Tech News August 2004

 

Voyeurmods.com Custom Etching Service Review @ GruntvillE.com
GruntvillE :: Friday, August 27, 2004

 

“The final option is a 3-D laser etch. These are done with high precisions lasers that basically burn little dots on the window. It uses gray scaling techniques to give the impression that the image is 3 dimensional. There are only a few places that perform this level of etching. While they all have some stock images to choose from, the real fun stuff is when you take an image that you created or picked and have it etched on your window.”

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Review: Chenbro Gaming Bomb Mid-Tower @ GideonTech.com
GideonTech :: Friday, August 27, 2004
“The Chenbro Gaming Bomb, like the name says, is geared towards the gamer. I would say it’s geared more towards the tweaker, as the hands free features of the case make it so easy.”

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Beginners Guides: Flashing a Video Card BIOS
PCStats :: Friday, August 27, 2004
“We recently ran an article on flashing the BIOS of your motherboard to enable new features and fix errors. Video cards in particular have an interesting history in relation to the BIOS flashing procedure. While motherboard BIOS fixes generally add support for new processors and fix hardware glitches, video card BIOS updates have the potential to do much more. Enterprising tech-heads have discovered instances where a video card can actually be transformed by a BIOS update, activating hidden features and potential buried performance aspects by the manufacturer.”

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HEXUS.net Review: ECS KV2 Extreme
Hexus :: Friday, August 27, 2004
“While the KV2 isn’t quite the feature-fest that defined the PF4 Deluxe, it’s close. The only things (besides the obvious difference in processor and memory types) that differ are SATA port count, where the PF4 supplies two more ports than the KV2 (ECS opted not to hookup a SATA PHY to the VT8237 for four ports), and that the KV2 doesn’t ship with the USB WiFi networking device.

Other than that, the KV2 is pretty packed. Decent ATA support due to the SiS180’s extra port, extra SATA from it too, plenty of USB2.0, powered and unpowered FireWire400 and dual wired Ethernet with one port GigE-capable.”

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HEXUS Feature: Free and Open Source Software – Part 3
Hexus :: Friday, August 27, 2004
Snip: “Installing nVidia drivers on Linux is fairly easy, with that little bit of preparation. Go to the nVidia homepage and download the latest driver, then run it with “sh filename”. The installer will tell you to go away, since you’re running under X. Okay, no problem. Tell X to go away with “/etc/init.d/gdm stop” as root, and run the installer again (as root), from within a text console. When it asks you, don’t let it check for interfaces on the nVidia FTP server – they don’t have anything for Debian users on there. When the installer finishes, you need to make a couple of changes (again as root) to the file /etc/X11/XF86Config-4″

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HEXUS.net Review: Prolink Pixelview PlayTV@P7000 Media Centre
Hexus :: Friday, August 27, 2004
“There’s no integrated program guide, it doesn’t tune digital TV, the FM tuner is unusable, the remote would intermittently stop working, requiring a reboot to fix. That list goes on and on. The list of basic functionality issues present in the P7000 package make it highly unattractive in the face of competing products.”

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WaterChill CPU/VGA/Chipset Power kit – KT12A-L30 @ Bjorn3D
Bjorn3D :: Friday, August 27, 2004
Is it me or do we get more and more fans in our systems for each year? When I started using PC’s you usually had 1 fan on the PSU and nothing more. Today it isn’t usual that you have 2-3 casefans, a huge fan on the CPU, a big noisy fan on the video card and even in some cases a fan on the motherboard chipset. While all these fans do help removing heat from the computer they also introduce a lot of noise.

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Corsair XMS 3200 XL PRO Low Latency Memory Kit Review @ MODTHEBOX.COM
MODTHEBOX! :: Friday, August 27, 2004

 

“The Corsair XMS 3200 XL Pro Low Latency Memory Kit is readily available from the Corsair website in a variety of packages ranging from 256MB to 1GB kits in both the standard black heat spreader and the Pro LED series. The Ultra Low Latency speeds are currently restricted to the PC3200 frequency only and are denoted with the XL name. The Corsair XMS 3200 XL Pro Low Latency Memory Kit consists of two 512MB modules for a combined capacity of 1GB designed for use on dual channel architecture such as the NVIDIA nForce 2/3 and Intel i865/i875P platforms.”

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Nexus NX-4090 400watt PSU Review
Mikhailtech :: Friday, August 27, 2004
Opening up the unit reveals a couple decent sized capacitors but relatively puny heatsinks. Their size (as well as that of every other component) is no doubt limited by the thickness of the fan which spans most of the top. Speaking of which, it’s a 120x25mm blower (model name D12SM-12) made by Yate Loon Electronics and rated at 12V, 0.3A, and 1650RPM providing 56CFM at 39dBA. By default the fan runs at a fraction of its voltage, referred to by Nexus as its “idle mode”. At this level it’s rated at 16.2dBA which is inaudible beyond a couple inches. It speeds up in a linear fashion as the temperature rises (and increases in noise as well as airflow), though having used it for almost a week now I haven’t witnessed any apparent changes in airflow.

