Tech News November 2005

NewsNov 30, 2005June 29, 20140

PimpRig Review // Jackson Armor Card
PimpRig :: Thursday, December 01, 2005
“With all this experience it’s no wonder why they have created what I would like to call the ultimate hardware tool for a secure PC. They stand behind their name and even put a rock solid GUARANTEE on their services. This sounds very promising for a review of just a little PCI card. That’s not just any PCI card though, this little card records changes made to the primary drive/partition and if you wish all you have to do is reboot and all the changes that were made are gone! Install a virus… Gone. Install a bad driver… Gone. Install spyware… Gone.”

DFI nForce4 Infinity SLI Motherboard Review
Futurelooks :: Thursday, December 01, 2005
In the market for something that just works, and you don’t care about a gajillion useless extra gizmos? Well, DFI’s Infinity series should take care of that, and today we have a look at their Infinity nForce 4 SLI, a low-cost solution for those interested in SLI. So, come and check out what we thought of it!

Reason Why Vendors Don’t Sell AMD Products @ CoolTechZone.com
CoolTechZone :: Thursday, December 01, 2005
“AMD went to court with an antitrust/unfair business practice lawsuit against Intel Corp. earlier this year. AMD also claimed that Intel was strong-arming and/or giving indirect incentives (joint marketing efforts) to vendors such as Dell to ensure that they don’t retail AMD products.”

Thermalright V1 Ultra Video Card Cooler
SystemCooling :: Thursday, December 01, 2005

snip: “Back in June, we introduced users to Thermalright’s maiden voyage in the world of video card cooling, the Thermalright V1. It performed admirably in our initial testing, but as time went on, deficiencies were uncovered that made the cooler unsuitable for certain applications. The folks at Thermalright went back to the drawing board, and the result of their efforts is the cooler we’re looking at today, dubbed the V1 Ultra. We’ll find out if the changes Thermalright made allow this cooler to do to the GPU cooling world what their CPU heatsinks have done in their category – dominate.”

Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro Athlon64 Heatsink
Frosty Tech :: Thursday, December 01, 2005
“The Freezer 64 Pro suspends its 2200RPM fan on four dualaxial rubber vibration absorbing posts. The general idea of which is to prevent any motor vibrations from transferring to other areas of the chassis which might create noise. The 92mm fan itself is pretty unique in that the design minimizes turbulence and noise created by air moving over the edges of the frame. ”

How To Take Control Of Your Inbox & Reduce Spam @ The TechZone
The Tech Zone :: Thursday, December 01, 2005
Everybody hates spam! I am sure spammers hate getting spam too, but they still continue to dish it out. Why? Because it is still effective. Believe it or not, many of us still click on the links or follow-up with the spam message. As long as we continue to do this, spam will exist. If everybody understood this and paid no attention to spam, the spammers will eventually give up because it costs them real money to send out emails. It is hard to quantify what the cost of sending out one, two or fifty emails is, but 1 million or 5 million emails certainly has a cost that is not negligible. When the payback starts to get so small that the spammers cannot make a decent living, they will find something else to do. This day will come and I cannot wait for it to arrive.

[Phoronix] Enermax Laureate (EB205U-S)
Phoronix :: Thursday, December 01, 2005

Summary: “The Laureate 2.5″ from Enermax Maxpoint is made of high quality aluminum to maximize the heat dissipation as well as keeping to a diminutive weight. Not only is this enclosure made of the quality we have come to expect from Enermax but also the device is also water-resistant and shockproof with its neoprene travel bag.”

MGE XG Vortec 500W
techPowerUp! :: Thursday, December 01, 2005

MGE targets the extreme gamer/modder niche and the build-your-own mainstream market of PC enthusiasts with this power supply. It features a unique blue anodized design with side windows in the PSU case. A PCI-Express video card connector is available, all cables are sleeved. During our testing we found that the PSU can supply stable clean voltage. Another plus is that the retail price of $60 is quite competitive.

Mountain Mods Bob Slay Clear Acrylic Case @ ThinkComputers.org
Think Computers :: Thursday, December 01, 2005

Quote: “Hello everyone today I’ve got a custom acrylic case from Mountain Mods for your pleasure. The “Bob Slay” is a sleek, cube-style case, made entirely from laser cut ¼ inch cast acrylic. The Bob Slay’s cube design make it unique in the field of acrylic cases which normally are only available in the usual tower design.”

The Cheapest Computer is Enough
PC Mechanic :: Thursday, December 01, 2005
Quote: Remember back in the day, when you had to spend $3000 to get a mediocre computer that could just barely do what you wanted it to and was overtaxed after a year? I certainly do. When my family got a brand-new Gateway 2000 in 1995, it came with a huge 17” monitor and an even larger case. We opted for the 124-key AnyKey keyboard, and bought an HP LaserJet 5P. The total price, including the $800 printer, was just about $3000.

DFI’s LANParty UT RDX200 CD-DR motherboard
The Tech Report :: Thursday, December 01, 2005
THE MARKET FOR HIGH-END, enthusiast-oriented motherboards is presently dominated by NVIDIA chipsets. With few exceptions, the nForce4 has run the table for nearly a year, but that might be about to change. The recently announced Radeon Xpress 200 CrossFire chipset is finally poised to offer an alternative to SLI, and several mobo makers are lining up with boards based on the ATI’s new core logic.

The first CrossFire board to become available in North America is DFI’s LANParty UT RDX200 CD-DR. Designed by Oskar Wu, creator of the legendary Abit BP6, the RDX200 pairs ATI’s CrossFire chipset with a myriad of extra peripherals, enough BIOS options to satiate even the most demanding overclocker, and DFI’s usual dose of LANParty flair. The RDX200 is also the only Socket 939 CrossFire motherboard that’s certified by ATI. Can its features and performance compare with the high-end nForce4 boards already available on the market? Read on to find out.

Article Name: Zalman ZM460-APS Ultra Quiet 460Watt Power Supply Review @ Tweaknews.net
Tweaknews :: Thursday, December 01, 2005

“The Zalman ZM460 is not the prettiest PSU I’ve ever seen. It has no fancy gizmos or modular design. What it does have, however, is performance. I’ve had a wide variety of power supplies come through here and I can’t honestly say that any of them have performed better than the ZM460. I know for a fact that I’ve never had a PSU that was this quiet.”

Dream’eo Enza @ Bytesector
Bytesector :: Thursday, December 01, 2005
“Despite the massive speculation and interest, the market for Portable Media Centres is somewhat limited. With selection limited to 4 or 5 choices, it’s a fairly big deal when a new one is released. Today we will be looking at a unit from a smaller manufacturer-Dream’eo. They also produce a GPS tracker, and another PMC, but oddly enough, no MP3 players. Let’s see how their product stacks up in a field dominated by the biggest names in the industry. Dream’eo’s latest release is the Enza, and despite its exotic name, it’s got all the same basic features that the rest of the market has. A great screen, large hard drive, built in speakers, and Windows Mobile Software for Portable Media Centres. It does have a few tricks that set it apart from the rest of the field; the Enza can output to a TV, and comes with a handy little remote. It’s also marginally smaller and lighter than the Samsung YH-999, but I hardly think you’ll notice the 10039mm^2 and 0.5 ounce difference.”

Superpower XP01F PC Gaming Case
Hi-Techreviews :: Thursday, December 01, 2005

With an exterior that’s somewhere between an Apple G5 and Star Wars transport case the Superpower XP01F PC Gaming case is all business. With and snatch handles the case has its own distinctive look. One other feature of note is the side-panel and the ease with which they are removed. The time from start to finish to get a side-panel off is about 20-seconds. So come on along as we check this case out.

ASUSTeK A7G with ATI RADEON Mobility X1600 – First Hands-On Look!
Hexus :: Thursday, December 01, 2005
HEXUS.eXclusives :: ASUSTeK A7G with ATI RADEON Mobility X1600 – First Hands-On Look! Been wondering what to expect from ATi’s up-coming Mobility RADEON X1600? We’ve exclusively done some testing on an ASUS laptop running the Mobility X1600.

e-GeForce 7800 GTX BlackPearl 512MB – Full Review
Hexus :: Thursday, December 01, 2005

The EVGA e-GeForce 7800 GTX BlackPearl 512MB is faster out of the box than the XFX, overclocks further and does it all quieter, cooled by a decent and easy-to-fit watercooling kit. The choice of fittings and tubing diameters means that it should be an easy integration into an existing watercooling setup, too. So what’s not to like, from what’s current the fastest retail consumer graphics card on the planet?

Zalman Fatal1ty FS-C77 CPU Cooler
Big Bruin :: Thursday, December 01, 2005

Quote: Very few coolers offer a perfect blend between appearance, operation, and cooling ability. The Zalman Fatal1ty comes close, but has a few minor problems. The first issue is the need to use the custom motherboard back plate on an AMD A64 system. Having to remove your motherboard to install a CPU cooler isn’t always fun, but does give you a good opportunity to clean the cobwebs out of your case!

Seagate 500GB Barracuda 7200.9 Hard Drive Review Rev. 2.0 Posted!
Tech ARP :: Thursday, December 01, 2005

Quote – “We are moving closer to the terabyte era. The new Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 hard drive pushes us closer to the goal of a terabyte of storage space in a single drive.

Nu Tech Dark Shadow 256MB MP3 Sunglasses
Big Bruin :: Thursday, December 01, 2005

Quote: Nu Tech has combined one of the most popular technology items of today, an MP3 player, with something many of us use every day, a pair of sunglasses. I am the first to admit I am a sucker for any tool or gadget that tries to combine more than one use or function into a single item, but I also have learned from experience that many times such items fail to perform well at any of the tasks they were designed to do.

Firefox Tweak Guide Updated @ TweakGuides.com
Tweaknews :: Thursday, December 01, 2005
To coincide with the release of Firefox 1.5, I’ve fully updated my Firefox Tweak Guide to cover the features of this latest version. If you’ve read the guide before, give it a quick run-through to see what’s new, and if you’re new to the guide, I think you’ll find it very handy.

Seagate Momentus 7200.1 100GB @ Viperlair
ViperLair :: Thursday, December 01, 2005
“Performance is the main focus of this drive, that’s what you are paying the extra $140 for after all. So how does it do? Is amazing, excellent, jaw dropping enough for you? The Seagate ST910021A will blast the covers off of the hard drive currently located in your laptop. Laptop drives are known for their speed, or lack their off, but no longer. As shown in the tests, the Seagate drive came very close to desktop drive performance, which is a huge hurdle. This drive will now allow you to have a full desktop replacement laptop.”

ECS KN1 SLI Extreme Motherboard Review @ Virtual-Hideout
Virtual-Hideout :: Tuesday, November 29, 2005

“Fast, reliable easy to setup/over clock and cheaper than similar featured boards. Someone at ECS knew what they where doing. I can’t think of a better single socket 939 board I’ve looked at.”

Seagate 5GB Pocket Hard Drive Review Rev. 2.0 Posted!
Tech ARP :: Tuesday, November 29, 2005

check it outQuote – “Are you looking for a compact USB storage solution with a large capacity of 5GB? Then look no further!

Today, we take a look at the Seagate 5GB Pocket Hard Drive!

fUnc 1030 Archetype mousepad @ Pro-Clockers
Pro-Clockers :: Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Quote: FUnc Industries is known around the gaming culture as providing some of the most celebrated and awarded mousing surfaces available. The 1030 Archetype mousing surface is no exception

Swiftech H20-Apex “Extreme Duty” Series Liquid Cooling Kit Video Review #622
3dgameman :: Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Swiftech H20-Apex “Extreme Duty” Series Liquid Cooling Kit Video Review #622: “There’s a reason they call this product “Extreme Duty”! They include massive tubing (5/8″), the excellent STORM waterblock, and a wicked industrial quiet pump. All this in combination has to yield excellent results, and it does. If you’re in the market for an internal watercooling kit, definitely put this baby at the very top of your list. Watch the Video to find out more…” ~3dGameMan.com

New at techPowerUp: CPU Database
techPowerUp! :: Tuesday, November 29, 2005
The CPU Database lists all modern CPUs together with important characteristics like codename, real frequency, multiplier and cache size. At the moment it holds almost 300 entries and is constantly updated with new info.

Lian Li PC-V880 HTPC Case Review
Overclocker Café :: Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Lian Li’s PC-V880 will find a huge following in the HTPC crowd. It has a features and flash to please the most discriminating of users. Some of the most notable of its features is the value of two externally accessible bays which cannot be overstated. When you need to do disc to disc burning a single bay case won’t do and will have you fussing in no time. The smart and compact layout as well as the high level of construction quality show you that this case is a Lian Li and worthy of all you have heard before.

Razer Copperhead 2000dpi Mouse Review
Everything USB :: Tuesday, November 29, 2005
“One of the most important (and subjective) aspects of a mouse is how it feels. The Razer Copperhead is a lean mouse, low in height, slim, and rather long in length at over 5 inches tall – best suited for people with medium to large hands. That, combined with the incredibly lightweight (127g) body result in a mouse that’s controlled more by fingertips than the wrist, a trait that arguably gives more control. Another notable if not obvious trait of the Copperhead is its symmetrical design, which unlike the other heavyweight contenders allows Lefties to play.”

OCZ EL DDR PC-3500 Gold GX XTC Dual Channel Memory Video Review #621
3dgameman :: Tuesday, November 29, 2005

OCZ EL DDR PC-3500 Gold GX XTC Dual Channel Memory Video Review #621: “This product simply rocks in the latency department! It quite simply kicks butt with an extremely tight memory timing of 2-2-2-5. If that’s not enough, it can be overclocked for added performance. One cool feature is OCZ’s Xtreme Thermal Convection honeycomb heat spreader design. This not only looks amazing but allows for maximum cooling. Watch the Video to find out more…” ~3dGameMan.com

Raidmax Glacier CPU Cooler
Big Bruin :: Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Quote: Check the price of the Thermalright XP-120. Roughly the same price as the Raidmax Glacier, and you do not receive a fan or fan controller. If you were considering the XP-120 previously, you would be well justified buying the Glacier and the same fan you intended to use on the XP-120. It would wind up costing the same, but the performance may be better!

How To Prevent Unwanted Windows Programs From Loading At Startup @ The TechZone
The Tech Zone :: Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Some of the kinder and well written programs are configurable and allow you to change the settings that starts them up. If this option is available, then this is the best approach. There are, however, many programs that do not give you the choice and no matter how many times you remove them, they return. Two that I find really annoying are the “Windows Messenger” and the “Quicktime Task”. Both sit in the system tray and I don’t need or want them there.

PimpRig Review // FrozenCPU ATX 2.0 PSU Tester
PimpRig :: Tuesday, November 29, 2005
“When it comes to troubleshooting hardware inside your computer, any enthusiast can tell you that any particular problem can be caused by one or more components going/gone bad. Narrowing any problem down can be quite challenging if you do not have extra components lying around to swap in for the suspected bad component(s). Any help one can get in troubleshooting components is more than welcome in my eyes.”

BFR Article: Noise Cancelling or Noise Reduction When It Comes to Headphones
Bona Fide Reviews :: Tuesday, November 29, 2005

“Noise-cancelling headphones use tiny microphones that identify the noise or sounds outside the headphones and then work to cancel out the sounds. Noise-reduction headphones (also known as noise-isolation headphones) reduce sound by being a barrier through which sounds cannot pass. What does all this mean? And how do these two differ?”

Intel Fab18 Factory Tour in Kiryat Gat, Israel
Hardware Secrets :: Tuesday, November 29, 2005
“Intel has several facilities in Israel, including two chip factories. We had the chance to visit Fab18, located in Kiryat Gat, which manufactures Pentium 4 chips in 90 nm process and also chipsets and flash memories. In this coverage you will have a better notion of where Intel factories are located, what is the relationship between them and, of course, how Fab18 looks like inside and how a chip manufacturing facility works.”

Timeline of Google Acquisitions @ CoolTechZone.com
CoolTechZone :: Tuesday, November 29, 2005
“Listed here is a list of companies acquired by Google, the search giant that has got me paranoid. Why? Well, the magnitude of its search operations and its willingness to track me where I go in cyberspace is a scary thought, but that’s a different optic, so I’ll skip the details on that for now.”

News: Abit’s Fatal1ty AN8 SLI motherboard reviewed at TR
The Tech Report :: Monday, November 28, 2005
EVER SINCE THE DAYS of the BH6, Abit has chosen not to focus on mass producing low-cost motherboards for large PC vendors. Instead, they’ve built their business largely in the higher margin, lower volume enthusiast market. Historically, some of Abit’s motherboards are ranked as the best enthusiast-class products ever built, but fresh competition from manufacturers like DFI has left Abit with no room to rest on its laurels.

The Fatal1ty series is Abit’s own top-tier product line, and its SLI support, unique OTES cooler, and numerous BIOS options are meant to differentiate it qualitatively from any other mobo on the market. Does the Fatal1ty AN8 SLI compare well to other, more conventionally feature-rich boards? Read on to find out.

Five Reasons Why Sony Rootkit Is Good For You @ The TechZone
The Tech Zone :: Monday, November 28, 2005
Now, you may be wondering if you misread the title claiming this is “Good For You”. Of course Sony’s tactics are despicable and if you’re one of the estimated 568,200 infected users, you should rightly be unhappy. But instead of piling on to the “Sony is bad” bandwagon, I’d like to look at the positives that will come from this event.

Linux SLI Primer @ Phoronix
Phoronix :: Monday, November 28, 2005

Summary: “By now you’ve probably read numerous NVIDIA SLI guides for constructing a Windows gaming rig but for your viewing pleasure today we have our first Linux SLI primer, as the NVIDIA Rel80 drivers are on the heels of a public launch, which bring fourth initial SLI support. In this guide, we share some basic information for choosing graphics cards, power supplies, and motherboards that are NVIDIA Scalable Link Interface certified. In addition we share a few tidbits about the Linux software setup along with screenshots.”

DFI LanParty NF4 SLI-DR Expert
techPowerUp! :: Monday, November 28, 2005
When I first heard that DFI is coming up with a new “Expert” version of this board, I was wondering if they could really improve things so much that it warrants a new product. Yes they did! There are a lot of improvements compared to the older LanParty NF4 series. For example you can finally run four 512 MB memory modules at 1T timing.

Laptop or Desktop – which computer to choose? @ BonaFideReviews
Bona Fide Reviews :: Monday, November 28, 2005
Quote: “Traditionally, laptop computers were bought by people who had to be able to take their computer with them when they left the office, such as the salesman visiting a customer. It always used to be the case that buying portability meant a trade-off in terms of power and functionality, so desktop machines were the preferred option for those who didn’t have to travel. Is this still a genuine trade-off, however? It’s time to re-examine the assumptions to see if they are still true.” Image: http://www.bonafidereviews.com/articles/116/images/mainPageIcon.jpg

[Designtechnica News] Talk Back: Life In 360 Degrees
Designtechnica :: Monday, November 28, 2005
“Wait… I hear something!
Wuzzat?! Who’s there? Where’s the microphone? Huh… Wha… Arrrrggggh! Where did that La-Z-Boy come from?
Sigh… Sorry for the technical difficulties, folks, but it seems we’ve got a serious situation here. You see, my eyeballs have exploded.
Or rather, that’s what it feels like, having basked in the 1080i, 16:9 widescreen afterglow of my shiny new Xbox 360 for roughly seven days straight. (Or was it eight? I now judge time by the hours clocked into Need for Speed: Most Wanted.)”

Zalman CNPS9500 LED Heatsink @ Viperlair
ViperLair :: Monday, November 28, 2005
“Overall, we found the Zalman CNPS9500 LED heatsink to be quite impressive, which isn’t something we say very often about air coolers. The performance was very good, but when you consider the fact that our video card fan was the only noise source we noticed during testing, that says volumes about Zalman’s dedication to silence.”

Vantec Nexstar GX USB Drive Enclosure and Hub
Big Bruin :: Monday, November 28, 2005

Quote: I have had many cheap, flimsy, generic external enclosures of both the 3.5″ and the notebook sized 2.5″varieties, and most were able to transfer data, but sure not look good doing it. The Vantec Nexstar GX looks very good sitting on a desk, moves data faster than expected, and keeps a hard drive nice and cool.

Nikao Black Dragonfire case @ Pro-Clockers
Pro-Clockers :: Monday, November 28, 2005

Quote: Nikao may not have the largest and most recognized name in the industry, but they are quickly gaining reputation with this case whose inspiration comes directly from the case-modding culture. With a design based upon Alonso_Bistro’s famous case The “O”, this case is definitely proof that the pre-mod industry is trying to kick things up a notch.

PimpRig Review // Corsair TwinX XMS PC4000 2GB DDR Memory Kit
PimpRig :: Monday, November 28, 2005
“Until recently, going with more than 1GB of RAM had some pitfalls. It was outrageously expensive for 1GB modules, and if you went with 4 512MB modules you would either lose your low latency or FSB speed. Not so anymore, a few companies are producing low-latency high speed 2GB DDR kits and, of course, Corsair is among them. The RAM that I will be checking out here is from the infamous Corsair XMS line, the Corsair TwinX XMS PC4000 2GB memory kit done up in Platinum color.”

Title: Corsair TWINX2048-3500LLPRO 2GB Kit Review @ PC Modding Malaysia
PC Modding Malaysia :: Monday, November 28, 2005

Content: “The 2GB XMS3500LLPRO kit comes with LED activity lights that gives that bling factor to your rig and will surely turn heads. Although it may not be as cool as the Xpert series, these Pro series packs a punch. Rated at DDR438 or 218MHz, these modules offer low latencies at 2-3-2-6 1T with just 2.7V. This is great for most users as you will not need a motherboard with extensive VDIMM option as the 2GB XMS3500LLPRO kit works best with just 2.7V. Although we were able to run Memtest at 2-2-2-5, we were unable to boot into Windows due to the limitation caused by the on-processor memory controller. The 2GB XMS3500LLPRO kit also showed decent overclocking for a 2GB kit and operating DDR510 with only 2.7V is pretty impressive.”

SimpliSoftware RW HD Tach v.3.0.1.0 Benchmarking Software @ ThinkComputers.org
Think Computers :: Monday, November 28, 2005

Quote: “This is a basic and simple to use hard drive benchmarking utility program that compares drives to an existing database provided by the software or allows you to compare drives head to head in a benchmarking drag-race.”

Futurelooks Holiday 2005 Thoughtful Gifts for the PC Gamer
Futurelooks :: Monday, November 28, 2005
Your PC Gamer probably has the pimpest system out there. So what can you buy for him or her that won’t go back to the store after Xmas? Well, we think we have a few tried and tested items that might fit the bill.

Thermaltake Big Water SE @ ThinkComputers.org
Think Computers :: Saturday, November 26, 2005

Quote: “Water/Liquid cooling is becoming more and more popular, and has become something that is not just for the hardcore overclocker or enthusiast anymore. Many companies have come out with all in one water cooling solutions that don’t require much skill to assemble. We all know the name Thermaltake, they are one of the leading PC cooling manufacturers today, and they are constantly looking for ways to improve their products. Today for review I have the Big Water SE, all in one water cooling system, adding to Thermaltake’s award winning line up of quality cooling products.”

Holiday 2005 PC Case Buyers Guide @ ThinkComputers.org
Think Computers :: Saturday, November 26, 2005

Quote: “Tis the season for you to go and spend your hard earned money on things you most likely don’t need, or the person you are getting it for doesn’t need either, but we still do it anyway. So in the spirit of the Holidays we decided to make your gift giving and maybe receiving a bit more painless and easier. I have come up with a PC case buyers guide. I have reviewed a ton of cases and know what it takes for a case to be a good quality case. I will be going through a bunch of cases in no particular order. We will mainly be looking at name brands, but I might throw some special ones in there!”

The TechZone has posted the final part of High End Audio Cable Design.
The Tech Zone :: Saturday, November 26, 2005
In the last part of High End Cable Design, audio engineer Adam Blake talks about the materials and manufacturing process used to make a $1,500 audio cable. For those into high end audio, this is a must read!

