MSI Radeon HD 3870 X2 OC Graphics Card
Tweak Town :: Tuesday, January 29, 2008
“So it’s easy; we have the HD 3870 X2 in our hands, it’s tested and that’s probably all that really matters. We’re going to have a quick look at the package that MSI have put together, a look over the specifications and then we’ll get straight into the benchmarks.
As far as features go we’ve got a pretty good line-up; HDMI support, PCI Express 2.0 (but backwards compatible), Dual GPU with Quad GPU support coming and a pre-overclock.”
Desktop Graphics Card Comparison Guide
Tech ARP :: Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Covering 320 desktop graphics cards, this comprehensive comparison allows you to easily compare 18 different specifications for each and every card. If you need to find out about the specification of any card, just come over and check out our Desktop Graphics Comparison Guide.
We hope it will prove to be a useful reference. We will keep this guide updated regularly so do check back for the latest updates.
In this revision, we have updated the specifications of the NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT and GeForce8800 GS 384MB graphics cards.
OnAir HDTV GT Review
ASE Labs :: Tuesday, January 29, 2008
” With the demise of analog signals in America coming soon, there are many ways to get into the digital age. You can buy a set top box or rent one from your TV provider. The digital TV signals also promise more channels and improved clarity over the air. AutumnWave steps in to provide mobile HDTV with their OnAir HDTV GT. It turns your laptop into a HDTV. ”
A quick look at SanDisk’s Sansa Clip MP3 player
Tech Report :: Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Always obsessed with finding the right tool for the job, I’ve long run not one, but two MP3 players. The first—currently an 80GB iPod—is responsible for storing my vast MP3 archive of almost 450 albums ripped with the most anal quality settings possible. Being able to carry around this extensive library of tunes is fantastically convenient, making the iPod perfect for toting around town and even better for traveling. I’ll even take the iPod skiing, which isn’t terribly jarring, and it does just fine at the gym as long as I’m lifting weights and not otherwise bouncing the fragile hard drive around. But if I’m running or navigating one of my bikes down technical singletrack littered with roots, rocks, and other bits of bone-jarring nature, I tend to shy away from anything with a spinning hard drive.
Nvidia GT and GTS Showdown: XFX, Zotac and Gainward
Driver Heaven :: Tuesday, January 29, 2008
With a new graphics card launch the initial batch of cards is followed by a flurry of enhanced models and the 8800 GT and GTS are no different. In today’s review we will be taking a look at some of the more impressive enhanced models that are available, the first two products are supplied by XFX and Zotac and are factory overclocked GTS models.
XFX are highly experienced in this area and while Zotac are relatively new to this sector this has not stopped them impressing us with previous overclocked models. In fact their 8800 GT AMP! Edition is still the fastest GT branded card we have tested. The third product in this review is Gainward’s 8800 GT Golden Sample. Gainward have enhanced clock speeds on this particular card and have chosen to attach an impressive looking cooler and one gigabyte of memory. The heat is on …
ATI Radeon HD 3870X2 1 GB
Inside HW :: Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Just as we predicted some time ago that the Radeon HD 2600XT Dual is going to open the portal to the multi-GPU development, it is coming true. The very next step ATI has made shows a huge advancement compared to the one-month old newborn. Ladies and gentlemen, we present you with ATI Radeon HD 3870X2 graphics card. For now, this is the best graphics card in the entire market and the most complete choice one can get for his/her money. As the author of these lines would gladly carry this baby home, the award we will give this card is fully deserved.”
Diamond Radeon HD 3850 512MB Ruby Edition Video Card
Legit Reviews :: Thursday, January 24, 2008
“Diamond Multimedia doubled the on-board GDDR3 memory from 256MB to 512MB on the Diamond Radeon HD 3850 512MB Ruby Edition Video Card, which should significantly help frame buffer performance in gaming, but that isn’t all they did. They also tossed the old single slot cooler and went with a larger and improved cooling system that lowered temperatures across the board. To top it all off they designed their own PCB! As you can see, Diamond went back to the drawing board and came up with a video card that should impress most of the ATI fans out there…”
ASUS EAH3850 Top ATI HD 3850 Video Card Review
i4u :: Thursday, January 24, 2008
“The Asus EAH3850 Top is factory overclocked and has a clock speed of 730MHz on the core and 1.9GHz on the memory. The card uses 256MB of DDR3 RAM and is built on a 55nm fabrication process. One of the nicest features of the Asus EAH3850 Top is the built-in 5.1surround sound that allows video and audio out on an HDMI cable.”
Gainward Bliss 8600 GT PCX Golden Sample GLH Edition 256mb
Overclock 3d :: Thursday, January 24, 2008
“Gainwards Golden Sample “Goes Like Hell” Edition is famous for overclocking like mad. We take a look at an HDMI-endowed 8600 GT and see how it does”
Falling in Love Again with High-End Audio
Digital Trends :: Thursday, January 24, 2008
“CES 2008 was stuffed with great-sounding audio gear-and the mainstream media missed the story.”
