Sapphire Radeon 9700 Atlantis Pro “Ultimate Edition” Review
TweakTown :: Wednesday, March 26, 2003
“We’ve been seeing the Radeon 9700 Pro boards for a while, but when someone comes up saying they have one called “Ultimate Edition”, it makes you ask why. Come join Mike “Darthtanion” Wright as he takes a look at the Sapphire Radeon 9700 Atlantis Pro “Ultimate Edition” and find out for yourself if it lives up to the name. We’re looking at upgrade paths in this review so lets see if this graphics board has what it takes to earn your hard-earned dollars!”
Geil 1GB PC3200 Dual DDR Kit
PimpRig :: Tuesday, March 25, 2003
“The stats this RAM puts up makes it attractive even if it was a single stick. This kit has two 512MB PC3200 RAM sticks for a total of 1GB RAM. Timings are CAS 2 6-3-3 1T Running @ DDR400Mhz… Niiiiiice.”
Albatron GeForce 4 Ti4800SE Medusa Review
myWORLD :: Tuesday, March 25, 2003
“Now and everyday, whenever you go to computer shops and asked for a video card recommendation, surely GeForce 4 Titanium series are the most commonly recommended. Why? Because of it’s performance wise as well as its affordability…”
Albatron Geforce 4 Ti4680P Turbo Review
Monkey Review :: Tuesday, March 25, 2003
The card was manufactured utilizing a thicker 8-layer PCB, done in blue. The Medusa offers us 128MB’s of 3.3ns DDR RAM with a 250/550 MHz GPU/RAM clock. Most will quickly notice from the images that we also have a large and elegant looking copper based HSF as well as RAM sinks not only on the top of the card but also on the bottom. I like how the HSF blows air out and through the ram sinks, ensuring at least a little air will be flowing through them.
Albatron GF4 Ti4280PV review
OCAddiction :: Friday, March 14, 2003
“Albatron has chosen to use Samsung memory for this video card. Samsung has gained a pretty good reputation with their ramchips. Looking closely, the ram is rated to run at 3.6ns. A quick calculation (1000/3.6 = 278 * 2 = 556MHZ DDR) shows that the memory is capable to run at 556MHZ.”
MSI G4MX440-T8X Half Height Videocard Review
PCStats :: Friday, March 14, 2003
“”While ATi and nVIDIA battle it out for the performance crown it’s actually their mainstream/budget videocards that bring in most of the money. Win the mainstream battle and you’ll win the war as they say. To this effect, nVIDIA know that their TNT2 M64, GeForce2 MX and GeForce4 MX line of videocards have long been popular with manufacturers and OEM’s. It’s not that ATi cannot offer the same type of product, it’s just that until recently ATi has been focusing more on being a performance leader and offering competitive pricing on their flagship line of cards only. Today we’re going to be looking at yet another GeForce4 MX videocard, but what makes the MSI G4MX440-T8X special is that it is a entirely silent half height card especially suited to small form factor PC’s or Book sized PC’s.”.”
Samsung 172B 17″ LCD review
Techwarelabs :: Friday, March 14, 2003
“When LCD monitors came out they were a lot thinner than CRTs, however the horrible picture quality really deterred users from purchasing them. The Samsung 172B 17″ LCD is one of the slimmest LCD monitors on the market today, but will being thin sacrifice picture quality?”
Samsung Syncmaster 191N 19″ TFT LCD Monitor Review
Tweaknews :: Tuesday, March 11, 2003
“Now let me add this up. Improved 191N analog technology which is better than the older digital 191T, same great looks and a US$200-$300 price cut? I don’t think there is even a question that this product deserves the Tweaknews.net’s seal of approval, the “Top Rank Award”. Better and cheaper are always a good thing in my mind, wouldn’t you agree?”
MSI GNB Max-FISR (E7205) Motherboard Review @ SharkyExtreme!
Sharky Extreme :: Saturday, March 08, 2003
“The overclocking options of E7205 motherboards has been a sore spot for many, as some boards literally have few if any enhancements. The GNB Max-FISR has an excellent CPU overclocking setup, with 1 MHz FSB speeds from 133 to 200 MHz, and CPU core voltage settings from 1.475 to 1.85V. This is actually a more substantial maximum voltage level than MSI offers in their basic Pentium 4 motherboards, so it was a nice surprise. Unfortunately, the overclocking options end there, with no DDR or AGP voltage selections. The AGP side doesn’t bother us too much, and although the 266 MHz DDR limit really doesn’t warrant a lot of voltage options, we missed it when trying to jack no-name memory to the lowest timings possible.”
Albatron GeForce 4MX 480 8X AGP Review
Tweaknews :: Saturday, March 08, 2003
“Seems like all you hear about in the hardware world is the high end cards. But are these cards for the everyday gamer, nope. Do you think that most people have US$200-$400 to spend on one component, nope. People today like to have a blend of value and performance and that is where the Alabatron MX480 delivers.”
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro Review
Sharky Extreme :: Saturday, March 08, 2003
“After thoroughly benchmarking the ATI Radeon 9800 Pro, two basic concepts started to emerge. At standard game settings and lower resolutions, the Radeon 9800 Pro wasn’t really taxed, and the CPU and memory subsystem just couldn’t push the juice fast enough to make use of the faster clock speeds. Once we hit the higher resolutions, separation occurred, and the Radeon 9700 Pro started loosing more ground to the Radeon 9800 Pro. The final tests, involving anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering, showed the Radeon 9800 Pro in its best light, as the added power came in very handy when all the graphical bells and whistles were enabled.”
Logitech Z-680 5.1 Speakers Review
GruntvillE :: Saturday, March 08, 2003
“Well I started it out with the effect on Stereo with the PCs. I found no major audible difference between the two computers but it was obvious that the nForce 2 sounded better. Man does that sax sound good on Dave Mathew’s “So Much to Say!” I was absolutely floored at the response at all frequencies. As I mentioned before the sub can rumble deep down into the 20Hz range without losing an unacceptable amount of SPL.
