Tech News April 2005

NZXT Trinity Full Tower Case
hardCOREware :: Tuesday, April 05, 2005
With the basic version carrying an MSRP of just around $70, the Trinity won’t have to go to extremes to impress us. It has to look good though, and if you take a look you’ll agree that they’ve at least succeeded in that. However, we found that this entry-level case from NZXT doesn’t exactly live up to their own standard they set so high with their previous two cases.

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Intel Matrix RAID Guide Posted!
Tech ARP :: Tuesday, April 05, 2005

Quote – “RAID 0 offers better performance but no data redundancy. And it’s the opposite for RAID 1. We all want the best of both worlds but often, that isn’t possible.

But when it comes to RAID, it might just be possible with Intel’s Matrix RAID technology! Let’s see what’s so great about the Intel Matrix RAID and if it really works! ”

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A-Top XPlode Case Review @ Overclocker Cafe’
Overclocker Café :: Saturday, April 02, 2005

“The A-Top XPlode is offered in three basic color schemes of red, white and blue. Our blue review unit’s paint job was first rate. A-Top’s website states the case comes with a “car paint finish.” I can tell you from first hand experience, they mean that. Another very interesting thing about the XPlode’s color offerings is that A-Top can take custom orders for a case to be colored to suit your mood or fancy.”

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SilverStone ZEUS ST65ZF SLI PSU Shootout @ PCModdingMy
PC Modding Malaysia :: Saturday, April 02, 2005

“Up to date, NVIDIA has given out “SLI Ready” certification to only two power supply manufacturers mainly PC Power & Cooling and SilverStone. We all know that SilverStone makes amazingly high quality PC cases but little did we know, they also manufacture some superb power supplies. Dubbed as ZEUS, the SilverStone ST65ZF power supply is one out of the three power supplies to receive the SLI certification from NVIDIA…”

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April Extreme Gaming PC Buyer’s Guide @ Sharky Extreme
Sharky Extreme :: Saturday, April 02, 2005
“Today on Sharky Extreme, we’ve posted our April Extreme Gaming PC Buyer’s Guide, where we take a whopping $4K and see what kind of AMD and Intel system configurations we can assemble”

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First look – AMD Graphics Processor @ Hexus
Hexus :: Saturday, April 02, 2005
“But suddenly, out of nowhere, AMD have delivered a hammer blow to ATI, NVIDIA and Intel with a stunning new GPU that is set to light up the accelerator scene in a fashion not seen since 3Dfx brought out the Voodoo.”

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Intel Pentium 4 3.73GHz Extreme Edition @ Viperlair
ViperLair :: Saturday, April 02, 2005
“As we’ve seen in our results, the gap between AMD and Intel in terms of application performance is a lot closer than it used to be, at least when we’re talking about $1000 processors. The 3.73GHz Extreme Edition did edge the Athlon FX-55 in most of the application tests (and trumped it in video encoding), but the race is getting tighter here. While the FX-55 did win all the gaming benchmarks, we saw that the larger cache and 1066FSB narrowed the results for Intel, but not enough to overtake AMD.”

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Revoltec Lightboard Compact, Lightmouse and Lightpad review @ XtremeResources
Xtreme Resources :: Saturday, April 02, 2005

“There are many input devices out on the market. Thousands of keyboards and mice are available for every user to choose from. But some people just want something different, a good input setup from a known, old manufacturer simply will not do anymore. It is just too common and some people do not like common. So the available items to choose from is narrowed down real fast. Revoltec comes to offer some different products for the top of your desk, so let us see if different is good as well. They are a keyboard (the Lightboard compact), a mouse (the Lightmouse precision) and a gamer’s mouse pad (the Lightpad Precision).”

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Gigabyte GA-K8VT890-9 Review @ Neoseeker
Neoseeker :: Saturday, April 02, 2005
“Upgrading to PCI Express is not cheap. For many it means an upgrade to Socket 939, a new video card and a new motherboard. Today at Neoseeker we take a look at a budget PCIe board based on VIA’s K8T890 in Gigabyte’s GA-K8VT890-9. With a MSRP of only 82$ and performance that is comparable to even high end nForce 4 boards, this could be a good choice for a budget entry level Athlon 64 PCIe system for those who are not conscientious about features or overclocking.”

