Tech News August 2003

by NewsAugust 31, 2003June 29, 201402

Zalman ZM80C-HP VGA Heatpipe Cooler
SystemCooling :: Saturday, August 30, 2003

“Zalman is a recognized leader in the PC industry for their line of innovative noise prevention cooling products. Today we are taking an in-depth look at Zalman’s latest fan less video card cooler, the ZM80C-HP. This massive, dual heatsink cooler incorporates a heatpipe and is designed to cool the graphics processing unit (GPU) on today’s hottest video cards. Zalman also offers a silent fan option that can be attached to the ZM80C-HP for addition cooling.”

Tyan Tachyon G9600Pro review
OCAddiction :: Saturday, August 30, 2003

“The most interesting software included here is by far the Tyan Graphics Monitor. A tweakers dream, the Graphics Monitor let’s you monitor your VPU temperature as well as adjust the fan speed RPM’s manually, or initiate automatic temperature control. A very nice feature for a mid-range video card and easily one of the features of the G9600Pro that set this card a notch above the rest. “

ABIT Siluro FX5900 OTES 128MB Video Card Video Review #341
3dgameman :: Saturday, August 30, 2003

“This product is currently one of the fastest Video Cards on the planet. It has excellent 3D quality and performance that will support all the current and upcoming games. With its massive heatsink in accordance with the OTES means this card overclocks very well. Also, 2D quality is great and does offer dual display. Watch the Video to find out more…”

Enermax CS-517LBFS-B+ Mid-Tower Case
SystemCooling :: Saturday, August 30, 2003

“Today, we’ll look at the very interesting Enermax CS-517LBFS-B+ steel (front bezel manufactured of aluminum) Mid-Tower case. I say interesting, because it has the glossiest automotive type finish I’ve seen on any case, plus a slew of innovative and downright cool features, not to mention the low suggested retail price of around $ 80.00 US, and that includes a power supply.”

Cremax Icy Dock MB911-APGF and MB912-AP Mobile Hard Drive Racks
Tech-Dreams :: Saturday, August 30, 2003

“When my hard drive in my rack-mounted router wouldn’t allow me to update the OS on it properly, I ended up having to replace it. Believe me, I was much happier to merely take the hard drive out in the rack, instead of having to pull the entire case out of my rack to replace it. While having a 100mbit network is nice, but if you need to transfer 20gigs worth of little files, then having both of the hard drives in a single computer is unbelievably faster. Having those hard drives in a rack makes changing what computers those hard drives are in unbelievably faster also. If you can get it done and have it look good also, then that’s even more perks!”

Cooler Master Cool Drive 3
GruntvillE :: Saturday, August 30, 2003

“The CoolDrive 3 is an attractive unit. The top of the unit has CoolDrive 3 written across it. The CoolDrive 3’s casing is aluminum with edges that are similar to the grooves of a heatsink. Most users will install the CoolDrive 3 and never see the top of the unit again. I think it would look really great to have a PC case with a window mod where the CoolDrive 3 would be visible in the top bay.”

Zalman CNPS7000A-CU Heatsink
PimpRig :: Saturday, August 30, 2003

“The Zalman makes the SK6 look like a Happy Meal toy next to it. The heatsink is 109mm across and 62mm high, the biggest I’ve ever seen. The 92mm fan in the center is rated for up to 2400RPM but I haven’t been able to find any CFM numbers. Given the specs it should produce between 35 and 40 CFM.”

Antec LANBoy
Nexus Hardware :: Saturday, August 30, 2003

“Antec has been catering to the enthusiast for a long time. Many of their products have been a huge hit, including their “True” series of power supplies (True Control included), and their SX1040B case is likely the most widely replicated case anywhere. Today we have an Antec case that caters to an entirely different genre of computer enthusiasts: LAN-goers. To fit this sect of computer enthusiasts, Antec has created the LANBoy aluminum case.”

VisionTek Xtasy 9800 Pro 128MB Review
Bjorn3D :: Saturday, August 30, 2003

“In this review, I will compare the Xtasy 9800 Pro to the recently reviewed MSI GeForce FX 5900, which both have 128MB DDR. For testing, I used the following benchmarks and games: Futuremark’s 3DMark2001 SE – Build 330, 3DMark2003 – Build 330, Codecreatures Benchmark Pro, Unreal Tournament 2003, Gun Metal, Papyrus’ NASCAR 2003 and C&C Generals. In all tests, performance is set to “Quality” to create the best image quality.”