The imaging of this set in stereo was phenomenal! While jamming to “Money” by Pink Floyd I could almost see Dick playing percussion in the middle while David was gracefully floating his vocals in front of him with Rich tapping the keyboard off to the right. Having these speakers set up correctly is a must in Stereo as the imaging is very precise but like any high end audio speaker, the results are well worth it. Chopin made me take a deep breath and kick back and relax. It was as if I was in the hall….”
ATI 9800, 9600, and 9200 Preview
Tech-PC :: Saturday, March 08, 2003
“A few weeks ago ATI invited Tech PC to a briefing in London, part of the agenda was looking at their newest range of desktop products. To be released as the Radeon 9200, 9600 and 9800 series of cards we’re going to give you a quick outline of what to expect, prices and some comparative benchmarks. We’re not going to dive in too heavy on the technical side of things but rather try and keep it as a simple overview until we get real cards to play with.”
XFX GF4 MX440 Review
OCAddiction :: Thursday, March 06, 2003
“The MX440-8X overclocked exceptionally well. With the stock heat sink, I was able to achieve a stable core speed of 375mhz. That is an incredible 100mhz over stock speed. With a little better contact with the heat sink, the core should be able to achieve higher stable overclock. As mentioned before, the memory is rated to run at 3.3ns, allowing the memory to run at least 606mhz. I was able to push the BGA ram to at least 675mhz before artifacts started showing up. ”
Samsung SW-252B 52x24x52 CD-RW Review
PCStats :: Thursday, March 06, 2003
“While Samsung monitors are well known amongst consumers, the companies’ optical devices have only recently begun to generate notice amongst cash-strapped consumers. After all, the competition in the optical drive industry is incredibly high, and even mainboard manufacturers are entering into the fold. Enough of that, today we’re going to throw Samsung’s latest CD-RW the SW-252B into the pit and see just how it stands up to the competition. With a rating of 52x write, 24x rewrite and 52x read speed, you won’t be able to find anything faster then the SW-252B currently on the market. In terms of features, the drive has a large 8MB frame buffer as well as Buffer Under Run Free technology (all these BURN proof type technologies work on the same concept) and can support even 90min (790 MB) CD-R’s! The SW-252 also supports all the usual writing methods, DAO (Disc At Once), TAO (Track At Once), SAO (Session At Once) and Multi session Packet Writing (both variable and fixed). Unfortunately the Samsung SW-252B is not quite available to the public yet so I’m not sure how much the unit will retail for, but Samsung usually prices their products quite aggressively.”
MSI GeForce4 Ti4600-TD8X review
ViperLair :: Monday, March 03, 2003
“The performance of this card was very nice indeed. In the Quake III engine based JKII the Ti4800 remained very ‘playable’ until 1600*1200 with all settings at maximum, when it becomes borderline in playability. Serious Sam SE shows the strength of the Ti4800 (or the weakness of the Parhelia) as it reaches above 60fps both at 1024*768 with maximum settings and at 1600*1200 with high settings, unlike both the Parhelia and the MX 440.”
Sapphire 9100 Atlantis review
Riva3D :: Monday, March 03, 2003
“While everyone seems focused on the battle for the fastest card, there’s been a rather quiet little war brewing for entry-level graphics cards, and ATI is beginning to make their move with the introduction of the 9100 graphics chip, which is basically a higher clocked 9000. While this may not sound like much, in reality, it’s giving users a feature rich, low cost card with surprisingly good performance.”
Albatron TI4680 Video Card Review @ FuriousTech
Furioustech :: Sunday, March 02, 2003
“Viedo cards there are lots of choices out there. You can spend up to $400.00 for the top card out there. Today I am looking at the Albatron nVIDIA TI4680 card. You can get a sub $200.00 card that will out preform the more expensive cards. I was totally impressed, as I think you will be also. Grab your favorite beverage and take a look at this offering from Alabatron!”
FireWire Networking Article
Voided Warranty :: Wednesday, April 16, 2003
“I was looking for an alternative to the standard 10/100 ethernet networking that would provide a substantial speed increase and would offer some added security to my network. I do a lot of video editing and transferring of large files across the network and figured that a FireWire network would fit the bill.”
Enermax CS-10181 Server Chassis
I Am Not a Geek :: Wednesday, April 16, 2003
“The Enermax CS-10181 is a very well designed case that incorporates many features that one would look for in a high end case that might carry a price tag higher than $84.99 from Xoxide. The quality is unquestionable, and the use of the term “heavy duty” is appropriately used to describe the CS-10181. Its a sleek, stylish case that is spacious enough to provide room for all of your drives and peripherals easily.”
Matrix Orbital MX212
Monkey Review :: Wednesday, April 16, 2003
The next couple of projects we worked on dealt with the high powered GPO’s. After connecting the 12v floppy drive connector coming from the PSU and ensured that the jumper on the LK202-24-USB was set to 12v and not 5v we connected a few CCFL lights to the 12v GPO’s and a few LED’s to the 5v GPO’s. Once this was completed we booted up our system and did a little testing to ensure things were working fine. After the install was completed and things were checking out properly we configured the LK202-24-USB to flash the CCFL lights with one button push, then to keep them on solid with a second button push, and then finally turn them off with a final push. We also configured the LED’s to turn on once our CPU reached a certain temp (46c). Of course, we also settled with a few plug-ins of choice, those being Motherboard Monitor 5, and Winamp 3………
PlanetSide for the PC
Futurelooks :: Wednesday, April 16, 2003
“What does Sony Online Entertainment have up their sleeve? Well, they just lifted their Non-Disclousure Agreement (NDA) on their latest Massive Multiplayer Online First Person Shooter!! (MMOFPS) Here is a small preview of things to come…”
Xoxide 6 Port Baybus
8Balls Hardware :: Wednesday, April 16, 2003
Heres a look at a 6 port baybus from Xoxide. Having some way to control all those fans in your heavily overclocked system is a necessity. Why have all that blaring fan noise in your ears 24/7? Why not have them turned down when you don’t need that extra cooling power?