XGI Targets OSS Drivers @ Phoronix
Phoronix :: Saturday, November 26, 2005

Summary: “As we celebrate this Thanksgiving Day here in the United States, there is an additional place in our hearts for the talented folks over at XGI Technology. Unlike XGI’s earlier attempt at opening up their 2D FBDev source-code to the general public, which hadn’t gained much support due to the lack of 3D code, they have begun to take a new position on their software. As many OSS enthusiasts could have only dreamed about, by as early as next month XGI is targeting at possibly releasing their complete source-code for the Volari 8300 to the open-source community. Read more in this Phoronix exclusive.”

Title: Tuniq Tower 120 CPU Cooler Review @ Virtual-Hideout
Virtual-Hideout :: Saturday, November 26, 2005

Snip: “So overall the Tuniq Tower 120 was a very well thought out and designed unit. I would recommend this to anyone wanting a fan based CPU cooler as it performs well and is rock solid.”

Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro CPU AMD64 Cooler Review at 3DXtreme
3dXtreme :: Saturday, November 26, 2005
At this point the Zalman CNPS9500 bowed out. It was able to prime the Opteron 146 up to 2.90 Ghz but was unable to maintain prime stability any further while using the CNPS9500 – consider this that it was a closed case environment. We’ve seen results showing the Zalman CNPS9500 excelling on an open bench, I don’t consider an open bench environment a computer – it needs to be in a closed case for me to really accept cooling figures.

Regardless of the closed case environment, the Big Typhoon and Freezer 64 Pro pushed forward. The Big Typhoon and the Arctic Cooler Freezer 64 Pro managed to battle it out both pulling off the same maximum stable overclock! In any case the Zalman, while being a fine cooler, just could not match the cooling abilities of the Big Typhoon or the Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro on our particular system.

PrimoChill X-QPack H2O SFF Case Review @ GruntvillE.com
GruntvillE :: Saturday, November 26, 2005

Here’s a quote: “When you order the X-QPack H2O from VoyeurMods you have the option of adding blocks, a different radiator and many other things. The base case, which comes with the black Black Ice Pro radiator sells for $299. The unit we tested only had the radiator upgraded to the chrome version and would run you $311. This is great for a system with just a CPU block that you are not going to try to run extreme overclocks on. If you want two blocks, say a GPU and CPU, you should upgrade to the Black Ice Extreme or ThermoChill radiators. The MCP-350 can handle a two block system easily.”

How Chips are Manufactured
Hardware Secrets :: Saturday, November 26, 2005
“Have you ever wondered how chips such as microprocessors, video processors, memories, chipsets etc are created and manufactured? In this tutorial we will explain everything you need to know about chip manufacturing process.”

Seagate 500GB Barracuda 7200.9 Hard Drive Pictorial Review Posted!
Tech ARP :: Saturday, November 26, 2005

Quote – “We are moving closer to the terabyte era. The new Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 hard drive pushes us closer to the goal of a terabyte of storage space in a single drive.

Join Adrian today as he takes a look at the new Seagate 500GB Barracuda 7200.9 SATA hard drive! ”

[Final of the Final] World Cyber Games 2005 @ Singapore
Hardware Zoom :: Saturday, November 26, 2005

Quote – Over 39,000 spectators have flocked down to Suntec City to cheer on their favourite teams as they battle it out to win the grand prize of US$435,000. On the last day of WCG, the final round for CS:Source, StarCraft, WarCraft & Fifa was held on the main stage in front of thousands of spectators. Let’s check out our photo coverage…

OCZ EB DDR PC-4000 1024MB Platinum Edition @ Bytesector
Bytesector :: Saturday, November 26, 2005
“OCZ Technology, every enthusiast’s favorite brand of memory, is at it again with the OCZ EB DDR PC-4000 2x1024MB Platinum Edition Dual Channel Kit. This memory kit is very similar to our previous review of the OCZ EL DDR PC-4000 1024MB Gold Edition Dual Channel, except it basically picked up from where the Gold EL memory left off. The OCZ PC-4000 Platinum EB series combines the advantages of high density 1024MB modules with the unparalleled performance gains of low timings, delivering what enthusiasts and gamers want most from their DDR memory.”

Rob Enderle’s Holiday 2005 Buyer’s Guide
Designtechnica :: Saturday, November 26, 2005
“There are a lot of choices this year, and probably no one reading this has unlimited funds. We do know that students, according to a survey, want (in this order) an Apple iPod, a digital camera or digital video camera, a Tivo, or a Sony PSP. Since this survey was conducted, Microsoft announced the eminent release of their Xbox and many of these “students” got iPods, so they have probably dropped lower on the list. And, given that the initial allotment of the Xbox 360 is sold out, unless you’ve preordered that product, you are going to pay a huge premium for it this year (and yes, I’ve ordered mine and yes, I too am paying a premium).”

Evaluation: Microsoft Xbox 360 Gaming Console
Designtechnica :: Wednesday, November 23, 2005
“The Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system places you at the center of the experience. Available this holiday season in Europe, Japan, and North America, Xbox 360 ignites a new era of digital entertainment that is always connected, always personalized, and always in high definition.

Xbox 360 gives you access to the games you want to play, the people you want to play with, and the experiences you crave when and where you want them.”

X-Micro Mini DisGo 20 GB Review
Hardware Secrets :: Wednesday, November 23, 2005
“Nowadays with broadband Internet, DVDs and hard disk drives over 120 GB the necessity for high-capacity mobile storage is greater than never. You may need to copy some files at a friend’s home or even make a backup. Flash USB drives are a convenient way to carry data around, but they are not available with capacities beyond 4 GB yet. X-Micro has just released a very small external hard disk drive that promises to fill this gap, named Mini DisGo.”

ASUS AGEIA PhysX Expansion Card Due in February @ CoolTechZone.com
CoolTechZone :: Wednesday, November 23, 2005
“We are all aware of AGEIA and its desire to bring a PhysX processor for physics processing in order to make games look and feel more realistic. We all want the characters to move and act realistically, and that’s exactly what AGEIA’s PhysX will accomplish once it debuts. However, in order for the technology to work, it requires an expansion card for the motherboard.”

NEW CONTENT (Visual) XFX Heated Up – Overclocking the 512MB 7800GTX
TweakTown :: Wednesday, November 23, 2005
QUOTE: “We will have a look at the graphics card and the package that XFX supply as we would in a normal review but our main aim here today is overclocking the GeForce 7800GTX 512MB to see exactly what we can get out of one of these bad boys. We’ll stick it on our healthily overclocked AMD Athlon X2 test bed system with the impressive ASUS A8N32-SLI motherboard which has full 16x PEG slots.”

Alienware Aurora ALX system review
Tech Spot :: Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Reviewing products can be a privilege. Car reviewers get to drive new Ferrari’s even before they are displayed in the showroom. Movie reviewers encounter films like the final Star Wars saga before us maniacs can fulfill our destiny. Vacation reviewers travel the world, as part of their occupation, and sip on exotic drinks while their feet become trenched in warm, Caribbean waters.

So, you ask, what’s so great about reviewing computer products? Luckily we also manage to get our hands on unreleased parts many times. But when it comes to whole systems, how about Alienware? Yes, I said Alienware. I was blessed with one of the most powerful gaming computers in the world. The Lamborghini of computers. A computer that was built with only one thing in mind. Doom 3. I guess you could fill that void with your personal favorite, visually stunning, performance-starving game, as this machine can drive it all. There is not a game on the shelves that can challenge such a work horse. Gone are the days of looking at minimum requirements. Gone are the days of turning off high quality graphical features. Gone are the days of turning your graphics card up by one more MHz to try and cram out that extra FPS in 3Dmark, so you can post your results online with some dignity. Gone are the days of connecting duct work from your window AC unit to thrust cold air onto your overclocked processor that is stable for about 20 minutes. Those days are gone!

Neoseekers Review of the Asus Geforce N7800 GT
Neoseeker :: Wednesday, November 23, 2005
“The version of the card which we have for review cannot even be found on the market right now though, and we’re almost grateful for it as we can only imagine what the implications of the different (and arguably more attractive) appearance would be on the cards price.

Asus have always charged a premium for their video cards, so this comes as no suprise really, but it’s unfortunate nonetheless. They make fantastic motherboards and notebooks among other things, but we feel that their efforts in elevating the Asus brand name to premium class status in the video card segment are misplaced. Then again, a Lexus is just a Toyota, and there are undoubtedly many people who like brand uniformity inside their systems, and so for them the price differential doesn’t equate to much.

For those of you in the market for a 7800 GT, we would recommend you look at the less expensive-yet-identical offerings from the many other companies selling 7800 GT based cards. Seeing as this card is not even available for the time being, it would appear that that might be the only option – which makes everything a whole lot simpler.”

Cowon iAudio U3 Mini MP3 Player @ CoolTechZone.com
CoolTechZone :: Wednesday, November 23, 2005
“In addition to having the standard Cowon features, the iAudio U3 has a 160×128 color screen that supports 260K colors. Cowon has made the device somewhat interesting in that you can now change the GUI color theme to make your U3 attractive and matching with your style.”

Today we look at the XFX GeForce 7800 GTX 512 XXX Edition.
Bjorn3D :: Wednesday, November 23, 2005
In that preview article, I talked about the XFX GeForce 7800 GTX 512 XXX Edition graphics card. Today, it’s time to take a closer look at that card as promised. Those three letters (‘XXX’) might already have your head in the gutter, but here’s what XFX wants you to know about its XXX Edition cards.

‘Products marked with the label XXX have a new level of graphics performance and experience. During selection of the components, the absolute top is being separated from the masses, including the GPU’s. During the production, only the best yield [top 10%] has been selected to go forward into the XXX production. During this extensive tuning process, the products are being pushed to the max and then made ready for the assembly process. This is why we have called this level of graphics cards eXtreme, eXtreme and eXtreme again, visualized into the ‘XXX’ logo. The three X’s stand for eXtreme overclocking, eXtreme performance and eXtreme cooling.’

Crucial Ballistix Tracer PC4000 1GB Kit @ ModGuidez.net
Mod Guidez :: Wednesday, November 23, 2005

“The Ballistix Tracer are just what you need to add fire power to your gaming rig…”

OCZ EL DDR PC-3200 Gold GX XTC Dual Channel @ Pro-Clockers
Pro-Clockers :: Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Just a week or two ago OCZ announced their new heat spreaders to the world. There were mixed opinions to the new heat spreaders. Today we have received a sample of the OCZ 3200GX Gamer memory with the new heatsink coded XTC for Xtreme Thermal Convection. So we will take a look at the new design from OCZ as well as the performance of the 3200GX from the Gamer series utilizing the Winbond UTT eprom chips.

NZXT Lexa Classic case @ Pro-Clockers
Pro-Clockers :: Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Some may consider NZXT to be the new kid on the block. And they are right. But when the new kid moved in they bought alot of new toys to play with in the form of new ideas. With a couple of legendary cases under their belts like the Nemesis and the Trinity made some of the older kids gather around and see what the fuss was all about. NXZT stepped away from the their robotic creations to come up with a new classic case. The Lexa. And it is bound to catch the eye of everyone in the enthusiast market.

OCZ Rally 512MB USB Flash Drive
Big Bruin :: Wednesday, November 23, 2005

The OCZ Rally drive is not a radical new design, it does not look significantly different than any other USB 2.0 drive on the market, but then you plug it in and begin to use it. This thing smokes! The transfer times shown in the charts are what this drive is all about. If you want the fastest, sleekest, and most extreme drive currently on the market, this is the one to get.

5-Way Radiator Round-Up (Part 1) @ Phoronix
Phoronix :: Wednesday, November 23, 2005

“The final contenders for the Phoronix Radiator Round-Up have been narrowed down to the talented folks at Danger Den, Hardware Labs, CoolingWorks, and Thermaltake. Just how well do these various 120mm water cooling radiators perform when they attempt to be tamed by a raging DFI nForce4 Ultra-D with Athlon 64 Venice? Today we have a presentation of the opponents in our two-part radiator challenge.”

Cooler Master RealPower 550W
techPowerUp! :: Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Cooler Master has engineered a great PSU which has a PCI-Express Power connector and can supply 12V from three rails. Most PSUs have only one or two. For the visual aspect there is a Watt Viewer which goes into a drive bay and automatically displays the current power consumption of your computer – without the need of additional software.

SilverStone Strider ST60F 600w SLI Power Supply Review
OCIA :: Tuesday, November 22, 2005

“A total of eight Molex connections should be plenty for your power-hungry system. The beautiful thing about modular technology is that you can eliminate the clutter of wires in your system by simply removing the wires that you will not utilize. Do note that the main ATX power cable is 24-Pin, but can be converted to 20-Pin should your motherboard require it.”

Zalman CNPS9500 LED High Performance Quiet CPU Cooler Video Review #620
3dgameman :: Tuesday, November 22, 2005

“The Zalman CNPS9500 CPU Cooler has a lot going for it. The heatsink is all copper, it has a torrent of fins, 6 heatpipes, & a smooth solid copper base. All this and a quiet 92mm blue LED fan in the center. They also include a rheostat to control the speed of the fan. It even fits all new AMD & Intel motherboards. This cooler is king! Watch the Video to find out more…” ~3dGameMan.com

Enermax Laureate Drive Enclosures
Big Bruin :: Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Quote: Enermax has made computer parts for over fifteen years and has always kept their name among the highest of quality. They used the word Laureate to describe these enclosures, so I looked up the exact definition and found it described as being the recipient of the highest honor and excellence. This may not be the most accurate way to describe these enclosures, but the Enermax quality is still apparent in its craftsmanship.

Lighted Blue Card Cooler XT Evaluation @ hi-techreviews.com
Hi-Techreviews :: Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Every once in a while no matter how many fans you have in your case it just seems you can get enough air circulating to keep things as cool as you would like. The Lighted Blue Card Cooler XT we are evaluating today may resolve that issue for you since it has a pair of LED 120mm fans that move a combined 138 CFM of air. This combined with the air from the fans in your case just might be enough to cool things down to an acceptable level.

The 12 Days of Christmas Bona Fide Style @ BonaFideReviews
Bona Fide Reviews :: Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Quote: “We have searched high and low, to the furthest corners of the known… internet to find great gifts that will make all your relatives jealous of your gift giving prowess. We know, that’s not what Christmas is supposed to be all about, but it’s still nice when mean old Auntie Bertha glares at you for giving the gift that outdoes her hand knitted yarn ball yo yo. Read on and choose those that fit in with your gift giving needs.”

The Lost Chapters @ Bytesector
Bytesector :: Tuesday, November 22, 2005
“Fable: The Lost Chapters for PC falls into my line of sight and I gasp. It has been too long since the original Fable, and I must have another fix. I walk slowly, almost awkwardly towards the shelf as my hand caresses the box. The box fits so well into my fingers, it seems as though this was meant to be. I return home as my new found sweetheart and I prepare to engage in the glory that is installation. I slowly unclothe her plastic covering and anti-theft stickers and inset her into my system. After a grueling 4-disc tease, we are finally ready. I begin.”

Turbo-Cool 510 Express / SLI Review
PC Modding Malaysia :: Tuesday, November 22, 2005
The power supply we have here comes all the way from well reputed manufacturer who started making power supplies since 1985 (I was a baby back then!). Being one of the big-timers in PC power supply industry, PC Power & Cooling is now highly praised for manufacturing Ferraries of all power supplies. Since 1986, their high-performance Turbo-Cool power supplies have been receiving great reviews and product recommendations. With the current gaming system drawing up more power than ever, thanks to NVIDIA SLI and ATI CrossFire, the demand for high-powered power supply is increasing.
check it out

PimpRig Review // PrimoChill PC ICE Non-Conductive Coolant
PimpRig :: Tuesday, November 22, 2005
“PC Ice retains its non-conductive nature much better than distilled water, from this stand point it should prove somewhat safer in a water cooled PC. It however is not an insulator, it will carry a slight charge when polluted.”

Readers Annoyed with Laser Technology in Gaming Mice @ CoolTechZone.com
CoolTechZone :: Tuesday, November 22, 2005
“These comments didn’t necessarily include questions for Logitech or Razer, but many readers reiterated their experiences with their laser mice, how they remedied the annoying surface tracking issues they experienced and overall advice for budding buyers.”

Digital Signal Processing Explained @ The TechZone
The Tech Zone :: Tuesday, November 22, 2005
It happens that many people have no idea what Digital Signal Processing means, although they hear more and more often these words, today. Considering the name, Digital Signal Processing, people are lead towards thinking that this procedure deals with digital signals. No; Digital Signal Processing is a method of improving the quality of the analog signals, only. Indeed, the naming used is rather improper, because it relates to all types of digital processing, only that the methods, and the techniques used in DSP deal only with signals that are analog in nature. In the digital signals case, we can only compress, encrypt, and translate them to other digital formats; these (different) procedures do not require any DSP techniques. Using the DSP name when referring to digital signals causes confusion.

What is a Motherboard?
PCreview :: Tuesday, November 22, 2005
“Two of the biggest makes of CPUs at the moment are Intel and AMD, yet you cannot buy motherboards that support the use of either: it will support one or the other, due to physical differences in the connectors. This is often referred to as a type of ‘platform’; for example, an ‘Intel platform motherboard’ means a motherboard with an Intel CPU. Furthermore, you must choose a specific type of processor; for example, an AMD Athlon 64 or Pentium 4. Therefore, you must choose which CPU you want before you can choose your motherboard. Both Intel and AMD processors are capable of running the same applications, but there are differences in price and performance depending on which one you choose.”

News: VIA’s K8T900 chipset previewed at TR
The Tech Report :: Tuesday, November 22, 2005
WITH THE INTRODUCTION OF the nForce4 chipset, NVIDIA threw a mighty big elbow into the guts of its would-be competitors in the Athlon 64 chipset market. By limiting support for its SLI multi-GPU technology to its own core-logic chipsets, NVIDIA hogged the spotlight for high-end enthusiast motherboards and carved out a sizable chunk of the market for the nForce4. ATI recently followed suit with its Radeon Xpress 200 CrossFire Edition chipset, aiming to leverage its own graphics prowess into chipset profits.

At long last, VIA says it’s ready to fight back in earnest, and the chipset maker has enlisted the help of its sister company, S3 graphics, in making its push. The new K8T900 north bridge features a more robust PCI Express implementation that can divvy up its PCI Express lanes into two set of eight for better multi-GPU support, and it’s paired up with the long-awaited VT8251 south bridge, sporting a full slate of next-gen I/O capabilities. Alongside this new chipset comes a new GPU family, the Chrome S20 series, ready to fire in a double-barreled GPU configuration known as MultiChrome.

But can the K8T900 really match up to the nForce4 SLI? Will S3’s MultiChrome offer compelling performance on the K8T900 chipset? And what would happen if you could run a pair of high-end GeForce cards in SLI on this new VIA chipset? Read on for the answers.

World Cyber Games Results @ The TechZone
The Tech Zone :: Monday, November 21, 2005
SINGAPORE – It was the moment of truth today for more than 39,000 spectators at the World Cyber Games (WCG) 2005 Grand Final in Singapore with the completion of four of the eight championship matches – Warhammer, Need for Speed, Dead or Alive Ultimate and Halo 2. The day ended with Brazil leading the national ranking chart, followed closely by USA and Japan. With home-ground advantage, host city Singapore also climbed the national ranking chart to take 5th place after 24-year old Wilson Chia bagged a silver medal for Dead or Alive Ultimate. Japan’s Tomoyuki Inui claimed the gold medal.

Abit AW8-MAX v1.0 (i955X) @ Phoronix Direct Link: http://www.phoronix.com/vr.php?view=5111
Phoronix :: Monday, November 21, 2005

Summary: “Back in August of this year, we had reviewed the Abit AW8 motherboard, which is based upon Intel’s i955X Chipset, and overall we were much impressed by its abilities on not only the performance front, but also the Linux compatibility and build-quality we have come to expect from the engineers over at Abit. At hand today, we have the Abit AW8-MAX, which packs in a few tweaks and additions than what was built into the AW8 vanilla.”

Thermaltake Power Station 520W PSU
Big Bruin :: Monday, November 21, 2005

Quote: On the front of the power supply, where the connectors usually go, you find that the unit is modular. The difference is that where there are usually many plugs, we instead find that there are only three plugs for the modular cables: two 6-pin PCI Express power connectors, and the 8-pin Power Station connector.

OCZ PC4000 (2GB) Gold Edition Memory Review
Overclocker Café :: Monday, November 21, 2005

The Overclocker Cafe has posted their review of the OCZ PC4000 Gold Edition memory in its TWO gig dual channel form. While the OCC’s review sample didn’t look to be much of an overclocker in the least, the factory setting performance during gameplay was undeniable. Here’s a snip of their review.

My game play is all about Battlefield 2 right now. The OCZ EL-DDR PC4000 Gold Edition kit has proved without a doubt to me that two gigs are a very worthwhile investment for gamers. You could get a rough feel for this in our graph but within a game, you get the emotionally positive feedback that does not translate well into rote figures and results. If you are not a gamer, I think you may be better off saving your upgrade dollar right now as the benefit isn’t earth shattering elsewhere.

MIPS RAM Freezer
techPowerUp! :: Monday, November 21, 2005
MIPS Computer is a manufacturer of specialized high-performance water cooling solutions for overclockers. Their products offer excellent build quality made in Germany. This time we test the RAM Freezer which is a water cooling device for DDR1/DDR2 memory. We saw great testing results with Winbond UTT, Samsung TCCD and Winbond BH-5 memory – up to 25 MHz faster without any additional fan noise is very impressive.

Kubuntu v6.04 (Dapper Drake) Flight 1 @ Phoronix
Phoronix :: Monday, November 21, 2005

Summary: “Ubuntu the Debian-based distribution funded largely by Mark Shuttleworth that is focused upon building a viable desktop operating system powered by Linux, as well as enterprise software after it has received DB2 certification from IBM, has released their preliminary BETA release for the upcoming v6.04 build. Unlike Breezy Badger (v5.10) with its “Colony” development builds, Ubuntu has renamed the development snapshots for the v6.04 release to “Flight”. The name for this upcoming release is also going to be known as Dapper Drake. Continuing on with their six month release cycle, Ubuntu 6.04 will be making its presence in April of 2006. Today we are checking out Kubuntu (the KDE version of Ubuntu) 6.04 Dapper Drake Flight 1.”

Need for Speed: Most Wanted Review
TekBunker :: Monday, November 21, 2005

Quote – In 1998, a little game from EA called Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit came out onto the PC gaming scene, fast cars, fast cops and intense racing all in one package. What could be better than this? Well now 2005 has almost passed us by we get one more EA creation, Need for Speed: Most Wanted. A successor to our beloved Need for Speed Underground games, whom if I may speak for the masses were kick ass additions to the series.

Next Generation 7200 RPM Notebook Drives – 100GB from Hitachi & Seagate
hardCOREware :: Monday, November 21, 2005
It may come as no surprise that laptop computers are actually starting to outsell desktops in retail. After all, they are quickly approaching desktops in price and speed, and are portable to boot.

However one thing that has always held laptops back was the use of notebook hard drives. They always had lower densities than desktop drives, and often a ‘high end’ unit was still only 5400 RPM.

Hitachi has had a 60GB 7200 RPM drive out for a while, but Dell buys most of those. Now they are on their second generation, with capacity up to 100GB. Seagate is also entering the high end laptop drive market with their own 100GB drive. We’re going to find out which is better – either of these may make a great holiday gift for laptop users!

Technology Pretensions
PC Mechanic :: Monday, November 21, 2005
Quote: The first type of person I’d like to cover is the “Gamer.” I should know about this type, because I thought of myself as a “gamer” in the past. I used the fact that I was a “gamer” to justify the purchase of an expensive video card, an expensive CPU and RAM, an expensive LCD, and later an even more expensive gaming laptop.

Epox EP-8NPA SLI Review @ PC Modding Malaysia
PC Modding Malaysia :: Monday, November 21, 2005

Content: “The Epox 8NPA SLi performs very well and it offers little difference when compared with other socket 939 boards in term of graphic performance. Since socket 754 doesn’t support dual channel memory, memory performance is affected but the processor performance is quite good especially when it was clocked at the same speed with the AMD64 3200+ during the testing. Overall, the Epox EP-8NPA SLi is a great board where it allows the user to run a SLi setup on socket 754 systems. Besides that, the board comes with a great bundle of features and it is cheap as well which will be great when matched with a value processor like AMD64 Sempron.”

