Diamond XtremeSound – 5.1/16 bit Sound Card Review
Overclockers Club :: Friday, February 08, 2008
Asus EAH3870X2 1GB Top Review
Overclockers Club :: Friday, February 08, 2008
Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770 Review
Overclockers Club :: Friday, February 08, 2008
Thermalright Ultima 90 Review
Overclockers Club :: Friday, February 08, 2008
Tuniq TX-2 Review
Overclockers Club :: Friday, February 08, 2008
Links to Reviews for Feb. 6-8
PC Mechanic :: Friday, February 08, 2008
Asus Eee PC – “It is a fact that modern notebook computers cope with the average user’s needs most easily. All those GHz and dual-core processors sound great, but but surfing the Internet, writing in Word watching films and listening to music are not tasks that require such power. Many are willing to renounce the extra […]
Smart PC – Free Giveaway Today Only
PC Mechanic :: Friday, February 08, 2008
Consider this post a public service of PCMech. GiveAwayofTheDay.com is, today only, offering a product called Smart PC for free download. The program usually costs $29.95. Here is a synopsis, swiped from their site: In a few easy steps you can make your PC run faster, cleaner and error-free with the help of a new […]
Yahoo Launched LIVE Service and It Sucks
PC Mechanic :: Friday, February 08, 2008
Yahoo just flipped the switch on it’s new Yahoo Live service. I’m not exactly sure why the company wanted to get into this arena, especially considering how much it sucks compared to the likes of Ustream. For those not familiar, this is a service (free one, though), which allows you to broadcast live over the Internet […]
Decision Time For Yahoo
PC Mechanic :: Friday, February 08, 2008
Techcrunch is reporting that Yahoo has scheduled a special board of directors meeting for today in order to decide how to deal with the bid from Microsoft. The offer of $31/share is not being challenged by anybody, leaving Yahoo to decide between a Microsoft buy-out and a partnering with Google. The board, we’ve heard, is basically […]
Play Risk In Linux
PC Mechanic :: Friday, February 08, 2008
One of the great all time classic board games is the timeless game of Risk. Anyone who has ever played a 4 person game of “world domination” knows both how fun and agonizingly long (especially once you are eliminated) the game can be. If you can’t get a group together, why not play over the Internet […]
The Mystery of the Cut Telecom Cables
PC Mechanic :: Friday, February 08, 2008
Stories have been all over the place. In short, a series of 5 undersea cables have been cut. Cables very important to Internet connectivity in large areas of the world, including many countries in the Middle East and Southwest Asia. This has affected a LOT of people in that area of the world. 1.7 million users […]
Windows Users Frustrated over Vista SP1 Delays
PC Mechanic :: Friday, February 08, 2008
When Mike Nash, from the Windows Product Management Group at Microsoft, posted to the Windows vista blog, he probably didn’t realize he was going to cause such a reaction. See, after giving a lot of corporate-speak about how great Vista is, he provided a timeline for the release of SP1 that was, essentially, a delay […]
Disposable Email Addresses For Yahoo Mail
PC Mechanic :: Friday, February 08, 2008
Users of Yahoo Mail should take notice of the AddressGuard disposable email feature they offer. While I am not a Yahoo Mail user, this function seems very useful for doing things like signing up for new accounts on websites which want to validate your email address. You can basically create a truly disposable email address […]
SSD on MacBook Air Expensive?
PC Mechanic :: Friday, February 08, 2008
Some may have seen how the Macbook Air changes from an $1800 laptop to a $3000 laptop when you opt for the 64GB solid state drive. This is not Apple price gouging but rather a technology that is still so new it commands a hefty price tag. SSD is definitely the wave of the future, […]
Links to Reviews for Feb 4-6
PC Mechanic :: Friday, February 08, 2008
Sony VAIO NR160E/T Laptop Review – “Priced at under a grand available in three distinctive colors, the Sony NR series laptop is stylish enough to be shown off.” LapWorks Futura Laptop Desk – “The Futura provides a simple solution to the problems of using a notebook in your lap. No power necessary, no moving parts and it fits […]
OCZ 2GB DDR3-1600 Titanium – Intel XMP Edition
Techgage :: Friday, February 08, 2008
DDR3 might be slow to catch on, but the competition is fierce and the selection, huge. One of the first DDR3 kits to really catch my eye was OCZ’s Titanium 2GB PC3-12800, featuring an XMP profile to offer even better settings than what are advertised. Luckily, it also has some OC’ing room to boot.
Actiontec MegaPlug AV200 Mbps Ethernet Adapter
Techgage :: Friday, February 08, 2008
Looking for an alternative solution to a wireless LAN or drilling holes in the walls for a clean wired connection? The Actiontec AV200 might be of interest, with the ability to create a network using the power sockets already in your house. As it turns out, it’s effective, and incredibly easy to set up.
Samsung 743B 17-inch Monitor
Techgage :: Friday, February 08, 2008
Think large displays are over-rated? Then Samsung’s brand new 743B might just be worth a look. At 17-inches, it sure isn’t for everyone. It offers a 1280×1024 resolution, fast 5ms response time and an outstanding 7000:1 contrast ratio. Does this small monitor pack a big punch?