Beginners Guides: Firewalls and Internet Security
PCStats :: Saturday, August 30, 2003

“When you use the Internet there are dangers around every corner. Viruses, malicious users, Trojan horses, Oh my! If these are just concepts to you, you are either lucky or well protected (or just un-connected). If these names trigger painful flashbacks to when your computer (and possibly your account balance) was rendered inoperable or compromised by one of the above, then join the club. Either way, securing your computer against threats from the Internet is an essential step. If you do not, you will, at some point, regret it. Guaranteed. This article is intended to provide some basic guidelines for securing your computer, and to give the reader a better understanding of how some of these technologies work. It is intended primarily for users of high-speed Internet connections, but most of the article is applicable to dial-up Internet users also.As far as the home or small business user is concerned, Internet security can be broken down into three areas; Anti-virus software, Firewall protection and Recommended practices/Common sense. To deal with the last of these three first, an essential step in securing your computer or network is understanding what actions can compromise you. What you don’t know will hurt you, especially in regards to email.”

Vantec Nexus NXP-205 Fan Controller
8Balls Hardware :: Saturday, August 30, 2003

“Fan control devices are somewhat of a requirement for overclockers who want variable cooling solutions to suit situations where extra cooling is needed, or otherwise when the need for silence is greater than the need for extra cooling. Cliff Anderson of the original Fanbus inspired the concept of fan control devices, giving the user the choice to run fans at variable speeds, or shutting them off entirely when not in use. ”

Coolermaster Aero 7+ CPU cooler Review
3dXtreme :: Saturday, August 30, 2003

“The quiet noise level, ease of installation, choice of front or rear fan speed control and the superb performance make this a top notch cooler in my book. If you’re in need of a new HSF for that high end AMD gaming rig, with the Coolermaster Aero 7+ you wont be disappointed….”

Thermaltake Volcano 11+
Red & Blackness Mods :: Saturday, August 30, 2003

“This is the first Thermaltake reiew for us here at rbmods. Thermaltake makes a number of different products that are high quality and have gotten good reviews. Today we are having a look at the Thermaltake Volcano 11+ which is a AMD cooler that has 2 different fan speed controllers. We are checking the noise level, and how it cools under heavy overclocking. Let’s see if this product gets a recomendation from us!”

Noise Isolator Water Cooling Components
SystemCooling :: Saturday, August 30, 2003

“I first became aware of the Noise Isolator name when I purchased one of their fan controllers. They also have a line of water-cooling components, and we have them here for review. The Noise Isolator water-cooling line up consists of their Glacial 120mm radiator, the Icicle dual mount P4/AMD water block, a round acrylic reservoir and a hard drive cooler. Illustrated instructions and hardware are included. After some detail on each component, I’ll add a pump and do some flow tests before installing it on my test system.”

Gigabyte GA-7VT600L KT600 Motherboard Review
Overclockers New Zealand :: Saturday, August 30, 2003

“It is 5% slower than Nvidia’s nF2 Ultra400 on average. In extreme cases, i.e. Q3A demo, the gap is as wide as 14%. In terms of overclocking, KT-600 is no match for Nvidia’s nF2 due to the lack of PCI and AGP locking”

Thermaltake Silent Boost for K7 and 370
Xoxide :: Saturday, August 30, 2003

“The full copper Silent Boost Highest Performance Cooler from Thermaltake is truely a revolutionary product. The product includes new innovative fan design that allows for a significant increase in fan intake. The fan is able to use air surrounding it on 5 sides, as opposed to the traditional 1 side. This increase in air intake causes the heatsink/fan combo to preform better than others of its kind. ”

PCMods.com RheoBus, Version 2.5
Voided Warranty :: Saturday, August 30, 2003

“I use the phone a lot while I am working on the computer. With my 120mm, 90mm and 2x80mm fans I have a hard time hearing clients or friends. The Rheobus fan controller allows me to quickly turn my fans down to a quiet speed.”

Lite-On 52x32x52x CD-RW Review
Techwarelabs :: Saturday, August 30, 2003

“With 52x burn speeds, it is not the minor speed differences (a few seconds here, a few seconds there) that matter. What matters is that the quality of the burns stays consistently high when writing at such speeds, and quality is that on which the review will focus – so let’s see if the Lite-On 52x32x52 drive is up to scratch!”

Corsair TwinX512 PC3700 RAM review
SystemCooling :: Sunday, August 24, 2003

“Given the extreme overclockability of many of today’s Pentium 4 and Athlon XP processors and motherboards, more and more often, the wall hit by the many users is not these components, but in fact is the system’s memory. Diehard enthusiasts are always looking for an edge in this regard, and any time there’s a discussion regarding overclocking and memory, you can bet one name that will come up is Corsair. Corsair RAM is perennially some of the highest performing and best overclocking memory around.”