News – Startech SV411KA KVM
Overclockers Online :: Monday, November 21, 2005
Quote: A four port KVM switch that also has the ability to distribute audio and a microphone across four computers in or out of the OS can be the ultimate tool for those of us with multiple systems. With a quality KVM like the SV411KA there is absolutely no lag whatsoever. I was worried that mouse lag or stuttering would show up with all three machines on but it certainly didn’t. Even at 1600×1200 the display kept up 100% when gaming and watching movies. The other huge benefit to using this KVM over VNC is the ability to switch between computers outside of Windows allowing me to jump into the BIOS of any of the three machines without swapping a single cable; this is priceless for an overclocker.

OCZ Gold GX PC3200 XTC @ Techgage
Techgage :: Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Quote: Lots of memory manufacturers have tried their hand at custom heat spreaders, but most don’t usually make much of a noticeable difference. Being the innovators that OCZ are, they have delivered a very unique new spreader, that incorporates a honeycomb design to aide with better heat transfer. We are taking a look at their Gold GX PC3200 1GB kit.

Corsair 2GB Secure Digital 133x @ Viperlair
ViperLair :: Wednesday, November 16, 2005
“We added the Flash Voyager simply as a scale to help put the numbers in perspective. Flash media (in it’s current state) will never be as fast as a flash drive, so what it boils down to today is how does Corsair fare against other “hi-speed” memory cards? Overall, very well from a performance aspect. The Sandisk Extreme III gave a close fight, but generally trailed the Corsair SD 133x by a small margin.”

Titan TTC-K8ATB/825/SC Athlon64 Heatsink @ Frostytech.com
Frosty Tech :: Wednesday, November 16, 2005
“The Titan TTC-K8ATB/825/SC is a ultra-budget AMD Athlon64 K8 heatsink. It is most likely to find its way into unknowing PCs by way of thrifty stores, and really doesn’t offer much to get excited about. The Titan TTC-K8ATB/825/SC comes with a fan speed controller used to wrangle in the 63 dBA, 3800RPM fan. The fan speed controller is not mandatory, which is a good thing considering how the Titan TTC-K8ATB/825/SC performs thermally even with its fan spinning at full tilt.”

X-Micro Video MP3 400 Player Video Review #618:
3dgameman :: Wednesday, November 16, 2005

“There are many MP3 players on the market but only a few can do it all. Well, this one is loaded! It comes with a 65,000 color OLED display, is available in 256MB/512MB/1GB sizes, supports a number of different media formats & its USB2. It plays music, records & plays back voice, has a FM radio, displays pictures, plays video, & even has an e-book feature for reading text files. All this and it weights in at only 40 grams! Watch the Video to find out more…” ~3dGameMan.com

2005 Gaming Holiday Gift Guide @ Bytesector
Bytesector :: Wednesday, November 16, 2005
“While board games are still somewhat popular, a videogame will still be the best gift under the tree for any gamer. And if the gamer on your list is hoping for the latest and greatest, now may be a good time to pick up a new console like Sony’s handheld PSP or Microsoft’s next-generation console entry, the Xbox 360. In this year’s edition of Bytesector’s Games Gift Guide, we have everything from intense action, to multiplayer jam sessions represented to ensure that you can find something for gamers of all ages and tastes.”

[Preview] World Cyber Games 2005 Grand Final @ Singapore
Hardware Zoom :: Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Quote – Over 700 national finalists from 67 countries will be competing with each other at World Cyber Games 2005 Grand Final, to fight for prizes worth more than US$435,000. From 16 to 20 Nov, HardwareZoom.com will keep you updated with the latest happening here. 24 hours before the official opening, let’s check out the battleground to see what’s hot here for the next few days at Suntec City, Singapore.

MGE XG Dragon Case Review
Overclocker Café :: Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Along with the wicked looks, this case packs a long list of features. The removable mainboard tray was a blessing in disguise. The 80mm intake and exhaust fans that were included boast spectacular blue LED’s as well as directing the airflow. The included 500W PSU should be enough for any enthusiast, and the tool-less drive clamps were also a definite plus.

Crucial Tracer PC2-5300 revisited – C19 Performance Review @ Madshrimps
Madshrimps :: Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Quote: “We first reviewed Crucial’s Tracer series in our …Lights Out Performance article authored by the magnanimous JNav89GT. The DDR2 part in that test performed well on the P5AD2-E Premium at 704Mz 4-4-4-12. Today we’ll retest Tracer PC2-5300 on the Asus P5ND2-SLI Deluxe. We’ll test for higher clock speeds, tighter timings, and compatibility with the nVidia’s C19 chipset. At the current sale price Tracer in 1024MB-kit form may be the ergonomic sweetheart and performance value of the year.”

PimpRig Review // Sapphire Pure Innovation PI-A9RX480 Motherboard
PimpRig :: Wednesday, November 16, 2005
We have a new review up on a new ATI chipset motherboard from our friends at Sapphire. This Pure Innovation board has to be one of the prettiest motherboards I have ever seen. Here is a snip from the review: “Tell me, isn’t that one of the purdiest boards you’ve seen seen since the Soyo Dragon KT400 Platinum? I “borrowed” the full board pics from Sapphire since the top is pretty reflective and honestly, their shot looks better than any that I took of the full top. I think I would have to cut a window in the motherboard tray and right side of the case just to show off the nice Sapphire logo on the bottom of the board.”

Evaluation: LG LGDVB418 DVD Player
Designtechnica :: Wednesday, November 16, 2005
“As the battle lines were forming over future high definition DVD formats Blu-Ray and HD-DVD, impatient home theater enthusiasts have been drawn to standard definition DVD players featuring up-conversion and high definition outputs. These DVD players can convert your standard DVD video to 480p, 720p, or 1080i resolutions for use with your HDTV. The theory is that with some signal processing, the video quality can be improved enough to justify converting to a higher resolution format for compatibility with high definition televisions featuring inputs such as HDMI, DVI or component video.”

Cowon iAudio U2 Mini MP3 Player @ CoolTechZone.com
CoolTechZone :: Wednesday, November 16, 2005
“Cowon is back with yet another MP3 player. Instead of introducing a full-fledged hard drive player, the company is hoping to target Apple’s iPod Nano with a version of its own, iAudio U2. The iAudio U2 comes in three striking colors including red (256MB), blue (512MB), black (1GB) and white (2GB).”

Cooljag SFO-H (68YC) Skived Athlon64 Heatsink @ Frostytech.com
Frosty Tech :: Wednesday, November 16, 2005
“The Cooljag SFO-H (68YC) stands out because of its one piece skived copper construction with four milled exhaust ports in the base. The heatsink is intended for use with socket 754/939/940 AMD Athlon64 and Opteron K8 processors, and comes with a K8 retention frame and packet of silicon thermal compound.”

XG Magnum 500W Modular PSU @ Techniz
Techniz.co.uk :: Wednesday, November 16, 2005

The MGE Extreme Gamer (XG) Magnum 500W PSU is a totally silent and powerful PSU. With the fully aluminum housing, internal heatpipes and multi-direction air ventilation which will provide the optimum cooling solution for this PSU yet silent. With the dual 12V rails of power, it will support many peripheral devices without any problems. The downside for this PSU is the sleeving is not very good due to it was not fully sleeve to the end of the cables and this PSU is not SLI ready as well. This was a good buy power supply unit if you are looking for a powerful and nice looking PSU although it was slightly expensive than other normal PSU.

PrimoChill PC ICE @ ThinkComputers.org
Think Computers :: Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Quote: “I’ve been into liquid and water cooling for almost a year now, you may think that that isn’t a long time, but trust me it is. I’ve learned A LOT in that short amount of time about the various aspects of liquid cooling. I’ve used plain water, water with additives, and alternative liquids for cooling. Being in the review ‘business’ I find I need cooling solutions that are far superior to stock and even after market air cooling. With many reviews I have found myself overclocking my CPU, which of course generates a lot of heat and stock cooling just will not let me do what I need to do. In all my trials and errors I have found water is the best for cooling, there are a few companies out there that make alternatives to water and today I will be looking at one of them. PrimoChill’s PC Ice from Voyeurmods is what is on the testing/review block today.”

Connecting Two PCs Using an USB-USB Cable
Hardware Secrets :: Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Here is a snippet: “A very easy way to connect two PCs is using an USB-USB cable. Connecting two PCs with a cable like this you can transfer files from one PC to another, and even build a small network and share your Internet connection with a second PC. In this tutorial we will explain you how to connect two PCs using a cable like this.”

Techie Christmas Gift Ideas @ The TechZone
The Tech Zone :: Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Finding the perfect gift for the person in your life can be tricky. That’s made even more so when the person you’re buying for happens to be a techie. However, the editors and staff at The TechZone got together to help you out with our gift ideas for the tech heads. Not only will we give you some great gift ideas but we’ll show you where to get the best deals on them.

PC Power & Cooling Turbo-Cool 510 Express/SLI @ PCstats.com
PCStats :: Wednesday, November 16, 2005
“The PC Power and Cooling Turbo-Cool 510 Express/ SLI is a no-nonsense black 510Watt (650Watt peak) power supply. The woven sleeved cables eminating from this PSU include no less than (6) SATA HDD connectors and (2) six pin 12V connectors for dual SLI videocards! This means no more converters that tie up four molex connectors or independent lines. The Turbo-Cool 510 Express/SLI’s main selling point is its suitability for SLI videocard systems. This starts with the pair of 12V six-pin video card power connectors on the unit and ends with the fact that the power supply is one of only four officially recommended by nVidia for use with SLI videocard computer systems.”

OCZ Rally Dual Channel USB Flash Drives Review Rev. 2.0 Posted!
Tech ARP :: Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Quote – “OCZ Technology is the latest manufacturer to join the flash drive party. Their brand-new OCZ Rally flash drives boast a really slim profile and dual-channel performance.

Today, we will take an in-depth look at these USB flash drives and see just how great they are!

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro @ InsaneTek
InsaneTek :: Tuesday, November 15, 2005
“Arctic Cooling is currently dominating the GPU aircooling category, but how do they hold up in the CPU area? The new Freezer 7 Pro comes with some new features and improved performance, with drawbacks of course.”

Editorial: How To Maintain Password Security @ Virtual-Hideout
Virtual-Hideout :: Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Quote: ” Password security is something that everyone needs to be mindful of, in the same way the we need to keep part of our attention on our surroundings when we’re out for a walk.”

Evercool K803-925CA
Overclockers Online :: Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Quote: The Evercool K803-925CA is not going to be the outstanding performer like the huge heatpipe coolers you have seen here at O² and other places. What the K803-925CA is, however, is one heck of a stock HSF replacement that will fit into any case. Even without the lapping the results were comparable to the retail boxed unit from AMD and after some wet sanding fun it easily outperformed it. The whole time making less noise, not taking up much more space, and looking a whole lot better. Keep in mind, we were asking this cooler to cool an overvolted, overclocked CPU and it performed quite admirably.

Plagiarism – Well And Alive Posted!
Tech ARP :: Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Quote – “ARP recently found that repeat offender, Michael Sievers, was up to his old tricks again, plagiarising our guides and getting other sites to post them as his own guides.

What should we do about such people? Come and tell us what you think!

We recommend that you take a look at his guides and see if he has lifted anything from your guides.”

ePower XScale 570W (EP-570MP) @ Phoronix
Phoronix :: Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Summary: “OCZ Technology has been near the top of the power supply hierarchy for quite a while now. Nevertheless, it is a well-known fact that they, like most manufacturers, do not actually make their own units. OCZ Technology uses Topower’s as their OEM supplier. Some of the other companies that benefit from Topower include Athena Power, Globalwin, BeQuiet, Aerocool, and ePower. Today we have ePower’s Silent Engine 570W PSU for review and it uses Topower’s power supplies.”

Sony VAIO FJ Series Notebook @ CoolTechZone.com
CoolTechZone :: Tuesday, November 15, 2005
“Sony has recently introduced a new series of notebooks, codenamed FJ series, that offer the latest in mobile technologies, but don’t cost as much as the ultra portable or ultra performance counterparts. The FJ series of notebooks come in five colors that all look sleek and classic.”

Razer Discusses Laser Technology in Gaming Mice @ CoolTechZone.com
CoolTechZone :: Tuesday, November 15, 2005
“If you’ve read our interview with Logitech, you’ll realize that Razer remedied much of the surface tracking problems by issuing a firmware upgrade, which is currently not possible with Logitech mice due to quality assurance issues, according to Logitech. However, the world’s most influential peripherals maker could look at this solution down the road.”

OCZ High Grade Memory – PC4800 DDR and PC5400 DDR-2
TweakTown :: Tuesday, November 15, 2005

QUOTE: “Today we are taking a look at some of OCZ’s fastest memory on the market. First off we have the AMD Athlon 64’s pride and joy, PC4800 DDR SDRAM with the branding “EL Platinum Limited Edition”. After this we also have the Pentium 4’s ultimate companion – low latency DDR-2 SDRAM at 667MHz with the branding “EL Gold Edition”.”

Antec Super Lanboy Aluminum ATX Computer Case Review @ Tweaknews.net
Tweaknews :: Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Tweaknews.net has released yet another review onto the internet. I was wondering if you could please post it in today’s news for me.

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Review
AMDboard :: Tuesday, November 15, 2005

With the latest stepping of the dual core processor series, AMD dishes up the Manchester core to set new standards in energy efficiency and price/performance ratio. Taking advantage of the proverbial excellent gaming and floating point performance and stripping the dual cores of 50% of their hard-earned cache in combination with a frequency sweet spot of 2.0 GHz results in a killer CPU at a reasonable price tag. Arguably, there are cheaper processors on the market, there are faster cores out there (as measured in clock frequency) and there are “the others” but after wrapping up this review, there is nothing out there that combines that many positive features as the Manchester running at 2.0 GHz, using the moniker Athlon X2 3800+.

Metapo/Egen Power 150Watt Power Can Inverter @ ThinkComputers.org
Think Computers :: Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Quote: “Today I have another product from Metapo, under the brand name EgenPower. It is something I found interesting and quite useful, it is a power inverter for you car. I’m sure you are wondering what’s so interesting about a power inverter, those can be purchased anywhere. The Metapo/EgenPower Power Can Inverter is shaped like a soda can and is made to fit into most cup holders of cars. It not only has one outlet for power, but it also has a powered USB port as well. I think it is just plain cool, and considering it’s size, something that everyone can and should have, especially in emergencies. Despite emergency uses, todays world has become very mobile, and having power on the go is pretty much essential, some cars today even feature outlets in them for just such purposes. If you don’t have a car with built in outlets, you need to go and buy one of those square and cumbersome inverters, well not anymore. The Power Can Inverter is small and very portable, and comes in varying wattages for varying uses. I have for review the 150Watt version, more than enough for most things including a 19” TV if you brought one along.”

Antec Notebook Cooler Review @ Tweaknews.net
Tweaknews :: Monday, November 14, 2005

“The Notebook Cooler is designed to keep a constant airflow underneath your laptop which in most cases is where it will be drawing air from which will help the laptop’s cooling to work as efficient as possible. Laptop computers are not cheap so you might as well have it running as cool as possible.”

News: NVIDIA’s GeForce 7800 GTX 512 graphics processor
The Tech Report :: Monday, November 14, 2005
This new 512MB version of the GeForce 7800 GTX, you see, doesn’t run at the 430MHz GPU and 1.2GHz memory clocks that the standard version does. Oh, no. This card is intended to compete with–nay, embarrass–ATI’s ultra-high-end Radeon X1800 XT, the recently crowned king of single-card graphics performance. NVIDIA’s not calling it an Ultra, but they might as well be, with clock speeds of 550MHz for the GPU and 1.7GHz for the memory. That, my friend, is fast. We’re talking about 13.2 gigatexels per second of fill rate and over 54GB per second of memory bandwidth. Those towering specifications could allow this Bugatti Veyron of the graphics world to lay the freaking smack down on the Radeon X1800 XT. And the prospect of running a couple of these monsters in SLI captures the geek’s imagination like a wayward pair of Carolina Panthers cheerleaders.

We have, of course, subjected the GeForce 7800 GTX 512 to a grueling battery of performance tests using the latest games at a range of resolutions, including the sick and disturbing 2048×1536, just because we could. Can NVIDIA’s new $649 beast show up ATI’s Radeon X1800 XT? Will a pair of these in running in tandem cause the lights to dim in Damage Labs? We’re about to find out.

Powering Up A Standalone PSU Guide Posted!
Tech ARP :: Monday, November 14, 2005

Quote – “If you need to test some fans or cold cathode tubes, it can be a hassle hooking them up to a case. Why not use a standalone PSU?

This quick guide will show you just how to power up a standalone PSU for quick and easy tests of accessories and other components that require electrical power. ”

Shuttle XPC SD31P Review @ The TechZone
The Tech Zone :: Monday, November 14, 2005

Today, we get a chance to look at Shuttle’s latest, the SD31P. This new Shuttle XPC features all of their latest innovations in cooling and chassis design including the latest Intel Chipset, Dual Core CPU support and 64 bit hardware and software support. Can the Shuttle SD31P really take over the job of my big honking desktop system?

Kyocera K500 Gamepad for Mobile Phones @ CoolTechZone.com
CoolTechZone :: Monday, November 14, 2005
“We’ve all heard of gamepads and racing wheels for computers and gaming consoles, but it’s not everyday that you hear about gamepads that are designed specifically for mobile phones. Yes, that’s right, a gamepad for your mobile phone. Kyocera, a maker of gaming mobile phones and accessories, has partnered with Alienware, a custom PC builder, to design an ergonomically friendly gamepad for the mobile gaming user.”

How to Share Folders and Printers on Your Network
Designtechnica :: Monday, November 14, 2005
Here is a snippet: “After you have built your own network, you may want to share files and printers between your computers. In this tutorial we will show you how this is done. We are assuming that you already have built your network. If that is not the case, read our tutorial How to Build a Small Network Using a Broadband Router, where we also explain how to share your Internet connection.”

Evaluation: Sony DRU-810A Optical Storage Drive
Designtechnica :: Monday, November 14, 2005
‘The Sony DRU-810A is the company’s follow-up to their first Dual Layer DVD writer, the DRU-800A. As you can imagine, not a whole lot has changed between the two models. You get updated software, faster read/write times and hopefully better media compatibility. The DRU-810A can be found from various manufacturers for around $100 dollars. The Sony DRU-810A comes with a software package provided by Nero and two faceplates, one in gray and another in black.’

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Intel Cooler @ Pro-Clockers
Pro-Clockers :: Monday, November 14, 2005

Quote: Last week we reviewed the Arctic Cooling Silencer 64 Ultra TC. A good little cooler with some great potential for the AMD platform. Today we have Arctic Cooling’s newest cooler for the Intel platform. The Freezer 7 Pro. Equipped with another Arctic Cooling patent pending fan and copper heat pipes. We all know that A. C. is known for quiet and well performing cooling solutions. Let’s see if the Freezer 7 Pro lives up to the reputation.

Kingwin Nighthawk USB/SATA External Rack Review
Overclocker Café :: Monday, November 14, 2005

The thing about thumb drives is that no matter how hip your unit is, you still won’t be packing a movie or other large unit of data in it just yet. Anything over a gig and you should be looking for another way to haul your data around. One way to do this is with a USB external drive rack. USB drive racks were the original portable storage devices. Sure, you can’t exactly put one in your pocket but where else can you find portable storage limited only by the size of the hard drive you can afford?

Enermax Liberty 620 Watt PSU @ ThinkComputers.org
Think Computers :: Monday, November 14, 2005

Quote: “I have done quite a few power supply reviews, and have purchased quite a few, I have never owned an Enermax power supply, so I was more than happy to get this for review. Enermax has a great reputation for top quality products, when people ask for a PSU recommendation, Enermax is usually one of the names on the list. They have come out with a new line of power supplies called the Liberty. So today I have the Enermax Liberty 620Watt power supply for review, it is a powerful beast, sporting a very nice paint job and modular cables, but can it perform? Let’s find out.”

VPNs and Internet Connection Security
PCStats :: Sunday, November 13, 2005
“This article is intended to deal with creating Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to connect a home network with the outside world. In the course of this slightly more advanced PCstats guide we will discuss the nature of VPNs, the dangers of the Internet, and the encryption methods involved in securing yourself from them. It is assumed that you have a basic knowledge of the meaning behind networking terms such as IP addresses, Local and wide area networks, firewalls, etc. A VPN incorporates two features, encryption and tunneling , to ensure that the data is delivered safely and privately across the public space.”

X-Micro Mini DisGo Video Review #617
3dgameman :: Sunday, November 13, 2005

“It’s important to backup your vital data. Well, this unit makes it very easy to do so because it’s USB2. This results in quick setup and fast transfers. Also, it has a large storage capacity ranging from 5 to 40GB in size. This puts flash drives to shame! Additional, this extremely compact unit makes transport a breeze. All this and it’s reasonably priced. Now there’s no excuse not to backup your vital data, get at least one! Watch the Video to find out more…” ~3dGameMan.com

Arctic Cooling NV Silencer 5 Rev. 3 @ Techgage
Techgage :: Sunday, November 13, 2005

Quote: Arctic Cooling has just updated their popular NV Silencer to support the 7800GT, and that’s exactly how we are going to test it! The cooler still uses the proven design of blowing hot air out the back, and looks great while doing it. Is it better than stock though, and possibly water cooling?

Data Recovery Myths
Hardware Secrets :: Sunday, November 13, 2005
Have you ever heard about freezing the hard drive, opening it on a bathroom full of steam or swapping its logic board in order to revive a dead hard drive? These are just a few of the several data recovery myths we have debunked in this tutorial.

Here is a snippet: “Some are users who are desperate because they’ve lost their data, and others are maintenance technicians who aren’t specialized in data recovery, but all face situations when every attempt to recover their data or their clients’ data failed. Some don’t put up with the fact that they were absent-minded enough to invert the polarity when connecting the HD power cable, others keep looking at the dark screen, thinking at how could that happened: the night before the PC was turned off as usual after having worked all day long without a single crash and, when turned on in the morning, the HD is solemnly ignored during setup, the computer doesn’t boot, and the worst: no backup has been done!”

Corsair XMS2 5400UL 1Gb Kit DDR2 Review @ Madshrimps
Madshrimps :: Sunday, November 13, 2005
Quote: “Corsair originally designed their XMS2 5400UL for optimum performance on the nVIDIA C19 chipset. Unfortunately there have been some problems innate to the C19 and it seems there’s a Pink Elephant in nVidia’s living room. Today we not only test Corsair’s Twin2X-5400UL,, but in the process discuss the Pachyderm stepping on motherboard maker’s toes.”

Holiday 2005 Memory Buyers Guide @ ThinkComputers.org
Think Computers :: Sunday, November 13, 2005

“Tis the season for you to go and spend your hard earned money on things you most likely don’t need, or the person you are getting it for doesn’t need either, but we still do it anyway. So in the spirit of the Holidays we decided to make your gift giving and maybe receiving a bit more painless and easier. We’ve come up with, a Memory buyers guide, featuring 4 of the top Ram manufacturers out there today. There are many companies out there that make ram now, but these four are in my opinion the top 4 manufacturers. We will be looking at 3 offering from each company, High End, Low End and DDR2. The companies are Corsair, Crucial, OCZ and GEIL, the companies are in no particular order of preference just an order. Since the new shift is toward 2 gigabytes of ram, that is what we will be focusing on, but some choices will be 1 gig sets.”

Enermax Liberty EL500AWT 500W @ InsaneTek
InsaneTek :: Sunday, November 13, 2005
“Enermax has always been a reputable power supply provider. It took them a while, but they finally released a modular power supply. The Liberty 500W shows that Enermax is serious about their power supplies.”

PCLinuxOS v0.92 Test 3 @ Phoronix
Phoronix :: Sunday, November 13, 2005

Summary: “PCLinuxOS, a start-up KDE engineered distribution, has recently released their v0.92 Test 3 build that contains an updated Unionfs stable version as well as fixes largely when it comes to the livecd-installer. Bundled with PCLinuxOS v0.92 is everything from the LimeWire P2P application to a scientific calculator. Even though PCLinuxOS hasn’t yet gained much momentum from the desktop Linux community, its intentions are definitely in the right direction and we look forward to seeing how this distribution “shapes up” after passing its development stages.”