FrozenCPU Dual Voltage 3.5” Baybus
GruntvillE :: Wednesday, April 16, 2003
“It wasn’t too long ago when a baybus was the top-of-the-line case mod you could do. The concept was simple, put some toggle switches in a drive bay to control all the lights and fans you were putting in your system. The concept was refined and improved over time until now when we have professionally manufactured units that can supply adjustable dual voltage with dual color LEDs to indicate which is being supplied. The only problem with them is that they are all built to fit in a 5.25” drive bay, and with the advent of systems with multiple optical drives, there just aren’t enough bays to go around. Well, the good folks at FrozenCPU.Com have come to the rescue with a 3 port unit that fits in a 3.5” drive bay, you know, the one under the floppy drive you never use anymore.”
CritiCool PowerPlant PCI Relay Card
MODTHEBOX! :: Wednesday, April 16, 2003
“One of the new unique products released by CritiCool Solutions is a new PCI Relay Card called the PowerPlant. The purpose of the PowerPlant is to act as a standard solid state relay to switch AC based current into conventional DC current. The relay allows 12 volt powered devices such as fans, controllers, and internal coolers to feed DC devices directly. By default this product can handle power conversions for 110VAC/220VAC and includes a 12v external power cable, two position toggle switch and an external 4-pin Molex connector for powering fans outside of a case.”
Bios Optimization Guide Revision 7.6
Tech ARP :: Wednesday, April 16, 2003
“Ever peeked into the BIOS and got your brains scrambled with all the mumbo-jumbo? Maybe it’s time to check out the most comprehensive guide on BIOS options! Currently in Revision 7.6, the Definitive BIOS Optimization Guide from Adrian’s Rojak Pot now covers 190 different BIOS options!”
Intel i875P Canterwood Platform
Hexus :: Wednesday, April 16, 2003
“The Canterwood, in summary, gives the P4 a definitive performance advantage of its arch-rival. It’s also both faster and more feature rich than the present Granite-Bay motherboard. High performance has never been so easy to obtain, albeit at some cost. The pricing of retail Canterwood boards isn’t yet known, but we hope that with 4-layer construction the price isn’t on the wrong side of £150. Expect them to ship soon, as should a number of 200FSB P4s.”
Kool Cases Minion Case Review
Think Computers :: Wednesday, April 16, 2003
“Ever since I have been attending lan parties I have seen this case. It seems like a very popular case, although it is not aluminum. It looks very stylish, so lets see what special features we can find out about this case, and what it offers.”
Lian Li PC75 Review
OCIA :: Wednesday, April 16, 2003
“The rear view of the case below shows the glow of the UV sensitive fans quite clearly. I like the layout of the case. The two exhaust fans below the power supply and the two above the power supply were modded by So-Trick. I wanted the stock fan exhaust grills cut out to a clean 80mm hole. In my opinion this looks much better and provides less obstruction for exhaust from the fans.”
ABIT BH7 Review
Nexus Hardware :: Thursday, April 10, 2003
“ABIT has been a longstanding provider of quality retail products. More specifically, they are a longstanding provider of quality overclocking products. Their much hyped BH7 board has landed on our test beds, and hopefully this 845PE product will continue to meet the enthusiast’s standards. The BH7 is built around the idea that minimalist features results in maximal performance. Nary a RAID controller, nor support for IEEE 1394 (firewire) can be seen. Contrary to some of the ABIT Max series, the BH7 has the traditional PS/2, serial, and parallel ports.”
JMC 400074 Skyjet 70 Radial Fin Heatsink Review
Frosty Tech :: Thursday, April 10, 2003
“Just when you thought the “Orb” heatsink was dead, done and long since buried JMC revive life back into the design. This orb-like cooler goes by the name Skyjet 70, and it is now technically called an “extruded radial fin heatsink.” Capitalizing on the technology invented by Agilient long ago for the Arcticool heatsink, the JMC 400074 is a high volume adaptation that takes the best of “dual-pass airflow architecture,” and puts it in a package ready for use on socket 478 Pentium 4 or socket 603/604 Xeon processors. The unit we tested was configured for socket 478 processors incidently. From our standpoint the visual similarities between this radial heatsink and the obs of long ago are pretty superficial. Thermaltakes’ orbs used very shallow fins, bent at an angle. This heatsink is designed more appropriately with 21mm deep fins. The main difference is that the area below the 67mm diameter fan impeller is not solid – it’s pure fin. The fan is also actually mounted to the base, but we’ll step over that point altogether for the moment.”
ThermalTake Xaser III Super Tower Review
SystemCooling :: Thursday, April 10, 2003
“ThermalTake has recently upgraded their line of tower cases to include the new and improved Xaser III series with the V2000A Aluminum Super Tower shown here, being their top of the line model.”
Exclusive Tt SubZero-4G AMD TEC Heatsink Review
Overclocker Café :: Thursday, April 10, 2003
Again, the SubZero4G is a pleaser. While it didn’t beat the SLK-800 out in raw performance it did get right there, like hair in a biscuit. The VERY obvious thing during testing was the sound level. The Tt Smart Fan 2 shod SLK was hitting my ears at every bit of 48 dBA while the SubZero4G was just noticeable.
Sunbeam Tech Acrylic Case Review
GideonTech :: Thursday, April 10, 2003
GideonTech takes a look at the acrylic case offering from CCFL giant, SunbeamTech. The look of CCFLs light in this case is blinding…
Windows XP Update Editorial
Tech ARP :: Thursday, April 10, 2003
“Lo behold! Microsoft has a whole load of patches for its operating systems on April Fool’s Day. No, it is NOT a joke!”
Fortis C104L CPU Cooler
Think Computers :: Thursday, April 10, 2003
“It has been a while since we have looked at a Fortis cpu cooler. Today we will be looking at the Fortis C104L. This is a very attractive cpu cooler. It comes with a quad LED fan, but LED fans are not known for their cooling, they are known for style. So lets see if this cooler has what it takes to be attractive as well a effecient.”
TDK MP-100 DJ Style Headphones Review
Futurelooks :: Thursday, April 10, 2003
“So TDK makes headphones? Wow. Didn’t know that…till now! TDK fired us a set of their DJ Style headphones and asked us to check them out and rate them based on what they were. We didn’t disclose of the phones until the end so our reviewer was very impressed when we told them they only cost $24.99 USD.”
