that would hopefully prevent a little less dust from getting sucked inside the case. Unfortunately, no such preventative measure exists on the other two openings in the side panel.”

Intel Mobility Party Report Posted!
Tech ARP :: Thursday, October 06, 2005

“Intel recently concluded their Mobility Campaign with a big bang at Zouk! Boasting a celebrity DJ, a fashion show and DJ group Altered Image, the Intel Mobility Party was also where Intel announced the winners of the Intel Notebook Bag Design Contest! Check out the report!”

Swiftech H20-APEX “Extreme Duty” @ Viperlair
ViperLair :: Thursday, October 06, 2005
“With the amount of kits for watercooling your PC that are out on the market today it’s hard to decide what would be best for you, throw in all of the different types and sizes of cases that are available and choosing a kit could be a real nightmare. Swiftech has done all of the leg work with the Apex-H2O kit and have made a damn near universal water cooling kit that requires very little if any “handyman” work to install.”

PimpRig Review // Thermaltake Aquabay M2 5.25″ Bay Reservoir
PimpRig :: Thursday, October 06, 2005
“As you can plainly see, even though the bezel is 1U configuration, (1U = 1-5.25″ bay) the fan means you’ll need at least two free bays. And if it is going to work well, you’ll need clear space both above and below the radiator for sufficient air movement and above average case ventilation. So in reality, the M2 Radiator will need 3 or even 4 clear drive bays to function. A shallow bay device such as many of those in the Hardcano line, which only extend a short distance inward past the front bezel, would not present a problem mounted directly above the M2 AquaBay.”

ASUS CT-479 Pentium M Adapter @ techPowerUp!
techPowerUp! :: Thursday, October 06, 2005
We are taking a look at the ASUS CT-479 Adapter which allows you to use an Intel Mobile Processor in your desktop. This Socket 478 to Socket 479 converter is considerably less expensive than the native Socket 479 boards. With this adapter you can turn that old ASUS 865P/875P mobo into a serious gaming machine. The OCZ DDR Booster is reviewed along with the ASUS CT-479 Adapter.

Antec Sonata 2 Case Review @ ThinkComputers.org
Think Computers :: Thursday, October 06, 2005

Quote: “Antec, a name that pretty much anyone who is into computers knows. They make various products from top quality computer cases to lights and cables. The name Antec is pretty much synonymous with top quality, high end computer enclosures. When you purchase an Antec product you know you are getting something that is quality made with care and pride. Today I have the Sonata II for review, another fine quality product from Antec that claims to be designed to be completely quiet.”

Patriot PDC2G3200LLK PC3200 2GB Dual Channel Kit @ InsaneTek
InsaneTek :: Thursday, October 06, 2005

“Patriot has been providing some amazing enthusiast lately and their 2GB solution is not all that bad. It is priced to target the budget enthusiast, but it does overclock pretty nicely.”

News] Zalman 7000B-Cu LED CPU Cooler Review @ Virtual-Hideout
Virtual-Hideout :: Thursday, October 06, 2005

“It comes with a wide array of installation accessories, all of high quality. Instructions were concise and well written. I can’t stress enough the high quality of this product. It’s a winner and a no-brainer for a smart buy.”

Smart CD Ripper PRO at Designtechnica.com
Designtechnica :: Thursday, October 06, 2005
“Extract audio CD tracks to audio formats MP3, WAV and OGG with Smart CD Ripper. Or convert existing WAV files to MP3 format and vice-versa. The program?s options include the following: bit rate; maximal bit rate; channel mode; emphasis; variable bit rate (VBR) quality; use variable bit rate (VBR); use low pass filter; and use psycho-acoustics analysis. ”

Music Download Services Compared
Designtechnica :: Thursday, October 06, 2005
“However, all of that means the consumer is presented with a dazzling multiplicity of choices. Where do you go to find the music you want? Which is the best service? They all offer dazzling numbers of tracks – 900,000, a million – that stagger and scare the imagination. Finding your way through can be more than a little daunting.

The simple truth is, in many cases there’s not a great deal to choose between them. Those massive music libraries are largely duplicated from service to service. So the criteria become something different. Do you want to keep the music you get? What can you do with it – can you store it on multiple computers, burn it onto CD, transfer it to a portable device? How easy is it to use the interface? And, for those whose tastes lie outside the mainstream, which services offer the best depth and broadest selection of music? Read on as we explain each music service so you know which one fits your needs.”

MGE XG Ninja 2 Computer Case Review @ Tweaknews.net
Tweaknews :: Thursday, October 06, 2005

“With a MSRP of $49 complete with a 400W PSU, some prospective builders will be able to live without some of the more advanced features the Ninja 2 lacks.”

R520: Radeon X1800 Architecture Preview @ Beyond3D
Beyond3D :: Wednesday, October 05, 2005
ATI are finally launching their long belated R520 architecture and the X1800, X1600 and X1300 products based on it. In the first of our articles looking at the architecture and the products based on it we are have published an R520 architectural overview:

“The memory controller consists of the central controller, or arbiter, with the memory clients surrounding it that can make their data requests to the arbiter. All around the edges of the chip are two 256-bit ring busses, running at same speeds as the DRAM’s, which run in opposite directions to reduce latency (dependant on where the data is going to or from it should only have to traverse a maximum of half the ring); by placing the memory bus around the edges of the chip wire density around the controller is decreased, which can result in higher clock speeds.”

Joujye Super Silent 350W PSU Review @ PC Modding Malaysia
PC Modding Malaysia :: Wednesday, October 05, 2005

“Definitely one to recommend great stuff to you, I’ll definitely recommend Joujye’s impressively stable JJ350PPBA Super Silent PSU to those of you who are shopping for a formidable, practical and RELIABLE PSU. It isn’t much to look at, no LEDs, no fancy eye candy, but it certainly delivers, and that’s what’s important. This model that we reviewed is targetted towards business users who demand a reliability and cost savings from running dozens of computers thanks to its Passive Power Factor Correction circuit.”

[Phoronix] VDrift v2005-10-02
Phoronix :: Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Summary: “VDrift, the cross-platform open-source driving simulator designed for drift racing, recently released its 2005-10-02 source that now has initial network multi-player support, ghost car relay option, SCans build system, and terrain detail options. This game, which is based upon the Vamos physics engine, is now one step closer to becoming a viable choice for Linux and Windows gamers.”

HEXUS.reviews :: TerraTec Cinergy Hybrid USB XS DVB-T/Analog TV Tuner
Hexus :: Tuesday, October 04, 2005

There’s a surprising amount of connectivity coming from the tuner, thanks to the provided cabling. The aerial, while a good design, is of little use in areas where the signal isn’t strong. The USB cable, which isn’t something usually worth writing home about, does allow you to plug in the tuner without risking catching it on anything and snapping the connector off – helping to protect that £130 investment.

beblu Media Center Review @ Epiacenter.com
Epiacenter.com :: Tuesday, October 04, 2005

“The main part of the beblu system comes in three varieties, the Appliance, the Computer and the Home Entertainment systems. These are fundamentally the same with a basic hierarchy the appliance case is the most basic followed by the computer which has added front audio, a USB Universal System Bus is a “plug-and-play” interface that consolidates the present serial port configuration on the back of the PC into a single port from which up to 127 peripheral devices can be daisy chain connected.”

Grado SR325i High-End Headphones Review @ CoolTechZone.com
CoolTechZone :: Tuesday, October 04, 2005
“The 325i has the same-vented diaphragm design with aluminum air chamber and an attractive exterior. Thankfully, Grado has improved the exterior to make it look a bit more exotic instead of the same old black color scheme.”

