P4 Spark 7 Heatsink Review
Furioustech :: Wednesday, March 26, 2003
ThermalTake Volcano 11 Review
Overclocker Café :: Wednesday, March 26, 2003
Kingston PC3500 DCDDR Review
Nexus Hardware :: Wednesday, March 26, 2003
“We previously wrote a review on a Kingston HyperX PC3500 512MB module, and now we are back with more! This time, we’ll be testing 2 sticks Kingston HyperX PC3500 256MB running in dual channel DDR (DC DDR) configuration on an Epox 8RDA+ along with an AMD Athlon XP 2700+ microprocessor. We’ll see if these modules are capable of supporting DC DDR and able to run lower timings at higher speeds. HyperX is a fairly new line of product for Kingston. Let’s see if this is what you’ve been looking for! ”
Do it Yourself Watter Cooling Reservior Article
I Am Not a Geek :: Wednesday, March 26, 2003
“Water cooling components are not cheap. Key components consist of the radiator, CPU block, and the pump, while the less expensive components consist of tubing and radiator fans. There is sometimes the added cost of the reservoir, which almost always adds around 40-100 Canadian dollars to the total. Keeping this cost in mind when I decided to water cool, I opted to make my own reservoir and save my money. Reservoirs are fairly simple things, an input on one side and an output on another. Why pay so much for such a simple thing?…”
CoolerMaster AFP-U01 CD Faceplate Review
Mikhailtech :: Wednesday, March 26, 2003
Now, this problem can be solved in a number of ways. The easiest way is to paint the drive in the color of the case, preferably using a special metallic paint for cars. Besides the fact that you lose the warranty on your drive, you can damage it by getting paint inside, on the electronics and loading mechanism. Also, metallic car paint is quite expensive. Another way to match the drive and case is to hide the drive. For this you must use one of the drive bay covers that come with the case. You simply attach the cover on the drive.
Kingwin KT-436S-WM Aluminum Case
SystemCooling :: Wednesday, March 26, 2003
Win a Cooler Master ATC-710 GX1 Case
XtReMoDs :: Wednesday, March 26, 2003
Silicon Image Serial ATA Controller Review
Techwarelabs :: Wednesday, March 26, 2003
“Serial ATA, while late, is here! This review explores the new SATA technology with the Silicon Image 3112 SATA controller. While SATA is not terribly faster than traditional ATA, it does have many benefits and improvements. Read the review to see how it performs with a SATA Seagate hard drive.”
Pentium 4 Overclocking Adventure
TweakTown :: Tuesday, March 25, 2003
“We all love overclocking, and the effect it has on our 3DMark scores – some people more than others. Today Tio “Tha Realest” Chaharbaghi takes us on a Pentium 4 overclocking adventure taking a 2.4GHz processor to its maximum with explanations along the way and clock speed increases and the effect on 3DMark 2001 SE scores. If you are new to the Pentium 4 overclocking scene, make time to check out this article!”
The Folding@Home Project: Why do they do it?
Short-Media :: Tuesday, March 25, 2003
There is a quiet cause ticking away on nearly 100,000 computers worldwide. People are giving up a little of their computer time to unravel another of life’s mysteries. They work as individuals and they have grouped together to form teams. They cobble together pc parts to build new computers dedicated to the task. They even mark the passing of a friend with their accomplishments.
OCS Enhanced Radeon 9700 Level III SE review
OCAddiction :: Tuesday, March 25, 2003
“So what else is so special about this card you ask? This thing is an absolute BEAST with the Zalman cooler pre-installed and the clock speeds of this card are at almost insane levels. Well above any current product shipping from ATI. From OCSystem, the card comes clocked at a whopping 415MHz Core and 730MHz Memory. If you were looking for the highest performing card available today, this would be it. ”
MSI K7N2G-ILSR nForce2 Motherboard Review
PCStats :: Tuesday, March 25, 2003
“In this review, we will be testing out MSI’s nForce2-IGP motherboard; the K7N2G-ILSR. The MSI K7N2G-ILSR is based on the nForce2-IGP (Integrated Graphics Processor) and is teamed up the MCP2-T southbridge. Unlike the no frills K7N2-L the K7N2G-ILSR is very well equipped with serial ATA/IDE RAID, a 10/100 LAN RJ45 jack, IEEE 1394, USB 2.0, 6-channel audio, TV-out (RCA composit and S-video) and of course nVIDIA’s integrated video. With all that on board it may seem pretty unlikely that you would actually need to add single expansion card to this board, but with five free PCI slots and an ACR (the blue one) you have plenty of room at your disposal. If the nForce2’s integrated video isn’t powerful enough for your applications there is also an 8X AGP port which from our own experience works really well with an ATI Radeon 9700 Pro video card… just don’t tell Nvidia we said so.”
Sunbeam Tech Acrylic PC Case Review
Short-Media :: Tuesday, March 25, 2003
Beware! Naked computer pictures! The Sunbeam Tech Acrylic PC case will leave nothing hidden, unexposed or right out front for all to see. It’s a completely clear acrylic PC case that will delight modders. The case surpasses the majority of metal PC cases for design features as well. So it’s time to do the full Monty with your PC hardware!
CEE2003 Coverage
Monkey Review :: Tuesday, March 25, 2003
Spire HD05040B FlowCooler Review
I Am Not a Geek :: Tuesday, March 25, 2003
“Processors, chipsets, memory, and video cards all receive special attention to ensure that they stay cool, which in turn extends their lives and increases performance. But what about the brain of the computer? The hard drive… The Spire HD05040B FlowCooler hard drive cooler is one solution available aimed at keeping your drive temperatures in a safe operating range.”
Dremel MultiPro 395 & Flex Shaft Attachment Review
MODTHEBOX! :: Tuesday, March 25, 2003
“The Dremel MultiPro 395 is simple palm sized electric motor attached to a rotating shaft. The versatility of the MultiPro 395 comes from the fact that it can be wielded like an engraving tool and has a larger number of add-on accessories and attachments. As an all-purpose tool the Dremel MultiPro 395 is capable of being used with different attachments which include abrasive wheels, drill bits, wire brushes, polishers, engraving bits, router bits, and standard or re-enforced cutting wheels. The MultiPro 395 features a re-designed click and set-on setting which allows you to match the speed of your existing job as well as a new comfort grip housing for better control and handling.”
VIA EPIA M9000 review
Hexus :: Tuesday, March 25, 2003
“It’s pretty easy to sum things up performance wise. Avoid high bitrate video that isn’t in MPEG-2 format and you’ll be fine. It can do pretty much anything else without fuss. The only sticking point was high bitrate DivX playback, something it just couldn’t manage due to lack of processing muscle.”
KT400 Mobo Roundup
Overclocker Café :: Tuesday, March 25, 2003
One point I do want to make that actually was an afterthought, that was extremely surprising, was the gameport issue. If you go and drop $100 plus on a board with onboard audio you would think a gameport would be somewhere wouldn’t you? Not so. Out of the five boards, each had onboard sound but only two had gameports. These were the EPoX and the ASUS boards.
Xoxide X450 Aluminum Mid-Tower Case Review
Virtual-Hideout :: Tuesday, March 25, 2003
The guys at Virtual-Hideout looks at a new Xoxide case. Here’s a snip from the review:
How-to Quite a Noisy Power Supply
SystemCooling :: Tuesday, March 25, 2003
“The purpose of this guide is to illustrate how-to convert a high quality, but rather noisy power supply (PSU) into a silent performer. There are many good power supplies available to the computer enthusiast. Unfortunately, a lot of them are noisy. The noise produced comes from the internal fan used to move air through the PSU and cool its internal components. Some new power supplies contain variable speed fans that increase in speed (and noise) as the current load and internal temperatures go up.”