KG8850 Case Review
Furioustech :: Thursday, April 10, 2003
“This is the latest offering from TRADEX Information Technology, the KG8850 computer case. For those ecomony minded people out there, this steel case has lots of room inside and is fairly stylish! It has it’s good points and bad points, so you will have to read on and find out what I thought of this case. Could this be the new home for your compuiter parts? You will have to read for yourself.”
Noiseblocker Adjustable “Silent” Fans
Short-Media :: Thursday, April 10, 2003
“Silent” cooling fans are not a new idea. The stereotype exists that low dB(A) fans mean pitiful cooling performance. You may think that a silent PC is only for those who have the processor toil lazily away at word processing. Will 3 hours of all-out gaming send silent fans scurrying back to the place they quietly came from? Silence is golden and Noiseblocker put three of their Ultra Silent Fans on the table to see if we could still hear ourselves think while keeping our cool.
Shuttle nForce2 XPC Review
TweakTown :: Thursday, April 10, 2003
“With the push towards the Small Form Factor PCs today its hard to choose from the lineup that is evergrowing. Shuttle started the SFF trend with the XPC line, and has continued to do so. Today Cameron “Sov” Johnson takes a look at the Shuttle SN41G XPC System. How does it fair? Take a look for yourself!”
Cooler Master ASC-V73 Aero 7 CPU Cooler review
Tech ARP :: Thursday, April 10, 2003
“What do you get when you mate a high-speed blower and a pure copper heatsink with skived fins? The brand new Cooler Master ASC-V73 Aero 7 is what you get! Come on and read all about this innovative cooler from Cooler Master. It will literally BLOW you away!”
Antec TrueControl 550 watt Power Supply review
TweakTown :: Thursday, April 10, 2003
“With all of the new goodies coming out all the time, the concept of using that old 250 watt power supply just doesn’t work anymore. Come join Mike “Darthtanion” Wright as he takes a look at a solution to this problem; namely, the Antec TrueControl 550 watt PSU. Not only does it have power to spare, it also includes some features that truly set it apart from the competition. Come see for yourself!”
JMC 400124 Phoenix 60 Radial Fin P4 Heatsink Review
Frosty Tech :: Thursday, April 10, 2003
“Shiny aluminum always gets my attention, even when it’s in circular form. JMC Products have recently released a few heatsinks on this same design guideline, and the JMC 400124 continues the Pentium 4 cooling tradition well while keeping acoustic noise at around 47 dB. The heatsink arrived for our testing with a full set of blueprints which gives us some detailed insight into the construction and manufacturing requirements applied to JMC’s heatsinks. For example, the fan here is spec’d out at 100K hours MTBF. Based on similar techniques which were used by Agilent Technologies for their Arcticooler heatsinks a while back, the JMC 400124 Phoenix 60 even carries the same logo. The original Agilent heatsink was made for socket 370 Pentium III processors, but this version is intended for use with socket 478 Pentium 4’s or even Socket 603/604 Xeons. The unit we tested was configured for socket 478.”
Crucial PC3200 DDR400 256MB Memory Review
PCStats :: Thursday, April 10, 2003
“A division of Micron, Crucial.com have been selling JEDEC-spec memory directly to the public since 1996. Since then they have built up an extremely good reputation for themselves. In any case, on with today’s look at some special engineering sample Crucial PC3200 DDR. After JEDEC approved the PC3200 standard in Dec. 2002, manufacturers began the rush to not only get their DDR400 memory compliant, but also to encourage support within mainstream computer manufacturers like Intel. It seems the memory manufacturers are having a hard time with the JEDEC PC3200 standard, most compliant PC3200 memory use extremely relaxed memory timings as is the memory we’re testing today. By default, the Crucial PC3200 DIMM’s run with 3-4-4-8 memory timings at 2.5V and each stick of memory uses 16x 128Mbit Micron DRAM which have a 5ns rating.”
The Extreme Computer Mod
ViperLair :: Thursday, April 10, 2003
“The reason I took on this project was because I wanted a custom computer that was unique. I started by looking for a suitable AMP shell. Why? Think about it. It is basically a giant heat sink. I wanted a thermally stable, stream lined, small case. Also, it must have a lot of eye-candy!”
pcToys MobileMaxx Aluminum HD Rack with LCD
XtReMoDs :: Thursday, April 10, 2003
“A hard drive rack is a device that allows you to remove your hard drive and put it into another computer. By storing your files on a hard drive that is in a hard drive rack you can bring the files you use at work, home. You could also use a hard drive rack to swap out operating systems. If you setup one hard drive for you and all your important documents; then setup a different hard drive just for the kids, then you wont have to worry about your kids messing anything up. Any reason why you would need a hard drive rack would be the right reason to check out the MobleMaxx Aluminum HD Rack.
Some of the reasons you will want to use a hard drive rack is to have quick access to your hard drive, security, or hot swap abilities. You would expect all of this to be incorporated in a boring beige box with one of those flimsy handles on them. Now we can expect to see the best of the best in looks and performance.”
Plextor PX-504A DVD+R/RW CD-R/RW review
Monkey Review :: Thursday, April 10, 2003
“have mixed feelings when it comes to this drive. On one hand you have an amazing new technology that allows you backup your data on one or two DVD+R’s quickly. You also have the ability to create movies to play on a stand alone DVD player so you can watch your movies on the big screen. But, with the DVD+R/+RW standard there comes the pitfall of a more expensive media and a lower compatibility than the DVD-R/-RW standard. For this review I was able to purchase DVD+R media but was unable to easily find a DVD+RW disk to use.”
FlexiGlow EL Cable & Standard Cold Cathode Kit Review
MODTHEBOX! :: Thursday, April 10, 2003
“Branching off the end of the inverter box is a total of 5 wires, an ON/OFF/Flash switch used to toggle modes. A dimmer knob is used to control the level of brightness of the FlexiGlow Cable and a power connection which plugs into a Molex Adapter. Two quick snap cables are designated for attaching combined lengths of FlexiGlow from 1 to 10 meters. Exceeding this limit will damage the inverter. FlexiGlow also emphasizes that the inverters and EL cable are designed for exclusively indoor usage.”