Crucial Ballistix Tracer PC2-5300 Review @ Legit Reviews
Legit Reviews :: Tuesday, October 04, 2005
“It is hard for me to find a negative with this memory. Its ran very well at its rated speed, overclocked extremely well, looks great, and is priced in line with other modules in its class. …”

Leadtek PX7800 TDH MyVIVO Extreme
hardCOREware :: Tuesday, October 04, 2005
NVIDIA captured our attention with their launch of “G70” an evolutionary, if not revolutionary graphics core. The top end model was the 7800 GTX, and unlike what we’ve seen from their Canadian counterparts, NVIDIA had the products on store shelves the very same day they were launched.

Fast-forward to now: Manufacturers have had some time to play around with their designs, and we’re starting to see some interesting products. Today we’re reviewing teh 7800GTX Extreme from Leadtek. They used a Quadro heatsink, and gave it a nice overclock.

Steelsound 5H Headset Review @ ASE Labs
ASE Labs :: Tuesday, October 04, 2005

” The headphones in this package are more like the kind designed for studio/DJ work and more “serious” listening. They are not just a pair of $10, throw-away headphones. These have a much more accurate sound output, and wrap around your head, creating a near sound-proof barrier between your ear and outside background noise. Since these are headphones for gamers, a couple of special features have also been added with their needs in mind. ”

Actiontec Wireless G Router and Network Cards @ TheTechLounge
The Tech Lounge :: Tuesday, October 04, 2005

“The wireless market has expanded far and wide from the days of old 802.11b. Now, not only do we have 802.11g products, but many vendors have used proprietary technology to boost those speeds far above the basic 802.11g. Unfortunately, this throws the interoperability idea of a standard out the window. For those individuals that purchased laptops or other items which work with the “g” standard, proprietary transmission protocols are worthless. Why spend money on technology you really don’t need or can’t even use?

Not every company is doing this; some like Actiontec have decided to focus on the standard, and only the standard. This means that if you have purchased an 802.11g product, then it will work with an 802.11g router. There is no need to troubleshoot settings and switches within the router just so can browse the internet from your laptop. Simple and to the point – or at least that is what I am told. For just this reason I have in front of me three of Actiontec’s wireless G products: the Cable/DSL router, USB wireless adaptor, and PCMCIA notebook card.”

OCZ Gold PC4000 2GB Dual Channel Kit @ InsaneTek
InsaneTek :: Tuesday, October 04, 2005

“OCZ’s first 2GB solution runs under their Gold series. The memory comes with loose timings, but it does manage to overclock extremely well. OCZ never fails to impress when it comes to enthusiast memory.”

PimpRig Review // Enermax MaximumPlus 660W SLi PSU
PimpRig :: Tuesday, October 04, 2005
“Independent 12V rails supply to MB/CPU and drives in order to provide stable and clean current to noise-sensitive devices, such as: CPU, add-on cards.Meet UL 240VA safety requirements. It also separate the motherboard rails and video card rails to ensure maximum power to your PCI Express video card.”

Logisys Wireless Remote MultiFunction Panel @ techPowerUp!
techPowerUp! :: Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Functional panels for our computers have been around for a while now, but Logisys took the standard functional panel with USB, Firewire, fan controller, and temp monitors and tricked it out one more. They created “The first remote panel in the world designed for media PC and for enhancement of all computers”. The Logisys FP800BK includes almost everything you could want in a front panel device, plus you can turn your PC on and off with its handy remote!

OCZ Rally 2GB Flash Memory Drive Review at 3DXtreme
3dXtreme :: Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Our Sandra bench scores confirm the HDTach results, along with that it also shows the write speed which also blows the Kingston drive out of the water. OCZ claims up to 23MB/s read and up to 17MB/s write for this 2GB unit and by the looks of the results certainly meets those numbers. The 512MB and 1GB modules are listed with even faster read/write speeds as they are smaller modules.

Step-by-Step Guide to Making and Promoting Your Own Podcast @ The TechZone
The Tech Zone :: Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Think of it like an audio blog; a podcast is a recorded program similar to radio (sans commercials, of course) made available via MP3 files on websites or RSS feeds. But unlike radio, users can download these programs onto an Apple iPod or any other MP3 device and listen at their own convenience. Also unlike radio, there are no FCC standards to regulate the content; a podcast can say anything about any topic at any time. It’s revolutionary, really.

Lenovo ThinkPad X41 Tablet PC Review @ CoolTechZone.com
CoolTechZone :: Tuesday, November 01, 2005

“The tablet PC is yet to take off despite Microsoft’s best efforts. Microsoft has tried everything in its power to promote the usage of table PC, but it all seemed to fail until someone came out with the convertible concept. The devices look like notebooks, except that they have swivel screens that are useful and downright sleek. Not to mention you can write and send handwritten notes to anyone, anytime.”

Logitech G5 Laser Gaming Mouse Review @ Tweaknews.net
Tweaknews :: Monday, October 31, 2005

“This mouse is slick, sleek, and everything a competitive or even moderate player could ask for. Playing for long periods of time is no longer a strain on your hands with the comfortable setup of this mouse. Know that when you play with G5 you are a fragging force to be reckoned with.”

Dell Axim X50v
Gamer’s Hell :: Monday, October 31, 2005
It seems that life keeps getting faster. There is more to see, more to do, more to schedule and more places to be. If you are not careful, you are likely to end up forgetting you’re scheduling over the more to do and then find yourself in a very deep hole, with still more to do.

Samsung Showroom Photo Tour 2005 @ PCstats.com
PCStats :: Monday, October 31, 2005
“PCSTATS recently headed out to the Samsung Canada offices for a briefing. While we were there, we took the opportunity to snap a couple pictures of the companies brand new showroom which houses the latest Samsung products to hit the Canadian retail market. For readers of PCSTATS who have never had the opportunity to walk the expansive floors of the Las Vegas Convention Center during CES, the following photo-tour of the what we saw that day should come as a nice treat. Although, it is kind of unfair to show how awesome five 46″ LCDs look back-to-back-to-back…. I mean, how can anyone be expected to go back to a 32″ TV after seeing that!”

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30 Digital Camera
Designtechnica :: Saturday, October 29, 2005
‘This is the newest generation of Panasonic’s highly-regarded line-up of mega zoom cameras. With 8-megapixel resolution, a 12x Leica optical zoom and built-in optical image stabilization, this digicam is a decent alternative for those looking for D-SLR features but don’t want the hassle of interchangeable lenses plus they’d like the ability to view a live image on a 2-inch LCD screen and take short videos. The DMC-FZ30 feels very much like D-SLR yet costs a lot less especially when you budget the cost of lenses that would equal this focal range (a hefty 35-420mm in 35mm terms).’

iPod nano audio player
Hardware Secrets :: Friday, October 28, 2005
“Can 27 million people be wrong? This is the approximate number of iPods sold by Apple since October 2001, and, until two weeks ago, my answer was yes. I couldn’t understand all the fuss for an audio player exactly “like any other”. I had the opportunity to play with an iPod mini before, which I found quite amusing, but nothing more than that.”

Logitech G7 Laser Mouse Review @ CoolTechZone.com
CoolTechZone :: Friday, October 28, 2005
“Logitech is a respected manufacturer in the gaming and computer enthusiast community, and for a good reason. Throughout its history, Logitech has always managed to set standards in the peripherals market, especially with keyboard and mice that are specially designed for the gamers in mind. Quite obviously, the price of Logitech branded products is above average than what a standard user might need, but for those of us who breathe gaming, majority of Logitech’s products are a pleasure to use. Recently, Logitech introduced a new line of gaming products as part of its “G” series product lineup.”

