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News Search Results for: ink Xigmatek Aegir SD128264 CPU Cooler Heatsink @ benchmarkreviews.com [Aug-26-10] (0 Comments) Not everyone wants to spend a small fortune buying the fastest processor sold, simply for the promise of factory-made speed. Overclockers Corsair H70 @ technic3d.com [Aug-17-10] (0 Comments) The new Corsair H70 Hydro Series CPU Heatsink arrived Technic3 D. See you in the following Review the H70 from Corsair compared with many other Cooler on a Intel Core i7 920. Better than a H50? Zalman CNPS 10X Performa CPU Cooler @ hardwaresecrets.com [Aug-11-10] (0 Comments) We tested the Zalman CNPS 10X Performa, a CPU cooler with a tower heatsink, five heatpipes and a 120 mm fan. Check it out! Noctua NH-D14 CPU Cooler @ hardwaresecrets.com [Aug-10-10] (0 Comments) We tested the NH-D14 CPU cooler from Noctua, which has two tower heatsinks, six heatpipes, and has 120 mm and 140 mm fans. Check out this monster! Thermaltake Silent 1156 CPU Cooler @ hardwaresecrets.com [Aug-04-10] (0 Comments) We tested the Thermaltake Silent 1156, a CPU cooler with a tower heatsink, two eight mm heatpipes and a 90 mm fan. Check it out! Verbatim Nano Wireless Notebook Laser Mouse @ aselabs.com [Aug-02-10] (0 Comments) While Verbatim may not be a brand you think of when discussing mice, they are rapidly making new product lines and inching closer to the market heavyweights like Logitech. Healthy competition is good and we have the newest notebook mouse for review; the Nano Wireless Notebook Laser Mouse. Antec DF-30 Dark Fleet Computer Case @ benchmarkreviews.com [Jul-27-10] (0 Comments) Antec has been around for a long time. Chances are, if you enjoy building your own computers or even tinkering with them, you have heard Cogage Arrow CPU Cooler @ hardwaresecrets.com [Jul-24-10] (0 Comments) We tested the Arrow, a CPU cooler from Cogage that has a twin heatsink, one 120-mm fan and four heatpipes. PowerColor HD5670 PCS+ @ technic3d.com [Jul-01-10] (0 Comments) The PowerColor AMD-ATI Radeon HD5670 PCS+ arrived Technic3D. Technic3D will check the overclocked HD 5670 in the following Review w ith a Resolution from 2560x1600, 1920x1200, 1680x1050 and many more in Games, against other Graphic Cards. Better with more Performance and new Heatsink? Zalman VF1000 LED VGA Cooler @ hardwaresecrets.com [Jun-30-10] (0 Comments) We reviewed the Zalman VF1000 LED VGA cooler, which has a pure copper heatsink, four heatpipes, and an 80-mm fan with blue LEDs. Check it out! Speedlink Pro USB Joystick + 99 best of C64 Classix® @ rbmods.com [Jun-27-10] (0 Comments) Remember that old machine you used to play alot on in the mid 80´s to late 80´s? Commondre 64 was the big deal then with alot of famous games with superb gameplay and feeling in the games. Speedlink has taken advantage of this and reawaken the Commondore 64 games by creating a joystick similar to the Tac2 joystick in the past that was the most wanted joystick on the market. Included with this they have bundled 99 Commondore 64 classic games for you to play with this Tac2 Interview with David Sun From Kingston Technology @ legitreviews.com [Jun-23-10] (0 Comments) To start off, I asked David if he see’s the DRAM market shrinking with less demand from desktop PC’s. He said that he expects to see desktop PC use to continue on it’s current level or to grow. With users of mobile devices needing someplace to store all of their data, this will most likely be a desktop PC. He told us that he sees laptop and netbook markets shrinking and tablet like devices growing, while smartphones will continue to explode. Titan Fenrir Evo @ technic3d.com [Jun-18-10] (0 Comments) The Titan Fenrir EVO Heatsink arrived Technic3D. It is compati bility with Intel Core i5 (LGA 1156), Core i7 (LGA 1366), LGA775 and a ll AMD Socket. See you in the following Review the CoolIT ECO A.L.C. - XSs @ xsreviews.co.uk [Jun-16-10] (0 Comments) Overthe past few years we have reviewed many processor cooling units. Mostof them were heatsink fans (HSF) and some plain passive aluminiumblocks, but some were all in one water cooling systems that aredesigned to do everything you want in a neat package. Lately JoeB reviewed the CoolIT Domino ALC Watercooling Kit whichscored a tremendous nine out of ten on our awards scale. CoolIT has todate produced many interesting all-in-one OEM, business and consumerproducts, ranging from single and dual CPU cooling up to custom andall-in-one GPU chiller setups. Today we have another CoolIT productthough, the Coolit ECO A.L.C. all-in-one watercooler, ready for allmodern sockets. Cooler Master Hyper TX3 G1 CPU Cooler @ hardwaresecrets.com [Jun-16-10] (0 Comments) We tested a new revision of Cooler Master Hyper TX3 CPU cooler, with three heatpipes and a tower heatsink with a 92-mm fan. Will it overperform the older version? Check it out. Thermaltake Frio Universal Heatsink @ pcper.com [Jun-08-10] (0 Comments) There were a lot of good qualities about the Frio that I think willappeal to basic users and overclockers alike. The easy of installation andsupport for multiple CPU platforms is a huge plus in a day and age whereconsumers switch between different platforms frequently. The dual-fan designdefinitely helped the Frio score very well in our performance tests, but wewould have liked quieter fans that pushed more air instead of creating morenoise at higher speeds. CoolIT eco ALC @ technic3d.com [Jun-07-10] (0 Comments) The CoolIT Eco A.L.C. High-End CPU Heatsink arrived Technic3D. See you in the following Review the eco Watercooling compared with m any other Cooler on a Intel Core i7 920. Better than the Corsair H50? Prolimatech Armageddon CPU Cooler @ hardwaresecrets.com [Jun-03-10] (0 Comments) We tested Prolimatech Armageddon CPU cooler, which has a slim heatsink, six U-shaped heatpipes, and supports two 140-mm fans. HP Officejet Pro 8000 Printer @ hardwaresecrets.com [Jun-02-10] (0 Comments) Review of Officejet Pro 8000, an ink jet printer that comes with standard and wireless networking capability and that HP promises to be more economical than laser printers. The Benefits of Multi-Display Gaming @ techgage.com [May-31-10] (0 Comments) Think that gaming across three or more displays delivers littlemore than a larger game? Not true, as the wider the resolution, the more ofthe game you see. Not only can multi-display gaming increase the immersionlevel, but it can even give you a competitive advantage online. Yes, wehave many examples to help prove our point. Spire TherMax Eclipse II @ technic3d.com [May-22-10] (0 Comments) The Spire TherMax Eclipse II CPU Heatsink arrived Technic3D. S ee you in the following Review the TherMax Eclipse II with five 8mm Heatpipes compared with many other Cooler on a Intel Core i7 920. Bett er than the EKL Alpenfoehn Nordwand Cooler? Danger Den NVIDIA GeForce GTX480 All Copper Water Block @ legitreviews.com [May-22-10] (0 Comments) Danger Den’s DD-GTX480 all copper water block is one very nice addition to my EVGA GeForce GTX480 video card. Not only did it help cool the card better, but it also managed to eliminate the noise from the horridly loud stock fan. That in and of itself warrants the $135 price tag the all copper version we tested today carries. When it came to performance by water cooling the GeForce GTX 480 we were able to drop stock load temps from 92C to 49C, which is a drop of 47%. Reducing your temperatures by nearly half is amazing and anyone that is thinking about getting a GeForce GTX 480 should consider water cooling as an option as it really is nice. You get lower noise levels, possibly increase the longevity of the video card and are able to overclock it farther than you could on air for even better performance. Danger Den has done a great job on these blocks and you can tell from the second you pick the water block up that it you made a solid investment... PowerColor HD5830 PCS+ @ technic3d.com [May-10-10] (0 Comments) The PowerColor AMD-ATI Radeon HD5830 PCS+ arrived Technic3D. Technic3D will check the overclocked HD 5830 in the following Review w ith a Resolution from 2560x1600, 1920x1200, 1680x1050 and many more in Games, against other Graphic Cards. Better with more Performance and new Heatsink? Thermaltake Contac 29 @ technic3d.com [May-06-10] (0 Comments) The Thermaltake Contac 29 CPU Heatsink arrived Technic3D. See you in the following Review the Contac 29 with three 8mm Heatpipes co mpared with many other Cooler on a Intel Core i7 920. Midrange or High -End? Microcool Banchetto 101 @ viperlair.com [May-02-10] (0 Comments) The design is definitely Italian, with slightly beveled edges to gi ve it a smooth yet edgy look, it is also very logical and most things can b e figured out quite readily, although I did need to reference the manual to find out the =93recommended=94 path for cabling. The Motherboard sits atop the case, while most think this insignificant, it is a huge win for me as in my other Tech Bench I have run into a Cooling solution for the CPU that was to large to fit on the under shelf. Super Talent SuperCrypt USB 3.0 32GB Thumb Drive @ pcper.com [Apr-30-10] (0 Comments) If you have USB 3.0 in your system already, or were thinking aboutthe ASUS U3S6 or ECS add-in cards, then you need a device like this totruly see its potential. You can use it for speedy backups or moving largeamounts of data between USB 3.0-ready systems or just sit there and readand write to it to see how fast it can go. I would like to see priceslowered on them as they are quite high but for getting speed and encryptionfeatures working right off the bat, Super Talent deserves some credit. Reply-To:MIME-Version:Content-Type:Message-Id: @ techpowerup.com [Apr-22-10] (0 Comments) The HIS HD 5850 iCooler V Turbo is a fully customized HD 5870 that uses a non-reference PCB and heatsink. Instead of the standard clocks it comes at frequencies of 765 MHz core and 1125 MHz memory. Another highlight is the included Call of Duty:Modern Warfare 2 game which is clearly one of the top games of the last months. Coolink Corator DS CPU Cooler @ hardwaresecrets.com [Apr-22-10] (0 Comments) We tested Coolink Corator DS, a Tuniq Propeller 120 CPU Cooler @ hardwaresecrets.com [Apr-13-10] (0 Comments) We tested Tuniq Propeller 120 CPU cooler, which has a 120-mm fan, four heatpipes and a horizontal heatsink. Apple iPad 16GB Wi-Fi Edition Tablet PC First Impressions @ legitreviews.com [Apr-04-10] (0 Comments) Early this morning, I got up and went to pickup my 16gb iPad WiFi. Before I got carried away playing with it and discovering the fun little touches that go along with it being an Apple product, I wanted share with you some pictures and my first impressions. [...] Opening the box, the first thing you see is the iPad with the power adapter and cable sitting just underneath. That is about all there is to it. The only things I noticed were not included were a cleaning cloth, like the ones that come with iPhones, and headphones. I think that these would be nice to have included... to:content-type; @ testfreaks.com [Apr-03-10] (0 Comments) NAS boxes are great, but how about a NUS box? NUS as in Network USBStorage. Cirago recently launched the NUS1000 which is sort of like a fourport UBS hub for your network. The NUS1000 is like a mini NAS box that usesUSB drives and external USB hard drives as the storage instead of regularhared drives, it can also be a web server, a print server or a bittorrentclient along with ability to share files and stream media from it. So readon to learn more about a rather unique little gadget=85 PowerColor HD5750 PCS @ technic3d.com [Apr-02-10] (0 Comments) The PowerColor AMD-ATI Radeon HD5750 PCS arrived Technic3D. T echnic3D will check the HD 5750 in the following Review with a Resolut ion from 1920x1200, 1680x1050 and many more in Games, against other Gr aphic Cards. Better with another Heatsink? From:Date:MIME-Version; bh=DKG4Z4Y9z5xfSbDQT8OADHb1eXw/+zzuw/kKPOP5R6Q=; @ ccereviews.com [Apr-02-10] (0 Comments) I think Patriot hits on their goal of building an inexpensive NASdevice that has some nice services for the end consumer such as a printserver, download manager and iTunes to name a few. It is extremely simpleto setup and get running in no time at all. Titan Skalli @ technic3d.com [Mar-31-10] (0 Comments) The Titan Skalli Heatsink arrived Technic3D. It is compatibili ty with Intel Core i5 (LGA 1156), Core i7 (LGA 1366), LGA775 and all A MD Socket. See you in the following Review the Skalli with two 8mm He atpipes and one 100mm Fan compared with many other Cooler on a Intel C ore i7 920. HIS Radeon HD 5570 1GB Graphics Card Unboxing Video @ eteknix.com [Mar-25-10] (0 Comments) Today we are unboxing the HIS Radeon HD 5570 1GB graphics card.This graphics card is mostly aimed with HTPC users in mind incorporating the latest technologies including ATI Eyefinity with its VGA, DVI and Display Port connections. It also has a very low profile heatsink and fan design.If you could also (if not already done) add us to your news list, so if you are interested in providing us with your news, we can post it on our site.All affiliate news can be found on our main page in the Video Perspective:ECS U3N2 and S6M2 USB 3.0 and SATA 6G Expansion @ pcper.com [Mar-24-10] (0 Comments) The ECS U3N2 and S6M2 add USB 3.0 and SATA 6G respectively, but notboth. They use a single PCIe x1 slot for up to 500 MB/s of bandwidth andutilize the same controllers we have previously seen, used and tested onmotherboards over the last several months. Check out our Video Perspectivebelow and note that this is our first attempt at 1080p video so take a lookat it in full screen and let us know what you think!! ProlimaTech Armageddon CPU Cooler @ benchmarkreviews.com [Mar-16-10] (0 Comments) The aftermarket heatsink industry is very competitive, and manufacturers often release several product designs before finally scoring a G.Skill PC3-18400 (2300MHz) PI Series 4GB Kit @ tweaktown.com [Mar-10-10] (0 Comments) When I think of memory companies that want nothing but speed, only a few really come to mind and one of them would have to be G.Skill. While so many companies these days produce high end memory, we only really see a few leading the pack and when I say that I mean we see the same few companies ahead of everyone with most other companies playing catch up when it comes to speed. While most companies are sitting around the PC3-17600 mark these days, G.Skill as always has kicked it up a notch with a PC3-19200 kit and a PC3-18400 one which we have on hand today. Like most high performance memory kits at the moment, the modules are aimed at P55 platforms due to them coming in dual-channel packets. Logitech MX-620 Cordless Laser Mouse @ benchmarkreviews.com [Mar-02-10] (0 Comments) Since 1981, Logitech has been making a name for themselves in the computer hardware scene. When you think of computer peripherals, you Roccat Arvo Gaming Keyboard @ rbmods.com [Feb-28-10] (0 Comments) One accessory that is overlooked alot of times is the keyboard when it comes to gaming. Roccat sent us their new Compact Gaming Keyboard named Arvo. This is a extremely compact keyboard for gamers that might not have the space to keep a full size keyboard or they prefer to have alot of macro buttons. It also has a steel plate built into it so if you are an angry gamer.... I think you get the idea! Zalman CNPS10X Flex Heatsink @ pcper.com [Feb-27-10] (0 Comments) The actual performance numbers we saw from the CNPS10X Flex wereabsolutely outstanding and we recommend adding the second 120mm fan for adecent decrease in CPU temps under idle and load conditions. If you can livewithout using your first DIMM slot, we recommend using the dual-fanconfiguration for added performance -- especially for overclockers andhardcore enthusiasts. ASUS EAH5750 Formula Radeon HD 5750 Video Card @ pcper.com [Feb-25-10] (0 Comments) I think I have actually found the perfect use for this card, atleast for myself. This is now in the Home Theater PC. With the fast VectorAdaptive De-Interlacing, bitstreaming audio, and overall quiet operation, itis one of the better HTPC cards around. Throw in solid gaming performanceat 1920 x 1080 resolutions, and it is a shoe-in for any serious HTPC withlots of video playback use and a smattering of hard core gaming. Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme CPU Cooler @ hardwaresecrets.com [Feb-24-10] (0 Comments) We tested Tuniq Tower 120 extreme CPU cooler, which has a tower design with five heatpipes and a 120-mm fan inside the heatsink. Check it out! Thermaltake SpinQ VT CPU Cooler @ hardwaresecrets.com [Feb-06-10] (0 Comments) We tested SpinQ VT CPU cooler from Thermaltake, which have a very unique design, with a cylindrical heatsink and a centrifugal fan. Check it out! Hello Service Pack 1 @ eteknix.com [Jan-21-10] (0 Comments) The attempts made by the software giant:Microsoft, to fix security holes as well as functionality in their Operating Systems are generally provided by Windows Updates. Windows Updates have been around since Windows 98. A link was placed inside of the start menu in order What were they thinking? @ eteknix.com [Jan-19-10] (0 Comments) With the news of the new Asrock A330ION being realeased using old technology and simple performance benchmarks that were no brainers, will this motherboard with ION platform be the kick in the right direction that Nvidia need? OCZ plan to go back to their roots @ eteknix.com [Jan-14-10] (0 Comments) OCZ are a very well established company when it comes to highly overclockable memory with fantastic performance and stability. So lord only knows what they were thinking when they thought they would try something new. Spotlight Cooler Master @ techwarelabs.com [Jan-13-10] (0 Comments) CES 2010 brought developments from all of the manufacturers looking to improve their product lines and make them more appealing to consumers and retailers alike. Cooler Master was no different and this year you can look forward to many new products from the maker of the popular HAF case and V10 heatsink. Cooler Master V6 and V6 GT Heat Sinks @ legitreviews.com [Jan-09-10] (0 Comments) Continuing to make the rounds here at CES, we dropped by to see Cooler Master at the new Aria Hotel at the Las Vegas City Center. The first item of note from our visit was the Cooler Master V6 GT. This is a reasonably sized heat sink with plenty of cooling power... Wacom Intuos4 and Bamboo Tablets @ pcper.com [Dec-30-09] (0 Comments) Both of these products definitely had their pros and cons, but Ithink in the right hands both of them would work beautifully in anyprofessional or consumer-level graphics environment. Overall, theperformance king was definitely the Intuos4, but I have to give an honorablemention to the Bamboo because it definitely had many of the basic features Ithink consumers will be comfortable with. Xigmatek Balder @ technic3d.com [Dec-28-09] (0 Comments) The Xigmatek Balder SD1283 Heatsink arrived Technic3D. Balder, God of Light & Beauty, is the first Xigmatek HDT product which comes with Mirror HDT base. It is compatibility with Intel Core i5 (LGA 1156 ), Core i7 (LGA 1366), LGA775 & AMD AM2/AM3. It is not only bright Nic kel heat-sink and white LED fan, but also dual fan installation option . See you in the following Review the Balder compared with many oth er Cooler on a Intel Core i7 920. Evercool HPH-9525EA CPU Cooler @ hardwaresecrets.com [Dec-24-09] (0 Comments) This time we tested Evercool HPH-9525EA, a CPU cooler with a horizontal heatsink, blue LED 95-mm fan and three heatpipes. Check it out! XFX 850W Black Edition Power Supply @ legitreviews.com [Dec-23-09] (0 Comments) With the fan out of the way we can get a look at the heat sinks and capacitors inside the XFX 850W Black Edition Power Supply. All of the capacitors are high quality Nippon Chemi-Con. Those who are really into power supplies just CM V8 Intel 1366 @ technic3d.com [Dec-21-09] (0 Comments) The Cooler Master V8 Heatsink arrived Technic3D. See you in t he following Review the V8-Series compared with many other Cooler on a Intel Core i7 920. Evercool HPK-10025EA CPU Cooler @ hardwaresecrets.com [Dec-18-09] (0 Comments) This time we tested Evercool HPK-10025EA, a CPU cooler with an horizontal heatsink, 100-mm fan and four heatpipes. Check it out! Tuniq Tower Extreme @ technic3d.com [Dec-11-09] (0 Comments) The Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme CPU Heatsink arrived Technic3D. Se e you in the following Review the Tunig Extreme with one 120mm fan an d five Heatpipe Direct Touch compared with many other Cooler on a Inte l Core i7 920. Seagate FreeAgent Go ST910004FAA2E1-RK @ benchmarkreviews.com [Dec-10-09] (0 Comments) Mobile storage of music, videos, pictures, files, and pretty much anything else you can think of is rapidly becoming more and more Technic3D/Zerotherm Core92 @ technic3d.com [Dec-04-09] (0 Comments) The Apack ZEROtherm Core92 CPU Heatsink arrived Technic3D. See you in the following Review the Zerotherm with one 92mm fan and Heat pipe Direct Touch compared with many other Cooler on a Intel Core i7 9 20. Lan Gear Introduces Da Box 100:Spy Pics and Special Edition @ techwarelabs.com [Dec-01-09] (0 Comments) Although DA BOX footprint is only 166 square inches, this true Small Form Factor case accomodates everything its ATX counterpart does:tall heatsink (up to 190 mm high), long video card (322mm long / 347mm without the optional 92mm intake fan), full ATX PSU,… All that in a beautiful, 2mm thick, black anodized brushed aluminum shell. Zalman CNPS9900 NT CPU Cooler @ hardwaresecrets.com [Nov-28-09] (0 Comments) We tested Zalman CNPS9900 NT CPU cooler, which has two circular heatsinks with heatpipes and a 120 mm fan between them. 8 Way Thermal Interface Material Roundup @ rbmods.com [Nov-27-09] (0 Comments) Thermal