Zotac GeForce 9800GTX AMP Edition
t-break :: Monday, April 21, 2008
Zotac is a new nVidia partner- at least for us. Its a new brand in the region and this is the first product we have received from them which is an overclocked 9800GTX card. Considering how cool the 9800GTX runs, this should work out quite nicely. Lets find out how the AMPed version of Zotac compares to the stock 9800GTX and other cards.
Leadtek 9600 GT SLI reviewed and compared with 9800 GTX
Madshrimps :: Monday, April 21, 2008
“With the Geforce 9600 GT pricing reaching new lows, it becomes interesting to see if pairing up two of them can get you more bang for the buck compared to the more expensive Geforce 9800 GTX. In this review we use two Leadtek 9600 GT Extreme cards and run our battery of game tests to find out what performance you can expect.”
Klipsch Image Earphones
techPowerUp :: Monday, April 21, 2008
Klipsch Image is the name of a brand new set of high-end earphones. They feature a radical new design and come with an excessive bundle. Besides being extremely good looking they also have a special sound characteristic that appeals to a large crowd.
BFG 9800GTX OCX Graphics Card Review
Hardware Canucks :: Monday, April 21, 2008
Nvidia lifted the veil from these cards a little while after the official launch so finding them is a bit hard but if you look hard enough, pre-overclocked 9800GTX cards ARE out there in the wild. As you may have already guessed, this review will be focusing on a certain card from BFG called the 9800GTX OCX.
ATI Catalyst 8.4 Analysis – XP & Vista
Tweak Town :: Monday, April 21, 2008
“Another month, another set of Catalyst drivers. Last month we saw some issues with the HD 3870 X2, but hopefully this month we see those problems disappear. There isn’t much in the read me file and the majority of adjustments seem to be related to bug fixes.
With the same test system that we’ve been using for the last few months, we’ll just get straight into it and see what the latest Catalyst release brings us.”
Creative Alchemy Drivers and Vista Support
Techware Labs :: Friday, April 18, 2008
Today, Michael Bosse and Ben Brindle take a look at Creative drivers for Vista. Some people report problems with their sound cards, and TechwareLabs decides to investigate.
How to Use the SPDIF Output from Sound Blaster X-Fi Sound Cards
Hardware Secrets :: Friday, April 18, 2008
“Creative Labs has always been one of the most popular manufacturers of sound cards and Sound Blaster X-Fi is their current series of add-on sound cards. Due to the massive amount of readers asking us how to use the digital audio (SPDIF) output from their Sound Blaster X-Fi sound cards in order to connect them to their home theater receivers or digital speakers, we decided to compile this short tutorial listing all Sound Blaster X-Fi models released to date and the available options for SPDIF connection.”
XFX 8800 GS XXX Alpha Dog Video Card Review
i4u :: Friday, April 18, 2008
“XFX introduced a new video card recently with a low price and impressive performance called the XFX 8800 GS XXX Alpha Dog. This card sells for only $119 and includes a full copy of Call of Duty 4. The performance of the XFX 8800 GS XXX Alpha Dog is within a few FPS of the stock 9600 GT that costs more. For gamers on a budget of under $150 the XFX 8800 GS XXX Alpha Dog at $119 is a great bargain. You even get a full copy of Call of Duty 4 which is still selling for around $40.”
ASUS EN8800GT 1GB Graphics Card
Tweak Town :: Friday, April 18, 2008
“You did your research and you’ve discovered that the 8800GT continues to be one of the best value for money cards when it comes to good mid-range performance. The thing is, you wouldn’t mind kicking it up a notch in the memory department if you had the choice.
Well, we might have found the card for you here today. ASUS has recently released an 8800GT that is packing 1GB of GDDR3 memory. However, it’s not uncommon for a bump in memory to do nothing more than make you feel a bit better about your system. Really, there’s only one way to find out if the extra memory does anything for your gaming experience, and that is to run it through a multitude of tests.”
