Tech News December 2004

Sunbeamtech Samurai Case Review @ Madshrimps
Madshrimps :: Friday, December 17, 2004
“With a distinctive front bezel and side window, the Sunbeam Samurai Case attempts to grab prospective buyers with a penchant for standing out amongst the crowd. Does function follow form though in this pre-modded case? Step inside to find out.”

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[Phoronix] Logisys Pitbull 500W
Phoronix :: Friday, December 17, 2004

Summary: “It has been quite a while since we have looked at any Logisys power supplies. However, we recently got our hands on their latest PSU offering – the 500W Pitbull. Fortunately, Logisys hasn’t lost its modding touch since last time we had examined any of their units.”

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Sony VAIO VGN-A260 Laptop Review @ Designtechnica
Designtechnica :: Friday, December 17, 2004
“We have to give Sony credit for designing a system that not only features a 15.4-inch widescreen display with Xbrite technology, but does it all in a chassis that is slimmer than the competition. We are on the fence about whether they should have gone with a desktop processor instead of the Centrino chipset and Pentium M CPU though. The bottom line though is that the Sony VAIO VGN-A260 is a masterpiece that fuses cutting-edge technologies with a breathtaking design. Sony fans should be more than happy with their latest offering.”

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SunBeamTech Crystal Quad LED Fan @ TechTastic.ca
TechTastic :: Friday, December 17, 2004

Quote: LED fans are a popular addition to computer cases lately, and every computer modding equipment manufacturer has their version of them. Today we take a look at SunBeamTech’s version of their LED fan called the Crystal Quad LED Fan.

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1A-Cooling SET-5Z280V1 Water Cooling Kit Review @ Madshrimps
Madshrimps :: Friday, December 17, 2004
Quote:”Aah, I remember it well. It was a cloudy Belgian Sunday, with nothing more to do then watching the good ´old electric tube and smoking the pipe. Little did I know there we´re forces in play who wanted me to do some reviewing. Seems like the OC gods were restless, so the best thing to do was to sacrifice them a review. Since my editor dropped off the A1 water cooling kit the other day, I could really please the gods this time. Maybe they would use their divine powers to give me that Mustang I always ask for Christmas!”

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Aerocool Cool-Panel reviewed @ hi-techreviews.com
Hi-Techreviews :: Friday, December 17, 2004
Quote: The list of computer accessories coming out of the design labs of labs of Aerocool show no signs of slowing down. Take for example their newest product, the Aerocool Cool-Panel, it would be very easy to say that this product is a 8 in 1 card reader, but it goes far beyond that. It actually becomes the centralized connection point for a pair of USB 2.0 connectors, a Firewire connector, two SATA connectors along with a nice size LED which displays two separated temperatures and two separate fan speeds.

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Corsair TWINX-4300C3PRO Review at OcPrices
OcPrices :: Friday, December 17, 2004
Quote: “Low Latency DDR2 memory modules have been popping up recently, capable of 3-2-2-x timings, and utilizing the recent yields of the Micron DDR2 die. A while back, we had a look at the Wintec Industries’ modules, which were capable of DDR2-706 @ 3-2-2-8 timings (DDR2-720 @ 3-2-2-4 has been achieved since). How will these Corsair modules compare?”

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Four Socket 939 Motherboards Shootout! @ Overclockers New Zealand
Overclockers New Zealand :: Friday, December 17, 2004
“After taking margin of error into consideration, all boards performed similarly at stock speed. However, things quickly changed when you take price, overclock potential and features into the picture. Out of those four socket939 boards, we find that MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum offers the best overclock potential (even with SATA hard drive), a wealth of features, and comes with an affordable price tag, which rightly gets our OCNZ Recommended Award.”

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Ultra Products UV Wizard
Overclockers Online :: Friday, December 17, 2004

Quote: “The window of this case is UV Reactive, which will add an awesome touch to your rig if you have a UV light. Even without the UV Light the window looks great, with a bluish tint to match the paint. The dark blue metallic paint that wraps this case looks at home on any desktop!”

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A4Tech NB-30 Wireless Battery Free Mouse Review @ ASE Labs
ASE Labs :: Friday, December 17, 2004

” A4Tech makes the first wireless mouse that happens to be battery free. It uses a special mousepad that transfers power by induction. Let’s see how this new type of mouse operates… ”

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Christmas Competition @ Raptor-mods.co.uk
raptor-mods.co.uk :: Friday, December 17, 2004

” It’s Christmas so what better time for a giveaway with awesome prizes, they include a Matrix Orbital Display, 3x 600 Watt Ultra PSU’s and an Icemat Gaming surface See Forum for details ”