conductivity is another way to say heat transfer, and good thermal conductivity to your heatsink means lower temps for your processor. Thermal interface material is an important part of the thermal interface between your heatsink and processor. It fills the microscopic pits and valleys that can form between two pieces of metal. Since the thermal interface material has better thermal conductivity than air, more heat can flow from the heat source (processor) to the heat dissipation device. Gigabyte GA-MA790FXT-UD5P @ technic3d.com [Nov-19-09] (0 Comments) The Gigabyte GA-MA790FXT-UD5P Mainboard arrived Technic3D. The GA-MA790FXT-UD5P introduces Gigabyte Ultra Durable 3 technology on la test AMD socket AM3 platform with featuring 2 oz copper PCB and furthe r helps to reduce the system temperature and dramatically enhance the performance. Based on AMD 790FX chipset, the GA-MA790FXT-UD5P supports the generation of 45nm AMD Phenom II series processors, integrated DD R3 memory controller, HyperTransport 3.0 technology links and dual PCI Express 2.0 graphics interfaces (running at x16 and x16) for ATI Cros sFireX support. We check this on Windows 7 and Kubuntu 9.10 XClio Godspeed One Advanced Mid Tower Case @ tweaktown.com [Nov-13-09] (0 Comments) This time around XClio sent me a chassis with the budget builder in mind. Keeping a few tricks from its much larger brother, the chassis I’m about to show isn’t a completely stripped out shell. I have seen quite a few sub $50 chassis’ that aren’t much more than four walls, a roof and a floor. Sometimes they have fans, sometimes they have a window, and when you get really lucky, you can even get some LED lighting. This chassis from XClio isn’t just budget, it houses all three of those things and still leaves you a bit of change for drinks after the build.Today we are looking at the Godspeed One Advanced from XClio, one of four chassis’ in the Godspeed lineup. Two of those are more basic builds and concepts, while the Advanced chassis keeps a few tricks of the more expensive chassis, and still can be had at a reasonable price. NZXT BETA – EVO Computer Case/Chassis @ techwarelabs.com [Nov-06-09] (0 Comments) I know what you’re thinking; Déjà vu on the case review? Nope this is not the NZXT Beta being re-posted; this is the supposedly classier brother the NZXT Beta EVO. While still a budget case my biggest question is... Is the EVO worth the extra money? Follow me as I look at the newest revision of NZXT Beta promising to offer increased cable management and a revised interior layout. nMediaPC HTPC 8000 Wooden HTPC Case @ legitreviews.com [Oct-30-09] (0 Comments) The HTPC 8000 from nMediaPC is different to say the least. With its almost all wood construction it’s unlike any case I have ever had. With its style being that of something out of the 1940’s it might look a little out of place in most of today’s sleek AV setups. I have had more than one my woodworking nut friends say they loved the looks of it, and I had several people ask me where I got the old radio. That got me thinking that it would be a nice case for a rec-room, man cave, behind a bar, or could even make for a nice garage juke box... Samsung UN55B8000 55 inch LED TV @ tweaknews.net [Oct-29-09] (0 Comments) After over a month and a half of daily use, the Samsung UN55B8000 can be summed up as a mixed bag of great and not so great characteristics. The first thing to mention and the distinguishing feature is the 1.2 inch depth profile. There is no consumer grade TV this side of perhaps an OLED display that at the time of this review is as thin as this model. The second is the color reproduction. This by a small margin has the best color reproduction I have seen to date. Couple these with the overall aesthetics and improved USB video, mp3 and photo functionality and at first you would think this is a touch down for Samsung. But hold on. OCZ Technology Agility 120GB 2.5-inch Solid State Drive @ tweaktown.com [Oct-27-09] (0 Comments) When it comes to solid state drives, most people tend to think of the technology in 2D terms, kind of like a sliding scale. The controllers come from just a few companies; JMicron, Samsung, Indilinx and Intel and the products brought to market from these controllers tend to line the scale in that order. OCZ plays the game differently, thinking in 3D, adding an additional slide to the scale. This 3D approach to the OCZ SSD product line means that you will need to become more involved during your research stage of the buying experience. Luckily OCZ has done a fabulous job of detailing the product information on their website and divided products according to their speed instead of product launch date.Today we are looking at the OCZ Technology Agility Series, OCZ’s mainstream SSD. The Agility is just one of many drives sold by OCZ that uses the Indilinx Barefoot controller. Let’s have a look at the Agility specifications and see what sets this product apart from other Indilinx drives sold by OCZ. GlacialTech UFO V51 CPU Heatsink @ techwarelabs.com [Oct-22-09] (0 Comments) Proper cooling is the cornerstone of any PC build. Without it, your machine can be wasted into a heap of smoldering silicon and metal. Luckily there is nothing that says you CPU cooler has to be a boring hunk of metal with a fan on top. GlacialTech puts a new spin on the CPU cooler with its UFOV51. Designed to look like a flying saucer, it adds a new style element to the PC cooling market. So is this cooler all show and no performance, or maybe something out of this world? XFX Girl Audition Video @ techwarelabs.com [Oct-22-09] (0 Comments) Shanda Rogers wants to be the new XFX Girl and has put together an audition video for your eyes only. With over 50,000 MySpace fans she thinks she has the socialization skills and assets to get the job done right. What do you think? Would you vote for her? See her video on our site and let XFX know what you think in our comments section. DFI LanParty BI G41-T33 Motherboard @ legitreviews.com [Oct-16-09] (0 Comments) Today we have the opportunity to take a look at another board in the LanParty series from DFI. The LanParty series has always been a favorite of mine because of the tweaking options and the overclocking ability that they have. The board we get to look at today, though, was one that most would not think would belong in that series of boards. It is a micro board, uses the older LGA775 socket coupled with DDR3 memory, and has the G41 chipset that sports the GMA X4500 on-board graphics chip... Cogage True Spirit @ technic3d.com [Oct-14-09] (0 Comments) The Cogage True Spirit CPU Heatsink arrived Technic3D. See you in the following Review the Lexmark Interact S605 All-in-One Printer @ hardwaresecrets.com [Oct-13-09] (0 Comments) Review of the Lexmark Interact S506 all-in-one inkjet printer, which supports wireless connectivity. Gigabyte GA-EX58-Extreme LGA 1366 i7 Motherboard @ pcper.com [Oct-07-09] (0 Comments) This high-end motherboard is intricately designed for extremeoverclockers as its name states, but I think other intermediate PCenthusiasts can also take advantage of a lot of its overclocking and powerfeatures. It might have a harder time competing with the newer LGA 1156platform because of its price point, but the LGA 1366 still has a lot oflife left in it for graphic design professionals, video production studioworkstations, and other users who depend on their CPU to run multi-threadedapplications and programs at the most optimum performance it can. Scythe Mugen-2 CPU Cooler @ hardwaresecrets.com [Oct-06-09] (0 Comments) Will this five-tower heatsink giant CPU cooler from Scythe outperform other coolers we tested? Check it out! Kodak ESP-7 All-in-One Printer @ hardwaresecrets.com [Sep-30-09] (0 Comments) Review of the Kodak ESP-7 All-in-One inkjet color printer, a product that promises to save you money on the cost of the ink cartridges. TweakTown Storage Product Testing - Our How To Video Guide @ tweaktown.com [Sep-30-09] (0 Comments) There are many programs on the market to test hard drives. Personally I would love to use every single one of them in testing, but don’t think I could keep you interested for 30 pages of benchmarks. In the past every hard drive was the same; you had cache, platter speed, platter density and interface, boom, bing, bam, run the tests write it up and call it a day. SilverStone NT06-E CPU Cooler @ hardwaresecrets.com [Sep-22-09] (0 Comments) We tested NT06-E CPU cooler from SilverStone, which has five heatsinks and a horizontal heatsink with place for a 120 mm fan (not included). Check it out! Luxa2 LM100-Mini Home Theater PC Chassis with 200W PSU @ tweaktown.com [Sep-16-09] (0 Comments) The Luxa2 line is a step above the average Thermaltake chassis, and you will soon see why. Of course they are HTPC chassis, but the Luxa2 branding, as the name suggests, is a bit more luxurious. The features and design of the chassis I’m about to show you has very nice looks and one of the most solid constructions I have seen to date. Luxa2 has released a few HTPC chassis in the new lineup, and today we are getting a look at the LM100 Mini. This is a very small, mATX compatible chassis with a built-in 200 watt power supply already installed. Keeping that power supply in mind, this HTPC chassis is more for the low power consuming components. As the review continues, I think you might be pleasantly surprised to see just what I was able to stuff in this chassis and run for quite some time with no issues. RaidSonic Icy Box IB-MP305A-B Network Multimedia HD Player Video @ tweaktown.com [Sep-16-09] (0 Comments) It is actually a very similar device to the Astone Media Gear AP-100 1080p Media Player that we video reviewed in August as well as the ASUS O!Play HDP-R1 1080p HD Media Player that we also video reviewed last week. All three systems provide video, image and audio playback by means of using the popular Realtek RTD1073 media chipset. You would think that using the same chipset would make each device very similar. If you did think that, you would be partly correct, as some things are quite similar. However, what’s different between each of the media players is the type of output connections you have as well as menu interface and other software based features. This is where the Icy Box jumps out ahead of the pack, in our opinion. Free Homebrew VoIP with Google Voice and Intel Atom @ legitreviews.com [Sep-10-09] (0 Comments) To satisfy my performance needs, I am now going to put together a low-power server built around an Intel Atom 230 processor in order to install PiaF natively to get the best performance I can out of my homebrew VoIP solution using Google Voice. With a budget of about $225, this article is going to give step-by-step instructions on how to build your Atom-based server, install and configure PBX in a Flash, and finally configure your Linksys SPA-3102 ATA... Scythe Kabuto CPU Cooler @ hardwaresecrets.com [Sep-05-09] (0 Comments) We tested Kabuto CPU cooler from Scythe, which has six heatpipes, a three-heatsink design and a 120-mm fan. Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus CPU Cooler @ tweaktown.com [Sep-04-09] (0 Comments) Rethinking a few things after the original Hyper 212 was released, Cooler Master saw the need to take the 212 back to the drawing board and see what they could do to offer a better solution. Not only is the actual cooler a bit different this time around, but they went with another style of fan. They also got together with the engineers to develop an all new mounting hardware, which are welcomed changes in my eyes. I cannot make a direct comparison of temperatures however, as my testing method at that time was very different from the T.E.C.C. solution Chris created and what we use here today. I will however point out all the differences from the original design to the Hyper 212 Plus. [Affiliates News] Noctua NF-S12B FLX and NF-S12B ULN Cooling Fans @ aphnetworks.com [Aug-30-09] (0 Comments) In the past, we have written three separate articles on fivedifferent Noctua products:The Noctua NF-S12-800, NF-S12-1200, NF-R8 review,the Noctua NF-P12 review, and the Noctua NH-U12P review. Now, let's name oneNoctua article that I wrote in the past with at least one product that didn'treceive a prestigious APH Networks award. The answers:Nope, nope, and...nope. What made us love their products so much? Noctua, an Austrian companythat specializes in quiet computing thermal solutions, certainly won't winany beauty contests for the fans and heatsinks they make, nor do they sellthe most extreme out-of-this-world cooling solutions. But, what they do makeare practical and realistic products that are thoroughly engineered toachieve the best real world performance, while maintaining an extremely lowlevel of perceived noise. They are quality, refined products to achieve itsprimary purpose reliably throughout its life. And while they are certainlynot the lowest priced, they offer excellent performance-to-value ratio foryour hard earned cash. Plus, looks in this regard aren't even a huge issue inmy opinion. As a quiet PC enthusiast, I exclusively used Noctua fans in thepast, and still do, for these very reasons. Upon the release of their latestNF-S12B FLX and NF-S12B ULN case fans to replace the NF-S12-1200 andNF-S12-800, what kind of improvements has Noctua made to their legendaryproducts? I picked up both of them and conducted our usual array of synthetictests, as well as slapping them into our test setup for real worldperformance measurements. As excited as you are, let's find out how it allwent! Performance Gaming Case @ legitreviews.com [Aug-25-09] (0 Comments) The folks over at AeroCool have released several new cases with their PGS (Performance Gaming System) value series. These are targeting to the budget – midrange gamer with two of the three models also having a “pro” version which offers a few extra features like a built in fan controller. One of the cases smack in the middle of the lineup is the Vx-E model which we received to see how we think it fares compared with others in its class. Priced at $69.99, it's twenty dollars less than the VX-9 Pro and $15 more than the VX-R... ASUS P7P55D Premium P55 P - SATA 6G returns @ pcper.com [Aug-25-09] (0 Comments) So, while ASUS has essentially doubled the speed available to theMarvell 9123 chip, they have done so at the cost of additional logic andtraces on the board and without actually meeting the 600 MB/s theoreticalspeed maximum. Still, 500 MB/s is still much better than 250 MB/s and Ithink that users will be able to see a noticeable difference - once weactually get SATA 6G devices out and available. ASUS Triton 81 Universal Heatsink @ pcper.com [Aug-25-09] (0 Comments) There are lots of pros and cons to purchasing the Triton 81, butoverall it definitely handled our Intel Q8400 quad-core processor with easeand grace. Even during load testing, it kept the CPU well below thethreshold of its thermal limits. Unfortunately, there were a few key issuesthat needs to be addressed in future revisions of this heatsink. [News] XClio One Notebook Cooler @ virtual-hideout.net [Aug-16-09] (0 Comments) I'm not sure why manufacturers think they can just slap some LED'son anything and it'll pass. Maybe 10 years ago, but not anymore folks. Andhonestly, who uses 40mm fans anymore? They are utterly useless in everyarea. This product is called a notebook cooler and that's a stretch of theuse of the category. If by simply tilting up the rear of your laptop enablesitself to cool better (as it would with virtually every laptop on themarket), then I suppose you could loosely call this a cooler. However youneed a smoke stream to see if the air is even moving (even on Corsair Obsidian Series 800D ATX Chassis @ legitreviews.com [Aug-11-09] (0 Comments) The Corsair Obsidian 800D might be a massive full ATX tower chassis, but it was designed to be a well functioning chassis. Corsair wanted the case to be that large so multi-GPU video card setups could be used as well as allowing custom water cooling kits to be installed. The Corsair Obsidian Series 800D chassis is also an example of what happens when you think outside the box and design something from the ground up. Several of the design features are unique to this chassis and make it stand out from the crowd. It has clearly done well enough to earn our Innovation Award and we can't wait to see what Corsair is planning for their next case design... TechwareLabs s the D-Link DUB-CR200 USB 2.0 Hub with Card Reader @ techwarelabs.com [Aug-09-09] (0 Comments) Need a USB hub AND a card reader? Well check this out. Here we have the D-Link DUB-CR200 USB 2.0 Hub with Card Reader. This little guy features 3 USB ports and an 8-in-1 card reader as well as the ability to connect to a standard router with a usb-ethernet adaptor. Check out if this is the right combo hub for you, after the break. Technic3D/Thermaltake SpinQ @ technic3d.com [Aug-09-09] (0 Comments) The Thermaltake SpinQ CL-P0466 CPU Heatsink arrived Technic3D with 50 waved aluminum fins and 6 copper heatpipes. VR Fan allows the users to adjust the fan speed according to their needs. It makes good cooling effect at low speed? See you in the following Review the Spin Q compared with many other Cooler. [News] NZXT Zero 2 Case @ virtual-hideout.net [Aug-09-09] (0 Comments) Gaming is all about taking it to the extreme. In the pursuit of thebest gaming experience, gamers have stopped at nothing to achieve thisalways-rising goal. Overclocking, adding another GPU/Videocard and upgradingare the typical paths and all of them have the downside of generating extraheat, which is potentially damaging to components and can impedeperformance. To remedy this, a proper case with good airflow is needed.Usually, a full tower provides the best option, since the extra space notonly permits more fans but also provides the proper clearance for airflow aswell. NZXT was thinking exactly this with the Zero 2 case, a steel-chassisfull-tower beast that boasts a capacity for an impressive seven 120mm fans. MSI AMD 785GM-E65 Motherboard P @ pcper.com [Jul-31-09] (0 Comments) Perhaps the most interesting little feature about this board is theinclusion of a dipswitch which controls FSB overclocking. There are foursettings which can take the FSB from stock speed, up through 10%, 15%, and20% overclock. While the FSB can be controlled in the BIOS as well, it isinteresting to see a motherboard manufacturer go back to dipswitchoverclocking. I thought we got over that after the K6 and Athlon days?Still, an interesting little wrinkle that could appeal to a certain group ofpeople. Technic3D/OCZ Gladiator Max @ technic3d.com [Jul-24-09] (0 Comments) The OCZ Gladiator Max CPU Heatsink arrived Technic3D. Utilizin g the proven performance of the latest HDT design, the Gladiator serie s has direct contact with the processor using four copper heat pipes t o ensure the most rapid heat transfer. The unique =E2=80=9Cfolded=E2=80 =9D fin configuration also helps maximize surface area while maintaini ng a compact form factor. See you in the following Review the Gladiato r Max compared with many other Cooler on a Intel Core i7 920. GELID Solutions GC-2 Premium Thermal Compound @ tweaktown.com [Jul-22-09] (0 Comments) The last time I had the pleasure of dealing with GELID Solutions was when they asked me to have a look at their Silent Spirit CPU cooler back in January. At that time GELID was nice enough to send along a tube of GC-1 along with it. Our testing requires the use of AS-5, the “industry standard” recommended TIM. So with that I was left to test the GC-1 in everyday uses on my main and secondary PC’s. Time goes by and just about every heatsink I removed for maintenance or heatsink replacement eventually got the GC-1 treatment for a few reasons. Once I used it I saw a drop in temperatures over my previous TIM. Second, the paste is non-curing, so there isn’t the set-in time required to “wait and see” if it is any better. Last and most important, is the fact it is non-conductive. Hacking the Seagate 1.5TB Drive to turn it into a Velociraptor Killer @ techwarelabs.com [Jul-15-09] (0 Comments) Today our at home hardware hacker Artiom shows us how to turn the 1.5TB storage monster into a high performance drive that takes the performance crown away from the Western Digital Velociraptor. Don't think it can be done? We assure you it can, and we show you how. You too can buy a half priced drive and get top end performance. TechwareLabs s the Razer Goliathus Gaming Mouse Pad @ techwarelabs.com [Jul-15-09] (0 Comments) Join Will as we take a look at the Goliathus Gaming Mouse Pad from Razer. Will this pad be the missing link between you and that all new high game, or will you be better off checking out that $5 pad from Wal-Mart? Join us here at TechwareLabs as we take a look... ASUS P7P55D EVO P55 Motherboard Video and Photo P @ pcper.com [Jul-14-09] (0 Comments) Over the weekend I received our first P55-based motherboard for theupcoming Intel Lynnfield processors, the ASUS P7P55D EVO. A mid-rangeenthusiast motherboard, the EVO model probably won't be the mostfeature-laden motherboard that comes out with the P55 launch in latesummer/early fall, but it also won't be the most expensive. And for a lotof PC builders, I think this type of motherboard will be where the sweetspot falls for price, performance and features. ASUS Radeon HD EAH4890 HTDI/1GD5 Video Card @ legitreviews.com [Jul-13-09] (0 Comments) With the EAH4890, ASUS designed their own PCB and installed a custom cooling solution to create a Radeon HD 4890 video card that should push the envelope when it comes to performance and overclocking. Not only should it perform better, but it also looks better since it is no longer a cookie cutter Radeon HD 4890. What's that, my friends? That is a real