The Future Of Cell Phones
Designtechnica :: Friday, October 28, 2005
‘So your cell phone can take and send pictures, even video. You can text message and download ringtones and games. Maybe you can even watch a little television and do some limited web browsing. But if you’re a person who’s been using mobile phones for a number of years, you can appreciate just how far they’ve come since the early days when we carried around bricks in dubiously bright neoprene covers, and simply trying to get a phone and service required the kind of stringent credit checks associated with entry to Fort Knox – or being able to rent a video in the early days.’

Dh Review: Wolfclan FPS Gaming Keyboard V2
Driver Heaven :: Friday, October 28, 2005
We turn away many companies who offer keyboards for review primarily because most of them are rubbish, I have a nice collection right now mainly from eastern makers which have ended up as bookends. However many of you reading this will already have heard of the Wolf Claw Keyboard as it proves to be a little better thought out than most. Today I’m going to be looking at V2 of this board and putting it through its paces with a selection of First person shooter games.

Logitech G7 Laser Cordless Mouse Review
Everything USB :: Friday, October 28, 2005

A wireless mouse and gaming? The two terms never went well together, a paradox constantly laughed at by the gaming community at large. Between problems with latency, accuracy, interference, and that pesky sleep mode, the two could never get along. Things have changed significantly over time however, and now Logitech is the first company to release a wireless mouse actually intended for gaming. Could this really be the one mouse to change it all? Read on to see.

IPTV – The Future Of TV @ The TechZone
The Tech Zone :: Thursday, October 27, 2005
But that is the marvel of IPTV. It may be bad but you won’t sit through 3-4 minutes of ads to watch a reality show. You can watch bad reality free of commercials. With the global adoption of DVB (Digital Video Broadcast) standards for 95% of the global market, Intel and Microsoft are more than ready to serve a market that is just beginning.

Mountain Mods Bob Slay Acrylic Cube Case Review
OCIA :: Wednesday, October 26, 2005

” The name Bob Slay is really an interesting play on words, taken from bobsleigh. The case is not a true “cube case”, as it measures 14.59 x 11.11 x 12.21 inches (L x W x H). The name bobsleigh goes along with the “mountain” theme, has good cooling, and of course “slay” being a synonym for frag… yeah, a very fitting name.”

Review: Sandisk Sansa m240 1GB MP3 Player @ GideonTech.com
GideonTech :: Wednesday, October 26, 2005
“MP3 players are our generation’s walkman. From the 60GB Apple iPod Photos to tiny 128MB units scattered all over electronic shop bargain bins; there is a MP3 player for just about everyone. Depending on your lifestyle and usage, choosing the perfect MP3 player can be a tricky process. We have our eyes set on something not too large and not too small. Let’s see what a 1GB model from Sandisk can do that’s built for people on the go.”

Canon Optura 600 Camcorder Review at Designtechnica.com
Designtechnica :: Wednesday, October 26, 2005
“There’s no question we’re overwhelmed by gadgets. To simplify our lives a bit, manufacturers are creating devices that do double or triple duty like the Treo 650 cell phone/PDA. Other examples are camcorders that tout their digital still attributes, so they not only take videos but photographs as well. In this case, the theory being you can carry one less gadget, put your digital camera on eBay and just use a single device. We can honestly say that up until recently this has been a fool’s errand, as the photo quality of most camcorders is pathetic. $99 Vivitars and Concords found in Wal-Mart do better jobs than “photo-taking camcorders.” Fortunately things are changing as manufacturers enhance imaging devices, lens quality, add a load of photographic circuitry and other goodies. The new Canon Optura 600 is a good case in point. It records excellent MiniDV videos plus it takes 4 megapixel stills, far better than most of the competition. In fact, of the 85-plus camcorders out there, only two JVCs (GR-X5US, GZ-MC500) and the Samsung SC-D6550 take better ones (5MP vs. 4MP). Now should you unload your old digital camera on eBay and use the proceeds for the Optura 600? Click on…”

Sony HBH-662 Bluetooth Wireless Headset Review @ Legit Reviews
Legit Reviews :: Monday, October 24, 2005
“The Sony Ericsson Akono HBH-662 Headset is a bluetooth 1.2 compatible set with small LCD window on the side that displays caller ID, battery strength, and connection status. Like any bluetooth headset on the market, it designed to be used with any bluetooth enabled cell phone on the market… ”

Logitech Harmony 800 Home Theater Remote Control Review @ The TechZone
The Tech Zone :: Sunday, October 23, 2005

Taking the 880 out of its packaging, I could immediately see improvements. I am excited to say, no more battery worries and running out of batteries is a nightmare of the past. The Harmony 880 now has its own rechargeable Li-Ion battery and charging station. The buttons have been rearranged, simplifying the remote process even more. The buttons themselves have been redesigned to “integrate” into the shell of the remote. The overall size and shape of the Harmony 880 has remained the same as previous models. Sometimes you just can’t change a proven successful style.

Logisys 4 Direction LED Mouse Review @ Virtual-Hideout
Virtual-Hideout :: Sunday, October 23, 2005

Quote: ” Overall I would have to say that this mouse does indeed have the great response time of a “gaming mouse”. The side scrolls are also a valuable function, but the size of this mouse is just too small. ”

Apple iPod Video Review at Designtechnica.com
Designtechnica :: Friday, October 21, 2005
“So what makes the new iPod better than previous versions? Well for starters it includes a larger 2.5-inch QVGA color screen and is capable of video playback. The player is slimmer as well, measuring in at less than half an inch thick – that’s 45 percent slimmer than the previous model. Despite its thin size, Apple has added a larger battery to this years model which promises five more hours of playback when compared to last years. That means up to 20 hours of total audio play time before this baby runs out of juice. Available in 30GB and 60GB flavors, you can store up to 150 hours of video, 15,000 songs, and up to 25,000 photos (all on the 60GB version) – that’s a lot of media. Included with the new iPod is a set of ear buds, the latest iTunes (version 6) and a USB cable for charging and syncing the iPod with your PC. ”

Logitech MX610 ‘Smart’ Mouse Reviewed
Everything USB :: Wednesday, October 19, 2005
“Logitech has innovated once again with the MX610, making it the first mouse to actually receive information as well as transmit it. Operating wirelessly over 2.4GHz, the mouse is actually told when the computer is turned on and off and put to sleep, powering on and off accordingly to save battery life. This can be further extended by powering off the mouse manually if away from the desk or for computers that are never turned off.

Lexar JumpDrive Sport 1 GB
MetkuMods :: Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Snippet: “I guess this is what makes it “Sport”: The cap. The cap goes around the whole stick, and you fasten it somewhat like an elastic band – giving it the impression of withstanding water and dirt and at the same time having the cap safely attached.”

Logitech MX 610 Laser Cordless Mouse @ HardwareZoom
Hardware Zoom :: Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Quote – The Logitech MX610 Laser Cordless Mouse is the first laser mouse we have reviewed, and it impressed us for the surface compatibility. Virtually, you can use it on almost every surface. The laser technology has a great improvement over the optical technology.

The MX610 is really good news for the gamers. The accuracy of the Laser technology is promising. Together with the volume controls and Email/IM alert, it enhanced the accessibility of being just a pointing device. The horizontal scroll and the Forward/Back buttons help a lot on web browsing.

Logitech MediaPlay Cordless Mouse Review @ CoolTechZone.com
CoolTechZone :: Monday, October 17, 2005
“Just when you think something as basic as a mouse couldn’t possibly go a step further with innovation, Logitech and others are right there to prove everyone wrong. A basic, yet necessary, peripheral is approaching new heights with innovation. Take a look at Logitech’s MediaPlay mouse, for instance.”