Thermaltake PowerStation 520W @ Bjorn3D
Bjorn3D :: Saturday, November 12, 2005
Power supplies play a crucial part in how our computers operate. Number of Watts a power box has will not make your computer more stable — as long as you don’t overload your system. What many motherboard manufacturers require now are stricter voltage / Amps requirements on all rails rather than exuberant Wattage.

Today I will be looking at Thermaltake’s Pure Power PowerStation 520W modular PSU. This is a new product from the company, designed mainly with flexibility in mind.

Case Window How-to Guide @ Pro-Clockers
Pro-Clockers :: Saturday, November 12, 2005

Quote: Nowadays, there are countless numbers of computer cases available with panels that have been pre-fabricated with windows. Two of the most popular methods of window mounting are gluing and riveting, both of which work quite well but leave something to be desired aesthetically. Today we will look at the professional finish and industrial look of an H-locked window.

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD4000KD 400GB SATA Hard Drive @ PCSTATS.com
PCStats :: Saturday, November 12, 2005
“PCSTATS has already seen what the Western Digital Raptor brings to the table, and now we’ll take one of the largest hard drives on the market for a spin. Meet Western Digital’s 400GB Caviar SE16 hard drive, model number: WD4000KD. Be sure to check out the Experts Tips on how to ensure the best possible performance from the Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD4000KD hard drive, a little later in the review. The Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD4000KD supports the 150MB/s Serial ATA I standard, and sports a mammoth 16MB onboard cache buffer.”

Thermaltake Polo735 Athlon64 Heatsink Review
Frosty Tech :: Saturday, November 12, 2005
“Essentially identical to the Venus 12 heatsink, the Thermaltake Polo735 offers up a broader variety of compatible sockets along with the high-powered fan and fan speed controllers. The heatsink is completely made of copper fin and baseplate components, and utilizes 2000-5500RPM Everflow fan which moves upwards of 26-72CFM depending on its speed. The 732 gram heatsink is heavy, so care should be taken when installing it onto the processor; be that AMD Athlon64, AthlonXP or Intel Pentium 4. The Thermaltake Polo735 heatsink comes with two different fan speed controllers, one on a PCI slot bracket and the other in a silver aluminum 3.5″ drive bay bracket.”

Google to Launch a Travel Site Soon @ CoolTechZone.com
CoolTechZone :: Saturday, November 12, 2005

“Let’s face it; Google is perhaps the most happening company in the IT industry right now. It’s witnessing tremendous growth and it’s competitors are biting their nails and pulling out their hair while they spend sleepless nights as the worst is yet to come.”

Antec Overture 2 ATX Desktop Case (Update) @ TheTechLounge
The Tech Lounge :: Saturday, November 12, 2005

“When I originally reviewed the Overture 2, one of my complaints was of an unusually noisy power supply fan. I thought this was an important point to note in my review in part because this is the sort of case people consider for an HTPC enclosure. Since the review went up I have received several emails from readers reporting the same problem, and a couple of emails from readers suggesting a simple fix. In the update I will discuss some of the feedback I received, some of the questions I asked Antec about this problem, and finally, the resolution to the problem.”

SilverStone Strider ST60F 600W @ InsaneTek
InsaneTek :: Saturday, November 12, 2005

“SilverStone proved they were capable of providing a high end power supply with the ST65ZF. Their new Strider ST60F is their first modular power supply offering. Think it’s good? Of course it is.”

Mushkin Redline XP4000 2GB
techPowerUp! :: Saturday, November 12, 2005

Mushkin has been well known for producing top-notch overclocker’s memory. Now they have released a 2 GB kit which features their brand-new reengineered heatspreaders. Even though it uses 6 ns rated memory chips from Infineon we could overclock them to 280 MHz, a great result for a 2 GB kit.

Interview with Microsoft’s Jason Anderson @ Bytesector
Bytesector :: Saturday, November 12, 2005
“At X’05 Canada , Bytesector’s Anubha Momin and Leo Law had an opportunity to chat with Jason Anderson, Xbox Canada’s Group Marketing Manager. Here’s what he had to say about the Xbox 360, Xbox Live and the direction the Big M is taking in this next generation of Console Wars.”

HEXUS.reviews :: Leadtek PX7800 GTX TDH MyVIVO Extreme 256MB and SAPPHIRE RADEON X1800 XT 512MB
Hexus :: Saturday, November 12, 2005

What we’ve learned today is that both ATI and NVIDIA’s partners know how to put a decent package together. Both cards, although expensive, offer something the other doesn’t, and neither is a bad buy. That’s not a review cop-out; it’s the plain truth.

Evercool Ice Storm Review @ PC Modding Malaysia
PC Modding Malaysia :: Saturday, November 12, 2005

“Overall Evercool Ice Storm is a nice HDD cooler although it can’t deliver very high performance, but it is still acceptable. The main advantage of the Ice Storm is its affordable price. With only $20, you can get a temperature monitoring plus cross flow HDD cooler, which is definitely a value buy.”

DH Review: MGE XG Dragon Aluminium Case
Driver Heaven :: Saturday, November 12, 2005
We have reviewed several of XG’s products before here on Driverheaven, two power supplies – the MGE Xtreme Gamer Vortec 500w and the XG Magnum 500w plus one case; the MGE XG Quantum. Now we have had the opportunity to look at one of their newest case creations the XG Dragon aluminium.

Seasonic S12-600W PSU @ Viperlair
ViperLair :: Saturday, November 12, 2005
“Amidst all the reviews of flashy items with power and style at the forefront of their design, it can often be the case that a Plain Jane decent performer is overlooked. While the appearance of the Seasonic S12-600 isn’t going to win it any awards, its features and performance certainly will. 80% efficiency is not a common thing from the majority of PSU’s in the market place today, and neither is a 600w power rating.”

1GB Apple iPod Shuffle
Big Bruin :: Saturday, November 12, 2005

Quote: The Shuffle may no longer be the latest product in the iPod line up, but as new models such as the iPod Nano and iPod Video have been rolled out, the Shuffle has gained a new appeal. The features and performance are still the same as when the Shuffle was launched, but now it sports a more wallet friendly price that makes it worth a second look.

Jou Jye 480W SLi PSU Review @ PC Modding Malaysia
PC Modding Malaysia :: Friday, November 11, 2005

check it out“I would recommend the JJ-480AUBA to those who do not overclock their SLi rig and do not have an army of peripherals to go along with it. Business users who put a lot of hard disks and RAID disks might also find this PSU useful because the high PFC rating and stable power output. Other than that, those who want a PSU good enough to power their SLi rigs without drawing or wasting additional power, this should warrant your serious consideration. Users who don’t suffer from overheating problems should also consider purchasing this PSU. The Jou Jye JJ-480AUBA is also great for those who love silent computing as its fan is so silent you wonder if its even switched on!”

FlexiGlow CyberSnipa Gamepad Review @ Virtual-Hideout
Virtual-Hideout :: Friday, November 11, 2005

” If you hit a key on your keyboard and the same key on the game pad, your computer gets the exact same signal. Saying that “functions are automatically mapped” implies that the game pad is doing something special. ”

Blue Laser Wars – Blu-ray Vs. HD DVD @ The TechZone
The Tech Zone :: Friday, November 11, 2005
We’ve been challenged numerous times to give an “educated” guess as to how the blue laser war will end, and when. It has come to a point where it is no longer about the technology nor the consumer. It is about who has the most to lose.

WinFast 6150K8MA @ t-break
t-break :: Friday, November 11, 2005
We’ve already talked about the integrated video features in the chipset article, but to put it briefly, you get a SM3.0 capable Direct-X 9.0 GPU with PureVideo technology. FoxConn has a DSUB connector on the back panel and an S-Video TV-Out cable is included in the package, however, the header for connecting the TV-Out module is missing.

Gigabyte NVIDIA GeForce 6600GT with Silent-Pipe II @ HardwareZoom
Hardware Zoom :: Friday, November 11, 2005

Quote – Gigabyte NVIDIA GeForce 6600GT, now with Silent-Pipe II technology, is a fanless solution for the enthusiastic gamers who want performance without noise. Unlike the traditional heatpipe cooling solution, Silent-Pipe II has a front-flow thermal module to create a natural system convection. Therefore a well-ventilated casing is necessary for the hot air to be removed by the PSU and CPU fans.

Even without any cooling fan, we manage to overclock the card from 500/1000 to 552/1200 with rock stability. The idle temperature was 47.2 degree and 73.3 degree when loaded. This is well within safety level but you should ensure that your casing is well-ventilated too.

Foxconn WinFast 761GXK8MC-S Motherboard
PCStats :: Friday, November 11, 2005
“The Foxconn WinFast 761GXK8MC-S motherboard is based upon a new chipset from SiS which has a couple media-friendly assets. The SiS 761GX chipset supports all current AMD Athlon64 or Sempron processors, in this case on the socket 754 formfactor. The SiS 761GX is an integrated chipset which features SiS’ Mirage 1 graphics core. Elsewhere on the WinFast 761GXK8MC-S motherboard are two DDR memory sockets for up to a maximum of 2GB of PC3200 DDR memory. Onboard goodies are kind of thin outside of the integrated graphics, with just 10/100 LAN, SATA, and audio standing out. The microATX board includes one PCI Express x16 slot and three 32 bit PCI slots.”

ASUS Z63A Whitebook Laptop Review @ Legit Reviews
Legit Reviews :: Friday, November 11, 2005
“The performance capabilities of the Centrino package are amazing. The ASUS Z63A is as fast as my overclocked Pentium-4 desktop in almost all computing tasks. The integrated graphics performed flawlessly in office tasks and DVD playback, and will run any games except for the most 3D-intensive titles… ”

PimpRig Review // Das Keyboard – UberGeeks Only
PimpRig :: Friday, November 11, 2005
We have a new review up on a supah-leet keyboard that n00bs need not try to use. Here is a snip from the review: “The biggest changes made to the keyboard have included adding various shorcut buttons and/or changing the shape of the keyboard including splitting it and angling the sides to make “ergonomic” models. These changes while very helpful to some are still just minor aesthetic tweaks most of the time. Today we will be taking a look at a keyboard which I would consider to be the first successful major overhaul to the keyboard. The Das Keyboard is a special keyboard in that it offers functional changes which can also lead to the improvement of your typing skills.”

Thermaltake Silent Boost K8 Athlon64 Heatsink
Frosty Tech :: Friday, November 11, 2005

“The Thermaltake Silent Boost K8 heatsink is a mainstream cooler for AMD Athlon64 and Sempron socket 754/939/940 processors. The heatsink is completely made of copper components for the metals’ high thermal conductivity properties, and utilizes a Panaflo FBL08A12M fan for its lower noise generation. As with most of Thermaltake’s offerings, the model A1838 “Silent Boost K8” is quite affordably priced, although it is absolutely not a “silent” heatsink.”

OCZ PowerStream 520watt ATX Computer Power Supply Review @ Tweaknews.net
Tweaknews :: Friday, November 11, 2005

“To be completely realistic, this in my mind is pretty well as close to a perfect power supply as you can get. It looks great, the build quality is absolutely immaculate and the aesthetics are surprisingly good for “just a power supply”. When you also kick in the fact that it has three adjustable voltage nails and rock steady power production and you have a no brainer for your next power supply purchase.”

PrimoChill ICE UV Blue Water Cooling Fluid
Big Bruin :: Friday, November 11, 2005

Quote: PrimoChill ICE performs as advertised, with a noticeably lower temperature in our test system. Given the slick oily feel, and the fact that PrimoChill ICE lived up to the claims regarding lower temperatures, I am inclined to believe that it will also live up to the claims of longer pump life and reduced internal build up in any water cooling system.

Review Update: X1600XT and F.E.A.R. results
Driver Heaven :: Friday, November 11, 2005
It was brought to our attention today over at Beyond3d that renaming FEAR.exe to pretty much anything else results in a performance increase on ATI hardware. (Thanks to PC Format for initially finding the bug). We tested this out and there doesn?t seem to be any IQ loss in FEAR with the renamed EXE. Therefore we’ve re-run the 1280 2aa 8af test shown above and here are the revised results.

Fighting Commoditization Of The Encoder Business
Designtechnica :: Friday, November 11, 2005
‘In October 2005, Tandberg announced its intent to acquire Goldpocket Interactive. Goldpocket had been in play for at least two years, so this acquisition brings to an end much speculation regarding possible suitors.

More importantly, this acquisition offers two interesting insights about the technology market in general and the encoding market in particular.’

World Exclusive picture from HEXUS of the forthcoming NVIDIA “TBA”
Hexus :: Friday, November 11, 2005
On Wednesday 5th October 2005 (coincidentally the launch day of the ATi RADEON X1800XT…) NVIDIA helpfully informed HEXUS of the new UK pricing for its GeForce 6xxx and 7xxx series products in the email detailed below.

What was interesting from this email was the omission of the NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra… but of particular interest was the first item on the list…

OCZ Rally Dual Channel USB Flash Drives Review Posted!
Tech ARP :: Thursday, November 10, 2005

Quote – “OCZ Technology is the latest manufacturer to join the flash drive party. Their brand-new OCZ Rally flash drives boast a really slim profile and dual-channel performance.

News – X-Micro Mini DisGo
Techniz.co.uk :: Thursday, November 10, 2005

The X-Micro Mini DisGo will provide the needs for home and even office users. The Mini DisGo sports an aluminum case with lots of advantages. It was specially design for portability, performance and reliability for storage and even backup purposes. The X-Micro Mini DisGo high speed and high capacity drives are ideal for any storage need, including digital music, movies and photographs. The transfer speed for the Mini DisGo is very fast during our testing. Beside this 20GB model that we reviewed, it also available with the size of 5GB, 30GB and 40GB to meet your needs.

Intel Roadmap Update @ CoolTechZone.com
CoolTechZone :: Thursday, November 10, 2005

“Gone are the days when processor names were something as simple as their clock speeds. If you wanted a nice and powerful 3GHz processor, you simply asked for a P4 3.0GHz and that was it. Ever since Intel has decided to revamp its naming conventions, the confusion makes you wonder if the whole idea of renaming was a smart move.”

News: XFX’s Revo64 Serial ATA RAID card
The Tech Report :: Thursday, November 10, 2005
SUPPORT FOR MULTI-DRIVE arrays in core-logic chipsets has made RAID more accessible to enthusiasts and mainstream users alike. Of course, high-end motherboards have supported RAID for a while, but these days it’s difficult to find even a mid-range mobo that doesn’t support multi-drive arrays. Heck, RAID can even be found on budget motherboards costing well under $100. And there are plenty of RAID add-in cards, too.

The market may be brimming with multi-drive goodness, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t room for something new. You see, most affordable RAID solutions, be they add-in cards or motherboard implementations, are software-based solutions and lack dedicated onboard memory. Most stick to supporting a mix of RAID levels 0, 1, 10/0+1, and 5, as well. We haven’t seen much in the way of RAID 3 or hardware acceleration, and that’s where XFX’s new Revo64 comes in. Based on technology from Netcell, the Revo64 combines byte-level striping with hardware-accelerated parity calculations and onboard memory to provide a potentially potent mix of performance and fault tolerance with as few as three hard drives. What’s more, the Revo works its magic without requiring drivers, giving the card instant compatibility with newer versions of both Windows and Linux.

At first glance, the Revo64 looks too good to be true, especially considering its affordable street price. Does it live up to the hype? Join us as we explore the technology behind XFX’s Revo64 and take an in-depth look at its performance.

Arctic Cooling NV Silencer 5 Rev3 @ InsaneTek
InsaneTek :: Thursday, November 10, 2005

“Arctic Cooling has done it again. The NV Silencer 5 Rev3 made for the Geforce 7800 series is an excellent cooler that performs in dead silence. It also allowed a slightly higher overclock too!”

Cooler Master AquaGate Mini R120
Overclockers New Zealand :: Thursday, November 10, 2005

No filling is required as the unit comes pre-filled. No cutting lengths of tubing either, it’s pre-assembled. No fancy sensors or fiddly power connectors are required either, with the whole unit driven from a single 3-pin-fan connector, like a conventional heatsink’s fan. If the performance of this unit is up to par, you’d have to say it’s a compelling way to get liquid-cooling to the masses.

NorthWater Xtreme Xchangers Review @ Virtual-Hideout
Virtual-Hideout :: Thursday, November 10, 2005

Quote: ” the Xchangers allowed me to maintain consistently low temperatures while running my fans at lower speeds. The Xchangers also reduced the tendency of my CPU to become hot in response to elevated GPU loads ”

Antec Minuet II Micro ATX Case @ ThinkComputers.org
Think Computers :: Thursday, November 10, 2005

Quote: “The Not long ago I got a Biostar Micro ATX motherboard combo from Geeks.com for review, after the review was done I kinda said, ‘Ok, now what do I do with a Micro ATX motherboard, considering I don’t really have a case made for Micro ATX form factor?’ Well the folks over at Antec solved that problem for me; they sent me a very nice and sleek looking mATX form factor case for review. Problem solved! Today I have for review the Minuet II from Antec, like all Antec cases it is well designed and refined in nature, not very flashy, but not dull either in any way. When I got the Minuet II, I looked at it and said this might make a great Home Theater PC case, its small size is great, and it looks very sophisticated. A while ago I did a review of the Silverstone Lascala series HTPC cases, and being a full ATX case it was rather large for an HTPC, but functional and good looking nonetheless. I wanted something smaller from my HTPC, and I think the Minuet II will fit the bill very nicely. Let’s check it out shall we?”

HEXUS.reviews :: ASUS V6-V Notebook and Pakuma Akara K1
Hexus :: Thursday, November 10, 2005

In short, a fine piece of kit, bar the screen. At over £1500 as tested from a bunch of retailers, it represents average value for money for a thin and light, so it’ll pay to consider other options along with the V6-V at the very least, just to satisfy yourself that it’s a good value proposition. check it out

Evercool H.D.D Air Condition
Overclockers Online :: Thursday, November 10, 2005
Quote: The Evercool HDAC is a very straight forward hard drive cooler that mounts in an open 5.25″ drive bay. The aluminum body is solid and does a good job drawing heat out of the hard drive and the turbine fan performs very well and nearly silent at lower RPMs. In a tightly packed case or one with no front fans, this hard drive cooler can really help keep the hard drive with all your precious data nice and cool. This will extend the life of the drive and help prevent an early failure.

Paradise|OC checks out the Cooljag JZC811C Heatsink
Paradise|OC :: Thursday, November 10, 2005

“Heatsinks are something that you can’t do without. It’s so insignificant compared to the rest of the computer. It’s the one thing you really don’t think about when doing a PC build. You order a processor, it comes with a heatsink, and you move on. This heatsink is fine unless you want to push your system a little further. That’s where companies like Cooljag come in.”

Razer Copperhead @ Phoronix
Phoronix :: Thursday, November 10, 2005

Summary: “Well over a year ago we tried the Razer eXact Mat here for testing, and we were pleasantly surprised by the phenomenal quality of this metal mouse surface, back with us today is Razer as we view their latest product – the Copperhead. This optical mouse features a Razer Precision 200 DPI laser engine, 1000Hz Ultrapolling, and 32Kb of onboard memory. Today we will see how the Razer Copperhead can fair under our usual Linux gaming.”

Nexus NX-5000 SLI 500 Watt Quiet Power Supply Video Review #616
3dgameman :: Thursday, November 10, 2005

“This product has many pluses. It’s SLI, allowing for two video cards to be connected, and it has a very quiet 120mm fan. As well, there are plenty of sleeved leads, but it lacks a 6 pin motherboard lead. The +3.3V & +5V rails are strong; however, the +12 rail isn’t. The NX-5000 offers quality, clean, and reliable power that’s easy on the ears! Watch the Video to find out more…” ~3dGameMan.com

Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 500GB SATA 3 Gb/s Hard Drive
Big Bruin :: Thursday, November 10, 2005

Quote: Taking a look at the burst results honestly made me say “WOW”! The Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 not only outscored the RAID 0 array of SATA 1.5 Gb/s drives, but it also blew away the Hitachi SATA 3 Gb/s 500GB drive by over 20 MB/s. Taking a look at the other results from this benchmark show that all of the drives are just about equal, and that the burst is the only place a major advantage will be had.

Vantec EZ-Grip Molex Connector Kit and Cable Sleeving Kit
Driver Heaven :: Thursday, November 10, 2005
Although the whole process can take quite some time, the end result is quite rewarding, there?s nothing like seeing hard work paying off, and this simple mod allows for more effective cable management, which overall helps with airflow, and keeping temperatures down for those high performance parts in your computer. Not to mention with a case window showing off the insides of your pride and joy, having your cables nicely sleeved and tucked away increases the overall appearance of your machine greatly.

Epox 8NPA SLI Motherboard Review @ PCstats.com
PCStats :: Thursday, November 10, 2005
“If you were one of the early adopters of an AMD Athlon64 processor in the Socket 754 formfactor, congratulations! The bevy of new Socket 754 motherboards being released will extend the investment you made in that processor all those months ago. The Epox 8NPA SLI supports all Socket 754 Athlon64 or Sempron processors, comes equipped with two DIMM slots and supports a maximum of 2GB of PC3200 DDR memory. Other onboard goodies, some new to Socket 754 are nVIDIA’s Serial ATA II RAID controller, Gigabit LAN, and 5.1 channel audio. My personal favorite is the Port 80 diagnostics card.”

Seventeam ST-550EAG 550W Power Supply @ HardwareZoom
Hardware Zoom :: Thursday, November 10, 2005

Quote – Seventeam ST-550EAG has a total power output of up to 550W. It has two 12V rails deliver up to 18A each, to pump maximum of 432W just for your 12V devices. It is compliant with SSI EPS specification, with dual PCI Express, dual SATA, +12V ATX & EPS connectors, 6 Molex and 2 floppy power connectors. Featuring active PFC to improved energy efficiency and dual fans to keep the system cool, every set of cables are twisted and sleeved to further improve the airflow and tidiness inside the casing.

The TechZone has posted a Guide To Avoiding Common Digital Photo Mistakes
The Tech Zone :: Thursday, November 10, 2005
Whether you are a seasoned pro or a new shooter, photo mistakes can creep up on you. So review this list of the most common photo errors and make a mental checklist to use every time you head out with the digital camera.

ECS KN1 EXTREME SLI 1.0a Motherboard Review
Futurelooks :: Thursday, November 10, 2005
Extreme! Hardcore! Awesome! That’s the kind of thinking ECS wants when you mention their name now, and now they’ve released the KN1 SLI for the elite (a.k.a. those who can afford to buy two top of the line video cards). So come and check out what we thought of it!

Thermaltake Venus 12 Athlon64 Heatsink Review @ FrostyTech
Frosty Tech :: Thursday, November 10, 2005
“The Thermaltake Venus 12 is a high powered AMD Athlon64 heatsink compatible with socket 754/939/940 processors. The heatsink is completely made of copper components, and utilizes 5500RPM Everflow fan which moves upwards of 72CFM at full speed. The 760 gram heatsink is heavy, but its tool-free clip mechanism locks onto all three tabs of the K8 retention frame solidly. The Thermaltake Venus 12 heatsink comes with two different fan speed controllers, one on a PCI slot bracket and the other in an aluminum 3.5″ drive bay bracket.”

Crucial Ballistix PC4000 2GB Memory Review @ Legit Reviews
Legit Reviews :: Wednesday, November 09, 2005
“The next major push was at 3-3-3-8, where these modules scaled all the way to 287FSB (DDR574) at 2.93V, which is well past their rated speed of 250FSB. I was pleasantly surprised here, and considering the very modest voltage increase and the fact I still hadn’t loosened the timings to their rated specs of 3-4-4-8, I thought this kit would fly past 300FSB (DDR600). Alas, loosening the timings to their rated speed only garnered me a slight increase to 292 FSB (DDR584)… ”

Ajigo MF043044 Athlon64 Heatsink Review
Frosty Tech :: Wednesday, November 09, 2005
“Ajigo Corporation makes heatsinks, and some of those coolers have become the default AMD socket 754 and 939 coolers. The Ajigo MF043044 is a stacked aluminum fin and copper base heatsink that first came into the FrostyTech test labs as a stock 754 heatsink. Its construction is simple, and it has been designed for a minimum acoustical impact which we can all appreciate. The heatsink comes with a pre-applied patch of Shin Etsu G751 thermal compound on it, so installation is dead simple.”