heatsink. ASUS did not prance around with this one; I believe this heatsink could have handled the notoriously hot ATI Radeon HD 2900XT and asked for a second helping of heat. It has been a while since a Zalman CNPS10X Extreme Universal Heatsink @ pcper.com [Jul-10-09] (0 Comments) This heatsink exceeded our expectations and its universalcompatibility will make it even more appealing to high-end users and otherPC enthusiasts looking for a strong air cooled heatsink solution. Thelayered fin array and black-pearl nickel plated coated definitely added toits asthetics and overall craftsmanship. The unique fan controller isdefinitely a staple for Zalman and one I'm sure they will continue toproduce in future heatsink products. TechwareLabs s the Razer Salmosa Gaming Mouse @ techwarelabs.com [Jul-07-09] (0 Comments) The Razer Salmosa is clearly trying to pack a lot into a small package. Utilizing the same 3G sensor as the DeathAdder, it eschews its bigger cousin's lights and extra buttons, instead delivering the essentials in the smallest practical package. Join Will as we take a look to see if this is a mouse you can sink your teeth into, or one that just bites. Sapphire Radeon HD 4890 ATOMIC Graphics Card @ tweaktown.com [Jul-06-09] (0 Comments) The ATOMIC series of cards is one that we really do get excited about when it comes to Sapphire products. Unlike a lot of other companies who overclock, Sapphire tend to really mix it up with this particular series. We don't only see some serious clock speeds, but also something fancy in the heatsink department which always helps bring the card to a new level. With the bar set high for the HD 4890 ATOMIC from Sapphire let's not delay any longer and see what exactly is going on with the card and find out if Sapphire is able to impress us with this ATOMIC version like other ones from the series have in the past. Technic3D/Spire TherMax II @ technic3d.com [Jul-02-09] (0 Comments) The Spire TherMax II CPU Heatsink arrived Technic3D. The unive rsally compatible TherMax II is the big brother of the original TherMa x cooler. Designed with four 8mm copper U shaped heat-pipes enclosed b y fifty-five aluminum stacked Micro-fins. The heat-sink base is equipp ed with the Direct-Touch heat-pipe technology. The Its cooling capacit y ranges all the way from low end Micro-processors, up to today's hott est 150W dual-core processors. See you in the following Review the The rMax II compared with many other Cooler on a Intel Core i7 920. Noctua NF-S12B FLX @ rbmods.com [Jun-27-09] (0 Comments) Noctua, makers of silent PC cooling components, sent us their newestfan:the NF-S12B FLX. With silence in mind, the NF-S12B was designed toproduce the smallest amount of noise possible, while still pushing enoughair to keep your computer cool. Can it live up to Noctua's reputation formanufacturing super quiet, well performing fans and heatsinks? Read on tofind out. Roccat Vire - XSs @ xsreviews.co.uk [Jun-20-09] (0 Comments) Traditionallya headset is basically a large pair of earmuffs which have speakers inthe ears and lots of padding for comfort. Roccat are clearly very goodin this field with their recently released Kave 5.1 which wasdefinitely given the thumbs up.However, a second ‘headset’ was launched by Roccat but it’s not whatyou might think; instead the Roccat Vire is a pair of in-ear headphonesthat you would expect to find accompanying an iPod or other mp3 device.So, I’m guessing you’re thinking well how do I communicate in gamethen? Well, there is a tiny in built microphone on the wires allowingyou to speak freely without a bulky microphone in front of you.But the Vire is not only for use with PCs; similarly it can be used foriPhones, mp3 players and pretty much any sound device that will take a3.5mm jack. Enough said, let’s take a look... Roccat Vire - XSs @ xsreviews.co.uk [Jun-18-09] (0 Comments) Traditionallya headset is basically a large pair of earmuffs which have speakers inthe ears and lots of padding for comfort. Roccat are clearly very goodin this field with their recently released Kave 5.1 which wasdefinitely given the thumbs up.However, a second ‘headset’ was launched by Roccat but it’s not whatyou might think; instead the Roccat Vire is a pair of in-ear headphonesthat you would expect to find accompanying an iPod or other mp3 device.So, I’m guessing you’re thinking well how do I communicate in gamethen? Well, there is a tiny in built microphone on the wires allowingyou to speak freely without a bulky microphone in front of you.But the Vire is not only for use with PCs; similarly it can be used foriPhones, mp3 players and pretty much any sound device that will take a3.5mm jack. Enough said, let’s take a look... contains G.a.p.p.y-T.e.x.t @ testfreaks.com [Jun-08-09] (0 Comments) When you hear the name Tom Clancy, you think of his books first and then avery close second, the games that bear his name. The majority of his games,like the Rainbow Six collection are all about teamwork, stealth and tactics .The game I have for review today veers a bit off from the norm of his games ,it's called H.A.W.X. and it's a flying game, not a flight simulator, mo re ofan arcade style combat flight game. H.A.W.X. is set in the near future wher ecorporations have basically replaced government run military in manycountries, they're mercenaries essentially. Opening Day Coverage @ legitreviews.com [Jun-04-09] (0 Comments) It’s that time of year where all the major computer and video game manufacturers to show off their upcoming projects to a slew of industry insiders at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, better known as E3. When most people think of E3, they think of the games (and sometimes the booth babes). For the most part this is correct, but as we attended this year’s event, we found some pretty nice hardware on display... TechwareLabs s the D-Link DHA-390 Network Camera Set @ techwarelabs.com [Jun-04-09] (0 Comments) Defend your room with the new D-Life DHA-390 Internet surveillance starter kit, follow Matt Androski as TechwareLabs gives you the ins and outs of this new product with real hands on real world usage. Will this camera be the next hot thing? Or will it sit on the TechwareLabs shelves? AMA Aragon 900 - XSs @ xsreviews.co.uk [Jun-04-09] (0 Comments) Theintroduction of the latest Intel i7 processorshave certainly caused something of a shock with a TDP of a whopping130W. Air cooling solutions have been adapted with dual fans, biggerheatsinks, and more heatpipes in order to try and keep the allimportant CPU cool. With Intel now revealing two new additions to thei7 range – the 975 and 950 – which run at 3.33GHz and 3.06GHzrespectively even more emphasis has been placed on cooling.Traditionally, air cooling is the lowest form of cooling followed bywater, then phase changing and all the way up to liquid nitrogen andhelium for extreme overclockers; without a doubt all of this and morewill be put into practise at the Gigabyte Open OverclockingChampionships (GOOC 2009) at Computex to see who can overclock the P45the furthest, 8GHz is the current world record. Anywayfor the majority of users all of these extreme cooling solutions areeither too complicated or too expensive and just not practical.However, water cooling has become more available and easier to use withkits like the one we will be looking at today - the AMA Aragon 900.However, kits like this have a seemingly bad reputation for comprisingof a bunch of lower end components unlike custom builds. So let’s seeif the Aragon 900 can buck the trend... Thermaltake Speedo Advance Package Case @ benchmarkreviews.com [Jun-01-09] (0 Comments) Think excitement - Think Spedo! At least that's Thermaltakes' spin on it. But what's in a name anyway? Well, a lot less than what's Security, CAPTCHA and D-Link Routers @ hardwaresecrets.com [May-29-09] (0 Comments) Two weeks ago D-Link announced the introduction of a CAPTCHA to confirm configuration changes on some of its wireless routers. According to D-Link, the objective is to prevent that users whose machines have been owned by malware have the DNS settings in the router changes without the user's knowledge. Cyberlink MediaShow Espresso GPGPU Performance @ legitreviews.com [May-29-09] (0 Comments) CyberLink MediaShow Espresso software has been designed to work with both AMD’s Unified Video Decoder (UVD) through its ATI Stream technology and NVIDIA's general purpose parallel computing architecture known as CUDA. By using AMD Stream and NVIDIA CUDA technology consumers can quickly convert digital video files for use on portable devices like the Apple iPhone, Sony PS3, and YouTube. Since CyberLink MediaShow Espresso works on both NVIDIA and AMD graphics cards it gives us a rare chance to benchmark both technologies to see which is better... [News] Noctua NH-U12P SE1366 Heatsink @ virtual-hideout.net [May-27-09] (0 Comments) Color me impressed. Here we have a very well made and put togetherpackage that has no problems bringing the noise when it comes to the worldof performance. Out of the I7 heatsinks that I've tested thus far, this iseasily the most positive experience, bar the fact that the wire clips aretough to engage inside a case, and caught on the roof fans of myCoolerMaster 690. What really impresses me though is that despite its simpledesign and light mass, this heatsink still managed to outstrip all comers,and do so in silent style. I'd have to easily recommend this product toanybody looking for a great i7 cooler! Silverstone Element 850 Watt Power Supply @ pro-clockers.com [May-20-09] (0 Comments) But Silverstone is not all about extreme power but moderate power andextreme efficiency while being affordable. The Element series offersexceptionally amounts of efficiency over two 12 volt rails. And if you thinkthat the Element is all about efficiency think again the 850 watt model wehave for review this week is capable of supporting today's GPU in SLI orCrossfire configurations. And all this can be done for about $140. Galaxy GeForce 9600 GT LP - Low Power, Low Profile @ pcper.com [May-19-09] (0 Comments) The Galaxy 9600 GT LP is not the fastest or the cheapest 9600 GToffering available but its ability to upgrade existing PCs with high-classgaming performance will certainly make it a popular choice. By shrinkingthe PCB down and removing the requirement for a PCI Express power connectionGalaxy has created a card that will work in nearly every big-box PC on themarket, even the smallest ones. If you or someone you know is in need of agaming upgrade and has these restrictions, one of these Galaxy cards willdefinitely do the trick! [News] OCZ 8GB Throttle eSATA/USB Drive @ virtual-hideout.net [May-13-09] (0 Comments) You could say it's a simple evolutionary step for thumb drives, butI think it's a welcome one. There is of course the talk of USB 3.0, withspeeds up to 400MB/s, however it will be some time before the hardware touse that is available, let alone common. As it stands, every new computerhas sata ports, which are easy enough to convert into eSata. There is nodenying the speed you can have here and now. Not to mention for $30 (8GB),it's only about $8 more than a regular 8GB usb drive, that for 3X theperformance. If you don't mind carrying a USB cable (that is used forpractically all external 2.5 Cooler Master HAF 922 Mid Tower Case @ legitreviews.com [May-13-09] (0 Comments) Following the success of the full tower HAF 932, Cooler Master has now successfully extended their product line to a mid tower with the HAF 922. It has a strong appearance and I think they did a good job on the HAF 922. The open design of the HAF line makes for nice air flow throughout the case. The space also made it easy to work in the case; I have rather large hands and I had no issues working in the HAF 922 at all... Coolermaster HAF 922 Mid Tower @ pro-clockers.com [May-13-09] (0 Comments) But some of you are not into the extra large cases as they tend totake up too much room so Coolermaster decided to capitalize on the successof the HAF 932 and develop a smaller version entitled the HAF 922. Even withthe reduction in size the 922 still gives us two massive 200mm fans in thefront and top of the case. And if you think because the unit is smaller youhave to sacrifice drive space. Then you are wrong. The 922 offers five 5.25 Hipro HP-D5501EU 550W PSU @ jonnyguru.com [May-11-09] (0 Comments) I come to you today bearing a unit from a name I haven't testedbefore and not many of you may be familiar with:Hipro. Some of you may bethinking, TechwareLabs s the Thermaltake BigTyp14 CPU Cooler @ techwarelabs.com [May-09-09] (0 Comments) Are you tired of that old heatsink? Is your CPU overheating or are just looking for something snazzy to be placed on your motherboard? Well, maybe you should take a peak at Thermaltake's Big Typ 14Pro. Thermaltake's heatsinks have been winning armloads of awards for quite a few years now. If the massive 140mm fan doesn't get your attention, then maybe the copper heatpipes and the bright blue LED's will. Technic3D/Recoltec PipeTower Pro @ technic3d.com [Apr-30-09] (0 Comments) The Revoltec PipeTower Pro CPU Heatsink arrived Technic3D. HTC technology (Heat-pipe Touch Chip), 120mm PWM Fan, 4x 8mm Heatpipes ca n you see in the following Review compared with EKL, OCZ, Xigmatek and many more. Vigor Gaming Monsoon III LT CPU Cooling System @ pcper.com [Apr-24-09] (0 Comments) Vigor's Monsoon III LT definitely delivered during testing and Ithink it could have even handled a mild overclock on our Intel i7-920 CPU. Iwas also a bit surprised at how well it kept up with our Zalman CNPS9900 LEDheatsink. The dual 120mm fans and dual fin arrays seemed to be a winningcombination that should give other third-party heatsinks on the market a runfor their money. Patriot Extreme Performance Viper DDR3 6GB Kit @ modders-inc.com [Apr-22-09] (0 Comments) Patriot sent us over a sample of their Extreme Performance ViperSeries DDR3 PC3-12800 modules. These modules are designed to operate at1600MHz with 8-8-8-24 timings. They are available in either 3GB or 6GB kitsand utilize Patriot's ACC (Aluminum Copper Composite) heatsinks. Thermalright AXP-140 HTPC CPU Cooler @ legitreviews.com [Apr-15-09] (0 Comments) The Thermalright AXP-140 HTPC CPU cooler opens up a couple of different ways to keep your system cool. Combined with a dual core 45nm CPU you should have no problem running this heat sink without a fan, or with one below 20 decibels. As an HTPC enthusiast that leans more towards the multimedia aspect as opposed to gaming, the difference in sound is HUGE! Instead of hearing the CPU fan spinning its little heart out when it comes to a quiet scene in a movie, you have a silent computer that keeps you focused on being entertained. That is really the whole point here, giving you peace of mind that your hardware is running cool, as well as giving you peace and quiet... Xigmatek Thor's Hammer CPU Cooler @ pro-clockers.com [Apr-14-09] (0 Comments) The cooler was the Xigmatek Thor's Hammer. The Hammer is one of thosecoolers that when you first see it you could not but think how does thisthing compete with the big boys like the Coolermaster V8 and ThermalrightT.R.U.E. Well that is what I thought anyways. And to think about how wellthe HDT-S1283 has done at a budget price you would think this monster wouldbe a Top Ten cooler killer. The Hammer is based on the Heat pipe DirectTouch, or HDT for short, technology. To explain this in a brief sentence,the heat pipes come in direct contact with the IHS of the processor for moredirect cooling. We will get more into that later in the review. So, you haveto read a little more to see what this cooler and HDT is all about. Intel Responds to Fragmentation with New X25-M Firmware @ pcper.com [Apr-14-09] (0 Comments) The 8820 firmware has completely renewed my faith in the X25-M. The weak link has been eradicated, and I’m thoroughly impressed with therenewed performance it will bring to all M series drive users. I am alsothoroughly pleased with Intel for being so open to feedback from thereviewers. Asus Eee 1000HE @ reviews.digitaltrends.com [Apr-08-09] (0 Comments) Though notebook manufacturers have managedto make netbooks ultra portable by shrinkingdown just about everything and doing awaywith nonessentials like optical drives, oneaspect of being small has also been theAchilles Heel of the netbook:battery life.With batteries practically the size of packof Twix, most conventional netbooks are luckyto limp three hours before zonking out,making them less than useful for theaway-from-home computing their size has beentailored for. Asus does away with thatsmall-battery mentality on the Eee 1000HE,which has been specially built for endurancecomputing away from the wall socket - 9.5hours, according to Asus. But can this tinylittle netbook hold up to that promise? Anddoes the bulky new battery impair itsfunction as a netbook? Zalman CNPS9900 LED CPU Heatsink @ pcper.com [Apr-04-09] (0 Comments) The standard Zalman heatsinks are held to might be a bit unfair,but their history certainly makes them a target for any vendor who wants toknock them off the top spot in the air-cooled heatsink industry. While thedual-heatsink design is sound on paper, I don’t think it worked when itwas executed. I might be making something out of nothing because theresults were very close to the Monsoon III LT, but it just seems that theirheatsinks should stand out from the pack and not just stay even with them. Speedlink Chronos - XSs @ xsreviews.co.uk [Apr-02-09] (0 Comments) Witha range of Speedlink product reviews having being recentlypublished on XSReviews, we have another one to get our claws into. Thistime it’s a headset and comes in the form of the Speedlink ChronosStereo and let’s hope it can impress like many of Speedlink’s otherproducts have done. Read on to find out if it can. Synology DS209+ NAS Diskstation @ modders-inc.com [Mar-31-09] (0 Comments) Being able to host your own website, FTP, Multimedia Server orother web based products meant that you had to rent a dedicated server. Wellthose days may be in the past as you can now buy your very own NAS server todo all this work for you and it is actually simpler than you think. ZOTAC GeForce GTX 285 1GB AMP Video Card @ thetechlounge.com [Mar-31-09] (0 Comments) =22In the midst of all the rebranding and fine-tuning, NVIDIA managed to ma ke again, the most powerful single-GPU video card. Well, they also made th e most powerful dual-GPU video card but that's not what I'm reviewing, is it. I'm reviewing the GTX 285, the die-shrunk, power-boosted bastard o f the GTX 280. It's really, really powerful. There has to be some kind of flaw, right? In some ways, it's overpriced, but is that even fair? I t's maybe a bit expensive, but only compared to other video cards--for le ss than =24400, I'm sure everyone at NVIDIA thinks they're just giving these away. Which is sad for them, great for everyone else. This is an exe mplary performer on its own, and costs =24200 less than the GTX 280 back wh en it came out. Did I mention how frustratingly powerful it is?=22 [News] Cooler Master V10 CPU Heatsink @ virtual-hideout.net [Mar-29-09] (0 Comments) Cooler Master, one of the staff favorites here at Virtual-Hideout,to say the least. On the block today is the middle child in their family ofhigh-end, automotive themed heatsinks. Offering a potential extra 20 wattsof dissipation over the former champion V8, thanks to the inclusion of aThermoelectric module and extra heatsink mass, the V10 promises to the bethe premier item in the cooling market for the time being. The questionthen, is if the extra cost over the V8 is worthwhile, and if the inclusionof a TEC will be another rendition of gimmick flair - much like the TitanAmanda, or Ultra Chillitec - or if the V10 will actually keep things niceand chilly. Let's take a look. Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 Processor @ legitreviews.com [Mar-28-09] (0 Comments) With four processing cores running at 2.66GHz, a total of 6MB of shared L2 cache, a 1333MHz Front Side Bus (FSB) and the fact that the processor is built on the 45nm process are all great reasons to think about getting a Q9400. Add to that a 1.2GHz overclock that was easy to reach and you have yet another winner from Intel. If you don't want to go with an Intel Core i7 series processor, the Intel Core 2 Quad Q9XX's series of processors are good choices as they cost less and can still compete... Speedlink Formula Laser - XSs @ xsreviews.co.uk [Mar-27-09] (0 Comments) Witha few very high end gaming mice passing through XSReviews, we takea look at the mid range market today. This product comes in the form ofSpeedlink’s Red Formula Laser Mouse and has some very interestingfeatures. The main one being the cable compartment which allows the USBcable to coil up inside the mouse.E Speedlink has a very god reputationof providing top quality products, so can they continue this trend withthe Formula Mouse? Speedlink Mini Chat - XSs @ xsreviews.co.uk [Mar-27-09] (0 Comments) Eventhough speaking to other players over VOIP or other services isbecoming more prevalent, with PC games including voice chat in game,and console users able to discuss over headsets within their parties,and within certain games, one of the main modes of chat is still thetext message interface. One problem with this on consoles, is how longit takes to spell out a message with a standard controller. Speedlinkhopes to rectify this with their Mini Chat keyboard for PS3, Xbox, WiiMac and even PC. Speedlink Vento 2.0 - XSs @ xsreviews.co.uk [Mar-25-09] (0 Comments) Withthe growth of notebooks, netbooks, and other portable media players,something people tend to like to do when they arn't in a far away placewith their beloved piece of kit, is enhance it with improvedperipherals. Be it a mouse, larger keyboard, increased screen size, orimproved sound quality. Today I'll be reviewing something that wouldprobably suit that purpose very well, the Speedlink Vento 2.0 speakerset. Coolmax V-600 600 Watt Power Supply @ pro-clockers.com [Mar-20-09] (0 Comments) From the two models described above you would think that all Coolmaxis making are power supplies for the high end rig that many of us do nothave. Well that is not true. Coolmax realizes there is a need for lowerwattage unit that can provide stable and safe power to an everyday box thatyou would find underneath the desk of an office, in a kid's room or downnear your very own feet. The new model Coolmax is labeled the V-600. If youwere to venture to guess, yes it is a 600 watt power supply. The V-600includes a 140mm cooling fan to keep your system running cool and a singlePCI-E power connector for those that would like to equip their box with amid to high range graphics card. PaLiT GeForce GTX 260 55nm Video Card @ legitreviews.com [Mar-17-09] (0 Comments) Making the jump from 65nm to 55nm has helped tame load power consumption and enabled even more overclocking headroom. Judging from the overclocking results, PaLiT could easily ramp up the clocks another 20 to 30MHz on the core and compete against the top tier 65nm GTX 260s. The only sour moment we had with the PaLiT GeForce GTX 260 Sonic 216SP 55nm was the idle power consumption, the lack of 2D and 3D clocks threw off power consumption and tarnished an otherwise satisfactory card. This is due to a vBIOS issue and PaLiT is using a reference NVIDIA board. This means that NVIDIA needs to release a new vBIOS for reference designed cards. Right now the PaLiT GeForce GTX 260 Sonic 216 SP video card seems like a rush job that fails to impress us. What is the point of releasing a new card that is basically nothing more than a die shrink only to have a rushed and incomplete vBIOS? If the vBIOS was 100% this 55nm card would have lower temperatures and power consumption numbers when compared to a 65nm card at both idle and load, but that is not the case... Speedlink Medusa NX - XSs @ xsreviews.co.uk [Mar-12-09] (0 Comments) Speedlinkare well known for making some top notch headsets, with their previousrange of Medusas making real waves in the review community. Now thoughit's time for a refresh, a re-release if you will. The Medusa is back,this time termed the NX and while it's still got a really long cableand 5.1 surround sound, can it stand up to the previous generation'stop notch performance? Scythe Ninja Mini CPU Cooler @ thetechlounge.com [Mar-11-09] (0 Comments) =22The Ninja had everything going for it:silence, performance, a low price , and, er, size. It's monolithic design was a concern, in that people reall y did need to be concerned that it might not fit in their computers. The Ni nja Mini is less of a revision and more of a derivation:a much shorter, br oader heatsink that's got titanic shoes to fill. Besides a simpler mounting system, lighter weight, and improved compatibility, has anything changed? That is to say, does it still perform (to continue the mixed metaphor) like a chainsaw at a water park?=22 Will the AMD RV790 Architecture be Something Different? @ pcper.com [Mar-09-09] (0 Comments) I do not think we will see a massive increase in stream units as wesaw going from the RV670 to the RV770. I think we will see an increase to960 stream units (divided into 12 SIMDs), but the amount of RBEs will likelybe unchanged (though AMD would include another texture unit per SIMD, addinganother RBE would sort of upset the orthoganality of the setup).Considering the current texturing and AA performance of the HD 4870, thosechanges are likely not needed in the new chip. Performance increases inpure pixel fillrate and texturing will be improved from the clockspeedincreases as well as further internal optimizations into these units. Silverstone Fortress & Strider 750W @ techpowerup.com [Feb-27-09] (0 Comments) The Silverstone Fortress aims to shrink the same awe inspiring and award winning uni-body construction of the legendary TJ07 to a mid-tower case, while still offering modern functionality and all the bells and whistles one should expect from an enthusiast enclosure. Hawking HomeRemote Starter Kit @ rbmods.com [Feb-24-09] (0 Comments) Home control and remote monitoring is a field that has yet to reallycatch on as a mainstream industry, perhaps because setting up the devicesand linking them over a network is complicated and not readily available.Hawking, makers of a wide range of networking products, might have solvedthat problem with their line of home automation products. Today we'll lookat the Hawking HomeRemote Pro Starter Kit, which promises out-of-the-boxhome automation. Will this product prove to make home control andmonitoring easy? Read on to find out. eDimensional Voice Buddy Software for Gaming @ xtremecomputing.co.uk [Feb-23-09] (0 Comments) Strangely, a few days later when I came back to get some screenshots of Voice Buddy, the problem seemed to have magically resolved! Voice Buddy understood every command I threw at it. I think that this could be down to a temporary system fault (or background noise, as it was much quieter in my house on the last time I tried), so I don’t think it should be blamed on Voice Buddy. eDimensional Voice Buddy Software for Gaming @ xtremecomputing.co.uk [Feb-23-09] (0 Comments) Strangely, a few days later when I came back to get some screenshots of Voice Buddy, the problem seemed to have magically resolved! Voice Buddy understood every command I threw at it. I think that this could be down to a temporary system fault (or background noise, as it was much quieter in my house on the last time I tried), so I don’t think it should be blamed on Voice Buddy. Heatsink Showdown:Cooler Master V10 vs. Xigmatek Thor's Hammer - @ vr-zone.com [Feb-23-09] (0 Comments) We take a look at 2 new CPU heatsinks from Cooler Master and Xigmatek - LGA 1366 Heatsink Group Test @ bit-tech.net [Feb-19-09] (0 Comments) */So given the option, which would we choose? Well, as always it comes Gelid Solutions Wing 8 UV Case Fan @ legitreviews.com [Feb-18-09] (0 Comments) The Wing 8 uses patented nanoflux bearings inside their fan. Nanoflux bearings use a magnetic design and are able to run friction-free, extremely silent and could last for a very long time. The fan comes with a 5 year warranty, but I think that with the use of this technology it could last much longer. The Wing 8 is also UV responsive. Legit Reviews made a 39-second video showing the blue UV properties of our test fan. It does produce a nice blue color as it advertises on the package... Gigabyte GA-EP45T-Extreme Motherboard @ techwarelabs.com [Feb-13-09] (0 Comments) Consumers are looking for value in when putting together their shopping list with increased frequency. These same consumers still continue to seek the best performance for their dollar. Gigabyte seeks to fill the motherboard best performance for your dollar segment with their GA-EP45T-Extreme motherboard. We show you how extreme this copper clad warrior is and compare it to the fastest rig available in the 3DMark Vantage test for a cost vs performance comparison. Who do you think the winner will be? Technic3D/2PCOM PS1264U Cooler @ technic3d.com [Feb-11-09] (0 Comments) The 2PCOM PS1264U CPU Heatsink arrived Technic3D. HTC technolo gy (Heat-pipe Touch Chip), 120mm PWM Fan, 4x 6mm Heatpipes and PILLAR Technology can you see in the following Review compared with Zalman, T itan Cooling and many more. Badaboom Media Converter v1.1.1 @ legitreviews.com [Feb-06-09] (0 Comments) Just yesterday Elemental Technologies released a second update to Badaboom Media Converter with release v1.1.1. This version fixes 12 bugs and also adds new features like FRAPS support for gamers that record demos and a new 960x540 resolution for Apple TV users. Legit Reviews asked Elemental Technologies to think about including FRAPS support in December as I thought that gamers and enthusiasts would see a value in being able to easily record and format movies for social networking sites like YouTube. It is a great feeling to see your ideas come to life, so let's take a look at the latest version of Badaboom Media Converter... How to Install Windows 7 within your existing OS @ w7forums.com [Feb-05-09] (0 Comments) Trying out Windows 7 isn’t quite as difficult as you may think, as you don’t need to wipe or dual boot your existing Vista/XP installation to try out the new Microsoft operating system. It is entirely possible to run Windows 7 from within your existing Windows installation, at the cost of reduced performance. All of this is thanks to virtualisation technologies which allow you to run a computer within a computer.There is a downside to this, as a virtualised PC normally uses emulated hardware – so the graphics card used to power Windows 7 will be nowhere near as good as a modern gaming card. This means you won’t be able to play recent games within the virtualised installation, but it is more than adequate for testing and playing with the new OS. Gelid Silent Spirit LGA 1366 CPU Cooler @ legitreviews.com [Feb-04-09] (0 Comments) The latest trend in heatsink design has been to add more heatpipes, more fins, and make everything wider and taller. GELID's Silent Spirit flips this concept on its side with a small heatsink with an unusual design and unique fin shape. With a 100mm fan spinning on average around 1600RPM, 46 max CFM, and only 370g of material, the Gelid Silent Spirit CPU Cooler hopes to pack a lot of punch in a very light frame. It weighs less than half of the popular Thermalright Ultra 120, clears every motherboard I could mount it to, and is silent to boot... SimpleTech [Re]Drive - 500GB External Hard Drive @ techwarelabs.com [Jan-30-09] (0 Comments) If you have a lot of important data that you need to back up, you need an external hard drive. I know exactly what youre thinking:why not help out your planet while you back up your information? Well now you can. Join Will as we take a look at the energy-efficient, resource-conscious external hard drive made with renewable, naturally grown bamboo and recyclable aluminum. And its got 500GB of storage priced less than the drive alone costs to boot. But will the energy efficiency affect the drives performance? Join us as we take a closer look. G.Skill's F3-12800CL8T-6GBHK Tri-Channel DDR3 memory @ bit-tech.net [Jan-30-09] (0 Comments) */If we are going by US prices, at the end of the day we think the G.Skill F3-12800CL8T-6GBHK with its Samsung HCF0 ICs have slightly more overhead than the Elpida-based Corsair DHX+ modules we looked at earlier this week - if your Core i7 CPU can stretch, the memory should accommodate. It may not have anything like the funky and more importantly, moddable (but also patented), DHX+ heatsinks on the Corsair but a case with good airflow should keep the G.Skill cool enough. Moreover, they have a lifetime warranty to cover mishaps and being low profile they're less likely to chance interference with a large CPU heatsink. Should Notebooks Come With Higher Quality Built-In Cameras? @ hardwaresecrets.com [Jan-24-09] (0 Comments) Should Notebooks Come With Higher Quality Built-In Cameras? Definitely yes!The problem is that lots of people still think that the only parameter to measure camera quality is the resolution (number of megapixels), which is not the best way to compare cameras. Lord of the Rings:Conquest (PC) @ bit-tech.net [Jan-20-09] (0 Comments) */If you're thinking that all this sounds as drab, dreary and dreadful Thermaltake Spedo Advance Case @ pro-clockers.com [Jan-19-09] (0 Comments) This new case that Ramsom was telling me about was the ThermaltakeSpedo Advance. The Spedo offers an interior look that many will think isattractive. What the Spedo has that everybody will agree is on the inside.The case offers nearly unmatched cable management, very easy installation,cooling, and air ventilation that puts in the top tier of great cases. Withall the new stuff the case has, the other parts such as spaciousness,storage, and cooling options were not sacrificed. I will now take you on avisual tour of the Spedo case from Thermaltake. Apple iPod Touch @ rbmods.com [Jan-18-09] (0 Comments) When you think about digital music players, one name comes to mindimmediately:iPod. Apple has regained its popularity thanks to their lineof iPod mp3 players, including the Nano, iPhone, Shuffle, etc. But arethey worth all the hype? Geeks.com, popular online retailer, sent us thefirst generation, 8GB version of the Apple iPod Touch. Read on to find outour take on the latest incarnation of the popular media player. iStarUSA T-5 SS Tooless HDD Reader @ computingondemand.com [Jan-13-09] (0 Comments) My digital life is one that can be categorized as anything butstagnant. In my world, hardware changes as often as my underwear (well, notreally. but close) and when products come along that may make things easier;I get excited. iStarUSA thinks they might have the answer to one of myproblems. Enter the T-5 SS, a screw-less and trayless design for fast HDDmounting. Jays C-jays Headphone @ rbmods.com [Jan-13-09] (0 Comments) We have previously reviewed a few pairs of earphones from Jays buttoday we are going to actually take a look at a real pair of headphones.This is a pair of really light weight headphones and they almost give aflimsy feeling when playing around with them but what will we think in theend? Evercool Serpent Northbridge Chip Cooler @ rbmods.com [Jan-10-09] (0 Comments) One of the main problems with various motherboard's northbridgecooler is the small heatsink with little fan at 5000rpm. Fan at such speedmakes high noise making use of computer very uncomfortable, not to mentionthe situation where the fan stops at all making the northbridge to overheatand possibly break due to it. Evercool was kind enough to provide us theirnewest northbridge cooler called Serpent. [News] Thermalright TRUE Copper Heatsink @ virtual-hideout.net [Jan-09-09] (0 Comments) Well then, when it comes down to it, this TRUE is a bit of aparadox. It's a very heavy beast that performs to... some degree offantastic, though to be honest, it really could be better. There areabsolutely no qualms with aesthetics, design, or installation. Even thepackaging is up to the par set. But honestly? What it comes down to are thematerials themselves. Back when, the utilization of copper was in place dueto the inability of the heatsinks to dissipate the heat, due to a low amountof surface area. The other issue in the pipe, though, is the fact that thisheatpipe uses the same six heatpipes as every other TRUE; which means thatunless it can dissipate heat any faster, the additional heat capacity won'tdo much all of good. It's all a shame, but I do rather love this sink NVIDIA GeForce 3D Vision Technology @ pcper.com [Jan-08-09] (0 Comments) The NVIDIA GeForce 3D Vision technology comes at a time when the PCgaming world needs a lift the most and I think any enthusiast (even thosethat are fans of AMD) can appreciate the chance to show off to theirconsole-loving friends a feature that can't be matched by one. The PCgaming world has been floundering around a bit since the days of Doom 3'srelease and we have slowly seen the exclusive titles on the PC migrate to a Technic3D/Thermal Compund Roundup @ technic3d.com [Jan-07-09] (0 Comments) Two new Thermal compounds from GELID and Revoltec arrived Tech nic3D. We will see how good is the High-End compound GC-1 and Freeze a gainst the Collaboratory Metal Pad or Arctic Silver with a Scythe CPU Heatsink. Various News Items @ bit-tech.net [Jan-03-09] (0 Comments) */Part platformer, part content creation tool, LittleBigPlanet comes from a group of ex-Lionhead developers who sought to bring their unique sense of humour to the PlayStation 3. While a good part of the game is actually built as a frustratingly difficult 2D platformer, the core part of //LittleBigPlanet is actually a complex series of tools that let players make their own levels and experiments. Think //Garry's Mod for consoles. [Affiliates News] Spire Torq Laptop Backpack @ aphnetworks.com [Jan-02-09] (0 Comments) After months of torture in Engineering class, I often find ithard to believe that I am finally done with this term. For the last few days,I 'slept in' until 7:00AM, and tried hard to lose the weird food addictions Ihad during final exams. I spent a lot of time with friends, watched numerousepisodes of The Simpsons, and I even started playing the occasionalCounter-Strike:Source (If you don't know me, I have to tell you that I amnot a gamer -- that's only because I am too leet for it ;) Just kidding haha)-- when the fun stuff is all over, I figured it was about time to get back toreality. That was when I realized that I had been excusing myself so much,that I delayed my review schedule quite a few times already. Here's the dealthough:I gained quite a bit of time for thorough testing in real life. Whenthe Spire Torq arrived at APH Networks, I was so glad that finally there'ssome physical relief from the stress and strains (No pun intended. Or isit!?) of higher education. The Spire Torq is a large laptop backpack that'sdesigned for practicality, combined with lots of room, infinite amounts ofpockets, and comfortable enough for extended periods of usage. I've beendropping my clipboard, occasional textbook, drawing notebook, a couple ofcalculators, pens and pencils, and of course, my Lenovo ThinkPad T400notebook computer around for almost a month already. This classroom to thatlecture hall, one building to another, library to train station, trainstation to car, you get the idea. Here's my impression of Spire's Torq laptopbackpack, and how it works out for me. Thermalright AXP-140 heatsink unveiled and unboxed! - VR-Zone @ vr-zone.com [Dec-26-08] (0 Comments) Remember the legendary Thermalright XP-120? It gained recognition forbeing one of the first heatsinks to tame the heat from Intel's notoriousPresshot (sorry I meant Prescott) processors. Even though many heatsinkshave overtaken it in terms of cooling performance, it still remained as apopular option for HTPCs. Today, Thermalright has released the successorto the XP-120, dubbed the AXP-140. Join VR-Zone in the unboxing of theAXP-140! Technic3D/Thermalright Ultra Copper @ technic3d.com [Dec-20-08] (0 Comments) The Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme True Copper CPU Heatsink ar rived Technic3D. The CPU Cooler with 6 Heatpipes and Stack of 52 piece s of copper fins. See you in the following Review the Thermalright Ult ra-120 eXtreme True Copper compared with Standard Boxed Cooling on a I ntel Core i7 920@ 4,1 GHz. Ikonik Zaria A20 Case @ techwarelabs.com [Dec-18-08] (0 Comments) A relative newcomer to the PC case industry Ikonik is entering with some really nice designs and forward thinking designs. Mike Santini takes a look at the Zaria A20 and shows you its positive points as well as some of the drawbacks to its design and layout. Is the Zaria meant for you? Read our review to fid out if its your perfect case. NZXT Whisper - XSs @ xsreviews.co.uk [Dec-17-08] (0 Comments) Soyou’re looking to build a new computer or are upgrading your currentsystem. The last thing on your list is probably the case. It reallyshouldn’t be. If it is, you’re usually left with a flimsy, cramp andugly heap of metal which is supposedly a PC enclosure. You’re kiddingright? Well no, it’s true and most of us can put our hands up and admitwe’ve done this on more than the odd occasion. So how about a casewhich actually has an affect on your internal components and is a joyto work with? Will that step up a mark on your wish list of parts for anew rig? Well after reading this review on a case which offers silence,an aluminium chassis and modernity, you may just think twice.Introducing the NZXT Whisper... AMD Athlon X2 7750 and 5050e Dual-Core Processor s @ legitreviews.com [Dec-16-08] (0 Comments) Both the AMD Athlon X2 5050e and the Athlon X2 7750 processors serve a place in today's market, but the roles for the two processors are clear as night and day. The AMD Athlon X2 5050e is perfect for those wanting to build a system that uses low power and has a quiet cooling solution. The thermal properties on the Athlon X2 5050e were amazing and the fact that the processor runs at just 41C under load on the factory heat sink was most impressive... Antec Skeleton Open Air PC Case @ legitreviews.com [Dec-12-08] (0 Comments) Overall I have mixed feelings about the Antec Skeleton. The geek in me loves it; the dad in me is scared of it. As a father of two under the age of 10 there is more then one occasion that something will go flying across the room. Even in my office I was leery of people around the system that were holding drinks and leaning over the case. Those that have pets at home might also want to think twice as a cat on catnip might find the 250mm disco fan a little too interesting... Vantec AeroFlow FX120 CPU Cooler @ techwarelabs.com [Dec-09-08] (0 Comments) Mike takes a look at the Vantec AeroFlow FX120 which as the name implies is powered by a 120mm fan. The AeroFLow FX120 wont break the bank and manages to edge out the MaxOrb in cooling performance. Sneak a peek at why Mike thinks strapping the AeroFlow FX120 to your CPU is a great idea. The Top 10 Useful iPhone Apps of 2008 @ legitreviews.com [Dec-08-08] (0 Comments) iPhone/iPod Touch apps are all the rage and with their ease of installation, low prices (how does free sound?) and huge selection of choices, it’s no wonder why. There are apps for just about everything you can think of and a bunch more you wouldn’t have ever conceived. Some are extremely useful while others are purely fluff and fun. Many of them are very specialized (German translator anyone?) and appeal to only