HydraIRC
PC Mech :: Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Looking for a new IRC client program or trying IRC for the first time? You’ll need a client to handle everything, and that is the focus of this week’s Freeware Frenzy. I will be taking a look at HydraIRC v0.3.151. While it may not have reached version 1.0, HydraIRC is ready to get you cruising on the various IRC networks. Installation is straight forward, as it is with many freeware applications. First agree to the rather interesting license (forbidding politicians from using Hydra, though how the author could know this is anyone’s guess).
Dell CEO Kevin Rollins resigns, effective immediately
Reuters :: Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Company founder Michael Dell returns to the helm of the computer giant. Rollins also leaves the company’s board.
Zalman ZM600-HP 600W Heatpipe Modular PSU Review
PC Stats :: Wednesday, January 31, 2007
The Zalman ZM600-HP power supply is cooled by a single large 120mm ADDA fan (AD1212MB-A71GL) which is temperature controlled. During testing the ZM600-HP power supply was definitely very quiet would be inaudible when installed into a system. Zalman clearly states on the power supply sticker that there are no user serviceable parts inside the PSU and the fan is soldered to the power supply PCB. There is even a blue LED under the fan to give it a nice back-lit effect when. The fan itself is not illuminated though.
Windows Vista Primer
Viper Lair :: Wednesday, January 31, 2007
“The Retail versions of Vista have both 32bit and 64bit versions of Vista in the box. As long as the hardware stays the same, while you will need to reactivate your copy, it won’t go against your activation counter. And no, you can’t have a dual boot scenario with one 32bit and one 64bit running at once, one or the other at any given time only.”
Transistors Quiz
Hardware Secrets :: Wednesday, January 31, 2007
“A new quiz on transistors has just been added to Hardware Secrets Test Your Skills section. Take this quiz and check whether your knowledge on transistors is good enough or if you should study more.”
Thermalright SLK-948U Heatsink Review
Frosty Tech :: Wednesday, January 31, 2007
“The Thermalright SLK-948U is an oldie but a goodie. This 635 gram chunk of copper is still a relevant heatsink however, resembling something akin to a metallic Toblerone with copper fins. It’s this design which keeps the SLK-948U alive and kicking, and as you’ll see in a moment more than capable for any K8 processor. The heatsink ships in a very plain cardboard box with a small collection of wire fan clips, spring tensioned screws, more screws, mounting plates and more clips. No instructions are provided, which is rather disappointing.”
The Bloatware Co-Processor
Digital Trends :: Wednesday, January 31, 2007
“But let me tell you why the multinational Tier 1s benefit from dual-core processing technology more than their customers. It’s quite simple. They load down their systems with extraneous software that you do not need and only chew up clock cycles. Microsoft has dubbed this bloatware “craplets,” and they’re worried it’s going to ruin Vista’s reception by the public. These craplets of course are revenue streams for the Tier 1s. In fact, with the razor thin margins in this industry, the kickbacks they get may mean the only margin they get! So who’s the real customer at this point? Back to my point”
Swiftech Quiet Power P180 Case Review
Motherboards.org :: Wednesday, January 31, 2007
There are many good things about this cooling system and case combination that will make it great for many different users and applications. For the overclocker this solution is not the best you can get system for keeping your CPU at its lowest potential temperature. You can get decent results depending on the CPU you are using, for instance if you are running a very hot running Prescott the system will be taxed just to keep it cool, on the other hand if you are running a cooler by nature CPU your results may prove very adequate. We tried four different CPUs in our test setup and we were satisfied with the efficiency of the unit overall.
Super Talent Ships 2GB 667MHz DDR2 SO-DIMMs
Super Talent Technology :: Wednesday, January 31, 2007
The T667SB2G_M is an industry standard 200-pin unbuffered non-ECC DDR2 SO-DIMM that conforms to JEDEC specifications. This product was designed by Super Talent engineers in San Jose, California. It is built with sixteen pieces of 128M x 8 (1 Gigabit) DDR2 DRAM chips in FBGA package, neatly organized onto an industry standard 200-pin SO-DIMM
CES – Consumer Electronics Show 2007 Uber Update
PC Apex :: Wednesday, January 31, 2007
We have a new article up covering CES 2007 Las Vegas. Yes, it has been over two weeks since the event ended but this article covers over 25 PC hardware companies so you are bound to see or read something you haven’t before. :) We saw some pretty interesting new products while walking the floor and attending meetings. Some were expected and some were very unexpected. 2007 looks to be a very exciting year. Here is a snip from the article:
“This was my first trip to CES and I was very excited to be going. I have attended E3 a couple times, Comdex (the last show they had) and countless large lanparty/media events. CES is one of the last few shows that I really wanted to attend as it is one of the largest consumer electronics shows in the world. Products you can expect to see there range from car audio to PC video cards to fitness equipment to (fill in the blank)… I saw many things which I would not have expected to see at an electronics convention. Pocket knives, furniture, and toilet seats are just a few of the strange objects I did not expect to encounter on the CES floor. ”
Silverstone Strider 850w ST85F PSU
Overclock 3d :: Wednesday, January 31, 2007
ust over 3 months ago we had the oportunity to review Silverstone’s upgraded 750w model of their original 600w Strider PSU. Today we’re back again to see what their latest 850w model has to offer.
NZXT ZERO Case Review
Hi Tech Reviews :: Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Some of today’s high-end cases are solving the ever present heat issue by adding a large number of 120mm fans, and that is exactly what the NZXT Zero has done to make sure that no matter what processor you choose to operate inside this case, it will remain nice and cool.
NZXT Adamas Aluminum Case
3dgameman :: Wednesday, January 31, 2007
“The NZXT Adamas Aluminum Case has quality written all over it. It’s great to see another exceptional aluminum case on market, because there are very few to choose from. With a 3mm thick aluminum frame and a 2mm aluminum interior, it can support well over 300lbs. Now that’s what I call a sturdy case! This product also has plenty of drive bays, excellent air circulation and looks great. It even has a brilliant front bezel release system and side panels that are a dream to remove. Overall, this is an outstanding product. Watch the video to find out more and check out the bloopers at the end.” ~
Sytrin VGA Cooler VF1 Plus Review
Technic 3d :: Wednesday, January 31, 2007
“The Sytrin VGA Cooler VF1 Plus arrived Technic3D. More Cooling for Videocards with a component system? See you in the following Review.”
Windows Vista’s new spin on licensing
The Tech Report :: Wednesday, January 31, 2007
WE’VE HEARD ALL MANNER of tinfoil hattery about Windows Vista’s schemes for copy protection, which have prompted the usual round of threats from the usual quarters about how Vista will usher in an OS apocalypse and techies will migrate en masse to Linux. The more realistic types are mostly talking about simply staying camped out with Windows XP for the time being while eying the MacOS world with some curiosity. I’m not onboard with the more paranoid visions of the Vista future, but I do think the uneasiness about Microsoft’s plans for Vista has some warrant.
Windows Vista system guide
The Tech Report :: Wednesday, January 31, 2007
WINDOWS VISTA IS FINALLY SHIP5538G to consumers, and we’ve decided to refresh our system guide for the occasion. Not much has changed in the world of PC components since our last guide update, but we’ve nevertheless tweaked our recommendations with both Vista and recent price fluctuations in mind. Windows Vista requires new drivers, especially if you’re looking to run the 64-bit version of the operating system, so we’ve scrutinized our hardware selections for proper driver support. And, of course, we’ve updated our operating system recommendations with info on the features available in each version of Vista and advice on which one might be right for your needs. Keep reading for our recs on building a killer PC for Windows Vista.
Team Xtreem Dark 2x1GB PC2-6400
Overclockers Online :: Wednesday, January 31, 2007
I was a bit caught off guard with the Team Xtreem Dark but with an amazing looking heatspreader, lifetime warranty, impressive overclocking, and a price I can live with, how could I complain? As I have said, some of the D9 based 2GB kits I have tested were not able to match the impressive overclocking of the Team Xtreem Dark 2GB kit that I reviewed here today.
Mushkin 580w Power Supply Review
Club Overclocker :: Wednesday, January 31, 2007
When you hear the Mushkin name you automatically think of high quality memory…but a power supply? That’s right, Mushkin now has their own Power Supply. Right now you can purchase Mushkin power supplies in 550w, 580w, and 650w versions. The one we have here today is the 580AP, 580 watt version with removable power cables. The 580AP is a great looking black PSU designed for mid to high end gaming systems.
Hitachi make dual Opteron water cooling system
Frosty Tech :: Wednesday, January 31, 2007
“The new self-contained thermal solution will be used with two AMD Opteron 2220 (2.8GHz) processors in the HP xw9400/CT Workstation. Low noise and heat management were primary reasons HP chose watercooling, and subsequently the system produces at most 26dB under high load.”
Mini-Box M200 Review
Epia Center :: Tuesday, January 30, 2007
“Back in November Mini-Box.com, the designers of the fabulous picoPSUs, introduced a new series of embedded systems built around their new range of M200 and M300 enclosures. I was of course eager to review one of those enclosures and Mini-Box kindly sent me one of the M200 cases so I could give it a thorough spin around the block. After having used the case for several weeks with both the EPIA CN13000G and another board that I’m currently reviewing I now had a chance to compile my thoughts on the M200 into an article”
Windows Vista Gaming Performance Reports
Techgage :: Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Will using Vista put a damper on your gaming addiction? When we took a look at Beta 2 this past summer, we saw rather large performance decreases. Now that Vista is finally out, have things been improved?
Intel’s Penryn Core2 Duo
Lost Circuits :: Tuesday, January 30, 2007
On January 26, 2007, Intel went public with the demonstration of their first processor core – code name Penryn – manufactured on a 45 nm dry lithography and running several operating systems at roughly over 2 GHz core speed. The manufacturing process – P1266 – has been working since January 2006 for the manufacture of the highest density SRAM cell array in the industry and is based on bringing back metal gates into the transistors while replacing the (SiO2) insulator with a precision-manufactured hafnium alloy High-k substrate using ALD technology. The 45nm process-technology promises to put an end to leakage current runaway and allows the placing of roughly twice as many transistors per area compared to the hitherto used 65 nm (1264) process. Yield analysis is good at this point and the A0 silicon running is no small accomplishment. What else has Intel in stock for the next few months?
Antec EarthWatts 500Watt PSU
Dragonsteel Mods :: Tuesday, January 30, 2007
” With all the chatter about global warming, and everything else related to it it’s nice to see companies like Antec jumping in and doing their part for the environment. Today for review I have one of Antecs’ EarthWatts ‘Green’ power supplies, the 500Watt version to be exact. In the past I’ve reviewed many of Antecs’ products and they have become a favorite company of mine because of the excellent quality and performance of their products, and the new EarthWatts PSU lineup in no different, it is an exceptional example of Antec quality. So, continue on to learn more… ”
Dremel Case Mod Guide
Missing Remote :: Tuesday, January 30, 2007
“When working with the Dremel, hold the Flex Shaft in your pen hand. Use a high setting for the rotation speed while cutting. Gently press the blade where you are looking to make your first cut. I made all my cuts just a little bit inside my pencil marks. When making long straight cuts, I cut through the metal and then worked the blade sideways in the groove. This created a fairly straight line off of the initial cut. Just gently apply sideways pressure to the edge of the cut and keep grinding to the left and right. However, if your initial cut isn’t perfectly along the line you are making you’ll need to make multiple small cuts side by side and then grind it smooth later. ”
Ultra Products Grid Midtower Case Review
OCIA :: Tuesday, January 30, 2007
“The tissue paper is also something not regularly seen in case packaging. After pulling all of that packaging away you can see the front panel and side window are further protected by yet another layer of plastic. The side window is even covered inside and out. Ultra has obviously taken extra steps to make sure this case arrives at your door with the finish in factory pristine condition.”
Thermalright HR-07 Memory Module Cooler Review
Big Bruin :: Tuesday, January 30, 2007
The HR-07 is nothing like any memory cooler I have seen, and the double heatpipe design is quite foreign looking to me. The concept of the design makes sense though, and what you have is a heavyweight heatspreader with a heatpipe on either side that draws heat up to a pair of cooling fins that will be situated in the moving air inside a typical system.
IN WIN Alpha 360 Case Review
Hardware Logic :: Tuesday, January 30, 2007
“Today Hardware takes a look at a contemporary and innovative enclosure from IN WIN. When we look for the proper case to build our machine, we look at things like (but not limited to) price, performance, eye appeal, and the ability to get the job done. The Alpha 360 microATX chassis is flawlessly designed to be ergonomic and aerodynamic. Its oval shaped design accentuates individual elegance not available in any other chassis. ”
Team Group TXDD2048M800HC4DC-D DDR 2-800 Memory
Bjorn 3d :: Tuesday, January 30, 2007
With the advances of DDR2 technology, the higher speeds and lower lantencies are only gaining popularity. It seems that DDR2-800 has become the mainstream speed and higher speed memory modules are coming to the market as we speak. The recent drop in the price of DDR2-800 certainly makes it a great buy if you plan to overclock your system. Since a Core 2 Duo can be overclocked by simply raising the FSB to match the clockspeed of the memory without breaking a sweat. Thus, having that extra clockspeed would certainly come in handy.
Almost all memory manufactures have a DDR2-800 on their product line up. The question still remains, which one will offer the best performance and overclocking result. Well, we have received new entry into the market from Team Group, TXDD2048M800HC4DC-D, which we are going to put it to the the torture test.
Thermaltake TMG A3 Silent CPU cooler Review
Xtreme Computing :: Tuesday, January 30, 2007
“The base of the heatsink is well protected with a plastic cover, which we like to see, as any damage to the base of the heatsink would severely hamper its performance. The TMG A3 also comes with Thermal transfer compound pre-applied to the heatsink which may or may not be a good thing depending if you like to use a specific compound”
Cooler Master Hyper TX Cooler
Technic 3d :: Tuesday, January 30, 2007
“The Cooler Master Hyper TX CPU Heatsink arrived Technic3D. The last Cooler in the new Cooler Master Line for Intel CPU up to Core2 Duo 6700. See you in the following Review against others CPU Cooling.”
Details on Intel’s Forthcoming 45 nm Manufacturing Technology
Hardware Secrets :: Tuesday, January 30, 2007
“Last week Intel described details from their forthcoming 45 nm manufacturing process and some details of the first 45 nm processors, codenamed Penryn. In this article we will explain what is new about Intel’s 45 nm process and Penryn CPUs.”
Spire BlackFin Case Review
XS Reviews :: Tuesday, January 30, 2007
“Spire has featured prominently on XSReviews for their range of power supplies that they provide, but today I have one of their new cases; the soft skinned BlackFin. Hopefully their skill at power supplies will rub off on their case design.”
Cooler Master CM Stacker 830 Evolution Review
Madshrimps :: Tuesday, January 30, 2007
“What has four wheels, high performance and comes with an insanely high attention to detail? The CM Stacker 830 Evolution is Coolermaster’s latest high end enclosure which can fit up to nine 120mm fans, has 9 5.25 inch drive bays and full ATX/BTX compatibility. The equivalent of a high priced exclusive sports car? Let’s find out.”
ThermoHawk 200 Touchless Thermometer
Driver Heaven :: Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Q3 Innovations, LLC is a company that exists to aid in personal safety by developing and creating innovative monitoring devices that could help prevent serious injury (or worse) if not monitored properly. One such device is the ThermoHAWK 200 – Touchless Thermometer. It’s a nifty little gadget that can provide the instantaneous temperature of equipment or other items without actually making contact.
Foxconn G9657MA-8KS2H G965 Express Motherboard Review
PC Stats :: Tuesday, January 30, 2007
“Off the shelf, the Foxconn G9657MA-8KS2H comes with the “-8KS2H” feature set; 8 for 8-channel High Definition ‘Azalia’ audio, K for dual Gigabit LAN, S for plenty of Serial ATA II hard drive support, 2 for DDR-2 and H because this slab of solder and circuits is RoHS compliant. A closer examination reveals five internal SATAII channels, one external (eSATA) jack for external data storage devices, eight 480Mbps USB2.0 ports. The Foxconn G9657MA-8KS2H motherboard is a prime example of what Foxconn can do.”
Microsoft Trumpets Vista Security at Launch Party
Microsoft :: Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Windows Vista will be the most secure operating system that Microsoft Corp. has released, a company executive said Tuesday at a Vista launch event in Washington, D.C.
Toshiba Readies 2GB NAND Flash Memory Chips
Toshiba :: Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Availability of the chips should mean that higher-capacity flash memory cards are on the horizon. That’s because the capacity of such cards, which are commonly used in digital cameras, music players and myriad other gadgets, are limited by the number of chips that can be physically crammed inside. Being able to store more data inside each individual chip allows for a jump in card capacity without any space concerns.
Gates: Vista key to multimedia computing era
Microsoft :: Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Windows 95 was the first version of the OS to include Internet Explorer, “an obscure feature” at the time, Gates said, speaking at a Vista and Office 2007 launch event. And the things people are doing with PCs today — saving and editing digital photos, recording and viewing digital video, and other multimedia activities — were just “a gleam in our eye” when Windows 95 was launched, he said.
Microsoft Office Accounting Express 2007
PC Mech :: Tuesday, January 30, 2007
News that Bill Gates will retire soon and devote himself to philanthropy made big news a couple of months ago. What you may not have noticed is that his company, Microsoft, is increasingly dabbling in philanthropy too.In the last couple of years, Microsoft has steadily rolled out a long line of no-strings-attached free software. First came the Express editions of Visual Studio, Microsoft’s premier application development environment. Express edition of SQL Server, Microsoft’s high end database software, followed soon. Then came Office Live Basics, the free web hosting package that even includes free domain name registration. The latest addition to all this freeware is Microsoft Office Accounting Express 2007, a comprehensive accounting package for small businesses
Cooler Master NotePal
Overclockers Online :: Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Laptops don’t always encourage proper posture and ergonomics but Cooler Master’s new notebook accessory hopes to change that. The NotePal S does a great job as a notebook stand. By raising the laptop to eye level, the NotePal S fosters better posture and comfort. No longer will you have a sore neck or back. It is also great in that you can use your laptop like a traditional desktop with the screen acting as the monitor.
Tyan Tomcat i945GM
Phoronix :: Monday, January 29, 2007
“While Tyan is mostly known for their selection of high-end server motherboards, their Tomcat i945GM is a rather interesting yet peculiar solution for them. The i945GM is a FlexATX motherboard that supports Intel’s Socket 478 mobile processors (including the Core 2 Duo) along with onboard Intel i945 graphics with both DVI and VGA connections. The Tyan S3095 motherboard is targeted for industrial applications and embedded systems.”
Kurumin Linux 7.0 Light
Phoronix :: Monday, January 29, 2007
“Kurumin Linux is a distribution we had never heard of prior to today’s encounter. The latest Kurumin release, Light 7.0, is a mini LiveCD that is targeted for Brazilian users and is based on Debian/Knoppix. This mini LiveCD is sized at 182MB while featuring the full KDE desktop along with plenty of extra software.”
Antec Nine Hundred Gamers Case Review
XS Reviews :: Monday, January 29, 2007
“The Nine Hundred is one of Antec’s cases designed specifically for the gamer. Containing a huge 200mm fan on top, and no less than five places to mount 120’s, at least it should run cool…”
AMD Quad FX Platform
Hardware Secrets :: Monday, January 29, 2007
In response to the release of the new quad-core CPUs by Intel, AMD launched its Quad FX platform. Contrary to what many people could think, Quad FX isn’t a new AMD quad-core processor, but a platform, as we will describe in this article.