Matrix Orbital LK202-24-USB(MX2) LCD review
OCIA :: Thursday, April 10, 2003
“LCDC comes with tons of useful plug-ins already built in. By going to the configuration screen you can enable and disable whatever plug-ins you would like. I personally loaded up the Motherboard Monitor plug-in, Winamp 2.X plug-in and Weather plug-in.”
Mushkin EMS PC3500 Memory review
Hexus :: Thursday, April 10, 2003
“The Mushkin module, it seems, is geared towards the all-important 2-2-2 timings. The low latency nature extends to DDR-434 speeds, where it was able to run at 2-7-2-2 timings, albeit with a bit of extra voltage. A little tongue in cheek, but I feel as if this module should have been called Mushkin PC3200LLLV (low latency, low voltage).”
LIUtilities Speed up my PC Software Review
Furioustech :: Thursday, April 10, 2003
“Is there a software that can help you tweak you Winodws operating system? Yes, LIUtilities has software that can help bring the perfromance out in your operating system. It is called SPEED UP MY PC. The price is right, and the software helps any Windows operating system run smoother in several ways. Is this software perfect? I have yet to find software that is, but take a look at SPEED UP MY PC and I think it will be one that you would want in your library.”
Nine-Way AMD DDR Motherboard Shootout!
Overclockers New Zealand :: Thursday, April 10, 2003
“From the results above, Nvidia’s nF2 chipset provides 7~12% improvement under gaming condition (when GFX card is not the bottleneck) and 5~6% improvement under business tasks. Currently, Via has no retail chipset to compete with Nvidia’s nF2. However, we’ve learnt that Via just announced its KT-400A with an improvement memory sub-system and is said to be on the same performance level as the nF2. For now, AMD DDR users can wait until the KT-400A hits the shelf or the users can grab any nF2 boards recommended below.”
Coolermaster Black Alloy Bezel review
Voided Warranty :: Thursday, April 10, 2003
“Installation was very easy and required virtually no brain capacity at all. Of course I already knew that because I have reviewed one of these before.”
NextCool WaterCube GT3 Review
MODTHEBOX! :: Thursday, April 10, 2003
“The copper base of the unit is fixed to the painted brass top by means of four hex screws. I opted not to break the seal on the unit prior to testing, so the internal layout is unclear. The unit does identify the inlet and outlet by means of printed text. While the outlet is in a fairly standard location, the inlet has a rather odd placement, being just off center at the extreme side of the block. This lies in stark contrast with the majority of high-performance blocks which place the inlet directly above the center of the block, allowing the coolant to hit the CPU core first, maximizing thermal transfer.”
Mushkin PC3500 DDR SDRAM Review
TweakTown :: Thursday, April 10, 2003
“Memory speeds continue to increase as the need for more bandwidth is required for all of today’s games and applications. Mushkin not to be left behind has kept pace with the likes of Corsair, Geil and OCZ with their own PC3500 DDR SDRAM. Is the extra cost of Mushkin memory worth it? Read on as Cameron “Sov” Johnson gives us the answer.”
Transcend Radeon 9700 review
Sharky Extreme :: Thursday, April 10, 2003
“In every benchmark test we ran, the Transcend Radeon 9700 performed superbly, and offered high-end framerates, while lagging behind the Radeon 9700 Pro by approximately 10%. This presents a viable alternative for gamers seeking high-end performance and a current feature set, but who may not have the cash for a fully-loaded Radeon 9700 Pro or 9800 Pro.”
ABIT NF7-S nForce2 Revision 1.2 Motherboard
OCAddiction :: Thursday, April 10, 2003
“This heatsink from Thermaltake is all copper and has a 6000 RPM fan. It has a thermal probe or a manual fan speed control. I think the people at Thermaltake have hit this one on the head so to speak. Want to know more? Come on in and read about this heatsink on the Furioustech chopping block!”
AOpen AK79G Max nForce2-GT Motherboard Review
PCStats :: Thursday, April 10, 2003
“AOpen are one of the larger component manufacturers in the industry, also producing a vast array of peripherals like keyboards and even computer cases. Such is the diversity of products that it would not be a stretch to say you could just about assemble an entire computer from purely AOpen parts, even down to the very last stick of RAM. Aiming for the mass markets generally means you get good value with AOpen products, and one such example of this is the AK79G Max nForce2-GT (Crush 18G) motherboard we are examining here which is priced at about $140USD. Nvidia have recently expanded on the nForce2 lineup which originally encompassed just the nForce2-G/nForce-S Northbridges, and MCP Southbridge. The two new iterations to be added to the family include the nForce2-GT and nForce2-ST which contain the MCP-T Southbridge.”
Cremax Multi-Function HDD Transfer Rack Video Review
3dgameman :: Monday, April 07, 2003
“The Cremax Multi-Function HDD Transfer Rack is an excellent way to protect, cool and monitor your Hard Drive. This product offers quick installation of a HDD, has two 40mm fans (one redundant), three temperature probes, slide front plane, backlight LCD and more. Watch the Video to find out more…”
X Dream SE Heatsink Review
Furioustech :: Monday, April 07, 2003
“We all dream about the perfect overclock! Could this cooler be the answer to the overclocker’s dream. Come and check out the new offering from Cooler Master. I put it thru the paces and I liked what I saw. Don’t daydream and miss this review. If you want to put out the fire from your CPU check out this dream of a cooler!”
PC Toys Stealth 80mm Fan review
OCIA :: Monday, April 07, 2003
“Right out of the box we see the fan itself with 3-pin connector as well as four self-tapping mounting screws. The retail packaging looks nice and should catch your eye over “standard” 80mm fans on the shelf. The key feature of this fan is in its name: “Stealth”. This fan is aimed at those users who simply can’t stand loud fans twirling away in their system.”
pcToys Breeze Maxx review
SystemCooling :: Monday, April 07, 2003
“”When we normally talk cooling, we are talking about system and/or CPU cooling, not this time. A new product is about to be released that takes the enthusiasts need for personal cooling to heart and you can/will see that it does it with style!”