a small percentage of users. How about useful apps for the average Joe User? Here are my picks for the top 10 useful apps of 2008 in no particular order... Zotac's Nitro OC Controller @ bit-tech.net [Dec-08-08] (0 Comments) */The Zotac Nitro is an interesting piece of kit, but one with a massively limited appeal. A lot of that comes down to the price, which really is a lot when you think about what you're getting, but then if you're questioning how much it costs, it probably isn't the product for you. At over £75 though, there is no denying that this is an expensive e-peen pill to swallow. Technic3D/GELID Silent Spirit @ technic3d.com [Dec-06-08] (0 Comments) The GELID Silent Spirit CPU Heatsink arrived Technic3D. The CP U Cooler with 92mm PWM Fan, 4 Heatpipesand easy installation. See you in the following Review the Silent Spirit compared with Standard Boxed Cooling and more. RamORB @ techwarelabs.com [Dec-02-08] (0 Comments) Looking to overclock your ram to its full potential but those factory heatsinks just aren't cutting it? Join RTM as he looks at the RamORB by Thermaltake. Part of the ORB lineup, this aftermarket heatsink is sure to stick to the Thermaltake motto:cool all your life. But is the bang really worth the buck? Samsung L210 Digital Camera @ techwarelabs.com [Dec-01-08] (0 Comments) In today's high tech digital world, everyone has one of those new fangled digital cameras. The days of running into the dark room or using that nifty old polariod are few and far between. With that being said, it's important to understand the difference between joe schmoe's dinky camera and the newest in technology! Boasting the slogan [Affiliates News] Lenovo customer service hell, as you've heard @ aphnetworks.com [Nov-27-08] (0 Comments) A few weeks ago, I ordered a Lenovo T400 laptop -- and fromwhat I had read, it was one of the best laptops in the market. With excellentbattery life (9+ hours with a 9-cell, switchable integrated/dedicated onspecific models, and LED screen), generally excellent reputation for ThinkPadlaptop's excellent reliability, it was really hard to resist this purchase --considering the fact that my Dell Inspiron 6400 recently died. The LenovoT-series' features, performance, weight, you name it -- are as perfect as alaptop would be. The funny thing is, many of these customer service articlesthat I've been writing here on APH Networks started off with a couplenegative reviews, balanced with another handful of positive ones frommanufacturers such as BenQ, NEC, and Shaw Cable. And then it all stopped,with the amount of reviews that we've been putting out every week for thelast couple years. Well, while I'll still write this week's review(Hopefully!) despite spending time to write this article, here's a new onefor you:and right off the bat, I hate to say it but -- it's more thannegative. To clarify, I'm not trying to Lian Li Maxima Force 750w PSU @ xtremecomputing.co.uk [Nov-27-08] (0 Comments) Lian Li’s Maxima Force 750W PSU is a very capable powersupply, it was hardly phased by all the load our test rig could generate and kept its voltage output strong and steady. The matt black industrial look is a great finish and didn’t have any imperfections that I could see. Lian Li have thrown on some embossed aluminium badges that compliment this look and I think it works well. Zalman ZM750-HP Power Supply @ hardwaresecrets.com [Nov-27-08] (0 Comments) ZM750-HP is a 750 W power supply from Zalman featuring a modular cabling system and a heat-pipe-based heatsink to cool down the secondary rectifiers. Let’s see if this unit survives our tests. Thermaltake Armor+ LCS @ techwarelabs.com [Nov-25-08] (0 Comments) Today we take a look at one of the most feature rich chassis to come into TechwareLabs in a long time, the Thermaltake Armor+ LCS. The Armor+ LCS weighs in just shy of FIFTY pounds but it packs an equally heavy punch in features and cooling. Take a look why this case easily won our Editors Choice award and why we think it deserves a place in your home. Linksys PLK300 Powerline Networking Kit - End of Ethernet? @ pcper.com [Nov-25-08] (0 Comments) Installation of the Linksys powerline networking kits could not beany easier - there are no drivers and no software requirements at all. Forprobably 99% of users you will need to simply plug in one device to a poweroutlet near your router and then connect its Ethernet port to your routerand then plug in the second node elsewhere in the house and then plug itsEthernet cable into the PC or switch. Viola, instant network. Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 X2 2GB - GTX 280 killer @ pcper.com [Nov-25-08] (0 Comments) Why would just one board partner be willing to offer such acompelling part? There several factors that likely include the economicslump, the slight drop in prices on the HD 4870 X2 cards and inventoryavailability. Even taking that into consideration I find it very confusingthat AMD seems content to have this graphics card be such a low volumeproduct. With its great price (currently competing with NVIDIA's GTX 280cards) and performance advantages (that you will see in our benchmarks) Ireally think the Radeon HD 4850 X2 could catch on in the enthusiastsegment. MSI Radeon HD R4670 512MB @ viperlair.com [Nov-24-08] (0 Comments) It's performance is astonishing when you consider the $80 price tag, $65 after rebate . I wish I had an 8800GT to hand, because I wouldn't be surprised to see the MSI R4670 match or beat it right across the board, and consider that the 8800GT's are still twice the price or more, and it's a no brainer. Pretty much everyone is feeling the pinch and counting the pennies, so it's nice to know that if you do have to compromise and get a low priced card for your gaming, your not going to be missing out on much this time around. If you're the casual gamer and used to buying budget priced cards, then the MSI R4670 might just give you an inkling on what you are missing out on with higher end cards. Sleek-Audio Custom Earphones @ techpowerup.com [Nov-22-08] (0 Comments) Sleek-Audio's much anticipated Custom earphones are put to the test, pitted against the usual suspects in the in-ear arena. These new Custom in-ears can be customized in any thinkable way, right from the frequency response, to the color and artwork on the shell. Panasonic Link-to-Cell Phone System @ hardwaresecrets.com [Nov-20-08] (0 Comments) Panasonic Link-to-Cell is a Bluetooth device that lets you use a Panasonic regular cordless phone to make calls using your cell phone. Design:What are some ways that form can enhance function? @ hardwaresecrets.com [Nov-20-08] (0 Comments) One basic product design concept is “form follows function”. What this means is that when designing products manufacturers must think first on usability and then on the design itself. Unfortunately sometimes people forget about this basic concept, leading to beautiful products that are hard to use or simply can’t be used at all. In some cases this is done on purpose (just think about the concept cars manufacturers develop and display on auto shows or, going a little bit further, some design competiti ZOTAC GeForce 9800 GT 512MB AMP Video Card @ thetechlounge.com [Nov-19-08] (0 Comments) One of the greatest things about fabrication processes is that they can be shrunk. Assuming that your architecture is forward-thinking enough, and it navigates issues with power plane-mapping and transistor leakage and all that, you can take your design, make it smaller, run it faster, and use less power. ATI has reaped great successes going from 65nm to 55nm, and NVIDIA is going the same way with their G92 parts. This process will take their 8800 GT, an excellent performer at the time of its release, rename it 9800 GT, and reap away. I mean, that would be the way to do it if you wanted to make any sense whatsoever. Because this is a regular ol' 65nm part. Cooler Master CM 690 NVIDIA Edition Case @ benchmarkreviews.com [Nov-06-08] (0 Comments) Cooler master is well known for a wide variety of PC accessories. The line-up consists of heatsinks, power supplies, fans, external Gelid Solutions Silent Spirit CPU Cooler @ techpowerup.com [Nov-06-08] (0 Comments) Gelid Solutions' Silent Spirit CPU cooler is a small, lightweight, high performing heatsink for both AMD and Intel CPUs (including Intel Socket LGA1366). Its four heatpipes connect to a pure copper base and an angled block of fins to cool surrounding motherboard components. The cooler is also extremely silent with Gelid's silent 9 2mm PWM fan attached. Thermalright T-Rad2 Video Card Cooler @ legitreviews.com [Nov-05-08] (0 Comments) Video card vendors always seem to manufacture graphic cards that have undersized heatsinks with incredibly loud fans and that are almost as hot as the surface of the sun. One would think that after decades of building these things they'd take a hint and build reference cards with thermal solutions that are adequate for stock performance. However, due to this inadequacy many other companies have found a market to fill and Thermalright is a company with proven designs and great success. The Thermalright T-Rad2 picks up where the reference design left off... iPod Nano Mono-Chromatic @ hardwaresecrets.com [Nov-05-08] (0 Comments) Apple has scratched last year’s design in favor of a comeback to the iPod Nano’s roots. Let’s see what we think about the new iPod nano model. Nehalem Revolution:Intel's Core i7 Processor Complete @ the fact [Nov-03-08] (0 Comments) Intel's new Core i7 series of processors is a modern marvel oftechnology that brings previously inaccessible performance to the consumer.In areas where multi-threaded applications are dominant, heavy multi-taskingis the norm or multimedia encoding is the primary function, the move to aHyperThreaded Core i7 part is a no brainer. But Intel's biggest problemmight not have anything to do with AMD or another outside source:the factis that the Core 2 Quad processors are still fantastic performers, widelyavailable and pretty damn cheap. Anyone that has a quad-core system willlikely not find a compelling performance benefit to upgrade from it to aCore i7 unless they subscribe to one of the usage models mentioned above.Intel has definitely attempted to curb this dilemma with the introduction ofthe $284 Core i7-920 and I think that this CPU will find its way into manyof our reader's machines. [Affiliates News] World's Most Powerful:Wicked Lasers The Torch @ aphnetworks.com [Nov-01-08] (0 Comments) In today's world, the term [electric] torch is often usedsimultaneously with flashlight. But remember why torches were called'torches' in the first place? Because these portable open fires have somereal burning power (After all, it does carry real fire and fuel) in additionto, well, some lighting ability. On the other hand, a conventional flashlighthas practically zero designed fire power, as its purpose is to provide light;and depending on what you have, most consumer units have a very poor range.When I think of 'torch', Wicked Laser's The Torch comes into my mind. Why?It's called The Torch for a really good reason -- simply put, it can burnthings, and no, I'm not kidding. But unlike conventional fire torches, it hasnothing short of incredible brightness and range. Carrying a 100W bulbpowered by a massive nickel-metal hydride battery, anything within severalinches of The Torch will definitely begin to burn in seconds. Meanwhile,other than its insane ability to transfer heat over short distances, TheTorch is also insanely bright with an amazing range. We'll show you somephotos in just a moment. With a brightness rating of 4,100 ANSI lumens, it'sroughly twice as bright as an average home theater LCD projector. They callit The Torch world's most powerful flashlight (As currently reviewed byGuinness World Records) with a very good reason. Excited? We won't keep youwaiting. Not excited yet? That's also a very good reason for you to read on. [News] OCZ Gladiator Max CPU Cooler @ virtual-hideout.net [Oct-31-08] (0 Comments) On the deck today, is the Gladiator Max - a heatsink which takes onthe lineage afforded by a rather interesting slug of copper which took onheating duties back in the K7 days. Granted, back when this would have beena dime-a-dozen cooler, so my opinions coming into this review are mixed.Considering the four thick pipes riding the heatspreader, a good fan, and ahuge mass of fins, though - there may be some hope. An Interview with Lara Croft @ bit-tech.net [Oct-30-08] (0 Comments) */bt://You spend a lot of time in Lara's outfit, running around with guns -- so we can probably guess the reaction you get from men, but what sort of reaction do you get from other women? What do women tend to think of Lara Croft? SilverStone Raven Mouse @ modders-inc.com [Oct-28-08] (0 Comments) The look, balanced feel and cutting edge ideas shows me thatSilverStone is truly serious about the mouse market. If they take some ofthe feed back that has been put out on the web about the Raven, which hasbeen favorable, and tweak it I think that they will have one heck of mouseand most definitely be a serious contender in this market. A job well doneby SilverStone and thank you for pushing the limits on a mouse. Cooler Master V8 Heatsink and Fan @ techwarelabs.com [Oct-23-08] (0 Comments) We all want the power of a V8, but with gas prices the way they are, most of us are trading our V8 trucks in for puny four cylinder eco-friendly cars. Cooler Master wanted to put that V8 power back in your life without driving you to the gas pumps. We introduce to you the all new Cooler Master V8 CPU cooler. Will this beast give us the power we need to cool our overclocked 140W AMD 9950 Black Edition down to room temperature? [News] Cooler Master V8 CPU Cooler @ virtual-hideout.net [Oct-23-08] (0 Comments) Like many of the other companies finding reviews on our pageslately, Cooler master's claims to fame come from eternally supporting theenthusiast edge of the industry. Though their start was found in coolingproducts, Cooler Master went on to begin producing branded fans, heatsinks,power supplies, and even liquid cooling systems. In that vein, the V8 ismore or less a rectification to this departure - a step by Cooler Master toreturn themselves into the realm of performance cooling. With the capacityto blow away almost 180w of heat, the V8 has the potential to slide CoolerMaster back up into the echelons of performance cooling, though it may wellhave a few hindrances along the way. With that said, it's time to see whatthis latest offering can do. Sunbeamtech Core Contact Freezer @ pureoverclock.com [Oct-23-08] (0 Comments) On the test bench today is Sunbeamtech's Core Contact Freezer, which offersHeatpipe Direct Touch (HDT) technology, a newer trend in tower-styleheatsinks, and promises some efficient cooling numbers. NZXT Guardian 921 Case @ techwarelabs.com [Oct-22-08] (0 Comments) There is much more to a case than just looks. You need a sense of protection. A sense of security for your hardware within. NZXT offers all of this and more with their Guardian 921. Join Erik as he gets down and dirty with the NZXT Guardian 921 and tells us what he thinks. DYMO DiscPainter ed @ thetechlounge.com [Oct-21-08] (0 Comments) While it might not be quite as creative as spending hours scouring magazines for that perfect cut and paste cover for your newest teenage crush mix tape, the DYMO DiscPainter does make things easier. Two lousy minutes worth of printing lends a semi-professional look to any DVD or CD made for inkjet printing. Overall I was pleased with the final image quality given that there is only one ink cartridge doing all the work. If you look closely you can sometimes spy the concentric rings left behind from DYMO's RadialPrint technology. But at arms length most users would be hard pressed to complain about the quality of most print jobs. Ikonik Vulcan 1200w - XSs @ xsreviews.co.uk [Oct-16-08] (0 Comments) Manyof the PSUs we've reviewed recently have been mid-range units, andI think it's time we upped the game. Thankfully Ikonik have been kindenough to send through their latest Vulcan PSU. It comes with a host ofconnectors, and a large 1200w capacity. Let's see how it compares tothe lesser watted units we've reviewed recently. XSR Link Correction @ xsreviews.co.uk [Oct-16-08] (0 Comments) Computercooling is becoming a much more widespread topic with extraemphasis on silence in comparison to the past where this aspect ofcooling was more or less disregarded in an attempt to produce maximumperformance. The challenge that faces most manufacturers nowadays isthe perfect combination between the two. Today at XSReviews, we have awhole series of Arctic Fans up for review. However, the question iswill this latest series of fans be able to meet both the demands ofperformance and silence? Monster Beats Headphones by Dr. Dre ed @ thetechlounge.com [Oct-14-08] (0 Comments) As you can probably guess from the rather interesting name, Monster teamed up with Dr. Dre to get some celebrity name recognition for this new offering. I'm not so sure Dr. Dre would be the first person to pop into mind when thinking of audiophile priced headphones, but he is in the recording industry and should be instantly recognizable to anyone slightly familiar with the Rap/Hip-Hop scene nonetheless. Let's get past the names involved here, though, and see if the Beats are truly worthy of your hard-earned cash. Technic3D/Sunbeamtech Core-Contact Freezer @ technic3d.com [Oct-14-08] (0 Comments) The Sunbeamtech Core-Contact Freezer CPU Heatsink arrived Tech nic3D. The CPU Cooler with 120mm Fan, Fan Controller, 8 Heatpipes, H.D .T. technology and easy installation. See you in the following Revie w the Freezer compared with Standard Boxed Cooling and more. [News] Vantec Aeroflow FX92/FX120 HDT CPU Coolers @ virtual-hideout.net [Oct-13-08] (0 Comments) I'd have to say that the FX92 is definitely not a heatsink to passup; though it does manage to make itself heard when spinning up to meet theload, it's cooling performance nearly matches that of the much heaviersinks, and even an upgraded watercooling kit. That's nothing to sneeze at.So, what we now have sitting here are a pair of products - one which isgreat, and one that needs work. On the plus side, though - they both workwell enough, are accessible enough, and cheap enough to recommend, andthat's a step forward. Technic3D/Thermolab Micro and Nano Silencer @ technic3d.com [Oct-11-08] (0 Comments) The Thermolab Micro and Nano Silencer HTPC CPU Heatsink arrive d Technic3D. Design for Mini-ITX and Micro ATX form factor. Low noise by applying PWM Control fans? See the following Review on a Intel XE6 800 CPU compared with Standard Boxed Cooling and many more. Xigmatek Red Scorpion @ pureoverclock.com [Oct-09-08] (0 Comments) On the test bench today is Xigmatek's Red Scorpion S1283, which offersHeatpipe Direct Touch (HDT) technology, a new trend in tower-styleheatsinks. We'll be comparing this to a couple other very capapble coolersto determine its cooling efficiency. The Scorpion sure looks good, butcooling is king, so we'll see if it's regal or reject. Samsung S3 MP3 Player ed @ tweaktown.com [Oct-09-08] (0 Comments) Arriving on my doorstep recently was a sleek and sultry little number from the big S, their new S3 series MP3 player. The version sent to me by post as pictured is the “pretty in pink” model, because as a modern 20something guy, I’m secure in my manliness... The menu system of the player is fairly intuitive and you will rarely find yourself flummoxed or lost in menus, so it’s easy to switch into DSNe 2.0 environments while playing a track. There is a bunch of standard pre-sets offering you EQ boosts and then there are spacial simulators to give the effect of a concert hall or a stadium gig. Asus Eee PC S101 @ bit-tech.net [Oct-08-08] (0 Comments) */Opening the flap reveals the Eee PC S101's striking metallic burnt orange lid -- a massive change from the black and white casing used on the older Eee PCs. It's already clear that Asus has changed direction with the S101 and we think that it's for the better. However, we're sure that some won't like the burnt orange -- we've heard that Asus will be offering a number of lid options, including graphite and champagne, along with the metallic burnt orange on the model we looked at. Free Anti-Virus Roundup @ velocityreviews.com [Oct-03-08] (0 Comments) Although it isn’t possible to fully protect your computer from a huge array of viral, spyware, and other malware threats, a good anti-virus application goes a long way to securing your PC. Now that most computers are permanently connected to the internet, it is more important than ever to ensure you have an up-to-date and reliable anti-virus package on your computer. Some people still don’t have any installed, thinking that because they are careful what they download, they will be safe. Others don’t like the thought of losing even the slightest amount of performance from their PC. However, the importance of getting a good virus scanner cannot be underestimated – and this lesson is often only learned after a virus infection. AMA Serac 770 - XSs @ xsreviews.co.uk [Sep-19-08] (0 Comments) Whenit comes to buying a new cooler you can be almost certain thatmost people will overlook water-cooling as an option. There used to bemany reasons for this, such as the mammoth costs of a entry levelwater-cooling kit and the paranoia that accompanies the knowledge thatthe system could leak all over your precious rig . But recently thecost of water-cooling has fallen and although some still consider it arisky option, I think the tide is beginning to turn; so to speak. TodayI have with me a funky looking kit from a relatively unknown firm, AMAPrecision Inc and it's called the Serac 770. Let's check it out. Sapphire HD 4850 512 MB 