Tech News July 2003

 

TD Review: Vantec NEXUS 3.5″ Multi Fan Controller
Tech-Dreams :: Tuesday, July 29, 2003
Since the beginning of modding times, the essential goal has been to increase overall system performance. In previous years, a lot of the system performance aspect has been over turned by the quest for beauty. Many mods these days are designed to look good. Even though the style aspect is more at the forefront of today’s modding scene, the quest for performance will never die. Vantec, a leader in the modding (for both performance and style) market has produced yet again another great product – the NEXUS Multi-Fan Controller.

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DFI LANParty NFII Ultra Motherboard Review @ Bjorn3d.com
Bjorn3D :: Tuesday, July 29, 2003
“One of the original things that caught my eye (and probably many others’ eyes as well) about the LANParty series is the whole LAN party theme. DFI does an excellent job pulling this theme together and offering a very appealing package that could make any enthusiast happy. UV reactive and rounded cables, PC Transpo, and FrontX are the big bundled extras, but there is much more to this package.”

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R&B reviewed a X-Micro USB2 drive
Red & Blackness Mods :: Tuesday, July 29, 2003

USB drives have came like a rocket into the market suddenly to replace the old floppy disks that always break. These USB drives add size and speed to a tiny little drive that you can carry around in your keychain. It’s easy to use as you basically plug it in, transfer, and then unplug it again. Or if you run an older OS you will have to install some drivers which are available on a cd with the drive itself. I have looked at many USB drives lately but this will be my first USB2 drive. X-Micro were kind enough to send me a 128mb USB2 drive. We are going to see how it performs against a normal USB1.1 drive and how it works in general.

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Nexus NXP-301 Fan & Light Control
SystemCooling :: Tuesday, July 29, 2003

“We have seen quite a few fan control reviews here lately, with each one bringing a new feature or style to compete for an empty bay in your case. Choices are good for the consumer, and Vantec adds both style and a new feature to their NXP-301 Nexus Fan & Light Control.”

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X-Viper
Xoxide :: Friday, July 25, 2003

“The new X-Viper entry server tower is made of high grade steel design, and weighs just under 20lbs. The cooling for the case is designed for CPU and Video overclocking, now having fans blow directly over AGP video slot. It has increased from our regular line of Xoxide cases in size, now with more room inside. It fits all motherboards on the market, including 12″x13″ motherboards. The side and front fans are ball bearing Blue LED fans, and we also highly recommend cold cathode lighting for the case interior. The top front of the case has USB ports and a firewire port for easy front access. The drive bays are silver, with a black case, so that you can use either silver or black drives to make the case match nicely. It comes with serious cooling power and even includes two passive aluminum hard drive coolers. ”

Only $69.99!

Enermax X-Point CS-528 Computer Case Review
Tweaknews :: Thursday, July 24, 2003

“For the price of ~US$65, you really can’t ask for more. It includes a 300 watt power supply, it has a removable motherboard tray, and best of all, it has a side window. Until now, I only thought these characteristics were housed in cases that were valued in the US$100 and up price-point.”

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DFI LANPARTY Pro 875 Motherboard review
TweakTown :: Thursday, July 24, 2003

“Ever since Intel introduced the hallowed two words, “Dual Channel”, with their Granite Bay chipset towards the end of last year, the tides have turned from AMD controlling the enthusiast crowd to strongly in favour of the 35 year old Intel Corp with their brilliantly maturing Pentium 4. Today Shawn “Toxic” Baker checks out DFI’s Pro 875 LANPARTY motherboard with Intel’s Dual Channel DDR-400 supporting Canterwood chipset. Is performance not an issue for you? Maybe the retail package is of more importance… If so, DFI have the perfect product for you!”

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DFI LanParty Pro875 Canterwood motherboard
Ninjalane :: Thursday, July 24, 2003

“I think it is pretty safe to say that the new LanParty series from DFI has been a great success on many levels. In the case of the LanParty Pro875 it is rather difficult to find anything wrong. I guess if you wanted to get nitpicky DFI missed a perfect branding opportunity by not putting the LanParty logo on the Northbridge heatsink.”

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Enermax CS-3071 review
DataFuse :: Thursday, July 24, 2003

“Enermax is world famous for their PSU’s, but they also have other products, these might have fallen in the shadow of the power supplies. Anyways this time I’ll take a look at one of their enclosures: the CS-3071CBX-B3A to be more precise, wauw that’s one hell of a product name. (I feel like I should include a barcode with that). Although mine came with a simple but silent/effective 300W PSU from enermax themselve, enermax doesn’t include this PSU for this price, so I won’t have a closer look at it. ”

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Vantec Nexus NXP-301 Fan & Light Controller Review
OCIA :: Thursday, July 24, 2003

“There are three fan controllers from left to right. I like the quality of this controller. When the fan controller knob is set off there is no leakage, the fan is off. The 4th knob from left to right is the light control. If you look closely you can see a speaker icon on top of the controller. Yes this controller can be set to being sound sensitive. I also liked the green led glow surrounding the knobs.”