Laplink PCmover Review
Techgage :: Monday, January 29, 2007
Are you making a move to a Vista machine in the near future? Want the ability to bring all of your documents, programs, games and settings with you? That’s what PCmover promises to do well. We are here to see if their claims of a simple and quick transfer is true.
Intel Moves Closer to 45nm Penryn Processor Production
Legit Reviews :: Monday, January 29, 2007
“Intel has been able to nail down their high-k + metal gate transistor technology and the next generation dual-core and quad-core processors will have the new transistors. The first processor family to use this new technology will be Penryn, which is the next generation Intel Core 2 processor. Thanks to the high-k + metal gate technology the 45nm part will benefit from clock rate improvements…”
Ultra 800W X-Finity & X-Pro Power Supplies
3dgameman :: Monday, January 29, 2007
“The Ultra X-Finity 800W and X-Pro 800W power supplies are pretty much on equal ground when it comes to performance. The only real difference between them is; the X-Finity is black and comes with FlexForce cables, the X-Pro is silver and has sleeved cables. Both have plenty leads, two 80mm fans and thick aluminum housing. Either one of these power supplies is well suited for a hardcore gaming rig. Watch the video to find out more and check out the bloopers at the end.”
CES 2007: In Win
Think Computers :: Monday, January 29, 2007
“While at CES case company In Win was nice enough to invite us up to their suite. Although we have heard of In Win we really did not know much about them so we were excited to see what they would be showing us. Let’s take a look.”
AMD Athlon6 X2-5200+
t-break :: Monday, January 29, 2007
AMD quietly released their 5200+, 5400+ and 5600+ CPUs a few weeks back. We managed to get the 5200+ and tested it out to see if this 90nm based CPU has any pep to it. Here\\\\\\\’s a bit from it:
Its based on the older 90nm Windsor Core and is identical to the X2-5000 in terms of raw speed- 2.6GHz. The only difference is that AMD has increased the L2 cache from 512k per core to 1Mb per core.
Thermalright HR-07 Memory Cooler Review
Madshrimps :: Monday, January 29, 2007
Thermalright is known as a very competent and successful manufacturer of after market cooling gear. Today, we take a look at their latest gem, the HR-07 Memory Module Cooler. This passive cooler is made to cool your ram beyond any stock heat sink or heat spreader. Have a look and see if it surpasses its daring intentions…
Swiftech MCW60-T Reviewed
Burnout PC :: Monday, January 29, 2007
“Overall this MCW60-T water block has impressed me performance wise, and by it’s superior built quality. Swiftech has really made a decent water block for anyone willing to go the extra step and push their video card to the next level. The TEC element runs best at it’s rated wattage of 188watts, but does produce quite a lot of heat. My water cooling system was having problems coping with that. Installation was real easy, and I experienced no difficulties using the MCW60-T.”
OCZ ModStream 520 Watt PSU
Tweak PC :: Monday, January 29, 2007
A PSU for casemodders with 520 Watt power and cable-management. That’s the OCZ ModStream 520 Watt PSU. It should be silent, too. We took a look.
Microsoft Office 2007 Review
Windows A to Z :: Monday, January 29, 2007
“Microsoft’s newest Office suite, Office 2007, is going to be released in just a few days. WindowsAtoZ.com’s editors have taken a look at the brand new Office suite and have written a full review on it so you can see if it’s worth your money.”
ECS PN2-SLI2+ NVIDIA 680i SLI Motherboard Review
Virtul Hideout :: Monday, January 29, 2007
“Anyone can definitely purchase this motherboard with confidence and know it will serve them well. And the price just adds to its attractive offerings as it retails for less than many of the current 680i platforms.”
Biostar T-Force N4SLIA9T SLI Socket 939 ATX Motherboard
RB Mods :: Monday, January 29, 2007
Motherboards aren’t the most glamorous piece of equipment in a computer build, but choosing a good one can dramatically affect your computer’s overall performance and functionality. Biostar, a popular motherboard manufacturer, offers the T-Force N4SLIA9T SLI Socket 939 motherboard that is packed with features and offers some unique overclocking utilities to help in boosting the computer’s performance to the next level. But does it deliver where it counts?
DFI LANParty UT NF590 SLI-M2R/G Motherboard Review
PC Stats :: Monday, January 29, 2007
“DFI has brought the world of the super insane volt modding overclocker within reach of the average overclocker. Add a spec of good engineering, a touch of awesome voltage options, and a little of DFI’s special magic and you have a platform that is killer fast right out of the box! The latest gear from those tweakers at DFI is the LANPartyUT NF590 SLI-M2R/G motherboard, and it’s looking like a real gem too. The Socket AM2 motherboard supports single and dual core AMD Athlon64, X2 and FX as well as budget Sempron processors. DFI have based the LanpartyUT NF590 SLI on nVIDIA’s extremely competent nForce 590 SLI and MCP55PXE southbridge chipsets.”
world-exclusive photos of the EPIA PX Pico-ITX board
Epia Center :: Monday, January 29, 2007
“The main thing that was missing from xyzcomputing’s article and tweaknews.net’s photos (which were the first sites to report on the new form-factor) were close-up photos of the Pico-ITX board itself. Fortunately we have obtained 3 macro-shots of the board shown at Lunch@Piero’s!! On these photos you can clearly see that the board only comes with a VGA and LAN port, all the other connectors are available in the form of onboard headers, just like on the EPIA NL.”
MSI P965 Platinum Motherboard – Great OC without huge price
Tweak Town :: Friday, January 26, 2007
“Intel’s P965 chipset has really shown us lately there is really no great point in getting a more expensive 975X chipset based motherboard but why? P965 has native DDR-2 800 memory support, its FSB overclocking potential is usually higher and it supports more peripherals on the ICH8 Southbridge. With Crossfire reorganisation from ATI, it has all the features of the 975X and more.
MSI’s second P965 motherboard they have sent us left a much sweeter taste in our mouths. The cheaper P965 Neo that was originally sent to us really should not have been considered, however, we can say that the P965 Platinum has some major pull here and it’s quite a capable product. And it’s really not that much more expensive than the Neo version.”
Super Talent 2x1GB PC2-8000
Overclockers Online :: Friday, January 26, 2007
My main interest with memory is the overclocking and how well the memory runs at a range of timings. The T1000UX2G4 showed a distinct ability to run tight timings ridiculously well. The overclocking results at the timings of 3-3-3-8/3-4-3-8 and 4-4-4-8 are the best I have seen, without a doubt. There isn’t much else to say except that the Super Talent T1000UX2G4 are sure to continue to turn heads everywhere they go, as they have here today.
Windows Vista System Performance Reports
Techgage :: Friday, January 26, 2007
Does performance suck on Vista when compared to XP? That’s what I was set out to find out. I was worried at first, since the performance in Beta 2 was quite bad. While there is indeed a performance decrease, it’s quite minimal as you’ll find out.
Core 2 E4300 vs. E6300 Overclocking Battle
Tech Spot :: Friday, January 26, 2007
The E4300 and E4400 models are set to become the new lightweight kings. With a suggested retail value of $130 and $150 in the second quarter of this year, they are also going to be very affordable. Furthermore, due to the more limited 800MHz FSB, these processors should be able to work with a much broader range of chipsets and perhaps more importantly, overclock like mad. While the price of the E4300 is expected to fall to $130 during the 2Q, it is currently selling for around $170, pricing it very close to that of the E6300. The price drop is one of those things that is said to be happening eventually, but whether it will or not is anyone’s guess.
The E4300 is not listed on Intel’s website yet and is still waiting to be officially introduced. That said, I was amazed to find two weeks ago, it was possible to purchase one of these processors in Australia from online vendors. Without wasting any time we snapped up an E4300 so that we could put it to the test, the overclocking test.
Interactive AMD Athlon 64 Socket AM2 Pinmod guide
OC Inside :: Friday, January 26, 2007
Finally, it was possible to find out the appropriate pins for the Socket AM2 processors and the first interactive AMD Athlon 64 Socket AM2 pinmod guide is published on ocinside.de It concerns – as in the previous AMD Socket A, S754 and S939 pin mod guidances – to connect CPU pins with a small wire. Hereby e.g. the CPU voltage (Vcore) can be changed, in order to reach higher CPU overclocking results. In the first version, the interactive pinmod guide offers already an increasement of the CPU voltage up to 1.550 Volt (also on PC startup), which is awesome to overclock a well cooled processor. And depending on the used motherboard it is even possible to get a Vcore up to 1.900 Volt !
Intel D975XBX2 (BadAxe) Motherboard Review
motherboards.org :: Thursday, January 25, 2007
So what differentiates the Intel D975XBX2KR from other motherboards already on the market? The first thing you get is Intel’s bundling. Intel can offer a lower price to OEMs with their CPU+motherboard combos. The software that comes with Intel’s retail box is comprehensive, offering such tools as Intel Audio Studio, Diskkeeper 9 Home Edition, Farstone RestoreIT, InterVideo’s MediaOne Gallery, and much more to their software bundle, meaning you get value with your purchase.
Spire Diamondcool II and Verticool II
Extensive Mods :: Thursday, January 25, 2007
Today’s CPUs are running at faster speeds and require sufficient cooling to prevent a Chernobyl-like meltdown. As technology gets more advanced, companies are developing new ways to cool the CPU more efficiently than ever before; be it air or water-cooling. A top of the line water-cooling setup can easily run into the hundreds of dollars and be too steep of an investment to make for the average modder. Air cooling has been the standard option to keep your CPU temperatures under control and today I’m going to look at some new air cooling units from Spire Coolers; the DiamondCool II and the Verticool II.
AOpen Mini PC MP945-VX Ultra Small Formfactor PC Review
PC Stats :: Thursday, January 25, 2007
“The AOpen miniPC MP945-VX is built with Intel’s very reliable 945GM and ICH7M chipsets (a pair of mobile core logic), and supports the Intel Core Duo Socket 478 mobile processor family. Everything else is based on notebook hardware which is compact, cool running, and quiet. The barebones AOpen miniPC MP945-VX system does not include a processor, memory or hard drive but does come with everything else including a dual layer slot loading DVD burner and wireless LAN.”
Scythe Ninja Plus Revision B CPU Cooler Review
Review Desk :: Thursday, January 25, 2007
“I really like the design of the heatsink, aside from the looks of it, from an engineering standpoint. There is a copper block screwed down to a small aluminum heatsink, which have 12 (or six, depending on how you look at it) hollow copper pipes sandwiched in between them. Attached to all those copper tubes are 23 thin aluminum sheets, which look like they were soldered on. What they soldered them on with, I don’t know, but they’re attached firmly.”
CES 2007: Asus
XYZ Computing :: Thursday, January 25, 2007
Of all the hardware companies I met with at CES, Asus may have had the best showing. Not only do these guys consistently pump out interesting products, but they do so across their entire line. This means their booth was packed enough notebooks, motherboards, monitors, and portable devices to keep a tech editor busy for some time. This year I focused my Asus coverage mainly on their notebooks, because I think this is where they are making the most headway. Some of their motherboards are extremely solid, but the portable device segment was where the newest and most exciting technology was on display.
Switched Networks Quiz
Hardware Secrets :: Thursday, January 25, 2007
“A new quiz on Switched Networks has just been added to Hardware Secrets Test Your Skills section. Take this quiz and check whether your knowledge on switched networks is good enough or if you should study more.”
INTEL Core 2 Duo E6600 Processor Review
Hardware Logic :: Thursday, January 25, 2007
The last few years have seen Intel Processors showing up to the office as your left hand man. Need that PowerPoint slide done? Intel will do it. Need that Excel spreadsheet done? Give it to Intel, he’s a hard-working guy. Right down the line, Intel has been reliable, smartly dressed and dependable. You know, boring. But all that’s changed with the Core 2 Duo line…
Windows Vista Version Comparison
Techgage :: Thursday, January 25, 2007
On Monday, we discussed whether or not Ultimate was worth your time or money. Today we will be comparing all four consumer versions of Vista together to better help you make the right decision.
Antec P180B Performance One ATX Case
Bjorn 3d :: Thursday, January 25, 2007
Antec labels the P180B as part of their Performance One family of computer cases. While the name of this product line may give some insight to the purpose of these cases, their actual performance and features remains undefined.
Mushkin XP2-8500 DDR2 2GB Dual Pack
OC Tools :: Thursday, January 25, 2007
“It performed as advertised and ran flawlessly over its rated spec. We never had any stability issues at all during the entire testing. Mushkin has a solid reputation when it comes to producing stable DDR/DDR2 ram, and their XP2-8500 didn’t disappoint us.”
CES 2007: Zalman
techPowerUp! :: Thursday, January 25, 2007
At CES Zalman announced that they will enter the monitor market. The first product is a 3D display based on LCD technology. Initially there will be two sizes available, 19″ and 22″. Another more traditional new product was a fan controller that can measure the system’s power draw.
Fantec LD-U35U2 Review
Technic 3d :: Thursday, January 25, 2007
“The Fantec LD-U35U2 3,5″ HDD Case arrived Technic3D. The 3,5” HDD Cases with USB and “One-Press Backup” can you see in the following Review.”
Open Linux Router Project Announced
Phoronix :: Thursday, January 25, 2007
“ClarkConnect, IPCop, m0n0wall, and Smoothwall are among the Linux distributions currently available that are targeted for use as a firewall or network server. However, shortly another contender will be launching into this arena and that is the Open Linux Router.”
Silverstone TJ07 Chassis
tbreak :: Thursday, January 25, 2007
The TJ07 has seven 5.25’’ drive bays, however, Silverstone does not bundle any bezels along with the chassis for hiding optical drives with different colored face plates. The black/white DVD drives we used certainly messed up the chassis\\\\\\\’ awesome look. Below the 5.25\\\\” bays, you find the front I/O connections hidden in a removable bay held shut by a small magnet. The front I/O connections comprise of four USB ports, one Firewire, and Audio in/out connectors. Below the I/O connections is the power button, reset button, power LED andHDD LED. The reset button is tiny and requires a pin to press. As an Overclocker, I would have preferred a normal reset button for quick & easy access to rebooting my system.
CES 2007: Sony & Microsoft
Think Computers :: Thursday, January 25, 2007
“While at CES we were able to get a chance to stop by both Sony’s and Microsoft’s booths. Sony’s main attraction was their new OLED TV’s. They just look amazing and they are so thin! Also we got a glimpse of Sony’s 70-inch XBR3 and the VAIO UX. At Microsoft we got a look at the Windows Home Server and the Windows Live Marketplace.”
Asus P5B-E P965 motherboard Review
PC Stats :: Thursday, January 25, 2007
The Asus P5B-E motherboard may be bland to look at but it’s what’s inside that counts right? ;-) There’s a decent amount of onboard peripherals such as 7.1 channel Intel Azalia audio, IEEE 1394a, Gigabit LAN and an additional Serial ATA II controller. If you feel the need to add devices, the P5B-E has a lot of upgrade possibilities with three 32 bit PCI slots and three PCI Express x1 slots.
Reviving and Volt Modding an Abit AW9D-Max Motherboard
Madshrimps :: Thursday, January 25, 2007
“The overclock ability of PC hardware is known for more then a decade now. As the market seemed to ask for more user friendly ways to overclock, manufacturers came up with ideas like dipswitches, softmodding through BIOS, asynchronous bus functions, etc. Though the risk stays the same, and once you run out of luck you might find yourself paying another $200 for replacement parts. Today we take a look on how we revived our motherboard after a failed BIOS flash, followed by supercharging it for extreme performance.”
OSI Model For Networking Protocols Quiz
Hardware Secrets :: Thursday, January 25, 2007
“A new quiz on the OSI Model has just been added to Hardware Secrets Test Your Skills section. Take this quiz and check whether your knowledge on the OSI model for networking protocol is good enough or if you should study more.”
Swiftech Apogee GT Water Block Review
Virtual Hideout :: Thursday, January 25, 2007
The Apogee GT is proof that Swiftech always find a way to improve the near perfect. The Diamond Matrix Pin revisions as well as some all around polishing and surface increase performance all over the cooling spectrum. The benchmarks and testing reflect excellent results that exceeded expectations.”
The Core 2 Duo Mini-ITX Box
XYZ Computing :: Thursday, January 25, 2007
After running my old Mini-ITX system as a PVR for a few months, I started to get somewhat annoyed at its lack of power. The embedded processor was great for simple tasks but even with the help of the powerful TV tuner card its operation was slow. The performance of the system was once acceptable, but when relaxing who wants to be waiting for a system to load when other options, like TiVo work so well? It was time for another upgrade. At about the same time as all this was happening my Mini-ITX motherboard died so there was no doubt that was time for a major overhaul. Unlike the old system, the new one was designed for serious performance, not just the bare essentials. What specifically does that mean? Core 2 Duo, Windows Vista, SATA storage, and more.
VIZO Voyager HDD Cooler
Gideon Tech :: Wednesday, January 24, 2007
“The noise level of the fans, however, is negligible, and can’t be heard over the other fans in the Thermaltake Mozart TX case used for testing. Importantly for modders, this cooler looks good and fits in most cases, a definite positive.”
Top 8 Vista Annoyances
Techgage :: Wednesday, January 24, 2007
I’ve been using Vista frequently since it lost it’s Longhorn code name. During that time, I’ve found one annoyance after another that just makes me ask, “Why did they do this?!” Read on to share my gripes and maybe even agree.
Swiftech Quiet Power P180 Liquid Cooled Barebones System Review
OCIA :: Wednesday, January 24, 2007
“Swiftech included their extremely popular APOGEE CPU water block with the system and they have already installed and leaked tested the complete cooling system. Unless you have a AMD socket M2, all you’ll need to do is install the block, connect the two hoses and fill the system. If you have an AMD socket M2 based system, you’ll need to switch out the water block’s mounting plate. Swiftech covers this in their instructions and the M2 mount plate is also included in the kit.”
SilverStone NAS NS311
Phoronix :: Wednesday, January 24, 2007
“While SilverStone Technology is primarily known for their high-end selection of PC chassis enclosures and power supplies, last year SilverStone had introduced the Mobile Storage series. At that time we had reviewed the SilverStone Mobile MS02, which was a 2.5″ mobile hard drive enclosure with a USB 2.0 interface. We had found this external 2.5″ HDD enclosure to offer a great deal of features, while being encased inside a stylish aluminum housing. The latest series among SilverStone’s storage products is the NAS series. SilverStone has introduced its first Network Attached Storage (NAS) device! The SilverStone NS311 supports both LAN and USB 2.0 connections and supports a single 3.5″ IDE hard drive.”
Spire RockeTeer IV 600Watt Power Supply
Dragonsteel Mods :: Wednesday, January 24, 2007
” There are many parts to a computer system, and often the most overlooked in the power supply, you need to have a good, stable PSU for your system to run at its full potential. Today for review I have the Spire RockeTeer IV 600Watt Power Supply, the Rocketeer is a decent power supply that performs well and does so silently. So, let’s jump right into this review… ”
Spire Fourier IV Intel/AMD Copper Heatpipe CPU Cooler Review
Tweaknews :: Wednesday, January 24, 2007
“The Fourier IV is a pretty good cooling solution. Spire’s innovative design and all-copper construction yielded very acceptable, but not outstanding, performance. The cooler has distinctive styling that looks good on a motherboard and can be used fanless, if the heat load is not too high.”
Aerocool Zero Flexi Tower
Pro Clockers :: Wednesday, January 24, 2007
The Aerocool Zero Flexi Tower is slightly bigger than a mid-sized case and smaller than a full-sized unit as well, and while it fills the middle-ground in terms of size, it does have the potential to store all your internal components. Most of all, the Zero provides some very serious cooling. Why we say this? Take a look at the article.