Logitech Z Cinema SRS TruSurround HD USB Speakers Review
Everything USB :: Friday, April 18, 2008
Everyone knows that nothing can beat the quality of sound that you get from a 5.1 surround system. Unfortunately with the aural bliss comes the headache of cable clutter and space constraints when trying to find a place to put those rear speakers. While the cable clutter is something that everyone can and usually does live with, the lack of space for rear speakers isn’t. Featuring SRS TruSurround HD, the Logitech Z Cinema offers surround sound in a 2.1 speaker configuration. Full review in the link.
NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT Voltmodding Article posted
techPowerUp :: Friday, April 18, 2008
NVIDIA’s Geforce 9600 GT is quite an exceptional midrange card that offers excellent overclocking potential. Since the cards run at a relatively low voltage there is some extra overclocking waiting to be unleashed by raising the card’s voltages. The GPU voltage mod we present in this article uses a new method which will not be affected by the card’s overvoltage protection. Also we describe an easy to do modification to increase the memory voltage.
HP MediaSmart TVs Gain Media Extender Upgrade
PC Magazine (HDTV) :: Friday, April 18, 2008
Hewlett-Packard said Thursday that a firmware upgrade to its MediaSmart connected television line would add Microsoft Media Center Extender capability.
Logitech G51
PC Magazine (Speakers) :: Friday, April 18, 2008
The G51 speaker system sports Music and Game Matrix modes for simulated six-channel audio, but the real story here is powerful sound.
JBL On Stage IIIP
PC Magazine (Speakers) :: Friday, April 18, 2008
Preview of the JBL On Stage IIIP.
Avivo HD Vs Purevideo HD – Indepth Analysis
Driver Heaven :: Thursday, April 17, 2008
Every time a new graphics card is released we hear great claims about how the new video enhancements will improve our viewing experience or that the hardware is as perfect as it can get in the High Definition HQV Benchmark. Unfortunately, for many reasons most end users have to pretty much accept these claims as it is not really possible for the average consumer to set up two identical systems, side by side and see what the differences are.
Well we have with the aid of some specialist equipment and the results are fascinating, not only this but we have HD screen grabs and detailed analysis to show you which card delivers the best IQ……..
Asus P5E-VM review
Neoseeker :: Thursday, April 17, 2008
“With a video card, I was able to boot into the Windows desktop at 535MHz x 6 – but it was not stable; I think giving even more voltage to the northbridge would stabilize it, but frankly, I was worried about frying the northbridge. But 500MHz x 8 is stable, with the memory running at 5-5-5-15, when I use a video card.”
Zalman TRIMON 22″ 3D Monitor Exclusive
Tweak Town :: Thursday, April 17, 2008
“The existence of the 3D concept has been around since people could express themselves artistically; for example, through painting or sculptures. When the first such expression began, I certainly could not tell you. However, I can tell you that 3D has evolved to the point where it is now commercially available for the average user for under $1000 USD. Admittedly that’s a lot more than most would want to pay for it, but it is a positive step in the right direction.
The TRIMON is the first commercial 3D monitor available to the public from Zalman, and it is not often one gets to be the first to review a finally finished product. We have been waiting for these ZM-M220W monitors to hit the shelves for a little over a year now, with the first introduction of them at CEBIT 2007.”
Hands On With DTS HD Master Audio
Tweak Town :: Thursday, April 17, 2008
“Yesterday, Sony Computer Entertainment finally gave home theatre fanatics what they had been clamouring for since late 2006, when the PlayStation 3 console launched. With the delivery of the latest console firmware, version 2.30, owners whom have an amplifier capable of outputting PCM sound will benefit from improved sound with Blu-ray movies encoded in DTS HD Master Audio.
The days of lossy audio in home theatre are over; now the onus is on home theatre fans to embrace these new technologies, and if they truly love the art form, there is absolutely no reason why they shouldn’t.”