Otterbox for iPhone Defender Series Reviewed
The TechLounge :: Wednesday, January 23, 2008
“Next up in our series of iPhone case reviews is the OtterBox for iPhone Defender Series. OtterBox is well-known for offering extremely rugged, often waterproof cases for everything from laptops to smart phones, PDAs and iPods. The Defender Series is touted as having bump, drop, and dust protection, and, while not waterproof, will provide protection against rain and other precipitation. Otterbox also has an Armor series for the iPhone, which is even more rugged: completely waterproof, dust-proof, and drop-proof.”
ATI Catalyst 8.1 Analysis – XP & Vista
Tweak Town :: Wednesday, January 23, 2008
“With the slow run that AMD have been having with driver releases over the past few months it will be interesting to see what happens with the new release. Considering January is generally a pretty quiet month for hardware sales thanks to the fact that everyone spent their money over Christmas, who knows what AMD will have up their sleeves with this release.
The most interesting (and potentially disappointing) fact about this driver release is that AMD mention no form of performance improvements with the driver update. We hope this isn’t true, but let’s find out what happens when we place the driver through our typical line-up of games and graphics cards.”
Westone UM1 Earphones
techPowerUp :: Wednesday, January 23, 2008
The Westone UM1 in-ear-monitors are aimed at people wanting good sound quality on the move without having to spend several hundreds of dollars. With a price of $109 they are Westone’s contribution to a highly competitive price segment.
BlueAnt X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset Review
Legit Reviews :: Wednesday, January 23, 2008
“The BlueAnt X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset is designed for not only those Bluetooth devices that support the A2DP Profile natively, but those audio devices that you want experience wirelessly. BlueAnt incorporates a small dongle that can be used with any 3.5mm jack to bridge the sound between audio device and X5 headphones. With a retail price of $149, BlueAnt tries to deliver a complete package to the user and prepares them for almost any situation one can think of. How well does the BlueAnt X5 stack up against the Motorola and Plantronics? Read on…”
Logitech Harmony One Review
i4u :: Tuesday, January 22, 2008
“The Harmony One can control up to 15 home theater and home automation devices. All you need to know about your components to program them into the remote is the brand and model number. You choose the brand from a drop down list with a huge amount of choices, there were companies listed I had never heard of before. After choosing the brand you put in the model number and you are ready to program.”
CES 2008 – LG Electronics and Samsung
Futurelooks :: Tuesday, January 22, 2008
On one hand, you’ve got a company that makes everything really pretty and on the other hand, you’ve got a company that does the pretty stuff too. The question is, which Korean sibling does it better? Both Samsung and LG had some rather massive booths at CES 2008, so let’s just provide a few highlights of the most interesting products we saw at this year’s trade show.
Diamond Multimedia HD 3850 Ruby Edition 512MB
techPowerUp :: Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Diamond has designed their HD 3850 Ruby Edition with additional cooling performance in mind. Their cooler is a custom dual-slot solution which does quite a good job at keeping the card cool. In addition to that the memory has been doubled to 512 MB of GDDR3.
XFX 8800GTS 512 Alpha Dog Edition
CDR Info :: Tuesday, January 22, 2008
XFX ships a new overclocked graphics card based at the newly re-designed 8800GTS series with 512MB on board. The performance was good, even an overclocked 8800GT card is very close in terms of absolute performance and of course retail price…
MSI 8800GT 512MB Review
XS Reviews :: Tuesday, January 22, 2008
“The 8 series of nVIDIA cards have been around for over a year and have almost completely dominated the market in terms of high end support. Now with the 9 series just around the corner, partners are finishing up with their last set of performance cards before focusing on the next generation. One of these last cards is the 8800GT; near performance of a GTX with a sub GTS price tag.
MSI might be a bit late in the game to release an 8800GT model, but they’ve done it none the less and it’s here with me today. Let’s see if it lives up to the 8800GT’s sterling reputation.”
Desktop Graphics Card Comparison Guide
Tech ARP :: Monday, January 21, 2008
Covering 320 desktop graphics cards, this comprehensive comparison allows you to easily compare 18 different specifications for each and every card. If you need to find out about the specification of any card, just come over and check out our Desktop Graphics Comparison Guide.
We hope it will prove to be a useful reference. We will keep this guide updated regularly so do check back for the latest updates.
In this revision, we have added the NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT and also updated the NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GX2 graphics cards.
Dell Crystal Display
Digital Trends :: Monday, January 21, 2008
“Unlike Dell’s traditional big-screen panels that are rimmed with matte black plastic and dotted with unobtrusive silver buttons, the bezel on the Crystal display is designed to be a lot more than an end to a screen. In fact, you could say this display starts at the end of the screen area. A single 4mm-thick sheet of tempered glass sits over the LCD panel, extending past it on all sides and providing a transparent canvas of margins for Dell’s designers.”
XFX 8800 GT Alpha Dog XXX Edition 256MB Review
Neoseeker :: Monday, January 21, 2008
“…the XFX 8800 GT Alpha Dog XXX edition, at a low-$200 price-point, is unarguably a fine deal, and a good purchase. It really held its own against the 512MB 8800 GT in our tests, and the 256MB of memory does seem like enough GDDR3 to deliver smooth gaming experiences.”
GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB Roundup – Albatron, eVGA and XFX
Legit Reviews :: Monday, January 21, 2008
“The Albatron, EVGA and XFX GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB video cards are all great cards that can play all the current games and overclock like no other. As you saw from the testing the different core clock, memory clock and shader clock frequencies vary from card to card and did impact performance. Higher clock frequencies did improve performance as the XFX card took the lead in nearly every single benchmark…”
Club 3D 8800 GT 512MB GDDR3 – New model coming soon
Hardware XL :: Monday, January 21, 2008
Club 3D the european graphic card specialist, annouced today a new high-end model Club 3D 8800GT (CGNX-G882DDF) based on the Nvidia G92 chipset with a special radial heatpipe cooling solution. The Club 3D 8800GT (CGNX-G882DDF) is outstanding in performance and price. Fully loaded with DirectX 10 technology for richer game environments and ultra fast frame rates when image options are maximized. A must have for the serious and passionate gamers.
Limited Release Of NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS?
Tech ARP :: Friday, January 18, 2008
“Both cards are based on the NVIDIA G92 GPU. However, the GeForce 8800 GS 768MB will not only have more graphics memory, but also higher core and memory clock speeds than the 384MB model.”
Samsung SyncMaster 245T 24-Inch LCD Monitor Review
Tweaknews :: Friday, January 18, 2008
“Overall the 245T brings much more to the table than any standard computer monitor on the market and this is directly apparent in its premium price. With industry leading color reproduction, excellent contrast and clarity to take advantage of with a literally a buffet of video connections, the 245T would be best described as swiss army monitor option in the 24″ monitor market.”
Remixed audio cards in Windows Vista
Tech Report :: Friday, January 18, 2008
Creative has all but dominated the PC sound card market, in no small part thanks to its prowess with hardware-accelerated 3D audio. The EAX positional audio framework born from the SoundBlaster line became the de facto standard for 3D audio in games, giving Creative a distinct advantage over its rivals. Creative licensed EAX, of course, but it kept competitors at version 2.0, limiting them to 32 concurrent 3D voices and standard-definition sampling rates and resolutions. Meanwhile, Creative extended EAX to version 5.0 with support for 128 simultaneous voices and high-definition resolutions and sampling rates.
Despite its positional audio dominance, Creative has faced increased competition of late, largely from sound cards based on C-Media’s Oxygen HD audio chip. Microsoft’s decision to drop hardware acceleration for DirectSound 3D audio in Vista has also posed a challenge to the SoundBlaster monopoly by blunting some of EAX’s appeal. All the while, motherboard makers have diligently worked to improve the quality of onboard audio solutions, creating a perfect storm that has spawned more PC audio choices than we’ve ever seen before.
Interestingly, two of the most recent additions to the sound card ecosystem use existing audio chips. Asus’ new Xonar D2X, for example, is based on a tweaked version of C-Media’s Oxygen HD. More interestingly, it comes with a PCI Express interface, finally providing fodder for the scores of empty PCIe x1 slots that dot the enthusiast landscape. On the other side of the fence we have Auzentech’s X-Fi Prelude, which is the first third-party card to employ Creative’s X-Fi silicon. The Prelude uses a custom board design and upgraded components in an attempt to wring better sound quality from the already impressive X-Fi audio chip.
The Xonar and Prelude both target the high end of the desktop sound card spectrum, so it’s only fitting that we face them off against each other in Windows Vista. Read on to see how they fare in a range of gaming, signal quality, and subjective listening tests.
XFX GeForce 8800 GT XXX 512MB Alpha Dog Edition Review
NV News :: Friday, January 18, 2008
“It’s been over two months since NVIDIA has launched the GeForce 8800 GT. The new Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) has ushered in a new era of performance within the midrange market. An era, where a video card with an MSRP of $259 can be neck and neck with the GeForce 8800 GTX, a card with an MSRP nearly double that of the 8800 GT. It’s easy to understand why these cards have been flying off the shelves.”
ATI HD 2600 Pro 256MB Video Card Reviewed
The Tech Lounge :: Friday, January 18, 2008
“ATI’s HD 2600 XT is a pretty nice card. It plays games acceptably well, consumes a negligible amount of power, and has flawless video acceleration. It’s my first choice for the mainstream. So where does that leave the HD 2600 Pro? Being a cut-down, budget version of a cool card, what, then, is missing? The HD 2600 Pro is targeted to anyone who wants a discreet video card, the casual gaming ilk, but doesn’t really want either the lowest-end model or to spend over a hundred dollars. All that seems reasonable, but it’s just not true. I think the GDDR3, 256MB HD 2600 Pro should be skipped altogether. It does a couple things right, but misses the mark too often.”
Next-Generation Content War Continues to Ravage HD DVD
Madshrimps :: Thursday, January 17, 2008
“The fallout of an apparent Blu-ray victory over HD DVD continued all week, even after the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) ended on Thursday evening. Is the war for next-gen supremacy over? Can everyone look to go buy a Blu-ray player now?”