Corsair (2×256) PC-3200LL Dual Channel Kit Video Review
3dgameman :: Tuesday, March 25, 2003
“The Corsair (2×256) PC-3200LL Dual Channel Kit offers fantastic performance and reliability in both dual and non-dual motherboards. Even though this memory is rated at 400MHz it surpasses that which is great for overclockers who want to push it to the extreme. Watch the Video to find out more…”
Mad Dog Multimedia Raptor Geforce 4 Ti 4200 Video Card Review
3dXtreme :: Tuesday, March 25, 2003
“Throughout testing the card has run numerous benchmarks overclocked without a single crash, lockup or reboot. I have been gaming and testing with it now for about 12+ hours and it has been flawless.”
Registry tweaking guide @ VoidedWarranty
Voided Warranty :: Tuesday, March 25, 2003
“Have you ever wondered if there was a way to speed up the way you scroll your start menu on a W2K or Win Xp OS? Well just like everything else on an operating system, this too can be modified under the registry.”
Socket 478 Heatsink Shootout
OCIA :: Tuesday, March 25, 2003
Mouse Wax Review
Mikhailtech :: Tuesday, March 25, 2003
Exactly what kind of compound/mixture is used I have no clue, but it certainly has unique qualities about it (kind of like silly putty). While half an ounce doesn’t seem like much, it’s actually quite a bit considering you only need one drop on each foot and 2-4 (depending on the size) on the pad. Similar to ethyl alcohol, Mouse Wax dries seconds after you smear it on. Being water based and non-toxic is also a plus, along with the lack of any kind of odor. Although it’s intended for use with gaming/plastic mouse pads, it also works on other surfaces (like cloth pads for instance), though not as well.
Zalman ZM80A-HP VGA Cooler Review
TweakTown :: Tuesday, March 25, 2003
“We’ve been hearing about these Zalman Heatpipe coolers for the video cards lately, so it is time to see what they are all about. In a nutshell, they are claiming to be able to give sufficient cooling for performance video boards without the use of a fan. Come join Mike “Darthtanion” Wright as he takes a look at both the installation and performance of the Zalman ZM80A-HP VGA Heatpipe and finds out the final answer… can this contraption really work?”
Vantec Power Supply Review
Furioustech :: Monday, March 17, 2003
“Very seldom do I get a product that scores a prefect 10. The Vantec Stealth power supply series has all the power the any computer builder and modder would want. Vantec makes a 420 watt to 520 watt PSU, and its server ready, ROCK STABLE. Read on and find out why I think this is one of the best power supplies on the market!”
Extreme Alterations 12″ UV Cold Cathodes and 80mm UV Fan Reviews
Virtual-Hideout :: Monday, March 17, 2003
“Installing everything was simple. The first step was to remove the fan clips and plug the fans into them. After replacing them, I quickly plugged in the molex power cords and they were ready to go. Next I had to install the cold cathodes. I decided I wanted to run both bulbs off of one inverter to save space. To do this, I first mounted the inverter in the middle of the case. Then, I mounted one cold cathode in the top of my case and one in the bottom. I used the zip ties and stick clips, and the whole process took a few seconds. With everything mounted, I opened up the inverter case. There are two plugs for the cold cathodes, so I plugged in both of them. After closing the box back up, I plugged in the inverter’s molex power plug. The last step was to install the switch. Lucky for me, I just happened to have a hole already drilled in the back of my case! I popped the plug into place and I was ready to go!”
Skyhawk Matrix Case Review
Overclocker Café :: Monday, March 17, 2003
The market is slowing beginning to fill out with economical and mid range priced aluminum PC cases that don’t skimp on features. The Overclocker Café looks at one of these, in the form of the Skyhawk Matrix series case. Here is a snip of the review.
Now we get to LCD display. Geeky looking and functional too. The display shows time, temperature, and hard drive and system status. It only uses one temperature probe, which is included; the wire is listed at 23″ (mine was 20.5″). In the future I hope they can expand this to five or so probes.
Ratpadz GS Review
Overclocker Café :: Monday, March 17, 2003
A mouse pad, be it for gaming or work is all about two things and two things only; grip and glide. The Ratpad GS provides a no slip base for the most manic of gamers and smooth action glide for precision graphics design or precision headshots. The differences between the original Ratpad and the Ratpad GS are subtle but the cumulative effect of these small differences make an already outstanding product shine all the more.
Via Hyperion 4.46 Drivers worth the install?
Tweaknews :: Monday, March 17, 2003
“Turning your attention the Via’s latest offering, I was wondering if these drivers would offer much more than what I was getting with the 4.45 variety, and pure curiosity got the better of me. I visited some forums and found the same old fight going on about the latest version and how it was affecting people computers. Some people had improvements (one yahoo claimed a 40% increase), some people claimed that there systems have slowed down, and some said that they had no difference.”
Matrix Orbital MX212 Review
IpKonfig :: Monday, March 17, 2003
I can tell you from personal experience that LCD displays are the best case mods you can do, and that Matrix Orbital displays are the easiest to configure and are of the highest quality. You owe it to yourself to read this review!
“The Matrix Orbital is nothing new to modders; in fact it’s a very popular unit indeed. It offers some nice enhancements, including all sorts of software features, and is programmable to do most anything you’d like it to. We’re looking at Matrix Orbital’s latest. The new model, MX212, uses a USB connection to communicate with the computer and its software. It requires only the USB power link, and is quite simple to operate . . . Most of the software we tested seemed to work very well with Motherboard Monitor 5.1, and even with the latest version, 5.2. However, we did find LCDC to be the most configurable, allowing us to grab and change code enabling display a wide range of information. The data we chose were CPU temperature, CPU usage in percent and graph, physical memory available, and email. We wanted each screen to provide full information using the supplied software, LCDC, including numeric percentages and, in some cases, bar graphs. The software allows setting of different screens to rotate. In total, we ran four screens. We could also display the ipKonfig.com headlines, yet another great feature. Below are few of the screens we captured for you.”
Chieftec Black Aluminum Case Review
Mikhailtech :: Monday, March 17, 2003
The insides of the case are nothing new either, except many times shinier and lighter, yet almost as sturdy as the thicker steel. One of the few differences from vendor to vendor in Chieftec style cases are the kinds of fans included. This particular model came with three temperature controlled translucent models which I’ll discuss shortly. Still present is the support rail which spans across the case to keep the structure. The continued use of plastic fan holders is nothing to complain about, but the purple color scheme is. I don’t think it would be too difficult to paint the holders to match the color of the case. Also included are six removable PCI slot covers. The 5.25″ drive rails are inserted into the bottom of the case with a pair of hooks; this is a great way to store your extras inside the case where you won’t lose them. At the front is the fixed 5.25″ rack with a pair of removable 3.25″ cages beneath. The mechanism is the same: pull the lever back and slide the cage out.
Vantec Nexus @ Nexus Hardware!
Nexus Hardware :: Monday, March 17, 2003
“Vantec has listened to the many complaints about loud fans. In an attempt to fix this issue, they have designed the Vantec Nexus Fan Controller. It controls up to four fans into and it fits in a 5.25” drive bay. The Nexus comes in colors of black and silver, and both have snazzy blue LED’s. This fan controller supports up to 18 watts per channel and also claims to be able to handle high power Vantec Tornado fans. It looks great and can handle the loudest and meanest fans!”
TurboCase X-Dreamer Mid-Tower Case Review
MODTHEBOX! :: Monday, March 17, 2003
“One of the standout features of the TurboCase X-Dreamer Case is the inclusion of stealth bay covers similar to the design MTB Labs first noticed in the Nikao Eclipse Case and Platinum XP Case. The stealth bay covers give the case a uniformed look when used, but are not mandatory. To use the stealth drive faces, you first must remove your CD/DVD-ROM faceplates. The stealth bay covers include a chrome plastic CD/DVD-ROM button which will reach the original drive’s own eject button”
Swiftech MCW462-UHT Thermoelectric Cooler
SystemCooling :: Monday, March 17, 2003
“Today we are going to take an in depth look at the Swiftech MCW462-UHT thermoelectric cooler, which incorporates a water-cooled Peltier device that is designed to keep an AMD processor chilled well below the ambient room temperature. Swiftech manufactures a full line of quality heatsinks and waterblocks designed for high performance PC cooling applications. Their products include innovative cooling solutions for both AMD and Intel CPUs along with coolers for some of today’s hottest video card GPUs.”