SLI vs. CrossFire
Hardware Secrets :: Thursday, April 17, 2008
“With the recent release of CrossFireX by AMD/ATI and 3-way SLI by nVidia we think it is a good time to make a technical comparison between all incarnations of these two technologies, which have the same goal: to allow video cards to be connected in parallel in order to increase gaming performance.”
NVIDIA Hybrid SLI Interview
NV News :: Thursday, April 17, 2008
“We have posted an interview with NVIDIA’s Director of Technical Marketing Tom Peterson concerning their exciting new Hybrid SLI Technology. Although this question and answer session only skims the surface of Hybrid SLI, it does serve as general introduction to the technology and is supplemented with visual aids.”
Alienware Launches Cheaper Gaming Desktops
PC Magazine (Graphics Cards) :: Thursday, April 17, 2008
A refreshed Aurora line comes equipped with the latest AMD and ATI hardware, with prices starting under $1,000.
Creative EAX vs. ASUS DS3D GX 2.0 Article
Techgage :: Wednesday, April 16, 2008
When Creative publicly called ASUS out a few weeks ago over their fake EAX support, we had an idea to compare both true EAX along with the DS3D GX 2.0 engine from ASUS to see if real-world differences could be heard. So we picked up three Creative-recommend games and did just that. Though true EAX ultimately came out on top, the GX 2.0 performed so well, that Creative now has a true reason to become worried.
ASUS EN9600GT Top Video Card Review
i4u :: Wednesday, April 16, 2008
“Today we are checking out another overclocked 9600 GT. This card is the ASUS EN9600GT Top. ASUS promises a 10% overclock right out of the box and provides applications to let you overclock even more. The only real sore point for me with the ASUS EN9600GT Top is that the custom heatsink makes the card very thick. You can still run the ASUS EN9600GT Top in SLI mode, but you are likely going to give up the slot right below where you put the ASUS EN9600GT Top.”
ECS GeForce 8800 GT Review
OCC :: Wednesday, April 16, 2008
“I have to be honest, I went into this review with high hopes but very concerned whether or not the lower memory clockspeed was going to affect performance, and the fact that the firmware needed to be flashed in order to reach 512MB. I was wondering where the other 256MB would come from; was it on the card or used as shared memory from the system? All sorts of things were going through my mind, but no matter what, as a reviewer you have to maintain the objectivity with any product you go into testing. So I started on it looking back and forth between the ECS 8800 GT and other 8800 GTs. I started to notice little things during the review, like the memory on the ECS board was the same brand as the ones on the ASUS card and that there were the same number of chips. So I started to think if it is so alike physically, then it should perform close to the same. Boy was I surprised! At 256MB, the card was behind, but that was expected for half of the memory buffer as the 512MB cards, but man, after that update the decrease in the memory clock did not seem to be that big of a deal.”
ASUS EN9800 GTX 512MB Graphics Card
tweak Town :: Wednesday, April 16, 2008
“While the 9800 GTX might not be the revolutionary jump that we had hoped for, it’s still a very good card for someone looking at buying a new graphics card with this kind of budget. The first retail 9800 GTX we’re going to look at comes from ASUS and doesn’t carry with it any extra acronyms such as TOP.
With the 9800 GTX in hand we took the time to see how it goes up against other high-end retail cards like the HD 3870 X2 from ASUS and the 9800 GX2 from Zotac. While Dual GPU cards are good in theory, if the application isn’t able to make full use of the power then high-end single core cards can outperform them. Let’s find out how the 9800 GTX goes against these Dual GPU wielding cards.”