Patriot Memory 1GB DC DDR2 PC6400 @ Techniz
Techniz.co.uk :: Wednesday, November 09, 2005

“The Patriot’s DDR2 PC6400 memory modules are very overclockable RAM. Furthermore, it comes with a premium aluminum heat spreader. This pair of DDR2 PC6400 is able to run at 800MHz 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 458MHz which is equal to DDR 916 (916MHz). This is was an excellent result.”

Bigbruin.com Review: GigaByte GA-K8N PRO-SLI Mainboard
Big Bruin :: Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Quote: For all the gamers out there who are looking for a low cost SLI system, this would be a great place to start. Not only is the board affordable, but it also has some extra features that make it stand apart from the others. Gigabyte’s famous Dual BIOS allows for some extra stability and is packed along with a Q-Flash utility for easy BIOS flashing. Overclocking is also made simple with the Easy Tune 5 program.

eDimensional AudioFX Gaming headset review @ Techwarelabs
Techwarelabs :: Wednesday, November 09, 2005
“Although the headphones seem and look rather bulky, they are quite comfortable and can be worn for a long period of time. However some may find them a little uncomfortable if you like the ear pieces to go completely around your ear rather than rest on your ear. And if you happen to have a large melon, the headphones easily adjust in size to fit almost anyone without compromising comfort.”

Titan TTC-G3T Notebook Cooler @ Techgage
Techgage :: Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Quote: Is your laptop getting a little too hot around the collar? Sometimes doing even simple tasks on a notebook can heat it up in a hurry, making it uncomfortable to even use. Gaming can even be more frustrating, since the heat generated is making the entire laptop run like tar dripping from a roof. Today we are looking at Titan’s solution to the problem.

Super Flower Plug-N-Power Power Supply Review @ Virtual-Hideout
Virtual-Hideout :: Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Quote: ” However if your set on buying a new PSU just so you can have sleeved cables that you can control, sure this will work, but I recommend saving your money and purchasing something with a little more to offer. ”

Buying Guide: Chic Laptop Bags For Fall
Designtechnica :: Wednesday, November 09, 2005
‘Tired of papers hanging out of your plain old, torn-up black nylon laptop bag and ready to upgrade to something bigger, more manageable or ultra-stylish? The following ten uber-cool, hand-picked bags aim to please with style that will simultaneously punctuate your look and give you the ultimate in functionality, whether you’re headed back to school, back to the boardroom or back to The Outback.’

TeamGroup Xtreem PC4800 1GB Dual Channel Kit @ InsaneTek
InsaneTek :: Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Quote: “TeamGroup is not well known here in the States, but they do have reputation overseas. Their Samsung TCCD based Xtreem PC4800 is an excellent introduction to the company’s potential.”

PimpRig Review // LS Cable LSHS L500 and X500 CPU Coolers
PimpRig :: Wednesday, November 09, 2005
We have a new review up on a couple heatsinks trying to bust into the heatpipe cooler scene… it seems as though they won’t be very successful with this attempt, though. Here is a snip from the review: “I could come up with only 3 reasons why nickel is used on the bottom of heatpipe heatsinks: Nickel bonds very well and having a nickel bottom would protect the surface, prevent oxidation, and diffuse the heat. Since nickel retains heat longer, the heat will spread over a larger area which spreads it evenly across the heatpipes so you don’t have just one or two doing all the work. I don’t know if this is actually the case, but it makes sense to me (unfortunately, so does beer flavored ice cream).”

Gigabyte 8VT880P Combo Motherboard @ Viperlair
ViperLair :: Wednesday, November 09, 2005
“Long story short, the 8VT880P Combo is a solid product if your needs aren’t anything too demanding. From a budget standpoint, there is some pretty good value here, but if you go through a full system overhaul, the value diminishes as it does not cost much less than a 915P based board which outperforms it. Without saying it… enthusiasts should look elsewhere.”

Nikao Dragonfire Case @ ThinkComputers.org
Think Computers :: Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Quote: “Dragons, yes I have a soft spot for anything related to dragons. I have always liked them, everything about them. I have for review today a new case from Nikao, called the Dragonfire. When I was offered the chance to review it, I jumped on it! In fact I told my editor, anything with dragon in the name is MINE!! I have to admit, I had never heard of Nikao until I got this case for review, so I was somewhat skeptical about the quality of yet another pre-mod, but I was pleasantly surprised by this case. Read on to find out more about it.”

Aerocool HT-102 CPU Cooler Review
Madshrimps :: Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Quote: “Heatpipes and led fans seem to be a trend. The only way to be different is performance and price wise. Today we are testing the Aerocool HT-102 CPU cooler. What are its chances against some well known heatsinks?”

Matrox DualHead2Go Notebook Multi-display Breakout Box
PCStats :: Wednesday, November 09, 2005
“The Matrox DualHead2Go is black box about the size of a paperback book that enables laptop and tablet PC users multi-display functionality from twin side-by-side 17″ or 19″ LCD monitors. The DualHead2Go works off of the analog video output from an approved list of notebooks at resolutions of either 2048×768 (60, 75, 85 Hz) or 2560×1024 (60Hz). The device takes the novel approach of splitting that double-width video signal in half, with one portion of the screen going to monitor A, and the second portion going to monitor B. The end result is that two monitors will act as a single screen, yet with just one monitor cable plugged into the host computer.”

Enermax Liberty 620W Modular PSU @ Viperlair
ViperLair :: Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Modular PSUs are all the rage, but is the power supplied clean? We look at Enermax’s latest and see if this modular PSU is up to the task.

“Enermax has entered the modular PSU market in a big way as the Liberty EL620AWT did very well in our tests and finished on top in the tests that count. While were were not able to stress the PSU to the max, we feel our setup falls in line in what would be considered “high-end” and certainly there are a few of you with somewhat similar systems so we’re pretty confident the Liberty would be suitable for those setups.”

XGI Technology Volari 8300 (XG47) @ Phoronix
Phoronix :: Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Summary: “Two days after the release of NVIDIA’s GeForce 6800GS, the folks over at XGI Technology have finally unveiled their first PCI Express offering – the Volari 8300. For over a year, there have been rumors floating around the Internet in regards to what XGI could bring fourth into their next-generation products and whether they would be able to take ATI and NVIDIA head-on. With us today we have some of these answers along with information that was once deemed confidential in regards to the XG47 GPU.”

The Changing Face Of Music @ The TechZone
The Tech Zone :: Tuesday, November 08, 2005
Music still sounds the same as ever – the strut and jive or hip hop, the rollicking passion of rock, the cool precision of jazz – but everything else is changing in a hurry. Digital technology has revolutionized how we listen, where we listen, how we collect and how we share it. The face of music has changed for good. The revolution is led by an astounding outburst of new technologies and products, from sleek portable digital music players to wireless home networking devices and online stores, like iTunes, that sell music one song at a time.

Everything You Need to Know About Digital Cameras
Hardware Secrets :: Tuesday, November 08, 2005
Everything you need to know before buying a digital camera: what is megapixel, how many photos you can store in a memory card and what the most common terms mean.

Here is a snippet: “Megapixel is a unit that measures the resolution in optical devices (i.e., the number of dots the image will have), especially in digital cameras. The value in megapixels is found by multiplying the image’s width by its height. For example, an image with resolution of 1280×1024 has resolution of 1,310,720 pixels or 1.3 megapixel. On the chart below we present the most common resolutions. As you can see, there are some close estimates: cameras with 1.9 megapixel are sold as having 2 megapixels.”

Gigabyte K8N51GMF-9 nForce 430/GeForce 6100 Mainboard
Hexus :: Tuesday, November 08, 2005

What you get for £52 is a solid board with very few surprises that’s good for a multitude of uses. Voltage manipulation in BIOS, better subsystem performance, and, perhaps, a sweeter bundle would garner the Gigabyte K8N51GMF-9 an instant recommendation in the budget sector. As it is, it’s decent but not outstanding, although you could do a lot worse than the K8N51GMF-9 if your budget stretches to only £50 or so and you require a S939 motherboard with onboard video and decent storage potential.

Thermaltake Swing @ InsaneTek
InsaneTek :: Tuesday, November 08, 2005

“Want a decent looking case with good features without the expensive price? Thermaltake’s new Swing is a good candidate. It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles, but it way better than a beige box.”

Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 Review
Everything USB :: Tuesday, November 08, 2005
“A few months ago I felt something I’ve only heard about in the horror stories of my friends and the net. A sharp pain shot through my wrist, aggravated by the fact my desk was horribly higher than my chair at the time. Unfortunately, my wrist has never fully recovered, inducing pain after typing for a mere 20 minutes. I’ve since bought a wrist rest for my mouse hand, visited a chiropractor, and done stretching exercises every few minutes of using the computer. Shortly afterwards Microsoft leaked out information about their latest in their line of keyboards, the hyped Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000. Seeing as how I type for a living, I figured it’d be worth a try. Here are my impressions after two weeks of testing. ”

Editorial: Taking the SLI Plunge @ Virtual-Hideout
Virtual-Hideout :: Tuesday, November 08, 2005

Quote: ” So again, is SLI for you? Well, if you absolutely have to have the best, then YES. It’s not cheap, but nothing good ever is. It’s certainly brought a new light to my gaming experience.”

PimpRig Review // Ultra Fire Socket 775 CPU Cooler
PimpRig :: Tuesday, November 08, 2005
We have a new review up on the Ultra Products Fire Socket 775 CPU Cooler. The cooler looks ALOT like the stock Intel 775 cooler but don’t let that fool you. Here is a snip from the review: “When looking this heatsink over I noticed a couple of things that the Ultra Fire 775 had in common with the Intel heatsink. The fin design is the same but with different copper cores. The Ultra is a bit taller but the overall radius is the same. Intel’s mounting clips are the push pin and lock type that can have problems if you remove and reuse the pins more than a couple of times. The strong point for the Intel heatsink is the fan, an 80 mm fan that runs virtually silent. Unfortunately this is not good enough to run any serious OC.”

Designer Cases For Your Apple iPod Buying Guide
Designtechnica :: Tuesday, November 08, 2005
‘Now that you’ve picked out an iPod to suit your lifestyle, admit it, you’re enamored with it. Besides that, you want to protect your investment and don’t want to scratch it up or get it all sweaty at the gym. Whether you have a 2G, 3G, or 4G iPod, a mini, nano or shuffle, we’ve forged a path through the jungle of offerings to bring you a few of the cooler cases around, complete with prices, photos and where to purchase.’

An Interview with Jeryuan Yan (XGI Technology)
Phoronix :: Tuesday, November 08, 2005

Summary: “Earlier today, we had spoken with Jeryuan Yan who is the Business Development (BD) manager of XGI Technology. In this interview, we primarily focused on XGI’s Linux advances since the last time we spoke several months ago, but we also received some exclusive information in regards to their November 9 hardware product launch in Beijing and the stance of XGI Technology on Multi-GPU Technology similar to NVIDIA Scalable Link Interface and ATI CrossFire. In addition, we received some vital information into some expected driver launches that will finally support the Linux 2.6 kernel and several other software advancements.”

Seasonic Power Angel @ ThinkComputers.org
Think Computers :: Tuesday, November 08, 2005

Quote: “Were you ever curious about just how much power your computer consumes? Did you ever want to know just how efficient that Active PFC power supply is? Well Seasonic has an indispensable device called the Power Angel. It can be used for any device that consumes electricity, not just computers. The Power Angel can help you determine just which electrical devices in your home or workplace are draining to much electricity and draining your wallet at the same time. In this day, when utility prices are only getting higher, the Power Angel is a great way to figure out how to cut your energy use and cost. It is also a great way to test devices for their efficiency.”

Razer Copperhead @ Techgage
Techgage :: Tuesday, November 08, 2005

Quote: Looking for the *next* killer gaming mouse? It seems that every few months, one will come along and blow us away. Now we are seeing gaming mice that finally have a freakin’ LASER! Today we are taking a look at the new Razer Copperhead, which not only looks awesome, but performs exceptionally.

ULTRA Mini Portable Disk @ Bjorn3D
Bjorn3D :: Tuesday, November 08, 2005
Sure flash drives are very handy for moving files around when a floppy disk is too small and a CD-R is overkill, but what about those files or groups of files that take up more room than even a DVD-R can store? Many users have the need for this type of file movement, and external hard drives are just the solution for this dilemma. ULTRA has just what the doctor ordered, so read below to see what kind of prescription they provided me with.

MSI P4N Diamond @ Viperlair
ViperLair :: Tuesday, November 08, 2005
“While the board did not sit on top of every benchmark, it has the potential to be one of the fastest gaming platforms for Intel. Benchmarks don’t tell the whole story though, as the P4N Diamond proved to be a reliable board throughout testing and is stacked with enough features that it should be able to survive in most people’s PC for a long while.”

Mindware Studios Cold War @ Phoronix Direct
Phoronix :: Tuesday, November 08, 2005

Summary: “Originally anticipated to be released nearly a month ago, Mindware Studios has finally released a Linux demo of its Cold War game. Playing this game, it follows the path of a freelance journalist (Matthew Carter) who is engulfed in a international conspiracy against the U.S.S.R. and he must escape before being sent to a Serbian prison camp. Although the story line is fascinating, the Linux demo is a bit short only including two levels – “Thanks, Mr. Geiger” and “The Halls of Hell”. The Microsoft Windows build had shipped to retailers last month but there still is no word on when a full Linux client will be available. For reference, Dreamcatcher Games isn’t distributing the Linux client of the game and Mindware Studios themselves are making available the Linux version.”

Enermax Liberty 500W Modular Power Supply
Big Bruin :: Tuesday, November 08, 2005

Quote: The new Liberty series of power supplies incorporates many traditional features of Enermax units with the latest trend, modular cabling. Modular power supplies first became popular in 2004, and although Enermax can’t claim to be a pioneer in the field, you can count on their effort being worth consideration, even if the market is a bit more crowded at this point.

Zalman CNPS9500 Led CPU Cooler review”
Madshrimps :: Tuesday, November 08, 2005

Quote: “When it comes to PC cooling Zalman has a great name. Being one of the first who introduced heatpipes into VGA cooling, it was an immediate hit. But when the competition started using this same technology for CPU heatsinks, Zalman’s own CPU coolers were falling behind. Now, a bit late perhaps, we have Zalman’s first heatpipe based CPU cooler. The Zalman CNPS9500 Led. Let’s see how it does against the best out there; the Scythe Shogun and Thermalright XP-90C are waiting.”

Evercool Magic Cooler MAG01CA Heatsink Review
Frosty Tech :: Tuesday, November 08, 2005
“While the MAG01-CA certainly installs onto all of those processor form factors, it’s been our experience that a heatsink is either best suited for a large heatspreader capped CPU or for pumping heat away from the small surface area of bare silicon… almost never both. The extruded aluminum Evercool MAG01-CA has most recently been marketed towards K8 AMD Athlon64 application, so that is what well be focusing on in this review. But is this heatsink really suitable for socket 754/939 AMD Athlon 64 processors?”

G.SKILL F1-4000USU2-2GBHZ PC4000
techPowerUp! :: Monday, November 07, 2005

Brief: The G.SKILL F1-4000USU2-2GBHZ unite overclocking and 2GB. They almost overclock like the best 1 GB Dual-Channel kits, but offer double the amount of capacity. We reached 275 MHz (DDR550) at low 2.6V. If you want the smoothness of 2 GB and also overclocking, they can be yours for about $245, which is an excellent price.

PimpRig Review // OCZ EL DDR PC-4000 2GB Gold Edition DDR RAM Kit
PimpRig :: Monday, November 07, 2005
We have a new review up on some beefy PC4000 RAM sticks from OCZ. Proof positive that newer games simply love phat sticks. :) Here is a snip from the review: “More recently, the RAM sweet spot using Windows XP has been 1GB using a pair of 512MB DDR RAM sticks. Since the release of Doom 3 and Battlefield 2 though, many users are finding that using 2GB of RAM enhances game play and computer performance. There have been a few problems with going to 2GB though; first off was the availability and price of 1GB DDR sticks, since so many users opted to go with 4 512MB sticks of RAM. Unfortunately, some motherboards do not support DDR with 4 sticks, and others will kick the FSB speed down to 333 to reduce errors. Also, many people have limited success when trying to overclock a motherboard with 4 sticks of RAM in it even if they are matching sticks. Plus, there is the increased voltage requirement. OCZ recognized the issues and released a 2GB DDR memory kit that is rated up to PC-4000, so now you can have your cake and eat it too.”

JVC GZ-MG70U Camcorder
Designtechnica :: Monday, November 07, 2005
‘Hard disk drives are taking over the world! At one time, HDDs were safely ensconced in PCs and laptops. Then they moved to outboard drives, satellite and cable boxes, combination DVD/HDD recorders, iPod digital audio players…the list goes on. Now the engineers at JVC have created a series of Everio ultra-small, super lightweight camcorders with built-in 20GB or 30GB drives that record up to seven hours of MPEG2 video. This is many times the capability of wildly popular DVD camcorders like the Sony DCR-DVD203 that record 20 minutes of best-quality video on single-sided 3-inch 1.4GB disks. And in keeping with the trend of combining digital still cameras and camcorders, the new GZ-MG70U has a 2.12MP CCD so it takes 1600 x 1200 pixel stills. It’s not the 12-megapixel Canon EOS 5D but it can satisfy your need for a photograph or 10,000.’

DFI NF4 SLI Infinity @ InsaneTek
InsaneTek :: Monday, November 07, 2005

Quote: “DFI surprised us all with the NF4 Ultra Infinity. This time they bring us their NF4 SLI Infinity, another budget motherboard for the gaming/overclocking enthusiasts. It might not “look” much, but it does pack a lot of power.”

Beginners Guides: Forgotten Passwords & Recovery Methods @ PCSTATS
PCStats :: Monday, November 07, 2005
“Ever wondered how to recover or reset a forgotten password in WindowsXP? This guide will help you get back into your computer, all without reinstalling the operating system. Fortunately, for every method of password protecting a computer system, there is a method of defeating said protection, especially if you have physical access to the computer. Since it’s your PC, that shouldn’t be a problem, so cheer up.”

Neoseeker Tt Tai-Chi and Corsair XMS4000 Reviews
Neoseeker :: Monday, November 07, 2005
“I used MemTest to check for stability at various timing settings; then tried the benchmarks (Sandra, RightMark, WinRAR and Doom3) to confirm stability. 285MHz was not totally stable, but it was probably due to the processor not wanting to run at 3.025GHz – after all, it was only rated for 2.2GHz!”

We also have a review of Thermaltake’s monstrous Tai-Chi case. If you don’t know already this is the massive case which features fins all along the exterior. It sort of has to be seen to be believed.

check out the memory
check out the Tai-Chi

How To Secure Your Emails @ The TechZone
The Tech Zone :: Monday, November 07, 2005
Well, no one wants to read your email right? Wrong! Have you ever heard of Carnivore? That’s a system that the FBI uses to harvest all email traffic going through a network. How does this affect you? When the FBI hooks Carnivore up to your ISP’s network because they suspect someone of dealing drugs or some other crime, Carnivore will filter through ALL email looking for keywords that relate to the crime in question. And because the search has to be intentionally vague, you may be sending a request for information about a prescription drug you take and Carnivore will harvest your email to be read by a human agent. Suddenly, the drugs you’re taking are now public knowledge. Spammers have also been known to harvest email addresses via captured emails.

Title: Editorial: The More Things Change….@ Virtual-Hideout
Virtual-Hideout :: Monday, November 07, 2005
Quote: “Just ask yourself, please, manufacturers: “Would a mainstream OEM be embarrassed to ship out your case with a front panel carved into a three-dimensional relief of Goku’s head?”

Beginners Guides: Cloning WindowsXP @ PCSTATS
PCStats :: Monday, November 07, 2005
“If you upgrade your operating system hard disk, chances are the new one will be both faster and larger than your original disk. Since you can have multiple drives in your system, it makes sense to keep WindowsXP on the fastest drive, since its speed will make the most difference in that configuration. Trouble is, WindowsXP can’t just be copied over from your old drive to the new one. There are essential files which will not be created on the new disk if you try this. So what to do? Follow along as we walk you through an easy process to simplify your life, so you can get back to work.”

PC Mech pokes and prods ID3-TagIT 3
PC Mechanic :: Monday, November 07, 2005
in this week’s Freeware Frenzy series. This little application is handy for managing your MP3 library by allowing you to edit the MP3’s tag information.

SilverStone Sugo SG01 Review @ PC Modding Malaysia
PC Modding Malaysia :: Monday, November 07, 2005

“Overall the Sugo case is a very versatile case. If you are planning to go down the SFF road, we strongly suggest checking out this case because you don’t need spend anything more than purchasing a single Sugo case. If you already have a micro ATX motherboard, a standard sized ATX PSU and other hardwares in your ATX case, you are all set to build your very own SFF system. However, enthusiasts might want to look else where simply because micro ATX motherboard lacks the overclocking options that we tweakers seek for. Ultimately, we can still build a very powerful SFF system provided if we purchased the latest micro ATX motherboard supporting AMD64 socket 939 processors and perhaps a nForce 4 based motherboard.”

Cooljag SFO-D(18SC) Skived Copper Opteron Heatsink
Frosty Tech :: Monday, November 07, 2005
“The Cooljag SFO-D(18SC) is a heavy one piece skived copper heatsink intended for use with AMD Athlon64 and Opteron processors. Its thick copper base and tall 58mm tall fins add up to 732 grams worth of heatsink, a weight that requires a special set of mounting hardware which is included with the heatsink. A high speed 6800RPM Delta fan is set on its side so that air is blown tangentially to the fins, moving about 38CFM air in the process. The Cooljag SFO-D(18SC) pays no attention towards doing all of this quietly, and according to measurements made in the FrostyTech sound isolating chamber it makes a 64dBA racket in the process.”

ECS KN1 SLI Extreme @ Viperlair
ViperLair :: Monday, November 07, 2005
“Overclocking with the ECS board and our Athlon64 3200+ (Venice core) yielded a result of an impressive 2.65GHz. We got here by dropping the HT to 4x, moving the DRAM timings to 3-4-4-8. We left the CPU at 10x and increased it’s Vcore by 125mv (resulting in a Vcore of 1.52). This is an impressive overclock to say the least. I was thinking that without the ability to apply more voltage to the chipset or FSB (HT) ECS would be hard pressed to catch up with the DFI’s overclock. It turns out, we passed it nicely.”

Dynatron A22 V-Shaped Skived Athlon64 Heatsink Review @ FrostyTech.com
Frosty Tech :: Monday, November 07, 2005
“Skiving is a relatively new metal working technique, and it is very similar to the act of hand planning a block of wood except that ‘shavings’ are shorter and remain attached. The benefit of a skived heatsink has always been the lack of a thermal joint between the fins and base, since each is formed from the same raw material. FrostyTech has tested out one of the latest socket 754/939/940 AMD Athlon64 heatsinks called the Dynatron A22. The heatsink at first appears to be nothing more than a plain aluminum skived heatsink, but closer examination reveals a couple very effective innovations, not the least of which are the V-shaped fins.”

Vantec LapCool 3 (LPC-401) @ Phoronix
Phoronix :: Monday, November 07, 2005

Summary: “Do you own a laptop? Do you have a hard time keeping it on your lap because it’s too hot? Well we sometimes do. Most of our reviews here are geared toward enthusiasts and overclockers, however, desktops are not the only things that need after-market cooling these days. For our mobile readers out there, today we have Vantec’s LapCool 3 laptop cooling pad.”

Gigabyte’s 975X board with Turbojet @ t-break
t-break :: Monday, November 07, 2005
Taipei, Taiwan November 1st, 2005 – GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY, a leading manufacturer of motherboards, VGA cards and other computing hardware solutions, unveils the GIGABYTE GA-G1975X, the first in a series of G1-Turbo motherboards. Designed specifically with extreme overclockers and hardcore gamers in mind, the GA-G1975X-Series exudes performance and represents a fusion of the best industry and GIGABYTE innovations through features such as the highly advanced Intel® 975X Express chipset and GIGABYTE Turbojet technology.