100245L Own PCB Design @ techpowerup.com [Sep-18-08] (0 Comments) Sapphire has engineered their own version of the Radeon HD 4850 with cost and cooling in mind. The card's new unconventional heatsink looks good and keeps the card cool - far below reference design temperatures. The best of all is that the card costs only $169.99 online which makes it the cheapest HD 4850 available today. Noctua NH-C12P - XSs @ xsreviews.co.uk [Sep-11-08] (0 Comments) Withthe increasing amount of tower-type CPU coolers on the market,enthusiasts seem to have entirely forgotten about the classic top-downformat. So today, we’ll be taking a step back from tower formatheatsinks by reviewing the Noctua NH-C12P – a cooler whichsurprisingly, uses the top-down design. Let’s resurrect this staple ofdays gone by, and find out if it can beat today’s preferred format. Powercolor PCS HD 4670 512 MB @ techpowerup.com [Sep-10-08] (0 Comments) Today AMD launches their new cards based on the RV730 graphics processor. The Powercolor PCS HD 4670 we have on our testbench today comes with a dual slot heatsink which offers excellent cooling and low noise. Together with the serious gaming performance of this card, AMD has managed to successfully position their product in the sub-$100 segment. OCZ Flex II 4GB PC2-9200 DDR2 Memory @ legitreviews.com [Sep-09-08] (0 Comments) The OCZ PC2-9200 Flex II 4GB memory kit steps up the game for 4GB memory kits. No longer does 4GB have to be associated with slow and loose timings. Focusing solely at the performance available, this kit really does give you the flexibility to choose between tight timings or high frequencies with appreciable read, write, and copy bandwidth across the board. Factor in the overclocking, Extended Voltage Protection, and the Xtreme Liquid Convection heatsink and you've got a well rounded memory kit... Akasa's Blue Aurora CPU heatsink @ bit-tech.net [Sep-08-08] (0 Comments) */The Akasa Blue Aurora has consistently impressed us throughout the review, and we were actually quite surprised at just what an excellent cooler it is -- Akasa is not generally harped about across online communities as the best thing since sliced bread. In fact, we've genuinely struggled to find anything really wrong with it and between this and the 965, we would actively encourage people to reconsider the constant recommendations of old. [Editorial] Google and Chrome - A Plausible Future @ thetechlounge.com [Sep-05-08] (0 Comments) Google wants to change the world. Knowing what they know and not doing anything with it is anathema. Being able to see what people want, how they think, all this is part of their intention to build something different. That isn't a bad thing, they're not out for control in a cravenly sense, and they aren't positioning themselves as a kind of benevolent dictatorship. And Chrome, in its simplicity, telegraphs their plan. Firefox replacement? Hardly. Microsoft replacement? Nothing like that. What Google is working on is an Internet replacement. Or rather, an alternative. Is Your Linksys SD2008 Switch Overheating or Losing Connectivity? @ legitreviews.com [Sep-04-08] (0 Comments) If you already own the Linksys SD2008 and are having issues with it remember the switch has a limited lifetime warranty, so you shouldn't be stuck with a faulty product. The newer Linksys SD2008 v3.0 switches are more power efficient and put out far less heat than the older v2.x series that so many people are having issues with... SumoSac Sultan Luxury 'Beanbag' Chair @ thetechlounge.com [Sep-04-08] (0 Comments) Endurance gamers will love the Sumo Sac Sultan. The huge pillow easily accommodates nearly any size human, and at least two average- sized ones. If you are looking for a man-chair to add to your furniture fold, consider the Sultan. Apartment residents wanting to save space and avoid shoving a couch up three flights of stairs may find a Sumo Sac a suitable alternative. The Sumo Sultan will suffice for basically any application you can think of for a huge bag of comfort... just don't operate heavy machinery after use. TRENDnet TEW-624UB 300Mbps Wireless N USB 2.0 Adapter @ tweaktown.com [Sep-03-08] (0 Comments) Over the past few weeks we have looked at a couple of products from TRENDnet, including the 200Mbps Powerline AV Fast Ethernet Adapter Kit as well as the 300Mbps Dual Band Wireless N Gigabit Router.Both are pretty good products and overall we were left thinking quite good things about TRENDnet and what they had sent us to review. Today we have another review of a TRENDnet product and this time it is the TEW-624UB (version B1.0R to be exact) 300Mbps Wireless N USB 2.0 adapter. It is designed to add wireless capability to your Windows 2000, XP or Vista desktop PC or notebook or as an upgrade over a slower wireless connection such as 802.11b. Skullcandy ComTi Multimedia Headphones @ xtremecomputing.co.uk [Sep-03-08] (0 Comments) SkullCandy have in my opinion have a great headset here, not only does it sound good, it comes with the best warranty in the market, come on do you think any of the other brands would replace the unit at 50% of the cost if you jump up like a lunatic to celebrate and snap the cable? I think not, and you just would be silly to ignore that kind of warranty! iStarUSA xAge-N99-US USB 2.0 Hard Drive Docking Station @ legitreviews.com [Sep-02-08] (0 Comments) Overall, I think the iStarUSA HDD dock is a great device to recover the use of dormant drives or to expand your storage options. With backups being so important, this gives you one less excuse for getting them done. Found online for less than $30, this is also a relatively inexpensive solution to your storage needs. Aside from a short power cable, I found no other flaws with the docking station and was easily able to add a variety of drives without compatibility issues and even hooked it to my Apple MacBook Pro for a quick compatibility check... Zalman HD160XT Plus Premium HTPC Case @ tweaknews.net [Sep-02-08] (0 Comments) I loved Zalman's HD160XT when I got a chance to look at it in early 2007. It was hard for me to imagine that they could improve on it very much. Well, they found a way. Actually a couple of ways. I like the reorganized front panel for the improved access to the control buttons and I/O features. I also think that the change to the iMON software is an improvement, not only for its functionality, but also for the future support and updates that will be available from SoundGraph. Losing fan control and temperature monitoring is a bit of a disappointment, but the fans in the HD160XT Plus are very quiet (at 5V) anyway, and looking back, I don't think I used the temp monitor that much either. [News] Moneual MONCASO 972 HTPC Enclosure @ virtual-hideout.net [Aug-31-08] (0 Comments) It pleases me to say that the price of the Moncaso 972 is moreaffordable than the 932 when it first launched. When the 932 was brand new,it required a $700 to $800 premium which was quite steep for many to afford.The 972 comes in at about the $500 which will attract far more users. Thequality of the entire product reflects the money is well spent. Perhaps inthe future, we may could see the possibility of more drive storage for dualoptical drive use. Or, maybe we'll see vertically mounted drive bays toincrease hard drive count as well as a hot swappable bay or two. Theconcepts are endless. The idea of an optional keyboard has it's pros andcons. On the one hand, you're stuck with their software and limited keyboardfeatures. And on the other hand, if you get to pick the one you want, you'rehappy. The enclosure continues its legacy of refinement. It's a testament toMoneual in just how quickly their designs and concepts have grown in theHTPC market. It would seem that there is very little that can be improvedupon in this enclosure. It's inspiring to think what we can expect fromMoneual and the Moncaso HTPC series in the near future. Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 512MB Toxic Video Card @ thetechlounge.com [Aug-29-08] (0 Comments) This is the ATI counter-point to the 9800 GTX+:Sapphire's Toxic HD 4850. It may be alone, and it may not be more power-friendly, but it's, ahem, wickedly fast. The icing is that it doesn't really cost more than other HD 4850s--sure, it's on the high side, but it's still cheaper than a 4850 and a Zalman heatsink. The astounding thing is how closely the Toxic keeps up with an HD 4870, cards that cost close to a hundred dollars more. Bombshell of NVISION08:SLI goes native on Intel X58 @ pcper.com [Aug-28-08] (0 Comments) NVIDIA is going to allow the Intel X58 chipset to natively supportSLI graphics configurations.Let me let that sink in. No need for an nForce 200, no need for any special logic of any kind, noneed for an NVIDIA product but the graphics cards themselves. Obviouslythis is GREAT news for the gamer - now we can finally get high qualitymotherboards that are reasonably priced and will run both NVIDIA SLI and AMDCrossFire GPU configurations. We are very excited about the idea ofunifying our platform selections for the hardware leaderboard, for using asingle motherboard for all our graphics card testing and just excited aboutwhat it means for high-end PC gaming in the big picture. NVIDIA to Enable SLI on Select X58-based Motherboards @ techgage.com [Aug-28-08] (0 Comments) NVIDIA's SLIwon't be available on X58? Think again! The company hasjust announced 'native' support on select X58-based motherboards, allwithout the use of their own chipset. Dual-GPU configurations will beenabled without a bridge, while the higher-end offerings, including apotential Quad-GPU, will. CSX Diablo 2000MHZ DDR3 - XSs @ xsreviews.co.uk [Aug-28-08] (0 Comments) Overthe last year or so, the price of DDR2 memory has completelybottomed out, meaning many gamers and hardware enthusiasts have stuckwith it, and by and large ignored the newer technology, DDR3. However,as prices of the new range start to come down, people are taking moreof an interest. Today I have a kit from a little known company calledas CSX, who've been kind enough to let us test their Diablo kit. A 2GB,2GHZ pair of sticks, that come with a huge heatsink, with D9 chipsunderneath. Can they reach their rated 2000MHZ speed? Let's find out. Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 512MB Toxic Video Card @ thetechlounge.com [Aug-28-08] (0 Comments) This is the ATI counter-point to the 9800 GTX+:Sapphire's Toxic HD 4850. It may be alone, and it may not be more power-friendly, but it's, ahem, wickedly fast. The icing is that it doesn't really cost more than other HD 4850s--sure, it's on the high side, but it's still cheaper than a 4850 and a Zalman heatsink. The astounding thing is how closely the Toxic keeps up with an HD 4870, cards that cost close to a hundred dollars more. Technic3D/Auras Fridge VGA Cooler @ technic3d.com [Aug-26-08] (0 Comments) The Auras Fridge VGA Heatsink arrived Technic3D. Auras Fridge supports also VGA cards from NVIDIA Geforce 8800GT and 9600GT series. The VGA coolers comes with place for two 120mm Fans. See you in the fo llowing Review the Fridge on a 9600 GT compared with Arctic Cooling, X igmatek Battle-Axe Cooler, Thermalright, GFXChilla and the Zerotherm H urricane HC92 Cu. [News] Patriot Viper 2GB DDR3-2000MHz Memory @ virtual-hideout.net [Aug-25-08] (0 Comments) The crucial link in the chain for getting the best performance fromthe Patriot Viper PC3-16000 2GB Memory Kit is whether or not yourmotherboard and processor can handle Front Side Bus increases. If yourNvidia or Intel chipset based motherboard can't give you something upwardsof at least 1600 MHz FSB, then you won't really be tapping in to the bulk ofthe memory's potential. Nvidia 790i users can at least expect great thingsfrom the BIOS memory and CPU Bus Link option. A quick change to a memorysetting or two and you're running at 2000 MHz. But, again, you'll get muchbetter results if you at least tap in to your processor's 1600 MHz FSBpotential. OCZ Vendetta 2 @ bit-tech.net [Aug-22-08] (0 Comments) *While the OCZ Vendetta 2 isn't silent, or the absolute best thermal performer, it strikes an excellent balance between them considering the £23 price tag. In fact, in some respects we think OCZ might be selling itself short at this price, or we'd happily pay a few quid more for some spare screws and gromits... and a new mounting mechanism. While it might not be up there with the big boys of the Thermalright Ultra Extreme 120 or Noctua NH-U12P in performance, /for the money/ there is very little able to touch the Vendetta 2's performance, both thermally and acoustically. Early Look:Asus P6T Deluxe - Intel X58 Begins @ bit-tech.net [Aug-21-08] (0 Comments) *With all the kerfuffle surrounding Intel's IDF this week and Nehalem news pouring out of almost every crevice of the internet, Asus gave /bit-tech/ a quick wink and a nudge then slipped us a brown paper envelope...via a postman. [Affiliates News] Thermal Paste Roundup August 2008 @ aphnetworks.com [Aug-18-08] (0 Comments) It has been over a year since we've reviewed thermal paste.With the previous presented to us being Arctic Cooling's excellent MX-2thermal compound in July 2007 and reviewed August 2007 -- it was, no doubt,excellent thermal paste; and were able to achieve a score of 8.1/10 on ourNumber Ratings. Thermal paste may seem so insignificant -- it can be easilyoverlooked to an extent that many people simply buy what they've heard of themost, and not necessarily what is the best. Thermal paste may 'seem' to beall the same with each other; but each is actually quite unique withdifferent companies making different formulas for synthetic compounds ormetal compounds. But all serves the same purpose to allowing better transferbetween the cooled device and the cooler; filling microscopic valleys insurfaces that has microscopic imperfections to maximize heat transferefficiency at its source. Today, we will be looking into several differentbrands of claimed 'high performance' thermal paste and see which one performsthe best. Our four-way competition today includes the 'classic' Arctic Silver5, our previous winner Arctic Cooling MX-2, the price competitive Tuniq TX-2,and the NT-H1 paste from silent PC enthusiasts' favorite company Noctua.* Link:http://aphnetworks.com/reports/thermal_paste_roundup_august_2008 [1]* Image:http://aphnetworks.com/report/thermal_paste_roundup_august_2008/005.JPG [2]Thanks for your support. Don't forget to send your site news tonews@aphnetworks.com [3] as well!Best Regards,JonathanAPH Networkshttp://aphnetworks.com [4] technic3D/Spire Blue-Star 1000 @ technic3d.com [Aug-18-08] (0 Comments) The Spire Blue-Star 1000 (SP678SO) CPU Heatsink arrived Techni c3D. The CPU Cooler with 90mm Fan, H.D.T. technology, 4x 8mm Copper he at pipes and easy installation. See you in the following Review the Bl ue-Star 1000 compared with Standard Boxed Cooling and more. Vantec NexStar USB/eSATA Hard Drive Dock @ thinkcomputers.org [Aug-16-08] (0 Comments) The Vantec product we had the opportunity to look at today is notyour typical external hard drive device. It is the Vantec NexStar Hard DriveDock which supports both 2.5 Asus CrossHair II Formula motherboard @ bit-tech.net [Aug-15-08] (0 Comments) */The original CrossHair was great, at the time, but we feel the CrossHair II is one to miss. I think Asus has done what it can with what Nvidia and AMD has handed over, but ultimately there are better products elsewhere that can be had for a fraction of the price. The swanky pants Republic of Gamer board might do a lot of things pretty well, but nothing spectacularly like you'd expect. It feels decidedly average at the end of the day, and we don't drop £150 on an average product./* Gigabyte EP45-DS3L S-Series Intel P45 Motherboard @ thinkcomputers.org [Aug-15-08] (0 Comments) Today, I will be looking at the EP45-DS3L, Gigabyte's economy-pricedP45 motherboard. This is probably the least expensive newly releasedmotherboard I have seen coming from either of the top two motherboardmanufacturers in a very long time, and obviously marketed towards thosebuyers looking at buying boards from ECS, ASRock, or one of the othermanufacturers that build budget motherboards. Will the EP45-DS3L meet thehigh standards that we have come to expect from a Gigabyte motherboard, withfeatures found on its bigger brothers? Read on to see! [News] Zalman CNPS9300-AT CPU Cooler @ virtual-hideout.net [Aug-15-08] (0 Comments) It IS a great sink in terms of quality, and usability. Anyone caninstall it, and almost anyone would appreciate it's appearance, yet it'sperformance and cost are found to be lacking. If you could find thisheatsink on sale it would turn out to be a great buy, but otherwise... I'mnot sure exactly what would motivate users to purchase it, other than anunusual fondness for Zalman, and a wee case. XIGMATEK HDT-SD964 CPU Cooler @ tweaktown.com [Aug-14-08] (0 Comments) With a trio of heatpipe direct touch CPU cooler reviews under our belts, I can definitively say that the tech is quickly catching on and spreading like wildfire. I am standing strong behind my statement from the last review of a H.D.T. cooler that I think this is the direction most CPU heatsinks will go in the future; much like the way nearly all CPU coolers use heatpipes nowadays.Today we are going to take a look at the HDT-SD964 from XIGMATEK. Unlike all of the Heatpipe Direct Touch (H.D.T.) coolers we have looked at thus far, this cooler does not use a 120mm fan. The HDT-SD964 uses a 92mm fan and is a little shorter than the others. This will allow the cooler to be placed in smaller enclosures like 4U server chassis’ and equal sized media center cases. Code of Honor 2:Conspiracy Island @ bit-tech.net [Aug-14-08] (0 Comments) The real problem with Code of Honor 2 isn’t the bad graphics,though those are the first thing anyone will notice. Poor graphics wecan cope with. Not every game has to have huge polygon counts and ProcedurallyGenerated Dynamic Mega-texture-awesomeness – but good games do have tohave something. They have to have a hook that can draw people in and makethem want to play more. Code of Honor 2 doesn’t have that.Utterly boring and bland and far too easy in the singleplayer game, aquarter-baked and shallow experience on the multiplayer side, Code of Honor doesn’t really do anything right and is doomed to soonreside in the bargain bin. There are two type of games to find in bargain bins though. There areold or unappreciated games that are still very much worth playing andthen there’s stuff that just couldn’t survive in a capitalist marketdue to a stunning lack of worth. If you’ve read the review this far andstill can't figure out which one we think Code of Honor 2 is then this is probably the game for you. Braid @ bit-tech.net [Aug-12-08] (0 Comments) Braid does have a few problems despite our love for it. Theoblique logic and lateral thinking that you need to learn how to applytoo rapidly scales up from Easy to Murderous, for instance, and thegame doesn’t always do a great job of introducing the new ideas. Worse, the game doesn’t even have a proper help page and there’sliterally no introduction to the rewinding mechanic until you die forthe first time – something you naturally spend your first go throughthe game trying to avoid. The combined ingenuity of the gameplay and the gentle, nostalgicbrilliance of the art and writing do manage to overcome this though andit’s a testament to the pacing of the game that you manage to learn allthese elements without any decent manual or instruction. Cerebral and startlingly playable, Braid is a throwback to the forgotten world of commercialplatformers and proper adventure gameswhere the puzzles were hard, but rewarding. At times it can be toodifficult for its own good, but the bulk of the game isn’t weighed downby this and Braid instead manages to float upwards, toexcellence. QNAP TS-409U Rackmount NAS @ thinkcomputers.org [Aug-11-08] (0 Comments) QNAP wowed ThinkComputers a while back with its TS-109 Pro NAS, asmall, aluminum-cased, single-drive unit. QNAP has grown quite a bit sincethen, and recently released a larger unit for its small business andcorporate users, the TS-409U. The TS-409U is a quadruple bay rackmount NASwith support for up to 4 TB of space in a variety of storage configurations,including RAID5 and RAID6. Its variety of server software, including a fullLAMP stack and printer server, can provide usefulness and utility to usersat all levels of technical know-how and work goals. Thermalright IFX-14 CPU Cooler @ pro-clockers.com [Aug-11-08] (0 Comments) This is just what Thermalright did with the IFX-14. The coolerconsists of twin towers linked by a set of heat pipes. Now I am not going togive you all the features here in the introduction. But I will tell you thecooler does come with a little surprise. Something that no other coolercomes with. If you want to know what it is then you will have to continuereading. Cooler Master Real Power Pro 1250W Power Supply @ thinkcomputers.org [Aug-09-08] (0 Comments) As enthusiasts build high-end computers which require more and morepower for the multiple processors, multiple graphics cards, and multiplehard drives in these rigs, power supply manufacturers, such as CoolerMaster, churn out power supplies with increasingly higher wattage to handlethese power-thirsty devices. Cooler Master sent ThinkComputers the nextgeneration of its Real Power Pro series, the six-12V-railed 1250W monsterwith enough connectors and juice to power just about anything one couldthrow at it. The Silent Release of the 740G @ pcper.com [Aug-09-08] (0 Comments) The greatest strength of this platform is likely the powerconsumption. At idle, with 2GB of memory, a 500 GB HD, a BD drive, and a X24050e, the system was pulling a very meager 55 watts from the wall. At fullload it was pulling 91 watts. If we consider that the Atom and Nanoplatforms that Ryan tested last week were around the same idle power, it isimpressive to think that a comparatively fast dual core processor with afairly robust integrated graphics portion is sitting in the same area atidle, and at full bore it is about 20 watts higher than the Nano with itsVIA/S3 Chrome based chipset. HTC Touch Smartphone ed @ thetechlounge.com [Aug-08-08] (0 Comments) For me, Windows Mobile has always been primarily focused on data access, rather than data creation or modification. The Touch excels in this regard. It's not a multimedia powerhouse, but it will get an acceptable job done for most of your basic needs. If HTC added a hardware keyboard and a standard audio port, I think this would be a perfect Windows Mobile device. For now, if you are looking for a small, attractive smartphone and you can put up with a less-than-ideal input solution, the Touch may be a great option for you. ASUS MK241 24-inch Widescreen LCD Monitor @ thinkcomputers.org [Aug-08-08] (0 Comments) The last LCD monitor we took a look at from ASUS was the 22-inchPG221. It was one of the most amazing LCD's that I have seen and if you area gamer you would definitely love it. One thing that it did lack was a HDMIport. This time around ASUS has sent us their 24-inch MK241 LCD thatfeatures full 1080p HD playback via an HDMI port. Not only that it features3000:1 contrast ration, integrated webcam, and ASUS's Splendid videotechnology. Let's see how the MK241 measures up. Vantec NexStar 3i External Hard Drive Enclosure @ thinkcomputers.org [Aug-07-08] (0 Comments) The Vantec NexStar 3i External Hard Drive Enclosure incorporatespower saving modes to help save power and prolong the life of hard drives.It operates in three power saving modes:idle, stand by, and power down; allof which are automatic. The USB connectivity provides high data transferrates on hard drives with up to 1TB of data. The small design of the NexStar3i takes up very little desk space and even keeps cool with an aluminumcase. Read on further to see how it performs. [Affiliates News] Interview:Andrew Milligan, the Brain Behind Sumo Lounge @ aphnetworks.com [Aug-06-08] (0 Comments) It's been almost two years since we've conduced our lastinterview. There are so many interesting people in the world, I just don'tknow where to start! After taking a look at the Sumo Lounge SumoSac a fewweeks back, there's one person I felt like I really need to interview. That'sAndrew Milligan, the guy who came up with Sumo Lounge, a company that designsand markets beanbags, and brought it to what it is today. I really wanted toknow more about the brainchild behind this company when I read the WallStreet Journal article on some background to his business. But how much can acouple paragraph say? Not a lot. I'm really lucky to get to know Andrewhimself though. So, with our notebook (computers) and the such in hand, wehad an opportunity to sit down with Andrew over at Sumo Lounge with ourexclusive interview on APH Networks today.