Tech News January 2005

Lian Li PC-7 Plus Case Review @ Overclocker Cafe’
Overclocker Café :: Saturday, January 29, 2005

“The midrange price case market has surprisingly never threatened the high end case lines for some reason. Over the years, we have looked over several midrange boxes that have 95% of the features and 100% of the quality of the top of the line models. In fact, my two favorite cases, bar none, are from the midrange group; the Kingwin KT424 and the Lian Li PC-7. Both cases offer tons of features and more importantly are affordable.”

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Akasa Integral 3.5in External HDD Enclosure Review @ Mikhailtech
Mikhailtech :: Saturday, January 29, 2005

“Akasa went with a minimalist approach when designing their Integral series of enclosures. There are three parts to the entire case: the main aluminum shell, an acrylic front panel, and a sliding acrylic back panel. On each side is a clear plastic strip with indentations to refract light coming from rear-mounted LEDs, in effect creating a lighted strip. The rear has a USB2.0 connection, a power plug, and an on/off switch. There are also a few vent holes present. Notice that no fans are present. Many 3.5″ cases use 40mm fans to cool down the drives inside them. I assume Akasa decided against any fans in order to allow for a quieter and much smaller enclosure; how this impacts heat output is something we’ll see in our thermal test.”

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GeIL Ultra-X PC3200 1GB DC Kit @ InsaneTek
InsaneTek :: Saturday, January 29, 2005

“GeIL has been around for a long time, but since their company is based in Asia, we sometimes forget the excellent memory products they have released in the past. I remember the first time I purchased the GeIL Golden Dragons with the nifty clear/golden PCB and chips that never got hot. Simply plugging in GeIL Golden Dragons into my HP Pavilion fostered my interest in LED’s, cathodes, watercooling dye, and case-modding. If it wasn’t for GeIL, I wouldn’t be on the staff of InsaneTek! GeIL has always impressed us with their dedication to the enthusiast community, and today we have the honor of reviewing the GeIL Dual Channel Ultra-X PC3200.”

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ASUS A8N-SLI Motherboard Review @ t-break
t-break :: Saturday, January 29, 2005
“The black PCB and the mostly white slots and connectors on the A8N-SLI make it a very attractive board that you can show off in your casing. The components on the board are generally well placed like the CPU socket had enough room for us to install the Thermaltake HSF unit without any problems”

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Delphi MyFi xm2go Portable XM Satellite Radio Receiver Review @ The Tech Zone
The Tech Zone :: Saturday, January 29, 2005
“Think of the MyFi as the Sony Walkman of satellite radio. The Delphi MyFi xm2go is a 7 ounce satellite radio receiver and recorder that will work at the beach, at the gym, in your car, or anywhere else you can dream up. At 4.5 inch high by 2.8 inch wide by 1.3″ deep the MyFi is about the size of a large portable music player”

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Intel Sonoma Platform Launch Report @ rojakpot.com
Tech ARP :: Saturday, January 29, 2005

“On January 19th, Intel launched the Sonoma mobile platform and we released our technology review of the Sonoma platform as well as an exclusive look at two Sonoma notebooks!

Today, we present our coverage of the actual Intel launch event! If you want to see what went on during the event, come in and take a look!”

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Corsair Voyager Flash Drive Review @ CoolTechZone
CoolTechZone :: Saturday, January 29, 2005

“After a surge of flash drive manufacturers in the past year or so, Corsair has entered the market to try their storage products. We are all aware of Corsair as being the tier one enthusiast memory provider in the industry. They certainly account for a huge percentage of market shares, and they have introduced quite a few unique and innovative products, namely PC3200XL (the first low-latency modules in the market), LED lights at the top of memory modules, and now the XPERT series with scrolling marquee text functionality to their customers. Admittedly, their market position is thoroughly strong, but with so much competition – do they have what it takes to reach the top?”

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Prime Cooler Memory Cooler Review @ Phoronix
Phoronix :: Saturday, January 29, 2005

“Remember four, five, six years ago when we hardly thought about cooling, much less memory cooling? Nowadays, with faster and faster components, making more heat than ever it is critical to keep the temperatures down to protect all of your valuable investments. The product up today is the Prime Cooler Memory Cooler.”

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Cooler Master Aquagate ALC-U01 Review @ Hexus
Hexus :: Saturday, January 29, 2005
“Overall, the Aquagate has a fair bit going for it. Although perhaps not the most exceptional water cooling kit from a performance point of view, it nevertheless performs admirably. Add to that its ease of installation thanks to a good design and manual, and you have a tempting set-up.””

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Modifying the Swiftech MCP350 Pump for Increased Flow @ SystemCooling
SystemCooling :: Saturday, January 29, 2005

“Everything I said in the original Swiftech MCP350 12 VDC pump review still stands. But for the hard-core enthusiast that is willing to perform a relatively simple modification, this little pump has the potential to deliver significantly more flow. As expected, the modified MCP350 pump remained just as quiet as the original and current draw increased ~0.1 Amp (at 12.0 VDC) under full flow.”

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XG Vortec 600w Power Supply Review @ Controlled-Insanity
Controlled-Insanity :: Saturday, January 29, 2005

“Let’s jump in the waaay back machine for a minute. Power supplies have come a long way since the days of the Pentium 1 and 2, needing only a 250w PSU to deliver more then enough power to keep your system stable was pretty standard. Nowadays, gaming systems are blazing fast, and thus require a stronger, more reliable source of power. Enter our next product for review. Not only does it look amazing, but this 600w PSU from XG (Extreme Gamer), dubbed the Vortec, packs a big punch. Let’s go see if the Vortec delivers a knock out blow, or is just swinging at air”

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CTX International X701A 17 Inch LCD Monitor w/ Speakers Review @ Tweaknews
Tweaknews :: Saturday, January 29, 2005

“If you are looking to upgrade your monitor, I would recommend this one without hesitation. It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles as some of the more expensive monitors on the market, but for the price of about $225-260 you absolutely cannot go wrong with the CTX X701A.

It is cheap, at 14ms response latancy it is a very capable gamer, did I mention it is really cheap? This will be one of the smartest investments you will make for your desktop.”

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HEXUS.review – Gigabyte 3D1
Hexus :: Friday, January 28, 2005
Snip: “Before I even touch on the real-world feasibility of the 3D1, I have to say this – The technology is cool. No matter how logically you try to look at it, the fact that you have a single video card with the power of two cores is simply drool-worthy, even more so when you imagine the potential of doing this with higher-end GPUs like the 6800GT or (heaven forbid, considering the cooling solution and power you’d require) Ultra. I remember the disappointments of the Rage Fury Maxx and XGI Volari Duo well, two boards which made it seem that a modern day dual core GPU was almost in the realms of impossibility. But Gigabyte have taken a chance, thrown caution to the wind and produced an outstanding piece of technology – And even better, it actually works! Sure, this is just a different flavour of SLI, but it has opened the door to a new plain of possibilities, and that is a very good thing indeed.”

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