Software Lets you Share USB Devices on the Internet
Everything USB :: Monday, November 07, 2005
Hi, we found a nifty software called USB@nywhere that lets you share USB devices on the Internet. You basically only need to install ‘Device workstation’ on the PC with the USB devices you want to share, and ‘Remote workstation’ on the PCs where you want to access the remote USB hardware. Then you can start using the remote USB devices across the Internet or W/LAN. According to Intellidriver, you can find the USB devices in Device manager; supposedly, the company did a good job emulating the USB stack.

Technology Makes Us Stupid? @ CoolTechZone.com
CoolTechZone :: Saturday, November 05, 2005
“With the advent of PDAs, smartphones, notebooks and whatnot, humans have a companion that’s with them pretty much all the time. It’ll remind you of what to do, when to do it and most importantly, it’ll go after your life if you forget to do something as fatal as taking out the trash.”

duuuuhhh… uh… Chek eet oot

[News]Asetek Waterchill Xtreme KT12A-12VX Liquid Cooling Kit revioew @ Xtreme Resources
Xtreme Resources :: Saturday, November 05, 2005

“When Asetek first entered the PC watercooling market with the introduction of the initial Waterchill kits, their good value and excellent performance made them loved within the enthusiast circles. Even the most hardcore users loved them because they could integrate the watercooling kits to their Vapochill cooled systems, for VGA and chipset cooling. Asetek came a long way since then and now they have a long line of kits and standalone products across all of the Waterchill range. Their pinnacle of the Waterchill line, the Xtreme KT12A-12VX Waterchill kit is under the scope today. Featuring all the best that Asetek has to offer, let us see what it can do for the cooling of your PC.”

[Phoronix] Mozilla Firefox & Thunderbird v1.5
Phoronix :: Saturday, November 05, 2005

Summary: “After covering several Deer Park ALPHA and BETA releases, Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird have both made their way to the v1.5 release candidates. Today’s release, was delayed four days from its original October 28 tentative date after a four day development freeze and to ensure final testing mainly in the area of web-mail and banking services along with extension compatibility. Overall, this release encompasses a great deal of noticeable improvements that Mozilla users around the world can now cherish. These advancements range from an inline spell checker, podcasting, and a phising detector in Thunderbird to security and improved CSS 2/3 support in Firefox.”

The Science of SPAM
PC Mechanic :: Saturday, November 05, 2005
What is the answer? Not easy, that’s for sure. The true solution, I believe, would require a re-vamping of the entire internet email system. What we need is a system that works like the phone company and the caller ID service.

Beginners Guides: Ergonomics & Computers @ PCstats.com
PCStats :: Saturday, November 05, 2005
“If you are a long time computer user like me, you might have noticed the occasional hurts and discomforts that go hand in hand with spending long periods of time in front of the PC. Stare at a monitor for hours on end, year after year and most likely you’ll eventually start to notice the pains magnify in frequency and severity. Do this long enough, and the discomfort could become part of the daily routine when you sit down to work or game at a computer. This guide aims to provide a guideline for identifying and avoiding situations which could result in the development of a repetitive strain injury, and to recommend ergonomically sound computer setups and products.”

Ultra X-Finity FlexForce 500W PSU @ Techgage
Techgage :: Saturday, November 05, 2005

Quote – The boys and girls at Ultra have made a bit of a name for themselves with their line of power supplies. While PSUs aren’t their only products, they are their most famous. Their first big name PSU was the X-Connect and it was labeled as the “World’s first fully modular power supply.” Today, I am taking a look at their new X-Finity FlexForce PSU.

Thermaltake Swing Case
Driver Heaven :: Saturday, November 05, 2005
The last Thermaltake case we looked at was the Tenor model aimed at Media Centre systems and it received the DH silver award. We understand however that the Tenor isn’t for everyone and it is also worth mentioning not everyone can afford a top of the range case costing over $100. So what do Thermaltake offer for the midrange user? Well one of their solutions is the Swing case which we will be reviewing today.

Beginners Guide to installing Windows
TweakTown :: Saturday, November 05, 2005
QUOTE: “Regardless of why you need to install, you do need to install. Unfortunately, you haven’t the slightest clue as to what you’re doing – or you do, but want to learn a bit more. You might not be sure what to do just to install; you might not know what to do afterwards; you might even think you know what to do, but you want to be sure. You’ve come to the right place, it’s our complete beginners guide to install Windows (XP and below).”

AC Ryan UV Kit
PCreview :: Saturday, November 05, 2005
“The Cold Cathode Tube kit was interesting, as some similar products seem to be plagued by high-pitched noises from the inverter and slow warmup times. Thankfully, neither of these effects was visible in this kit and was surprisingly silent. This CCFL set came with 2 x 30cm UV tubes which were very bright (certainly better than most I’ve seen), this allows you to place them either side of your case to light up many UV items.”

Dynatron A41 V-Shaped Skived Athlon64 Heatsink Review
Frosty Tech :: Saturday, November 05, 2005
“With an abundance of heatpipe-infused copper heatsinks up for sale these days, it’s easy to forget that there are other ways to make a slab of metal a great conductor of heat into the surrounding atmosphere. Designed properly, a skived aluminum heatsink can leave an extruded aluminum heatsink in the dust. If any company has perfected the skived heatsink it would have to be Dynatron. The latest example of the companies’ skived Socket 754/939 AMD Athlon64 heatsink line recently arrived at FrostyTech for testing, it’s called the Dynatron A41 heatsink.”

News: The making of the new Damagebox
The Tech Report :: Saturday, November 05, 2005
EVEN THOUGH I run a computer hardware website and spend my days playing with all of the latest goodies, I don’t actually upgrade my own PC all that often. I learned long ago not to stick review hardware into my own PC, for fear of messing up the main system on which I do my work. Swapping cutting-edge hardware in and out of your computer constantly is like doing cartwheels on a high wire–you’re seriously asking for trouble. Besides, moving all of your stuff from one PC to the next is a trying process, and I’d rather avoid it whenever possible.

My last PC upgrade was just over two years ago, though, and I recently decided that it was time for me to upgrade again. Of course, it didn’t hurt that PCs have gained a broad range of nifty new features over the past couple of years. The combination of dual-core processors and Native Command Queuing for SATA hard drives promises new heights of multitasking bliss in desktop PCs, and I can’t very well prattle on about the creamy smoothness of SMP without partaking of its delights.

OCZ 2GB PC-4000 Platinum EB DDR Kit Review
OCIA :: Saturday, November 05, 2005
“True to OCZ’s standard, these modules are protected by a lifetime warranty. Timings of 3-3-2-8 1T are pretty impressive considering the capacity and rated speed on these modules. EVP stands for Extended Voltage Protection which is OCZ’s commitment to enthusiasts, allowing for users to run their modules at voltage levels of 3.0V ± 5% without voiding the lifetime warranty. ULN (Ultra Low Noise) is a technology that uses various printed circuit board (PCB) techniques to reduce the amount of electrical noise that is present in all high-speed integrated circuits.”

ThinkComputers New Layout Giveaway / Contest @ ThinkComputers.org
Think Computers :: Saturday, November 05, 2005
Quote: “HEY, HEY… In Honor of our new design and layout we have decided to have a few contests all during the month of November. We are going to be doing 5 different contests, so everyone will have a chance to win. And we have lots of prizes, 26 total, and not just for first place either. All contests will run till the end of November, and top winners will be announced on or around the 5th of December. Except for the Random Contest, those prizes will be given away all during the month”

Mid-level PC Buying Guide
Tech Spot :: Saturday, November 05, 2005
Unlike our high-end buying guide where we are willing to pay for certain premiums, our mid-level PC buying guide puts an equal emphasis on performance and price, ideal for most do-it-yourselfers.

There are two big goals for this guide . The first goal is to assemble a real enthusiast-level computer that will fly along in the office or at the LAN party. The second goal is to make sure you can also pay next month’s rent. With these two goals in mind, I’ll share and explain some of the best choices for hardware and provide links to the best places on the net to score the best deals.

Corsair XMS PC-3500LL Pro 2GB Kit Review
OCIA :: Friday, November 04, 2005

“Those with a good eye will notice that the XP-90C heatsink in this picture is mounted upside-down. The heatspreaders make these modules too tall to fit under the fins and in the dimm slots. Thankfully, it just barely cleared my videocard when mounted upside down, and I was able to fit the modules without issue. This is something everyone should be aware of.”

Mobile Cell Processor: Shaping the Future of Mobile Devices @ CoolTechZone.com
CoolTechZone :: Friday, November 04, 2005
“Back when Cell launched, IBM, Sony and Toshiba emphasized it to be very scalable with a capability of selecting as little as one PPE (out of eight) to scale the chip accordingly. If Sony is really able to miniaturize Cell, it would make life tremendously difficult for Intel with it’s fairly dated XScale processor. Cell would give mobile computing a whole new paradigm by packing in pure processing power that Intel lacks, at least when compared to Cell.”

HEXUS.previews :: Intel Lindenhurst Xeon DP Platform Discussion
Hexus :: Friday, November 04, 2005
The Paxville generation of Xeon is dual-core and uses the latest generation of Netburst microarchitecture, making the DP version ostensibly a clone of the Pentium D 820, but with the ability to also turn on HyperThreading for both cores. The DP version of Paxville, at $1080 in volume, is only available in 2.8GHz form for the time being, MP variant available at up to 3GHz. It supports everything the dual-core Pentium D does, including SSE3 instructions and rides the same 200MHz system bus (800MHz effective).

Vantec Lapcool 3 Notebook Cooler @ ThinkComputers.org
Think Computers :: Friday, November 04, 2005

Quote: “As our desire to take computer gaming mobile increases in unison with the advancing technologies of today’s computer world, there is always one negative factor that increases as well—heat. Many of today’s notebooks, especially the larger gaming rigs that are often comparable in power and features of full-sized desktop computers, pump out enormous amounts of heat that ends up drastically increasing the chassis temperature and often decreasing performance. The LapCool 3 from Vantec presents a formidable solution to that problem and through minimalism and meticulous design allows any notebook user to cool their machine and maintain the performance that is expected.”

PimpRig Review // Thermaltake Aquabay M3 5.25″ Reservoir
PimpRig :: Friday, November 04, 2005

“I’m one of those people that likes a reservoir over a T-line, yet I’ve never really cared for the thought of a plexiglas reservoir inside my case. Plexi ages, plexi cracks…plexi leaks. Plexi bad. The latest batch of bay reservoirs to hit the market are constructed of a high density Polyethylene, a material known for its chemical resistance and durability.”

Title: Corepad Eyepad Mouse surface @ Pro-Clockers
Pro-Clockers :: Friday, November 04, 2005

I have the previous experience of many games to help me make decisions in new ones. I have good reflexes that will probably only deteriorate over time. I am at the age where money is not so hard to come by, so my gaming equipment is generally top notch. However recently something has seemed to be missing. I realized what that was when trying out this fine piece of gaming equipment from CorePad (kindly supplied to us by Everglide.co.uk), a true gamers mouse mat.

Does Violent Video Games Really Lead To Aggressive Behavior? @ The TechZone
The Tech Zone :: Friday, November 04, 2005
The violence is often brutal and degrading to women. In the game “Duke Nukem,” for instance, a player can enter a room with naked women saying “Kill me,” while tied to posts. In the Grand Theft Auto series, one of the most popular and also most violent and controversial of the games, a player is rewarded if he has sex with a prostitute and then murders her (the most recent of the series, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, was the best-selling title in 2004).

Review: Thermaltake Golden Orb II @ GideonTech.com
GideonTech :: Friday, November 04, 2005
“A few years ago, Thermaltake introduced a heatsink known as the Golden Orb. Aside from it’s unqiue round design, it was also extremely affordable. It was quite a success and much to an overclocker’s delight. Today we have the sequel, the Golden Orb II. Does it carry the same goodness as the original Golden Orb?”

Workstation Graphics Card Comparison Guide Rev 3.3 Posted!
Tech ARP :: Friday, November 04, 2005

Quote – “These days, there are so many workstation graphics card models that it has become quite impossible to keep up with the different configurations. Therefore, we decided to compile this comprehensive guide to over 70 workstation graphics cards.

We hope this comparison will provide an easy reference for those who are interested in comparing the specifications of the various workstation graphics cards in the market as well as those already obsolescent or obsolete. We will keep this guide updated regularly so do check back for the latest updates!

Dungeon Siege II Review for PC
Futurelooks :: Friday, November 04, 2005
The highly anticipated sequel to Gas Powered Game’s Dungeon Siege has arrived! Dungeon Siege II takes us back to the Krug infested lands. Will this be a rehash of the original, or a totally cool new experience? Let’s find out!

Corsair DDR PC-3500LL Pro 2GB Dual Channel Memory Kit Video Review #614
3dgameman :: Friday, November 04, 2005

Corsair DDR PC-3500LL Pro 2GB Dual Channel Memory Kit Video Review #614: “This memory has lots of performance, reliability, stability, and bling-bling with 18 LED’s in each module. While the memory timing of 2-3-2-6 is blistering fast, this memory can be pushed beyond it’s default speed. It comes in a 2GB kit which is fantastic for playing the latest very demanding games. All this and it’s backed by Corsair’s lifetime warranty. Watch the Video to find out more…” ~3dGameMan.com

VoIP & Internet Phone Services Compared Explanatory Guide
Designtechnica :: Friday, November 04, 2005

‘VoIP is one of those mysterious acronyms that almost everyone has seen by now. If you’ve read or watched TV ads for Vonage or any of the other mushrooming broadband telephone services, or read about eBay’s acquisition of Skype, you’re familiar with it. You might have experienced it without even knowing it.

VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol, a way of having a phone conversation over the Internet by sending packets of data rather than impulses, making it very different from the traditional telephone method. It became possible with the advent of high-speed broadband connections, and nowadays it’s pretty much a fact of life, one that can, and will, significantly lower your phone bills.’

Seagate Momentus 5400.2 120GB Hard Drive
Big Bruin :: Friday, November 04, 2005

Quote: The Seagate Momentus 5400.2 120GB drive sports a 2.5″ form factor intended for use in a notebook computer, but we have other things in mind for it. This drive will be evaluated in a Mini-ITX HTPC system that generates almost zero noise thanks to 100% passive cooling. Silent operation is critical for drives in such a system, and with no cooling available to the drive, they need to operate both cool and quiet.

Foxconn NF4SLI7AA-8EKRS2 (nForce 4 SLI Intel) @ Viperlair
ViperLair :: Wednesday, November 02, 2005
“Foxconn has doven headfirst into the shark infested waters of the mainstream market and proven they can swim with the big boys. Pleasing the hardware enthusiast crowd is no easy task, but Foxconn has put their years of manufacturing experience to good use and put together a winner with this board. Even a hardcore enthusiast will have a hard time finding fault with this board.”

How RFID Is Impacting Our Lives @ The TechZone
The Tech Zone :: Wednesday, November 02, 2005
There are two general areas where work needs to be done to assure that RFID can be employed without having a negative impact on individual privacy. The first is in the development of the technology itself. With privacy protection as a stated goal, engineering decisions can fulfill that goal. Techniques like encryption, system security, and the ability to easily turn off or “kill” an RFID tag can be made part of the RFID standard. All of these are possible today, but some are considered to be extra features rather than basic capabilities.check it out

Corsair XMS2-5400UL @ Phoronix
Phoronix :: Wednesday, November 02, 2005

Summary: “Although Corsair’s XMS2 TWIN2X1024-8000UL memory modules, which are rated for 1000MHz compatibility on Intel-based motherboards, have taken some of the spotlight away from their famed TWIN2X1024A-5400UL modules, these DDR2-667 modules continue to be popular with enthusiasts due to their cheaper price point and phenomenal overclocking abilities. While sticking to its DDR2-675MHz speeds the memory can run at impressive 3-2-2-8 timings, and when loosening the timings they can breach the 1GHz barrier. Of course, none other than Micron’s “Fatbody” D9 ICs powers these modules.”

OCZ EB DDR PC-4000 2GB Platinum Edition Dual Channel Memory Kit Video Review #613
3dgameman :: Wednesday, November 02, 2005

OCZ EB DDR PC-4000 2GB Platinum Edition Dual Channel Memory Kit Video Review #613: “This item has a fast memory timing of 3-3-2-8. Because of this, it performs very well, & is also overclockable for added performance. This kit is 2GB’s in size which is fantastic for the latest games. For those who need stable, reliable, & fast memory, this product will not disappoint. And like all OCZ memory, it comes with a lifetime warranty! Watch the Video to find out more…” ~3dGameMan.com

News: Exploring the performance impact of memory latency
The Tech Report :: Wednesday, November 02, 2005
THESE DAYS, SEEMINGLY every major memory module manufacturer is producing fancy low-latency DIMMs. These DIMMs are equipped with tricked-out heat spreaders and come in a variety of different colors, making them easy to pick out in a crowd. There’s more to them than funky cosmetics, though. The most exotic low-latency DIMMs are rated to run at extremely tight 2-2-2-5 timings at 400MHz. Unfortunately, you’ll pay a small fortune for the privilege. Low-latency modules cost close to twice as much as more pedestrian DIMMs, if not more.

Lower latencies are a good thing, of course, but how much can they really improve system performance? Are exotic, low-latency DIMMs worth the price premium? Read on as we explore the effects of memory latency on Athlon 64 performance in synthetic memory benchmarks, games, and real-world applications.

Sirtec High Power ATX-410-212
techPowerUp! :: Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Sirtec may not be one of the known big players of the PSU industry, but in fact they are a huge OEM producer of power supplies, for example for Thermaltake and Chieftec. We test Sirtec’s 410W unit which offers a beautiful chrome finish and a low-noise fan at a very competitive price.

OCZ 2GB Rally USB 2.0 Flash Drive @ Bjorn3D
Bjorn3D :: Wednesday, November 02, 2005
OCZ is all about top performance, and who can blame the company for focusing on what enthusiasts want? When OCZ’s performance-obsessed product managers decided to enter the crowded USB flash drive market, they decided that they wanted the performance crown. Forget about fancy utilities and extra bells and whistles; they wanted top performance, plain and simple.

In order to achieve this goal, OCZ decided to implement what it calls ‘leading edge Dual Channel technology.’ Obviously, OCZ wants to take advantage of our knowledge and love of dual channel memory to make us believe in the speed of its USB 2.0 Rally Flash Drive. In this review, I’ll find the truth behind all the claims and see if OCZ really does deliver a flash drive that blows away the competition.

October Extreme Gaming PC Buyer’s Guide
Sharky Extreme :: Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Today on Sharky Extreme, we’ve posted our Extreme Gaming PC Buyer’s Guide for October, where we take $4,000 in search of the top enthusiast-level AMD and Intel systems:

Cooler Master Ammo 533 @ InsaneTek
InsaneTek :: Wednesday, November 02, 2005

“In need of a good case for your next LAN party? Cooler Master’s new Ammo 533 just might be your solution. The built-in handle makes transportation a breeze and the case design makes your system look beefier than it actually is.”

GeCube Overclocked Radeon X800 GTO Review
Hardware Secrets :: Wednesday, November 02, 2005
“Radeon X800 GTO is the latest graphics chip released by ATI targeted to the mid-range market, located between Radeon X800 Pro and Radeon X800 GT and competing with GeForce 6600 GT from nVidia. This Radeon X800 GTO sample we’ve got from GeCube came already overclocked under a limited “special edition” series, so it is faster than Radeon X800 GTO from other companies.”

Corsair TWINX2048-4000PT Platinum Series @ ThinkComputers.org
Think Computers :: Wednesday, November 02, 2005

Quote: “Hot off the heels of the last Corsair review, we have another Corsair review for you. Corsair has done it again, they are leading the pack in memory technology advancements, by releasing yet another quality high performance memory product. The Twinx2048-4000PT line of memory is engineered for speed and performance, using Samsung UCCC chips to power the sticks, these sticks just rock. Guaranteed 250Mhz at 1T with timings of 3-4-4-8, using high density, high capacity modules, being able to run high capacity sticks of ram at 1T is crucial to having a great performing system. Today’s high end systems take a performance hit if they run at 2T, so being able to run 2 gigs at 1T is a great triumph indeed, and at a speed of 250/500mhz is just amazing! Let’s get into this review and see just how well these do perform..”

Microchips, Plastic, and Tank Tops
PC Mechanic :: Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Quote: So, will we become versions of the Six Million Dollar Man, or will we just become advanced enough where when we get up in the morning, we’ll have to run a systems check along side brushing our teeth? Or, better yet, will we have to flush out our system every day to get rid of all the spyware, somewhat like a Listerine mouthwash?

Enermax Liberty 620W @ Phoronix
Phoronix :: Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Summary: “Over the years, we’ve reviewed and tested countless power supplies. Sometimes it becomes a chore, as most power supplies don’t bring much of anything new to the table. However, to mark our 300th article here at Phoronix, we have something a little more special. Enermax has provided us with their newly announced Liberty series power supply. Interested? We certainly were. Read more inside.”

Raidmax Ninja 918 Silver ATX Computer Case Review @ Tweaknews.net
Tweaknews :: Tuesday, November 01, 2005

“Today we’re looking at one of those options, the Raidmax Ninja 918 ATX case . This case was built for gaming, and offers a number of features that you’d generally see in a higher performance case. However, when it comes to top-notch gaming products, I’m a fairly demanding person, and most of us are – we want the fastest, the coolest, the most moddable. Can the Raidmax hold a candle to our list of desires? Only one way to find out, so lets take a closer look..”

Thermalright SI-120 Heat Sink Review @ ap0calypse.com
ap0calypse :: Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Quote: “In today’s review we take a look at one of Thermalright’s latest heat sinks, the SI-120. This heat sink continues the trend of Thermalright’s “Light ‘N’ Easy” line-up. As with the XP-120, the SI-120 also makes use of a 120mm cooling fan, however, in the case of the SI-120 all of the heat is transported away from the CPU via the heat pipes. Since we do not have an XP-120 on hand for testing, we will be comparing the SI-120 to another popular Thermalright heat sink, the XP-90. Time to check it out!”

Title: Razer Copperhead 2000 DPI Laser Mouse
Big Bruin :: Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Quote: Razer has packed a lot of features into a mouse with great looks. From the on the fly DPI switching, to the onboard memory that stores user’s profiles right in the mouse, to the drivers that allow for extreme fine tuning of the mouse for a user’s personal preferences, you would be hard pressed to find a mouse that offers more to the hard core gamer.

OCZ DDR2 PC2-4200 Value Pro @ Viperlair
ViperLair :: Tuesday, November 01, 2005
“What can I say, this is some serious RAM, you can find it online for less than $100 for a 1GB kit. With some mild tweaking you got from some decent priced PC 4200 value RAM to some REALLY decent priced PC5400. Every once in a while a product comes along that gives you WAY more bang for the buck than you expect, like the ti series NVIDIA cards, the JIUHB XP 1700 and the ABIT NF7-s motherboard. You mention any of those products to an enthusiast and it brings a smile to their faces.”

Tuniq Symmetry I Mid-Tower @ SystemCooling
SubZeroTech :: Tuesday, November 01, 2005

snip: “Tuniq is a division of Sunbeamtech that aims to deliver content to the computing mod market. Currently, their product-line consists of chassis (did you know that the plural of chassis is chassis?!) and CPU coolers. Their mission is to meld form and function to create products that perform as good as they look – let’s see if they are successful with the Symmetry 1.”

How To Be A Multiplayer Web Games Developer @ The TechZone
The Tech Zone :: Tuesday, November 01, 2005
In my first article “How To Be A Game Developer”, I discussed various games genres, including Web/Email games. This is one of the easiest ways to start developing games- you aren’t restricted to one language or platform and the costs are pretty low. In this article, I’ll look at the various technologies that you can use, and give you an idea of what its possible to do and how you get started.

Corsair XMS (TWINX2048) PC3500LL PRO DDR Review @ Virtual-Hideout
Virtual-Hideout :: Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Quote: ” The LED’s do not just light up or not, they actually scale from a few lights to all the lights depending on the current RAM usage. Corsair has turned the normal RamSink into a light show by including LED lighting in the top edge and also embossing “XMS” right into the covers.”