Zalman ZM80a-HP VGA Cooler Review
M:6 :: Monday, March 17, 2003
Gone are the days where all you need was a heatsink for your CPU and GPU. (remember the old days with your Voodoo3s?) With today’s powerful chips, they generate a lot of heat so that active cooling is an absolute necessity. Most GPU fans doesn’t create much noise, but there are some which sounded like a hairdryer. Introducing the Zalman ZM80a-HP!
Lian Li PC-5 Aluminum PC Case
Tech-Dreams :: Monday, March 17, 2003
The battle of the cases is never-ending. With so many choices out there, it’s pretty hard to decide which case is right for you. These days, the most common factors in purchasing a case revolve around size, weight, capacity and looks. This is why I chose to review the PC-5 case from Lian Li. It not only offers a large enough area for your motherboard and PSU and all the components you need to connect, but it is also lightweight and has a nice aluminum finish to give it an excellent look. This review will talk about the PC-5 case, including its pros and cons. Before jumping in, I would like to thank Robert of Lian Li for letting me review this case.
Chaintech Zenith 7NJS nForce2 Motherboard review
Monkey Review :: Friday, March 14, 2003
“Today, MonkeyReview is diving into a new world of fun. With that said, on the block today, we have one of Chaintech’s most popular motherboards, the Chaintech Zenith 7NJS. This will not only be our first look at motherboards, but also our first glimpse as to what Nvidia’s nForce2 chipset has to offer. Most of you know that the initial nForce chipset made high claims and delivered a flat, non competitive chipset, which very few desired. Most of you also know that the nForce2 Chipset has been a very different story. ”
Tt Xaser Edition PSU Review
Overclocker Café :: Friday, March 14, 2003
“With the fans in manual trim, they are limited to a range of 1125 to 3125 RPM. What is especially nice about the manual adjustments is that you are given two ways or rather, tools to do it with. A front mounted 5.25″ bay cover Rheostat and a rear slot cover Rheostat.. ”
Zalman ZM80-HP VGA Heatpipe Cooler Review
Frosty Tech :: Friday, March 14, 2003
“Recently I was looking around at the heatsinks & cooling gear of a local computer store to see if they had anything new and interesting. Aside from the dozen or so CPU heatsinks sitting on the shelves were a few items for cooling video cards, including the standard assortment VGA card slot coolers (don’t bother, they are a waste of money) and a few BGA fan sinks from Thermaltake. As I stood looking at this assortment of heatsinks and fans it struck me first off that there are very few companies actively making cooling gear for videocards, and secondly that there is only one I know of making silent cooling gear for videocards. That one company is Zalman Tech Co. of Korea, and of the five models of silent VGA coolers they have produced, only the recently released heatpipe series have captivated the mass attention of consumers.”
Altec Lansing 5100 Enhanced 5.1 Speaker System Video Review
3dgameman :: Friday, March 14, 2003
“The Altec Lansing 5100 Enhanced Speaker System has all the style, quality and performance you come to expect from Altec Lansing. This product can be used with computer systems, gaming consoles, portable players and more. Also, the handy remote allows easy control over the system and is very well laid out. Watch the Video to find out more…”
A Basic Introduction to Serial ATA
SystemCooling :: Friday, March 14, 2003
“It would seem that the changeover from Ultra ATA hard drives to Serial ATA is gaining momentum with more and more new motherboards being released with Serial ATA connectors installed. The whole drive behind SATA is, and was of course increased speed, with an end product that also reduces cable clutter.”
1COOLPC’s Thermaltake Blue-eye LED Case Fan review
Tech-Dreams :: Friday, March 14, 2003
“Case fans have become almost a common site on computers, modded or manufacturer built. Most cases however use typical black case fans, but why stick a black case fan on your plexi side panel or your clear case when you can purchase a clear case fan. A step further than this would be a clear LED case fan, which brings us to our review of Thermaltake’s Blue-eye LED Case fan, which not only gives you a dazzling effect with three blue LEDs but it also provides a red LED for your HDD activity. Let’s take a look..”
DFI Xabre X400-T2 64MB review
Hexus :: Friday, March 14, 2003
“I’d like to recommend the DFI Xabre X400-T2 but find it difficult to do so. Whilst fully appreciating that the card has been available for some months now, it still doesn’t detract from SiS not playing on a level playing field as far as drivers are concerned. The drivers, too, are a little basic compared to what we’ve come to expect recently. I applaud the fact that SiS and DFI have decided to take on the aforementioned two in the budget sector, but the final product will have to be substantially better if it’s to give NVIDIA and ATi sleepless nights.”
Enermax Mid-Tower Case review
ReviewNation :: Friday, March 14, 2003
“More power. You know you want it. More Hz, more RAM, more sound channels and more pixels pushed to the limit, stroking our hungry eyeballs into a soothing frenzy of hardcore Quake III frag action. And to support all this, you want more Watts, of course. Because of this inevitable sequence of events, we are all familiar with Enermax, which has long been known in the computer world for their reliable, fan speed self-regulating and serious Watts dispensing power supplies which give you bang for your buck whenever it counts, without sounding like a hurricane in heat…”
Abit NF7-S nForce 2 review
Overclockers New Zealand :: Friday, March 14, 2003
“The NF7-S offers mediocre performance when compared with other nF2 boards, especially with Epox 8DRA+ and Asus A7N8X. However, it is the first stock nF2 board (in our bench) that can make it to 203 MHz FSB. (Mostly due to chipset voltage adjustment) One last note, Abit could be smarter with the positioning of the IDE and 3 pin fan connectors.”
Cendyne 48X12X48 CDRW Review
GideonTech :: Friday, March 14, 2003
“The drive can sometimes be very noisy during the initial stages of recording, but it dissipates as it moves towards the outer part of the CD. The back has the usual IDE connector, power connector, and analog/digital audio connectors. Opening the drive reveals that it utilizes Ricoh chips, and most likely a similar mechanism to that of Ricoh drives. The drive seems to lack support from software vendors. As of today, February 25th, 2003, the only software found to support the drive are Ahead Nero Burning ROM version 5.5, and Roxio EZ CD Creator. Golden Hawk Technologies CDRWIN does not support the drive.”
A Second Look at the CAK488T
SystemCooling :: Thursday, March 13, 2003
“Way back in May of last year we introduced you all to the then all new entry to the 80mm heatsink market, the, Global WIN CAK488T. At the time, it was the first universal cooler that was as happy on an AMD CPU as it was on an Intel P4. The CAK488T is still the only cooler that employs a 70 mm to 80 mm fan adapter as part of its standard configuration.”
Sky Hawk Matrix Series Aluminum Towers
SystemCooling :: Tuesday, March 11, 2003
“It seems that Sky Hawk has released more new aluminum cases than all other manufactures put together, in the last six months. Noted more for their economy pricing and futuristic design, most of their offerings have tended to be more appealing to the general computing public, rather than the high-end overclocker/power-user”
Raidmax LP-6100D Blue Aluminum PSU Review
MODTHEBOX! :: Tuesday, March 11, 2003
“Out of the box, the Raidmax LP-6100D Blue Aluminum PSU has an aesthetically pleasing design. The exterior of the PSU has been encased in a blue anodized aluminum chassis. The thick aluminum chassis has small fins incorporated into the design, which allows this unit to act as a heatsink and provide additional cooling for the PSU. The unit measures approximately 150mm x 145mm x 86mm and is slightly heavier than most steel based power supplies on the market. By default this unit comes with two transparent built-in UV sensitive 80mm ball bearing fans, which are positioned, on either side of the unit for optimal cooling. The Raidmax LP-6100D did not ship with any instruction manual but includes a few built-in features, which include over current protection, over temperature protection and in-rush current protection.”