OCZ DDR PC3500 Dual Channel EL Kit review
ViperLair :: Monday, April 07, 2003
“A 235MHz (470MHz DDR) was the best we were able to manage while still maintaining stability. I did try the same overclock again, and lowered the ram back to CAS2, but while it got to the Windows logon screen, the PC just froze there. I also attempted 2.5-2-2-7, but again, the system crashed. In fact, the damage was so severe, a reinstall of Windows was required. Thank goodness for disk images.”
LIUtilities SpeedUpMyPC Review
MODTHEBOX! :: Monday, April 07, 2003
“The Memory page allows the user to monitor current Physical Memory and Page File usage, both of which are displayed on graphs. Similar to the above covered “Prioritize Windows System Functions” feature, the memory page features a “Free RAM Automatically When Physical Memory Usage” option that can be entered either via the text field or by adjusting the sliding limit symbol from the Physical Memory Usage graph. This option combined with the similar CPU option essentially ensures that your system will be not be tied down due to resource intensive applications.”
Lian Li PC-05 Aluminum Case Review
3dgameman :: Monday, April 07, 2003
“The Lian Li PC-05 Aluminum Case is the very first budget style case from Lian Li. This case has four 5.24″, three 3.5″ and three 3.5″ hidden drive bays and three fans. There are two fans with a filter at the front and one at the back to allow good air flow. While this case has all the essentials it doesn’t have a removable motherboard tray but it’s well priced and has great build quality. Watch the Video to find out more…”
Enermax 3.5″ System Monitor Control Panel review
PimpRig :: Monday, April 07, 2003
“The aluminum face is very tastefully done, Enermax refrained from plastering graphics all over the front. The only graphics on the front is a discreet Enermax label on the top left and function labels under the buttons and knobs. You old-timers will need to break out your bifocals in order to read the text labels, they are very small.”
X-Sonic Aluminum Midtower Case review
OCIA :: Monday, April 07, 2003
“Here we get an internal look at the drive bays. This case supports four 5 1/4″ drives, two 3 1/2″ external drives and two 3 1/2″ internal drives. Below the 3 1/2″ bays we have a neon green fan holder. An 80mm case fan can be installed here to draw cool air from outside and blow it across your PCI cards. Speaking of the 3 1/2″ bays, the entire rack is removable for easy HDD installation”
Kingwin KWI-450W power supply review
Techwarelabs :: Monday, April 07, 2003
“This 450 Watt PSU features three fans with smart-fan technology, ten molex power connectors reaching up to 36″ from the unit, and a whole lot of power. With a well-known brand name, a whopping 450 Watts of power, and three, smart fans, the KWI-450W has quite a bit to offer for a relatively low cost.”
CoolerMaster Aero 7 HSF review
8Balls Hardware :: Monday, April 07, 2003
“Heres a look at a new release from CoolerMaster, the Aero 7. While the looks are sure to remind you of the Noisecontrol Silverado, this copper heatsink should perform rather well. How well? Read on to find out!”
AMD Athlon XP 3000+ review
Nexus Hardware :: Monday, April 07, 2003
“Recently, AMD launched a new-flag ship processor. Its PR rating is 3000+ and runs at 2.17GHz (the same clockspeed as an Athlon XP 2700+). This microprocessor uses the new Barton core which has a major enhancement. The improvement from the ThoroughBred core to the Barton core is the doubling of the L2 cache from 256K to 512K. This increases performance, and also enlarges the die size by 20%. The last benefit a larger die size allows is better heat dissipation. This increase in L2 cache also raises the manufacturing price. New technology always comes with a hefty price tag and this continues the tradition. Nonetheless, some processor releases offer negligible speed increase, yet a very large price increase. Today we are going to look at how the 3000+ scales against some older ThoroughBreds.”
Case wrap review
Overclocker Café :: Monday, April 07, 2003
“The idea behind the new case art, Case Wrap is simple, take some hip images and put them on thick adhesive material. Now there is finally an option for the masses of us who can’t paint that want some extra flash to do. The Overclocker Café has put up a short piece looking at some of these new Case Wrap items. Here is a snip. I was very impressed with the ease of the installation. I did pull some of the wrap back once it was in place to see how well it would take to being pulled up and laid back down was necessary should the installation be off a bit. It came up with only moderate difficulty but I am happy to say that it didn’t stretch or lose its stick.”
Epox 8RDA+ nForce 2 *Update*
ViperLair :: Monday, April 07, 2003
“We’ve replaced the Crucial PC2700 with Corsair TWINX PC3200, and redid the overclocking. As a result, we were able to improve our sycronous overclocking results to 12.5×190, which may not seem like much, but the memory timings are 5-2-2-2, which should result in much better overall system performance. By moving to a CAS latency of 2.5, our syncronous overclocked result was 12.5×192.”
How to Work With Plastics
PimpRig :: Monday, April 07, 2003
“Mixing Icing is easier to show than to explain. If memory is correct, I think it is to be mixed 50:1. With body filler, an inch of hardener, per a golf ball size of putty was a general rule of thumb. Finishing putty is a lot thinner and runs flat on the mixing board so that is hard to judge.”
Corsair TWINX PC3200 Dual Channel Memory Kit review
ViperLair :: Thursday, April 03, 2003
“The Corsair TWINX on the otherhand, allowed for a 452MHz memory overclock, up from 400MHz. I tested the same overclocks using each TWINX stick individually, and although I didn’t score higher, both sticks topped out at 452MHz.”
Spire 9T236B1M3G Pentium4 Heatsink Review
Frosty Tech :: Thursday, April 03, 2003
“Who remembers the time when big loud fans were being slapped onto undersized heatsinks and being sold to consumers hungry for some overclocking? With heatsink names that always somehow managed to fit the word “overclock” into their description, it still makes me cringe a little. The sound of fear these days comes from those old 60 dB Delta’s reeving up – which while good for cooling – are utterly, absolutely, and unconditionally too loud for normal every day computers in the home. Whatever, that was then and this is now. Manufacturers and consumers have regained their senses and cast out the loud heatsinks for quieter ones; Zalman’s, Coolermaster’s, Globalwin’s, the list goes on. Fanner, who create heatsinks under the Spire and sometimes even Speeze name have recently added this little lower noise heatsink to their line up.”
