Three Reasons to Use GNOME
XYZ Computing :: Monday, October 23, 2006
Recently KDE turned ten years old, a milestone by any measure. Over the past ten years this desktop environment has undergone tremendous improvements and introduced a number of advances into desktop Linux. KDE is popular, highly customizable, and, no matter what your tastes are, you will probably agree that it can look good. If all this was not enough, KDE has developed a celebrity status by appearing on a few popular television shows. Despite all this, GNOME is still the best desktop environment for Linux. Anyone with any sense knows that the only way to communicate text-based information effectively on the internet is through a list. As such, here are three reasons why GNOME is the logical choice for the majority of home Linux users.
ATI Radeon x1950 Pro Preview
Techgage :: Monday, October 23, 2006
Dongle-free Crossfire anyone? ATI has just announced their x1950 Pro cards which fall directly behind the XTX versions. Some benefits include a digital voltage regulator and a single slot cooler! Learn more inside..
New ATI’s 6.10 Drivers (not Beta, not RC1 -> exclusive news) + Corsair Nautilus 500 Review + ATI’s
Madbox PC :: Monday, October 23, 2006
ATI is gonna launch their new Catalyst 6.10, their are not Beta or RC1 versions. Their latest drivers (6.10 RC1) included the option to use Folding@Home in your ATI X1900 or X1950, and they also included capability and information for X1950XTX, X1300XT and X1650 Pro cards.
ATI Release X1950 Pro with Native Crossfire Support and Internal Bridge
Overclock 3d :: Monday, October 23, 2006
ATI have stepped up the heat on nVidia by releasing a new mid-high end card called the X1950 Pro. With automatic crossfire requiring no slave/master cards, and internal bridge and blazing speed for ~ $199 could this card be the card that rakes in the sales for ATI? Overclock3D have put up an article about with some facts and figures.
Zalman Reserator 2 Review
Hi-Tech Reviews :: Monday, October 23, 2006
The Reserator 2 water cooling system that we are reviewing today may be the closest you can get to absolute silence in a PC setup. Since the unit has no fans and has a submersible pump built into the unit, what sound it does make is barely audible. So come on along as we check out this awesome piece of gear from Zalman and see if you like it as much as we did.
Tagan Easycon XL 700w TG700-U35 PSU
Overclock 3d :: Monday, October 23, 2006
It’s been a while since Tagan updated their well respected “Easycon” range, and today I’ve been given the opportunity to test their latest addition – the Easycon XL.
Seasonic M12 700W Power Supply Review
PC Stats :: Monday, October 23, 2006
Seasonic hasn’t done anything revolutionary with its M12 power supply, it just put together a very high quality package with a 700W rating. With a retail price of $240 CDN ($214 US, £113 GBP) the M12 700 is certainly expensive, but dare I say, it is probably one of the best modular power supplies on the market. Based on our past experiences with Seasonic power supplies, we know it deliver the goods efficiently – a modular design simply sweetens things.
ATI Radeon X1950 Pro Technology Report Posted! 
Tech ARP :: Monday, October 23, 2006
ATI is replacing the Radeon X1900 GT with just announced Radeon X1950 Pro. Join us to find out more about this new graphics card from ATI, as well as the new ATI CrossFire bridge! ”
ATI Chips Comparison Table
Hardware Secrets :: Monday, October 23, 2006
“With more and more graphics chips being released every day it became very complicated for the user who does not follow the video card market to know the differences among all ATI graphic chips in the market today. To facilitate knowing and understanding the difference among major ATI chips, we have compiled the following table:”
New Native CrossFire Technology from ATI
Hardware Secrets :: Monday, October 23, 2006
“CrossFire is a technology released by ATI to compete with nVidia’s SLI, allowing you to connect two video cards in parallel in order to increase 3D performance. First we thought that CrossFire technology would be the greatest vaporware of all times. But it has finally reached the market one year ago, one year behind the competing technology from nVidia, SLI. Even though CrossFire is better than SLI in the way that you can hook two completely different video cards together (SLI requires that both cards to be exactly the same), it has two major drawbacks: you need a “master” (a.k.a. “CrossFire Edition”) video card to control CrossFire (“master” cards were hard to find when CrossFire was released) and the connection between the two cards are done thru a cable outside the PC. ATI is now fixing these two problems with a new CrossFire version, called “Native CrossFire”. Let’s take a look on it.”
Scythe Infinity
techPowerUp! :: Monday, October 23, 2006
The Scythe Infinity is a huge high-performance CPU cooler using five heatpipes. The cooler comes with Scythe’s ingenious mounting system which makes installation a breeze. Scythe has included mounting kits for the Sockets 939, AM2, 478 and 775. This means that this cooler is a future proof investment for users who are considering a Conroe S775 upgrade in the near future.