Zalman 300W Quiet Power Supply Video Review
3dgameman :: Tuesday, March 11, 2003
“The Zalman 300W Quiet Power Supply is another quality product from Zalman and this product continues their quest for virtually silent computer components. This Power Supply is extremely quiet and it’s 300 watts will power most current computer systems. If silence is your goal when building a computer system then this is a required product. Watch the Video to find out more…”
Shuttle SB52G2 Review
myWORLD :: Tuesday, March 11, 2003
myWORLD is celebrating its 3rd generation site revamp with a Shuttle Review!
Build a HDD VU Meter
GideonTech :: Tuesday, March 11, 2003
For those who want their rig to look good, there are always some eye-candies available on the market.I’ve seen on the forums several members asking about ways to mod the Hard Disk Drive Led indicator. There is not much we can do with just this led, except if we’re to go with a pre-modded commercial item like the $40 MojoMeter.
Now for those who are a little more hard-core, the DIY style HDD meter is for you. This guide has 2 different sections: analogic meter and digital meter. Both uses the same principle: taking the signal from the HDD Led indicator and having a scale of its on/off ratio showed visually.”
Athlon XP 2700+ Review
Nexus Hardware :: Tuesday, March 11, 2003
“AMD is catching up with Intel with all these recently released processors. The Athlon XP 2700+ uses the relatively new Thoroughbred B 0.13-micron core. The Thoroughbred B runs with a 333MHz front-side bus (FSB). This supposedly yields a 20% performance increase from the old 266MHz FSB. This processor runs at 2.17GHz with 256K of L2 cache. Intel’s Pentium 4 processor on the other hand, has 512K L2 cache. Surprisingly, the Athlon XP’s can be as fast or even faster than a comparable Pentium 4 processor. ”
Shuttle SB52G2 XPG (845GV Chipset) Review
Hexus :: Tuesday, March 11, 2003
“Recently Shuttle has announced the SB52G2. The SB52G2 is designed to deliver stability and power in a footprint that rivals servers with the flexibly of a desktop PC. Other Shuttle SFF PC’s have been aimed at the home users and used for a broad range of applications. The SB52G2 is well-suited for SOHO (Small Office/Home Office) running mail servers, NAS, file servers and other applications. ”
MSI 655 Max Review
Hexus :: Tuesday, March 11, 2003
“MSI are the first motherboard manufacturer we have seen to utilise the new SIS 655 Chipset. This chipset is set to give Intel’s Granite Bay a run for its money as it also features dual channel DDR memory for the Pentium 4 processor. Unlike the Granite Bay, the SIS 655 chipset allows the memory speed to be set independently from the front side bus and gives proper DDR333 capability. ”
Zalman ZM50-HP VGA Heatpipe Cooler Review
TweakTown :: Tuesday, March 11, 2003
“After all the buzz about the new Zalman heatpipe coolers for the high-end video cards, there were some of those less fortunate who were feeling just a little left out. But fear not! Come join Mike “Darthtanion” Wright as he takes a look at the Zalman ZM50-HP VGA Heatpipe Cooler. It features the same quiet cooling method as the larger models but is made for those who are still using a low-end video card. Can it still maintain good results in a smaller package? Lets find out!”
ThermalRight SK6+ HSF Review
OCIA :: Tuesday, March 11, 2003
“The install of the sink was a bit tricky. The back side clipped down onto the fingers very easily. The front side clip is set by using a small flat screwdriver. The screwdriver clip notch is not very tight and the screwdriver slipped out on my first attempt, but luckily I was prepared and had thick piece of rubber under the clip area. The bottom of the heat sink was highly polished and free of any burs or rough places and made good contact with the cpu core. I applied a small amount of silicone paste which was supplied with the unit and booted up.”
Win a Cooler Master Case and Spire CPU Cooler!
XtReMoDs :: Tuesday, March 11, 2003
“Not Only is there less then three weeks left of the giveaway, but now your chances of winning have doubled. XtReMoDs has added the Spire MicroFlow I to the giveaway so more people have a chance to win. So, for a review you can win a Cooler Mater ATC-710 GX1 Case AND a Spire MicroFlow I!”
VEXX Alien Green LE Case Review
Furioustech :: Tuesday, March 11, 2003
“Cases which one do you choose? You might be the kind of person that wants a modded case but, either not wanting to take the time or have the patience to modify it youself, you want a great looking case without the work! I have the answer for you, Voyer Mods sent me a sweet VEXX Alien Green LE case to take a look at. Stap yourself in and lets take a look at this case!”
ABIT NF7-5 Motherboard Review
Short-Media :: Tuesday, March 11, 2003
The ABIT NFORCE2 NF7-S is likely the MOST tweakable motherboard on the face of the planet today! ABIT have always been the overclocker’s favorite. Their motherboards offer a host of bios options that give the enthusiast ultimate control and tweaking delight. ABIT are also known to pack on the features assuring buyers that their money has been well spent.
That’s what the enthusiast consumer expects when looking to the best; fast, featured and fun. ABIT may have produced the most overclockable board on the planet but they could have fallen short when it comes to what’s inside the box and how the NF7-S comes out of the gate.
RAM heatsink giveaway
Overclocker Café :: Saturday, March 08, 2003
Dude! FREE HEAT SINKS!
Today the Overclocker Café is kicking off a four-day contest. Between now and Sunday March 9th you can enter to win a set (eight sinks) of Tweakmonster RAM sinks. They have one set of the standard and one set of the BGA size so you can enter for one or the other.
Epox 4PEA+ i845PE Motherboard Review
Overclockers New Zealand :: Saturday, March 08, 2003
“Epox has once again done a great job on 4PEA+. The performance is good and overclocking is kept to Epox’s standard. The board has rich features that are arguable better than Asus P4PE but at a lower price. The Blue LED chipset cooler is a nice bonus for lighting up your case. The lack of 3:4 FSB/memory ratio is a bit disappointed as it squeezes more performance out of the system. Overall, 4PEA+ is a great board and I highly recommend it.”
Design your own fan grille contest!
GruntvillE :: Saturday, March 08, 2003
“Now this contest will be to create a fan grill that will be offered for sale on the site. =GvL= is a clan only thing so we’re wanting something that will let everyone know it’s a “GruntvillE” fan grill not a clan fan grill.”
PC Mods 3.5″ Rheobus Review
I Am Not a Geek :: Saturday, March 08, 2003
“With all of the fan control device on the market at this time, the PC Mods 3.5″ Rheobus stands out as an option worthy of consideration. It does its job, and it looks good doing it. The price of $24.99 is reasonable, especially when compared to other 5.25″ bay devices… with the added benefit of leaving your 5.25″ bays free for other uses.”
Sunbeam Rheobus Review
Think Computers :: Saturday, March 08, 2003
“I have a 120mm fan at the top and another 80mm fan on the right side. So thats 6 fans total, and since that is my server it is usually left on 24/7. So its a bit hard to sleep if all the fans are going a full speed. So whats the sollution, a Rheobus. A Rheobus is a small device that controls current and voltages going to the fans through a small circuit board… ”
Koolcases.com Nexus Fan Controller Review
Short-Media :: Saturday, March 08, 2003
The Nexus fan controller has a history of earning a high rating from tech sites so should this review’s outcome be any different? The final score can change and for some beauty is in the eye of the beholder and for others it may just miss the perfect mark. It’s shocking to learn that the Nexus doesn’t “blow away” the competition.
X-Pider Aluminum Case Review
Overclocker Café :: Saturday, March 08, 2003
I think this case really does show off with those included LED fans. Granted, they’re not quite bright enough for me, but even still, with that large window they cast plenty of glow for the buck. You can also see that with the way the front grill is designed, it allows the light from the fans to show through, which does enhance it looks from the front.
Matrix Orbital LK-204-25-PC Limited Edition Review
GruntvillE :: Saturday, March 08, 2003
“Now, if you have done your research in looking at character LCD displays, most of this looks fairly standard for a 4 line, 20 character display; that is until you read the line in the interfaces box that specifies the 8 high power GPOs. So let’s start with defining what a GPO is.