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Gigabyte GV-NX66T128D GeForce 6600GT Videocard
PCStats :: Friday, December 17, 2004
“nVIDIA was the first to enter the ‘mainstream’ PCI Express video market with the GeForce 6600 class GPU. ATi followed suit a few days later with its Radeon X700. While the companies are different, the technology behind the competing VPUs is actually quite similar. Built on IBM’s 0.11 micron manufacturing process, the nVidia GeForce 6600 has eight pixel rendering pipelines and the ‘GT’ model has a core clock speed of 500 MHz. ATi uses TSMC’s 0.11 micron manufacturing process, and its graphics core has eight pixel rendering pipelines too. The higher-end Radeon X700 XT VPU is clocked slightly slower than nVidia’s solution, at 475 MHz. Over the next dozen pages, PCStats will try to answer that question as we test out a videocard made by Gigabyte called the GV-NX66T128D. This PCI Express x16 videocard is based on nVIDIA’s GeForce 6600GT GPU, and packs in a svelte 128MB of Samsung GDDR3 memory.”

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Ultra Dual Channel PC4000 Premium @ ViperLair
ViperLair :: Friday, December 17, 2004
“Looks are of course secondary to performance but here the Ultra doesn’t fail you. The Ultra PC4000 is quite capable of delivering in the area’s it is needed, be it raw numbers or overclocking potential. Like most PC4000, to get the really high clocks from it, you will need to up the voltage to 2.9v but the ram hasn’t flinched running at this (default is 2.7v) voltage once in the week or so I’ve been using it.”

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How Anti-Spyware Software Works @ The Tech Zone
The Tech Zone :: Friday, December 17, 2004
We all should know it to realize what exactly to expect from all these anti-spy products with cool names. Their creators and sellers promise you that these software products will “kill all spyware on your PC” (or something like that). First, is absolute protection possible? Second, what should we expect from a typical anti-spy program and what it is simply unable to do? To answer these questions, we should understand how it works.

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HEXUS.net Review: Scan International’s 3XS Cobra SLI Systems
Hexus :: Friday, December 17, 2004
Snip: “We’ve seen impressive 3XS hardware from Scan in the past and their Cobra SLI systems don’t buck that trend. Incredibly well built, paint jobs to put others to shame and potentially umatched performance round off maybe the most impressive systems I’ve had the pleasure of working with to date. If you’re looking for high-end SLI right now, I can recommend you put an enquiry or two their way, for the configuration you’re looking for.”

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Soltek SL-915GPro-FGR Review @ Ninjalane
Ninjalane :: Friday, December 17, 2004
Quote: The Soltek SL-915GPro-FGR is a rather unique motherboard, not only does it come with 4 DDR1 memory banks but includes a BIOS level automagic overclocking utility called SAT (Smart Acceleration Technology) that actually works.

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SunBeamTech LED Case Handle @ TechTastic.ca
TechTastic :: Wednesday, December 15, 2004

“Today we take a look at a cool mod for your case that not only adds some lighting, but comes in handy when you’re bringing your computer to a LAN party. We are speaking of course about SunBeamTech’s LED Case Handles.”

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Taking SLI and X850 XT PE to Bloodline @ HEXUS.net
Hexus :: Wednesday, December 15, 2004
“I was there in a technical capacity, to both baby sit the systems we had on display, and to explain anything about them to the gamers present at the event if they had any questions about the technologies, the parts used or just how expensive the paint job was on the Xeon system.”

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Ultra Products 600W Power Supply @ PimpRig Review
PimpRig :: Wednesday, December 15, 2004

“Pretty much all LED fans I have seen have had the LEDs placed within the outer frame of the fan. The LEDs in these fans are mounted via small posts extending from the center of the fan. The result is more light. Since none of the LED is blocked by the fan housing you get the FULL lighting from these fans.”

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Sunbeam Lightbus @ OCIA.net
OCIA :: Wednesday, December 15, 2004

“In the world of reviewing, it is not often that I am really impressed by a product’s originality. Most modding accessories these days are just remakes or redesigns of an original idea that another company or individual created. That being said though, the LightBus, though an extension of a Rheobus, is still very innovative, especially given the large market of modding gear available today.”

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Arctic Cooling Freezer 4 & Freezer 7 Review @ PCmoddingmy
PC Modding Malaysia :: Wednesday, December 15, 2004

“Overall, the Arctic Cooling Freezer 4 and Freezer 7 is a great CPU cooler. With these Freezers, you’ll get yourself a cool CPU, minus the noise. Installing and getting these Freezers running was quick, thanks to its user friendly design. Priced just at USD34 / RM130 each, these Freezers are definitely a steal. Although it might not freeze your CPU temperatures down sub-zero levels, it puts up a good fight among the best CPU coolers we had, and the Freezer even beat the Hyper 6. If you loved the Silencer and silence, then the Freezer might just be the right CPU cooler for you!”