Gainward BLISS 8800 GT 1GB Golden Sample Review
MVK Tech :: Thursday, January 17, 2008
“Welcome to the world of Gainward, a world beyond your senses! Gainward is a world leading producer of high-quality, high-end 3D accelerators for the personal computer market. Yes for quite some time the G80 graphics chips have been ruling as kings on the high-end graphics market, and in fact they still do. Though since not so long, meaning since the last months of last year NVIDIA has refreshed their GeForce 8800 series by reducing the die and came up with the G92 chipset which is produced at only 65nm. These smaller, more optimized G92 chips are now reviving the GeForce 8800 range with a GT and GTS version, replacing the G80 based versions.”
Zerotherm Hurricane HC92 CU 8800 VGA Cooler Review
Tweaknews :: Wednesday, January 16, 2008
“In the final analysis, ZEROtherm’s Hurricane HC92 Cu 8800 VGA cooler showed a marked improvement over the OEM solution while adding some style and bling into the mix. The inclusion of a fan speed controller, along with the three configuration options, gives the user some control over cooling performance and noise levels; always a plus.”
CES 2008: ViewSonic
Think Computers :: Wednesday, January 16, 2008
“ViewSonic had a lot to show us this year at CES. They had an entire ballroom to themselves at the Bellagio. After being shown their products I was very impressed, they seem to be one of the only companies taking display technology to the next level. They showed us some of their new HDTV’s, LCD monitors, projectors, and their new HDTV/PC display combos. Read on to see what new products to expect from ViewSonic in 2008.”
Goldmund’s Media Room: A Dream For Audiophiles
Phoronix :: Wednesday, January 16, 2008
“Last week I had received a unique CES invitation from Rogers & Cowan, a PR firm representing an array of entertainment and technology companies, about one of their clients that advertises itself as the makers of the “world’s most extravagant and technologically advanced systems for audio-video purists.” For the Consumer Electronic Show, participating companies will either have a booth or suite somewhere in Las Vegas, but that wasn’t the case for Goldmund, this Rogers & Cowan client that specializes in high-end audio/video systems. Their systems are so advanced that they simply cannot be built in a day or even a week, but for each of their media rooms they spend extensive time planning and constructing the rooms that are slated to be perfect, even an imperfect world. With that said, it was easier and more cost effective for Goldmund to just have four other writers and I check out their luxurious home theater systems in a demonstration home near Los Angeles.”
ASUS EN8800GTS 512MB Graphics Card Review
Tech ARP :: Wednesday, January 16, 2008
The ASUS EN8800GTS 512MB is based on the NVIDIA G92 GPU, which is the leaner, meaner version of the ground-breaking NVIDIA G80 GPU that powered graphics cards like the GeForce 8800 GTX and the GeForce 8800 Ultra.
The ASUS EN8800GTS 512MB looks set to blaze a new trails in both performance and value for money. It not only boasts the smaller, cooler and faster G92 GPU, it also comes with the VP2 PureVideo HD video processor. As such, it offers significant advantages in performance and features over the older GeForce 8800 graphics cards.
But just how much faster is the EN8800GTS 512MB compared to the new GeForce 8800 GT or the higher-end GeForce 8800 GTX? Let’s find out in this comprehensive review of the ASUS EN8800GTS 512MB.
Icemat Audio Black Siberia Multi Headset Review
Motherboards.org :: Wednesday, January 16, 2008
The Black Siberia headphones represent a good midrange option when it comes to gaming headsets. The extra long cord, detachable microphone as well the independent controls are great additions that set these headphones apart from most. Add to that the quality of construction of the headphones and you have setup that is well worth your money and probably outlast most other headsets in the same category. While the sound from the speakers could have been better for the price they are well within the accepted standards.
PC to HDTV the Right Way
PC Magazine (HDTV) :: Monday, January 14, 2008
The typical home PC is no longer just for homework and accounting. It’s now the entertainment hub of the household. So why are all your videos and photos still locked up inside there? Why not hook your PC up to your HDTV and move your content to the big screen?
PC to HDTV the Right Way
PC Magazine (HDTV) :: Monday, January 14, 2008
The typical home PC is no longer just for homework and accounting. It’s now the entertainment hub of the household. So why are all your videos and photos still locked up inside there? Why not hook your PC up to your HDTV and move your content to the big screen?
Logitech Z Cinema
PC Magazine (Speakers) :: Monday, January 14, 2008
These speakers produce some solid low end and work well with Windows Media Center, but controlling software remotely is not always intuitive.
Vizio’s TV Line Adds Premium Features
PC Magazine (HDTV) :: Monday, January 14, 2008
Advanced video processing and 120-Hz technology find their way into Vizio’s latest flat panel televisions.
JBL Dock Designed for iPhone
PC Magazine (Speakers) :: Monday, January 14, 2008
The On Stage IIIP is the second speaker dock to support the Apple iphone standards.
Altec Lansing Unleashes First Certified iPhone Dock
PC Magazine (Speakers) :: Monday, January 14, 2008
The “Works with iPhone” Speaker System is the first to get Apple’s Official Blessing.