CES 2007: ShowStoppers
Think Computers :: Wednesday, January 24, 2007
“The last press event we attended at CES was ShowStoppers. ShowStoppers is held at the Wynn and if you haven’t been there then you should definitely see that hotel first hand, everything is over the top. ShowStoppers is a great press event that enables you to get a small look at what to expect from different companies without the crowd of the show floor. Of course there are drinks and food too. So let’s check out some things that caught our attention at the ShowStoppers event.”
Thermaltake Toughpower 750W PSU Review
Technic 3d :: Wednesday, January 24, 2007
“The Thermaltake Toughpower 750W PSU arrived Technic3D. See you in the following Review a PSU with the same electronics (Channel Well Technology)how Inter-Tech Nitrox PSUs, but Thermaltake has one silent Fan. Better than other PSUs?”
OCZ DDR2 PC2-9200 FlexXLC expands DDR2 Boundaries
Madshrimps :: Wednesday, January 24, 2007
“The last few months have been rather turbulent in memory land. Several new modules have been introduced to the market, some of which are quite revolutionary. Of course, OCZ could not fall behind, and has introduced a new top end memory module with a totally new design, and we spent some quality time with it, can it beat our reigning overclocking champ?”
TTIC nPowerTek NPH-K8 Big Heatsink Reviewed
Frosty Tech :: Wednesday, January 24, 2007
TTIC nPowerTek NPH-K8 Big Heatsink Reviewed on FrostyTech “The (TTIC) nPowerTek NPH-K8 Big heatsink is a huge low noise cooler, but in fact it’s that large size which allows it to operate without too much noise. The nPowerTek NPH-K8 Big is a deceptively simple combination of heat column and aluminum fins, intended for a Socket 754/939/940 AMD Athlon64 processor near you. At the heart of this heatsink is a huge copper cylinder; this is the heat column. The heat column is a 33mm diameter hollow copper cylinder which is vacuum sealed, creating the ideal environment for a special chemical coating on the inside that “superconducts heat axially at a molecular level.” The technology works on a related concept to traditional heatpipes, but is physically different and should not be confused with the latter.”
Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 CPU Quad Core Review
MVK Tech :: Tuesday, January 23, 2007
“Leap ahead, these two words drive focus at Intel. Their job is to find and drive the next leap ahead around technology, education, culture, manufacturing, and more to continuously encourage their customers, partners, consumers, and businesses to join them as they continue to take exciting leaps forward. After the incredible launch of Intel’s Conroe series it’s not too easy to follow that up. But make no mistake as at the end of last year, Intel has launched the world’s first quad core desktop processor. The Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 is based on the new Kentsfield core, and actually features two Core 2 Duo processors packed together in one single chip featuring a total of 8MB of L2 cache.”
Super Talent RBST 1 GB USB Stick w/ ReadyBoost
techPowerUp! :: Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Super Talent has recently announced their RBST line of USB sticks that support the Windows Vista ReadyBoost feature. ReadyBoost is a technology that enables you to increase system performance without doing any complex hardware upgrades. In our testing we see that the RBST offers amazing access times of only 0.9 ms and solid transfer rates of 17 MB/s for a very competitive price.
Microsoft Said to Offer Payment for Wikipedia Edits
Associated Press :: Tuesday, January 23, 2007
A software engineer in Australia has said he was offered payment by Microsoft to edit certain entries in the Wikipedia online dictionary, opening a heated debate about the ethics of such a move.
Microsoft Excel Patch Reissued
Microsoft :: Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Microsoft has reissued an Excel security patch, published earlier this month, after the update made it impossible for some Excel 2000 users to open documents.
Spam Law Claims First Conviction
Associated Press :: Tuesday, January 23, 2007
A man faces a sentence of up to 101 years in federal prison after being the first person in the U.S. convicted under a federal anti-spam law, authorities said.
DHTML Edit component removed from IE
Microsoft :: Monday, January 22, 2007
One of the best components that made IE7 way better than any other browser has been removed from IE7 in Vista. Here’s the scoop straight from the developers.
PC Basics – Heatsinks and TIMs
PC Apex :: Monday, January 22, 2007
“Heat is actually molecular vibrations in any material and our fingers interpret this vibration as heat. The greater the vibration, the hotter the material is/feels. In order to cool down the material these vibrations need to be dispersed or thinned-out in some way. If you have ever played with a tuning fork, try to think of when you would strike it and let it stop vibrating on its own. If you were to touch the fork, your finger would absorb the vibrations and the humming would stop along with the vibration. This is a very very general example of what your CPU cooler does. It takes the heat (molecular vibrations) generated by your PC’s CPU and disperses it in order to keep the CPU cool and prevent any heat build up which could kill your processor.”
Future desks to charge your gadgets wirelessly
DV Hardware :: Monday, January 22, 2007
“Herman Miller, which you may know from their popular expensive Aeron chairs, has licensed the eCoupled technology from Fulton Innovation. Future office desks from Herman Miller with the eCoupled technology could charge electronic devices that support this technology through a magnetic field. Forget about any wires or adapters, the only thing you’ll need to do with your phone, iPod or PDA will be putting them on your desk.”
Biostar TF550 Motherboard Review
Motherboards.org :: Monday, January 22, 2007
At a price of $77 bucks online, the Biostar TForce 550 board is targeted towards the mainstream segment of the market and is a good buy for those wanting an inexpensive non-SLI motherboard. The performance isn’t as good as the bigger brother nForce 590 SLI, but it’s not meant to be. Considering the layout of the board, the 24-pin power connector is forced to be in that position. Positives of the board include plenty of expansion room for add-on cards and the ability to use 6 USB 2.0 devices without the use of a bracket.
Noctua NF-S12 & NF-R8 Fans
Phoronix :: Monday, January 22, 2007
“Nocuta is a newcomer to Phoronix, so when they had first asked us to look at a couple fans we were a bit hesitant. In the past year, the only cooling fans we had reviewed were the Sytrin KuFormula SFFD120 and the Enermax Marathon Enlobal Fan, which were both unique products compared to a traditional computer case fan. Ultimately, we decided to accept Noctua’s invitation to try out the NF-S12 and NF-R8 fans, and in this review you will find out why.”
Surefire U2
Nippy Chips :: Monday, January 22, 2007
“Small footprint yet prodigious performance. That sums up the U2 in a few word. I fully enjoyed reviewing the U2 Ultra because it had no flaws, or drawbacks. This is one of the best flashlights that I have ever held in my hand. Not only does the U2 produce great light at its six, yes six different levels, but it also is clear bright light. The six levels helps when you need a little light for a long time, or a lot of light for a short amount of time. In my examination I saw that the lowest level was great for close up work, when the brightest of the levels projected far, and had a great beam spill.”
CES 2007: ASUS
Think Computers :: Monday, January 22, 2007
“When you hear the name ASUS you mainly think motherboards, but they make a whole lot of other products too. At this year’s CES they showed us a lot of really cool products like laptops, cell phones, GPS units, routers, video cards, and of course new motherboards. So let’s see what ASUS has in store for us this year!”
IBL Box HDD20 Harddisk Silencer Review
Hardware XL :: Monday, January 22, 2007
“This week I took a look at the IBL Box HDD20. The design is simple yet it’s very versatile in ways of installing in a case. There are three variations of HDD Boxes available resp; IBL Box HDD10 (for one harddisk), IBL Box HDD20 (for two harddisks) and IBL Box HDD30 (for three harddisks). Installing is child’s play and truly makes your harddisks operate without any annoying sound.”
CES 2007: Targus
Think Computers :: Monday, January 22, 2007
“Targus we mainly know for laptop bags and carrying cases, but this year at CES they also showed us some really cool accessories. They were nice enough to invite us up to their private suite at the New York New York hotel so we could get a first hand look at their new products. So here is what we got to see…”
Should you buy Vista Ultimate?
Techgage :: Monday, January 22, 2007
With the Vista launch imminent, you may be wondering what version you should be buying. Thanks to the four primary versions available, this is no easy task. Many will be swaying towards the Ultimate Edition, but should you save your cash?
FOXCONN 975X7AB-8EKRS2H Motherboard
bjorn 3d :: Monday, January 22, 2007
Up for review today is FOXCONN’s premium Intel motherboard, the 975X7AB-8EKRS2H. Despite the mouthful of a name, for those few users that are able to get around and decode the name it does contain a good deal of information regarding the motherboard it represents.
While I’ll get into details regarding its name later, I should first point out that the Foxconn 975X7AB-8EKRS2H is fully Core 2 Duo ready. Foxconn has a previous product titled, you guessed it, 975X7AA-8EKRS2H, that is not compatible with Core 2 Duo processors, so hence the “B” in the “975X7AB”. To recap, the board we have in this review is the “AB” product refresh/update with the needed changes having been made to the voltage regulator and BIOS.
Silent Storm 700W quad 12v PSU Review
Xtreme Computing :: Monday, January 22, 2007
“To really test the Silent Storm 120 I ran some demanding programs on all parts of the system. The CPU was clocked up to 3.0GHz. 3dMark 05 was used to stress the GPU while Prime95 was used on both cores to stress them and the memory. At the same time a DVD was written to from the hard disk to stress the file system.”
abit AW9D-Max Motherboard
Club Overclocker :: Monday, January 22, 2007
remember the first abit board I ever owned. It was the legendary BH6. It was the first real overclocking board I owned and it was the first time that I saw this thing that abit called Soft-menu. It seems that abit had come up with a way to make changes to the voltage, FSB, etc in the BIOS without using jumpers or dipswitches. My point is, abit has been there since the beginning of overclocking and has developed innovative ways to help us out, like coming up with a way to overclock through the BIOS. I’m glad to see abit still around and still innovating, but I’m especially excited to see what the AW9D-Max can do.
Antec Nine Hundred Review
Technic 3d :: Monday, January 22, 2007
“The Antec Nine Hundred Gamer Tower is the next Case in the Technic3D Editorship. Optimized for Gamer and Lan User included nice LED Fans. See you in the following Review which qualities the pre-modded Case with Window presents.”
All Athlon 64 Models
Hardware Secrets :: Monday, January 22, 2007
“All new processors from AMD found on the stores nowadays are based on AMD’s Athlon 64 architecture, also known as x86-64 or “hammer”. In this tutorial we will list all Athlon 64, Athlon 64 FX and Athlon 64 X2 models released so far and the main differences between them.”
Noctua NF-S12 and RF-8 Cooling Fans Review
Big Bruin :: Monday, January 22, 2007
Noctua continues to impress with the cooling products they have sent to Bigbruin.com for review. The NF-S12 and NF-R8 fans provided the cooling performance needed, the low noise operation wanted, and many quality touches that might not be expected.
Antec EarthWatts 500W at Overclockers Online
Overclockers Online :: Monday, January 22, 2007
Chalk another one up for Antec! The EarthWatts 500W is an excellent power supply unit which combines efficiency, performance, and is almost inaudible despite the single 80mm fan. This power supply was able hold its ground even under absolutely treacherous conditions.
Noctua NC-U6 Northbridge Heatsink Review
Madshrimps :: Monday, January 22, 2007
“Noctua made quite a splash with their high end NH-U series of CPU heatsink, delivering high performance at low noise levels, this miniature tower version fits on your northbridge and is passively cooled for total silence. Can it keep a hot nForce4 SLI chipset from frying, let’s find out.”
Spire Rocketeer IV SP-ATX-600w Review
XS Reviews :: Monday, January 22, 2007
“Spire have released some pretty good power supplies in the past. Today I have one of their higher end units, the Spire Rocketeer SP-ATX-600w. Supporting multiple graphics cards, lets see what this PSU can manage…”
Alpha Novatech PRE9060M92P Socket 775 Heatsink Review
Frosty Tech :: Monday, January 22, 2007
“When Alpha Novatech produce a new heatsink model the company tends to only produce one or two variations to get it right. On the other hand, companies like Thermaltake produce dozens of heatsinks for each new CPU platform, and six months down the road there is always an entirely new collection of thermal solutions to choose from…. Did you ever wonder why it takes a high end heatsink manufacturer a handful of thermal solutions to cover an entire processor series, and other brands dozens and dozens? In this review, Frostytech will be testing out the Alpha Novatech PRE9060M92P heatsink; a large socket 775 solution ideally suited for Intel Pentium D, Core 2 Duo/Quad processors.”
AMD QuadFX FX-70 Platform Performance & Overclocking
Legit Reviews :: Saturday, January 20, 2007
Legit Reviews recently looked at the top AMD QuadFX platform running FX-74 processors and was left wondering what a pair of FX-70 processors could do for less money. We got in the ‘budget’ QuadFX processors and did what any end user would do once they got them – overclock them to the max. We turned these 2.6GHz processors into 3.1GHz beasts, but was it enough for them to catch up to the Intel QX6700?
Thermaltake Swing Case
Modders Inc. :: Saturday, January 20, 2007
Today we are going to take a look at the Swing case from Thermaltake. This case resembles the look of the Tsunami and Soprano mid tower cases. The Swing has a stylish front panel design which leaves some room for the modders out there. In the time spent writing the review I have already had several ideas that a modder could do to the case to make it their own.
CES 2007: Zalman
Think Computers :: Saturday, January 20, 2007
“At this year’s CES Zalman showed a product that has to be on my list for one of the coolest products at CES. We know Zalman for CPU coolers and cases, but this product was not in that category at all. It’s actually a monitor! Now you may be thinking what I thought, Zalman is making monitors now?! Well let’s see what makes this monitor so special and take a look at what else Zalman was showing at CES.”
CES 2007 in Pictures, part two
Tech Spot :: Friday, January 19, 2007
Here’s part two of our coverage which goes through a number of interesting things we saw, from LED backlight laptops, to fuel cell batteries, ASUS’ XG Station which lets laptops use desktop videocards, prototype OLED screens from Sony, and a full body game controller.
Silverstone CW01-WD MediaPC/HTPC enclosure Review
Xtreme Computing :: Friday, January 19, 2007
“Silverstone and Western Digital in perfect harmony, you have to see it in action to see the effect it has. Also on a plus the chassis was doing a good job on the thermal side as well with the CPU running cooler in this than in the desktop case it used to be in, that kept the CPU at 34, in the CW01-WD that dropped to 28 at idle ”
Noctua NF-R8 and NF-S12 Cooling Fans
Overclock 3d :: Friday, January 19, 2007
Do you value a silent cooling solution for your PC? Let’s see if the Noctua’s NF Series 120mm and 80mm cooling fans can produce the goods.
HuntKey HK500-13BP 500W Power Supply Review
Madshrimps :: Friday, January 19, 2007
“And they came from the East, a thousand strong. Like a storm, they ravaged the lands. Unknown, exotic, different than ever been seen. One sat down at my table, and ate, drank and laughed. We’re all so different, yet all the same. HuntKey, a Chinese company let us test drive their 500W Power Supply”
CES 2007- Cooler Master, Flybook, Lian Li at
XYZ Computing :: Friday, January 19, 2007
I have done some more wading through my multiple gigabytes of CES photos in order to keep the coverage coming. This time around we will be taking a quick look at the best from Cooler Master, Dialogue (the maker’s of the Flybook notebook computers), and Lian Li. Each company had a few cool things happening at their booth, so we took the extended booth tour and compressed it down into a few pictures and some commentary.
CES 2007: Lunch@Piero’s
Think Computers :: Friday, January 19, 2007
“Lunch@Piero’s is another great press event that takes place during CES. It actually gives us members of the press time to relax and get a free meal too! Piero’s restaurant is located right across the street from the Las Vegas Convention Center so it is really convenient for Press to walk right over. It is a really cool environment with half of the restaurant reserved for eating and the other half is setup with small booth’s showing some great new technology from many different companies. So let’s see what all we saw at Luch@Piero’s!”
CES 2007 Booth Babes
PC Apex :: Friday, January 19, 2007
Like any other large expo there were a respectable number of lovely ladies on-hand to help draw attention to the products on display. We made sure to grab some pics here and there in between meetings to share with you. We have added over 40 new pics to the running Booth Babe Gallery on the site.
Crucial 2GB kit (1GBx2), Ballistix 240-pin DIMM, DDR2 PC2-8000
RB Mods :: Friday, January 19, 2007
DDR is old, that’s what the manufacturers claim and we can really see it on the market also. Review sites review only DDR2 and the manufacturers have finally been able to push down the timings on the ram kits and at the same time done the same with the price. Therefore DDR2 has taken over the memory market, but what should you get then? Today we might have something on your hands that actually looks like a good choice. Crucial sent us their latest 2GB kit named Ballistix which runs at a 5-5-5-15 latency, we are going to look at these and compare them to other 8000 memory out on the market so stay tuned.
Patriot PC2-6400 2GB Dual Channel Memory Kit
Viper Lair :: Friday, January 19, 2007
“Overclocking was decent, impressive that they could stretch beyond 800MHz @ 4-4-4-12 but none the less, very little gained by doing so. Patriot once again brings a solid competitor to the market space, giving the consumer a nice alternative to the well known brands that also looks good while doing it with the all black heat spreaders! Another underrated feature is the warranty. Patriot offers a lifetime warranty which is a nice security measure for peace of mind.”
Corsair at CES 2007
Techgage :: Friday, January 19, 2007
Corsair doesn’t normally announce many products all at once, but at their suite during CES they had some interesting flash products on display, in addition to their killer PC2-10000 kit.
Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 PRO
A True Review :: Friday, January 19, 2007
Cooling your CPU is very important as we all know. Because of this, there are hundreds of solutions for a person to choose from. Arctic Cooling offers a CPU cooler that promises to provide exceptional cooling with very little noise by utilizing heatpipe technology. While most of these solutions tend to cost around $40-50, Arctic Cooling’s Freezer 64 Pro is a very affordable solution. Normally, that means they took shortcuts and the cooler does not work all that well. CaseCooler.com allowed us to test the Freezer 64 PRO from Arctic Cooling, so let’s find out how well it performs.
Seagate Savvio 15K – Next Gen Enterprise Drive?
Techgage :: Friday, January 19, 2007
Seagate announced a new addition to their Savvio lineup earlier this week, the 15K. These new drives boast impressive specs all around, including the fact that it’s contained in a 2.5″ frame. Even though these are the fastest drives available on the market, they use far less power than their 3.5″ counterparts.
Vantec Iceberq 6 VGA Cooler Review
Big Bruin :: Friday, January 19, 2007
Many stock coolers may get the job done, but the Vantec Iceberq 6 VGA Cooler may be just the upgrade for enthusiasts who aren’t satisfied with just getting the job done. The Iceberq 6 dropped temperatures on the test GPU by about 13%, and as a bonus it dropped the case temperatures by about 10%.
OCZ FlexXLC Edition DDR-2 PC-9200 Memory – Chilled to Perfection
Tweak Town :: Friday, January 19, 2007
Companies like OCZ, Corsair and Crucial have really made some names for themselves with modules breaking into the 1000MHz+ DDR barrier, and today we are about to show off some of the latest enthusiast memory from one of these companies, namely OCZ.
Today we have the FlexXLC Edition memory modules designed to run at 1150MHz DDR or 575MHz out of the box using a few memory voltage tweaks along with some really innovative cooling. So come and see just what OCZ’s latest memory modules have to offer.”
NZXT Adamas Premium Crafted Chassis Review
Overclockers Club :: Friday, January 19, 2007
“Adamas, Greek for unconquerable or impenetrable. NZXT certainly wasn’t kidding when they named the beast. This mid-tower weighs in at a hefty 20 pounds with 2-3mm thick aluminum throughout most of the case! Along with the 300lb capacity, it was also designed with cooling in mind, with its exterior and drive bays being finned, yes that’s right, finned. And to top it all off, it stands tall in its all brushed aluminum with not a single flashy LED or annoying light in sight. In all probability, it’s another great case from NZXT.”