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Xoxide Clear UV Acrylic Case
Nexus Hardware :: Thursday, July 24, 2003

“If you like to show off your hardware and a window just doesn’t cut it; you need a clear case. Xoxide has added a new twist to clear case production. Xoxide has made their case out of UV reactive acrylic. Let’s move on:”

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GeIL Golden Dragon PC3200 Review
OCAddiction :: Thursday, July 24, 2003

“I was able to run the Golden Dragon PC3200 Dual Channel at 280MHz front side bus with a 5:4 CPU:Memory ratio CAS 2.5-7-4-4 Game Accelerator set to Auto and at 293MHz front side bus with a 3:2 CPU:Memory ratio CAS 2-6-3-3 and Game Accelerator set to Street Racer. I could not run this memory at the F1 Game Accelerator setting or at CAS 2-5-2-2 even at the default 200MHz bus speed. These settings were verified stable with Memtest86 v3.0. “

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Shuttle AB60RS Springdale review
Hexus :: Thursday, July 24, 2003

“Shuttle’s task is a difficult one. Because they’re not as well known in the U.K as, say, ASUS or ABIT, they have to make their boards better than these truly established names if they’re to be considered as possible purchasing material. The AB60RS is another fine, stable motherboard with a limited BIOS. Is that enough though ?. Only time will tell.”

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Lian Li Aquarium Side Panel
PimpRig :: Thursday, July 24, 2003

“I, for one, love the panel with the design reversed. The only downfall I am monitoring is the moisture vent in the inside of the case now. So far she seems pretty dry and I haven’t noticed any condensation inside. It’s not that big of a pressure and change in internal humidity of the case.”

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Romtec TRIOS II Mutli-Drive Selector
SystemCooling :: Thursday, July 24, 2003

“Welcome to TRIOS. The Romtec TRIOS II is a second generation high-tech A-B-C switchbox for IDE devices. The original TRIOS is probably best known for its ability to select between any one of three connected hard disk drives (HDD) at the push of a button. This allows running three separate operating systems on one machine without the complexity of setting up multiple partitions on one drive and the possibility of cross-partition corruption.”

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Cooler Master Aero 7+ CPU Cooler Review
Bjorn3D :: Thursday, July 24, 2003

“The Cooler Master Aero 7+ is not without flaws, but it’s a good performer and if you are looking for a CPU cooler that is both quiet and suitable for overclocking your Athlon, you should certainly consider this unit.”

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Bytecc USA Clear Blue Acrylic Case review
The Tech Lounge :: Thursday, July 24, 2003

“This case was a breeze to construct, and looks great. Despite a few pitfalls such as installing new drives and the lack of PSU supports, it is still a great, well built case. If you don’t plan on messing with the inside of your case much, and want something nice to look at, you may want to check out this case.”

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Lian Li PC37 review
Hexus :: Thursday, July 24, 2003

“The external appearance of the PC37 is unique as the case is designed for people who want to have maximum usage of the drive bays but still remain small in size. I can’t think of another case that has 5 x 5? inch drive bays yet only measures 365mm high.”

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Acoustic Research 900MHz Wireless Headphones
ViperLair :: Thursday, July 24, 2003

“The 900MHz Wireless Headphone kit includes a nice pair of Headphones, a base station, a power cord adaptor and a Fiber Optic Cable (SPDIF). The unit uses a rechargeable battery that has a decent life span, I have played for up to 3 hours without loss of audio. Manufacturer documents say 4 hours on a full charge. It does not appear to add much weight (the headphones are more substantial than my previous ones, but they are also larger).”

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Enermax UC-A07FATR2 Multifunction Panel Review
Mikhailtech :: Thursday, July 24, 2003

“Blister pack opened, you’ll find a complete kit. One problem that arises with these types of devices but is unavoidable is cable clutter. Anything short of a full tower and you’ll have to spend some quality time tucking away cables to keep up the airflow. The contents consist of the unit itself (featuring two 3-pin plugs, a pair of flat thermal probes and a pass-through 4-pin molex connector for main power), two USB wires, two audio wires, a Firewire plug, bag of screws for mounting, a PCI bracket for feeding the wires around back, three zip ties to help with the cable organization, and an easily read manual. Not shown but also included: chip, CPU and HDD stickers (three of each) and two pieces of (thermal?) tape for sensor mounting.”