Sony Bullish on OLED TVs
PC Magazine (HDTV) :: Monday, January 14, 2008
Sony Bullish on OLED TVs
PC Magazine (HDTV) :: Monday, January 14, 2008
Sony’s new 11-inch OLED TV is now shipping in the US. Also announced for the US was the Rolly robotic music player, plus a host of new HDTV and other products.
HIS HD 3850 IceQ 3 Turbo 512MB
Inside HW :: Saturday, January 12, 2008
“As usually, after the basic models all made in the same fashion as the referent one, the first cards with more exotic cooling systems begin to arrive. Not that it is an imperative with such cold weather at the moment, but an overclocker values each degree Celsius. This time, we got a graphics card from HIS, made in cooperation with ArcticCooling, the (in)famous manufacturer of different advanced cooling systems for PC components. The full name of the graphics card we present you with today is HIS HD 3850 512 MB DDR3 IceQ 3 Turbo.”
Auzentech X-Tension HDMI 1.3 Board Pics
Hardware Canucks :: Saturday, January 12, 2008
After a long wait, Hardware Canucks has finally got our hands on pictures of a prototype of Auzentech’s upcoming X-Tension HDMI 1.3 board. As well as pictures we have also have a rundown of all the known (and some new) info about this eagerly-anticipated product.
EVGA e-GeForce 8600GTS 256MB 256-P2-N761-AR Video Card Review
Dragonsteel Mods :: Saturday, January 12, 2008
“I went with these specific cards mainly because of the DDR3 that is on them, there are other cards at this price point but not many that have the DDR3 memory. I shopped around quite a bit and did a lot of research before buying them. Originally when I was upgrading my system with the EVGA motherboard I was sort of set on getting the EVGA video cards as well to make it sort of a matched set, but there were others of the same model that were cheaper and I was considering getting those, but in the end after my research I finally decided that the EVGA 8600GTS offered the best bang for the buck. ”
SteelSeries Siberia Neckband Gaming Headset Review
Tweaknews :: Friday, January 11, 2008
“With sound quality almost as good as professional studio headsets you really can’t go wrong with the Siberia Neckband Headset. If you have a big head like me and comfort is a concern for you however, I would suggest you look for a more conventional headset design.”
XFX 8800GT Alpha Dog Edition Review
NV News :: Friday, January 11, 2008
“The hot new graphics cards right now are based on the affordable 8800GT chipset from nVidia. I recently received an XFX 8800GT Alpha Dog Edition graphics card for review. This card came in at standard 8800GT clocking with 256MB of DDR3 memory.”
NVIDIA Hybrid SLI, nForce 780a and GeForce 8200
Legit Reviews :: Monday, January 07, 2008
Legit Reviews looks at new Hybrid SLI-capable products from NVIDIA! Included is the NVIDIA nForce 780a SLI, nForce 750a SLI, and nForce 730a media and communication processors (MCPs) for AMD CPUs, which will be released next month, as well as the new GeForce 8200—the industry’s first micro-ATX motherboard solution with an onboard Microsoft DirectX 10-compliant motherboard GPU
V7 D24W33 24 Inch (HDMI) LCD Monitor Review
Gamepyre :: Monday, January 07, 2008
Overall I would have to say that if you are looking for large monitor over the 22″ size, the V7 D24W33 is something to seriously consider. If price is also a point in your buying plans the D24W33 also offers an excellent price point and you will be able to find this model on line in the $399.00 range shortly after it spreads around the various retailers and e-tailors. The MSRP is set so that the V7 group does not compete with its own partners and deals will be available through many companies soon. Like almost every monitor I have ever owned the onboard speakers are adequate at best and not high-end by any means. For all the good that is here though and the addition of a 3-year warranty this monitor deserves an Gamer’s Choice Award as its few drawbacks equal to about zilch in the big picture.
Warner Home Video Fallout Hits CES 2008
Madshrimps :: Monday, January 07, 2008
“There has been a lot of discussion pointing towards a long-term HD DVD, Blu-ray war, but Time Warner may have prematurely ended the war. After the Warner announcement last week, in which the company announced it would end HD DVD support later this year, the North American HD DVD Promotion Group ended up canceling press conferences and meetings during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES).”
Desktop Graphics Card Comparison Guide
Tech ARP :: Monday, January 07, 2008
Covering over 310 desktop graphics cards, this comprehensive comparison allows you to easily compare 18 different specifications for each and every card. If you need to find out about the specification of any card, just come over and check out our Desktop Graphics Comparison Guide.