ASUS 9800 GTX 512MB Graphics Card Review 
Virtual Hideout :: Wednesday, April 16, 2008
“The bottom line here is that the ASUS EN9800GTX is a much cooler graphics card that’s capable of replacing the 8800 GTX in ASUS’ line up. Should you run out and replace that 8800 GTX you already have? Not really. Performance between these two GTXs is a pretty even battle with the newer 9800 winning out a little. Those looking for the newest performance card that offers the best bang for buck are going to find the ASUS EN9800GTX to be a good option. The only thing that would make it an even better choice would be a lower price tag and a decently bundled video game. It’s ASUS, so anything is possible.”
Altec Lansing PT 7031 Review
Inside HW :: Wednesday, April 16, 2008
This time we have tested a really special sound system or it is better to say loudspeaker. This particular Altec Lansing model includes three flat NXT speakers, which are pretty much rare on the market. If you want to understand how special they are, you must forget everything you know about regular speakers. They are different in many ways: different looks, size, manufacturing, sound reproduce .”…
ATI FireGL V8600 1GB Workstation Graphics Card
Hot Hardware :: Wednesday, April 16, 2008
As many of you know, ATI has been particularly aggressive with their FireGL workstation graphics card lineup over the past six months. While their flagship R600-architecture was the basis for the solid (but ultimately underwhelming) Radeon HD2900XT for the gaming market, our tests have shown that this particular GPU architecture is much more competitive in the workstation market. While the R600 may not be the best choice for a high-end gaming rig, it is indeed a powerful chip for high-end OpenGL work, and as such, has led to a revival of sorts for ATI’s FireGL lineup.
With an excellent performing workstation GPU in tow, ATI finally took the steps to get their latest generation of FireGL cards out to the market fast – much faster than we’ve seen from them in the past. ATI now has a number of R600-based workstation products out on the market, and is competing quite well with NVIDIA in terms of both price and performance. ATI’s cards generally offer nearly all the bang for the buck as the QuadroFX lineup, but ATI has some unique models as well which give them their own following of users. One of their newest models, the FireGL V8600 1GB, has finally hit the market. And this is the card we’ll be looking at today…
Alphacool LC-Display reviewed
Burnout PC :: Tuesday, April 15, 2008
“Alphacool has a very nice product with their LCD Display. Like I said, it has been around for a while but even today it’s still very functional and modern. It’s cheaper than an external color display to use with Windows Vista for it’s sideshow feature and it’s better function and performance wise than the Pertelian V5. The display sells for around 100 euros nowadays and the smaller 240×64 ones for 70 euros. The Pertelian sells for around 35 euros, which is half the price of the 240×64 pixels version but the Pertelian doesn’t have screen as nice as the Alphacool LC-Display.”
Samsung LN-T4081F LED Backlight LCD 40″ HDTV
Bona Fide Reviews :: Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Today in the BFR labs we have a brand new display from Samsung’s latest 81 series of LCD HDTV’s. The specific model we have is the LN-T4081F, a 40″ 1080p LCD display. The 81 series displays are unique because they feature Samsung’s LED SmartLighting technology.
Agent18 Dragon Shield Case for the Zune 80GB Review
Futurelooks :: Tuesday, April 15, 2008
The good people at Agent18 are coming to the rescue of Zune owners as they have developed a fantastic case to go with the Zune 80GB Media Player that we reviewed earlier. Dubbed the Dragon Shield, this polycarbonate case will protect the Zune from all the usual bumps, bruises, and scrapes. This way, you won’t have to worry about the occasional drop or brush up against a harsh surface.
Cyber Acoustics CA-5001 5.1 Speaker Kit
Tweak Town :: Tuesday, April 15, 2008
“Cyber Acoustics are based out of Asia and claim to have had involvement in the PC audio industry for many years, since the 80`s in fact. Now, that should be plenty of time to get the recipe right, so to speak. The company offers many products from headsets and iPod solutions to full on surround sound systems like the one I`m looking at today.
For the purposes of testing I have several systems around my home to provide an adequate representation of where these speakers stand, all things considered. I think that when evaluating speakers in general, it’s a very good idea to try and listen to the same piece of music through several different systems.”