What Can Brown(out) Do For You?
PC Mech :: Friday, January 19, 2007
Most people notice power fluctuations only when light bulbs flicker or when there is a complete blackout. But power supply is rarely without glitches. From time to time there are surges, spikes, and brownouts — extended periods of low voltage — that people don’t even notice. For electronic equipment even such minor aberrations can be fatal.
Spire Verticool III Cooler
Technic 3d :: Friday, January 19, 2007
“The Spire Verticool III CPU Heatsink arrived Technic3D. The third Generation fom the Verticool Line better than the Verticool II?. See you in the following Review against others CPU Cooling.”
Crucial Ballistix 2GB DDR2-800 (PC2-6400) Memory Review
Hardware Logic :: Friday, January 19, 2007
“Far be it for us as a review site to pick favorites, but one thing we can do is point out that Crucial’s offerings have performed exceptionally well on our test benches in the past. Today’s sample marks the third Ballistix product we’ve looked at in the past year, and fourth Crucial memory kit overall. Most recently we put their 10th Anniversary DDR2-667 kit under scrutiny and were blown away by the overclocking headroom. In fact, our only real gripe was we felt that it could (and should) have been marketed as a faster kit, so when we received Crucial’s Ballistix DDR2-800 with respectable timings (4-4-4-12), we were eager to throw our gauntlet of benchmarks at ’em and see what kind of overclocking performance we could squeeze out of a higher clocked kit.”
mCubed T-Balancer bigNG Advanced Fan Controller Review
Madshrimps :: Friday, January 19, 2007
“mCubed introduced their first product back in 2004, named the T-Balancer XL we tested it and found it to be the most advanced and feature rich fan controller out there; rather than waiting for the competition to catch up, mCubed decided to up the stakes and they’ve released the T-Balancer bigNG, which aims to improve on the features and capabilities of the XL.”
CES 2007 Coverage- Aopen, Enermax, Silverstone, and Zalman
XYZ Computing :: Friday, January 19, 2007
At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show there was a lot of ground to cover and a lot of companies showing off their goods, so in this article we are going to try to get through four companies in record time. While each of these are staples of the computer hardware community each only had a few noteworthy products for the show so we are going to get through them quickly and show off the new gear. The highlights include new Mini-ITX gear from Aopen, great new cases from Silverstone, and a few surprises from Zalman.
Super Talent Expands U.S. Manufacturing Facility to Fourteen Surface Mount (SMT) Lines
Super Talent :: Thursday, January 18, 2007
Boosts Manufacturing Capacity in U.S.A. to 1.4 Million Units per Month
HighPoint RocketRAID 2340 Controller – Supporting 12,000GB of storage
Tweak Town :: Thursday, January 18, 2007
“Today we are going to take a close look at one of HighPoint’s very latest controllers and it’s one of the most impressive ones we’ve looked at so far, the RocketRAID 2340. Coming in at a little under $500 USD, it’s certainly not a cheap product but its feature list is neither short. Using special Mini-SAS connectors, it allows you to add up to an extra 16 SATA or SATA II hard drives to your system and run in a range of different RAID modes including 0, 1, 5, 10, 50 and JBOD. In fact, it has not just one but two controller chips on the card, which is powered by the PCI Express x8 slot for plenty of bandwidth throughput for extreme storage requirements.
Clearly it is designed more for small to medium-sized businesses with quite serious storage requirements. If you’ve got some cash to spend and are looking for a high-end controller card, which currently gives you the ability to store at least a whooping 12,000 gigabytes of data, using a total of 16 x 750GB drives (I just hope you have a monster-sized case…), you’ve come to the right place! Let’s get started and take a close look at the RocketRAID 2340 product from HPT and see if it is worth the asking price and just how it performs against other recent onboard motherboard controllers in RAID 0 and non-RAID environments.”
Sunbeam 9-Bay Acrylic Case Review
Think Computers :: Thursday, January 18, 2007
“Sunbeamtech was established in 2000 as a cold cathode fluorescent lamp manufacturer, but has recently added computer hardware to its product lineup. Notably, it produces a line of modular power supplies in competition with Ultra’s X-Connect series, as well as lines of keyboards, mice, cooling devices, and cases. It cases use a patented fan structure called “Core-Fan,” a lip on which fans can sit and be easily adjusted wherever needed within the height of the case. This review is for one such case, the 9-bay Acrylic Case, a transparent chassis ready for a high-performance, water-cooled, gaming, showcase rig. However, flaws make the future of this case unclear. Read on for the review.”
Spire VertiCool 3 Heatpipe CPU Cooler Review
Tweaknews :: Thursday, January 18, 2007
“Spire has done a great job with the VertiCool III in regards to its cooling ability. It holds up well against some pretty good competition while bringing a bit of its own individuality to the table. The addition of a fan speed control device will allow the user to dial in just the right noise-to-performance ratio for their particular hardware and environment. It doesn’t have any fancy lighting or other visual enhancements, just great performance.”
Fantec DB-337US and DB-338US2 Review
Technic 3d :: Thursday, January 18, 2007
“The Fantec DB-337US and DB-338US2 3,5″ HDD Case arrived Technic3D. The perfect mobile 3,5″ HDD Cases? The two external HDD Case with USB or eSATA can you see in the following Review.”
Fedora 7: The Linux Knight in Shining Armor?
Phoronix :: Thursday, January 18, 2007
“Fedora Core 6 was released on October 24, 2006 and scheduled to come out a half-year later is the seventh major release for the Fedora Project. However, unlike Yarrow, Tettnang, Heidelberg, Stentz, Bordeaux, and Zod, Fedora 7 is shaping up to be the most ambitious release yet. With all the work and reform going into Fedora 7 it poses the question, will Fedora 7 be Linux’s knight in shining armor?”
Noiseblocker CoolScraper V2 Heatsink review
Driver Heaven :: Thursday, January 18, 2007
“Noiseblocker is a German company specializing in silent computer cooling solutions. We have tested some of their products in the past, which we found to be of high quality albeit somewhat expensive. Since Noiseblocker is a rather new company, their product line-up is still small. Noiseblocker mainly focuses on designing and building some of the best quality computer fans around, but also produce other cooling related products, such as CPU coolers and accessories. Today we will take a look at the second revision of their CPU coolers, the CoolScraper 120 V2.”
Watercooling for your memory
PC Stats :: Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Win 2GB of ATI Crossfire Certified DDR2 RAM with OCZ and OC3D
Overclock 3d :: Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Fancy winning some lush OCZ DDR2 memory certified for use with ATI Crossfire based systems and compatible with all DDR2 platforms? Look no further than this post for more info!
Corsair Augments Flash Readout USB Product Family with 4GB and 8GB Capacities
Corsair :: Wednesday, January 17, 2007
— New capacities join the Flash Readout family to merge visual functionality and storage capacity to bring a new class of USB products to mobile users —
CES 2007 Coverage- VIA
XYZ Computing :: Wednesday, January 17, 2007
At CES this year VIA took over the Lunch at Piero’s event and despite being off-campus from the rest of the show, there were still a few cool things being shown off. It looks like VIA is finally interested in getting something going, so it might just be an exciting year for fans of small form factor computing.
CES 2007 Coverage- Razer
XYZ Computing :: Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Razer’s big news at 2007’s CES was not an input device as we expected, but actually more audio equipment. In addition to a sound card and headset they will soon be producing speakers! This 2.1 speaker system, known as the Mako, is the product of cooperation between Razer and THX, the same organization that certifies equipment for theater-quality sound. This is not only Razer’s first speaker system, but the first speaker system to be co-designed by the people at THX.
CES 2007: Corsair
Think Computers :: Wednesday, January 17, 2007
“On the last day of the show I headed up the Corsair’s suite at the Bellagio. I really was not sure what to expect other than just some new memory, but Corsair has some really cool new products coming out this year that you should definitely know about. I was very impressed with Corsair’s new flash memory products, so let’s take a look!”
CES 2007 Wrap up
Hardware Logic :: Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Well, our wild and crazy week has come to an end, Paul and Blake are both safely home, having endured a full week of my ranting and rambling. We definitely saw the full spectrum of quality, and marketing at this years show and today HardwareLogic takes a look at the good and the bad of CES 2007.
Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2007) Report
Target PC :: Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Fujitsu had their Lifebook P1610 mini tablet pc on display. This device spots an 8.9” WXGA display and is powered by the mobile Intel Core Solo ultra voltage U1400 Processor on the 945GMS chipset. Maximum ram memory size is 1GB (one slot) and a choice of a 30GB, 60GB or 80GB hard drive running at 4200RPM (P-ATA 100). This device is one of the most versatile mobile computing products we have seen to date.
ASUS Striker Extreme – nForce 680i to the Max
Tweak Town :: Wednesday, January 17, 2007
“Today is ASUS’s day in our labs. We have been sent the extremely feature packed ASUS Striker Extreme motherboard based on nVidia’s new nForce 680i chipset for our testing purposes – it falls into the “Republic of Gamers” series of boards from ASUS and it’s the first for the Intel platform. We are today going to see how well it performs and just what you get for the over $400 USD asking price when compared to a regular 680i motherboard and DFI’s impressive RD600.”
CES 2007: From Ultra Mobile PCs to Solid State Disks
HW Upgrade :: Wednesday, January 17, 2007
We continue our recap of the Consumer Electronics Show 2007 by looking at new ultra mobile PCs by Sony and solid state disks by Samsung. We also take a look at MSI’s new notebooks, some of which use unannounced chips, and fingerprint protected USB drives. Creative’s booth is also covered, along with their Xdock Wireless which fits right into the “digital home.”
Top Ten Reasons to Upgrade to Windows Vista
BTX Form Factor :: Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Last week we looked at the top ten new features in Vista, but how about the top ten reasons to actually upgrade to it? Windows Vista is the next generation OS produced by Microsoft, and an interesting fact here is that it has been five years since the release of its predecessor, Windows XP, making it the longest time span between major releases.
Antec Truepower Trio 650W Review
Tech Gear :: Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Antec has once again proven that you don’t need looks and glossy finishes to make a great power supply. Despite lacking some attraction, the TruePower Trio does well where it counts – stability and top class performance. Given the Trio’s relatively low cost, the value for money is undeniable. Three 12v rails, SLI certification, and the ability to power even water cooling easily ranks the TruePower Trio 650 very highly. The fact that it does this all in such silence just tops it off. Looking for a power supply to power your newest rig? Well, take a good look at the TruePower Trio 650.
Foxconn C51XEM2AA motherboard review
Driver Heaven :: Wednesday, January 17, 2007
“Since the release of the AM2 socket, NVIDIA has been enjoying the largest share of the motherboard chipset market. The nForce 5 series chipsets dominate not only at the high end but also at the value motherboard production lines. Today we will take a look at a motherboard made by the company which created the reference nForce 590i motherboards, Foxconn. Foxconn entered the retail market only recently, but they are old in the industrial and OEM business. They must have felt confident about their work on the reference nForce 590i motherboard, because they released it nearly unchanged to the retail market. If most reference motherboards of other companies ever made it to the retail market, it would be nothing more than trouble, but we feel confident about NVIDIA’s and Foxconn’s combined effort. The name of the motherboard is C51XEM2AA, which is certainly not the easiest model number to memorise.”
Intel January 2007 Sneak Peeks Posted!
Tech ARP :: Wednesday, January 17, 2007
“We recently had a chance to pick up some juicy tidbits about future developments at Intel. Join us and find out about the upcoming Core 2 Quad Q6600 and Yorkfield quad-core processors, as well as developments in the Santa Rosa platform. ”
Razer Death Adder Review
XS Reviews :: Wednesday, January 17, 2007
“Rollerballs, optical and even laser mice are now old school, making way for Razer’s latest mouse; the Death Adder which features an infra red optical sensor. It’s wide, ergonomic and looks a lot like Microsoft’s Intelli mice. Has Razer changed? Read on to find out…”
How to Discover Your Network Card Real Manufacturer
Hardware Secrets :: Wednesday, January 17, 2007
“Sometimes you will need to know the real manufacturer of your network card, especially if your need some kind of support or its drivers. The problem is that the usually the manufacturer of the big chip found on your network card isn’t who manufactured the card. In this short tutorial we will teach you how to do that.”
CES 2007: ASUS
techPowerUp! :: Wednesday, January 17, 2007
ASUS has been showing a number of innovations at CES. For example their XG Station which is the first external video card for notebooks. The 7900 GS class card lets you play modern games on your ultra portable business notebook. Another show highlight was the W5Fe notebook which is the first to use a secondary display for Microsoft Windows Vista Sidekick technology.
CES 2007 Coverage: Everything Else
OCIA :: Wednesday, January 17, 2007
“CES 2007 may be in the history books but we still have a ton of photos to share with you. We visited many booths during the show but due to the fact that many of these booths were crowded, we couldn’t schedule a meeting with all of the companies we visited and thus, no in-depth articles. Below you will find “everything else” we saw at CES, including the showroom floor, 3 Doors Down, Las Vegas night life and of course, booth babes! Enjoy!”
DDR2 1000 up to 1200 High End RAM – Kingston HyperX
Tweak PC :: Wednesday, January 17, 2007
We finished 2006 with a review of high-end-ram, and so we get the party started 2007. We take a look at four Kingston HyperX modules from DDR2 1000 up to DDR2 1200. So here it is: Memory Deluxe!
NXZT Lexa case Review
motherboards.org :: Wednesday, January 17, 2007
The NXZT Lexa case is an excellent case for those wanting plenty of expansion room while wanting a different look than the standard beige case. Aesthetically, the NZXT Lexa case is absolutely beautiful. Positives of the case include an all-aluminum design, resulting in a weight of around 5 Kilograms for the case itself, plenty of expansion room, and plenty of fans included to keep computer components cool.
Young Year YP-AB Transparent Power Supply
hardware Secrets :: Tuesday, January 16, 2007
“Young Year YP-AB, which is also sold under Aspire and Apevia brands, is an aluminum power supply with a big transparent acrylic cover, so you can see inside the power supply, being a very interesting choice for users that like transparent cases or cases with a transparent side window. Available in models ranging from 350 W to 520 W, in this article we fully disassembled this unit and discovered that internally it is a trashy “generic” power supply. Read on.”
CES 2007: Mushkin
Think Computers :: Tuesday, January 16, 2007
“Our friends over at Mushkin were nice enough to invite us up to their suite at the New York New York hotel to take a look at some of their new products for 2007. Mushkin will be adding new products to their Memory and Power Supply line as well as releasing a new CPU cooling solution. So let’s take a look and see what Mushkin has to offer in 2007.”
CES 2007: Mushkin
Think Computers :: Tuesday, January 16, 2007
“Our friends over at Mushkin were nice enough to invite us up to their suite at the New York New York hotel to take a look at some of their new products for 2007. Mushkin will be adding new products to their Memory and Power Supply line as well as releasing a new CPU cooling solution. So let’s take a look and see what Mushkin has to offer in 2007.”
CES 2007 Coverage- Ultra Products
XYZ Computing :: Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Before attending CES this year I forecasted Ultra Products to be one of the more exciting hardware companies at CES. This may seem like an odd prediction, and the company has not impressed me at CES in the past, but there are a number of circumstances that had me looking forward to visiting their booth this year. The highlights from this year? How about a 2000W power supply unit and a carbon fiber case?
abit Fatal1ty AN9 32X review
Nordic Hardware :: Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Abit needs no further introduction. Among overclockers and game enthusiasts it has always been a manufacturer you can trust because performance is high on the wish list. Through the years, Abit has manufactured motherboards that manage to deliver an outstanding overclocking.
Corsair HX620W Modular Power Supply Review
Hardware Logic :: Tuesday, January 16, 2007
“Having mastered every aspect of the memory market and ventured successfully into the water cooling sector, Corsair has turned their attention towards power supplies. That’s good news for buyers, because rest assured that anytime you see the Corsair logo, you can bet it’s a high quality product backed by both a fantastic warranty and support system.”
Abit NF-M2 nView
nView :: Tuesday, January 16, 2007
“A few months back we had looked at the Abit AW9D i975X motherboard, which was one of the first motherboards to come out of the Universal Abit camp. We had found this Intel flagship motherboard to be very competitive and offer a great deal of features even though it was not able to pack the equivalent punch of the legendary IC7-MAX3 or NF7-S v2.0. What we have on the table to look at today is the Abit NF-M2 nView. The NF-M2 nView is an AM2 motherboard that is powered by the NVIDIA GeForce 6150 with nForce 430 that offers both onboard DVI and VGA support along with 7.1 channel HD audio, Abit Silent OTES, and IEEE-1394a Firewire.”
Antec Nine Hundred Case
3dgameman :: Tuesday, January 16, 2007
“If you’re in the market for a new chassis, I would strongly recommend checking out the Antec Nine Hundred Case. It has most of the ingredients you should look for when purchasing a case. There are lots of fans and one massive 200mm fan at the top of the case, which provide excellent air circulation inside the case. There are many drive bays and modular HDD cages, which can be configured for your particular drive setup. Watch the video to find out more and check out the bloopers at the end.”
Crucial Ballistix 2GB Kit DDR2-1000/PC2-8000 (BL2KIT12864AA1005) Memory Review
OC Inside :: Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Crucial recently brought new Ballistix PC2-8000 memory modules to the market, which are particularly well suitable to overclock a PC or Mac. It was possible to reach excellence results also with default DDR2 voltage and fast timings in the test, so the modules are also well applicable on more inexpensive motherboards with less BIOS settings. The test report shows the performance of the Crucial Ballistix 2 GB DDR2-1000 kit and offers an overclocking comparison to 5 other memory modules.
Overclock3D Review: Fluid XP+ HP Watercooling Fluid
Overclock 3d :: Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Fluid XP+ may have been around for some time but today we’ve been given an oportunity to test its thermal properties and conductivity. Is it worth its hefty price tag? We find out.
Thermaltake Aguila
Bjorn 3d :: Tuesday, January 16, 2007
We have checked out a handful of cases from Thermaltake here are Bjorn3D. Each review brought up interesting points and facts about Tt products. Mid tower enclosures are still the big thing for the market. Customers appreciate reasonable dimensions, cool interior, useful features and definitely unique look. Thermaltake is all about satisfying your needs. The company makes wonderful PC cases, not to mention cooling solutions and accessories. Before we start off, I want you to take a look at our previous reviews: Thermaltake Mozart TX, Thermaltake Armor Jr and its bigger brother, Armor.
Today I’m checking out another PC case from Thermaltake. Aguila is its name. It’s a mid tower case, all aluminum design with a very unique look. Internal-wise it’s very similar to Armor Jr and essentially comes with the same features.
Cooler Master Stacker RC-831 Lite
Technic 3d :: Tuesday, January 16, 2007
“The Stacker RC-831 Lite Case is the next Tower in the Technic3D Editorship. See you in the following Review which qualities the “small” RC-830 Case presents.”
OCZ SD Dual 80X 2GB
Overclock 3d :: Tuesday, January 16, 2007
OCZ has recently started delving into a few new areas of the technology market as we’ve seen here on OC3D with their new lines of flash drives. Today I will be looking at another mobile storage solution from them, the OCZ SD Dual 80X 2GB.