X-Dreamer Mid-Tower Case review
OCIA :: Thursday, April 03, 2003
“Immediately out of the box I liked the look of this case. I have noticed that many of the mid range cases are beginning to carry drop down doors for the CD and DVD drives. This is a neat feature in that it provides a uniform face on the case. The XDreamer has two such doors and two plain faceplates for external devices. The front face has an acrylic cover also which includes 6 faux thumbscrews. These are purely for aesthetic purposes and are not functional. The case also has a flip up door that covers 2 front USB ports and audio ports. The floppy cover is also unique in that it is made to sit in front of the floppy drive and provide that uniform front face. The attention to detail is nice for a case in this price range.”
Antec LANBOY Case Review
Overclocker Café :: Thursday, April 03, 2003
One big plus with the LANBOY is that a power supply is included with the case. Specifically, an Antec Smart Blue 350w PSU. This PSU gets its name because its cooling fan adjusts its speed based on temperature within the unit. In addition to it being an auto-variable rate job, its fan is also adorned with some blue LEDs. Hence the name, Smart Blue.
Abit NF7-M nForce2 IGP Motherboard Review
PCStats :: Thursday, April 03, 2003
“The success of nVIDIA’s nForce2 chipset has been nothing short of phenomenal. In only half a year, nVIDIA have dethroned the previous champion chipsets from VIA and have created quite a reputation for themselves in the stable high performance chipset arena. Nvidia’s competition has been scrambling to catch up, and even newer chipsets like VIA’s KT400A don’t appear to have enough muster when it comes to the benchmarks or feature lists. If one were to buy a mid to high end motherboard or AMD “whitebox” system these days, they would be well advised to only seriously consider options which have ‘nVIDIA nForce2 inside.’ Today we’re going to be checking out Abit’s NF7-M nForce2 IGP (Integrated Graphics Processor) AMD AthlonXP motherboard. Other then the on board GeForce4 MX videocard care of the nForce IGP northbridge this board is virtually identical to Abit’s extremely successful NF7/NF7-S motherboards with the exception that is lacks both built in SATA and IEEE1394 support.”
Antec’s Cobra Cables + Iluminate Green review
DataFuse :: Thursday, April 03, 2003
“I could probably call this review: Mod-It Antec-Style. It seems like ages ago since I looked at some accessories, but companies still manage to produce new and improved stuff. I’m going to take a quick look at what seems to be very nice rounded IDE-cables. And instead of inside case lighting such as CCFL’s, I will be looking at some external lighting. ”
IWILL XP4 Mini-PC Review
Sharky Extreme :: Thursday, April 03, 2003
“The IWILL XP4 is a highly integrated solution based on the i845GV chipset, and features the standard Pentium 4 CPU socket, one DIMM socket, one PCI slot and two IDE connectors. The single DDR socket supports up to 1 GB of memory, running at 200/266 MHz, and the board itself can handle the latest and greatest Pentium 4-3.06 GHz, for those so inclined.”
AMD XP1700 JIUHB Testing
Hexus :: Thursday, April 03, 2003
“Are the JIUHB XP1700s the new AXIAs ? (remember them ?). No, they’re probably just little bit better in terms of overclockability. We managed a default voltage overclock of close to 50%, and a 55%+ overclock with a minimal voltage increase and basic, quiet air cooling. It’s kind of hard to pass that kind of CPU up, especially with XP1700s retailing below the £50 barrier. Recommended without reservation.”
Samsung Spinpoint SP1203N Review
Monkey Review :: Thursday, April 03, 2003
I’m pleased to say that within the last few years, manufacturers have started to realize the importance of not only a large & quick drive, but also one which won’t produce noise. With that said, Samsung has developed a few interesting technologies to combat the acoustic noise emission…
Epox EP-8RGA+ Motherboard (nForce2 – Socket 462) Video Review
3dgameman :: Thursday, April 03, 2003
“The Epox EP-8RGA+ Motherboard is based on the nForce2 chipset and has onboard LAN, USB2, 6 channel Audio, Video etc… Not only does this mobo have onboard Video but it’s capable of dual display which is a first for onboard video. One loaded product which is stable and fantastic at overclocking. Watch the Video to find out more…”
Chaintech 7NIF2 Summit review
Nexus Hardware :: Thursday, April 03, 2003
“Chaintech has recently released a MicroATX motherboard directed toward the budget users. The product they produced is known as the Chaintech 7NIF2 Summit. It uses the favored nForce 2 chipset and comes with on-board video. The included onboard video is comparable to Geforce 4 MX line of video cards. Let’s see how this motherboard competes while running the new Athlon XP 3000+.”
Antec Lanboy case review
PimpRig :: Thursday, April 03, 2003
“As LAN parties become more popular, people want to be able to attend without having to carry a large and heavy computer case. This is one of the reasons we have seen so many people migrating to small light weight cases and small form factor computer systems. In the LANBOY, Antec chose to target the small light weight case segment.”
Check it out
Gizmos, Gadges and Goodies Guide
TweakTown :: Thursday, May 01, 2003
“Each month here at TweakTown we receive many smaller, cheaper and interesting computer products which we cannot transform into a full blown review on its own. So none of you miss out on any of these funky items, we have initiated our very own monthly Gizmos, Gadgets and Goodies Guide, by Shawn “Toxic” Baker, filled with a range of different computer products from all edges of the globe for your viewing pleasure!”
Linksys ProConnect Integrated 2 Port KVM Switch
Short-Media :: Thursday, April 24, 2003
“Having more than one PC is no longer considered unusual. A primary machine sitting next to a file/mail/web/ftp server is common in many an enthusiast’s home. With that server comes the usual “added” extras such as another mouse, another keyboard, another monitor. It can be irritating when there simply isn’t enough desk space for those extras. A keyboard, video and mouse switch solves that problem. The linksys integrated 2 port KVM is about the most simplest/basic such unit you can buy. It even does away with the switch and cables separation.”