Windows SlipStreaming Guide
PC Apex :: Monday, January 07, 2008
One of our members at PC Apex has posted a new basic guide for “SlipStreaming” your windows install disk. “What is SlipStreaming”, you ask? SlipStreaming allows you to update/customize your windows install disk by including service packs, drivers, programs and even custom settings you would normally apply after a default windows install. As you can imagine, this can be a huge time & trouble saver! Need to Hit F6 to provide RAID drivers via floppy disk but you kicked that old floppy format to the curb years ago (like I did)? NO PROBLEM! You can SlipStream your RAID drivers into the install disk and never need a floppy again! Here is a snip from the guide:
ATI HD 3850 256MB Videocard Review
Hardware Logic :: Monday, January 07, 2008
“Turbulent. Tumultuous. Bumpy. Disappointing. There’s no shortage of unflattering adjectives to describe AMD’s journey through 2007, including their graphics division, ATI. Purchased just over a year ago for roughly $5.4 billion, the acquisition’s long-term verdict remains to be written. In the meantime, the short-term outlook hasn’t been rosy up to this point, with ATI conceding defeat in the high end GPU arena and instead focusing primarily on the budget and lower mid-range sectors, much to the chagrin of the ATI-loyal. That’s about to change.
Before we get ahead of ourselves, ATI still doesn’t have an answer for nVidia’s flagship 8800GTX and Ultra GPUs, but with the release of the RV670 core, they’re no longer relegating themselves to the lower end graphics market, and seem to be targeting the upper mainstream market with a vengeance.”
VisionTek TV Wonder 650PCIe
Bjorn 3d :: Monday, January 07, 2008
The core of any TV tuner is the chip that is designed to receive the signal. Currently, there are various chips that are designed to receive different signals. If you have purchased a TV tuner two years ago, you are most likely to have a card that only receives analog signal. Lately, the newer tuner card comes with digital tuner receivers which receives DVB or ATSC transmissions. Many newer and more expensive tuners even come with both tuners (combo) where users are able to receive both signals. A combo tuner is different from hybrid tuner. A combo tuner can receive both digital and analog together to allow users to watch TV coming from both signals while a hybrid tuner can only receive one or the other.
AMD (ATI) was the leader in the PVR with their All-in-Wonder graphic card (where a powerful graphic card that function as both a gaming card and PVR). Unfortunately, AMD has decided to abandon any further development of All-in-Wonder all together and focusing on gaming graphic cards. Luckily, AMD has not totally abandoned their development of multimedia add-on cards as their hardware can be considered as some of the best. Their latest TV Wonder 650 line-up has combined many proven technologies into one of the arguably best TV tuner card found on a consumer desktop. Today, we will take a look at one of the best of the bunch, courtesy of VisionTek—The VisionTek TV Wonder 650 PCIe.
Microsoft Windows XP SP3 RC Does NOT Support HDA
Tech ARP :: Monday, January 07, 2008
“When you try installing the KB888111 which works for SP1 and SP2, it will not work for Service Pack 3, at least for the current SP3 RC v3264. Instead, you will be prompted with a message saying that the current service pack installed is newer than the fix you are trying to apply. Even the older KB835221 does not work.”
Saitek Cyborg 5.1 Headset
BIOS Level :: Sunday, January 06, 2008
“Saitek was founded in 1979, and entered the PC gaming controller market in 1993. All these products are designed by gamers for gamers, to help them get the best out of their favorite PC games. A few days ago, we looked at their Obsidian Wireless Mouse, and today we’re looking at one of its latest products: the Cyborg 5.1 Headset. The Cyborg range is the latest in their gamer-centric product line, using the slogan “the ultimate man/machine interface”.”
AMD Releases Additional R600 GPU Programming Documentation
Phoronix :: Sunday, January 06, 2008
“In the second NDA-free documentation dump, AMD has just released programming data on the M76 and RS690 graphics processors. While the RadeonHD developers have already had these documents, this information will help the free software community in understanding the internal workings of AMD’s graphics processors. In this article, we have information on this just-released data as well as what else the community can expect in the way of documentation in the near future.”
ATI Catalyst 7.12 Analysis – XP & Vista
Tweak Town :: Sunday, January 06, 2008
“Ho Ho Ho! We hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year, and if you have bought yourself a new Radeon based graphics card over the holiday period there is no doubt you want to see if it’s worth jumping to the newer Catalyst 7.12 driver suite.
Let’s not delay as we have some performance improvements promised which you can see mentioned in the release notes.”
Crysis Benchmarking Guide
Tech ARP :: Sunday, January 06, 2008
“At this moment, Crysis is the toughest test you can subject any graphics card to. It requires so much graphics processing power that it humbles even new graphics cards like the GeForce 8800 GT and the GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB graphics card. As such, it serves as a great benchmark for graphics cards (as well as CPUs).”
V7 D24W33 24 Inch (HDMI) LCD Monitor Review
Motherboards.org :: Sunday, January 06, 2008
The V7 group delivers on this one folks as this is one very nice 24’’ monitor that will exceed your expectations. Fast response times, excellent color and clear text are just a few key elements that make the V7 D24W33 a very appealing product. You will really like the available adjustments on this one as well, as it is more flexible and features great tilt and height adjustment for custom setups. Overall there is nothing not to like about this fine product, and it is priced right at around $459.00 MSRP.