Western Digital Caviar SE16 400 GB Hard Drive Review @ The TechZone
The Tech Zone :: Tuesday, November 01, 2005

400GB hard drives seem to be somewhat of a median at the moment, they are not overly expensive for the amount of storage you receive. We’ve already taken a look at 400GB models from Hitachi and Seagate, and we weren’t about to leave out the other big hard disk name out there, none other than Western Digital. Western Digital has come out with a slew of products that are known to be some of the best out there. Today we are going to take a look at one of the members of their WD Caviar SE16 line, the 400GB WD4000KD.

LSCOOL.com SHS-X500 CPU Cooler
Techniz.co.uk :: Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Quote: “I have never used a cpu cooler of this type before, so was interested when lscool.com asked me to review their SHS-X500. It has a similar design to a water cooling radiator, with the copper fins and the heat pipes running through the fins.”

Corsair 2GB XMS PC4000 Platinum @ Techgage.com
Techgage :: Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Quote: Corsairs back, and they have delivered the fastest memory we have ever tested! Clocked at DDR500 speeds and 3-4-4-8 timings, it’s quite fast on it’s own. Add on the large amount of overclocking headroom, and these modules have serious potential.

Biostar M7VIG-400 Combo @ ThinkComputers.org
Think Computers :: Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Quote: “Well, today we have something new and rather exciting, at least for me anyway, from our friends at Computers Geeks (www.geeks.com). I say it is exciting for me because I have never had a Micro ATX motherboard before. I never realized just how small a Micro ATX motherboard is really, they are very small, it’s amazing all the features they can pack into such a small package. Obviously it is a Micro ATX mobo, but it features a Mobile Athlon XP 2600+ Barton core processor as well. The price from Geeks is $94.99, a VERY nice price. I went and checked prices for the Mobile Xp 2600+ and found that the cheapest I could find was $89.00, when you factor in a Biostar Micro ATX motherboard, this is one great deal, the cheapest I found the Biostar M7VIG for was $46.99, by buying the combo from Geeks you save almost $50, and get a great motherboard and an awesome CPU.”

logitech G7 Laser gaming mouse review
Driver Heaven :: Thursday, December 01, 2005
It’s one thing to build a mouse and keyboard meant for browsing the Internet or sending e-mail back and forth; it?s quite another to build peripherals that can withstand the rigors of competitive PC gaming. At the QuakeCon 2005 show, Logitech unveiled the first of its much-anticipated G-series family of extreme-performance peripherals for PC gamers: the Logitech® G7 Laser Cordless Mouse, the Logitech® G5 Laser Mouse and the Logitech® G15 keyboard. Logitech worked closely with the professional gaming community to identify key product features and technologies that allow gamers to administer performance tuning based on their individual preferences, and deliver unprecedented levels of pixel precision and blazing speed. The cordless G7 and corded G5 mice each feature precision laser tracking, resolution up to 2000 dpi, full-speed USB data transfer, and fast 6.4 megapixels of image processing per second

Logitech G7 Laser Mouse review @ DH
Driver Heaven :: Thursday, December 01, 2005

“It’s one thing to build a mouse and keyboard meant for browsing the Internet or sending e-mail back and forth; it’s quite another to build peripherals that can withstand the rigors of competitive PC gaming. At the QuakeCon 2005 show, Logitech unveiled the first of its much-anticipated G-series family of extreme-performance peripherals for PC gamers: the Logitech? G7 Laser Cordless Mouse…”

Logitech MX5000 Laser Cordless Desktop Review @ Tweaknews.net
Tweaknews :: Tuesday, November 29, 2005

“The recently released MX5000 laser cordless desktop we’re going to take a look at this time is the latest in a long list of Logitech’s desktop products. With impressive specifications and an extensive list of unique features, the MX5000 promises to provide the user with unparalleled functionality and ease of use.”

Icemat 2nd Edition Mouse Pad Review Posted!
Tech ARP :: Monday, November 28, 2005

Quote – “Looking for a large mouse pad that will never warp or move? Then look no further – the Icemat 2nd Edition mouse pad is just the thing!

Take a look at our review of the Icemat 2nd Edition mouse pad and see what’s good and bad with this heavyweight! ”

Logitech MX610 Laser Cordless Mouse @ CoolTechZone.com
CoolTechZone :: Monday, November 28, 2005
“Logitech never ceases to amaze us when it comes to innovation in keyboards and mice. Just when you think the world of peripherals is at a standstill, and there’s no way any company could lighten this otherwise dull, yet necessary, market, Logitech always comes up technologies and features that quickly become the standard and a near necessity in our everyday computing lives.”

Bluetake BT510 Mini Mouse and BT009Si Bluetooth Adapter @ Techgage
Techgage :: Monday, November 28, 2005

Quote: The wireless age has brought forth many new products that relieve us of the ever present problems with wired devices. The BT510 Bluetooth mini mouse by BlueTake is a new wireless mouse which offers a small sleek portable design that can be paired with any PC or laptop that boasts the reliable Bluetooth wireless technology. It is portable and simple. Want to know more? Read on!

Logitech QuickCam Fusion Review
Futurelooks :: Saturday, November 26, 2005
Logitech QuickCam Fusion: What a name for a webcam! Can it be as functional as its namesake? Fusion is defined by Webster’s dictionary as “the process or result of joining two or more things together to form a single entity”. So what can you combine to make a great webcam? Let’s find out!

Saitek Eclipse Illuminated Keyboard @ ThinkComputers.org
Think Computers :: Wednesday, November 23, 2005

“Saitek, a name synonymous with game controllers, joysticks, and other gaming devices. They are not really known for keyboards, but keyboards are gaming controllers too, aren’t they? The 2 big companies who make keyboards are of course Microsoft, and Logitech. The keyboard we are about to take a look at might make those 2 companies go back to the drawing board. The keyboard I’m talking about is the Saitek Eclipse Illuminated Keyboard. This keyboard is branded a gaming keyboard, but it will appeal to almost anyone.”

Kodak CX7530 5.0MP Digital Camera @ ThinkComputers.org
Think Computers :: Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Quote: “Refurbished products, lots of people feel they are ‘cheap’ and unreliable; lots of people will avoid anything with refurbished after its name. Why I don’t know, I have never had a problem with anything that was refurbished, I think it is a great deal, and a great way to get something you really want at a lower price. Computer Geeks (www.geeks.com) carries lots of products that are marked as refurbished, these products are great deals, and I for one look for items that are on clearance or marked refurbished, because, well, having 3 kids just puts a big dent in your wallet and you are always looking for ways to save money on the things you need. Today for review I have a Kodak 5 Megapixel Easy Share digital camera, model CX7530, it is a refurbished product that I have found no problem with in the time I have had it. It is actually not only an excellent buy, but an excellent camera as well for beginner and advanced alike.”

Palm Z22 Handheld @ CoolTechZone.com
CoolTechZone :: Tuesday, November 22, 2005
“Palm is back with yet another handheld device that will make you a firm believer in portable computing. The Palm Z22 is based on the Palm OS Garnet 5.4 with 32MB of storage capacity, 200MHz of processor clock speed, 160×160 color screen display, long life rechargeable battery, and power and synchronization adapters.”

Wi-fi mosquito killer?
OCModshop :: Monday, November 21, 2005
A biotechnology company with a specialty in killing mosquitoes is turning to wireless technology and computers to make a killing for itself.

American Biophysics, a small private company based in North Kingstown, R.I., runs a healthy business selling the “Mosquito Magnet,” a system to rid American backyards of biting insects, according to its new CEO Devin Hosea.

this is just too good. Check it out

How To Clean Your Keyboard – A Step By Step Guide @ The TechZone
The Tech Zone :: Tuesday, November 15, 2005

In this guide I will show you how to thoroughly clean you keyboard with some simple household items. When you reach the end of this guide, your keyboard should look as clean as it was the day you bought it.

Guide to the Cellular Internet
PC Mechanic :: Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Cellular internet access uses the cell phone network to connect. The performance is limited by the capabilities of the phone and the cell tower it is connected to. That performance could range anywhere from 14.4 kbps to 300+ kbps, but typical digital speeds are 50-120 kbps up/down. 300+ kbps is just starting to arrive in very few cities, but it is expected to continue replacing existing networks.

Logitech G5 Laser Mouse @ Techgage
Techgage :: Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Quote: Logitech has always been a huge player in the peripheral market, even for gamers. Their MX510 and MX518 mice won countless awards and become a favorite among many. Take that design, improve the feel and throw in a laser, and we have the G5. Let’s see how it compares to other mice we have used.

Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5000 Laser @ ThinkComputers.org
Think Computers :: Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Quote: “The last time I took a look at a mouse / keyboard combo from Logitech was the MX 3000 Laser. Today we will be looking at an upgrade to the MX 3000, the MX 50000. The MX 5000 has a better mouse, better keyboard with more features, and something that I have never seen before on a keyboard. The MX 5000 has a lot of cool technologies that you do not see on keyboard / mouse combos. It also uses Bluetooth, so let’s get into the review to see what I’m talking about.”

Memory Pointer Review @ ASE Labs (Second)
ASE Labs :: Tuesday, November 15, 2005

” A powerpoint presentation could be considered the bane of many a college student’s existence. I’m currently working on my Masters at Stevens Institiute in New Jersey, and I still see many Powerpoint classes, as well as lots of sweat-inducing presentations being performed by my fellow geek classmates. Today I’ll be taking a look at BT Logics’ Memory Pointer. It’s definitely a device that many of my teachers and fellow eggheads would surely love to have. Now if these same professors would actually TEACH, instead of just READ directly out of a textbook, we’d all be happy campers… but (as usual) I digress. ”

Memory Pointer Review @ ASE Labs
ASE Labs :: Monday, November 14, 2005

” A powerpoint presentation could be considered the bane of many a college student\’s existence. I\’m currently working on my Masters at Stevens Institiute in New Jersey, and I still see many Powerpoint classes, as well as lots of sweat-inducing presentations being performed by my geek classmates. Today I\’ll be taking a look at BT Logics\’ Memory Pointer. It\’s definitely a device that many of my teachers and fellow eggheads would surely love to have. Now if these same professors would actually TEACH, instead of just READ directly out of a textbook, we\’d all be happy campers… but (as usual) I digress. \”

Guide To New Laptop Technologies @ The TechZone
The Tech Zone :: Sunday, November 13, 2005
For the ordinary computer user keeping abreast of all these new technologies and inventions can be a major chore if you’re considering buying a laptop in the next little while. As you approach the smiling salesperson in your favorite tech store – here’s a few bits of new notebook technology you might want to have in your possession so you won’t look like a complete neophyte. Hey, where technology is concerned, we have all been there, done that.

Icemat 2nd Edition Mouse Pad @ Pro-Clockers
Pro-Clockers :: Sunday, November 13, 2005

Quote: The originally Icemat was hailed the world over my gamers and enthusiasts for its sleek looks, gaming prowess, and the all important part of aiding the experienced gamer in making fragging those noobs just that bit easier. Today I have with me the newer, sleeker and sexier looking Icemat 2nd Edition, let’s see how it does when put through its paces.

Logitech G5 Laser Mouse Review @ CoolTechZone.com
CoolTechZone :: Sunday, November 13, 2005
“Few weeks ago, we took an in-depth look at Logitech’s G7 cordless laser mouse, and as always, the G7 was another Logitech product that performed well enough to earn a recommendation, but since it’s one of the latest products from Logitech, the price of the unit, although the value is there, could be too high for the majority of us.”

Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-R1 Digital Camera
Designtechnica :: Friday, November 11, 2005
‘This is probably the most anticipated digital camera this season and it’s due to be officially introduced mid-November for under $1,000. The just-introduced 12.8MP Canon EOS 5D ($3,299) was the other object de lust since it’s the world’s “smallest and lightest” full frame D-SLR. With full frame cameras there’s no “digital factor” so all lenses including fish-eyes are their true focal lengths. Before the 5D you’d have to spend seven grand to get this convenience. At this price the 5D is targeted to very serious photographers; the DSC-R1 is for mere mortals.’

BTC 6301URF Low Profile Keyboard & Optical Mouse Combo @ Techniz
Techniz.co.uk :: Friday, November 11, 2005

“The BTC 6301URF low profile keyboard and optical mouse combo is a combo kit for the wireless keyboard and mouse. The 6301URF low profile keyboard and optical mouse combo are sure to be among the most stylish available! The slim and clean styled design is finished in an elegant silver color and features improved usability piano-style hotkeys. The convenient hotkeys allow the user to easily and intuitively adjust to audio volume, navigate the internet, start e-mail or put the system to sleep. Furthermore, this combo was bundle with the battery for operate the keyboard and mouse. If you are looking for quality keyboard and mouse combo that combines fantastic design with great features and high usability, then the 6301URF is the one to choose!.”

Wireless USB Vs. Bluetooth @ The TechZone
The Tech Zone :: Tuesday, November 08, 2005
Wireless USB offers the convenience of Bluetooth with the security and seamless integration of current USB technology. In addition, the first release of Wireless USB (aka WUSB) will allow you to use legacy USB devices wirelessly. Here’s how it will work – you will plug a Wireless USB dongle into your desktop or laptop and then plug the Wireless USB hub into an external power supply – this could range from a few feet to several meters away. Then you could plug your USB devices into the Wireless USB hub and use them as if they were attached directly to your computer. This would be especially useful for a printer, scanner or any other device you might want to share with local computers but not necessarily over a network.

Logitech Harmony 659 Remote @ ThinkComputers.org
Think Computers :: Tuesday, November 08, 2005

Quote: “We all have remotes and a lot of them. We have them for our TV, DVD player, Cable Box, etc. Why do we need all these remotes when we can put them all into one? Well, with Logitech Harmony remotes you can. Today we will be looking at the Logitech Harmony 659 Remote. The 659 features an interactive display, activity buttons, and a backlit glow. So let’s get this review started and see what the 659 can do.”

Transcend JetFlash 120 1GB Flash Drive
Big Bruin :: Monday, November 07, 2005

Quote: I decided to test another feature of the Transcend JetFlash 120 flash drive that is becoming mainstream in the industry. Transcend advertises their flash drives as being “bootable devices.” With little work, I was able to install a scaled-down version of Windows XP onto the flash drive using software called BartPE.

Logitech MX 5000 Wireless Keyboard & Mouse Combo
hardCOREware :: Saturday, November 05, 2005
Keyboards and mice aren’t exactly the first components that come to mind when thinking of what to upgrade next on your PC. However, that doesn’t stop Logitech from constantly introducing new products of the sort.

The latest combo from Logitech is the MX 5000 – it is fully powered by Bluetooth 2, comes with a laser mouse, and one of the most functional keyboards you’ll find.

Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5000 Laser Review @ The TechZone
The Tech Zone :: Saturday, November 05, 2005

The Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5000 Laser features a built-in LCD on the keyboard that helps people manage the constant flow of information that has become an inherent part of working with computers. The LCD screen can display e-mail and instant message notifications, favorite playlists and Internet radio stations. And by displaying certain information on the LCD – such as the status of the caps lock and F lock keys, volume levels and mute – the keyboard also alleviates visual clutter that would ordinarily be displayed on the computer monitor.

Samsung YH-MT6 1Gb Digital Audio MP3 Player Review @ Tweaknews.net
Tweaknews :: Saturday, November 05, 2005

“As the player snugly rests in my hand I can contemplate just what I can find as a fault with this player. To be honest, I can’t find many. The player in my mind is essentially flawless. Everything works, everything is built well (including the excellent headphones), and the buyer will be happy to find out that this player can be setup and loaded in under 5 minutes thanks to the USB2.0 capability.”

http://www.insanetek.com/review.php?id=152
InsaneTek :: Friday, November 04, 2005

“The power supply is the most important piece of hardware in your system. A newcomer by the name of SinTek steps into the competition with their modular power supply. Do external adjustable potentiometers sound good?”

Logitech G7 Cordless Gaming Mouse
ASE Labs :: Wednesday, November 02, 2005

” PC games: the primary field of computing that has pushed this so-called “productivity box” faster and faster over the years. Sure, you can thank CAD or other CPU-intensive design software as well, but let’s face reality: The most popular PC games are “bleeding-edge” and they thirst for more speed, mucho power, and all the latest technological buzzwords to fully appreciate. PC gamers themselves are pretty hardcore when it comes to computer hardware, and Logitech is obviously well aware of this fact. The G7 Cordless Laser Mouse is their newest mouse made specifically for gamers trying to get an extra advantage out of every peripheral they purchase. ”

Logitech G7 Cordless Gaming Mouse
ASE Labs :: Wednesday, November 02, 2005

” PC games: the primary field of computing that has pushed this so-called “productivity box” faster and faster over the years. Sure, you can thank CAD or other CPU-intensive design software as well, but let’s face reality: The most popular PC games are “bleeding-edge” and they thirst for more speed, mucho power, and all the latest technological buzzwords to fully appreciate. PC gamers themselves are pretty hardcore when it comes to computer hardware, and Logitech is obviously well aware of this fact. The G7 Cordless Laser Mouse is their newest mouse made specifically for gamers trying to get an extra advantage out of every peripheral they purchase. ”

Apple Video iPod Review @ CoolTechZone.com
CoolTechZone :: Wednesday, November 02, 2005
“The device that generated the most press and the most media hype in the last few months has been Apple’s iPod. It’s not because it’s the most successful player in the market (though that worked to Apple’s advantage), but mainly because the rumors have abounded for months regarding the video iPod.”

Kodak EasyShare One Digital Camera
Designtechnica :: Wednesday, November 02, 2005
‘Wi-Fi is all the rage. It’s moved from geeks to mainstream, especially when a hardly cutting-edge company like Kodak introduces a Wi-Fi- enabled digital camera. The EasyShare One lets you email pictures from the camera and connect to the Kodak EasyShare Gallery (formerly Ofoto) using the 802.11b protocol. Once on the site you can alert folks that you have images to share and access all of your images. Kodak is working with T-Mobile so you have 6,000 hotspots across the U.S. to choose from to beam your images to the outside world. Or if that’s not your cup of latte you can simply beam photos to your Wi-Fi enabled laptop or printer. The new 4-megapixel digicam goes beyond offering wireless connectivity. The camera has 256MB of internal memory so it holds up to 1,500 images, making it a portable digital photo album. It also has a huge swivelling 3-inch touch-screen LCD for framing and reviewing your Kodak moments.’

SanDisk Digital Audio Player – Revisited @ TheTechLounge
The Tech Lounge :: Wednesday, November 02, 2005

“Since I have written my review on the Sandisk MP3 player, certain events had occurred which has shed more light on my review. After some use the backlight burnt out on the MP3 player. The Sandisk hotline was most helpful in getting me a replacement MP3 player and paid shipping in full.

Upon the arrival of my new MP3 player, I noticed several differences in the packages. First off, the earbuds that used to have uneven leads have been replaced by a much nicer pair of earbuds. The new earbuds have even length wire leads and stay in your ear quite well. Kudos for this go to Sandisk. Not all changes were good though…”

Lenovo ThinkPad X41 Tablet PC Review @ CoolTechZone.com
CoolTechZone :: Tuesday, November 01, 2005

“The tablet PC is yet to take off despite Microsoft’s best efforts. Microsoft has tried everything in its power to promote the usage of table PC, but it all seemed to fail until someone came out with the convertible concept. The devices look like notebooks, except that they have swivel screens that are useful and downright sleek. Not to mention you can write and send handwritten notes to anyone, anytime.”

Creative X-Fi Xtreme Music
Overclockers Online :: Thursday, December 01, 2005
Quote: While some have stated that the PC sound business has been hampered by the lack of competition, and to some extent this is likely true, Creative has raised its own bar with the launch of the X-Fi line of cards. In every area, the X-Fi Extreme Music has improved on the Audigy 2. If sound is important to you, by all means, invest in the X-Fi line. If you don’t hear the difference between an AM radio and a live performance, stick to the on-board solutions. In the end, for people like me, who use their PC for everything, I can’t really imagine a better jack-of-all-trades soundcard than the X-Fi Extreme Music.

Logitech Z-5450 Digital 5.1 Speaker System Review @ The TechZone
The Tech Zone :: Thursday, December 01, 2005

Leave it to Logitech to once again raise the bar for computer speaker systems. The Logitech Z-5450 provides high performance sound with the innovation of wireless rear surround satellite speakers. The introduction of dual wireless rear speakers finally solves the common headache of having to run those long unsightly wires that run to your rear surround speakers. I’ve run into this problem myself and in the past it has caused me to either string cables all over the place or sacrifice a true surround experience by placing the rear surrounds closer to the front speakers.

ATI Radeon X1300 Pro Review
Hardware Secrets :: Thursday, December 01, 2005
“Radeon X1300 Pro is the fastest graphics chip inside the new low-end graphics chip family from ATI. We’ve got a reference sample for this model from ATI, so in this review we will compare its performance to other low-end graphic chips, especially Radeon X300 and GeForce 6200, and also with some mid-range chips (GeForce 6600 and GeForce 6600 GT) to see how is the performance of this new release by ATI.”

Klipsch iFi iPod Speaker System
Techwarelabs :: Thursday, December 01, 2005
The Klipsch iFi iPod music system it’s the best iPod speaker system we have ever heard. It is also the most expensive iPod speaker system we have ever heard. Does the sound quality justify the $400 price?

Will 3G Kill Radio? @ CoolTechZone.com
CoolTechZone :: Tuesday, November 29, 2005
“In the aforementioned cases, if you have a radio separate from a cell phone, that means you are carrying two devices. If you have an MP3 player that supports radio functionality, you still have two devices, a cell phone and an MP3 player. So what do you do to clutter-free yourself?”

How To Grow Your MP3 Music Library @ The TechZone
The Tech Zone :: Monday, November 28, 2005
Some people have 200 tracks, others have 50,000. But where do people get all their music? People with bulging MP3 collections surely can’t buy every track they own, so where do they get them? In this article, we will go over some of the common, legal ways to obtain music, and give you that music collection you have always dreamed of!

Samsung SyncMaster 740B 17″ LCD Monitor @ TechTastic.ca
TechTastic :: Saturday, November 26, 2005

Quote: With the price of computer LCD monitors becoming more affordable; their popularity is on the rise. With lower prices one would assume that the quality and performance on these lower priced LCD Monitors would be quite lacking and in most cases this is true. Today we take a look at a reasonably priced LCD Monitor from Samsung their SyncMaster740B which combines both affordable price and good performance.

NVIDIA 7800GTX 512MB Review @ CoolTechZone.com
CoolTechZone :: Saturday, November 26, 2005
“What exactly is the purpose of releasing a new card when most games perform the same (after a certain threshold) and whatever increase in speed you get is only noticeable in “smart” applications that are designed to measure frames for the sole purpose of crowning the next champion. Does it stop us from producing faster cards? No. Do we wait for the games to catch up with the actual hardware? No. But yet, both NVIDIA and ATI continue to unleash their overpriced beasts to the enthusiast community.”

HIS X800GT IceQ II and X800 GTO IceQ II Review @ OcPrices
OcPrices :: Saturday, November 26, 2005
Quote: “Both of the cards on show today are the iTurbo models, which means that you have manufacturer-supported overclocking via HIS’s iTurbo overclocking utility. Many people are unsure about overclocking, since you can invalidate the warranty or cause damage. The nice thing about the HIS iTurbo models is that the cards are garunteed to hit the advertised overclock with no stability issues – or you can return it for a replacement. ”

XFX GeForce 7800 GTX 512MB DDR3 XXX Edition
Hexus :: Saturday, November 26, 2005
As impressed as I was with the reference board in the preview on HEXUS.core, I’m the same again with XFX’s attempt. While the bundle could do with some work, the performance is spot on. While the clock increases are modest, they almost always turn in to real-world performance increases when the hardware is made to work and the CPU isn’t the bottleneck. Effectively, the performance is free.

HIS X800GTO IceQ II Turbo PCIe Review
Gamer’s Hell :: Saturday, November 26, 2005
I used ATITool, my ATI tweaking utility of choice. I had read that this card offers a ton of headroom, and now I have confirmed it. I was able to reach overclock speeds of 595MHz on the core and 610MHz (1.22GHz) on memory. In case you haven’t figured it out yet, that’s almost a 50% overclock on the core and 25% on the memory!