Kingston Factory Tour in Fountain Valley, CA, USA
Corsair :: Monday, October 17, 2005
“Kingston has several factories around the world, and we visited its smallest factory in Fountain Valley, California, USA. On the other hand, in this factory is where research and development is conducted and we had the chance to visiting some of their R&D testing labs. Even though Fountain Valley factory is their smallest facility, we were simply surprised by its size: so far it is the largest memory manufacturing facility we’ve been to in the USA.”

IceMat Black Siberia Review
Techgage :: Monday, October 17, 2005

Quote: With so many headsets available that are specifically designed for gamers, it makes it difficult to choose the right one. We are taking a look at the IceMat Black Siberia, based off the original Siberia that has been given countless awards. Let’s jump right in and take a fresh look at this cool product!

Logitech MX610 Cordless Laser Mouse Review @ ASE Labs
ASE Labs :: Friday, October 14, 2005

” “The World’s First Smart Mouse” is the tagline that Logitech uses on their latest addition to the Laser line of mice. I’d say that it’s a universally accepted fact that Logitech makes some of the best input devices and peripherals for home computers. The MX610 is the first of its kind in that it provides “program notification” to the user without cluttering up the Windows desktop. (Now we can clutter up the mouse.) Read on to find out what exactly this means. ”

Apple Mighty Mouse Review
The Tech Zone :: Friday, October 14, 2005

Have you seen the Mighty Mouse? No, I do not mean the super hero. I mean the latest innovation by Apple computers– the Mighty Mouse. The mighty mouse is unlike any mouse you’ve ever seen before. The Mighty Mouse works directly with the latest version of the Macintosh operating system to provide many advanced features. However, using the Mighty Mouse with a Macintosh is not the subject of this article. This article focuses on exactly what you can expect when using the Mighty Mouse with a Windows based PC.

LINK: http://www.techwarelabs.com/reviews/memory/transcend_jetflash110/

Transcend JetFlash 110 1GB USB Drive Review @ TW Labs
Techwarelabs :: Thursday, October 13, 2005
“No more do we use the (un)trusty floppy to store our work or even consider lugging around ZIP drives, now its USB Drives, USB Sticks, USB External Burners and the list goes on… Now we’re storing alot more data, in a much smaller amount of space and lets not forget the need for speed. Today, we take a look at Transcend’s newest offering, their flagship JetFlash 110 USB Drives.”

LINK: http://www.techwarelabs.com/reviews/memory/transcend_jetflash110/

Logitech G7 laser Cordless Gaming Mouse at 3DXtreme
3dXtreme :: Thursday, October 13, 2005

A $100 mouse might make some folks shudder, but this will be the last mouse you will need to buy. I can’t imagine Logitech out doing the G7 but I’m sure they are already working on something that’s faster, better and cheaper. I cannot say enough good things about the Logitech G7, if you are in the market for the last mouse you will ever buy – you’ve just seen it – now go buy it!

MobiBLU DAH-1500i: World’s Smallest MP3 Player Review @ CoolTechZone.com
CoolTechZone :: Wednesday, October 12, 2005
“We’ve all had it with standard sized MP3 players; after all, what’s so special about them anymore? The same old features and audio quality are the norm these days. In fact, if you have an MP3 player and you want it to survive in the market, quality is a prerequisite. Of course, there are those exclusive iconic looks and a select number of features here and there that make portable audio players stand out from their competition, but still, it takes a lot more wattage to send a jolt through the industry.”

Creative Zen Vision 30Gb Portable Media Player Review @ Tweaknews.net
Tweaknews :: Tuesday, October 11, 2005

“Creative have decided to ditch Microsoft’s Portable Media Center initiative along with their operating system for Creative’s own in-house operating system, more codec support and a plethora of other features that I’m going to tell you all about in this review. I suggest you pause here, go put the kettle on and then kick back with a nice brew and enjoy as I take you for a wild ride of this year’s most anticipated Creative Labs Audio/Video player release.”

Logitech mm50 Portable Speakers @ CoolTechZone.com
CoolTechZone :: Thursday, October 06, 2005
“As Apple continues to introduce newer iPods, third party manufacturers including Logitech are updating their product line continuously to specifically revolve around the world’s most popular music player. The latest from Logitech is the company’s mm50 Portable Speakers for iPod.”

Creative Zen Vision Portable Media Player Review Posted!
Tech ARP :: Wednesday, October 05, 2005

“Do you love bringing your movies, photos and music with you wherever you go? Are you looking for a portable data storage solution? Then look no further!

Join Marauderz as he reviews the new Creative Zen Vision portable media player, which combines the best of both worlds! ”

Sony DCR-DVD203 DVD Camcorder Review at Designtechnica
Designtechnica :: Tuesday, October 04, 2005
“Sony came a little late to the DVD camcorder party. In its inimitable fashion when it did arrive the company decided to take over the business from early leaders Hitachi and Panasonic. Surprise! They did just that thanks to marketing muscle and now have five models ranging from $599 to $999 along with the lion’s share of sales. Rather than demand the world follow its own format like Hitachi/Panasonic with DVD-RAM, Sony decided to be a bit more agnostic so more DVD playersand PlayStations–could be compatible with its discs. Instead of DVD-RAM as a rewritable and –R as a write-once format, Sony’s DVD Handycams record in –RW and +RW (dash and plus RW) as well as -R. What this means to you is that it’s far more likely you can record a disc that will play in your mother’s DVD player so she can see the kids romping around. And make no mistake, the vast majority of camcorders are purchased right around the time a new baby is bornor some other major event such as a graduation or the vacation of a lifetime. No matter if you’re expectant parents or have the urge to create your own cinema verite classic, the Sony DCR-DVD203 with its 1.07-megapixel CCD will do a reasonable job saving your memories. Naturally there are issues to lament but that’s what reviews are for.”

HIS X800GTO IceQ II Turbo 256MB Video Card @ BonaFideReviews
Bona Fide Reviews :: Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Quote: “With the spotlight on the recently released X1000 family it seems as though the X800 family is quickly becoming a thing of the past. This is a very good thing for most consumers as well all know the older a technology gets the cheaper it becomes. The X800’s are slowly slipping into the “bargain” card category. However today’s X800 family member is fairly new and at an affordable price, the HIS X800GTO is definitely worth a close look.”

Samsung DVD-V9500 High Definition DVD/VCR Combination Player
Futurelooks :: Tuesday, November 01, 2005
So you’re looking for a high-quality DVD player and a decent VCR, but have a limited shelf space? Samsung has the answer with “The One Unit Solution”. The Samsung DVD-V9500 has everything for everyone, including High-Definition Upconversion for your DVDs. All of this is packaged in a sexy black finish!

HDR (High Dynamic Range) Technology Overview @ CoolTechZone.com
CoolTechZone :: Tuesday, November 01, 2005
“We’ve all played Half-Life and it’s sequel Half-Life 2. The difference between the two games, in terms of graphics, is tremendous, and now Valve has gone ahead and updated the gaming engine to give you a level of detail and realism that you thought wouldn’t be possible until perhaps the next round of game releases.”

High End Audio Cable Design – Part 1 @ The TechZone
The Tech Zone :: Monday, October 31, 2005
Have you ever wondered what goes into the making of a $1,500 audio cable? Audio engineer Adam Blake will takes you through the process. In part 1 of this series, Adam will discuss cable geometry and construction.

SAPPHIRE RADEON X1800 XL 256MB & XFX GeForce 7800 GT 256MB
Hexus :: Monday, October 31, 2005

Both card packages offer compelling reasons for purchase and both are available immediately, but given a direct choice between the two, our money would slide over into XFX’s corner for a number of reasons. Its GeForce 7800 GT is marginally faster in a sector where framerates matter hugely. It also runs quieter, and, should you wish and funds/hardware permitting, can be put to immediate SLI use. That’s not to say that the SAPPHIRE X1800 XL is a bad card; it’s patently not, and it outscores the XFX GeForce 7800 GT on the features front, but priced at £300 it steps just a little too close to GeForce 7800 GTX money. We hope that ATI and its partners can release X1000-series CrossFire master cards in the very near future, as SAPPHIRE’s card is just crying out to be run in multi-GPU mode.

