Tech News November 2005

by NewsNovember 30, 2005June 29, 20140255

How To Prevent Unwanted Windows Programs From Loading At Startup @ The TechZone
The Tech Zone :: Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Some of the kinder and well written programs are configurable and allow you to change the settings that starts them up. If this option is available, then this is the best approach. There are, however, many programs that do not give you the choice and no matter how many times you remove them, they return. Two that I find really annoying are the “Windows Messenger” and the “Quicktime Task”. Both sit in the system tray and I don’t need or want them there.

PimpRig Review // FrozenCPU ATX 2.0 PSU Tester
PimpRig :: Tuesday, November 29, 2005
“When it comes to troubleshooting hardware inside your computer, any enthusiast can tell you that any particular problem can be caused by one or more components going/gone bad. Narrowing any problem down can be quite challenging if you do not have extra components lying around to swap in for the suspected bad component(s). Any help one can get in troubleshooting components is more than welcome in my eyes.”

BFR Article: Noise Cancelling or Noise Reduction When It Comes to Headphones
Bona Fide Reviews :: Tuesday, November 29, 2005

“Noise-cancelling headphones use tiny microphones that identify the noise or sounds outside the headphones and then work to cancel out the sounds. Noise-reduction headphones (also known as noise-isolation headphones) reduce sound by being a barrier through which sounds cannot pass. What does all this mean? And how do these two differ?”

Intel Fab18 Factory Tour in Kiryat Gat, Israel
Hardware Secrets :: Tuesday, November 29, 2005
“Intel has several facilities in Israel, including two chip factories. We had the chance to visit Fab18, located in Kiryat Gat, which manufactures Pentium 4 chips in 90 nm process and also chipsets and flash memories. In this coverage you will have a better notion of where Intel factories are located, what is the relationship between them and, of course, how Fab18 looks like inside and how a chip manufacturing facility works.”

Timeline of Google Acquisitions @ CoolTechZone.com
CoolTechZone :: Tuesday, November 29, 2005
“Listed here is a list of companies acquired by Google, the search giant that has got me paranoid. Why? Well, the magnitude of its search operations and its willingness to track me where I go in cyberspace is a scary thought, but that’s a different optic, so I’ll skip the details on that for now.”

News: Abit’s Fatal1ty AN8 SLI motherboard reviewed at TR
The Tech Report :: Monday, November 28, 2005
EVER SINCE THE DAYS of the BH6, Abit has chosen not to focus on mass producing low-cost motherboards for large PC vendors. Instead, they’ve built their business largely in the higher margin, lower volume enthusiast market. Historically, some of Abit’s motherboards are ranked as the best enthusiast-class products ever built, but fresh competition from manufacturers like DFI has left Abit with no room to rest on its laurels.

The Fatal1ty series is Abit’s own top-tier product line, and its SLI support, unique OTES cooler, and numerous BIOS options are meant to differentiate it qualitatively from any other mobo on the market. Does the Fatal1ty AN8 SLI compare well to other, more conventionally feature-rich boards? Read on to find out.

Five Reasons Why Sony Rootkit Is Good For You @ The TechZone
The Tech Zone :: Monday, November 28, 2005
Now, you may be wondering if you misread the title claiming this is “Good For You”. Of course Sony’s tactics are despicable and if you’re one of the estimated 568,200 infected users, you should rightly be unhappy. But instead of piling on to the “Sony is bad” bandwagon, I’d like to look at the positives that will come from this event.

Linux SLI Primer @ Phoronix
Phoronix :: Monday, November 28, 2005

Summary: “By now you’ve probably read numerous NVIDIA SLI guides for constructing a Windows gaming rig but for your viewing pleasure today we have our first Linux SLI primer, as the NVIDIA Rel80 drivers are on the heels of a public launch, which bring fourth initial SLI support. In this guide, we share some basic information for choosing graphics cards, power supplies, and motherboards that are NVIDIA Scalable Link Interface certified. In addition we share a few tidbits about the Linux software setup along with screenshots.”

DFI LanParty NF4 SLI-DR Expert
techPowerUp! :: Monday, November 28, 2005
When I first heard that DFI is coming up with a new “Expert” version of this board, I was wondering if they could really improve things so much that it warrants a new product. Yes they did! There are a lot of improvements compared to the older LanParty NF4 series. For example you can finally run four 512 MB memory modules at 1T timing.

Laptop or Desktop – which computer to choose? @ BonaFideReviews
Bona Fide Reviews :: Monday, November 28, 2005
Quote: “Traditionally, laptop computers were bought by people who had to be able to take their computer with them when they left the office, such as the salesman visiting a customer. It always used to be the case that buying portability meant a trade-off in terms of power and functionality, so desktop machines were the preferred option for those who didn’t have to travel. Is this still a genuine trade-off, however? It’s time to re-examine the assumptions to see if they are still true.” Image: http://www.bonafidereviews.com/articles/116/images/mainPageIcon.jpg

[Designtechnica News] Talk Back: Life In 360 Degrees
Designtechnica :: Monday, November 28, 2005
“Wait… I hear something!
Wuzzat?! Who’s there? Where’s the microphone? Huh… Wha… Arrrrggggh! Where did that La-Z-Boy come from?
Sigh… Sorry for the technical difficulties, folks, but it seems we’ve got a serious situation here. You see, my eyeballs have exploded.
Or rather, that’s what it feels like, having basked in the 1080i, 16:9 widescreen afterglow of my shiny new Xbox 360 for roughly seven days straight. (Or was it eight? I now judge time by the hours clocked into Need for Speed: Most Wanted.)”