On the right hand side of that picture you see a double row of pins. The bottom 8 pairs are the GPOs. They supply 12 volt power up to 750mA, and are turned on and off by the software. So this means that you can control fans, lights, or any other gadget you put in your system that draws less then 750mA! In essence it works like a software baybus.”
EL Window Appliques Review
OCIA :: Saturday, March 08, 2003
“The inverter is a small plastic box which houses a small transformer based circuit which resembles the high voltage transformers found in other inverters (which are normally just bare or shrink wrapped). Upon removing the 2 screws, the inverter circuitry itself is exposed. The PCB is about half the size of your thumb and has silicon underneath which reduces the risk of electric shock.”
Spire 5R265B1H3T SkiveStream CPU Cooler Review
MODTHEBOX! :: Saturday, March 08, 2003
Can model names get any more complicated? Here’s a snip:
“The cooler has fourty fins carved out of an aluminum base. A channel has been machine down the center to facilitate the retention clip. As the name suggests, the 5R265B1H3T SkiveStream heatsink was created using the Skiving process. The process involves cutting the fins out of the base, ensuring there is no division between the base and fin, where efficiency maybe lost in the bonding material. The added benefit from this manufacturing process is that one side of each fin is very course, increasing the surface area for forced convection cooling.”
Another ATI Radeon 9800 Pro Review!
Hexus :: Saturday, March 08, 2003
Can’t read too much about the 9800!
“It’s both faster and has more features than the 9700 Pro, and generally matches the GeForce FX on the feature front. That alone will ensure that it sells by the proverbial bucket load. Our benchmarks have shown it to be the performance leader in the majority of benchmarks that we conducted. Excelling the key area of high resolutions and high settings of image quality (4x AA, 8x AF), it betters the 9700 Pro
Skillz Cube Connection USB Adapter
Tech-Dreams :: Saturday, March 08, 2003
As the name suggests, it is an adapter to plug in any Gamecube controller into your computer via USB. The upside of this is that (obviously) for a small amount of money, if you have a Gamecube you can have a nice quality controller for your PC at the same time. Also, if you have a Gamecube, you undoubtedly know about the Wavebird, Nintendo’s wireless controller, which uses RF (not line of sight) and works from as far away as 20 feet. That means that you can have both a wireless Gamecube controller and a wireless pc controller. This can be especially handy if you have TV-out on your computer. Since your television is interlaced, typically games will look better to you on your TV at lower resolutions, as things wont be quite so blocky. With a wireless controller, you could play games worthy of a controller from your couch instead of from your pc, without having to buy anything extra. As a bonus, Mac users can benefit from this as well. The device works with Windows 98 and up, as well as Mac OS. Another perk of this particular adapter, is that you can use two of them on one computer, without having any type of conflict. So you and your brother can play an emulator on the couch with Wavebirds without a worry.
NV31/34 Preview
Hexus :: Saturday, March 08, 2003
“The 2 new cards are called the NVIDIA Geforce FX 5600, and the 5200 models, these are targeted at the mainstream and the budget sectors of the market.”
CPUFX Z4 Micro Intercooler Kit
SystemCooling :: Saturday, March 08, 2003
“As computer processors continue to increase in speed and performance, so do the demands on the computer’s cooling system. Increased speed means increased heat output, and manufacturers are under constant pressure to dissipate this heat to make room for even more speed. Unfortunately, a common side effect of increasing cooling on a system is noise. High-speed CPU fans and multiple case fans are very effective, but in the final equation can make a system noisy enough to be impractical for use in many environments.”
Interview with Extreme Alterations.
Think Computers :: Saturday, March 08, 2003
Well I got a chance to talk to Alex Blythe, founder and owner of Extreme Alterations. I got to know a to know more about him, how he got the store started, and his thoughts on modding… ”
Bittspower CCFLS and UV Fan Review
Furioustech :: Saturday, March 08, 2003
“Modding is addictive, with all those products out in the market, so many choices! Well Bittspower sent me some UV reactive fans and some UV and TRI and Blue CCFLS. I had one rig that had none. So I couldn’t just leave it unmodded since the other rigs were. Kind of a quid pro quo thing. So find out what I discovered about these products. I think you will be drooling as I was!”
Colbalt3 Pyramid V Fan Controller Review
Mikhailtech :: Saturday, March 08, 2003
The Pyramid V uses up only 0.3 watts of power, so its heat output is negligible and doesn’t require the use of heatsinks like the first generation rheobus. It’s also pretty “powerful” for something that’ll fit in a 1.5″ box. The ability to command up to 48 watts is nothing to scoff at, since even the 10 or so fans in an enthusiast’s case won’t add up to that much (that’s 4.8watts/fan, something that only high RPM models need). It also has something called dPOD technology, an acronym for Dual Power Output Driver. Supposedly it provides N+1 type redundancy under a continuous 4 amp load, while only losing 0.025A in the process.
Asus A7N8X Deluxe Modding Guide
Maximum OC :: Saturday, March 08, 2003
The guys at Maximum OC have “improved” an Asus motherboard, and share the madness with you! They go over voltage and cooling mods for this MB.
Zalman HP-80A heatpipe VGA Heatsink Review
3dgameman :: Saturday, March 08, 2003
“The Zalman HP-80A heatpipe VGA Heatsink is compatible with just about any current Video Card. With two massive heatsinks and a heatpipe this product does an excellent job at cooling and it does it without a fan so it’s completely silent. To make the best of it installation is straight forward taking about 15-30 minutes. Watch the Video to find out more…”
Epox 8RDA+ nForce2 Motherboard Review
ViperLair :: Saturday, March 08, 2003
“A 230FSB was pretty much a piece of cake, using an 8.0 mulitplier. I tried 8.5 but the system would not post. I also tried 8 x 231, but the system, although posting at 8 x 231, would not boot into Windows. We did manage a POST at 5 x 242, but it never got into Windows either. The fact that it at least POSTed at 242FSB is a bit of an encouragement as the upcoming AMD CPUs will likely ride the 400FSB bus, so you’ll still have some OC headroom when the new chips arrive.”
Antec LANboy Review
DataFuse :: Saturday, March 08, 2003
Vantec 420watt Power Supply Video Review
3dgameman :: Thursday, March 06, 2003
“The Vantec 420 watt Power Supply has an aluminum casing, three adjustable fans, AC outlet and with the Universal power adapter means this power supply will fit just about any motherboard on the market. This product is the first in a line of quality power supplies from Vantec and is very capable of handling most current computer system power needs. Watch the Video to find out more…”
Colorcases 0106 Web Tower Review
Monkey Review :: Thursday, March 06, 2003
“I’m not going to lie; I honestly wouldn’t purchase this tower for myself. I think it needs some work before I feel comfortable recommending it to anyone serious about their tower’s quality. If you’re looking for a tower to build a backup system or if you’re not at all picky about your PC’s tower, take a look, otherwise I’d suggest saving your money. I generally like to look at a Reseller rating while dealing with a new sponsor; I checked it out on this company and was floored. ”
X-Sonic case review
Overclocker Café :: Thursday, March 06, 2003
“Most, if not EVERY case with drive rails has them on both sides of the drive. The X-Sonic only has the rail on the right side, to save space. You can secure your drives with screws in the normal way from inside the case but the drives we installed with the one rail, held firm and didn’t cause us any loss of confidence.”
Cyber Cooler 80mm Blue LED Fans Review
Mikhailtech :: Thursday, March 06, 2003
“Seeing as how I just received a case with a side window for my main system, I thought it was high time for me to add a few lights myself, going for the somewhat common blue/black theme. These fans, made by Cyber Cooler, have been circulating for some time and with recent price drops have become a little more widespread within the enthusiast community. At $7 a piece (less than half of what similar fans cost a year ago), they’re more affordable than ever. Each fan was nicely packed in a display shelf container, with a couple extras. The fan itself is transparent sky blue, so it looks nice even during daytime when the LEDs don’t get much accomplished.”