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News – PDP PC3200 & PC4000 Dual Channel Kits
Overclockers Online :: Friday, August 27, 2004
Quote: Today we will be looking at two examples from their dual channel DDR line: the Patriot Memory Dual Channel 1GB PC4000 eased latency and Patriot Memory Dual Channel 1GB PC3200 low latency memory kits. Our goal in this article is to not only see if they perform up to their advertised specification, but to also see how much extra headroom each kit can afford. With that in mind, lets get started.

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The ED#28 : Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier Editorial Posted!
Tech ARP :: Friday, August 27, 2004
” After over a year in development, the BIOS Optimization Guide has finally been published! Come and take a look at the final cover design and the details on this book!

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Designtechnica Reviews the MSI Mega 865
Designtechnica :: Friday, August 27, 2004

“The small form factor (SFF) market is picking up steam and many companies are jumping on the bandwagon. What was considered a niche product, the small form factor PC has now grown to appeal to gamers, media enthusiasts and office users. MSI sells a number of SFF systems under the Mega PC product line. The system in particular that we are reviewing today is the MSI Mega 865 which is geared towards media enthusiasts that are interested in adding DVR type capabilities into their system, although it makes a great gaming system as well. Featuring Intel’s 865G +ICH5 chipset, the MSI Mega 865 has the ability to be a very powerful and feature rich system – provided you use high-end performance components. The MSI Mega 865 has a starting price around $300, but its total cost depends on what type of components you use in the system.”

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DDR vs. DDR2 Article
Overclocker Café :: Friday, August 27, 2004

We first thought of a head to head comparison for these two standards when we saw that Gigabyte had come out with a motherboard supporting both DDR and DDR2 which would make the testing as fair as possible. Using the same motherboard and chipset would prevent any outside factors from influencing the test results.

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Intel D925XCV LGA775 P4 925X Alderwood Motherboard Review @ Tweaknews.net
Tweaknews :: Friday, August 27, 2004

“Today I have the pleasure of taking a step into Intel’s new LGA775 backyard and review their top of the line Alderwood motherboard based on the new Intel 925X Express chipset formally released in June. What the Alderwood brings to the table is the new LGA775 pin configuration Intel P4, the new faster DDR2 memory and lets not forget the PCI Express videocard specification everyone has been talking about.

If you are considering a migration to the new 925X chipset, please remember that this will be a considerable investment. With the new motherboard you will have to purchase the new LGA775 based P4 along with DDR2 memory and a new PCI Express videocard. If you don’t want to upgrade your memory and videocard, there are a couple of Canterwood 875P based motherboards coming onto the market which will allow you to keep everything but the new LGA775 processor.”

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MSI K8T Neo2-FIR Motherboard
PCStats :: Friday, August 27, 2004
“The motherboard PCstats is testing today is made by MSI Computer, and based on the second generation VIA K8T800 Pro chipset. MSI’s K8T Neo2-FIR motherboard follows through where its successful K8T Neo board left off, and proves to be a compelling option for a little over $140 USD. The motherboard supports Socket 939 AMD Athlon64/FX processors, comes equipped with four DDR RAM DIMM slots that accommodate up to 4GB of dual channel PC3200 memory, and packs in a long list of features.”

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Raidmax RX470-XP PSU Review @ ModdersHQ
ModdersHQ.net :: Wednesday, August 25, 2004

“It’s no mystery that the PSU is by far one of the most important hardware purchases you can make for your rig. Even video card manufacturers like Nvidia are telling us we need a PSU with alittle meat on its bones. What if I said you can get a stable PSU that includes all the bells and whistles to run today’s hardware, conforms to the low acoustic trend and looks fantastic doing it? With that in mind, lets take a look at the Raidmax RX-470XP PSU.”

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AOpen XC-Cube EX915 Review
Overclocker Café :: Wednesday, August 25, 2004

“he unit’s design is a matter of taste but I believe you would be hard pressed to find someone not liking the looks of the i915 based XC-Cube. Performance wise, AOpen brings us a nice showing. While you won’t be playing Doom3 with the onboard video, you can be doing most anything else. The small size of the EX915 coupled with an add in video card make the XC-Cube a LAN box to drool over.”

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Military Dragon ICE Blue LED Switch @ ModdersHQ.net
ModdersHQ.net :: Wednesday, August 25, 2004

“The “Fighter Pilot” military style switch has been popular in car-modifications, and for awhile now, computer modifications. They give a nice look to any case. This one from DragonModz takes it a step further by including a built in LED with a selection of colors (this one was Ice Blue). The switch is solid and fairly easy to use, however, for computer applications it is very large.”

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Ultra Dual 12 Cold Cathode UV Light Kit @ Phoronix
Phoronix :: Wednesday, August 25, 2004
“With the modding craze becoming ever so popular, CCFLs (Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lights) can be seen from a variety of different manufacturers coming in different sizes, shapes, brightness, and colors. Ultra Products has provided us with their Dual 12 Cold Cathode UV Light Kit, and that is what we will be checking out in this review.”