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Enabling Temperature Monitoring on the Nvidia 6600 GT @ OCIA
OCIA :: Saturday, April 02, 2005

“Recently, I reviewed the Apollo nVidia 6600GT. During the research for that review, I found out that the chipset on all 6600GT’s has an onboard temperature sensor, but many card manufacturers opted not to enable temp monitoring on their particular cards. I would assume to discourage overclocking, but I’m just guessing”

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Swiftech MCX478-V Heatsink Review @ Mikhailtech
Mikhailtech :: Saturday, April 02, 2005

“There are a total of 374 pins aluminum alloy pins inserted into a half-inch thick CNC machined C110 copper bottom. Base dimensions measure 3″ x 3″ x 1.66″. You’ll notice this is very close to the inner dimensions of the stock P4 bracket. In other words, the cooler fits perfectly into the bracket and because it’s almost the same size, it doesn’t wiggle around. This eliminates improper/uneven installations. Total specified weight is 620g – not light but not nearly as heavy as the larger all-copper heatsinks”

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OCZ Platinum PC4800 1GB DC Kit @ InsaneTek
InsaneTek :: Saturday, April 02, 2005

“While high speed TCCD is attractive, it’s difficult to find. TCCD overclocking results are also inconsistent. Enthusiasts often go through multiple purchases before finding the right kit. All those transactions are a pain. Yet now, OCZ has the fastest DDR available, the Platinum PC4800.”

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Epox EP-9NPA+ Ultra Socket 939 Motherboard Review
PCStats :: Friday, April 01, 2005
“This latest Epox motherboard, the EP9NPA+ Ultra is complete with Port 80 card and PCI Express, although SLI is not supported. PCI Express is definitely the way to go with AMD Athlon64 systems, and a single high end videocard has more than enough power for today’s games as do regular Athlon64’s and Pentium 4’s processors. The Epox EP-9NPA+ Ultra offers users a very flexible nForce 4/PCI Express platform, and has some useful integrated peripherals like a 8-channel audio, 10 USB2.0 ports, IEEE 1394a, and Gigabit LAN. It’s not the most well equipped motherboard we’ve ever dealt with, but for mainstream users I think you could say it fills out all the necessary points well.”

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ASUS Vento 3600 Case Review
PCStats :: Friday, April 01, 2005
What used to be the solitary pastime of a few geeks with Dremels and too much free time is now a full scale modding industry, and even major computer retail chains are selling ‘enthusiast’ parts like. It was while striding through the ASUS exhibit at Computex 2004 in Taipei that we first noticed the Vento 3600 case. Something about its looks captured our imagination. Beyond merely housing a computer, the Vento seemed to be begging us to leap onto it, fire up the engines and shoot off through the trees of Endor, dodging Imperial Scouts as we went… yes, it looked pretty cool. It was also behind glass, so we couldn’t play with it. Well, we’ve finally got our hands on one of these cases…”

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AMD64 Dual Core Physical Design Specs and Photo!
AMDboard :: Friday, April 01, 2005
We are now aware that Opteron dual core is slated to appear during this semester but news from AMD has been exceptionally scarce until now. Today AMDboard, the AMD specialist, is revealing some yet unknown AMD64 dual core physical design specification with an exclusive photo of the inside. Made in 90nm the current revision of the design has 205 millions transistors for the same size than a 130nm design and runs at an incredible 95W!

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DVdoctor.column – March 2005
Hexus :: Friday, April 01, 2005
Snip: But Sony – of all companies – seems to have forgotten the problems that its incompatible tape formulations caused in the early days of DV, judging by what we’re seeing happen right now with HDV tape. We appear to be back in exactly the same situation again with incompatibilities between tapes causing head clogging. Sony, seemingly, decided that these new camcorders need a better formulation of tape – the reasoning being, presumably, that drop-outs with HDV can be seriously problematic.