Zippy EL-610 Super Slim Luminescent Keyboard Review.
3dXtreme :: Wednesday, April 16, 2003
“I thought long and hard about this….who would be interested in this keyboard? Lan Party goers, maybe someone that uses a laptop frequently and prefers a smaller keyboard, folks with smaller hands. I’m not really sure what type of users this keyboard was geared towards and feel it’s more of a novelty item really.”
Zippy Electro-luminescent EL-610 Mini Keyboard review
PCStats :: Thursday, April 10, 2003
“I’ve personally always preferred typing out articles on a notebook keyboard versus that of a full sized klunker. Notebook-style keyboards have a shorter keystroke which makes them ‘faster’. Keystroke is a way of measuring how far you have to press a key down before it counts as a letter to the computer, and since a notebook doesn’t have all that much free space the keystroke is typically just 3mm. Compare that to a full sized 104-key Windows keyboard which can have as much as a 6-8mm keystroke. This preference for ‘fast’ notebook-styled keyboards has held on for long time inspite of the sometimes cramped layouts and condensed key pitch (how far keys are spaced apart) that comes with territory. The Zippy EL-610 USB keyboard is a notebook style ‘B5’ keyboard with a twist – with the flick of switch it will glow blue. Behind the 88-translucent keys is a flat sheet of electro-luminescent material – the same stuff that puts the glow in “Indiglo” which lights up watch faces around the world.”
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro review
OCAddiction :: Thursday, May 01, 2003
“Another, more important, improvement of the R350 GPU is higher clock speeds. The clock speed of the RADEON 9700 PRO is 325 MHz and ATI has managed to improve the core clock speed of the RADEON 9800 PRO to 380MHz. Not bad. That is a 17% increase in core clock speed even with staying with the .15u manufacturing process that was used on the R300 GPU.”
Powercolor’s Xabre 600 Pro review
Techwarelabs :: Thursday, May 01, 2003
“As the spotlight focuses on the battle raging between Nvidia and ATI for the top slot in the high-end video card competition, the release of middle-of-the-road, affordable cards, that don’t occupy an AGP slot, and render the neighboring PCI slot useless, often slip by unnoticed. SiS would like to believe the Xabre 600 is on the line between the enthusiast, extreme performance market and the mainstream, quality performance markets, allegedly making it a worthy contender for press attention, especially as they lead the GPU market to the 0.13u process. Are the technical feats achieved in the Xabre 600 enough to warrant your money? Read on to find out…”
ATI All-in-Wonder 9700 Pro Review
Tweaknews :: Friday, April 18, 2003
“Being ATI’s feature rich flagship videocard, the ALL-in-Wonder Radeon 9700 pro encompasses everything that the gaming enthusiast, multimedia professional and/or everyday computer user desires. It performs great out of the box and practically will handle any game out there with ease. Factor the great gaming in with a multimedia suite second to none, and you have the recipe for the perfect videocard.”
Albatron GeForce4 MX 485 Review
Overclocker Café :: Friday, April 18, 2003
If we reviewed this card five or six months back, our opinion in the climate of $170 GeForce4 Ti-4200s would have been “go buy this card now if you are on a budget. It offers good solid real world performance, DVI and TV out, a three year warranty and an affinity to overclock.” These points remain just as strong today as they would have then. The only problem is that the GeForce4 Ti-4200 cards have dropped in price radically. It’s nothing to see one at a CompUSA or Best Buy for $80 after a mail in rebate. And hands down the Ti-4200 is a better card given they both effectively cost the same.
Samsung 52X24X52 CDRW Review
GideonTech :: Friday, April 18, 2003
“The Just Speed feature lets the burner burn at the max speed of the burner, without regards to the actual speed of the media. This can all be turned off or on, and its fully supported within Nero.
Here lies a problem with the drive. To cut to the chase, this feature does not work on this model. Even with an upgrade to the R702 firmware, Nero will not allow the drive to burn at speeds rated over what the media has stated. This means, if your media says 24X max, then that’s the speed this drive will burn at. Turning on and off the function in Nero does not work. I tried Alcohol 120% which yielded the same result. This is bad news because if you are stuck with 200 24X CD-Rs from the recent deal at your local office supply store, you will most likely not be able to utilize 52X burning.”
Cornea Systems CT1904 19 inch LCD Monitor Review
PCStats :: Thursday, April 17, 2003
“The CT1904 is the latest addition to Cornea Systems LCD monitor catalogue, and with a retail price of around $680USD, I doubt this 19″ TFT monitor will be sitting on the shelves for very long. The Cornea CT1904 is blessed with the large screen real estate that people really want, with very good viewing angles (85 degrees up/down/left/right), and with an industry standard 25ms pixel response time. The 3″ thick display panel takes up only a fraction of the desk space of an equivalent 50LB monster 19″ CRT monitor, and since the CT1904 draws ~40W of power, it’s also easier on the electrical budget. The brightness value of the display is spec’d out at 250 nits (cd/m2) which is good, but not record breaking. A contrast ratio of 500:1 should help the Cornea CT1904 fare well in the tests later on though.”
Albatron KX400-8XV Pro KT400 MB review
PCStats :: Thursday, April 10, 2003
“It wouldn’t be much of an understatement to say that everyone’s attention is firmly focused on nVidia’s Nforce 2 chipset – and the boards that support it. Can a chipset really come before the motherboard, or even CPU in order of importance? Some of you are right now nodding your heads and saying “yes” to that question, but is this just isolated to the nForce2 chipset? These days it seems all the hype in the AMD world surrounds nVIDIA, but lest you forget there are other chipsets to choose from. Remember a tiny little company by the name of VIA? Well, their KT400 chipset powers the Albatron KX400-8XV Pro, and as you are soon to see, the results are interesting to say the least…”
Samsung DVD-V2500 DVD/VCR Combo Unit Review
Tweaknews :: Thursday, April 03, 2003
“Summing up this product is practically a no-brainer. Great features, Great VHS/DVD playback, Great options and Samsung’s attention to detail and perfection makes this one of the “must-have” products of 2003. It pretty well handles every type of media you can throw at it and only takes up one measly space in your entertainment centre.”