WidowPC 8800GTX Mobile Gaming Hits The Web
Maxit Mag :: Saturday, January 05, 2008
If you’ve been enjoying Crysis on your super powered desktop PC over the holiday season you’ll probably know what a power hungry beast it is. Currently no PC can handle Crysis on maximum eye candy – even SLI 8800GTX’s. So how about some laptop gaming. The thought of playing a next generation game on the go usually conjures images of power point presentation FPS gaming. Enter the new WidowPC Sting 517D2 (http://www.widowpc.com/store/build-gaming-laptop-517d2.php?systype=19 fsb=65 ccc_pics=true). And what a sting it packs. Using the new 8800M GTX NVIDIA Go graphics cards, it’s one of the first laptops on the market that can handle serious gaming and can even run Crysis at decent frame rates in Direct X10 with some serious eye candy settings. The rest of the specs looks equally impressive with a 17″ 1680 x 1050 WSXGA+ or 1920 x 1200 WUXGA widescreen displa, choice of Intel Core 2 Duo T7100 / T7300 / T7500 / T770 processor, up to 4GB RAM, 250GB hard drive or a very sexy 32GB SSD, dual layer DVD burner, Fingerprint reader for security and Vista Ultimate. The full package will set you back some $4,000 dollars but those with more modest ambitions can jump aboard with prices starting at around $2,000.
Palit GeForce 8800 GT Review
Overclockers Club :: Saturday, January 05, 2008
Hot Home-Theater Gear
PC Magazine (Speakers) :: Saturday, January 05, 2008
Our favorite home-entertainment products are sure to keep you warm this winter.
DX 10.1 Global Illumination
Maxit Mag :: Saturday, January 05, 2008
With the Radeon HD 3800, AMD/ATI got to be the first that had a Shader Model 4.1 compliant graphics card in the shelves. Among the upgrades it incorporates, Global Illumination shines . This technique:
[…] can deliver ray trace quality effects including indirect lighting, color bleeding, soft shadows, refraction, and high quality glossy reflections to a scene.
Below, you’ll find a link to a screenshot from an AMD demo that illustrates this subject. I would rather say that it exaggerates this new DirectX weapon. It’s unclear if games will be able to implement this feature in a way that’s so dramatic as you can see here (http://images.tomshardware.com/2007/10/29/amd_hd_3800_to_support_dx_10/gi-demo10-7.jpg) but, if they do, at that same moment, Geforce 8 cards will have their days numbered. The fact that AMD hasn’t considered DX 10.1 as a basic marketing strategy may indicate that such games are nowhere to be seen just yet, though. Link: Tom’s Hardware (http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/10/29/amd_hd_3800_to_support_dx_10/page3.html).
Abit IX38 Quad GT Review
Overclockers Club :: Saturday, January 05, 2008
Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin iPod Dock Review
i4u :: Saturday, January 05, 2008
“Sound is the real appeal of the B&W Zeppelin, and it has sound in droves. I like bass to my music , but not to the point of overpowering the mids and high sounds. The B&W Zeppelin has fantastic bass along with crisp and sharp highs and mid range sounds. Sound output is rich and to achieve this the B&W Zeppelin uses three amplifiers, one for the mid, one for left, one for right and one for bass.”
Asus 8800GT Top Videocard Review
RB Mods :: Saturday, January 05, 2008
Today we take a look at one of the most talked about videocard on the market. You got it, we have the 8800GT card on our test bench today. To make things even more interesting it is also the Top version from Asus which is already overclocked so we are expecting some real performance from this card. We are also going to look at noise and temperatures to really see if this card is worth the 250$ that it costs out on the market.
Hot Home-Theater Gear
PC Magazine (HDTV) :: Saturday, January 05, 2008
Our favorite home-entertainment products are sure to keep you warm this winter.
Westinghouse Shows First Wireless HDTV
PC Magazine (HDTV) :: Saturday, January 05, 2008
Westinghouse and Pulse~LINK team up for the first HDTV that uses wireless technology to transmit information.
Pioneer Elite KURO PRO-150FD
PC Magazine (HDTV) :: Saturday, January 05, 2008
The Pioneer Elite KURO PRO-150FD delivers the best HD picture quality we’ve seen in a plasma television. This KURO deserves serious kudos.
Sharp LC-32D40U
PC Magazine (HDTV) :: Saturday, January 05, 2008
The Sharp LC-32D40U Aquos isn’t the least expensive 32-inch liquid crystal widescreen television out there, but it provided the most natural, realistic picture I’ve seen among similar displays.
Bose Companion 5 Multimedia Speaker System
PC Magazine (Speakers) :: Saturday, January 05, 2008
Bose’s “surround-like” Companion 5 setup sounds good but won’t fool you.
LG.Philips to Show Off Nifty Touch Displays at CES
PC Magazine (HDTV) :: Saturday, January 05, 2008
LG.Philips said over the holiday that it plans to show off a new lineup of “public” (large-format displays designed for shopping malls and the like) LCDs that include multi-touch capabilities and a separate line of multi-view LCDs.
Hot Home-Theater Gear
PC Magazine (HDTV) :: Saturday, January 05, 2008
Our favorite home-entertainment products are sure to keep you warm this winter.