Xoxide Fireball 3D 80mm Fan Grill
Xoxide :: Sunday, August 24, 2003

“This new Xoxide fan grill is produced out of solid steel, in an injection mold format. The grill is actually 3D, around the edges of the fireball, similar to the “blade grill”. Show your support for Xoxide, and sport this grill on your tricked out box.”

Tt “Perfect Light” Series Review
Overclocker Café :: Sunday, August 24, 2003

“The Perfect Light series is several case mods based on the Fireball theme we have seen a bit out of Thermaltake lately. Some of the light and appliqué mods we’re getting ready to show you will fit any case, others will only fit the Tt Xaser III case. Today we have all five products in the Perfect Light Series installed in a Xaser III aluminum case so you can see first hand what these specialty items look like. For each piece we have taken (taken ourselves or taken off the Tt site) some video to show the lighting in action. ”

Thermaltake Xaser III V1000D PC Case review
Short-Media :: Sunday, August 24, 2003

“Thermaltake have included everything needed to make a great case, and nothing more. They have succeeded in making a case that has excellent cooling, decent assembly, rich in features, and the looks to please. This means the Xaser III appeals to a variety of people, from the overclocker to somebody who wants a nice looking case.”

Palit Daytona Geforce FX5200 Ultra Videocard Review
Tweaknews :: Sunday, August 24, 2003

“For a lower end model, this card was actually a little fun to review. It performed reasonably well as long as you left it at 1024×768 with no antialiasing, and gave a FX5600 a good run for it’s money. Add in the fact that the card overclocks extremely well and is packed with fast memory and you have yourself a budget hidden gem for the mainstream market.”

Enermax EG651P-Ve 550Watt PSU review
DataFuse :: Sunday, August 24, 2003

“Well, just like I expected from the first second I tested it (you probably did as well when you started reading) this is a PSU of the highest level. But the problem is, this level is way too high for almost every computer user. I doubt that even 0.1% of the market requires a PSU like this one.”

Chenming 301KE review
Virtual-Underground :: Sunday, August 24, 2003

“This is a very neat case all around. It has a very slick design outside as well as inside. All the wires inside the case are nicely packed in a small bundle and they are all covered instead of having single wires laying all over the place. It’s very clean.”

Microcool Northpole Chipset Cooling Kit
OCAddiction :: Friday, August 15, 2003

“Microcool aimed at producing a high performance chipset cooler for overclockers to squeeze out the last bit from their Northbridge and they have done just that. The Northpole is excellent in performance, built with quality, and is very easy to install. The black shroud makes the unit look very sexy, especially when mounted on a black motherboard. “

Auravision eluminX Keyboard
GruntvillE :: Friday, August 15, 2003

“Company history gives traces of military use for the keyboards. One doesn’t have to wonder why the government might be interested in this product. Let’s face it, consumers aren’t always at the top of the chain when it comes to product development. Without the military, we wouldn’t have a lot of the products we use today. I’ll spare the “for instances” as I doubt I’ll tell you anything which you’re not already aware of. The idea to bring this to the consumer’s eyes was obviously a good choice. A marketing firm and a technology firm held hands and lifted up what we now know as Auravision.”

Leadtek WinFast A350 TDH MyVIVO (FX 5900) Review
Bjorn3D :: Friday, August 15, 2003

“The TwinTurbo-II Cooling Systems is a unique cooling solution that completely surrounds the video card in an aluminum casing. There are two fans in the front to provide steady airflow over the chips and heatsinks hidden behind the front cover. Each of the memory chips and the GPU are covered in heatsinks to pull heat away from them. It seems as if this should be a very good cooling system for the FX 5900. Unfortunately, it makes the card heavy (the heaviest card I’ve ever held) and rather large.”

Ahanix SilenX 350W PSU
The Tech Lounge :: Friday, August 15, 2003

“How do you like your noisy computer? Not too much? There are many things you can do to quiet down your computer such as using Panaflo or Papst fans on a rheobus until they are virtually silent. A custom quiet water cooling setup could also remove any noise that a CPU heatsink/fan and a GPU heatsink fan would generate. What’s that? Do you still hear noise emitting from your case? Well, there is one thing that was probably overlooked, the power supply. Today we will be looking at the SilenX 350W power supply from Ahanix. Does this PSU live up to its “Silent” name? Let’s find out…”

OCA Case Mod Project
OCAddiction :: Friday, August 15, 2003

“The Enermax PSU’s notoriously come with quite a few Molex connectors for your peripheral power needs. Unfortunately, sometimes there are too many and they can end up just dangling around in your case hampering airflow and making the place a general mess. First I sat and tried to think of all the peripheral and power connections I would need, and then hid the rest. Here is where we started.”

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