SyncMAX Express PC2-6400 DDR2 800 Memory Review
PC Stats :: Monday, October 23, 2006
The SyncMAX PC2-6400 Express modules that passed through the PCSTATS test labs today are entirely great for mainstream PC systems. At stock speeds the memory performed at the same pace as enthusiast class DDR2-800 DIMMs; benchmarking at par for workstation style tasks like email, word processing and spreadsheets.
Coolink Products Review
DragonSteel Mods :: Monday, October 23, 2006
” A little bit ago I reviewed some really great fans from Noctua, today I have some more from Coolink, Noctua actually sent them to me with their fans. They sent me three fans, sizes 120mm, 92mm and 80mm, also they sent the Coolink Silent Savior HDD cooler and a pack of Anti-Vibration bolts as well. The fans themselves look pretty cool, clear frame with blue blades, the bolts are silicone, and the HDD Savior is aluminum with a Coolink 80mm fan mounted on it. Sound interesting, read on… ”
Asus EN7600GT SILENT/2DHT/256M Video Card
Viper Lair :: Monday, October 23, 2006
“For the gamer on a budget the EN7600GT SILENT/2DHT/256M is an excellent choice, providing excellent gaming performance as well as decent overclocking potential as well. If your quest is for a silent running rig, you just cant get any quieter than a card with zero moving parts that produces no noise what so ever.”
ATP 256Mb 3-in-1 microSD combo
DragonSteel Mods :: Sunday, October 22, 2006
” More and more devices these days use flash memory, and flash memory card just keep getting smaller to fit into all of these various devices. Cellphones, PDA’s, cameras, all sorts of devices use different types of cards, but the microSD cards are just really starting to catch on, especially with cellphones and other specialty devices. If you need a flash card, there are many choices out there, but why not get one that is a bit tougher than all the others. ATP makes all their flash cards weatherproof, dust proof, ESD proof and extreme temperature resistant.. Today for review I have one of their new offerings, it is a nice little 3-in-1 combo setup, with 256Mb microSD card, microSD to SD adapter, and microSD portable USB reader/storage. Read on to learn more… ”
Cyber Snipa Dog Tags Flash Drive and Tools
Viper Lair :: Sunday, October 22, 2006
“Ok, I admit it; I won’t be wearing these with the supplied chain around my neck. I’m just not gangsta nuff yo. But they will be going on to my keys and replacing my current M-Systems Disk-on-key device as my permanent carry devices. I think the design and idea of the Dog Tags is very cool and great fun.”
Icydock MB453 Drive Enclosure 
Think Computers :: Sunday, October 22, 2006
“One of the biggest issues I had when wanting to use Icydock’s other internal drive enclosures was space. If you are using a full tower then you might not have a problem with fitting all of the drives in there you want, but if you are using a mid-tower or something else you may not be able to fit all of those enclosures in there. Well today we are taking a look at another enclosure from Icydock. This enclosure is a 3 drive enclosure, but only takes up 2 5.25″ spots. So it saves you space and allows for up to 3 drives to be installed. So let’s take a look at the MB453 drive enclosure.”
Computers and Cat Litter
The Tech Lounge :: Sunday, October 22, 2006
“You may think computers and cat litter have absolutely nothing in common, but using the wrong litter in the vicinity of an air-sucking computer can have devastating effects! See which litter works the best in a high-tech envinronment.”
Kingston HyperX DDR2-8500 4x512mb (2GB) Memory Review
Virtual Hideout :: Sunday, October 22, 2006
“Kingston and ASUS have worked together to ensure that these two products work well together and they’ve done their homework. 1066MHz at 2.2v is very reasonable considering many memory companies are asking for 2.1v-2.2v for 800mhz kits! ”
Sapphire Radeon X1650 PRO Videocard Review
Tweaknews :: Sunday, October 22, 2006
“When contemplating my upcoming review of the X1650 PRO, I considered this card to perform exactly like the X1600 PRO tested earlier. They are essentially the same other than the slightly different core and its’ smaller manufacturing process. Now add in the fact that it is lacking one texture unit and I was also contemplating maybe even a slight decrease. But surprisingly, the card performed well beyond my expectations and proved to be a valuable mainstream alternative for your next purchase..”
Quad SLI under the microscope
The Tech Report :: Sunday, October 22, 2006
OVER THE PAST few years, we’ve seen an incredible number of extreme hardware solutions marketed to PC gamers: graphics cards that cost over five hundred bucks, thousand-dollar “Extreme Edition” CPUs, motherboards with more ports than Dubai, custom physics processors, and now even a “killer” NIC. Without a doubt, though, the most extreme of all of these offerings has to be Nvidia’s vaunted Quad SLI. The concept of running four GPUs together for insane gaming goodness is more extreme than snowboarding down some wicked moguls into a vat of Mountain Dew at the X Games.