Samsung Syncmaster 173P+ 17inch LCD Display Review
PCStats :: Saturday, October 29, 2005
The compact little 17″ screen of the Samsung Syncmaster 173P+ boasts a native resolution of 1280×1024 pixels. It is pretty clear by looking at the three separate colour test patterns that issues with ghosting are reduced on the 8ms gray-to-gray panel. Its industry standard dot pitch of 0.264mm makes for a crisper image from the a-si TFT/PVA panel than many 19″ LCDs can muster. The Samsung 173P+ does retail a bit higher than the average 17″ LCD will, priced about $570USD, but it does offer up a contrast ratio of 1500:1 and brightness value of 270 cd/m2. Viewing angles on the Samsung 173P+ break the barrier at 178 degrees horizontal/vertical.

SilverStone LC16M HTPC Case Video Review #612
3dgameman :: Saturday, October 29, 2005

“This case is as close as it gets to a perfect Home Theatre PC Case. With all the excellent features, a remote control and VFD, it’s sure to please. The overall styling and design is very desirable. There are also plenty of locations to install fans for excellent air flow. While this is not a slim HTPC case, it does allow for a standard ATX motherboard and PSU to be installed. In true SilverStone fashion, this is another fantastic HTPC. Watch the Video to find out more…” ~3dGameMan.com

Bigbruin.com Article: HTPC Primer, Part II
Big Bruin :: Saturday, October 29, 2005

Quote: In the first of a two-part series of Tech Tips on getting started with a Home Theater PC, or HTPC, we looked at the two most basic features to be considered: audio and video. With those areas addressed, there are still plenty of aspects worth considering that can help your computer become better integrated into your home theater for a truly enjoyable experience. Some of these aspects include component speed, cooling, noise, style, and the user interface.

PowerColor X800 GT Xtreme Edition Review @ The Tech Zone
The Tech Zone :: Saturday, October 29, 2005

Power for the X800 GT Xtreme is provided by ATI’s R480 chipset running at 500MHz. This is 25MHz faster than the standard X800 GT. The Xtreme achieves this higher core speed with a better cooling solution. The normal X800 GT use 256 Meg of 2ns GDDR3 memory running at 980MHz. The Xtreme version use 1.6ns memory running at 1050MHz. All together, it adds up to a faster video card for just a few dollars more.

Neoseeker Sapphire X800 GTO2 review
Neoseeker :: Friday, October 28, 2005
We have just posted our review of Sapphire’s X800 GTO² card. This board comes with an R480 core that can be unlocked to a full 16 pipes. The Core can be overclocked significantly, ultimately turning the board into a near X850 XT PE equivalent.

XFX GeForce 7800 GT Review @ PC Modding Malaysia
PC Modding Malaysia :: Thursday, October 27, 2005

Content: “All in all, the XFX GeForce 7800 GT is a stunning graphics card. The package was impressive and the bundled games are pretty good. This 7800 GT comes factory overclocked and it runs pretty cool even at overclocked speeds. Considering that the performance of a single 7800 GT is better than a single 6800 Ultra, gamers would definitely enjoy better savings going the 7800 GT way because not only the 6800 Ultra is expensive, it also requires dual slot and probably eats up more power too. We really liked the design of the 7800 GT especially its silent single slot cooler and the added aluminium strut that can only be found on XFX 7800 GT graphics card.”

Logitech Z-5500 Digital THX Certified 5.1 Speaker Set Review @ 3DXtreme
3dXtreme :: Thursday, October 27, 2005
I don’t know where to start. These speakers are just amazing, the clarity this speaker set delivered was unmatched. Even the Logitech Z-680s could not compete with the Z-5500s. Both sets are incredibly loud and offer superior bass than anything I’ve owned before and yes, I’ve even owned Klipsch and Bose Speakers. The control over the surround effects was also impressive, turning my room into a venue many times bigger with a twist of the control knob on the Surround option.

Samsung SP-R4212 Plasma EDTV
Overclockers Online :: Thursday, October 27, 2005
Quote: Samsung’s SP-R4212 has certainly been able to change my experience in watching movies and playing video games. While it’s not truly HDTV, for the price you pay, it certainly gives you a great bang for the buck. Those who are looking for an HDTV, Samsung has the model up from the SP-R4212 and it has native support.

HIS Radeon X700 IceQ 128MB AGP Graphics Card
TweakTown :: Thursday, October 27, 2005

QUOTE: “The most interesting thing we’ve witnessed is that as the X700 and the GeForce 6600 are so close in terms of capabilities, the real battle has shifted to the card manufacturers. Who can pack the most onto the card? Who can put together the most attractive bundle? Who can come up with dynamic cooling and heat dissipation, and who can implement it the best?”

SilverStone LC17 HTPC Case Video Review #611:
3dgameman :: Thursday, October 27, 2005
“This product is a fantastic case to build a robust Home Theatre PC. A Standard or Micro ATX Motherboard can be installed, and installation of a standard PSU allows for a wide variety of affordable parts that fit. It’s very pleasing to the eye and well constructed. Included are two 80mm fans; however three additional fans can be installed for added air flow. Watch the Video to find out more…” ~3dGameMan.com

Do All Audio & Speaker Cables Sound The Same? @ The TechZone
The Tech Zone :: Wednesday, October 26, 2005
The very basic reason why audio cables are important is because they change the signal going through them. There are two different, fundamental ways that an audio cable can change the signal. The cable itself can change the signal, or the cable can allow outside sources of energy to change the signal. In order to understand how these two situations can occur, some basic background electrical knowledge is needed.

Samsung SP-R4212 Plasma EDTV
Overclockers Online :: Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Quote: Samsung’s SP-R4212 has certainly been able to change my experience in watching movies and playing video games. While it’s not truly HDTV, for the price you pay, it certainly gives you a great bang for the buck. Those who are looking for an HDTV, Samsung has the model up from the SP-R4212 and it has native support.

ATI Radeon X1800 Performance and Image Quality Article @ Beyond3D
Beyond3D :: Tuesday, October 25, 2005
While we’ve already taken a look at the architectural overview of the R520 chip that forms the basis for the Radeon X1800 products, we still left many questions unanswered. Today we are taking a more detailed look at the two product offerings based on R520, the Radeon X1800 XT and XL, the image quality options they enabled, their performances and where their improvements are. By comparing the similarly configured X1800 XL against the previous generation X800 XT we can gauge exactly how the R520 chip has improved over its predecessor, beyond the new capabilities it offers, in order to see where its efficiencies lie.

“The X1800 XT is able to open a reasonable performance gap to the other boards here, with it performance up to 38% faster than the previous generation high end board and attain an average FPS a little shy of 60 at 1600×1200. the performance difference between the X1800 XL and X800 XT highlights that the XT’s performance is not attained through its excessive core clock and memory bandwidths alone, but through architectural efficiencies as well, as the XL is up to 19% faster than the X800 XT; these efficiency gains mean that the X1800 XL is also faster than the X850 XT PE.”

Logitech Z-4 2.1 Speakers Review
Techgage :: Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Quote: Listening to music and watching movies on our PC’s has become something we do on a daily basis, and how that sound is output is very important. The audio should be crisp, clear and undisturbed by distortions caused by speakers. The Logitech Z-4, an award winning product, promises crystal clear sound deliverance in a sleek retro design with advanced driver technology.