Kingston 2x1GB PC2-5300 FB-DIMM Memory Kit Review
Virtual Hideout :: Monday, January 15, 2007
“Unlike DDR2, where you can only have 8GB of memory per channel, FB-DIMM allows for up to 192GB of RAM per channel! (That might actually be enough for Vista!) It also allows for more bandwidth per channel too, 40GBs vs. 10GBs for DDR2. However both of those numbers are theoretical….”
Noctua Case Fans
Modders Inc. :: Monday, January 15, 2007
For the most part case cooling fans have been pretty consistent in design. Well Noctua is about to show us that case fans can be improved. The Noctua case fans incorporate several changes from the standard case fans on the market. We will be looking at the NF-R8 (80MM), NF-S12-800 (120MM / 800RPM), and the NF-S12-1200 (120MM / 1200RPM) fans.
CoolIT Eliminator Peltier / Water Cooling Hybrid CPU Cooling System
Club Overclocker :: Monday, January 15, 2007
We recently had the opportunity to review CoolIT’s Freezone Hybrid Cooler here at ClubOC. While we were impressed with both the ease of use and the performance; the high price tag places that unit out of reach for most builds. CoolIT is back with the Eliminator hybrid designed to give you the same ease of use we have come to expect from CoolIT and save you $100 in the process. Does the Eliminator bring the same hybrid cooling performance without breaking the bank? We take a look at the Eliminator right here at the Club!
ASUS at CES 2007
Techgage :: Monday, January 15, 2007
ASUS had a great showing at this years CES, so we’ve compiled our 7 favorite products and deliver them to you. Included is the XG Station, W5Fe Sideshow laptop, P535 phone and Commando motherboard.
Top Ten New Features in Windows Vista
BTX Form Factor :: Monday, January 15, 2007
Windows Vista, scheduled for release on January 30th, 2007 has something for everyone, from tight security and stunning new graphics to some new bundled applications. In fact, there is much that this new operating system has to offer, that it will be a real test for the hardware configuration of your PC. With its sleek new look and eye-catching interface, actually it’s what’s under the hood that impresses the most.
CES 2007 Coverage: Razer
OCIA :: Monday, January 15, 2007
“We stopped by the Razer booth on day three of CES to check out what new products they have in store for 2007. We were anticipating a quick visit as the booth was somewhat crowded. I informed one of the Razer associated know that we were there and was pleasantly surprised when Robert “Razer Guy” Krakoff, founder of Razer, offered us an in-depth look and demonstration of their latest product, the Razer Mako 2.1 THX speaker system..”
Thermalright Chill Factor
Overclockers Online :: Monday, January 15, 2007
Competing well with Arctic Silver 5, the Chill Factor might be a great alternative due in part to its great advantages. For one, you get a lot of thermal compound for the same price as other premium thermal compounds. Also, it should appeal to beginners and enthusiasts alike as beginners can relax due to its electrical non-conductivity and ease of application while enthusiasts will love the performance and value.
Crucial Ballistix DDR2-1000 2GB PC2-8000 Kit Review
MVK Tech :: Monday, January 15, 2007
“Crucial Technology has a long tradition in producing quality memory modules for all categories of users. Crucial as many hardware enthusiasts know is the retail arm of the Micron who actually makes many of the RAM chips used by other manufacturers such as OCZ. Crucial has been known as reliable partner, a company which is stable and pushed the bar in terms of enthusiast memory modules. Recently Crucial has a new high performance memory product line, which goes by the name of Ballistix. The Ballistix products are offered at faster speeds and lower latencies, and comes with the same limited lifetime warranty and award winning support you expect from Crucial.”
Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty Fawn Herd 2
Phoronix :: Monday, January 15, 2007
“The second development release for Ubuntu 7.04 “Feisty Fawn” has hit the mirrors. Ubuntu 7.04 Herd 2 integrates GNOME 2.17.5, ZeroConfNetworking, F-Spot v0.3, GTK+ 2.10.7, KVM virtualization support, WINE 0.9.29, and much more.”
XG Viper 2 Case
3dgameman :: Monday, January 15, 2007
“XG has surprised us in the past by coming out of no where and providing us some pretty awesome products. Their attention to the customer appears evident in the Viper 2 case and they have definitely found a customer in me. The Viper 2 case is obviously not geared toward the high end class of the case market. The Viper 2 is a youthful, eye catching gaming chassis. With Shinny good looks, the included Intrusion Switch/Alarm, and LCD display with included temperature probe, this Viper lashes out for your attention and consideration when buying your next gaming case.”
OCZ PC2-9200 FlexXLC
Overclockers Online :: Monday, January 15, 2007
As mentioned, these modules certainly showed that they are not just all show and no go. The overclocking results on both my AM2 and C2D systems really impressed. The DDR1280 achieved on my P5B-Dlx is by far the fastest that motherboard has ever run memory and I don’t expect many kits to match that frequency any time soon. For high frequency operation, this is definitely one of the kits to have. If you are in the market for memory that runs tighter timings at lower frequencies, don’t run the other way, the OCZ PC2-9200 FlexXLCs held their own at 3-3-3-8 and 4-4-4-8 respectively.
Thermalright Chill Factor Thermal Paste Review
Tweaknews :: Monday, January 15, 2007
“If you spend much time in online computer forums, I’m sure you’ve read it many, many times. “Which thermal paste is best?” For the last several years a couple of products by a single supplier seem to always top the list. The occasional challenger steps up, but so far no one seems to be able to dethrone the reigning king.”
Asus’ M2R32-MVP motherboard
Tech Report :: Monday, January 15, 2007
AS THE LARGEST MOTHERBOARD manufacturer in the world, Asus has quite a bit of variety to its lineup. At one extreme, you have ultra-high-end boards with loads of auxiliary peripherals, onboard Wi-Fi, and all kinds of imaginative extras. At the other, there’s a gaggle of budget-minded boards that skimp on extras, feature low-end chipsets, and generally don’t offer many BIOS-level tweaking or overclocking options. The best enthusiast boards usually lie somewhere in between, combining decent chipsets with enough BIOS options for tweaking and overclocking, all without succumbing to unnecessary extras that would jack up the price.
Of course, there are plenty of mid-range motherboards with competitive feature sets and competent BIOSes. To really stand out from that crowd, middle-of-the-road boards need to go above and beyond the call of duty, and that usually means offering loads of overclocking potential.
We’ve had good luck overclocking Asus’ mid-range motherboards in the past, and that gave us high hopes for the company’s M2R32-MVP. With an AM2 socket, CrossFire Express 3200 chipset, overclocking-friendly BIOS, and street price hovering around $140, the M2R32-MVP has all the tools it needs to impress PC enthusiasts. But does it know how to use them? Read on to find out.
CES 2007: Digital Experience
Think Computers :: Monday, January 15, 2007
“Digital Experience is a great press event put on by Pepcom. They always do a great job making sure you get a chance to see all of the companies and get some good food in the process. Each year there is a theme to the event, this year it was a pirate theme. The entire show was filled with pirates, a pirate themed bar, and even a live parrot! There were a ton of companies to check out, but we are going to show you some of the things at the show that we thought were cool.”
CES 2007 Coverage: SilverStone
OCIA :: Monday, January 15, 2007
“Following on the success of the SG01, SilverStone will be releasing the SG03 in March. The SG03 is a MicroATX case that has two 120mm intake fans behind the removable front bezel to draw in cool air and a spot for an optional 80mm fan on the roof of the case. Two hard drives can mount in the bottom of the case and one 5 1/4″ optical drive sits in a bay at the top of the bezel.”
Asrock Conroe945G-DVI Motherboard
Pro-Clockers :: Monday, January 15, 2007
Well, today we will bring to you the fourth Asrock motherboard to be reviewed here. The Conroe945G-DVI offers a world of options and features for a good dollar value. Boasting a DVI add-on card and support for the market leading processor, the Intel Core2 Duo, this board is poised to be the ultimate HTPC/SFF motherboard out there today.
Based on the Intel 945G chipset, the Conroe945G runs colder then the newer 965 and 975 chipsets. And if extreme graphics is not needed, the GMA950 integrated graphics ported through the DVI card will bring great visuals to your monitor or television set. If this isn’t enough please take into account that the board supports PCI-e graphic cards, SATA II and high definition sound. So, all the bases are covered, let’s get into the details of this board.
GIGABYTE Launches Quad SLI-Ready GA-N680SLI-DQ6
Gigabyte :: Monday, January 15, 2007
GIGABYTE UNITED INC., a leading manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards, today launched the highly anticipated GIGABYTE GA-N680SLI-DQ6 high end gaming platform, featuring the advanced NVIDIA nForce® 680i SLI MCP chipset, support for the record-setting Intel® Core™ 2 Extreme Quad Core processors and delivering the uniquely innovative GIGABYTE 6-Quad technologies.
The Mobile Solar Power Station
PC Stats :: Monday, January 15, 2007
Those of you who are on the move will certainly appreciate this, the Eclipse Solar Gear Hybrid Notebook case. With an integrated solar panel on the side of the case, obviously you can charge your notebook but think about the mobility a case like this offers? MSRP is $399US, where can I get one? ;-)
Coolers and Cases from Arctic Cooling
PC Stats :: Monday, January 15, 2007
Arctic Cooling is getting into processor cooling and its 64 Freezer LP is an interesting design wtih two fans. Designed for Socket AM2, there’s one central heatpipe cooled by two aluminum heatsinks.
Asus P5N-E SLI Motherboard Review
Motherboards.org :: Monday, January 15, 2007
ASUS has done a wonderful job with their P5N-E SLI chipset. So wonderful, in fact that in many respects the performance of the board outdoes its bigger sibling the 680i SLI. The features that the nForce 680i SLI boards bring to the table that this board does not have include: dual x16 cards, Dual Gigabit Ethernet, LinkBoost, 6 SATA ports instead of 4 and 2 additional USB ports.
CES 2007 Coverage: The Cars
OCIA :: Monday, January 15, 2007
“Besides our love for computers, we here at OCIA.net are also very much into cars. While CES is not specifically geared towards the automotive industry, there are plenty of hot rides on hand being used to showcase new audio, navigation and other vehicle-related goodies. We took a few hours to tour the North Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center to scope out what was new in the industry.”
Google Docs and Spreadsheets
PC Mech :: Friday, January 12, 2007
Google Docs and Spreadsheets
An Apple That Could
PC Mech :: Friday, January 12, 2007
Now, I realize that all of you probably have read at least something about the iPhone and my intent is not to lecture you all on how great the product is or how it can handle many tasks — if you are interested, please take a look at Steven Jobs’ Keynote Speech or Apple’s iPhone Homepage. Rather, it is the approach that Apple has used in its products that has continually amazed me. CEO Steven Jobs continues to lead Apple in a positive direction, lending his hand to shaping consumer electronics and computer industries.
OCZ Technology Overclockerfest
OCIA :: Friday, January 12, 2007
“We will be seeing a new heatsink from OCZ in about a month. The Vindicator is a 6-heatpipe universal socket heatsink that can be used passively or with a 120mm fan. The demo unit we saw had the optional 120mm fan installed. As you can see, the unit is very large and looks similar in design to Noctua’s tower-style heatsinks.”
CES 2007 Day 3 Coverage
Tweaknews :: Friday, January 12, 2007
“Although we were tired and our feet still sore from the show floor, we forced ourselves back into the consumer hurricane here at CES 2007 in Las Vegas. Today as you will see was a very productive day with lots of contacts made and a lot of booths visited.”
OCZ in a FLASH
Bjorn 3d :: Friday, January 12, 2007
We thought it would be fun to test and detail the similarities and differences of several products that fit in this genre of ‘flash drive’ in one single review. OCZ Technology, one of the largest and most prestigious memory manufactures in the world, agreed with this concept and sent us three of their newest generation flash products to the review. Please join us as we explore the performance, intricacies, and issues with the: OCZ Rally2 2GB USB 2.0 Dual Channel Flash Memory Drive, OCZ Roadster 1 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive , and the OCZ 2GB 80X Secure Digital Dual Memory Card.
Catalyst 7.1 Comparison
Technic 3d :: Friday, January 12, 2007
“Catalyst 7.1 Comparison on Technic3D. Faster then Catalyst 6.12? See you in the following Catalyst Roundup up to Catalyst 6.6.”
Patriot Memory Extreme Performance 2GB DDR500 DC Kit
Techniz :: Friday, January 12, 2007
“The Patriot Memory Extreme Performance 2GB DDR500 DC Kit is very overclockable RAM. Furthermore, it comes with a premium aluminum heat spreader. This pair of DDR PC4000 is able to run at 500MHz with the timing of 3-4-4-8 even at default CPU speed. As for the overclocking performance, with the slightly changed the timing and increase the memory voltage, the RAM was able to hit 252MHz which is equal to DDR504….”
Wireless Networks Quiz
Hardware Secrets :: Friday, January 12, 2007
“A new quiz on Wireless Networks has just been added to Hardware Secrets Test Your Skills section. Take this quiz and check whether your knowledge on wireless networks is good enough or if you should study more.”
Silverstone Zeus ST85ZF 850W Power Supply Review
Madshrimps :: Friday, January 12, 2007
“Silverstone Technology Ltd. is a relative newcomer to the PC-world having been founded in 2003. As a manufacturer of power supplies, CPU-coolers and enclosures they aggressively sought to compete with the very best in these product categories. Over the last year they have come into their own with the release of the well received Temjin TJ06 aluminum case and Zeus line of PSUs. Silverstone is now a relatively familiar name and we have the flagship of the Zeus series, the ST85ZF.”
Kingston KHX9600D2K2/1G memory with 1200 Mhz
Hardware Overclock Austria :: Friday, January 12, 2007
Hardwareoverclock Austria has posted a new memory review. “We have reviewed the Kingston KHX9600D2K2/1G memory, rated with 1200 mhz. On the EVGA 680i sli board we have find out the nearest latences and the highest clock. More about performance and benchmarks you can find in the article.
Ultra Products 1025 VA 615 Watts Backup UPS
BTX Form Factor :: Friday, January 12, 2007
I have been quite pleased with Ultra Products brand memory, cases, and power supplies that I have used, but my initial impression of the 1025 VA 615 Watts Backup UPS is a bit mixed. The specifications, pricing, and warranty coverage are all great, but the performance just didn’t live up to expectations. Providing a fraction of the run time expected severely hinders the final verdict on this UPS from Ultra Products.
CES 2007- An Overview
XYZ Computing :: Friday, January 12, 2007
Expectation for this year’s CES have been quite mixed. While this is the number one time of the year for a company to make a big product release every year can’t be a blockbuster and this year was decidedly more about evolution than revolution. The large majority of what happens at CES has to do with consumer electronics, which means that while computer hardware companies do show up they are not the focus and they are definitely not in the majority. When it comes down to it, CES is all about big money consumer electronics products, like LCD televisions and cell phones, not so much computer cases, hard drives, and motherboards. That said, there are more than enough companies here to keep things interesting and while we did a lot of CE coverage, we are going to keep things separate so all you computer enthusiasts can get what you want and then read about the rest if you want.
Ultra X-Blaster ATX Case
Modders Inc. :: Friday, January 12, 2007
What color? What form factor? What style? These are common questions we ask ourselves when looking for the right case. The options are plentiful and growing by the day. Deciding on which case to go with has a lot to do with what you actually plan on doing with the computer. Today we are going to take a look at Ultra’s newest case offering the X-Blaster.
CoolIT Eliminator CPU Cooler Review
RBmods :: Friday, January 12, 2007
Recently, Niko had a chance to review the CoolIT Freezone CPU cooler and was impressed with its performance but not without some reservations. CoolIT sent us another one of the CPU cooler products, the Eliminator CPU cooler, which has a similar design yet is also geared towards “eliminating” noise as well as heat. Will it also eliminate the other CPU competition? We are going to put it through its paces to determine if that is the case.
Asus P5N-E SLI Motherboard Review
Legit Reviews :: Friday, January 12, 2007
“Asus has produced a fantastic board in the Asus P5N-E SLI. it is a board that performs as good as anything else out their in our testing, but goes way beyond anything we have seen yet in the area of overclocking. If you are looking for a great enthusiast board, with very little headaches to setup and overclock well, and you do not want to mortgage the house for the 680i series, this board is it…”
Crucial Ballistix DDR2 PC2-6400 Kit Review
XS Reviews :: Friday, January 12, 2007
“When 2gb kits started to become standard among gamers, Crucial ruled the roost with their high end PC4000 kit. Since then it has all moved on to low latency, high bandwidth DDR2 and Crucial is once again trying to dominate the market with their high performance modules. Today I have with me a mid range PC6400 kit from the Ballistix series. However, these modules are sporting the D9GMH chips which are touted as the new TCCD. This should mean high performance and some extreme overclocking, lets see how well they do.”
Pretec i-Disk Jelly, Store in Style
T :: Friday, January 12, 2007
Pretec, the inventor of i-Disk Tiny and i-Disk Charm, has expanded the portfolio of the smallest USB flash Drive in the world by introducing the new i-Disk Jelly, a soft touch cover and fashion accessory based on patented i-Disk Tiny.
CES 2007: Arctic Cooling
techPowerUp! :: Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Arctic Cooling has been in the video card aftermarket cooler market for several years. Their products are well known among overclockers and users that are looking to lower the fan noise of their video card. At this year’s show they presented two completely fanless passive VGA coolers that can even cool GeForce 7950 and X1950 cards.
CES Day 1 Coverage
Tweaknews :: Wednesday, January 10, 2007
“First and formost, we at Tweaknews love anything to do with the latest technology coming onto the consumer market. CES essentially drops you directly into one of the highest concentrations of consumer technology in the world and some, if not most of the important product launches are done here. It is essentially a hub for every important manufacturer to display their product to prospective buyers and to the media. Every manufacturer you know that makes your home electronics and your computer hardware will be represented here.”
Mini-Box.com M300 Mini-ITX Enclosure Review
Big Bruin :: Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Not only is the M300 one of the smallest Mini-ITX enclosures with a full height expansion slot, it manages to pack other useful goodies inside as well. Given the size, built in features, and simple good looks, it is easy to recommend for anyone looking for a compact Mini-ITX case with some nice added touches.
OpenMoko offers open-source smart phone
The Tech Report :: Wednesday, January 10, 2007
We don’t normally cover smart phones here at TR, but OpenMoko is showing an interesting device at CES that could really open up the platform. OpenMoko was started as a mobile communications group within FIC, and it has developed an open, Linux-based software stack for mobile phones. The stack was developed in part to give smart phones a non-threatening alternative to operating systems from Microsoft and Symbian, which pack steep hardware requirements and expensive licensing fees. OpenMoko also hopes its approach will resonate with open-source developers eager to take on a new platform and those who have been unimpressed with the inflexibility of current smart phones.
Jetway J7F3E1750 Review
Epia Center :: Wednesday, January 10, 2007
“…in the end I’m convinced that Jetway’s daugther board concept is a great feature. By offering more 20 daugther boards there’s really no other board that offers that much flexbility and versatility. Add to that the good CPU performance and you’re looking a real allround talent.” (…)
Antec’s 2007 Product Lineup
The Tech Lounge :: Wednesday, January 10, 2007
“Antec was nice enough to schedule a meeting with Brian and myself at the Bellagio. Many of you reading this may remember that we covered their new lineups for the coming years during our time at CES the last two years. This year they had their next series of cases (Such as the Sonata III, P182 and P190) to show us as well as some hard drive enclosures, power supplies (1000 & 850 watts) and their HTPC cases, plus an interesting AV component I’ll talk about at the end of the article.”
Antec PC Carrying Strap Review
Tech Gear :: Wednesday, January 10, 2007
The PC Strap is made of nothing but high quality materials. The strap themselves are woven of a strong material, and can hold a lot of weight by themselves. The clips, which make for easy strapping, are made of plastic and also are big in size. This makes it easier to clip together when making the straps as tight as they can be.