SilverStone FN81 and FN82 @ Techgage
Techgage :: Saturday, November 26, 2005

Quote: SilverStone has been known to release quiet fans that do a great cooling job. Today we are looking at two models, the FN81 and FN82. Both fans are very similar in size, but are slightly different in styling. Let’s check them out, to see what one is better!

Samsung SC-M105 Miniket 6 in 1 Multifunctional Digital Camcorder Review @ Tweaknews.net
Tweaknews :: Wednesday, November 23, 2005

“Samsung had to pull out all the engineers in their design department to pack such an array of functionality into a device that won’t even cover a deck of poker cards. I have to hand it to them for jamming everything this device, and still keeping it easy to use and completely functional. The video quality is actually quite good when set to the maximum resolution and quality, the MP3 player works as stated, the voice recorder is superb and having the potential of having a 2.5Gb portable hard drive in your pocket when you take advantage of the external memory capacity alone is a lot to ask out of one product.”

DivX Makes Contribution to Independent High-Definition Filmmaking
Futurelooks :: Wednesday, November 23, 2005
So who said High-Definition is all about Television Broadcasts? High-Defnition technology is enabling filmmakers to express themselves in more detail than ever before. We check out the impact in this mini article.

Silverstone LC17 HTPC Case Review
Madshrimps :: Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Quote: “Since their launch in 2003 we’ve seen many innovation and high quality products from Silverstone. Today we take a closer look at one of their most known case series: Lascala or LC for short. With more than 17 variations available their aim is to please almost everybody out there. The LC17 is one of their latest full size ATX HTPC cases, to accommodate standard size computer equipment the LC17 is one of the larger members of the LC family and it comes with the usual splendid looks.”

Sapphire Radeon X800 GTO² and GTO Ultimate Edition Review @ Beyond3D
Beyond3D :: Tuesday, November 22, 2005
“Those of you who are familiar with previous designs from Sapphire’s range of Ultimate Edition boards will find no surprises here – just like these previous efforts, the X800 GTO Ultimate Edition features a hefty (although admittedly less so than previous Ultimate Edition solutions) heat-pipe cooling arrangement which transfers heat away from the core to the heatsink on the top of the board. The obvious advantage of such a mechanism is that it requires no fans to cool the device, and as such offers silent running for anyone looking to build a silent or near-silent PC while still requiring a respectable amount of 3D gaming performance.”

Asus EN7800GT 2DHTV/256M/OSP/A Videocard
PCStats :: Tuesday, November 22, 2005
“One example of what the GeForce 7800GT is capable of is Asus’ EN7800GT 2DHTV/256M/OSP/A PCI Express x16 videocard. Built with the massive 320 million transistor GeForce 7800GT ‘G70’ core, the Asus EN7800GT packs in 256MB of GDDR3 memory. The card supports nVidia’s Scalable Link Interface (SLI) for dual videocard gaming like all current generation nVIDIA parts. The bright blue videocard incorporates twin DVI connectors so users can attach digital LCD displays. Component output (HDTV, Y, Pb, Pr) and S-Video output comes standard via a breakout-box. The software package includes a couple of games and some multimedia applications.”

NVIDIA’s 7800GTX 512MB Graphics Card @ CoolTechZone.com
CoolTechZone :: Monday, November 21, 2005
“The disappointment of NVIDIA not using the ‘Ultra’ suffix in its new graphics card is over with NVIDIA spoiling everyone’s party of ‘We told you so’ by keeping a low profile on the GTX 512MB instead of calling it the ‘Ultra’ version that many anticipated. While the 512MB tag is just enough to differentiate between NVIDIA’s top two products, it would’ve been a lot more impressive if we could flaunt the lack of value in our purchase with a 7800 Ultra, but unfortunately NVIDIA took that opportunity away from us. Oh well…”

nVidia ForceWare 81.94 Performance Analysis
TweakTown :: Monday, November 21, 2005
QUOTE: “nVidia’s Forceware 81.94 drivers are perfect for anyone utilizing high-end GeForce graphics cards especially those who are fortunate enough to be using a wicked GeForce 7800GTX SLI setup. There is no denying that we see a new nVidia driver once in a blue moon but when they hit the web, boy do we get to see some improvements and that’s a credit to nVidia for keeping things interesting.”

SilverStone PSU Muffler @ Techgage
Techgage :: Monday, November 21, 2005

Quote: Computer power supply keeping your computer from receiving the quiet status that you want? SilverStone has recently released a PSU Muffler to help out with this, so let’s see how well it performs.

PowerColor Radeon X800 GT @ InsaneTek
InsaneTek :: Wednesday, November 16, 2005

“While it may not be the latest and greatest, the PowerColor X800 GT is a great investment if you are short on cash and want to play your favorite games. With insane overclocking headroom, PowerColor’s X800 GT is more than promising.”

Albatron 6600GT (single and SLI) Review @ Bjorn3D
Bjorn3D :: Wednesday, November 16, 2005
As a reviewer it is easy to always use the high-end stuff you get to review and forget about the mid-end and even low-end cards. Today though, I will test the Albatron 6600GT, a mid-level performance card that promises a nice performance/price ratio. I’m also testing it in SLI-configuration to see if it is worth getting a second GeForce6600GT instead of buying a completely new card.

XFX GeForce 6600 @ Viperlair
ViperLair :: Tuesday, November 15, 2005
“Those of you on a budget, but are still pretty serious about gaming should really look no further than the XFX 6600. I’ll have to admit that our expectations were pretty low when I was told that this was a mere 6600 but the card exceeded my expectations in almost every way. Performance was excellent, and despite not having any fancy copper/heatpipe cooling solution, the card overclocked very well as well.”

NVIDIA 1.0-8168 Drivers Leaked @ Phoronix
Phoronix :: Monday, November 14, 2005

Summary: “For those of you waiting to hear solid information about the Linux NVIDIA Rel80 drivers, the wait is finally over. Although not made officially available yet, ASUS had uploaded the NVIDIA 1.0-8168 display drivers. Although we imagine this was made on part due to human error, and has since been taken down from their servers, people are continuing to rage about these drivers on forums as well as distributing these 32-bit and 64-bit versions. Today we have some initial information coming out of Phoronix about the introduction of Linux SLI and other features.”

NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GTX 512 Preview
Bjorn3D :: Monday, November 14, 2005
Although the GeForce 7 Series has been very successful so far, we all knew NVIDIA was keeping something up its sleeve to respond to ATI’s 512MB Radeon X1800 XT. Many of you probably already know the name of NVIDIA’s response (a.k.a. NVIDIA’s new flagship card) and might even know what it looks like. Well, today is the official day that we can tell you all about it. Get ready for another hard launch as NVIDIA continues the trend it started to end paper launches, and say hello to the GeForce 7800 GTX 512.

GeForce 7800 GTC 512MB Review @ Beyond3D
Beyond3D :: Monday, November 14, 2005
Today we are taking a look at NVIDIA’s Pre-Christmas high end booster with the GeForce 6800 GTX 512MB. While the GeForce 7800 GTX 512MB name gives away part of the basis for the product update, it certainly obscures the rest. Here we take a look at this new 7800 GTX model to see how it differs from previous GTX’s and how much performance it gains over them.

“The most notable difference with the new 512MB board is obviously the cooling solution. The fact that NVIDIA used a single height cooler on the original GTX was an indication that there may still be more performance in the core, had it been cooled more aggressively, and that’s the case with the new 512MB board, moving to a double height cooler solution. The cooling relies on a large fan in the centre of the board sucking air up and pushing it either side so that its partially vented out the back of the case and partially, internally, towards the front.”

DH Review: Nvidia 7800 GTX 512meg
Driver Heaven :: Monday, November 14, 2005
Its just over a month since ATI launched their X1800XT. The X1800 was ATI’s response to the very successful Geforce 7800GTX which Nvidia launched in June, and has since become a part which has proved very popular in enthusiast circles. For a very long time there were a lot of rumors that the X1800 would feature 24 or 32 pipelines when launched by ATI and completely blow the GTX away however such a part never became a reality and instead the product ATI launched was a 16 “pipeline” part with architecture and clock speeds which allowed it to exceed the performance of the 7800GTX in most titles, though not by a huge amount it has to be said…

…So with the XT making it into retail just last week we have our first look at a retail model in the form of the Sapphire Radeon X1800XT 512mb and we take our first look at Nvidias response to the X1800XT, the reference model Geforce 7800GTX 512mb.”

NVIDIA GeForce 6800GS @ CoolTechZone.com
CoolTechZone :: Sunday, November 13, 2005
“With the 6800s dwindling away in the market, there was a huge gap in NVIDIA’s product portfolio, which catered to the enthusiasts. ATI, however, had the X1600XT catering to the very market that NVIDIA was nowhere close to; therefore, NVIDIA could not leave the hole unplugged for long.”

News: XFX GeForce 6600 DDR2 Review @ nV News
OCModshop :: Sunday, November 13, 2005
We have posted a review of the XFX GeForce 6600 DDR2 graphics card. Targeted at the budget gamer, the XFX GeForce 6600 DDR2 sports 256MB of memory running at 800MHz and 400MHz core clock speed. We also learned that the XFX GeForce 6600 DDR2 should begin to appear in online stores next week.

“A $100 graphics card certainly can’t be all things to all people. Naturally, the enthusiasts will be passing this right up for something far more powerful. But for the mainstream market, primarily those running on integrated graphics cards, this 6600 DDR2 is an excellent value-based solution. Even if you don’t game, the fact that this card sports dual DVI makes it a good choice for people who want to drive a pair of digital displays but don’t want to spend the money on a GeForce 6800 GT or better.”

Samsung HD-950 High Definition DVD player @ Bytesector
Bytesector :: Sunday, November 13, 2005
“It’s almost that time of year again. It’s almost high time to surrender your wallet and fork over some cash for digital presents. Forget giving that special someone wine or jewelry; the age of HD DVD players is among us and Samsung’s HD-950 is just itching for your attention. Having reviewed one of the earlier models and its upgrades (HD-841 & HD-931), we now get to evaluate what Samsung has improved on. One significant change; it comes in black.”

ATI PowerPlay @ Phoronix
Phoronix :: Sunday, November 13, 2005

Summary: “Shipping with ATI’s v8.19.10 display drivers is a technology that Linux mobile users have long awaited to enjoy and that is PowerPlay. ATI’s PowerPlay is a power management technology that is designed to dramatically reduce the power consumption of ATI MOBILITY RADEON GPUs by adjusting the core and memory clock speeds along with the voltage supplied to the chip. By adjusting the GPU, the laptop battery life and heat-output can often be dramatically improved. Today with us, we have the first Linux preview for this battery-saving technology.”

Samsung SyncMaster 930BF 19″ LCD Monitor review
Tech Spot :: Saturday, November 12, 2005
A couple of months ago, we received an email from Alienware PR people announcing the launch of the new Samsung SyncMaster 930BF 19” LCD monitor. Under normal circumstances the press release would have been issued by Samsung, which wasn’t the case, so the product caught our attention immediately. The reason that Alienware issued such announcement was that the 930BF carried a 4ms response time, and as such it was a perfect fit for the gamers who usually buy their systems.

Even monitor manufacturers have recognized an important niche to be fulfilled in the gamers and enthusiast markets; no doubt the 930BF comes as Samsung’s response to aggressive product offerings from companies like Viewsonic and Philips, who have caught a lot of media attention by releasing ever-faster panels, supposed to improve your gaming experience (although I’m confident saying most of you no longer buy on that promise ;)).

HEXUS.beans :: ATi RADEON X1800 XT Hard-On Edition
Hexus :: Saturday, November 12, 2005
HEXUS has learnt that ATi Technologies has sent out an official communication to select Add-In-Board (AIB) partners, that endorses an increase in the clock frequencies at which products based on its flagship RADEON X1800 XT (R520) ASIC can be shipped at.

ATI v8.19.10 Linux Performance @ Phoronix Direct
Phoronix :: Saturday, November 12, 2005

Summary: “With the release of the ATI Linux v8.19.10 display drivers earlier in the day, we have performed a driver comparison demonstrating ATI’s advances over the last couple of driver releases when it comes strictly to their frame-rate performance. The drivers used in this quorum are the v8.16.20, v8.18.6, v8.18.8, and the most recent v8.19.10 release. Not only has this most recent release offered improvements in the packaging support, but there is also a new feature for mobile users, which allows them to run their GPU at different power-stages to save on battery life while adjusting the processing power.”

HIS Radeon X800 GTO IceQ II Review
Hardware Secrets :: Saturday, November 12, 2005
“Radeon X800 GTO is the latest graphics chip released by ATI targeted to the mid-range market, located between Radeon X800 Pro and Radeon X800 GT and competing with GeForce 6600 GT from nVidia. This new chip officially runs at 400 MHz, while both Radeon X800 Pro and Radeon X800 GT run at 475 MHz. However, both Radeon X800 GTO and Radeon X800 Pro process 12 pixels per clock, while Radeon X800 GT processes only eight (the same amount as Radeon X800 SE). Radeon X800 XT can process up to 16.”

Saitek Audio A-350 Wireless Headphones @ CoolTechZone.com
CoolTechZone :: Saturday, November 12, 2005
“Saitek, a company that started out as a heavily gaming centric manufacturer with an abundance of peripherals, has launched a new division with a focus in audio products including headphones and speaker units. What’s more? Saitek’s headphones and speakers look nothing like the traditional audio products you find on retail shelves. We focus our attention on Saitek’s A-350 wireless headphones today that boast a variety of devices in terms of compatibility and come with a lustrous finish.”

ATI Catalyst 5.11 Performance Analysis (X1K Edition)
Tweaknews :: Friday, November 11, 2005
QUOTE: “We did mention in our regular Catalyst performance analysis earlier in the day that one of the most important additions to the Catalyst 5.11 drivers was the inclusion of the X1800XL and X1800XT. This makes it the first official driver to support ATI’s new series of graphics cards and we found from our sample drivers that there was a slight difference in performance in some games, such as Doom 3 and Half Life 2. Have ATI fixed the issues as we eluded they might?”

Neoseeker Reviews the XFX 6600 DDR2
Neoseeker :: Friday, November 11, 2005
“XFX have done an awesome job with the 6600 DDR2. For $100 this card performs almost as well as what cost $200 this same time last year. Take note that almost all 6600 GT’s come with only 128 MB of RAM as well, versus the DDR2 which comes with 256 MB. The fact that XFX overclocks the card by 50 MHz and charges $20 less than Nvidia’s MSRP and still packs in Far Cry is almost unbelievable.

As competition for ATI’s X1300, this does extremely well. The card beats it in most benchmarks and overclocks well out of reach of the top model 1300. Nvidia have a very solid product with the 6600 DDR2, and XFX just makes the deal a little sweeter.”

High End Audio Cable Design – Part 2 @ The TechZone
The Tech Zone :: Wednesday, November 09, 2005
This section is intended to define some of the more commonly referred to electrical properties and the roles that they play in audio cables. Many people fail to realize that cables have electrical properties just like any other electrical component in their system. Understanding these electrical properties is a necessary part of the cable design process. The statement made by far too many audio companies that electrical properties do not matter in audio cables is simply false.

Mobile GPU Comparison Guide Rev. 4.1 Posted!
Tech ARP :: Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Quote – “These days, there are so many mobile GPU models that it has become quite impossible to keep up with the different configurations. Therefore, we decided to compile this guide to provide an easy reference for those who are interested in comparing the specifications of the various mobile GPUs in the market as well as those already obsolescent or obsolete.

Currently covering more than 40 mobile GPUs, this comprehensive comparison will allow you to easily compare 14 different specifications for each and every GPU! We hope it will prove to be a useful reference. We will keep this guide updated regularly so do check back for the latest updates!

Leadtek GeForce 7800 Roundup at Beyond3D
Beyond3D :: Wednesday, November 09, 2005
“In comparison, the GTX Extreme’s heatsink is a far more substantial affair. It is “two slot” design, meaning that one cannot place another other PCI/PCI Express device in a slot immediately below the one used by this graphics card. Unlike the other two, this heatsink has the fan directly over the processing chip but to compensate for this, it also has a large copper plate over which 4 large conducting heat pipes run.”

Sapphire Radeon X850XT PE AGP
techPowerUp! :: Monday, November 07, 2005
Today, we will take a look at Sapphire’s Radeon X850XT Platinum Edition for AGP. With nForce 4 for AMD and the i9XX chipsets for Intel, it seemed that the long era of AGP was over once and for all. However, about a year later, this is not quite the case, and many people still use AGP. Is there still some life left in the dying standard? Or would you be better off upgrading to PCI-Express right this minute?

ATI All-In-Wonder X800 XL Graphics Card
Designtechnica :: Saturday, November 05, 2005
‘ATI’s new All-In-Wonder (AIW) X800 XL picks up where the company’s X600 AIW card left off, which means a faster core processor, more multimedia capabilities and a heftier price. Surprisingly, the AIW X800 XL isn’t the company’s most expensive All-In-Wonder product though. Nestled in between the AIW X800 XT and the X600 PRO on the ATI product line, the AIW X800 XL offers impressive performance while still maintaining a somewhat modest price. But what is the main difference between the AIW X800 XL and the AIW 800 XT, and have multimedia capabilities really been improved over the previous year’s offerings?’

Gainward 7800 GT Golden Sample @ PureOverclock.com
Pure Overclock :: Saturday, November 05, 2005

Quote: “The Golden Sample is clocked with a 450 MHz core which is 4 MHz faster than one of the overclocking sweet spots (18 x 27 – 40 = 446). Now, as our last 7800 GT review showed, the good thing about the 7800 series is that we see good performance boosts when they are overclocked. There were some instances of a 10 fps increase in some benchmarks with reasonable overclocks. What this suggests is that the Golden Sample at its stock clocks and under warranty will perform much better than the reference 7800 GT and just might be up the rear of the 7800 GTX.”

Sapphire X800 GTO2 Limited Edition 256MB PCIe Video Card
PimpRig :: Saturday, November 05, 2005
We have a new review up on a remarkable limited edition card from Sapphire called the GTO2. Would you like a X850 XT performance level card for half the price of a X850 XT? I know I would… Here is a snip from the review: “The Sapphire X800 GTO2 was modestly launched recently and not much hooplah had surrounded the card until it’s secret was discovered. The X800 GTO2 is a 12 pipeline 256MB video card much like the vanilla X800. What is very much un-like the vanilla X800 is that the X800 GTO2 doesn’t run on the same ATI430 GPU. Instead, it runs on the ATI480 GPU. For the GPU model informed you will notice that is the same GPU core model used on the Sapphire X850 video cards which pack 16 pixel pipelines.”

HEXUS.preview :: S3 Graphics ChromeS20 overview
Hexus :: Friday, November 04, 2005
S3 Graphics has the potential, if executed perfectly from both hardware and software viewpoints, to seriously challenge NVIDIA and ATI’s dominance in the midrange 3D market and become the third major player in the sector. Only time and a complete review of the ChromeS20-series will tell if it’s achieved it. We await a hands-on test.

Albatron nForce4 K8SLI @ Bjorn3D
Bjorn3D :: Friday, November 04, 2005
Sometimes us reviewer tend to forget that not everyone have the money to buy one of the latest and fastest cards available. Instead of a GeForce 7800GT or GeForce 7800GTX many instead have opted for cheaper, but yet capable, GeForce 6600GT.

But what if you have one of those and want to in a cheap way increase the graphics performance? NVIDIA has the solution with SLI. Pop in a second card and in theory get double the performance.

Today I am looking at one of the cheaper SLI-capable motherboards on the market, the K8SLI from Albatron.

News: S3 unveils DeltaChrome S20 series GPUs
The Tech Report :: Friday, November 04, 2005
S3 Graphics has just pulled back the curtains on its newest series of DeltaChrome-based graphics chips, the DeltaChrome S20 family. S3 turned to a new foundry partner, Fujitsu, to produce these chips. Fujitsu manufactures the GPUs using a low-K, 90nm fab process, and S3 claims this advanced fabrication process, along with S3’s own Power Wise power management techniques brought over from its mobile products, has helped the DeltaChrome S20 series achieve killer performance per watt. Read on for the details of S3’s new GPU family.

S3 Graphics Launches ChromeS20 Series @ TheTechLounge
The Tech Lounge :: Friday, November 04, 2005
A couple of nights ago I had a phone conference with a representative from S3 Graphics – the topic being the new ChromeS20 family of video cards. It’s a rather small family, actually, with only two (2) cards being announed, the ChromeS27 and ChromeS25. S3 is certainly trying to compete with ATI and NVIDIA with such features as Acceleram and MultiChrome Technology. Basically, AcceleRAM is the equivalent of TurboCache and HyperMemory (take your pick), and MultiChrome is the equivalent of SLI and CrossFire.”

S3 Chrome S25 & S70 Technology Overview
Tech Spot :: Friday, November 04, 2005
We recently talked to S3 Graphics, and VIA Technologies, regarding a new product line being unveiled today, coupling VIA chipsets with S3 video technology. Along with covering the product brief, we also discussed interesting features particular to the new lineup and talked about future expansion of the line. S3 has implemented some things wanted very greatly by the market, from embedded designs to media machines and even desktop users, and put them into their newest series, the S3 ChromeS20 family.

Initially, the ChromeS20 series will consist of two cards, being released initially this week in China, and releases for the U.S., Europe and Canada are set to occur soon, though they could not give a confirmed date. Whether this is from supply concerns or market concerns, he mentioned that we will probably see these products in the west during the month of November as well. The products are the ChromeS25 and the ChromeS27.

HIS X700 ICEQ 128MB @ Viperlair
ViperLair :: Friday, November 04, 2005
“For the cost involved the X700 from HIS turned out to be quite a performer. When compared to a similar classed card from NVIDIA it outperformed at almost every task put before it. AGP is still a VERY viable option, and HIS has proven with the X700 that they haven’t forgotten about those of us that can’t shell out a couple weeks pay every time a new card is released.”

Silverstone LC17 @ Overclockers Online
Overclockers Online :: Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Quote: The SilverStone SST-LC17 is an attractive case. For an HTPC/desktop solution, it offers very competitive cooling and does this well right out of the box. What it could stand to improve on though is the interior arrangement by either going to a micro ATX only design (and then rearranging the layout) or increasing the length one or two inches. Anyone who tries to take advantage of the full expansion capabilities of this case are likely to run into some frustration along the way. Sure things will fit, but it isn’t exactly easy sometimes.

HIS IceQII Radeon X800GTO Turbo PCI Express Videocard Review @ Tweaknews.net
Tweaknews :: Wednesday, November 02, 2005

“The X800GTO from HIS in my point of view would be a perfect performance mainstream oriented gaming card that will handle any current game on the market and will easily toy with most games when overclocked. The overclocking potential in this card is fantastic and seeing that HIS has strapped on such a great cooling solution, you can squeeze out every last Mhz without turning your card into a peripheral cinder…”

HDR (High Dynamic Range) Technology Overview @ CoolTechZone.com
CoolTechZone :: Tuesday, November 01, 2005
“We’ve all played Half-Life and it’s sequel Half-Life 2. The difference between the two games, in terms of graphics, is tremendous, and now Valve has gone ahead and updated the gaming engine to give you a level of detail and realism that you thought wouldn’t be possible until perhaps the next round of game releases.”

Samsung DVD-V9500 High Definition DVD/VCR Combination Player
Futurelooks :: Tuesday, November 01, 2005
So you’re looking for a high-quality DVD player and a decent VCR, but have a limited shelf space? Samsung has the answer with “The One Unit Solution”. The Samsung DVD-V9500 has everything for everyone, including High-Definition Upconversion for your DVDs. All of this is packaged in a sexy black finish!

HIS X800GTO IceQ II Turbo 256MB Video Card @ BonaFideReviews
Bona Fide Reviews :: Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Quote: “With the spotlight on the recently released X1000 family it seems as though the X800 family is quickly becoming a thing of the past. This is a very good thing for most consumers as well all know the older a technology gets the cheaper it becomes. The X800’s are slowly slipping into the “bargain” card category. However today’s X800 family member is fairly new and at an affordable price, the HIS X800GTO is definitely worth a close look.”

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