Bitspower 12″ Cold Cathode Kits Rev 2.0 Review
MODTHEBOX! :: Thursday, March 06, 2003
“In the original configuration of the first generation 12″ Cold Cathode Kits, Bitspower opted to use a more circular 300mm tube encased in an all-acrylic shell. The ends of the tube were secured using silicon rubbers to keep the cathode tube centered and stationary. The latest revision uses a more traditional approach by securing both ends using silicon blocks. The silicon blocks simplify the process of mounting these units inside a case thanks to the included double stick Velcro pieces. All wiring has been extended the length of the tube and is conveniently routed to quick disconnect plugs that are inserted into the 12v power inverter.”
pcToys Blue Fantasy review
SystemCooling :: Thursday, March 06, 2003
“There will be four things that I will be showing you today. A Northbridge chipset cooler, video card cooler, fan controller and a blue digital Koolnace EXOS mod. All things fit in a theme, which I like to call “pcToys Blue”. Those who know me, know that blue is my favorite color. And just like that dance tune by Eiffel 65 – I’m Blue, I will be going blue with my computer.”
SS Warrior Aluminum Case Review
OCIA :: Wednesday, March 05, 2003
“One feature I definitely like is that the entire top panel of the case is removable too. This can help in both general installation of components, but also for modding the panel since you can completely separate it from the rest of the case. Good place for a small radiator perhaps…..”
Nexus Hardware Giveaway Continues!
Nexus Hardware :: Wednesday, March 05, 2003
We are giving away almost $800 worth of products to celebrate our forums opening! Here is the list of what’s left:
10 Abit T-Shirts
HWLabs Black Ice Extreme
Innovatek Graph-O-Matic Geforce 3 GPU Cooler
Alpha 8942 w/ green led fan
Innovatek Dual 120mm Fan Radiator
256mb of OCZ PC2700
Modified Visiontek Ti200
Wireless Intellimouse Explorer
Intel® Desktop Board D845PEBT2
Intel Pentium 4 2.26
MSI K7N2-L Motherboard review
Hexus :: Wednesday, March 05, 2003
“I like the board, it’s just hard to recommend despite the price. For the truly budget user looking to get in on some nForce2 action it’s a decent board.”
Thermalright SLK-900 Copper Heatsink Video card review
3dgameman :: Wednesday, March 05, 2003
The man with the lovely product lady is back to entice you with another review!
“The Thermalright SLK-900 Copper Heatsink is one incredible product fitting both the Socket 462 and 478. Its also is capable of having a 70mm, 80mm or 92mm fan installed on it. The all copper design and smooth solid copper base allows excellent contact between it and the CPU which equals excellent performance. Watch the Video to find out more…”
MSI CR52-A2 52x24x52x CD-RW Review
PCStats :: Wednesday, March 05, 2003
Say that three times fast! Just read the snip:
“In our ever unquenchable need for speed and performance, CD writers have gotten so fast that that their CD-ROM/DVD-ROM’s counterparts cannot keep up! Unless you have a True-X based CD-ROM, there’s no way you’re going to be able to do a 52x CD to CD burn on the fly. While MSI has been in producing various computer components for a very long time now, they’re still relative newbies in the optical storage market. Of course MSI has not forgotten what has made such a successful company, their CR52-A2 52x24x52 CD-RW offers value in the form of a retail price of $85 CDN ($60 US). The MSI 52x24x52 CD-RW obviously offers 52x speed write, 24x rewrite (24x media is almost impossible to find though) and 52x read which is comparable to other 52x CD-RW’s currently being marketed. The writer boasts a 2MB buffer, but with BURN-proof (Buffer Under RuN) technology, you really don’t need to worry about buffer size as much as in the past. The front bezel is snow white in colour rather then the ugly “pre beige” some other manufacturers use.”
OCZ PC2700 EL Dual Channel Memory 2x 256MB
PCStats :: Wednesday, March 05, 2003
Looks like we have another dual channel memory review!
“It was only a matter of time before manufacturers and their marketing departments jumped all over the “dual channel DDR” craze created by nVIDIA’s nForce2 (Athlon) and Intel’s Granite Bay/Springdale/Canterwood (P4) chipsets. In all honesty I understand why they did it, after all if you can charge more for DIMM’s “tested” to run properly together why not do it? Like everything else in life it always all comes down to money. Today we’re going to be checking out OCZ’s PC2700 EL (Enhanced Latency) memory kit which consists of two 256MB modules intended for dual channel DDR motherboards. OCZ equip this memory with black aluminum heatspreaders which are supposed to help with passive cooling, but considering that there are four DRAM’s per side I don’t think this is really all that necessary. The black aluminum heat spreader looks sleek and at least offers some static protection to the precious DRAM’s below.”
Cooler Master Black & Silver Alloy Bezels
SystemCooling :: Wednesday, March 05, 2003
“Back in November, SystemCooling.com was the first to show you the then, all new, Cooler Master Silver Alloy Front Bezels. Today we’ll show you the latest addition, the new Black Alloy Bezel! Like its brother the Black Alloy Bezel is a three part affair, held securely to your CD/DVD/CDRW drives with genuine 3M double-sided sponge type tape.”
OCZ Dual Channel PC3200 EL DDR SDRAM Review
TweakTown :: Wednesday, March 05, 2003
Whew, what a mouthful! Pull up a chair, and read a snip:
“Dual Channel is very much a buzz word when it comes to modern computing these days; and rightfully so. Intel, SiS and nVidia all have high-performance Dual Channel chipsets on the market already with VIA not too far away in the distance. Today Cameron “Sov” Johnson takes a look at OCZ Technologies Dual Channel PC3200 EL DDR SDRAM package solution. Does it have what it takes to make it into your Dual Channel setup? Read on and decide for yourself!”
Are AMD Mobo makers getting cheap?
ViperLair :: Monday, March 03, 2003
“When my KT133 motherboard bit the dust after massive stability problems and such in only six months of use, I later acquired an ECS K7S5A motherboard utilizing the Sis735 chipset. It is actually a good motherboard in my opinion, just that ECS was trying to make this motherboard broadly compatible, when in fact it was not despite their claims that it supports anything you can put in it. AMD also found out about this, and does not recommend it but for Palomino core AMD cpus and 900-1000mhz Durons.”
PcToys Mult-Function Panel review
OCAddiction :: Monday, March 03, 2003
“Installation is a snap. The instructions are well laid out and easy to read. A 4th grader could install this unit. Hats off to pcToys for good documentation in plain, un-translated English. I found it easiest to place and attach all of the sensors first. I located the temperature sensors per the instructions. For the CPU, I attached the probe near the die on my P4 2.26b on the bottom of the heatsink. ”
TD Review: Sunbeam’s Laser LED and EL Strip
Tech-Dreams :: Monday, March 03, 2003
“The latest craze in modding the aesthetics of a computer is to beautify the look with lighting effects. Computer lighting can come in many forms, from cold cathode tubes to cool high-intensity LEDs; you can even find blinking lights on system fans these days. With modding as popular as it is now, everyone wants their cases to look sharp and attractive. I would like to thank Keven from SunBeam Technology for providing me with the opportunity to review their Laser LEDs and EL Strip. ”
The Book of Overclocking Review
GruntvillE :: Monday, March 03, 2003
“Chapter 4 is the gold mine; “How to Overclock.” This section will take a n00b OC’r and get them started down the right path. I was hoping to find tricks I wasn’t aware of but I was familiar with all of the tips in this chapter. I do think that it’s a great guide for users less experienced than myself. When you’re searching the forums and get your answer, you’re not sure it’s 100% right; after reading through this chapter I can assure you that they’ll not steer you wrong. They also give ample warnings for each style of Overclocking and a “what could happen” if you do it wrong. It’s nice to know the risks involved in the project your on.”