Intel Skulltrail Enthusiast Platform Preview
Techgage :: Friday, February 08, 2008
Consisting of two Extreme Quad-Core processors, Intel is looking to redefine what we know as “high-end”. Skulltrail is touted as being the “ultimate” enthusiast platform, offering SLI and Crossfire support, huge overclocking abilities and enough sheer power to make the competition weep.
Thermaltake Muse X-Duo Raid
Bjorn 3d :: Thursday, February 07, 2008
If you walk into a computer store today you are met with a large amount of different external storage solutions. It is now possible to expand the storage of your computer quickly and inexpensively without having to open up the computer and installing a hard drive.
The majority of the external hard drives for sale are simple USB-enclosures. While cheap and easy to use, they are in many ways “dumb” as you cannot easily share them on a network or set up permissions. If you want more features you have to be willing to spare some more cash for a NAS (Network Attached Storage) solution. Once something you mainly found in small businesses, NAS-enclosures are now finding their way into regular consumer homes.
The advantage with a NAS-enclosure is that not only do you get the ability to share it easily over a network and can set up permissions for separate users; you often also get access to features like a media server, an html-server and a built-in bittorrent client. A lot of companies have started to release NAS-enclosures. We have tested a few before from Qnap and Synology but today I am reviewing a NAS-enclosure from a company more known for their cases and power supplies: Thermaltake.
Intel Releases 965/G35 IGP Programming Documents
Phoronix :: Thursday, February 07, 2008
“At the Linux.Conf.Au conference today, Intel has announced NDA-free programming documentation covering the 965 Express and G35 Express integrated graphics processors (IGPs). Intel’s display driver has long been open-source, but up until now, they have not been releasing the programming documentation for these products to the public. This move comes months after AMD announced their new open-source strategy and began releasing register documentation on their R500 and R600 GPUs. These newly released documents by Intel even cover 3D and video programming for their IGPs.”
Intel Core 2 Duo 45nm Wolfdale vs. 65nm Conroe
Tech Spot :: Thursday, February 07, 2008
For some time now we’ve been waiting for Intel to move on to a more efficient and highly hyped 45nm fabrication technology, which was released just last month. The new 45nm Wolfdale line-up includes the E8200 (2.66GHz), E8400 (3.00GHz) and E8500 (3.16GHz) processors that are expected to operate at lower temperatures – and thus reduce fan noise – as well as receive newer SSE4.1 instructions and ship with a larger 6MB L2 cache.
It should not take pages of benchmark results to convince you that the E8500 is a better buy than the E6850 as that clearly is the case. However, those currently in possession of an E6000 series processor or even older Intel or AMD processors, may still be quite interested to see how much faster these new E8000 series CPUs are, and if they are worth upgrading to. The non-race is on then!
MSI P35 Diamond Motherboard
Tweak Town :: Thursday, February 07, 2008
“Today MSI’s game has picked up, producing some of the most impressive boards we have seen. The Platinium boards are really impressing us, and today the Diamond has managed to become another high quality contender with just about every feature you’re going to want.
To this end the P35 Diamond is shipped with a PCI Express x1 Sound Blaster X-Fi audio card. This is the exact same card that Creative sells as their X-Fi audio PCI Express card.”
Swiftech H2O-220 Compact Liquid Cooling Kit Review 
OCIA :: Thursday, February 07, 2008
“Swiftech has been around since 1994 and is perhaps best known for their thermoelectric and liquid cooling solutions that first gained popularity in late 2000 / early 2001. Recently I had the opportunity to test out one of their latest water-cooling kits, the H2O-220 Compact. I know some of you are probably thinking, “oh no, not a water-cooling kit…”
ASUS Triton 75 CPU Cooler
Tweak Town :: Thursday, February 07, 2008
“As mentioned before the Triton 75 is a passive cooler. ASUS includes all of the hardware needed to attach a 120mm fan to the cooler. Assuming that most users will be adding a fan we are going to test the Triton 75 with a 120mm fan.
The Triton 75 is a four heatpipe cooler with a copper base and uses aluminum fins to dissipate heat. As you will soon see the cooler is designed to pass air from above and push it down to the motherboard.”
Shuttle’s XPC SP35P2 Pro SFF barebones system
Tech Report :: Thursday, February 07, 2008
Intel’s P35 Express has reigned as the enthusiast chipset of choice for Core 2 processors since its introduction last May, and for good reason. The P35 delivers a fantastic combination of performance, features, and overclocking potential with a low enough price tag to allow for a wide range of affordable motherboards. But what if you desire a system smaller than your average mid tower or even Micro ATX enclosure?
Then you’ll probably be eyeing something like Shuttle’s XPC SP35P2 Pro. Built on a small form factor P2 chassis that Shuttle has been tweaking for years, the SP35P2 packs a P35 chipset, four DIMM slots, two hard drive bays, and support for double-wide graphics cards into an enclosure not much larger than a shoebox. There’s even an integrated fingerprint reader, and in defiance of the system’s proportions, ample options for overclocking.
On features and specifications alone, the SP35P2 is easily the most interesting small form factor system for PC enthusiasts—not that there are many to choose from these days. The question, then, is how the SP35P2 stacks up against its full-sized ATX counterparts. Read on to see what, if anything, Shuttle has compromised to bring the P35 Express to market in a small form factor system.