Gigabyte GeForce 7800 GT Video Card @ BonaFideReviews
Bona Fide Reviews :: Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Quote: “The GT model is quite similar to the 7 series flagship model, known as the 7800GTX, having 1 less vertex shader and 4 less pixel pipelines. The GT also has slower stock clock speeds of 400MHz core and 500MHz memory as compared to the GTX’s 430MHz core and 600MHz memory. Seemingly minor differences but we shall see what the benchmarks have to say as we pit the Gigabyte 7800GT against the BFG 7800GTX which comes pre-overclocked out of the factory.”

Albatron K8SLI Motherboard – AMD64 SLI on a budget
TweakTown :: Tuesday, October 25, 2005
QUOTE: “Today we are looking at the Albatron K8SLI motherboard based on nVidia’s nForce4 SLI chipset for the AMD Athlon 64 processor based around the value segment requirements – will this board hold up to the test? Let’s have a closer look.”

Samsung SyncMaster 242MP 24″ Monitor @ Bytesector
Bytesector :: Tuesday, October 25, 2005
“When it comes to monitors, Samsung has proven dominant in the market. In the past, they have released several multi-purpose monitors which were not up to snuff in the past, either due to low response times or poor integration of technology. Recently, Samsung’s multi-purpose monitors have been performing fairly well; case in point-the 242MP. With a 24″ widescreen display size, this monitor is fit for any video editing, designing, or programming tasks and also as a widescreen HDTV and FM radio. FM Radio? Yes Samsung has added some extra sugar and spice into this monitor by adding an FM tuner accompanied with small tower sized speakers. This isn’t just a monitor from Samsung, it’s an entertainment unit set loose! ”

Samsung HT-P50 Home Theatre System Review @ The TechZone
The Tech Zone :: Tuesday, October 25, 2005

The Samsung HT-P50 Home Theatre System is one of Samsung’s many home-theatre-in-a-box (commonly referred to as HTiB) packages. It’s a higher end model in Samsung’s line-up, and provides you with the very best combination of features. For starters, the receiver has a 5-disc turntable changer that plays not only DVD, CD, and VCD, but also WMA, DivX , and most other MPEG4 compression schemes. The 5.1 speakers system produces a total of 1000W of pure audio power. This will ensure some wall shaking that your neighbors will love to hate.

HIS X800GTO IceQ II Turbo 256MB PCIe Video Card Video Review #610
3dgameman :: Monday, October 24, 2005

“This product is fully featured and packed with the latest technologies for excellent performance in today’s demanding games. It’s based on the R480 chip and comes with 12 pixel pipelines, a core speed of 500MHz, and 256MB of GDDR3 1GHz memory. It’s even CrossFire™ Multi-GPU ready for hardcore gaming needs. Wicked card for the money! Watch the Video to find out more…” ~3dGameMan.com

DVD Insider – Where HDTV Is Going @ The Tech Zone
The Tech Zone :: Monday, October 24, 2005
What we can’t figure out is that with 1000+ channels and the successful rise of reality TV what are all these people watching? Guess Alfred Hitchcock was right — Television is like the invention of indoor plumbing. It didn’t change people’s habits. It just kept them inside the house.

Altec Lansing inMotion7 Portable Audio System for Apple iPod @ BonaFideReviews
Bona Fide Reviews :: Sunday, October 23, 2005

Quote: “In January I reviewed the inMotion3 portable audio system. While I was impressed by the design and performance of the inMotion3 and by how well it accomplished what it was designed to do, I noted that “As long as volume is kept at a reasonable level, overall quality is superior to most two-piece computer speaker systems I have heard. However, if you really want sockin’ bass that blows your socks off, you probably want to look elsewhere.” Well, look no further – with the inMotion7, Altec Lansing has delivered the goods.”

HTPC Primer, Part I – Video and Audio
Big Bruin :: Sunday, October 23, 2005

Quote: HTPCs don’t have to be much different than your typical computer, but a few key areas do need to be addressed. Just as with a typical desktop computer, there are limitations to what certain configurations can achieve, but customizing the hardware and software can enhance the experience to the point where it may threaten the existence of some of your more traditional home electronics components.

Neoseeker X1300 Pro preview and AMD 3800+ X2 review
Neoseeker :: Friday, October 21, 2005
“Though the X1300 is an entirely new entrant into the entry level market, for the suggested retail price, it does not deliver when compared to the street priced 6600GT. Though the card has a high clock speed, its small number of pipes in comparison to the 6600 GT cause a major bottleneck.

It is important to reiterate that the X1300 Pro we preview here was never intended to go head to head against a 6600GT. The $149 priced X1300 Pro was meant to be pitted against a lower end variant of the 6600 family, and Nvidia’s upcoming DDR2 6600 will probably be in the exact ballpark range of the X1300’s street price. We can expect to see lower street prices for the X1300 when it becomes widely available – prices hovering from $110 or so shouldn’t be out of the question, but looking at the X1800XL’s current street price of around $439 versus its $449 MSRP, it might take some time before the street prices settle down. Right now the 6600GT has street prices ranging from $145-$199, so if the X1300 Pro hits stores at $149USD you can see how there’s potential for direct comparison of the two cards.”

HEXUS.interviews :: Godfrey Cheng of ATI – Avivo and video after R1K’s launch
Hexus :: Friday, October 21, 2005

check it outQuote:

For those that aren’t familiar with the larger-than-life marketing maestro for multimedia at ATI, Godfrey isn’t afraid to say what he thinks on a wide range of topics, not least the video quality of the products he’s in charge with. That makes an interview with him always worth it. Would Mr. Cheng open up across our entire set of questions, or would he refrain from answering various things for the time being?

Albatron PC6600LEQ Videocard Review @ PCstats.com
PCStats :: Friday, October 21, 2005
“nVIDIA recently addressed a rather large performance gap between its entry level and mainstream products by introducing the GeForce 6600LE GPU. It uses the same NV43 core as the mainstream Geforce 6600GT videocard, but this time around the NV43 has been teamed up with TSOP-II 400 MHz DDR memory which dramatically cuts down costs. Videocards based on the new GeForce 6600LE core, like the Albatron PC6600LEQ, can be had for around $100 US. That makes these cards very price competitive.”

Sapphire X800GTO Graphics Cards – Fireblade and Limited
TweakTown :: Friday, October 21, 2005

QUOTE: “With all the hype surrounding the new generation ATI graphics cards, there are people who don’t have that kind of money to spend. Sapphire is one of ATI’s partners doing the X800GTO chip and they’ve recently released two new graphics cards based on it – the Fireblade Edition and the other being the GTO² Limited Edition. One of these suckers might be just what the doctor ordered if you’re budget doesn’t extend to around $500 USD for a graphics card.”

Creative Labs Zen Nano Plus Review at Designtechnica.com
Designtechnica :: Thursday, October 20, 2005
“The Creative Nano packs a ton of features in an incredibly tiny MP3 player. Creative included everything in the box that you’ll need to take this miniscule music toy out for a jog. While you will be stuck using an external battery charger and a mini USB cord to transfer music, these minor inconveniences shouldn’t deter most people from considering it a top-of-the-line MP3 player worthy of serious consideration.”

Bigbruin.com Article: PC TV Tuner Primer
Big Bruin :: Thursday, October 20, 2005

Quote: TV tuners add a whole new dimension to any PC, and don’t have to cost much to do so. With the ability to watch TV full screen or in a small window, as well a recording programs much like commercially available personal video recorders, they can be quite a convenient accessory to have… This Tech Tip will look at some of the basics of computer TV tuners, including the interfaces, the technologies, and the performance.