SilenX Luxurae Hard Drive Silencer
Tech Gear :: Wednesday, January 10, 2007
If you have noticeable noise coming from your PC, the chances are that a fair bit of it is from your hard disk. This has been the case for years now because it’s quite difficult to quieten down something rotating at such high speeds. Today we will be looking at a product designed to counter the noise from a hard disk – it’s the SilenX Luxurae Hard Drive Silencer
Rosewill RX353-S 3.5″ SATA to USB/e.SATA External Enclosure
Tweak Town :: Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Today we will be checking out one of the company’s newer offerings, a 3.5” SATA external enclosure. Since the goal of this company is value, we will take a look at the cost of this product compared to other similar items, as well as taking a look at the performance. After all, low price is one thing but our enthusiast rigs deserve nothing but top notch performance!
So kick up your heels and relax for a bit as we delve deeper into this means of using a newer SATA drive as an external device. Price, performance… is it worth our hard-earned upgrading dollars? We’ll find out!”
CES Day 2 Coverage @ Tweaknews.net
Tweaknews :: Wednesday, January 10, 2007
“Day 2 started rather slowly seeing we had to spend the morning writing and arranging the content for Day 1. We tried to write the night of the first day, but we were out until close to 1am and were absolutely tired. As we sat yawning at each other across the work table, we decided that if we wrote anything now it would be absolute garbage and wouldn’t represent what we truly accomplished during our introduction to the CES madness.
Day 2 seemed to be quite a success. We had a lot of fun and as you will read, some great technology was released today.”
be quiet Dark Power Pro 850w
Maxit Mag :: Wednesday, January 10, 2007
“be quiet! have risen to the challenge of Quad Core processors and SLI monsters to produce a feature packed unit with enough juice to power even the most power hungry PC. It’s unlikely you’ll ever need 850 watts of power but having a beast such as this will mean future system upgrades are well covered. be quiet! offer a generous 3 year warranty as standard adding to the lifespan. The bottom line is you won’t be upgrading this power supply for years!”
Car-PC Project VW PoloVision
PC Max :: Wednesday, January 10, 2007
In this Project we integrated a complete PC into a Volkswagen Polo. The PC is the new Multimedia Interface. It works as a MP3 Audio Player, DVD-Player, burns CDs, navigates threw the Streets, simulates a free intercom for mobile phones, mobile office, a TV Player by DVB-T, Internet Access, and so on… Besides that the car has been highly modified. It now has the engine of the Audi TT with over 220HP. All that and much more on 20 Pages with a lot of pictures! Enjoy!
HEC AcePower 480 W Power Supply
Hardware Secrets :: Wednesday, January 10, 2007
“HEC (a.k.a. Compucase) is a traditional OEM manufacturer, meaning that their core business is to manufacture power supplies (and cases) to other companies. They decided to enter the retail business but in order to not compete with their customers they decided to launch products with lower specs. According to HEC, their goal is to deliver high-quality power supplies costing less than high-end competitors. We’ve got an AcePower 480 W to see if this is really true. Let’s take an in-depth look on this power supply.”
Driver Heaven’s CES Coverage
Driver Hevaen :: Wednesday, January 10, 2007
CES is the World’s largest Annual Tradeshow for Consumer Technology and this year Driver Heaven is attending the event in fabulous Las Vegas. It has been a major feat getting some coverage between all the late night parties with hot women and gambling in the casino’s. So here with our with our first day of CES coverage, a few K out of pocket.
CES 2007 Coverage: Cool IT
OCIA :: Wednesday, January 10, 2007
“Think of it in terms of a case fan with a temperature sensor. Once the sensor on the fan detects that more heat is being generated, the fan is then told to spin faster to compensate for the increased load (reactive cooling). Cool IT’s proactive system will detect the load on the CPU and know that heat will soon follow. The software will then take measures to prevent this heat increase from taking place.”
Super Talent PC2-8000 DDR2 2GB Kit
Overclock 3d :: Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Super Talent may be relatively unheard of in the UK market but they are certainly no newcomers to the memory scene. Today I’ll be looking at their high-end T1000UX25G modules to see how they fair in the fierce DDR2 market.
Make Your Web Site Accessible
PC Mechanic :: Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Rahul reveals some tips to make your website a bit more accessable to people with poor eyesight and hearing, as well as some reasons why to do it.
Tech Predictions for 2007
Digital Trends :: Wednesday, January 10, 2007
” Having written about video and audio technology since—gulp!—1980, let me tell you, there have been some mighty dull years. When I started out, big- screen TVs existed, but were based on analog technology and looked awful. The notion of combining video and audio into a single system was so unusual then that I was actually rebuked by my bosses at Video Magazine for writing a long and prominent new- product item about the very first surround receiver. It was a Kenwood with composite video switching, and no surround decoding, because surround sound hadn’t reached the home front. HDTV and the progeny of Dolby and DTS have remade the world and made it better. Now you can enjoy a huge, detailed picture with sound all around you. And just when you think things couldn’t get any better, they’re about to. Again. Here are a few rash predictions for 2007. ”
Sennheiser MX 90VC Review
Digital Trends :: Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Sennheiser has re-invented the ear bud with their “Twist to Fit” design found in the MX 90VC. Rather than just letting the ear bud rest on the bottom of the ear, the MX 90VC has an extension above the bud piece, topped with a rubber wheel, that wedges the earpiece into the ear. The earpiece is inserted at an angle and twisted while in place, causing the wheel to roll along the upper edge of the inner fold of the ear, wedging the driver into place. ”
Linux KVM Virtualization Performance
Phoronix :: Wednesday, January 10, 2007
“For only being a release candidate the Linux 2.6.20 kernel has already generated quite a bit of attention. On top of adding asynchronous SCSI scanning, multi-threaded USB probing, and many driver updates, the Linux 2.6.20 kernel will include a full virtualization solution. Kernel-based Virtual Machine is a GPL software project that has been developed and sponsored by Qumranet. In this article we are offering a brief overview of the Kernel-based Virtual Machine for Linux as well as offering up in-house performance numbers as we compare KVM to other virtualization solutions such as QEMU Accelerator and Xen.”
OCZ 2x1GB PC2-9200 Flex XLC DDR2 Memory Review
Virtual Hideout :: Wednesday, January 10, 2007
“OCZ did well in choosing the best Micron D series modules which contribute to the memory’s ability in breaking and setting some new records. Coupled with any flagship 965X, 975X, and 680i chipsets, the Flex XLC becomes a very powerful tool.”
TechReport Awards 2006
The Tech Report :: Wednesday, January 10, 2007
ANOTHER YEAR HAS COME AND GONE, leaving a trail of phenomenal new hardware, disturbing and annoying trends, and disappointing flops and no-shows in its wake. All told, 2006 was a great year for PC enthusiasts, and a very busy one for us. An almost endless stream of new hardware passed through our labs, and most of it was pretty good. We also got to see dual-core processors really come into their own, Intel bounce back from the horrendous NetBurst era, and Nvidia shock the world with a unified shader architecture. Somewhere in the middle of all that, AMD surprised everyone by acquiring ATI.
Of course, 2006 was also dotted with events and trends that we’d just as soon forget. For every engineer working overtime on an innovative new product, there seemed to be at least one PR rep blowing smoke, one marketing team spinning hype, and one product manager making a poor design decision.
To send 2006 off in style, we’ve singled out the best enthusiast-oriented products of the year for our Best Hardware of 2006 awards. We’ve also whipped up a selection of unique awards to recognize some of the year’s most interesting innovations and annoying trends. And there were plenty of each. Read on to see our picks for the best hardware of the year—and then some.
VIZO Igloo Self-contained Water Cooling Heatsink
Bjorn 3d :: Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Back in late October of 2006, VIZO Technology Corp and their product development team released a product which many would consider past-due: a self-contained liquid cooled CPU heatsink and fan. That’s right, an all-in-one CPU cooler which has an integrated water-cooling pump, reservoir, and fan, and manages to consume no more space than the average aftermarket cooler. VIZO even beat all of the others to the market, but since they are a relatively small name in the advertising-fueled industry, their product went nearly unnoticed. Even major web technology tabloids made the mistake of awarding a product released over a month later as the first; but forgetting to inquire upon the facts is not uncommon for web tabloids.
Data Backup Guide – Online and Hardware Solutions Examined
Tweak Town :: Wednesday, January 10, 2007
“After reading a newspaper article recently, we discovered there are plenty of online backup sites which will store your data for you on their servers – some free and some are paid services. There are also more expensive hardware backup solutions, such as the Freedom9 freeStor 4020, which we will be taking a closer look at today in this guide. These types of devices are designed more for SOHO and business users but if your data is important to you, it is money well spent no matter who you are. We’ll also look at some cheaper alternatives if you don’t wish to spend as much money.
Let’s change those backup percentage figures – today we’ll give you a rundown of those online backup services, the hardware solutions and generally good practices in preventing data loss through measures such as using RAID arrays with redundancy, Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware software.”
Spire RocKeteer IV 600W SLI Ready Power Supply Review
Madshrimps :: Wednesday, January 10, 2007
“This 600W SLI ready unit from Spire features a low noise 120mm fan and enough power to run the most demanding gamer setup; being sold at a very competitive price of <$70 we find out if it´s up to a Crossfire challenge.”
Understanding & Mastering Water Cooling Part 1 & 2 Posted
Tech ARP :: Wednesday, January 10, 2007
“Ever wondered about water cooling your PC? Well, wonder no more. AlmostThere will show you everything you need to know about water cooling.”
Thermaltake Lanbox
techPowerUp! :: Wednesday, January 10, 2007
The Thermaltake LanBox is a portable case, which – as the name implies – is perfect for LAN parties. It features a large, comfortable and very sturdy handle, while keeping the weight down. It may cost more than other SFF cases out there, but certainly shines in every aspect. We let you know if the money is well spent for this case that is made to be the ultimate LAN party case.
The Tech Zone CES Kickoff Party
The Tech Zone :: Tuesday, January 09, 2007
“The Bigfoot crew had a custom-designed case on display running F.E.A.R. We spoke with the Bigfoot rep. for a bit and also picked up some really nice goodies, including a full copy of F.E.A.R. and Killer NIC necklaces (a blingin’ Killer NIC heatsink on a chain – genius marketing technique!).”
Antec Introduces Giant Five-Fan, Dual-PSU, Ultra Quiet Case
Antec :: Tuesday, January 09, 2007
P190 brings unrivaled performance to power users with maximum cooling and minimal noise
Corsair Unveils TurboFlash Family to Support Microsoft Vista ReadyBoost Technology
Corsair :: Tuesday, January 09, 2007
— Removable flash USB memory device improves Windows Vista system performance —
MSI 965P Platinum Motherboard
Viper Lair :: Tuesday, January 09, 2007
“From a feature standpoint, between the MSI 965P and Abit AB9, the MSI board seemed like a more feature loaded product. There was more “stuff” in the package, but mostly the ability to run a CrossFire configuration could be a possible deal maker for those planning such a setup down the line. Seven SATA connections should be more than enough for most people, as well as the extensive RAID support.”
Coolermaster Itower 930 case
RBmods :: Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Coolermaster have made themselves known on the case market for their Stackar cases, they do of ocourse make other cases and today we will take a look at one of those. We got a sample of their Itower 930 which is a midi tower case made out of steel, yes you read it right steel, not aluminum as most cases are today. The main problem with a steel casing is the weight, but on the other hand you get rid of that rattling sound from an aluminum case.
The main question still remains though how well does a steel case work with todays components? Will it overheat? Is this really a case that consumers would like?
DFI ICFX3200-T2R/G Motherboard – AMD RD600 Chipset Arrives!
Tweak Town :: Tuesday, January 09, 2007
“This left us wondering on the Intel front, would RD600 ever make it to the market potentially being an AMD owned chipset for an Intel CPU. First there were rumours of it being scrapped, but now we have finally seen the first board based on this chipset cross our path, and by the looks of it possibly the only one that you will ever see.
DFI has taken to the market and with courage decided to face whatever Intel does to them further on down the track, after all, why be afraid these days? There is still the AMD market if DFI gets shafted by Intel. Nevertheless, it’s good to see a company like DFI stand up and be strong and give the consumer what they want.”
Road Trip To CES: Part 3 (The Last Leg)
OCIA :: Tuesday, January 09, 2007
“We pulled into Vegas around 6 p.m. PST (8 p.m. CST). I was completely taken back by the amazing view that we had overlooking the city. The picture here is nowhere even close to doing it justice. I plan to pick up a tripod in the next day or so and should have some really nice Vegas scenery photos to post for you guys.”
2the Max MaxPower GPX750 PSU using Modular Design
Tweak Town :: Tuesday, January 09, 2007
“The GPX750 tested today shows itself to be a very solid power supply capable of handling the rigors of a high-level system even under adverse conditions. With power levels across all three rails that exceeded industry specifications, you can be assured of a solid supply of power to your rig.
The modular design is also a huge plus, especially for those looking for some help in the cable management arena. When you don’t have to have those extra cables inside the case you don’t have to hide them. As noted before, this also helps with proper airflow since you don’t have all those extra wires getting in the way of your fans’ airway.”
abit AW9D-MAX Review
PC Modding Malaysia :: Tuesday, January 09, 2007
“The AW9D-MAX is truly built for overclockers and is designed for enthusiasts. The board layout was near excellent but we couldn’t help picking on the PCI slot which was located rather close to the secondary PCI-E x16 graphics slot. This is a serious problem for gamers who plan to install a better soundcard and run dual GPU setup at the same time. But there’s no need for a dual GPU configuration especially when you can run almost any game at maximum setting/resolution with a single GeForce 8800GTX or the upcoming ATI/AMD R600 graphics card.”
750W & 850W Dark Power Pro PSU Review
Virtual Hideout :: Tuesday, January 09, 2007
“In today’s crosshairs we have a couple of modular power supplies from a company called be quiet! That’s right, I said BE QUIET! This is another new company to me and looking over their site, I’ve found they offer some really nice looking power supplies at many different price levels. be quiet! sent out 2 power supplies for review: the BQT P6 PRO750W and the BQT P6 PRO-850W. These units are identical in every way except for the 100W difference, which is spread out over several of the power rails. Also these power supplies have been Nvidia SLI and ATI CrossFire approved.”
Seagate WON’T launch a 300TB HDD in 2010
DV Hardware :: Tuesday, January 09, 2007
“Three days ago Wired published an article in which they stated that Seagate will be able to deliver a 300 terabits HDD within a few years with their new heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) technology. Unfortunately most media reports didn’t notice the article talks about bits and published articles with stuff like “Seagate planning 300TB HDD!”. I believe Joystiq was one of the first sites which reported this. They even claim this HDD will be able to store 6,144 50 GB Blu-ray disks…”
ASUS P5B Deluxe Motherboard Review
Phoronix :: Tuesday, January 09, 2007
“The ASUS P5B Deluxe supports Intel’s latest Core 2 processors as well as being backwards compatible with the Pentium and Celeron series. This motherboard also features an eight-phase power design, fan-less motherboard cooling, and many more ASUS innovations.”
Aspire X-Pleasure ATX Case
PC Apex :: Tuesday, January 09, 2007
“My first impressions of the case once it was out of the box were mixed. It looks and feels, as previously stated, like a Chenming/Chieftec Dragon with a different front door. You will notice that this case is much lighter than the older steel Dragon case, having a shipping weight of just over 19lbs, a far cry from the older steel cases. Aspire also offers the X-Pleasure in the normal steel variety if you want something a little more durable and dent-resistant. Handling the X-Pleasure, it feels pretty sturdy and is solidly built for an aluminum case. ”
CES 2007 Coverage – First Carbon Fiber Case and Standard Size 1000W PSU’s
Legit Reviews :: Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Ever seen a mass produced carbon fiber computer case? The answer is no, because carbon fiber has only been used as “trim” in the PC industry. For the first time a standard size ATX computer case has come to market that is made almost entirely of carbon fiber! Ultra Products is back at it again and Legit Reviews brings you the exclusive first pictures of this carbon fiber chassis!
Etasis ET850 (EPAP750) 850W PSU Review
Technic 3d :: Tuesday, January 09, 2007
“The Etasis ET850 (EPAP750) 850W PSU arrived Technic3D. See you in the following Review a PSU with the same electronics how Silversone PSUs. Better than other PSUs?”
Everglide Titan “Fnatic Edition”
TechPowerUp! :: Monday, January 08, 2007
The Everglide Titan “Fnatic” is the first mousepad which is the result of the collaboration between Clan Fnatic and Everglide, hence the name. Everglide has always been known for producing high quality gaming surfaces. A great feature for low-sensitivity gamers is its size, it is absolutely huge. But will it live up to Everglide’s standard and reputation?
Thermalright HR-03 VGA Videocard Cooler Review
Tweaknews :: Monday, January 08, 2007
“The HR-03 VGA cooler is a great leap forward for Thermalright, putting them back in the VGA cooling business with a vengeance. The innovative design and dual configuration mounting system combine to make the HR-03 a real winner. Good passive cooling performance and monstrous active cooling should make gamers very happy, and anyone overclocking a card with this cooler and fan combo won’t have to worry about heat holding them back.”
Road Trip To CES: Part 2 (The Blizzard)
OCIA :: Monday, January 08, 2007
“As with most tasks that XPTB and I set out to accomplish, things rarely go smoothly… and this trip is no exception. Our last update was just four hours into the trip. It is now 16 hours later and we have just left Albuquerque, New Mexico. Our journey to this point is as follows.”
Vizo Armada RAM Cooler Review
RBMods :: Monday, January 08, 2007
When we talk about cooling inside a computer, we are usually looking at coolers for traditional components such as the CPU, graphics card, Northbridge, etc. Well, what about one of the more expensive components inside the motherboard, the RAM? Vizo, makers of a wide range of computer components, as released a new product, the Armada RAM cooler, which offers a cooling solution for RAM sticks. Read on to find out if it makes a noticeable difference in performance.
Pre-CES Coverage
The Tech Lounge :: Monday, January 08, 2007
“2007 marks the 40th anniversary for the Consumer Electronics Showcase (CES), the largest technology convention in North America. This will be the 4th consecutive year of TheTechLounge covering CES. Today we attended the CES Unveiled press event where we were able to talk one-on-one with several different companies who were showing off their latest and greatest gizmos and gadgets. Check back regularly for more coverage of CES and our Pre-CES coverage including more from CES Unveiled and Pepcom Digital Experience.”
Road Trip To CES: Part 1
OCIA :: Monday, January 08, 2007
“Mapquest calculates the trip to be 1602.61 miles from Olive Branch, MS to Las Vegas, NV which equates to 23 hours, 18 minutes and traveling through eight states. The original plan was to leave out at 8 a.m. Friday morning. Well, that didn’t happen as some last minute packing and vehicle maintenance was required. We ended up rolling out around 2:30 p.m. after a quick Burger King lunch. We will be driving straight, only stopping for food and gas (who needs sleep anyway?).”
MSI P965 Platinum Review
Technic 3d :: Monday, January 08, 2007
“The MSI P965 Platinum Mainboard arrived Technic3D. The fanless Mainboard with a small Price for Gamer with Intel 965 Chipset. Faster than other P965 Mainboards? We test this against the Gigabyte DQ6 and Foxconn P965AA. See you the result in the following Review on Technic3D”
Expansion Card Text added to the BOG and Add-On ROM Updated
Tech ARP :: Monday, January 08, 2007
We have just posted the Expansion Card Text BIOS feature today and Add-On ROM Display mode is updated. This brings the BIOS Optimization Guide to more than 366 BIOS features.