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Marauderz Portable USB Battery Extender Guide!
Tech ARP :: Thursday, July 24, 2003

“Do you own a USB device that needs loads of power? Well, check this guide out to find out how you can create your own USB battery extender!”

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Vantec ION VAN-400B PSU Review
Furioustech :: Thursday, July 24, 2003

“Power supplies, I have reviewed several, today we have the VANTEC ION on the chopping block. This power supply is rated at 400 watts and 220 amps with a peak of 500 watts, pretty impressive! With a power supply being one of the most important parts of your computer system you don’t want a cheap or generic one with your expensive CPU or mother board. Want to know more? Then read on, you will be shockingly pleased!”

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Soltek SL-KT400A-L KT400A Motherboard
Overclockers New Zealand :: Thursday, July 24, 2003

“Well, I am sorry to disappoint you, boys and girls, but the Soltek SL-KT400A-L is no match for the nF2 boards. It surely is faster than Soltek’s KT-400 motherboard, 75FRV-L, but it is lagging behind when comparing to other nF2 solutions, including Soltek FRN2.”

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Xoxide X-Turbine (Silver)
Xoxide :: Wednesday, July 16, 2003

Our new X-Turbine case is an exclusive Xoxide.com model, produced only for our customers. It features a see-through metal mesh front grille, with two blue LED fans behind it. The end effect is stunning and aggressive. The airflow of the case is powered by six total cooling fans, making for a low case temperature, and a great start for low CPU and other component temperatures. The case features front mounted (behind a hidden door) USB and firewire connections. Please note that the case does not include the lights inside the case as shown in the picture. The case is being lit with a dual blue cold cathode light, which are options below. The front Two LED blue fans ARE included with the case though.

Only $59.99!

Raidmax Power Supplies @ Virtual-Underground.com
Virtual-Underground :: Tuesday, July 15, 2003

“When removed from their boxes beauty of these units was apparent. They weren’t just another ordinary box power supply. These two had a heat-sink type ridge system over them. It gave the shell of the power supplies a little needed attitude or flair. The 400W power supply came in a sharp blur color and the 500W showed off its style in the classic black. Now for those of you who have windows and think that a clear power supply cover looks a little tacky, these power supplies are for you. You will have to be careful while moving them around and installing them, because the color does scratch off pretty easily.”

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VIA PT800 Chipset – Single Channel taken to the Max
TweakTown :: Tuesday, July 15, 2003

“Over the past 18 months VIA Technology has been hindered by an on-going court case with Intel over Pentium 4 licensing rights. Just recently Intel settled their disagreements with VIA which has allowed both companies to get back to work. This week VIA released their new PT800 single channel, fully licensed, Pentium 4 chipset. Follow Shawn “Toxic” Baker as he tells us all about it and if it can keep pace with Intel’s dual channel monsters, Canterwood and Springdale!”

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Clear LED Fan Grill @ ThinkComputers.org
Think Computers :: Tuesday, July 15, 2003

“Clear cases have come to be very popular lately. Along with clear cases have come many other clear items. We saw clear fans even before clear cases. Then came along the PSU mod, which was a clear covering that you put on your PSU. Now with all of that there are some new products coming out. One of those products being clear fan grills. Most of you have seen clear fan grills, well today we will be looking at some, but these have something special added. So lets check them out

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Falcon Northwest Mach V
SystemCooling :: Tuesday, July 15, 2003

“The Mach V is Falcon Northwest’s flagship model. Each machine is hand-built and tuned, and represents the pinnacle of PC performance. The machine we looked at was absolutely stuffed with high-end gear, and we were very excited at the prospect of putting it through its paces

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XPCases.com X-Dreamer Mid Tower Case Review @ VH
Virtual-Hideout :: Tuesday, July 15, 2003

“The first time a saw a pre-modded case for sale was atleast a year ago. These days, the price of a stock and a pre-modded case are almost the same! With so many different styles and colors, one of the biggest questions when customizing a case is, “Where do I start?” In my opinion, a pre-modded case is a good structure to add more personalized mods to. Buying pre-modded helps saves time, and ensures your case will have a professional construction to it. Today I am taking a look at the “X-Dreamer” pre-modded case. It’s features and design look promising, but how well will it actually function?”

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PodPod-iPod Easel @ Geekshelter
Geek Shelter :: Tuesday, July 15, 2003

“With the new digital hub craze, mainly based around music and movies there has been a take off in inventions for many of these products. One product being the iPod, when Apple first introduced this product their goal was to leave it generalized in a way. Apple wanted to give developers a chance to better this product and twist it into there own. This was a great idea introducing many new products, such as FM transmitters, stands, and covers protecting the iPod from scratches and abrasions. The product recently obtained, mainly has a use of holding the pod for saving space and adding style to your iPod setup.”

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