Redundant Power Supply Review
Voided Warranty :: Monday, March 03, 2003
“What I love the most about this power supply is that it is completely overkill. Just look at it! This thing looks pretty damn sweet! I love those three indicator LEDs. Those will let you know when one of the units goes down or loses power for some reason.”
SystemCooling looks at RatPadz
SystemCooling :: Sunday, March 02, 2003
“Once upon a time a “Mouse Pad” was a mouse pad, was a mouse pad, much to the aggravation of just about everybody, but especially gamers and power-users. Then a few years ago, Kyle Bennett of [H]ard|OCP fame designed, developed and marketed the revolutionary mouse pad that became world famous as the “RATPADZ”. Gamers, power-users and anyone requiring a precise mousing surface was overjoyed!!!”
Voided Warranty lights up a hard drive
Voided Warranty :: Sunday, March 02, 2003
“For this HD mod ill be using a Maxtor 5 gig hard drive, five 3mm 3000mcd 50ma green LED’s, and a Voided Warranty window applique. So find an extra drive and mod that thing, and don’t blame Voided Warranty if you kill your HD. LET THE FUN BEGIN!”
Surface 1030 fUnc Pad Mousing Surface Review
TweakTown :: Sunday, March 02, 2003
“Mousing surfaces are probably the most under looked type of product when it comes to computing these days. Many companies have made a handsome living out of producing high quality mouse surfaces for computer users with the gamer in mind. One such company who has made a living out of this production is fUnc Industries with their Surface 1030 fUnc Pad which Shawn “Toxic” Baker takes a quick look at today!”
Chenming ATX-301K Case Review
Overclocker Café :: Sunday, March 02, 2003
Great looking, cool, highly functional case with an awesome price. Features and lines of cases costing twice the price. I love it. A search on the web turned up this case at under $40 with free shipping! Throw in the optional window (or your own window kit) and you have one the nicest value case I’ve ever dealt with.
I guess Chenming Case Reviews are hot today! Here’s another one!
Check it out
SubeSystemZ CF-5968 Review @ HEXUS.net
Hexus :: Sunday, March 02, 2003
The supplied heatsink is of very high quality and fixes easily to the motherboard. It is the same as a traditional heatsink but with a very low profile. Unlike the Shuttle that has its special ‘ICE’ heat pipe solution, the CF-S968 fan blows air down onto the CPU. The air is then expelled from the case via a second fan at the rear.
Antec True 550 Watt PSU @ Nexus Hardware
Nexus Hardware :: Sunday, March 02, 2003
“Antec has built a reputation on high quality cases and computer power supplies. The currently discontinued Antec PP412X was praised by overclockers as “one of the best” because it had adjustable pots to help tweak rail voltages. As an overclocker and enthusiast, I am well aware of the impact of a quality power supply unit. Today I have Antec top of the line power supply to test, the True 550 watt model.”
Game Controller Roundup @ HEXUS
Hexus :: Sunday, March 02, 2003
“The keyboard is also not the most ergonomic of devices and in games there are certain positions your hand has to make that aren’t really ideal. In a perfect world it would be nice to have a smaller device which can perform a range of functions without having to move your hands around much and have all the buttons easily accessible. This brings me neatly to the reasoning behind this article, to compare and evaluate 3 controllers that aim to do this from Belkin, Thrustmaster and Ferraro.”
Pinnacle PCTV Pro review @ Techniz
Techniz.co.uk :: Sunday, March 02, 2003
“Well I can’t rave enough about this product. As someone who does a lot of video capturing and editing I was blown away by the quality of the pctv Pro.”
Tweakmonster Revision 3 Lightstrip Review
ViperLair :: Sunday, March 02, 2003
“When it arrives, the lightstrip is packaged like a roll of tape. Unrolling it will bring the strip to a length of 2 1/2″ , which is far longer than any cold cathode I have seen. Of course, chances are you might not want the unit that long, so it is entirely possible to cut the end of the lightstrip off with a pair of scissors (you tough guys and gals can bite it off like a piece of beef jerky).”
IpKonfig reviews SpeedUpMyPC software
IpKonfig :: Sunday, March 02, 2003
Adding all sorts of hardware, such as memory and upgrades, to processors can become a very expensive journey. Overclocking has overcome much of this by allowing ‘tweakers’ to modify processors and memory modules to run faster than specified from the manufacturer. Overclocking, as we all know, adds to performance, but if you’re not the type that feels comfortable tinkering with the electronics of your computer, you may be looking for an alternative. Software is one way of gaining a little extra performance out of your machine, but I won’t lie to you-software only improves performance by manipulating/tweaking certain areas within the operating system, and seldom manipulates the computer hardware. Using such software is, however, quite easy, and helps keep fingers out of the Windows operating system registry.
Speeze CopperKing CPU Cooler Review
MODTHEBOX! :: Sunday, March 02, 2003
“The 5E198B1H3R CopperKing CPU Cooler strays away from traditional heatsink fin design and features a unique series of 22 triangular folded fins. The top of each fin has a thin rectangular area removed to allow for air to be pushed down. Upon closer inspection, each fin is folded very close to each other with little to no space in some cases in-between the fins. The overall construction is quite strong and I was unable to bend any fin with reasonable force.”
Spire Socket A Cooler Matchup and Giveaway
I Am Not a Geek :: Sunday, March 02, 2003
“The Spire MicroFlow I and FridgeRock Socket A heatsinks both provided respectable temperatures while cooling an AMD Athlon XP2200+ Thoroughbred processor. Although I would not recommend them for overclockers or higher powered processors, the performance offered versus the price paid is very attractive for any desktop installation.”
They are also giving away a Spire FridgeRock Socket A Cooler. Follow the link here.
Chenming ATX-301 Case Revierw @ Icrontic
Short-Media :: Sunday, March 02, 2003
Chenming cases are very popular among the modding community. Icrontic has a review of a new Chenming case. Here’s a snip:
Chenming brought us the legendary ATX-901A series PC case which is well known to PC enthusiasts. ANTEC, AMK and Thermaltake all distribute the ATX-901A series with their own unique additions but Chenming started it all. Now lessons have been learned and can Chenming do it again with the ATX-301K?
Sapphire Radeon 9700 Atlantis Pro “Ultimate Edition” Review
TweakTown :: Wednesday, March 26, 2003
“We’ve been seeing the Radeon 9700 Pro boards for a while, but when someone comes up saying they have one called “Ultimate Edition”, it makes you ask why. Come join Mike “Darthtanion” Wright as he takes a look at the Sapphire Radeon 9700 Atlantis Pro “Ultimate Edition” and find out for yourself if it lives up to the name. We’re looking at upgrade paths in this review so lets see if this graphics board has what it takes to earn your hard-earned dollars!”
Geil 1GB PC3200 Dual DDR Kit
PimpRig :: Tuesday, March 25, 2003
“The stats this RAM puts up makes it attractive even if it was a single stick. This kit has two 512MB PC3200 RAM sticks for a total of 1GB RAM. Timings are CAS 2 6-3-3 1T Running @ DDR400Mhz… Niiiiiice.”
Albatron GeForce 4 Ti4800SE Medusa Review
myWORLD :: Tuesday, March 25, 2003
“Now and everyday, whenever you go to computer shops and asked for a video card recommendation, surely GeForce 4 Titanium series are the most commonly recommended. Why? Because of it’s performance wise as well as its affordability…”
Albatron Geforce 4 Ti4680P Turbo Review
Monkey Review :: Tuesday, March 25, 2003
The card was manufactured utilizing a thicker 8-layer PCB, done in blue. The Medusa offers us 128MB’s of 3.3ns DDR RAM with a 250/550 MHz GPU/RAM clock. Most will quickly notice from the images that we also have a large and elegant looking copper based HSF as well as RAM sinks not only on the top of the card but also on the bottom. I like how the HSF blows air out and through the ram sinks, ensuring at least a little air will be flowing through them.