ECS GeForce6100SM-M Motherboard Review
Hardware Secrets :: Monday, January 08, 2007
“ECS GeForce6100SM-M is one a socket AM2 motherboard with on-board video, based on the latest version of GeForce 6100 chipset from nVidia, MCP61S. Costing very little and targeted to the entry-level market, we were very curious to compare its performance to its main competitor, Radeon Xpress 1100 from ATI, and also to cheap add-in video cards, like GeForce 6200. Let’s see how GeForce6100SM-M performs.”
Seven Out of Ten Americans Want to Monitor Their Home While Away
Ruderfinn :: Monday, January 08, 2007
A staggering number of Americans (72 percent) say they would like the ability to monitor their home when they are gone – with the majority looking to use the technology for safety and security purposes, such as monitoring who is in the house and knowing when their children arrived home safely from school.
MSI launches its New Media Center PC
MSI :: Monday, January 08, 2007
MSI Media Live is the latest addition to MSI’s Media Center PC family. You will enjoy a true digital life in the living room with Media Live. MSI will showcase its outstanding R&D competence in the Media Center PC field at the CES 2007 in Las Vegas, U.S.A. on January 8-15, 2007.
CoolIT Systems Unveils Advanced Liquid Cooling Innovations
CoolIt :: Monday, January 08, 2007
CoolIT Systems, known for their high-performance MTEC™ liquid cooling technology, has developed the first-ever MTEC™ Control Center module with “Predictive Cooling™” effectively allowing computers to anticipate heat production from the CPU and adjust cooling power accordingly to provide a new level of cooling stability. The MTEC™ Control Center module consists of a USB connected control board that allows full software interaction to dynamically control the cooling power and fan speeds of nearly any MTEC Chilling solution depending on the preferences of the end user.
Kingmax Digital Creates Global Sensation with World’s First 4GB & SD 2.0 Compliant microSDHC Memory Card
Kingmax :: Monday, January 08, 2007
With this new product, Kingmax has fully realized the allure of microSD, which lies in its ability to accommodate smaller form factor and portability in product design, its ease of use on various platforms, and backwards compatibility.
Bill Gates: 2007 CES Keynote Transcript
Microsoft :: Monday, January 08, 2007
Well, good evening. I’ve always loved coming back from Christmas vacation, you’re nice and relaxed, and you come right into the most managed environment ever, seeing all these thousands of companies delivering on the promise of the Digital Decade. It’s always been fun to come here. I love giving the keynote. In fact, people ask me, are you going to keep doing it, what’s the plan there? And the answer is, yes, next year I’ll give the be involved in the keynote like I always have been. After that, I’m not sure they’ll want to invite me, because I might talk a lot more about infectious diseases than great software. So if they want me, fine, but they’ve been warned what they would hear about.
SilverStone Tundra TD01S External Liquid Cooling System
Dragonsteel Mods :: Monday, January 08, 2007
” SilverStone makes excellent, high quality products that are designed well with functionality and performance in mind. Today for review I have the SilverStone Tundra TD01S, it is their venture into liquid cooling, and they have done it with style and class. The Tundra is something amazing to behold, it is an external liquid cooling system that is truly noiseless, as there are no fans involved in the cooling process. It uses a unique, patent pending, uni-body technology where the entire housing is the radiator to dissipate the heat from the coolant. I am truly impressed by the Tundra, not only does it look like a work of art, it performs exceptionally well at cooling, and does so truly silently. So read on to learn more about a truly silent cooling solution, the SilverStone Tundra… ”
Counterattacking Cold Calls
Hardware Secrets :: Monday, January 08, 2007
“I hate cold calls, simply because if I needed something from any company, I would call them. Last Saturday morning I got a call from someone offering me a free checking account at a certain bank. You know what? I would never open an account on a bank that allows their salespeople to annoy me on a Saturday morning. The worst case that happened with me was a few months ago: a lady from the local phone company called me offering their ADSL service SEVEN times on the SAME day. She only stopped after my second phone call to their 800 number threatening to sue them. In fact, I blacklist companies that use telemarketing and never do business with these companies. If everybody did like this, they would stop using this annoying “technique”. Wouldn’t it be wonderful? But I have a really terrific (and funny) way to counterattack cold calls.”
Review: Zalman Fatal1ty VGA Cooler
Gideon Tech :: Monday, January 08, 2007
“I’m going to be using the 7900GS I reviewed recently because one of my complaints with it was the heatsink, which was merely adequate. The 64-degree core temperatures recorded with the stock heatsink, while safe, was too high for my personal taste.”
AOpen Showcases Newest PCs
AOpen :: Monday, January 08, 2007
In addition, AOpen will showcase its newest MoDT-based products including MoDT based miniPC, miniITX motherboard, Digital Signage Display, Digital Signage Media Player, Housing for miniITX motherboard and others. AOpen’s MoDT technology provides the perfect combination between low power consumptions and high performance solutions.A highlight of the show will also be a showcase of a new Vikuiti™ Rear Projection from 3M. The truly innovative and eye-catching display provides more brightness, clarity and definition. Vikuiti Rear Projection takes digital signage away from the electronic display. It is more affordable than flat panel display (particularly at large sizes), brighter than conventional screen, and performers at all angles even in high ambient light condition. John Kirkpatrick, Sales Director of 3M Digital Signage will be on hand co-host the 1st Digital Signage seminar session AOpen will be holding, January 8th at 3:00pm.
Intel Core 2 Q6600 review
The Tech Spot :: Monday, January 08, 2007
Hot on the heels of the Core 2 Duo launch, Intel came out and released the world’s first quad-core processor last November. Given how powerful the Core 2 Duo had proven to be, we wondered how much of a performance gain this new quad-core version could offer.
According to our previous tests, there are currently no games that take advantage of the additional two cores; however software such as Photoshop, Pinnacle Studio Plus, QuickTime and 3D Studio Max all greatly benefited from the power of four dedicated cores. For example, the QX6700 was 15% faster than the Core 2 Duo E6700 in Photoshop, and gains as big as 43% were seen in Pinnacle Studio Plus. The biggest performance gap was found in 3D Studio Max where the QX6700 was 89% faster than the E6700.
Even though there will be those out there that will want the power of the QX6700 for image and video editing, the processor’s steep price ($1000) might set high barriers for getting one. Today Intel is releasing a second quad core processor called the Core 2 Quad Q6600. This new entry that comes clocked at 2.40GHz does not belong to the Extreme family of processors and will begin life at $530, making it a much more affordable alternative than the QX6700. Finally, the obvious question becomes how much impact does the clock frequency reduction make and is the new Q6600 a worthy.
CES Unveiled 2007
Think Computers :: Monday, January 08, 2007
“Well it is the beginning of another year and that means CES. This year marks the 40th anniversary of CES. Last year was our first year at CES and now it is our second so we know what to expect. It is 2 days before the actual show and we are at CES: Unveiled, which is the official press preview of what to expect at the show. Last year we were able to take a look at some really cool products before everyone else did, let’s take a look at what we saw this year.”
Know Thy Host!
Hardware Logic :: Monday, January 08, 2007
Sitting on your computer is the power to block sites, survive the end days, and lock your system down tighter than a White House press conference – no third party needed. Are you game?
Top 10 Email Mistakes and Mishaps in 2006
MessageGate :: Friday, January 05, 2007
MessageGate presents some of the year’s most costly and comical e-mail blunders
Antec Nine Hundred Hardcore Gaming Case Review
Madshrimps :: Friday, January 05, 2007
“After spending more than a month with this Nine Hundred Gamers case we stress tested it with different system to find its strong and weak spot, read on to see if this new Antec case is worth your money.”
Storage Technology Guide Article
Fast Silicon :: Friday, January 05, 2007
“Today we have an informative article, the purpose of which is to enlighten you on the topic of mass storage technology. Mass storage is an interesting technology, storing its data in a series of what looks like (to our eyes) as a bunch of pseudo-randomly situated magnetically aligned bits. Yup, you heard it. A bunch of little micromagnetic charges arranged in 2 different directions. Odd huh? Well my fellow geeks, shall we dig into the wonderfully diverse worlds of hard disks? Read on!”
Crucial Ballistix 2x1GB PC2-5300
Overclockers Online :: Friday, January 05, 2007
As I mentioned in the opening, this was our first experience with a kit of memory from Crucial here at Overclockers Online and I don’t think we could have had better modules to look at. I had big expectations from this memory after I saw that the IC’s they used were the famous D9GMH and those lofty expectations were surpassed in all aspects of overclocking.
Apevia ATX-IB680W-BL Iceberg PSU
Viper Lair :: Friday, January 05, 2007
“A PSU is still one of those things that many people don’t put a lot of thought into when in reality it should be one of the components you put the most thought into. Would you build a performance car with “no name” brand, or inferior quality parts? The Apevia Iceberg we tested was well within spec and didn’t have any wild fluctuations that would lead me to believe there are any problems with the unit.”
CoolIT Eliminator Review
Overclockers Club :: Friday, January 05, 2007
“Last month we had the privilege to take a look into Coolit’s Freezone CPU cooler. That unit used TEC (Peltier) cooled water, in a “chiller” module to cool the CPU. Being the first of its kind, Coolit was basically pioneering this field. This month we have the unique and very privileged chance to take a look at their latest addition, the “Eliminator” CPU cooler. This unit has the same basic design as the Freezone, although it looks to be a little bigger. Only time will tell us if they worked out the few bugs that the Freezone had and if this Eliminator is actually an improvement over the Freezone. However, with the slated $199 price tag, this cooler will definitely be grabbing more of the market than the Freezone. With the smaller price and hopefully the same kind of performance, this will make the Eliminator a CPU cooler for the masses.”
Ultra Products 2000W ATX Power Supply
Legit Reviews :: Friday, January 05, 2007
Bigger is always better right? It seems that way when it comes to the computer industry and today’s annoucement of the upcoming Ultra 2000W power supply should be no suprise to those that follow the computer hardware. The Ultra X3 Modular 2000W PSU has a footprint that is similar to the PC Power & Cooling 1000W power supply. This means this PSU comes in at 10.25 inches long and doubles the power rating all while keeping the same form factor!
In 2006 The PC Industry Shrunk and Prices Went Up
Legit Reviews :: Friday, January 05, 2007
It’s getting around that time of the year where we look back and reflect on the things that happened during the previous. One year ago to the day I posted an editorial that talked about being a smart consumer and to keep the ‘electronics envy’ bug under control. For the most part I hit the nail on the head with 2006 being a really expensive year for enthusaists and a number of products were released that were worth skipping. I even pointed out that key players were leaving ATI, but I missed the signals of the impending merger that would happen this past year. A number of big changes have taken place in the hardware industry in 2006 and I have had the honor to be on the sidelines and watch them happen. Twelve months ago I wrote that 2006 would be an expensive year for enthusiasts and I think I was spot on, but that raises the question is that are the prices getting too high?
AMD’s 65 nm “Brisbane” core
Lost Circuits :: Friday, January 05, 2007
The latest line of CPU – codename “Brisbane” – is AMD’s first foray into 65 nm interconnect technology. AMD claims that the process shift does not affect performance, only power consumption is greatly reduced. However, there has been some controversy regarding the effects of the process shift on cache performance, especially the Level 2 cache appears to be severely affected with respect to access latencies. Sometimes numbers don’t add up and sometimes, even if they do they don’t really paint a consistent picture. We looked at the “Brisbane” from the top, from the bottom, turned it left and right and finally we suspected that some benchmarks are flawed. If we are right, then there is a small increase in cache access latency which is in the order of approximately 10% or 2 cycles between the Windsor “F” revision and the Brisbane “G” Rev. That’s really all we can let out here, but there is more in the rest of the article.
Logitech Peripherals Enhance the Windows Vista Experience
Logitech :: Thursday, January 04, 2007
Logitech Uses CES to Showcase Portfolio of Peripherals Certified for Windows Vista
Biostar Sigma Gate V7603GS21 GeForce 7600GS Review
PC Modding Malaysia :: Thursday, January 04, 2007
“Biostar’s budget friendly EGate V7603GS21 graphics card packs a powerful punch for your money. Again, to keep the costs low, the package bundle just comes with the bare minimum for those who prefer not to pay for any extras. The included V-Ranger overclocking utility is a revolutionary way of overclocking graphics cards. And surely, this little beast can overclock! With the V-Ranger utility, we managed 702 MHz on the core, 75% faster than stock, and that was done with the stock cooler. Armed with GDDR3, this graphics card is virtually a 7600GT in disguise. Actually, it blows a 7600GT when overclocked ;) The GPU does get a little toasty when overclocked and overvolted, so we believe it may be a good idea to give it a better cooler.”
‘The Chill Factor’ Thermalright Thermal Compound
Dragonsteel Mods :: Thursday, January 04, 2007
” Everyone pretty much knows that Thermalright makes excellent quality products, their products have won numerous awards for their excellence in design, quality and performance. Up until now, Thermalright has only made the cooling products, now they have ventured into making their own thermal compound called ‘The Chill Factor’ This was the natural next step for a company like Thermalright, so today for review I have ‘The Chill Factor’ and I will be comparing it to the well known Arctic Silver 5 thermal compound to see how it compares to the king of thermal compounds… So let’s just jump right into this review… ”
Silverstone SST-ST40EF 400W Power Supply
RBMods :: Thursday, January 04, 2007
With todays more demanding videocards and computers, the need for a good and stable power supply is high. Many manufacturers claim theirs are the best and that you need a 700W PSU to be able to get a stable computer. Well in many cases this is not true, Silverstone sent us a sample of their latest creation a SST-ST40EF which is a 400W power supply. It comes with “only” two 12V rails when most manufacturers create ones with three or even four 12V rails. Can this one work aswell as the others? Will it be able to keep a computer stable with only 400W and two 12 rails? Well this is what we are here to figure out today.
Coming to Terms with Office 2007
PC Mech :: Thursday, January 04, 2007
Microsoft Office system 2007 is finally here. Because I am in the business of keeping up with technology, I will replace my installation of Office 2003 with it as soon as the mailman drops the package at my doorstep. In fact, I have already installed the trial version and I play around with it whenever I get a chance. After an initial jolt of disbelief, I am beginning to like it. Whether you will like the new Office or not will depend on your familiarity with earlier versions of Office.
TrueCrypt v 4.2 Protects our sensitive information
PC Mech :: Thursday, January 04, 2007
In this digital age, security has become a widely discussed topic. It is increasingly important to protect not only people and computers but every bit of information that we collect or encounter. So instead of bringing you a program for anti-virus or anti-spyware protection, I’ll be taking a different angle in this week’s Freeware Frenzy. I will discuss TrueCrypt v4.2; a freeware solution to protect your sensitive information–and protect it well.
Thermaltake Mozart Case Review
GruntvillE :: Thursday, January 04, 2007
“The front consists of 2 leds, a power and reset button, and the standard mic and headset jacks along with two USB and one firewire port. The sides are plain steel with no grills or holes for airflow, only the top and rear have grill work to allow a pretty straightforward airflow.”
Fantec COMBO DB-228C2 and DB-228U2 Review
Technic 3d :: Thursday, January 04, 2007
“The Fantec COMBO DB-228C2 and DB-228U2 2,5″ HDD Case arrived Technic3D. You are much on the way and a USB Stick have not enough Place? Than is a 2,5″ HDD Case the correct Medium. Two external HDD Case with FireWire or USB can you see in the following Review.”
Linux Image Quality Comparison
Phoronix :: Thursday, January 04, 2007
“With the great deal of articles that we publish in regards to NVIDIA and ATI display drivers, it is very evident that at this time NVIDIA has the lead when it comes to the frame-rate performance — with their Linux drivers performing nearly the same as their Windows ForceWare counterpart. ATI has been struggling to improve the performance of their fglrx drivers, and while they had made strides last year, they still have a great deal of work ahead of them. However, one of the areas that often is not mentioned in Phoronix articles is the image quality between ATI and NVIDIA’s hardware with their respective drivers. In this article today we will be looking at both company’s image quality under Linux in video playback and gaming environments.”
Vizo Luxon 3.5″ USB & SATA External HDD Enclosure Review Posted
Tech ARP :: Thursday, January 04, 2007
“There are so many external hard drive enclosures in the market, but what sets the Vizo Luxon apart from the others is the fact that it supports direct SATA connectivity in addition to the usual USB cable.
Join Marc as he takes a look at the Vizo Luxon and see how it compares against the Seagate Pushbutton Backup 750GB. ”
EarthLink CEO Garry Betty Dies
Associated Press :: Thursday, January 04, 2007
Garry Betty, former CEO of Internet service provider EarthLink, died yesterday from complications of liver cancer. (Wikipedia lists the cause of death as adrenal cortical cancer.) He was 49. According to articles in The Atlanta Journal Constitution and elsewhere, Betty had been with Earthlink for 10 years, previously serving as the CEO of Digital Communications Associates. Betty graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1979 with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, according to an AP report. He had stepped down from his EarthLink position just weeks ago after receiving the cancer diagnosis.
Study: Most info searches are useless
InfoWorld :: Thursday, January 04, 2007
ASUS WL-500W SuperSpeed N Wireless Router Review
Think Computers :: Wednesday, January 03, 2007
“ASUS isn’t just known for its fantastic motherboards and bare-bones laptops. It also produces a series of wireless devices, most notably the WL-500G, an 802.11g-compliant wireless router that has a built-in USB port. The router can be combined with an external hard drive to set up a file server, or a printer to set up a print server. The WL-500W, the subject of this review, is the WL-500G’s big brother. It is a pre-N router, meaning it supports the most current draft specifications of 802.11n as of its manufacture date and firmware revision. Read on for a investigative review.”
OCZ Technology PC2-8500 Platinum SLI-Ready Dual Channel DDR2 2GB Kit Review
Big Bruin :: Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Once again it is easy to see why OCZ Technology is one of the top brands in the gaming and enthusiast market. If you are looking for the absolute best performing RAM for your nVIDIA SLI system, you can not go wrong with the new OCZ Technology PC2-8500 Platinum SLI-Ready Dual Channel DDR2 2GB kit. With a modest (and easy) overclock, a performance boost of over 10% was achieved when compared to what was possible with another 2GB kit without EPP or nVIDIA SLI certification.
Coolermaster i-Tower
Technic 3d :: Wednesday, January 03, 2007
“The Cooler Master i-Tower Case is the next Midi Tower in the Technic3D Editorship. See you in the following Review which qualities for HDDs the case presents.”
B-Flexi Case Fans
Modders Inc. :: Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Fans are a part of everyones computers. Without cooling fans things in the computer would come to a scorching halt in a hurry. Today we are going to take a look at Bluegears latest fan the B-Flexi. The B-Flexi is similar in design to their B-Ice fans. The major difference that the B-Flexi brings to the table is a four position switch (Off, Red, Blue, and Green) that allows you to change the color of the LEDs on the fan.
Antec EarthWatts EA-500 PSU
Hardware Overclock Austria :: Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Hardwareoverclock Austria has take a look at Antec’s EarthWatts EA-500 PSU. The EarthWatts with 80 Plus complient is the most environmentally friendly Power Supply in their assortment. 80 PLUS is the new standard for energy efficiency in power supplies, that requires them to be at least 80% efficient at 20, 50 and 100% load. We have tested the PSU on a E6600 system and 7950GX2 and 8800 GTX.