Paradise|OC checks out the Chaintech AE6800 PCI-E
Paradise|OC :: Thursday, October 20, 2005

“The Chaintech uses the newer NV42 GPU. This makes it a true PCI-E based graphics card, instead of using the NV40 GPU which AGP cards used. The NV42, unfortunately, keeps better track of its pipelines, making use of all 12. So there is no way to unlock the core, which was popular on the older AGP versions. However, the NV42 is said to be more stable, so a higher overclock might make up for the lack of the 4 extra pipelines.”

ATI X1K Driver Analysis – More performance for X1800XL
TweakTown :: Wednesday, October 19, 2005
QUOTE: “Low and behold, it worked and we noticed some extra performance gains in the Radeon X1800XL, compared to the drivers that shipped with the reference card that went out to all other website reviewers. This should indicate that we’ll see the new VPU from ATI performing better next month in the Catalyst 5.11 (November 2005) drivers which should officially support ATI’s new X1K series of graphics cards.”

Logitech Z-5450 Wireless Surround Speaker System
hardCOREware :: Wednesday, October 19, 2005
If you’ve used the Z-680, Z-5500, or any good surround PC speaker system, you might have been annoyed by the rear speakers. Having to run speaker cables from them to the amp most likely means you have cables running from behind your chair to under your desk. Not exactly tidy.

To remedy this, Logitech has released the Z-5450. While it is mostly inferior in specification to the Z-5500, it does have one major advantage: the rear speakers do not require cables to transfer the audio signal. Instead, it uses an 802.11b WiFi signal. Do they sound good enough though?

NVIDIA Geforce 7800 GS Revealed @ NGOHQ
OCModshop :: Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Description: We learn that NVIDIA’s upcoming product will be named “7800 GS”.

That’s it? Well, here the link anyway… check it out

HEXUS.reviews :: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro
Hexus :: Saturday, October 15, 2005

Creative has been going strong since the days of ISA sound cards because its family of audio products moves with the times. This is reflected well in the new four-strong range of X-Fi cards of which the leader is the Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro under review. The X-Fi cards span a price range from about £100 to £250, offering enthusiasts add-in alternatives to the on-board audio that is common in many of today’s PCs.

ATI Catalyst 5.10 (October 2005) Performance Analysis
TweakTown :: Thursday, October 13, 2005
“It’s that time again! The folks over at the ATI HQ in Canada have just released a new set of Catalyst drivers for users of Radeon graphics cards. In our usual fashion we compare the latest Catalyst 5.10 (October 2005) drivers against the previous release Catalyst 5.9 to see what has changed. If free performance is your thing, read on and find out the latest in our performance analysis!”

Turtle Beach Ear Force HPA 5.1 Surround Sound Headphones Review @ Tweaknews.net
Tweaknews :: Thursday, October 13, 2005

“Here we have one product model from Turtle Beach’s new line of high quality surround sound headphones, made specifically for PC usage be it DVDs, gaming or anything audio related. Now I have been known stickler for not settling for anything but the best when it comes to sound quality. Let’s see if Turtle Beach can wet my very dry proverbial throat.”

Asus EN6600GT Silencer Videocard Review
PCStats :: Thursday, October 13, 2005
“The Asus EN6600GT Silencer offers users an excellent mix of performance from its GeForce 6600GT core and silent operation thanks to its passive heatpipe cooler. The videocard is based on the GeForce 6600GT core and is backed by 256MB of DDR3 memory. The card sports dual output with a pair of DVI/analog connectors. There is also a DVI to analog converter in the package for dual monitor users.”

HEXUS.beans :: ATI boosts Doom 3 AA performance
Hexus :: Thursday, October 13, 2005
The fix will shortly be rolled into CATALYST 5.11 according to ATI sources and a beta drop of that driver will be made available for testing in due course, before the final WHQL driver from Terry Makedon’s CATALYST team is made available for public download in November.

Samsung SyncMaster 930MP 19 Inch Multifunction LCD TFT Monitor Review @ Tweaknews.net
Tweaknews :: Wednesday, October 12, 2005

“With Samsung’s brand name bringing strong backup, we’ve come to expect the highest quality available. As a multifunction panel, this monitor excels in every capacity. The monitor sports a high contrast ratio, an excellent viewing angle and nearly every input you could imagine.”

Gigabyte GeForce 7800 GT (GV-NX78T256V-B) Review @ Bjorn3D
Bjorn3D :: Wednesday, October 12, 2005
When NVIDIA introduced us to the 7 Series GPUs with its current flagship GeForce 7800 GTX, we were quite impressed. Most people, though, aren’t going to buy flagship hardware, so they wait for the little brothers of the flagship. Currently, the only ‘little brother’ released has been the 7800 GT.

A quick look at the specifications reveals that the 7800 GT is a slightly crippled 7800 GTX, which actually is not a bad thing if you are a 7800 GT. Although the GT has less power under the hood, it still performs quite well when compared to the GTX. Follow along and keep reading to learn about the first retail GT offering to hit our test benches – the Gigabyte GV-NX78T256V-B.

News: Creative’s Sound Blaster X-Fi audio processor
The Tech Report :: Tuesday, October 11, 2005
FOR A WHILE THERE, the PC audio market was pretty boring. Creative had bought out Aureal and Sensaura, and seemed content to issue only incremental improvements to its Audigy line of sound cards. VIA challenged Creative’s dominance of the market with various respins of the Envy24, and although they were generally well-received, those chips’ lack of hardware acceleration for 3D audio ultimately limited their appeal. Then, in May of this year, Creative surprised many by announcing an all-new Xtreme Fidelity audio processor loaded with 10,000 MIPS of processing power—24 times that of the Audigy chip it would replace. A radical departure from architectures of old, the X-Fi arranged its on-chip components around a pipelined audio ring with a whopping 4096 internal audio channels. The X-Fi also upgraded EAX to support up to 128 simultaneous hardware-accelerated 3D voices, and promised to enhance compressed audio playback to sound better than the original CD.

Modesty has never been one of Creative’s strong suits, but could there be something to all the X-Fi hype? To find out, we subjected the most affordable X-Fi offering, the $110 Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic, to a punishing battery of performance, quality, and listening tests against competitors ranging from M-Audio’s Revolution 7.1 to integrated “Azalia” High Definition Audio. Read on to see how the XtremeMusic fared and why the X-Fi is such a bold departure from audio chips of old.

HEXUS.hardlines :: ASUS Extreme N7800 GT Dual World Exclusive first hands-on test
Hexus :: Monday, October 10, 2005
ASUS didn’t can the idea of two GPUs on a single board in SLI mode, though. The recent release of NVIDIA G70 which powers the GeForce 7800 GTX and 7800 GT SKUs has given ASUS something new to work with. The G70 GPU, built on 110nm, is actually cooler and less power hungry than NV45, despite a large hike in transistor count and die area.

Sapphire Radeon X550 Video Card Review @ The TechZone
The Tech Zone :: Thursday, October 06, 2005

The new Sapphire Radeon X550 represents an affordable graphics upgrade for the gamer who wants performance at a price that won’t break the bank. The new video card operates with a standard core clock speed of 400MHz and memory speeds of 500MHz. The X550 also feature both 64-bit and 128-bit Memory Interface which provides significant performance advantages over competitor’s 32/64-bit solutions. Several models will be available offering a choice of memory configurations with 128 or 256MB of memory, including versions with enhanced memory specifications suitable for overclocking and with a choice of conventional fan or fully passive cooling, like our review sample.

The Future of ATI @ CoolTechZone.com
CoolTechZone :: Thursday, October 06, 2005
“With the launch of Crossfire, ATI has finally entered the arena of dual GPU graphics. However, it could be too little too late for ATI as SLI has almost become the term when referring to dual or multi GPU graphics performance. Crossfire, being a very late entrant with no availability thus far, the future appears to be bleak for ATI at best.”