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Review: TITAN Vanessa S-Type Heatpipe CPU Cooler @ Tech-Mods.net
Tech-Mods.net :: Friday, April 01, 2005

“To some heatpipe technology is nothing new, what is new is applying this technology to the CPU heat reduction factor of our computer systems. Its no secret the CPU is the far most heat generator in our systems, and if there is a way to maintain a reduced temperature all the better. TITAN COMPUTER CO. brings to the table a butterfly shaped multi finned heatpipe they call the Vanessa S-Type with a 92mm fan, which happens to be designed for a universal fit. Today we are going to take a close look at the butterfly shaped Heatpipe and we’ll see if it flies or not!? ”

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Wintec AMP-X PC2-5400 DDR2 Memory Review @ XtremeResources
Xtreme Resources :: Friday, April 01, 2005

“With technology advancing at a rapid rate, Intel has moved to the DDR2 memory subsystem. It seems Intel views DDR2 as the upgrade path for the best performance gains in conjunction with their newest, current and future processors. On the other hand, AMD continues to stay with DDR and may move up to DDR2 in the future since their processor requirements for memory are different with the memory controller on the die. Today, we will examine and test the first DDR2 PC2-5400 modules at Xtreme Resources on the Intel 925XE platform with Wintec’s AMPX PC2-5400 1GB dual channel kit and see how it fares.”

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Skyhawk PSU ATX12V & EPS12V Compliance @ Legit Reviews
Legit Reviews :: Friday, April 01, 2005
“SkyHawk claims their PowerOne power supplies are ATX12V v2.0 and EPS12V 2.1 compliant. After further investigation Legit Reviews has come to the conclusion that the forementioned Power Supplies DO NOT meet the guidelines…”

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BeanTech Igloo 11 Aluminum Case Review @ MODTHEBOX.COM
MODTHEBOX! :: Friday, April 01, 2005

“BeanTech International has done a decent job in terms of simplifying the process of keeping the Perspex window place. At the top and bottom portion of the front bezel sits a series of metal hinges which have two sets of threaded hex screws secured directly to the chassis. A small push to the locking mechanism allows the swing out front panel door to stay in place and can be easily opened with a slight pull on the front bezel.”

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DFI Lanparty UT NF4 Ultra
hardCOREware :: Friday, April 01, 2005

Motherboard manufacturers are looking for more and more ways to distinguish their products from others. Some go further than others, giving features and solutions that are useful for different types of users. Others resort to cosmetic changes, and interesting bundles.

DFI has gained a reputation for offering killer overclocker boards that look better than any other. This time with the NF4 Ultra-D, they are also adding some innovative features like Dual PCI-E video card support, and MemTest86 in the BIOS. That’s just the tip of the iceberg though…

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AMD Athlon64 3500+ Overclocking Adventure
PCStats :: Friday, April 01, 2005
“We’re going to have a bit of fun with this chip today. We’ll test how high our Athlon64 3500+ will overclock with air cooling, but we’re also going to put the processor under the deep freeze to see how high it goes with a R404A modded Prometeia Mach I phase-change cooler.”

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Syntax Olevia LT30HV Review
Designtechnica :: Friday, April 01, 2005
“In May 2004, Syntax Group Corporation announced its entry into the LCD TV market with its Olevia brand of 27” and 30” models. Since then, Olevia has been one of the fastest-growing LCD TV brands in North America.

Syntax’s Entertainment line introduces the 30″ digital wide screen LCD TV. Displaying WXGA resolution (16:9 wide-screen format) with a 750:1 contrast ratio and 170 degree wide viewing angles, the Syntax TV is equipped with all the bells and whistles.

We decided to take a look at the LT30 30” model to see what’s behind this rapid growth.”

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HEXUS institutes legal proceedings against Beyond 3D
Hexus :: Friday, April 01, 2005
OMG! HEXUS is suing one of our brother websites! This news is huge! The following short email was sent to our news box:

Please find details here: http://www.hexus.net#b3d

I trust we have your support in this matter.

Regards, Team-HEXUS.net

BTW, April Fools!

News – LiteOn SOHW-1673s
Overclockers Online :: Friday, April 01, 2005
Today Overclockers Online has a brand new DVD±RW drive in from LiteOn! If you’re looking to upgrade your current drive, or are looking for a new one, look to see how LiteOn maintain’s its legacy with their latest 16x DVD±RW Drive! |

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News Flash – Sony Online Entertainment’s Everquest II for the PC Review
Futurelooks :: Friday, April 01, 2005

“Sony Online Entertainment addicted an entire civilization with EVERQUEST. Now they set out to do it again with their highly anticipated sequel, Everquest II. Is it better the second time around, or will it just be another bitter divorce? Find out here! ”

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