XGI Technology Drivers Revisited
Phoronix :: Wednesday, January 03, 2007
“It has been one year to the day since XGI Technology had last released a Volari Linux display driver and about 14 months since we had first delivered word of XGI considering open-source 3D display drivers. Where do things now stand for XGI Technology? We will tell you all of the details today where things are for this Taiwan graphics company.”
Guide to Building a Computer, Part 1: Choosing the Right Parts
Hardware Logic :: Wednesday, January 03, 2007
While it’s easy to recommend which parts to buy, not many people actually stop to tell you why, or bother to explain to you what the different choices are, or what they mean. First and foremost, planning out your system build will ensure you buy the correct parts, and that the parts you buy will not only work together, but will do so optimally.
Antec Nine Hundred Reviewed
Hi-tech Reviews :: Wednesday, January 03, 2007
The new Antec Nine Hundred is billed as the “Ultimate Gaming Machine” and one thing is for certain is that this case has enough fans in it keep a sweaty Legionnaire happy. With a total of nine bays you should also not be in need of extra space for hard drives or optical drives either. So come on along as we check this bad boy out and see what we think.
MSI K9N Diamond nForce 590 SLI Motherboard Review
PC Stats :: Wednesday, January 03, 2007
“If you’re a gamer, multimedia enthusiast, or future indie rock star mixing tracks for your debute CD, the MSI K9N Diamond is a board well worth your attention because it integrates a Creative Audigy 7.1 channel hardware sound card right in. Standard onboard equipment includes dual Gigabit Ethernet network jacks, a Soundblaster Audigy SE 7.1 sound card, IEEE 1394a 400Mpbs Firewire and USB2.0. When it comes to peripheral expansion we find two PCI Express x1 slots for high bandwidth devices, a 32 bit PCI slot, and the two PCI Express x16 SLI compatible slots for videocards. Data storage is supported by one Ultra 133 IDE channel and six 3GB/s SATA II ports. Nvidia RAID (0/1/0+1/5/JBOD) comes standard with the nForce 590 SLI chipset.”
AeroCool Zero Degree Flex Case Review
Hi Tech Reviews :: Wednesday, January 03, 2007
AeroCool knows when something is working right, so why change it. When we first saw AeroCool introduce the Masstige and CoolView in August and September of 2005 we were immediately struck by how ease these cases made building a system. Not wanting to change something that isn’t broken AeroCool has now introduced the Zero Degree Flex Case. This case uses some of the basic principles that the other two cases used, but the Zero Degree has some additional refinements added such as a 250mm side-panel fan along with room inside the case for three 120mm fans.
Amazon Unbox Interview
Digital Trends :: Wednesday, January 03, 2007
“With the recent availability of movie downloads on Apple’s iTunes and the Amazon Unbox movie download service, video downloads have become more front and center in the minds of consumers as they consider how to spend their entertainment dollars. Though the iTunes Store would seem to be the immediate dominant leader in this space given their iPod market share and early lead with television video downloads, Amazon is betting they will have a thing or two to say about that with their Unbox offering. Amazon director of digital media Roy Price recently took some time to conduct an interview with Digital Trends about the Amazon Unbox video download service ”
OCZ PC2-6400 2GB ATI CrossFire Dual Channel Memory Review
Think Computers :: Wednesday, January 03, 2007
“There are many factors that go into choosing memory for your computer. From how much ram to what speed etc. If you are a gamer you want quality memory that will work at the highest level of performance with your video card(s). That is where OCZ’s ATI CrossFire certified memory comes in. This memory is tested and qualified under ATI’s renowned certification program. This ensures that gamers get the highest quality and compatibility possible for their CrossFire system. These modules also feature special ATI heatspreaders that any ATI fanboy will appreciate.”
11 kit DDR2 memory overclocking roundup
HW Upgrade :: Wednesday, January 03, 2007
“As DDR2 solutions continue to gain higher clock frequencies and tighter timings, we review the overclocking potential of eleven kits from the categories of PC2-5400 (DDR2-667) and PC2-6400 (DDR2-800).”
ASUS P5B-E Plus Motherboard – Fighting to be King of P965
Tweak Town :: Wednesday, January 03, 2007
“ASUS’s first P965 board we tested, the P5B Deluxe, while able to keep up on the onboard features, it certainly isn’t able to keep up when it comes down to the crunch in the overclocking front. ASUS fall behind by nearly 80MHz in the FSB department, and with the latest BIOS from Gigabyte, there is even more speed coming from the DQ6, as it keeps surprising us.
ASUS to this point has decided rather than relinquish the performance/overclocking crown to its partner, they have decided to bring out a board that is designed to overclock from the word go.”
Building a Core 2 Duo gaming system for under $1000
TechSpot :: Wednesday, January 03, 2007
When it comes time to build a new computer or upgrade an existing platform most of us will be doing it according to a set budget, always hoping to get the best bang for our buck. Then depending on our own specific needs we will select components accordingly. Gaming is an obvious category where many enthusiasts fall into and is probably the most difficult crowd to build for, as a perfect balance of components is required.
Therefore, today we have decided to try and create a high quality Core 2 Duo system using parts from well-known brand names, for under $1000. This time we are going to build the entire system from the ground up for under $1000 including a 19” LCD monitor. Given this system includes a Core 2 Duo E6300 processor, 1GB of DDR2 memory, a DVD recordable drive, Radeon X1950 Pro, 19″ DVI 8ms LCD, 400GB SATAII HDD, ASUS motherboard along with case, keyboard and mouse, we think it is a pretty good buy.
Ultra X-Blaster Case Review
techPowerUp! :: Wednesday, January 03, 2007
The Ultra X-Blaster is a midi tower ATX case with a lot of potential. It may sport a small price tag, making the buy an easy one, but certainly does not disappoint. The case is quite sturdy, features drive rails for easy installation as well as a screwless setup for expansion cards. The included 400W XVS FlexForce modular power supply is a great addition, making this case the perfect allrounder for anyone looking to build their own system.
ETASIS ET850, 850 Watt Power Supply
Bjorn 3d :: Wednesday, January 03, 2007
I received the ETASIS ET850 850 Watt power supply a few days before Christmas and immediately began to wonder if part 2 of my daydream; ‘meets the needs of the needs of the greater majority of my readers at a price that everyone could afford’, would be affirmed. Please join me as we explore this product in great detail and see if this entire scenario is surreal, or if perhaps sometimes dreams really do come true.
Sytrin HDD Cooler SHF 1 Review
Technic 3d :: Wednesday, January 03, 2007
“The Sytrin HDD Cooler SHF 1 arrived Technic3D. The new HDD Cooler with different color see you in the following Review.”
Norton Internet Security 2007 Review
Windows A to Z :: Wednesday, January 03, 2007
“Symantec’s Norton Internet Security suite has been one of the best that we’ve ever seen over the past few years. The newest version of the security suite is out and Windows A to Z’s editors have a full review to tell you how it lives up to its reputation.”
Zalman Reserator 1 V2 Fanless Watercooling Kit Review
Hardware Logic :: Wednesday, January 03, 2007
“Two parts hydrogen, one part oxygen. The end result is water, and without it we’d cease to exist, let alone partake in epic squirt gun battles, belch up our favorite carbonated soda, and survive the college years with a steady diet of boiled Ramen noodles. And while scientists continue to explore the implications of water on mars, we’re focusing our attention on watercooling our PCs. Specifically, the Zalman Reserator 1 V2”.
OCZ Roadster 1GB Flash Drive
Overclock 3d :: Wednesday, January 03, 2007
OCZ is a name synonymous with innovative memory products. Today we take a look at one of their new flash memory sticks, the compact Roadster
Primera Bravo SE Disc Publisher
Extensive Mods :: Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Earlier this year I did a review on a CD/DVD burner/printer from Primera called the Bravo II Disc Publisher seen here is more suited for business applications. Today I have a new piece of hardware from Primera that is targeted more for home or small office applications, the Bravo SE Disc Publisher. Will the Bravo SE perform as well as its older brother? Hang around and see if it burns up the disc and makes it look purdy at the same time.
Getting ready for CES 2007
The Tech Lounge :: Wednesday, January 03, 2007
“2007 marks the 40th anniversary for the Consumer Electronics Showcase (CES), the largest technology convention in North America. This will be the 4th consecutive year of TheTechLounge covering CES. It is no coincidence that 2007 also marks TheTechLounge’s 4th anniversary. The planets and stars are aligning in preparation for this momentous occasion. Okay, so maybe I cranked up the cheese-factor on that one, but our CES 2007 coverage will kick off an exciting and prosperous year for us, or at least that’s the plan. This year, our coverage will be anything but more of the same. For the past 3 years we have experimented with our CES coverage, and we’ve learned much and I believe we’ve come up with a formula for some of the most comprehensive coverage seen anywhere; we hope you will agree.”
Asus EN7950GT Review
Neoseeker :: Wednesday, January 03, 2007
“Power consumption for the ASUS card is the lowest among the four tested. This is an unexpected result, as both use the same chipset but the XFX7950 GT is passively cooled while the EN7950 GT is cooled by a fan.The EN7950 GT uses 60 Watts less power under load than the X1900XT 256. This is a very important fact for anyone planning on using two video cards. A CrossFire setup with the X1900XT 256 would require a much more powerful power supply than an SLI’d EN7950 GT or the XFX 7950 GT setup.”
Biostar P4M890-M7 VIA P4M890 Core 2 Duo Motherboard
PC Stats :: Wednesday, January 03, 2007
“We’re going to be realistic with our expectations here, for Biostar’s P4M890-M7 motherboard is best suited to the corporate world and those of you looking to build a simple computer on a very small budget. The Intel Core 2 Duo processor is arguably the best processor on the market as of this writting, and the Biostar P4M890-M7 provides a very cost effect platform to build a simple PC from.”
Biostar P4M890-M7 VIA P4M890 Core 2 Duo Motherboard
PC Stats :: Tuesday, January 02, 2007
“We’re going to be realistic with our expectations here, for Biostar’s P4M890-M7 motherboard is best suited to the corporate world and those of you looking to build a simple computer on a very small budget. The Intel Core 2 Duo processor is arguably the best processor on the market as of this writting, and the Biostar P4M890-M7 provides a very cost effect platform to build a simple PC from.”
CoolIT Eliminator CPU Cooler
3dgameman :: Tuesday, January 02, 2007
“This is CoolIT’s second Thermal Electric Cooler (TEC); the first one was the Freezone. I’ve video reviewed the Freezone and thought it was excellent, but I like the Eliminator even more. They’ve incorporated everything into one unit, which makes it easier to install than the Freezone. You can also manually adjust the fan speed to suit your needs. It’s definitely a great alternative to some complicated water cooling setups. Watch the Video to find out more…”
OCZ GameXStream 850w SLI-Ready PSU Review
OCIA :: Tuesday, January 02, 2007
“It’s no secret that today’s hardware is demanding more power than ever before. For instance, those interested in running two 8800GTX cards in SLI are looking at a bare minimum of 750 watts in the power supply department. Factor in your processor(s) demands, hard drive(s) and watercooling gear and that 750 watt minimum seems a little less inviting. Granted, many of us are not fortunate enough to have the budget to support such extreme hardware addictions, there is one thing that we all should consider when purchasing a new power supply: future-proof.”
Silverstone LC09 Mini-ITX enclosure review
Xtreme Computing :: Tuesday, January 02, 2007
“today we will take a step back from that and look at something from the Mini ITX cases and see if their chassis design team take their knowledge over to designing cases for one of the smallest platforms out there. Step up the LC09 a improvement over the much praised LC05 mini ITX case by adding a PCI slot and a slim DVD rom bay, the question is does it still live up to the Silverstone standard.”
OCZ PC2-6400 ATI CrossFire Certified 2 GB Kit
techPowerUp! :: Tuesday, January 02, 2007
When deciding on components for a new system, users are often worried about incompatibilities with the memory of their choice. OCZ has teamed up with ATI to bring you CrossFire certified memory. This means that you can install this memory on any CrossFire certified motherboard and it is guaranteed to work. In our testing the modules performed very well over a wide range of timings from CL3 to CL5. To distinguish this memory from their other products OCZ colored the heatspreader in a beautiful ATI red which looks mighty good.
SSD from M-System-SanDisk!
HWZone :: Tuesday, January 02, 2007
” According to our information, M-System-SanDisk is currently working on a new series of drives, which for the first time is aimed at private consumers and not for sole military applications, and have entered an advanced production stage. The new drives are supposed to be marketed as part of a few manufactures’ laptop computers, and rumors refer to Dell as being the first to integrate these drives into its Core 2 Duo line of laptops in a number of months.
Preliminary testing of the new drives indicates that in comparison with a Western Digital’s SATA 80GB 7200 RPM drive, the M-Systems-SanDisk drive displays a solid and steady read rate. However, the write test displayed the weakness of the new drive, which presents a terrible writing rate compared with a standard HDD, in this current version. The SSD wins the random read test very easily over the HDD, but was a little disappointing in the Burst test.”
Knoppix v5.1.0 LiveCD
Phoronix :: Tuesday, January 02, 2007
“In time for the new year, Knoppix 5.1.0 has been released. Even with Windows users, Knoppix is an incredibly GNU/Linux LiveCD that offers a great deal of desktop functionality and features. New in this latest release of Knoppix is the Linux 2.6.19.1 kernel, update to Debian Etch, OpenOffice.org 2.1, and integration of 3D desktop effects with Beryl and Emerald. Both CD and DVD versions of Knoppix 5.1 are available.”
EPoX AF570+ Ultra nForce 570 Motherboard Review
Motherboards.org :: Tuesday, January 02, 2007
EPoX has done a good job with the 570 Ultra chipset. It has many of the features of last year’s nForce 4 Ultra chipset. The only real glaring omissions from the board is the lack of a second PCI Express x16 slot, but the ordinary user won’t need two video cards. Other than that the EPoX board features are second to none in the mainstream chipset.
CoolIT Freezone Liquid CPU Cooler
Think Computers :: Tuesday, January 02, 2007
“When it comes to water-cooling a lot of us are clueless, not knowing what type of pump to get or what size tubing. That is why all-in-one systems are great, everything is there all in one piece and it usually is easy to use. Today I will be looking at the CoolIT Freezone all-in-one liquid CPU cooler. This system includes multiple TEC’s that provide unique liquid chilling for superior cooling performance. So let’s see how well it performs and how easy it is for a first time water-cooling user like myself.”
ETASIS 850w Power Supply from Sundial Micro
Club Overclocker :: Tuesday, January 02, 2007
The need for larger power supplies is finally here. It seems like only a few days ago it would have been major overkill to have an 850 watt power supply in your personal computer. With the recent release of the 8800 series from Nvidia and the Quad core CPUs starting to come out, it appears that a good 400 to 500 watt power supply may not be enough, or at least the bare minimum. Etasis has just sent us over their top power supply the ET850. Check it out over at ClubOC!
Systemax Sabre Intel®Core™2 Extreme / Crossfire Gaming PC review
Driver Heaven :: Tuesday, January 02, 2007
“Today we have the chance to examine a system from Systemax. The Systemax Sabre is built around the new Intel®Core™2 Extreme X6800 processor and ATI’s X1900XTX Crossfire technology. The system includes Windows XP Pro SP2, 2 x 150 GB 10K RPM Raptor SATA drives, 2 GB of Corsair TWINX PC6400 memory, a Plextor SATA DVD-RW drive, a Sony DVD/CDRW combo drive, a floppy drive and a flash card reader.”
The Lowdown on Warez
NGOHQ :: Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Today we have a very interesting subject to consider: The Piracy of Online Content that keeps drawing a lot of attention and heat around the world. This problem has existed since the advent of the Internet and in the last few years it has grown even worse. Today we will analyze the reasons for the increasing amount of piracy among software, games and even music and movies. There must be a significant reason why so many people are downloading software, games, music and movies illegally instead of buying it. I believe that people will not steal without good reason.
Back in June we started a survey about warez, and we started to research the reasons behind it that motivate people to commit the crime. As I said, there must be reasons why there are so many popular warez sites and demand for it. It took many weeks to investigate the issue and to understand the reasons behind it — and maybe to find out and to suggest a solution to solve this growing problem. So, what causes people to download software illegally? I will tell you why…
Understanding & Mastering Water Cooling
Tech ARP :: Tuesday, January 02, 2007
“Ever wondered about water cooling your PC? Well, wonder no more. AlmostThere will show you everything you need to know about water cooling. ”
Ultra X-Pro 600W APFC at Overclockers Online
OC Tools :: Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Anything short of solid does not do justice to these results. Not only was the power supply loaded up to the brim, but it also was put through quite harsh environments.
OCZ GameXStream 850W SLI-Ready PSU Review
OCZ :: Tuesday, January 02, 2007
“The OCZ GameXStream is an 850W power supply. As more and more gamers take advantage of the gaming benefits offered by multi-GPU technology, the need for improved power supply solutions increases greatly.”
Spire Rocketeer IV 600W PSU Review
RB Mods :: Tuesday, January 02, 2007
A few months ago, we took a look at Spire’s 500W PSU and were impressed by the quality and stable voltages. Spire also offers a 600W PSU, the Rocketeer IV, which they claim has a high level of performance despite the additional power output. Will the added power come at a price? Let’s find out as we take a closer look at this power supply.
Zalman CNPS8000 CPU Cooler Review
Techgage :: Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Zalman recently launched a new low-profile cooler by the name of CNPS8000. Physically it looks to have a lot of potential; It’s a great looking product overall. Included is a fan speed controller for when you feel the need for an extra punch. Sadly, in our testing we have found even with that extra cooling ability, this cooler falls short.
Gigabyte H663 Home Entertainment System – Your next HTPC?
Tweak Town :: Tuesday, January 02, 2007
The H663 is an Intel Viiv-compliant system, which automatically sets a particular standard of hardware specifications. The motherboard is a Gigabyte GA-8I945EF-RH, which has an Intel 945G Express Northbridge chipset and an Intel ICH7-DH Southbridge. The motherboard has an onboard Intel GMA950 graphics adaptor, but there is also a PCI-E Gigabyte GC-ADD2EF-RH graphics card with DVI and S-Video – this card isn’t an independent graphics card in its own right, it simply expands the capabilities of the GMA950 adaptor. Onboard audio is provided via a Realtek HD audio chipset.”
Zalman CNPS9700LED CPU Cooler
Pro-Clockers :: Tuesday, January 02, 2007
The new CNPS9700LED shares the same exact appearance as its small brother only it’s bigger. The fan size jumps from a moderate 92mm to an enormous 110mm. That alone should make the cooler outperform its smaller brother. But does it have enough performance in it to outperform the likes to the Thermalright Ultra-120 and the Scythe Infinity? Lets see.
MSI’s P965 Platinum and 975X Platinum motherboards
Tech Report :: Tuesday, January 02, 2007
WHEN INTEL UNVEILED its P965 Express chipset at Computex, many were left wondering if any motherboard manufacturers would bother building boards based on the older 975X Express. The P965 was a newer design—one built on fancier 90nm process technology—and its ICH8-series south bridge chips offered a more advanced array of features than the 975X’s year-old ICH7s. At the time, motherboard makers questioned whether they’d bother building 975X boards for enthusiasts, and they seemed to be leaning toward making high-end boards based on the P965.
Abandoning the 975X in favor of the newer, flashier P965 was a bold idea, but one that was ultimately sunk by the P965’s lack of support for CrossFire multi-GPU configurations. However, ATI recently began supporting CrossFire on the P965, raising the question of whether there’s much point to the 975X anymore. To find out, we’ve collected the P965 and 975X Platinum motherboards from MSI. Both boards support CrossFire and Intel’s latest Core 2 processors, but the 975X Platinum costs about $20 more. The question is: why?