Zalman CNPS9500 LED Heatsink @ Viperlair
ViperLair :: Monday, November 28, 2005
“Overall, we found the Zalman CNPS9500 LED heatsink to be quite impressive, which isn’t something we say very often about air coolers. The performance was very good, but when you consider the fact that our video card fan was the only noise source we noticed during testing, that says volumes about Zalman’s dedication to silence.”

Vantec Nexstar GX USB Drive Enclosure and Hub
Big Bruin :: Monday, November 28, 2005

Quote: I have had many cheap, flimsy, generic external enclosures of both the 3.5″ and the notebook sized 2.5″varieties, and most were able to transfer data, but sure not look good doing it. The Vantec Nexstar GX looks very good sitting on a desk, moves data faster than expected, and keeps a hard drive nice and cool.

Nikao Black Dragonfire case @ Pro-Clockers
Pro-Clockers :: Monday, November 28, 2005

Quote: Nikao may not have the largest and most recognized name in the industry, but they are quickly gaining reputation with this case whose inspiration comes directly from the case-modding culture. With a design based upon Alonso_Bistro’s famous case The “O”, this case is definitely proof that the pre-mod industry is trying to kick things up a notch.

PimpRig Review // Corsair TwinX XMS PC4000 2GB DDR Memory Kit
PimpRig :: Monday, November 28, 2005
“Until recently, going with more than 1GB of RAM had some pitfalls. It was outrageously expensive for 1GB modules, and if you went with 4 512MB modules you would either lose your low latency or FSB speed. Not so anymore, a few companies are producing low-latency high speed 2GB DDR kits and, of course, Corsair is among them. The RAM that I will be checking out here is from the infamous Corsair XMS line, the Corsair TwinX XMS PC4000 2GB memory kit done up in Platinum color.”

Title: Corsair TWINX2048-3500LLPRO 2GB Kit Review @ PC Modding Malaysia
PC Modding Malaysia :: Monday, November 28, 2005

Content: “The 2GB XMS3500LLPRO kit comes with LED activity lights that gives that bling factor to your rig and will surely turn heads. Although it may not be as cool as the Xpert series, these Pro series packs a punch. Rated at DDR438 or 218MHz, these modules offer low latencies at 2-3-2-6 1T with just 2.7V. This is great for most users as you will not need a motherboard with extensive VDIMM option as the 2GB XMS3500LLPRO kit works best with just 2.7V. Although we were able to run Memtest at 2-2-2-5, we were unable to boot into Windows due to the limitation caused by the on-processor memory controller. The 2GB XMS3500LLPRO kit also showed decent overclocking for a 2GB kit and operating DDR510 with only 2.7V is pretty impressive.”

SimpliSoftware RW HD Tach v.3.0.1.0 Benchmarking Software @ ThinkComputers.org
Think Computers :: Monday, November 28, 2005

Quote: “This is a basic and simple to use hard drive benchmarking utility program that compares drives to an existing database provided by the software or allows you to compare drives head to head in a benchmarking drag-race.”

Futurelooks Holiday 2005 Thoughtful Gifts for the PC Gamer
Futurelooks :: Monday, November 28, 2005
Your PC Gamer probably has the pimpest system out there. So what can you buy for him or her that won’t go back to the store after Xmas? Well, we think we have a few tried and tested items that might fit the bill.

Thermaltake Big Water SE @ ThinkComputers.org
Think Computers :: Saturday, November 26, 2005

Quote: “Water/Liquid cooling is becoming more and more popular, and has become something that is not just for the hardcore overclocker or enthusiast anymore. Many companies have come out with all in one water cooling solutions that don’t require much skill to assemble. We all know the name Thermaltake, they are one of the leading PC cooling manufacturers today, and they are constantly looking for ways to improve their products. Today for review I have the Big Water SE, all in one water cooling system, adding to Thermaltake’s award winning line up of quality cooling products.”

Holiday 2005 PC Case Buyers Guide @ ThinkComputers.org
Think Computers :: Saturday, November 26, 2005

Quote: “Tis the season for you to go and spend your hard earned money on things you most likely don’t need, or the person you are getting it for doesn’t need either, but we still do it anyway. So in the spirit of the Holidays we decided to make your gift giving and maybe receiving a bit more painless and easier. I have come up with a PC case buyers guide. I have reviewed a ton of cases and know what it takes for a case to be a good quality case. I will be going through a bunch of cases in no particular order. We will mainly be looking at name brands, but I might throw some special ones in there!”