Albatron GF4 Ti4280PV review
OCAddiction :: Friday, March 14, 2003
“Albatron has chosen to use Samsung memory for this video card. Samsung has gained a pretty good reputation with their ramchips. Looking closely, the ram is rated to run at 3.6ns. A quick calculation (1000/3.6 = 278 * 2 = 556MHZ DDR) shows that the memory is capable to run at 556MHZ.”
MSI G4MX440-T8X Half Height Videocard Review
PCStats :: Friday, March 14, 2003
“”While ATi and nVIDIA battle it out for the performance crown it’s actually their mainstream/budget videocards that bring in most of the money. Win the mainstream battle and you’ll win the war as they say. To this effect, nVIDIA know that their TNT2 M64, GeForce2 MX and GeForce4 MX line of videocards have long been popular with manufacturers and OEM’s. It’s not that ATi cannot offer the same type of product, it’s just that until recently ATi has been focusing more on being a performance leader and offering competitive pricing on their flagship line of cards only. Today we’re going to be looking at yet another GeForce4 MX videocard, but what makes the MSI G4MX440-T8X special is that it is a entirely silent half height card especially suited to small form factor PC’s or Book sized PC’s.”.”
Samsung 172B 17″ LCD review
Techwarelabs :: Friday, March 14, 2003
“When LCD monitors came out they were a lot thinner than CRTs, however the horrible picture quality really deterred users from purchasing them. The Samsung 172B 17″ LCD is one of the slimmest LCD monitors on the market today, but will being thin sacrifice picture quality?”
Samsung Syncmaster 191N 19″ TFT LCD Monitor Review
Tweaknews :: Tuesday, March 11, 2003
“Now let me add this up. Improved 191N analog technology which is better than the older digital 191T, same great looks and a US$200-$300 price cut? I don’t think there is even a question that this product deserves the Tweaknews.net’s seal of approval, the “Top Rank Award”. Better and cheaper are always a good thing in my mind, wouldn’t you agree?”
MSI GNB Max-FISR (E7205) Motherboard Review @ SharkyExtreme!
Sharky Extreme :: Saturday, March 08, 2003
“The overclocking options of E7205 motherboards has been a sore spot for many, as some boards literally have few if any enhancements. The GNB Max-FISR has an excellent CPU overclocking setup, with 1 MHz FSB speeds from 133 to 200 MHz, and CPU core voltage settings from 1.475 to 1.85V. This is actually a more substantial maximum voltage level than MSI offers in their basic Pentium 4 motherboards, so it was a nice surprise. Unfortunately, the overclocking options end there, with no DDR or AGP voltage selections. The AGP side doesn’t bother us too much, and although the 266 MHz DDR limit really doesn’t warrant a lot of voltage options, we missed it when trying to jack no-name memory to the lowest timings possible.”
Albatron GeForce 4MX 480 8X AGP Review
Tweaknews :: Saturday, March 08, 2003
“Seems like all you hear about in the hardware world is the high end cards. But are these cards for the everyday gamer, nope. Do you think that most people have US$200-$400 to spend on one component, nope. People today like to have a blend of value and performance and that is where the Alabatron MX480 delivers.”
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro Review
Sharky Extreme :: Saturday, March 08, 2003
“After thoroughly benchmarking the ATI Radeon 9800 Pro, two basic concepts started to emerge. At standard game settings and lower resolutions, the Radeon 9800 Pro wasn’t really taxed, and the CPU and memory subsystem just couldn’t push the juice fast enough to make use of the faster clock speeds. Once we hit the higher resolutions, separation occurred, and the Radeon 9700 Pro started loosing more ground to the Radeon 9800 Pro. The final tests, involving anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering, showed the Radeon 9800 Pro in its best light, as the added power came in very handy when all the graphical bells and whistles were enabled.”
Logitech Z-680 5.1 Speakers Review
GruntvillE :: Saturday, March 08, 2003
“Well I started it out with the effect on Stereo with the PCs. I found no major audible difference between the two computers but it was obvious that the nForce 2 sounded better. Man does that sax sound good on Dave Mathew’s “So Much to Say!” I was absolutely floored at the response at all frequencies. As I mentioned before the sub can rumble deep down into the 20Hz range without losing an unacceptable amount of SPL.
The imaging of this set in stereo was phenomenal! While jamming to “Money” by Pink Floyd I could almost see Dick playing percussion in the middle while David was gracefully floating his vocals in front of him with Rich tapping the keyboard off to the right. Having these speakers set up correctly is a must in Stereo as the imaging is very precise but like any high end audio speaker, the results are well worth it. Chopin made me take a deep breath and kick back and relax. It was as if I was in the hall….”
ATI 9800, 9600, and 9200 Preview
Tech-PC :: Saturday, March 08, 2003
“A few weeks ago ATI invited Tech PC to a briefing in London, part of the agenda was looking at their newest range of desktop products. To be released as the Radeon 9200, 9600 and 9800 series of cards we’re going to give you a quick outline of what to expect, prices and some comparative benchmarks. We’re not going to dive in too heavy on the technical side of things but rather try and keep it as a simple overview until we get real cards to play with.”
XFX GF4 MX440 Review
OCAddiction :: Thursday, March 06, 2003
“The MX440-8X overclocked exceptionally well. With the stock heat sink, I was able to achieve a stable core speed of 375mhz. That is an incredible 100mhz over stock speed. With a little better contact with the heat sink, the core should be able to achieve higher stable overclock. As mentioned before, the memory is rated to run at 3.3ns, allowing the memory to run at least 606mhz. I was able to push the BGA ram to at least 675mhz before artifacts started showing up. ”
Samsung SW-252B 52x24x52 CD-RW Review
PCStats :: Thursday, March 06, 2003
“While Samsung monitors are well known amongst consumers, the companies’ optical devices have only recently begun to generate notice amongst cash-strapped consumers. After all, the competition in the optical drive industry is incredibly high, and even mainboard manufacturers are entering into the fold. Enough of that, today we’re going to throw Samsung’s latest CD-RW the SW-252B into the pit and see just how it stands up to the competition. With a rating of 52x write, 24x rewrite and 52x read speed, you won’t be able to find anything faster then the SW-252B currently on the market. In terms of features, the drive has a large 8MB frame buffer as well as Buffer Under Run Free technology (all these BURN proof type technologies work on the same concept) and can support even 90min (790 MB) CD-R’s! The SW-252 also supports all the usual writing methods, DAO (Disc At Once), TAO (Track At Once), SAO (Session At Once) and Multi session Packet Writing (both variable and fixed). Unfortunately the Samsung SW-252B is not quite available to the public yet so I’m not sure how much the unit will retail for, but Samsung usually prices their products quite aggressively.”
MSI GeForce4 Ti4600-TD8X review
ViperLair :: Monday, March 03, 2003
“The performance of this card was very nice indeed. In the Quake III engine based JKII the Ti4800 remained very ‘playable’ until 1600*1200 with all settings at maximum, when it becomes borderline in playability. Serious Sam SE shows the strength of the Ti4800 (or the weakness of the Parhelia) as it reaches above 60fps both at 1024*768 with maximum settings and at 1600*1200 with high settings, unlike both the Parhelia and the MX 440.”
Sapphire 9100 Atlantis review
Riva3D :: Monday, March 03, 2003
“While everyone seems focused on the battle for the fastest card, there’s been a rather quiet little war brewing for entry-level graphics cards, and ATI is beginning to make their move with the introduction of the 9100 graphics chip, which is basically a higher clocked 9000. While this may not sound like much, in reality, it’s giving users a feature rich, low cost card with surprisingly good performance.”
Albatron TI4680 Video Card Review @ FuriousTech
Furioustech :: Sunday, March 02, 2003
“Viedo cards there are lots of choices out there. You can spend up to $400.00 for the top card out there. Today I am looking at the Albatron nVIDIA TI4680 card. You can get a sub $200.00 card that will out preform the more expensive cards. I was totally impressed, as I think you will be also. Grab your favorite beverage and take a look at this offering from Alabatron!”