Albatron Mars PX915SLI Intel 915PL SLI Motherboard
PCStats :: Thursday, October 06, 2005
“Albatron is one of the more innovative motherboard manufacturers, and its team of engineers has actually figured out a way of running SLI on the budget Intel 915PL chipset! Albatron’s method does not split the PCI Express bus evenly between videocards like a true SLI chipset does, but it’s close enough and it works! We will get into how the 915PL is turned into an SLI chipset in just a moment. Since the Albatron PX915SLI is based on the Intel 915PL chipset, the motherboard only supports Socket 775 Pentium 4 processors that run on a 533/800 MHz FSB. ”

nVidia ForceWare 81.84 BETA Performance Analysis
TweakTown :: Thursday, October 06, 2005
“A couple of days ago nVidia released their much talked about ForceWare Release 80 graphics card driver to the world. The new nVidia ForceWare 81.84 BETA drivers offer such things as performance optimizations when using Dual-Core processors, mixed vendor support for SLI and Black and White 2 support. We examine the drivers in our typical fashion against the last official release driver, ForceWare 78.01. Do the new drivers give some more punch to nVidia’s current line-up of GPU’s? Read on for the answers!”

ATI Radeon X1800 XL Review
Hardware Secrets :: Thursday, October 06, 2005
“Radeon X1800 XL is part of the new high-end graphics chip family from ATI, competing directly with GeForce 7800 GT from nVidia. We’ve got a reference sample for this model from ATI, so we will compare its performance to other members of the Radeon X1000 series, to previous ATI chips and also with competing products from nVidia. Theoretically this video card was released yesterday, but so far we couldn’t find it for sale.”

ATI All-In-Wonder X800XL 256MB PCIE Video Card Review #607
3dgameman :: Wednesday, October 05, 2005

“This product is absolutely loaded with features. It’s based on the R430 chip with 16 pixel pipelines for excellent performance, even in the most graphically demanding games. This card doesn’t stop there! It has many Audio/Video inputs/outputs, TV & FM tuner, a remote control & more. Only ATI can pull off a true All-In-One Video Card! Watch the Video to find out more…” ~3dGameMan.com

Neoseeker X1800XT,X1600XL and X1600XT family Preview
Hardware-Pacers :: Wednesday, October 05, 2005
“With the X1000 series of boards, ATI have done something that Nvidia doesn’t have currently – a top to bottom line-up of cards that feature the same high end features from the least expensive card to the most. Though not all cards are available immediately, ATI have a full lineup ready in time for Christmas that should be able to service anyone in the market for a video card.

Price and availability are ultimately what will sell these cards, as the potential for performance is there, the cards right now are just missing a few pieces to allow them to match consistently the numbers that Nvidia is posting. As it stands, ATI has an extremely solid product line up ready at the gates, but whether or not they will be able to leverage that with cards in the channels will have to be seen. ”

HEXUS.reviews :: ATI Radeon X1800 XT Preview
Hexus :: Wednesday, October 05, 2005

The performance – where we see massive gains in F.E.A.R., sizable improvements in Far Cry and Splinter Cell: CT, and consistent CPU-bound performance to match 7800 GTX in mostly everything else – is undoubtedly mighty. Combine that with the image quality improvements and output connectivity available from the X1800 XT in terms of Avivo, the 6x AA carried over from R480 now with less performance hit, adaptive AA for improving alpha textures and rotation invariant anistropic texture filtering for basic excellent texture IQ, and you have a compelling consumer graphics product that almost demands you purchase it as soon as possible. ATI’s considerable investment in a clockable new architecture on 90nm low-k has certainly paid off, despite well documented delays. Well worth the wait.

ATI Radeon X1000 Series Preview @ TheTechLounge
The Tech Lounge :: Wednesday, October 05, 2005

“ATI unveiled the entire next-gen family of boards, dubbed the X1000 series. As one would expect, there will be three price-points: low-end, mid-range and high-end. Oh, and did I mention that they gave me four boards to test? The boards received include the X1800 XT, X1800 XL, X1600 XT and X1300 Pro.

Obviously, I wanted to conduct a full review of all four of these video cards, but I had a little bit of a problem. Since I wrote the XFX 7800 GT Preview about a month ago, I’ve been planning on getting an AMD FX-55 to replace my 3500+ with. The reason I’m replacing the CPU is that I was starting to see in my testing results that I had a CPU bottleneck. I was expecting to get the FX-55 on September 29th, giving me about six days to test all my cards, but UPS had to re-route the package for some reason and it was re-scheduled for delivery on October 3rd, giving me less than two full days to benchmark all the cards. So, I was pretty much left with only once choice: do a preview of the X1000 series with the 3500+, and then do the full reviews with the FX-55.

ATI Radeon X1800 XT Review
OCModshop :: Wednesday, October 05, 2005
“Radeon X1800 XT, formerly known as R520, is the new high-end chip from ATI, directly competing with GeForce 7800 GTX from nVidia. We’ve got a reference sample for this model from ATI, so we will compare its performance to other members of the Radeon X1000 series, to previous ATI chips and also with competing products from nVidia. But don’t get too excited: video cards based on Radeon X1800 XT will only reach the market in one month from now.”

NVIDIA GeForce 7800 Ultra? @ NGOHQ
OCModshop :: Wednesday, October 05, 2005
Today we took a look into the NVIDIA ForceWare 81.40 which has been leaked by The French website, Station Drivers. I’ve opened the setup information file (NVDISP.INF) and noticed a lot of new Hardware DeviceID entries.

News: Bjorn3D takes a look at the new X1000 chips from ATI
Bjorn3D :: Wednesday, October 05, 2005
After 2 days with ATI at Ibiza it is now time for us to share our impressions about the new chips from ATI, the X1000 series.

We’ve written together an articel with info about the chips and even more important lots of benchmarks made with both the X1800XT and the X1800Xl where we compare it to both GeForce 7800GTX, GeForce 7800GT and the X850XT and X800XL.

HIS Radeon X800GT IceQ II Turbo @ Viperlair
ViperLair :: Tuesday, October 04, 2005
“From a performance standpoint, game experiences were consistently higher than a 6600GT, although in some games it was a close call. Doom 3 was happy to run at 1280×1024 although this was without any AntiAliasing or Anisotropic filtering.”

HIS Radeon X800GT IceQ Review
Overclocker Café :: Tuesday, October 04, 2005

The Overclocker Cafe’ has posted their review up on the middle range VGA card from ATI. Aimed squarely at the NVidia GeForce 6600 GT controlled sub $200 bracket, the Radeon X800GT makes a nice showing. Other than HIS’s impressive IceQ cooling setup that provides better and quieter cooling, the HIS Radeon proves to be a rather vanilla product; nothing really negative just not a lot to separate it from the crowd. Here’s a snip of the review.

The HIS X800GT that we’ve had in the shop performed well for a mid-range contender. While it’s performance wasn’t outstanding, it brought in playable frame rates and decent image quality, just like the 6600GT’s that we’ve seen. However, with ATi’s Crossfire technology not quite out in the open yet and nVidia’s SLI already close to a year old, you won’t be running a dual card setup with the X800GT just yet.

HIS ICEQII Radeon X800GT Turbo PCI Express Videocard Review @ Tweaknews.net
Tweaknews :: Tuesday, October 04, 2005

“So who is this videocard targeted for? It is getting harder and harder to say really. Seems that ATI is going to try to stick as many two letter version releases at the end of the X800 line before it is rendered obsolete in the upcoming months. If you were thinking because of the GT tag that this card is an enthusiast card, you will quickly that it is indeed a low to mid-range mainstream card. Does this mean it is a slacker?……. Oh HELLLLLL no..”

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