The TechZone has posted the final part of High End Audio Cable Design.
The Tech Zone :: Saturday, November 26, 2005
In the last part of High End Cable Design, audio engineer Adam Blake talks about the materials and manufacturing process used to make a $1,500 audio cable. For those into high end audio, this is a must read!

XGI Targets OSS Drivers @ Phoronix
Phoronix :: Saturday, November 26, 2005

Summary: “As we celebrate this Thanksgiving Day here in the United States, there is an additional place in our hearts for the talented folks over at XGI Technology. Unlike XGI’s earlier attempt at opening up their 2D FBDev source-code to the general public, which hadn’t gained much support due to the lack of 3D code, they have begun to take a new position on their software. As many OSS enthusiasts could have only dreamed about, by as early as next month XGI is targeting at possibly releasing their complete source-code for the Volari 8300 to the open-source community. Read more in this Phoronix exclusive.”

Title: Tuniq Tower 120 CPU Cooler Review @ Virtual-Hideout
Virtual-Hideout :: Saturday, November 26, 2005

Snip: “So overall the Tuniq Tower 120 was a very well thought out and designed unit. I would recommend this to anyone wanting a fan based CPU cooler as it performs well and is rock solid.”

Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro CPU AMD64 Cooler Review at 3DXtreme
3dXtreme :: Saturday, November 26, 2005
At this point the Zalman CNPS9500 bowed out. It was able to prime the Opteron 146 up to 2.90 Ghz but was unable to maintain prime stability any further while using the CNPS9500 – consider this that it was a closed case environment. We’ve seen results showing the Zalman CNPS9500 excelling on an open bench, I don’t consider an open bench environment a computer – it needs to be in a closed case for me to really accept cooling figures.

Regardless of the closed case environment, the Big Typhoon and Freezer 64 Pro pushed forward. The Big Typhoon and the Arctic Cooler Freezer 64 Pro managed to battle it out both pulling off the same maximum stable overclock! In any case the Zalman, while being a fine cooler, just could not match the cooling abilities of the Big Typhoon or the Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro on our particular system.

PrimoChill X-QPack H2O SFF Case Review @ GruntvillE.com
GruntvillE :: Saturday, November 26, 2005

Here’s a quote: “When you order the X-QPack H2O from VoyeurMods you have the option of adding blocks, a different radiator and many other things. The base case, which comes with the black Black Ice Pro radiator sells for $299. The unit we tested only had the radiator upgraded to the chrome version and would run you $311. This is great for a system with just a CPU block that you are not going to try to run extreme overclocks on. If you want two blocks, say a GPU and CPU, you should upgrade to the Black Ice Extreme or ThermoChill radiators. The MCP-350 can handle a two block system easily.”

How Chips are Manufactured
Hardware Secrets :: Saturday, November 26, 2005
“Have you ever wondered how chips such as microprocessors, video processors, memories, chipsets etc are created and manufactured? In this tutorial we will explain everything you need to know about chip manufacturing process.”

Seagate 500GB Barracuda 7200.9 Hard Drive Pictorial Review Posted!
Tech ARP :: Saturday, November 26, 2005

Quote – “We are moving closer to the terabyte era. The new Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 hard drive pushes us closer to the goal of a terabyte of storage space in a single drive.

Join Adrian today as he takes a look at the new Seagate 500GB Barracuda 7200.9 SATA hard drive! ”

[Final of the Final] World Cyber Games 2005 @ Singapore
Hardware Zoom :: Saturday, November 26, 2005

Quote – Over 39,000 spectators have flocked down to Suntec City to cheer on their favourite teams as they battle it out to win the grand prize of US$435,000. On the last day of WCG, the final round for CS:Source, StarCraft, WarCraft & Fifa was held on the main stage in front of thousands of spectators. Let’s check out our photo coverage…

OCZ EB DDR PC-4000 1024MB Platinum Edition @ Bytesector
Bytesector :: Saturday, November 26, 2005
“OCZ Technology, every enthusiast’s favorite brand of memory, is at it again with the OCZ EB DDR PC-4000 2x1024MB Platinum Edition Dual Channel Kit. This memory kit is very similar to our previous review of the OCZ EL DDR PC-4000 1024MB Gold Edition Dual Channel, except it basically picked up from where the Gold EL memory left off. The OCZ PC-4000 Platinum EB series combines the advantages of high density 1024MB modules with the unparalleled performance gains of low timings, delivering what enthusiasts and gamers want most from their DDR memory.”

Rob Enderle’s Holiday 2005 Buyer’s Guide
Designtechnica :: Saturday, November 26, 2005
“There are a lot of choices this year, and probably no one reading this has unlimited funds. We do know that students, according to a survey, want (in this order) an Apple iPod, a digital camera or digital video camera, a Tivo, or a Sony PSP. Since this survey was conducted, Microsoft announced the eminent release of their Xbox and many of these “students” got iPods, so they have probably dropped lower on the list. And, given that the initial allotment of the Xbox 360 is sold out, unless you’ve preordered that product, you are going to pay a huge premium for it this year (and yes, I’ve ordered mine and yes, I too am paying a premium).”

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