Zippy-Emacs PSL-6850P(G1) 850 Watt Power Supply
Bjorn 3d :: Sunday, October 22, 2006
Just over a year ago I first began hearing of Zippy power supplies. At first I didn’t associate them with the well Zippy-Emacs power supplies that have been quite well known in the Server arena for some time. This was mostly due to the fact that the reviews I was reading were listing their Zippy reference PSU as ‘Class A’ Computer Enthusiast grade product. I even went as far as looking into purchasing one after being highly impressed by the literature that I had consumed. At the time New Egg was carrying the gaming models of this PSU as well as some of their server class products, but the price was a bit more than I was willing to pay. This was just before SLI and later Crossfire burst on to the scene.
AMD Athlon 64 Socket AM2 CPU in a Socket 939 Motherboard
OC Inside :: Sunday, October 22, 2006
As already mentioned in the previous Review, the ASRock 939SLI32-eSATA2 motherboard offers beside the AMD 939 pin CPU socket also a so-called ASRock Future CPU Port. Who already own this Motherboard and would like to buy now one of the inexpensive AMD AM2 CPUs, is able upgrade the board for Socket AM2 within a few minutes! This Review contains the final result, the overclocking result and a direct comparison of the AMD Athlon 64 Socket 939 CPU compared to the AMD Socket AM2 CPU on the identical motherboard.
Bjorn3D Pumpkin Carving Contest!!
Bjorn 3d :: Sunday, October 22, 2006
It is that time of the year again and we are having our annual Carving contest.
Prizes for this are a XFX 7600GS card and 2GB memory kit from Corsair.
Ultra Aluminus ATX Mid-Tower Case
Modders Inc. :: Sunday, October 22, 2006
Ultra Products has put out some great quality products as far as I am concerned. It seems I catch most of the Ultra items coming in for review. Todays test subject is one of the Ultra Aluminus ATX Mid-Tower cases. At first glance it looks like a couple of other cases out there, Ultra Glossy Dragon, Chieftech Dragon, and several others. This one is slightly different though, it is built of aluminum and has a little different layout compared to its older counterparts.
Zalman CNPS9700 LED CPU Cooler
Hardware Secrets :: Sunday, October 22, 2006
“Korea-based Zalman is one of the most respectable manufacturers on the CPU cooling business, as they use only top-notch materials. Their latest CPU cooler, CNPS9700 LED, is no different, being manufactured entirely in pure copper and featuring a huge 110 mm fan with two ball bearings that glows blue when the system is turned on. Let’s take a look on Zalman’s new baby, which will be released on October 19th.”
Thermaltake Bigwater 745 Liquid Cooling System Review
i4u :: Sunday, October 22, 2006
“Good performing liquid cooling system with no glaring issued during install other than not having enough coolant included. The components are of good quality and the system will work with most current CPUs. The system components are large, be prepared for creative installation and possibly having to mod your chassis to fit the system inside the case. Hardcore overclockers may want to shop elsewhere, but the majority of liquid cooling users will find the system to be great for typical needs and much better than high performance air cooling. ”
MSI NX7950GX2-T2D1GE Geforce 7950GX2
PC Stats :: Sunday, October 22, 2006
“The MSI NX7950GX2-T2D1GE is the definition of high end gaming hardware! The MSI NX7950GX2-T2D1GE videocard is based on the nVidia reference design, which is a combination of two separate videocard PCBs which have been stacked together to form a two-slot device. There are two GeForce 7950GX2 GPUs, each with 512MB of memory for a total of 1GB dedicated to all things graphical rendering. MSI’s NX7950GX2-T2D1GE slips delicately into a single PCI Express x16 slot, but occupies two case bracket spaces. It has one TV-output connector and two DVI connectors, analog to digital adaptors are included. The card supports component output and S-Video output. The GeForce 7950GX2 GPU has the same features; 24 pixel rendering pipelines, 8 vertex pipelines, 256bit memory controller, etc., however the core and memory clock speeds are set slightly lower.”
MSI K9N SLI Platinum & Foxconn C51XEM2AA
Pure Overclock :: Sunday, October 22, 2006
“Not so long ago Nvidia launched the nForce 500 chipset’s for AMD’s new DDR2 capable socket AM2. By now you should all be aware of the minimal performance increases DDR2 has brought to the A64 architecture and it’s low latency on-die memory controller, but from my perspective the most difficult aspect of the AM2 and nForce 500 launch is leaving behind the oh-so mature motherboard choices available for s939 in place of brand new ‘unproven’ boards, so to speak. With that point made, anyone who’s eying up AMD’s recent and significant price drops across the board will be asking one question – which AM2 board will rock my world?”
SilverStone Element 400Watt PSU ST40EF 
DragonSteel Mods :: Sunday, October 22, 2006
” Today for review I have the pleasure of reviewing one of SilverStones’ new 80Plus power supplies, it is the Element and it is capable of putting out 400Watts of power while being 80% plus efficient at the same time. The 80Plus program is only for a select few companies out there, so being in the program says quite a bit about the quality of the power supply and even more about SilverStones’ high standards. So please read on to learn more about this great power supply… ”