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Thermaltake Big Water 12cm Liquid Cooling System @ Techniz
Techniz.co.uk :: Wednesday, December 15, 2004

“Thermaltake already has become the global leader in Thermal Industry. Initial focussed primarily on CPU Coolers, high performance heat sinks, DC fan, PC chassis and power supply. Today, we are reviewing their latest liquid cooling product, which is known as the Bigwater. BigWater is consists of three core components including the 12 cm fan radiator and the copper water-block as well as the water pump.”

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Akasa AK-183-L2B Amber Series Fan Review @ Mikhailtech
Mikhailtech :: Wednesday, December 15, 2004

“The model number on the motor sticker is AK-183-L2B, rated at 0.18A and 12V for a maximum power consumption of 2.16watts. Obviously, this is a low output fan and you should have no trouble connecting it directly to your motherboard header via the default 3-pin plug. The other ratings are: 1400 RPM, 18 dBA, and 44.8 CFM. Contrary to popular belief, this doesn’t mean the fan is completely silent. It’s certainly quiet, but still audible. Finally, it appears to be made by Y.S.Tech (as per label), which is a good sign since their fans are known for their performance and reliability.”

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Cooler Master Hyper 48 @ InsaneTek
InsaneTek :: Wednesday, December 15, 2004

“Our last look at Cooler Master’s enthusiast cooler left us a bit disappointed. The Ultra Vortex cooling design was similar to the design of the Zalman CNPS series, but was not nearly as easy to install. Yet the Ultra Vortex provided good performance, but not enough to justify the poor installation method. Thermalright’s introduction of the Light-N-Easy series of heatsinks only provided more competition. These factors wiped away all possible considerations for using the Ultra Vortex. Lucky for us, Cooler Master jumped on heatpipe technology once again and created the new Hyper 48. Unlike the Hyper6 that utilizes 6 heatpipes, the Hyper 48 uses 4 heatpipes to distribute heat across the copper fins. Hopefully, the Hyper 48 doesn’t come with installation problems too.”

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Hitachi 60VX915 LCD Rear Projection HDTV
Designtechnica :: Monday, December 13, 2004

“Going into this review, I had not been a fan of rear projection LCD. In fact, I think that for the most part it is inferior to other Micro-Display technologies. The examples from other manufacturers are dim at best with poor contrast and terrible brightness levels. So, to say that I was pleasantly surprised by Hitachi’s achievement is an understatement. Clearly, Hitachi knows how to exploit this technology to its utmost, and I applaud them for it. I am happy to report that the images displayed were among the best presently available from any HDTV manufacturer.”

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Windows XP Performance Tweaking Guide
I Am Not a Geek :: Monday, December 13, 2004

“This guide has seen MANY revisions since it’s original posting more than 3 years ago. Even after all this time I continue to add to this guide and revise it as needed. Please read this title very carefully because this guide is ONLY intended for Performance related tweaks. There’s millions of other “tweaks” that other guides use but have nothing to do with performance. In this guide I’m ONLY including what actually has some kind of affect on performance. I am trying to keep this guide dedicated to tweaks that directly affect your performance.”

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Neoseeker OCZ Modstream PSU Review
Neoseeker :: Monday, December 13, 2004

“Due to the PowerWhisper design of the OCZ ModStream, there is only one 120 mm fan present in the power supply, and it is located on the under side of the unit as opposed to the rear. The entire rear of the power supply is one large, non-obtrusive grill, allowing for unobstructed air flow. The 120 mm fan acts as an intake fan, taking hot air out from the inside of the chassis and expelling it out the back. There are no other cooling vents present, with the exception of three small slits beside a voltage transformer.”

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Thermaltake Polo 735 3-in-1 Heatsink Review
Mikhailtech :: Monday, December 13, 2004

“The second method to controlling the fan speed is using the provided thermal probe. One end plugs into a special connector on the fan; the other end should be in contact with any side of your processor core (or its underside). While this is certainly a worry-free option that increases the fan speed as the temperature rises, the correlation between these is preset. At 20C the fan speed will be at its minimum 2000 RPM; by 55C it’ll be running at the maximum 5500 RPM. Here’s the catch: at full speed the fan is loud. If your CPU normally gets to 55C, you’ll have to deal with the noise at high speed, as well as any throttling that happens as a result of constantly rising/falling temperatures.”

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AC Ryan LAN Ranger
Phoronix :: Monday, December 13, 2004

“Over the last couple of months, the number of LED cables we have seen has increased dramatically. AC Ryan has recently released the LAN Ranger that is a CAT6 cable complete with LED lighting at both ends, will this be a new fad for LAN parties, or will it serve no purpose and not be worth the extra money?”

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XSPC R120-D Dual Fan Copper Radiator
ViperLair :: Monday, December 13, 2004

“Being of a size to accommodate two 120mm fans speaks to the cooling performance on its own, but the design with its 2 rows of 12 tubes and plenty of fins between provides a lot of surface area for cooling. The design is very reminiscent of a car radiator and works well. The radiator assembly is covered in black epoxy giving you a colour that will pretty much go with anything.”

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