Tech News October 2005

 

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!).

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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.”

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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.

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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.

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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.”

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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!

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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.”

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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?”

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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.”

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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.”

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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.

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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.”

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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.

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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!”

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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.

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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.”

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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

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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.

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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.”

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[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.”

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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.

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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.

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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.”

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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