Asus EN8800GT TOP Geforce 8800GT 512MB Videocard Review
PC Stats :: Friday, January 04, 2008
“For the latest games you need a killer fast DirectX10 compliant videocard and a computer loaded with Windows Vista. Enter ASUS and a very strong contender for your cash – the PCI Express x16 ASUS EN8800GT TOP/G/HTDP/512M/A videocard. GeForce 8800GT-class videocards tend to overclock well, so it’s no surprise that many come pre-overclocked from the factory floor. The Asus EN8800GT TOP videocard is tweaked to 700 MHz core and 1000 MHz memory, up from the default 600 MHz core / 900 MHz memory settings. Heck it’s even faster than a Geforce 8800GTS’s 650 MHz core and 970 MHz default clock speed! Oh Asus, how you spoil us gamers!”
Saitek GH30 Vibration Headset Review
3d Xtreme :: Friday, January 04, 2008
“The Saitek GH30 Headset has been a great product for me. The one issue I would have with it is the vibration bass. I don’t feel as though the effect does much. I’ve owned a set of vibration bass headphones a few years back and the vibration was very noticeable. However, with the GH30s I don’t really notice a difference. The GH30s sound decent and the integrated microphone is great for gamers that use voice chat software. The GH30s would also come in very handy for anyone that uses voice recognition software. At $40 I feel the GH30s justify the price – most headsets with a microphone are pretty cheap and sound like garbage. These bridge that gap…”
Razer Mako 2.1 Advanced Desktop Audio Gaming Speakers Review
i4u :: Friday, January 04, 2008
“The Razer Mako speakers fire equally in all directions. This allows you to be able to enjoy the same rich sound quality in any position of the room. You can tell readily if you use your computer for watching movies with more than one person in the room. Everyone gets the same sound quality.”
Sapphire Radeon HD 3850 Ultimate Edition
Tweak Town :: Friday, January 04, 2008
“Moving onto the card itself, the front looks a bit weird with a large plate covering most of the front and three little pipes heading out the top and going around the back. To the right of the card you can also see a heatsink covering some of the hotter components on the card.
Since this is the first stock clocked HD 3850 we have been greeted with we thought we would check it out against the overclocked HD 3850 from GECUBE along with the stock clocked 8800GT for good measure.”
Club3D HD3850
CDR Info :: Thursday, January 03, 2008
ATI has a winner product with the new HD3850 series. Club3D has released its own solution based at generic ATI HD3850 and judging from the performance/price ratio, this product is a must buy. It easily won our Bust Buy Award!
PNY XLR8 8800 GTS 512MB Graphics Card Review
i4u :: Thursday, January 03, 2008
“I was surprised by the performance of the stock clocked PNY XLR8 8800 GTS 512MB. It was very close to the performance of the overclocked XFX 8800 GTS 512MB XXX card I reviewed previously. The MSRP of the PNY XLR8 8800 GTS 512MB is $369.99 from PNY.”
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB Review
Tech ARP :: Thursday, January 03, 2008
“We were most impressed with the performance and affordability of the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB that we feel it deserves nothing less than an Editor’s Choice Award. We hope this will encourage NVIDIA to offer more graphics cards of such caliber and value.”
XFX 8800GTS 512 MB Alpha Dog Review
Gamepyre :: Thursday, January 03, 2008
It seems that NVIDIA is bent on just taking over the entire VGA arena in both the high and low end market at the same time. This can be clearly seen with their recent release strategy, and ATI is an unloaded gun when it comes to sheer product awareness across the spectrum. XFX will most likely have a few different variations of this card available from standard clocked models and a few overclocked types as well. This card beats almost the rest of the NVIDIA lineup other than the Ultra and is a very solid gaming solution. Pricing however is much higher than the 256MB GT, which is around the $200.00 mark as this card sells for about $350.00 give or take a few bucks in either direction.
Home Theater 2008: Hi-Def Predictions
Digital Trends :: Thursday, January 03, 2008
“And Now, Predictions for 2008 Plasma and LCD will keep maturing but will not be replaced: These maturing technologies will continue to be bargains for consumers-that’s the cool thing about maturing technologies-even as they get less and less profitable for manufacturers. Successors like OLED are on the horizon, but Sony won’t bring OLED to the U.S. next year and Toshiba has no plans till 2010. Rumors that Samsung has a 40-inch OLED prototype will be confirmed or refuted at next month’s Consumer Electronics Show. SED, which might have made a big difference in 2007 had Canon and Toshiba been allowed to introduce it, died in a fusillade of litigation.”
Sapphire Atomic HD 3870 512 MB
Driver Heaven :: Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Driver Heaven now have the first of their enhanced products, the Atomic HD 3870. With this card Sapphire have done all they can to improve on the reference design and in addition to this the overall package has also been enhanced. Let us take a look at what makes this particular 3870 so special.
Logitech G51 Speaker System Review
3d Xtreme :: Wednesday, January 02, 2008
“The Logitech G51 Speaker System is rated for 155 Watts so while it’s not the most powerful set of Speakers in the Logitech product line these can turn 2-channel sound into intense 5.1-channel audio. After using them, I’m not quite sure if they were even created with the PC in mind. Connecting these speakers to a game console or MP3 player seemed to really be the driving force behind this product…”