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Cooler Master Real Power 450W @ Viper Lair
ViperLair :: Wednesday, August 25, 2004
“In the end, it’s all about reliable power, and the Real Power 450W delivers in this respect. The glowing LED PSU fan, and shiny black exterior are the window dressing on what is one of the best power supplies we’ve had a chance to test.”

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Kingston HyperX PC4300 1GB Kit @ InsaneTek
InsaneTek :: Wednesday, August 25, 2004

“When the Winbond BH5 hype began, top overclockers realized that Kingston’s PCB was much better than what the competition provided. Many of the world’s top 3DMark scores are obtained with the use of Kingston’s KHX3200. I had a couple of these sticks as well, and hit a whopping 250FSB with just 3.2v. It’s a shame that I sold it. If you’ve checked out our review of the OCZ DDR Booster, you’ll see that I’ve had great success with the KHX3500. With all the talk about low latency memory, how does their high megahertz memory perform?”

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Asetek Vapochill LightSpeed [AC]
SystemCooling :: Wednesday, August 25, 2004

“Asetek has been at the forefront of the phase change world, as it applies to computers, pretty much since the beginning, with their line of Vapochill cooling systems which was first introduced way back in 1997. Since then, other companies have come and gone, but Asetek has remained, constantly refining and improving their products. The system we’re looking at today, the Vapochill LightSpeed [AC], represents the pinnacle of phase change technology, and the culmination of years of work for the people at Asetek.”

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PolarFLO TT Series CPU water block @ Legit Reviews
Legit Reviews :: Wednesday, August 25, 2004

“Quote: At stock speeds, the Danger Den TDX and the PolarFLO TT were evenly matched. When over clocked or stressed — the PolarFLO TT really stood out as the outstanding performer…”

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Vantec Vortex HDD Cooler @ HPH
Hexa Plague Hardware :: Wednesday, August 25, 2004

“he cooler itself fits into a 5 ¼“ bay, but accommodates all modern 3 ½ “ disks (ATA, SATA and SCSI). Being constructed of Aluminium the whole cooler comes in fairly light with the exception of the front grill, the bezel is made from plastic, and looks great. The cross flow fan is designed to eliminate dead spots that are usually associated with traditional cooling fans. With a traditional fan you usually end up with a dead spot in the center of the fans radius; but because of the crossflow blower’s design there is no such area where air is not moving, creating a constant, wide area of airflow.”

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Chaintech Summit SK8T800 VIA K8T800 Motherboard
Hexus :: Tuesday, August 24, 2004

“Chaintech’s Summit SK8T800 is an interesting board in many ways. It’s clear from the outset that features have to play second fiddle to cost. In that case, and at the time of production, Chaintech chose, correctly we might add, VIA’s K8T800 chipset as a base. Every feature emanates from the feature-filled southbridge. That means RAIDable on-chip SATA, 10/100 LAN, USB2.0, and decent AC’97-supplied sound. It just feels like a board that’s destined for the OEM market. Not bad for a package that currently costs $80 in the States.”

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Cooler Master Dual Storm Fan
InsaneTek :: Tuesday, August 24, 2004

“The Dual Storm fan’s purpose is much like the TMD fan, albeit with different construction. Rather than using a single fan with motors at the corners, the Dual Storm utilizes two fans that spin in opposite directions to create extra air pressure and focus airflow towards the center. With the added option of a fan controller, the Dual Storm should definitely help keep CPU temperatures down to a minimum.”

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Aerocool VM-101 VGA Heatpipe Cooler Review
3dXtreme :: Tuesday, August 24, 2004

“Today 3DXtreme has the pleasure of reviewing a silent cooling system for VGA cards, the VM-101. The quest for a good, silent cooling solution has come a long way and with the need to cool just about every major component in a computer system the need for silent cooling becomes even more important. But can this large heat pipe really perform as well as a fan driven cooler? Let’s find out…”

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Coolermaster Stacker Review
FastLaneHW :: Tuesday, August 24, 2004

“Coolermaster has been a big name in the computer scene, providing high end enclosures and cooling devices for computers, and they have a top of the line case for a top of the line computer, known as the Stacker STC-T01.”

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Thermaltake Fanless 103 HSF
TechFreaks :: Tuesday, August 24, 2004

“For the normal user looking to eliminate some noise from their system, the Thermaltake Fanless 103 Heat-Sink looks to be a considerable option. While it runs a little hotter compared to an active cooling solution, a temperature of 123°F (50.6°C) is still acceptable. Not to mention the Fanless 103 stands strong against the Venus 7+ in both Idle situations. Only during load while over-clocked does the Fanless 103 reach a temperature of 129°F (53.9°C) which is a little too hot for me. ”

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CoolerMaster Cavalier Case Review
OCIA :: Tuesday, August 24, 2004

“How about fan controllers? Survey says… DING DING DING. One thing I have to brag on is the door and fan controller. This case allows you to install a fan controller and still shut the door. I can’t tell you how thrilled I am about that. Not very many doors will let the fan controller knobs fit, but this one sure does.”

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