* Link:http://aphnetworks.com/lounge/interview_andrew_milligan_the_brain_behind...[1]* Image:http://aphnetworks.com/funstuff/sumo_lounge_sumosac_sultan_khaki/006.JPG [2]Thanks for your support. Don't forget to send your site news tonews@aphnetworks.com [3] as well!Best Regards,JonathanAPH Networks Tagan BZ Series 900W Modular Power Supply @ thinkcomputers.org [Aug-05-08] (0 Comments) I have reviewed Tagan's 2 previous power supplies the GuardianX1000W and the ITZ Series 1300W. Both power supplies performed well, butthere was one problem they were not modular. No one wants a ton of wireslaying around in their case. Tagan has a new series of power supplies, theBZ series which not only are modular, but are very attractive as well. Taganwas nice enough to send us the 900W version of the BZ series, let's check itout! Tagan CS Monolize Full Tower Case @ legitreviews.com [Aug-05-08] (0 Comments) Some may look at the cooling package of the Tagan CS-Monolize and think that it is not very elegant, but more along the lines of brute force. Well sometimes a hit with a big hammer is what gets the job done, and Tagan brought a really big hammer. They stuck two fans pushing 150 CFM each in a case that only takes up 2.4 cubic feet of space. So getting fresh air into the case is not an issue... Raidmax Aura Case @ hardwaresecrets.com [Aug-05-08] (0 Comments) Raidmax has just launched a series of mini-tower cases targeted to the female audience, Aura, available in four unique colors:seashell pink, emerald green, polar blue and “really black”. ASRock P45R2000-WiFi P45 DDR2/DDR3 Motherboard @ thinkcomputers.org [Aug-04-08] (0 Comments) Our good friends at ASRock feel your pain. Building practicalsolutions for tough problems into motherboards is what they are best knownfor, and they have just released what may be the answer to your problems, anIntel P45 board capable of running both DDR2 and DDR3 memory. This isn't anew idea, a few companies did the same thing with the P35 last year. Mostattempts were less than awesome, but ASRock's board was clearly the bestattempt. With this experience under their belts, ASRock has released theP45R2000-Wifi. Will it be the solution for those wanting a gradual crossoverfrom DDR2 to DDR3? Keep reading to see! In Win Alpha360 Mini-Tower Case @ thetechlounge.com [Aug-04-08] (0 Comments) In Win is a king of case manufacturers. Their purview extends across the entire realm of beige, from the calm sea of beige to the shallow cliffs of beige, with the inoffensive beige plains between. I speak in jest. I have a soft spot in my heart for the oft-marginalized company, mainly because they made the first case I ever bought. It was, you know, off-white, a mini-tower affair that came with an adequate PSU. And even though I've since played with the full spectrum of cases, that first case I still have, and still use. Despite the color, it was way ahead of its time, both in layout and features. So I look at the Alpha360, boxed up in Engrish, and I think, people should know about these guys. These cases are awesome. I mean, these specific cases. The rest are all King Beige. NVIDIA Exiting Chipset Business? We take another look... @ pcper.com [Aug-02-08] (0 Comments) I think the majority of these concerns about NVIDIA's chipset busin ess started with the confirmation that NVIDIA was either not granted a CSI license by Intel (also known as Quick Path Interconnect, the bus for upcomi ng Nehalem/Bloomfield processors) or decided they weren't going to try to a cquire one to make chipsets for the first round of Nehalem processors. Ins tead, NVIDIA has offered up the nForce 200 bridge chip to potential X58 chi pset motherboard vendors to enable and allow SLI technology on Intel's upco ming platform shift. Many in our space saw this is a white flag from NVIDI A, that they weren't able to cut into Intel's chipset business as they'd ho ped. [Affiliates News] Thermaltake Toughpower Cable Management 650W (Report) @ aphnetworks.com [Aug-01-08] (0 Comments) Wow, time sure flies by. Precisely two months ago, I was stillsitting in a classroom, scribbling down notes and preparing for exams. Thenthere's the excitement of the stuff I have planned for the summer afterexams. And of course, I was often found at various car dealerships checkingout the latest releases (And of course test driving, which is just my excuseto redline cars) -- that aside, what I'm talking about is that I have thisThermaltake Toughpower Cable Management 650W modular power supply sittinghere at APH Networks for the last two months before I even started thisreport. Historically, I haven't been a big fan of Thermaltake power supplies.I owned quite a few of their cases, which were excellent. But the powersupplies, at least back in the days, were low in price but not really the'tier 1' performance that I'd come to expect. Generally speaking, this powersupply didn't capture much of my attention either due to my personalimpression. When I finally decided to open it and check what was inside overa month later, and did some research online, it seemed to me that theToughpower Cable Management 650W offered incredible performance across theboard. Was I surprised? Well, yes I was. Let's crack open this power supplyand take a look at the physical build of this Channel Well Technology builtunit in our report today.* Link:http://aphnetworks.com/reports/thermaltake_toughpower_cable_management_650w[1]* Image:http://aphnetworks.com/report/thermaltake_toughpower_cable_management_65...[2]Thanks for your support. Don't forget to send your site news tonews@aphnetworks.com [3] as well!Best Regards,JonathanAPH Networkshttp://aphnetworks.com [4]Add this newsletter issue to a newsletter by selecting a newsletter from theselect list.Send a newsletter or a test newsletter by selecting the appropriate radiobutton and submitting the node.Install Mime Mail module to send HTML emails. Mime Mail is also used to sendemails with attachments, both plain text and HTML emails. Rosewill Xtreme 630W Power Supply @ thinkcomputers.org [Aug-01-08] (0 Comments) Rosewill recently introduced the extreme 630W version of its Xtremeseries of extreme power supply units. The Xtreme 630W version retains thequadruple 12V rails and extreme SLI readiness of its more powerful Xtremesiblings, while adequately powering most mid- to upper-mid-end rigs.ThinkComputers goes man and machine, power extreme, in this review of theRosewill Xtreme 630W. Thermaltake DuOrb CPU Cooler @ thinkcomputers.org [Jul-31-08] (0 Comments) The Thermaltake DuOrb CPU Cooler provides more than just CPUcooling. The dual fan design cools the entirety of the upper portion of themotherboard in addition to the CPU. The DuOrb includes double-sided radiantheatpipes disperse the heat through the extensive number of fins surroundeach fan. The mirror coated copper base provides even better heatdissipation between the contact surface and the CPU over other CPU coolers.Read on further for the full review. Cooler Master CSX Broodling Case @ thinkcomputers.org [Jul-30-08] (0 Comments) We first got a glimpse at the Cooler Master CSX cases at CES. Theyboasted amazing and very unique paint jobs. CSX stands for Spire CoolFlow III - XSs @ xsreviews.co.uk [Jul-28-08] (0 Comments) Whenit comes time for an enthusiast to upgrade his or her processor,it's usually quite a momentous occasion. Lots of planning goes into theperfect choice of hardware, and it's not uncommon for a cooler upgradetoo; as faster usually means hotter. Therefore they usually go forsomething something much beefier than before – not one which lookssimilar to the stock Intel model. It’s odd saying that as today, we'vegot a Spire CoolFlow for review, which does, look remarkably similar tothe stock Intel heat-sink and fan. Let’s just hope it gives a boost inperformance. ASUS P5Q-E Intel P45 Motherboard @ thinkcomputers.org [Jul-28-08] (0 Comments) Today I am looking at the Asus P5Q-E, one of Asus' threebudget-minded P45 motherboards, this one supporting CrossfireX, with two x 8slots, and one x 4 slot (the primary PCI-E slot is x 16 when a single videocard is used). It also sports heatpipe chipset cooling, and other featureswe'd expect only on Asus boards costing much more, all with an energy-savingtheme. How will this board stand up to the requirements of enthusiasts? Readon to see. Sumo Lounge SumoSac Sultan - Khaki @ aphnetworks.com [Jul-26-08] (0 Comments) You might think that, here at APH Networks, we're a bunch of geeks who own a dozen computers at home. Maybe a TV and a microwave, and that's about it. I don't know about other members of the APH Networks team (Sorry guys hehe), but here's the deal though:While I do have almost a dozen computers around here, and I do own a microwave and an HDTV, I have something more than that. After all, despite popular belief, we do have a life. Okay, jokes aside, my point is that we aren't all over tech and tech related stuff all the time. Once in a while, we do have non-computer related products here in our labs. It's already been two years since we looked at the Sumo Lounge Omni Beanbag Chair. Just a few months ago, we 'reviewed' the TWM Performance Complete Short Shifter Kit just for fun. Automotive accessories? Heck, yes. Last month, Andrew from Sumo Lounge got in touch with me again and asked if I wanted to take a look at their latest product, the Sumo Lounge SumoSac. Obviously, I said Eagle Consus I-Series ET-CSIU2J-BK Hard Drive Enclosure @ aphnetworks.com [Jul-26-08] (0 Comments) Today, SATA hard drives are still the most popular type of mass storage devices on the market today. Sure, there are flash SSDs -- but these SSDs easily cost around $500 for a 128GB unit. Even though SSDs are known for their performance, the are still undeniably pricier than a SATA hard drives with several times the storage capacity. With these cheaper SATA hard drives floating in the market today, we could easily buy more of them and obtain more storage for the price. On the other hand, if you are thinking about what you should do with extra hard drives laying around, you could always get an enclosure and put it in for additional storage as well. Such enclosures are especially good for those users with smaller cases, or just want to make use of unused SATA drives for external storage. Eagle Tech is not a new producer of hard drive enclosures, and promises solutions to external enclosures. To be honest, before this review I have never heard of the brand Eagle Tech. But after some research, I have seen many Eagle product on sale at online computer retailers for somewhat competitive prices. Today, we will be reviewing the Eagle Consus I-Series SATA to USB 2 Bay JBOD External Storage System; a mid-range dual bay hard drive enclosure, which retails for around $40 at press time. Technic3D/Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 @ technic3d.com [Jul-26-08] (0 Comments) The Sapphire Radeon HD4870 arrived Technic3D. The AMD Graphic Card with a SingleSlot Heatsink and a very good price better than oth er Graphic Cards? Technic3D will see the RV770 Chip in the following R eview with 2560x1600 up to 1280x1024 against the GTX280, 9800GX2, HD38 70X2 CrossfireX and many more on Windows Vista. [News] Thermalright TRUE Black 120 CPU Cooler @ virtual-hideout.net [Jul-25-08] (0 Comments) So, do you NEED this heatsink? Should you rush out, and snap up thefirst one available? As much as I'm thinking Thermalright would love us tosay yes to that, the answer is really no. For standard cooling needs, aregular old Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme will do the job just fine, and ifyou throw in, what, a $3 set of fan clips, an $8 tube of thermal grease, anda $12 fan, you're still running a surplus. Is that the point? Hardly. Whatthis product is, is one of the best looking heatsinks that you can get ahold of, not to mention one of the best performing. When people see itthrough your case's window, not only will it say [News] VH Attends PDXLAN 12 in Portland @ virtual-hideout.net [Jul-25-08] (0 Comments) There are LANs. And, then there are LANs! This weekend, I had areally good time attending PDXLAN in Portland, Oregon. This is one of thelarger LAN parties that sold out on 500 seats. As a matter of fact, theytend to sell out every LAN event due to the really cool swag and prizeraffles. PDXLAN happens about every six months. If you think that's tooclose together, you're mistaken. The LAN even sells out every time andthere's always a packed hotel because of it. You get complimentary pizza andBawls energy drinks Saturday night, but can order pizza and pastas from thesame pizza parlor pretty much anytime for delivery. How's that for service? CineRaid Quad-bay SATA/SAS RAID Device @ thinkcomputers.org [Jul-25-08] (0 Comments) Every now and then, ThinkComputers gets the opportunity to review apiece of hardware which we'd consider dream hardware. Sometimes it'sattainable, but it's excess to most of us. The CineRaid Quad-bay SAS RAIDdevice is one of these. It's an external RAID device:it connects via aPCI-Express Serial Attached Storage card and adds extremely fast andfailure-tolerant storage to a system. It's meant primarily for professionalgraphic artists, but we gamers can drool and perhaps even purchase one ofour own if we have a burning need for speed. ThinkComputers reviews it. AMD's Phenom X4 9350e @ bit-tech.net [Jul-24-08] (0 Comments) There doesn't seem to be too much special with this particularsilicon.For the same price there are too many other processor choices thatoffer better performance in every other area - an Intel Core 2 QuadQ6600 is virtually the same price (and probably less following therecent price cuts) and offers oodles more performance, and many of ourreaders can testify to building a very quiet PCs based on this CPU.We're struggling to think of situations where you'd absolutely needthis CPU - the only one we can come up with is if you wanted aquad-core mini-ITX boardthat's limited to 65W. This would be the only option that would fit, soit wins by default. But then again we fail to understand why you'd buythis over a Phenom X4 9550Essentially, unless it fills a specific application you require, thenthis CPU is not for you. Even if you which is cheaper and you can simply underclock and undervolt it atouch. do decide you need it, you'll need to find a PhenomX4 9350e (it's been a month since launch and they're still notavailable anywhere UK or State-side). Sherlock Holmes Vs. Arsene Lupin - XSs @ xsreviews.co.uk [Jul-24-08] (0 Comments) SherlockHolmes:A popular fictional detective, born and based inLondon, created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in the late 19th Century.Many readers have been interested in his stories and adventures withhis sidekick Dr Watson. Who’d have thought that they would make a videogame about him? Turns out there is actually a series of games based onhis adventures, 4 in fact! Such titles as “Sherlock Holmes:TheAwakened” and “The Case of the Silver Earring”. Today I have with me,Sherlock Holmes Vs Arsene Lupin (anyone else think he looks likePoirot?) so let's see what it's like. Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme @ pro-clockers.com [Jul-23-08] (0 Comments) So what does it take to beat the Thermalright Ultra-120 when it comesto all out performance? Well an improved Ultra-120 in this case it is calledthe Ultra-120 Extreme. So in order to beat the best you have to make itbetter. Now I think this is Thermalright thinking and we are here today tosee if this is true. Will the two extra heat pipes that were added to theoriginal make enough of a difference to dethrone the king? We will take timeto put the new cooler through some tests and see what happens. Razer Mako 2.1 THX Certified Multimedia System @ thinkcomputers.org [Jul-23-08] (0 Comments) Razer and THX have teamed up together to design the Razer Mako 2.1THX Certified Multimedia System. This sound system offers OmniDirectionalspeakers which fill the entire room with surround sound. The Mako comesequipped with an all-in-one touch sensitive control pod which allows youhave the controls right at your fingertips. The control pod also provides3.5mm headphone jack for quiet listening and a 3.5mm auxiliary input jackfor those looking to hookup their iPod or MP3 player. This system certainlybeats others out there in sound quality, even those Bose MP3 player systemsyou might have. Vizo Milano MIP-100 HDD Enclosure & Multimedia Player @ xtremecomputing.co.uk [Jul-23-08] (0 Comments) The picture quality too is as good as, if not better than, the video recorded from my media pc, though I think it maybe not quite as good as DVD quality but it WAS a rip from a DVD so it would have been compressed and therefore cannot be as good. I played it on all outputs, composite, svideo and component and they all worked fine with component giving the best results, as you would expect. Griffin Wave iPhone Case @ thinkcomputers.org [Jul-22-08] (0 Comments) It has been a while since the original iPhone was released and stillthere are products coming out for it. As far as cases go I've seen quite afew. It seemed that they were either really bulky, but provided goodprotection or very stylish and provided little protection. Well the Wavecase from Griffin seems to provide good protection, while still lookinggood. Let's take a look... Speedlink VOIP Mouse @ rbmods.com [Jul-22-08] (0 Comments) Todays product must be one of the oddest things we have reviewedever- and I've seen alot! We are going to take a look at Speedlinks VOIPmouse, this little mouse is the size of a laptop mouse and it opens up to bea corded Skype Phone. You can either receive calls or just make a callyourself. The small display shows you who is online and it allows you tocall straight from the phone, to me those features don't sound to bad buthow well does it actually works is the question I ask myself. Vigor iSurf II Hard Drive Cooler @ legitreviews.com [Jul-21-08] (0 Comments) The iSurf II from Vigor has an MSRP of $29.99 and a quick search on our shopping link shows that it can be found for less. For that price you get a solid attractive piece of hardware. Despite having two 40mm fans, it is rather quiet. Even with the test system sitting on top of the bench and the iSurf II at the same level as my head it was not noticeable over the rest of the system... Technic3D/Noctua NH-U12P Cooler @ technic3d.com [Jul-21-08] (0 Comments) The Noctua NH-U12P CPU Heatsink arrived Technic3D. The CPU Coo ler with one or two 120mm Fan and four Heatpipes. The newest revision has been reworked for enhanced main board compatibility and now comes with Noctua's NT-H1 pro-grade thermal compound and NF-P12 Fan. See you in the following Review the NH-U12P compared with 10 other Heatsink's . Technic3D/Powercolor HD4850 @ technic3d.com [Jul-19-08] (0 Comments) The PowerColor Radeon HD4850 arrived Technic3D. The new AMD G raphic Card with a SingleSlot Heatsink and a very good price better th an all the other Graphic Cards? Technic3D will see the RV770 Chip in t he following Review with 2560x1600 up to 1280x1024 against the GTX280, 9800GX2, HD3870X2 CrossfireX and many more on Windows Vista. LapLogic W800 Aerogel Extreme @ aphnetworks.com [Jul-18-08] (0 Comments) I'm not going to lie -- I'm a huge fan of plugging external peripherals into my laptop. Mock me all you want; but because nowadays laptops are so friendly with USB-mice (not so much PS/2 products), external speakers, mics, and even webcams, I feel obligated to take advantage. If you question my allegiance to external mice, I will proudly say that I have yet to use the touchpad at home, with the exception of the first time I set eyes on my Dell Inspiron 6400 to make sure it actually worked. In fact, there's a thin layer of dust collecting upon the keyboard and touchpad because of my external keyboard and mouse -- both of which I find to be more ergonomically-friendly. Why is it, then, that when we're on-the-go, our laptop coolers don't offer the support for our mice? I think it's a travesty that we are forced to use the touchpad and not a mouse -- especially if we brought one along for the purpose of using it. No worries though -- LapLogic took into consideration the mouse and conceived the W800 Aerogel Extreme. Using similar technology to the LapLogic G800 Aerogel Extreme, it's got an extra portion just for the mouse to rest on. Is it a step forward, or does it force you to take two steps back? Samsung YP-P2 MP3 Player @ thinkcomputers.org [Jul-18-08] (0 Comments) Keeping up with our recent fascination with touchscreen devices, theSamsung YP-P2 gets rid of most of its physical controls in favor of a userinterface that relies almost exclusively on its large touchscreen display.While it may not necessarily be able to compete against the iPod touch, theSamsung P2 multimedia player still comes with a very healthy smattering offeatures. LG Flatron L206WU with DisplayLink @ bit-tech.net [Jul-17-08] (0 Comments) *Wiring up an additional monitor via a USB 2.0 port is certainly an attractive and intriguing option and the LG L206WU does just enough to suggest that DisplayLink could well be the interface of choice for PC monitors in the future. Flip Video Ultra Digital Camcorder @ thinkcomputers.org [Jul-17-08] (0 Comments) Digital video has become extremely popular with websites likeYouTube. With YouTube anyone can upload a video and make it viewable to theworld in minutes. YouTube makes it easy for you, but most digital cameras donot. For one some digital cameras only let you take 30-second clips and theusually they are in some weird format that only your camera software canread. So you have to have some knowledge and software to convert the video.Pure Digital, makers of the Flip Video decided to make things easier for youwith a standalone digital camcorder that is extremely easy to use. Read onas we check out the Flip Video Ultra! A-DATA Gaming Series DDR2-800 4GB Dual Channel Memory Kit @ thinkcomputers.org [Jul-16-08] (0 Comments) Today I will be looking at a DDR2 4GB kit marketed towards gamers,the A-DATA Gaming Series DDR2-800 5-5-5-12. A-DATA probably isn't your firstchoice for high-performance memory, but in a mere 7 years, they have becomethe second largest vendor of memory modules in the world. Will the GamingSeries memory impress? Read on to see. ASUS EN9600GT SILENT Graphics Card @ tweaktown.com [Jul-16-08] (0 Comments) You’d think we would have looked at all 9600GT cards on the market, but I can guarantee there are more out there. The particular one we’re looking at today comes from ASUS and carries with it a silent cooler. We’ve seen GIGABYTE offer the 9600GT in silent form, sporting both 512MB and 1GB of GDDR3. MSI also has a card where the fan only spins when the card needs it. During our testing, however, the fan never actually spun.Silent cards are becoming quite the rage and everyone wants good performance without any noise. In the past, the design used to be reserved for low-end cards, but these days we seem to be able to get a good performing card that outputs not a single dB. In the highly competitive market that is the 9600GT, we will today see if ASUS are able to do anything that helps them stand out from the pack and if it’s a card worth looking at. Sunbeamtech Core-Contact Freezer @ bit-tech.net [Jul-16-08] (0 Comments) *Contact coolers, where the heatpipes are in /direct contact/ with the processor's heat spreader are becoming more and more popular, and today's heatsink review is a prime example of this new approach to heatsink design. Intel Centrino 2 Platform Launches - New CPUs and Hybrid Graphics @ pcper.com [Jul-15-08] (0 Comments) We mentioned switchable graphics above as a new power savingstechnology from Intel, but what exactly is it? Think of it as NVIDIA'sHybrid SLI technology for a notebook rather than a desktop; a notebook thathas both discrete and integrated graphics (as all Centrino 2 systems willhave) can either automatically or manually be switched from operating oneither GPU solution. This way you can see the benefits of an IGP solutionfor battery life concerns when necessary or utilize the performance of adiscrete GPU solution for gaming sessions when battery life isn't an issue. mStation Orb 2.1 Stereo Speaker System for iPod @ thinkcomputers.org [Jul-15-08] (0 Comments) Without a doubt the iPod is the most popular MP3 player out there.If someone you know has an MP3 player most likely it is an iPod. With thepopularity of the iPod there are a plethora of accessories made specificallyfor the iPod. None is more popular than iPod speaker systems. Today we willbe taking a look at the Orb 2.1 Stereo Speaker System from mStation. Read onto see why it is called the Orb and if it the perfect iPod speaker systemfor you. Coolink Chipchilla Chipset Cooler @ techpowerup.com [Jul-14-08] (0 Comments) The Chipchilla from Coolink manages to decrease chipset temperatures while maintaining a low noise level. It is extremely light-weight being constructed of copper and aluminum all for an decent price. Limited availability and some installation issues are all that hold this cooler back. Gigabyte EP45-DQ6 Intel P45 Motherboard @ thinkcomputers.org [Jul-14-08] (0 Comments) Today I will be looking at Gigabyte's latest mainstream LGA775motherboard, the EP45-DQ6. Based on the P45 chipset, and utilizing DDR2memory, this board boasts advanced energy-saving features, something we allhave to think about nowadays. Will this motherboard really save energy? Willit have the overclocking features and capabilities that we enthusiastsrequire? Read on to see... Crucial Ballistix Tracer Red DDR2-800 4GB Dual Channel Memory Kit @ thinkcomputers.org [Jul-12-08] (0 Comments) Yes, DDR2 is still a viable platform, and still suits well over halfof the enthusiast community just fine. But to put it bluntly, in the past,the PC industry has had no problem creating a new technology, and making theold obsolete, regardless of how we, the enthusiasts, feel about it. Yet herewe are, over a year into DDR3, and we steadily are seeing new DDR2 memoryand motherboards. Today I will be looking at Crucial's latest DDR2 modules,the Ballistix Tracer DDR2-800 4 gig kit. Besides a capability of 4-4-4-12timings, in a market that has seen DDR2 4GB kits for quite some time, whatcan Crucial do to make a PC2-6400 memory kit interesting enough for us totake notice? Read on to see! OCZ Vendetta 2 Heatpipe Cooler @ pro-clockers.com [Jul-09-08] (0 Comments) Now we have at our doorstep the Vendetta Dos ok the Vendetta 2. Thisnew and improved Vendetta is bigger and sports a larger cooling fan.Naturally, we would think that a larger version of a similar cooler woulddeem better temps and higher overclocks. Well we are here today to see ifthe theory correct. Thermaltake Armor+ MX Midtower ATX Computer Case @ legitreviews.com [Jul-08-08] (0 Comments) Thermaltake has tried to cram as many features from the larger “super tower” Armor case into this standard size mid tower, and did a good job of it. You have all the classic looks, the build quality, and you can still fit everything into the case. With shrinking space comes the 'snug factor'. The Thermaltake Armor+ case has close quarters, but you can still get most full length video card in this case. Metal Gear Solid 4:Guns of The Patriots ed @ thetechlounge.com [Jul-08-08] (0 Comments) Before MGS4 hit the shelves, a flurry of gameplay videos hit the web, and I couldn't help but watch a couple of them. These videos left me deeply worried about the game. Reservedly excited, you might say. The thing that really had me worried was that it seemed the formula might have been modified a bit too much - elements I had loved so much in the previous titles didn't seem to be there anymore. In a way, it just looked a bit like Call of Duty meets Splinter Cell, with some Metal Gear Solid rainbow sprinkles on top. So, after playing the game all the way through (and then some), were my reservations justified? Thermaltake Armor+ MX PC Case @ thinkcomputers.org [Jul-07-08] (0 Comments) Today we got a chance to look at the Thermaltake Armor+ MX VH8000BWSMid Tower Case. The VH8000 series cases, eight total, come in both silverand black and some also include power supplies and pre-installed watercooling systems. Some handy features of this case include a compact designwith an optimal cooling system for both liquid and air systems. The included23cm fan keeps parts cool while being extremely quiet, despite its hugesize. Read on further to learn more about this case. Coolink GFXChilla VGA Cooler @ legitreviews.com [Jul-05-08] (0 Comments) The test results show that the Coolink GPUChilla dropped the idle temperatures by 49% and the load temperatures by an impressive 45%! Our only complaint on the Radeon HD 4850 was how hot the card ran and the Coolink GPUChilla took cooling to the next level. The 49% reduction at idle put the Radeon HD 4850 at 33C, which is better than we expected. The factory heat sink works, but it obviously leaves room for improvement... [News] Dynapower USA TP-LINK (TL-WR543G) 54Mbps and (TL-WR642G) @ virtual-hideout.net [Jul-03-08] (0 Comments) Dynapower USA sent over the TP-LINK 54M Wireless AP Client Routerand the 108M Wireless Router. Each of the routers have XR, or ExtendedRange, technology which can increase the range 2 to 3 times the normal802.11b range. They both are designed for Small Office/Home Office wirelessnetworks, and integrate Firewall, NAT-router and Wireless AP. The 54M Routeradditionally sports a 4-port switch. Not only designed for the SmallOffice/Home application but for those of use on a small budget. Sigma SP-700 700W Power Supply @ thinkcomputers.org [Jul-03-08] (0 Comments) ThinkComputers liked Sigma's Shark 635W when we reviewed in inFebruary. It was a decent, affordable unit with a unique exterior design.The quad 12V-railed, 700 watt SP-700 is Sigma's newest model, and it ditchesmost of the qualities which made the Shark so unique. Despite its exterior,the functionality of the unit is still pretty decent. Read on, through, andsee where Sigma could improve the SP-700. SilenX iXtrema IXC-12HA2 CPU Cooler @ thinkcomputers.org [Jul-01-08] (0 Comments) The SilenX brand is most commonly known for their cool and quietcase fans. SilenX, however, does manufacture heatsinks, power supplies, andother goodies. Today SilenX gave us the opportunity to review the SilenXiXtrema IXC-120HA2 Pro Series Heatsink. This vertical fin stack designoffers plenty one of SilenX's very own case fans, we actually got two totest out. The features include a fan speed controller, exposed copperheatpipes on the base, and an entirely screw-less design making for an easyand tool-less installation. abit AX78 AM2+ 770 chipset Mobo @ xtremecomputing.co.uk [Jun-30-08] (0 Comments) For this review I will be taking a look at one of the new motherboards Abit are offering, the AX78 Phenom compatible motherboard, which I think is fair to say is aimed more towards the budget end of the market.. Lenovo IdeaPad U110 11.1-inch Laptop @ thinkcomputers.org [Jun-30-08] (0 Comments) We mainly know Lenovo for their line of ThinkPad notebooks, butconsumers really do not like those laptops because of their plain styling.Luckily for consumers Lenovo has released a new line of notebooks calledtheir IdeaPad series. We first got a look at Lenovo's Ideapad series at CESearlier this year. Out of the 3 new notebooks we were most interested in thevery tiny U110. This small laptop has a lot of very innovative features likea LED backlit screen and facial recognition. At only 2.92lbs it is a perfectnotebook for traveling and mobile users. Will all these features make theU110 worth its price tag? Read on to find out. Meridian F80 Audio System ed @ thetechlounge.com [Jun-28-08] (0 Comments) If you've never heard of Meridian, well, I hate to say it, but it's probably because you're just like me and can't afford to spend your entire annual income on a pair of loudspeakers. While I think it's safe to say that the F80 won't set you back that much, it's definitely not a cheap audio solution either. Let's take a closer look and see what kind of value the unit has to offer... ASUS EN9600GT TOP Video Card @ legitreviews.com [Jun-27-08] (0 Comments) The Asus 9600 GT TOP edition is obviously not the fastest card in NVIDIA’s line up but that is not the goal here. As of this writing, the Asus 9600 GT is selling for $129 after a $20 Mail-in-rebate, which is an astounding value! You get a card with a great cooling, low-noise heat sink, and an overclocked card for the same price as a reference model. Though the performance differences weren’t that large compared to the reference card the heat sink easily makes this card the, forgive the pun, TOPS in its class... NVIDIA Forceware 175.16 vs 175.19 @ benchmarkreviews.com [Jun-27-08] (0 Comments) Most people would think that when NVIDIA, who is the world-class leader in graphics technology, releases a new driver to the public that SilenX iXtrema IXC-120HA2 CPU Cooler @ tweaktown.com [Jun-27-08] (0 Comments) A few weeks ago we looked at the Sunbeamtech Core-Contact Freezer, our first crack at a heatpipe to Integrated Heat Spreader (IHS) direct contact CPU heatsink. In retrospect, nothing other than the base was very remarkable; at least nothing that would lead us to believe anything other than the contact point would cause such great performance. The fan used from Sunbeamtech was a silent type that does not push a large amount of air, and this only confirmed that direct heatpipe to CPU technology is more than just a marketing tool.Today we will be looking at another direct contact cooler, this time from SilenX. The SilenX iXtrema IXC-120HA2 is very similar to the SBT CCF; they even share the same mounting hardware. While the two are similar, they are not identical. The SilenX version is more robust, giving us the option of using two 120mm fans (one on each side of the fins). This is a feature that SBT did not include with their offering. Crucial Ballistix DDR3-2000 2GB Dual Channel Memory Kit @ thinkcomputers.org [Jun-26-08] (0 Comments) Yes, you read the title correctly, DDR3-2000. Isn't that incredible,that memory operating speed has climbed that high in such a short time?Think about it, one year ago, we were beginning to see the first DDR2-1066modules being released. Today, all memory manufacturers offer a DDR3-1600module, many offer a DDR3-1800, and over the past month the more prominentof them have released a DDR3-2000 module. Considering PC3 system memory hasonly been out for about a year, I don't think that we've come close toseeing the limits of DDR3. In Win PowerMan Commander 1200W Modular Power Supply @ thinkcomputers.org [Jun-26-08] (0 Comments) In Win, purveyor of many fine cases which ThinkComputers reviewedthroughout the years, recently burst into the power supply market with itsPowerMan line of high-wattage units. Decorated like military hardware andsupplying 1200 or 1500 watts of sweet, sweet electricity, the PowerManseries is ready to ensure your weapon of newb destruction is solidly juiced.ThinkComputers locks and loads the PowerMan 1200W in this review. C&C Kane's Wrath Producer Interview @ bit-tech.net [Jun-23-08] (0 Comments) BT:Did you get anyfeedback from the fans on any specific things they wanted to seeimproved from Command and Conquer 3?JV:Yeah, absolutely. What we did find immediately was thatpeople didn’t think that the D-Pad was fast or comfortable enough toreally utilise in an RTS game. That was kind of the first thing wewanted to do – to try and find a new and natural evolution to theradial interface. And that’s kind of what the new interface does. Also, just in terms of the gameplay, a lot of people found TiberiumWarswas pretty tough and was very difficult on Xbox 360. With the newinterface though and with the game in general we think we’ve made iteasier by tuning the campaign a bit more and made it a better balanceof difficulty. Plus, a lot of the new units and the whole idea of just going back intime and looking at Kane and so on – all that was based on playerresponses. CradlePoint MBR1000 Mobile Broadband Router @ thinkcomputers.org [Jun-23-08] (0 Comments) EVDO is basically wireless internet access that can be accessed overa cellular network. Almost every cell phone provider offers EVDO service.What's great about it is that anywhere you get a cell signal you getinternet access. No depending on a hotel's internet or a hotspot at a coffeeshop for internet access anymore. I currently use an Express card fromSprint that allows me to connect to the service, but what if I'm on a tripwith friends? Why should they have to pay $9.99 per day or more for internetwhen I already have access? That is where the CradlePoint MBR1000 comes in. Overclocking The NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX+ Video Card @ legitreviews.com [Jun-22-08] (0 Comments) The highest settings we could get stable with the GeForce 9800 GTX+ were 855MHz on the core and 2200MHz on the shaders. That is 55MHz higher on the core and 175MHz higher on the shaders than what we could reach on the old 65nm G92 core. For those that like percentages the overclock is roughly 6% higher on the core and 8% more on the shaders, which is significant, but nothing over the top. Usually with die shrinks overclocking performance stays close to the same, even more so when no major architecture changes are made. It should be noted that the memory overclocked better on the GeForce 9800 GTX+ and it seems NVIDIA has moved over to Hynix branded GDDR3 memory ICs. The GDDR3 memory IC's on the new GeForce 9800 GTX+ card were Hynix H5RS5223CFR-N2C, which are rated 1200 MHz (GDDR3-2400) 0.8NS with 1.5V. These are the same memory IC's that were found on the GeForce GTX 280 cards we reviewed last week... Xigmatek Achilles CPU Cooler @ techpowerup.com [Jun-21-08] (0 Comments) The Xigmatek Achilles S1284 heatsink has many improvements over the famous HDT-S1283 cooler. There are now four U-shaped heatpipes, and they are nickel-plated. The fan design is new and unique as well, with its white LEDs that light up the fan's smoke frame and orange blades. Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 In Crossfire @ tweaktown.com [Jun-19-08] (0 Comments) I actually tested the HD 4850 before I finished writing my review on the GTX 280, which turned out to be good news for AMD but bad news for NVIDIA. It completely changed my opinion on the GTX 280 before I had even finished writing. The thing is, the GTX 280 is a good card in the sense of what it’s capable of. Such technology as CUDA and PhysX are great inclusions. But I’m a gamer; I want FPS! - I can’t sum it up better than that, and the GTX 280 really didn’t deliver in that department. I wrote in my editorial the other day that the HD 4850 in Crossfire wasn’t going to bring me fully back into the world of PC gaming, but I think the HD 4870 has the ability to do this. While the performance on the HD 4850 is excellent in Crossfire, it’s not loads faster than the GTX 280. That’s fine; we didn’t expect it to be faster at all simply because of the price. The thing is though, it is, and this is awesome news for people who want what could probably be the absolute best value for money setup we’ve ever seen – Yes, ever! ASRock K10N750SLI-WiFi nForce 750a Motherboard @ thinkcomputers.org [Jun-19-08] (0 Comments) ASRock is well known for their inexpensive motherboards that oftenhave innovative solutions for expensive problems, or they have big-boychipsets sometimes unavailable in economy boards, and they add onboard WiFito all of their motherboards. Will the K10N750SLI-WiFi, the firstmotherboard on the market sporting nVidia's #2 AMD chipset, make my firstPhenom experience a pleasurable one? Stay tuned to find out! Tom Clancy's EndWar 'voice-on' p @ bit-tech.net [Jun-19-08] (0 Comments) Besides, for every negative we can think of about Endwar wecan also think of one or two positives. The game is obviously a labourof love for many of the developers and it’s clear than an awful lot ofwork has gone into not just perfecting the admirable science behind thevocal recognition software, but also the balancing and technicalitiesof the game itself. There are still a few things which need to be cleared up to satisfy ourcuriosity – is the game part of an entirely new franchise Ubisoft arelaunching and will the game be staying as an Xbox 360 exclusive, forinstance. These are matters on which Ubisoft is keeping understandablya bit quiet on for the moment.Still, whether or not the franchise looks set to spore one thing iscertain for the moment and that’s that Real-time Strategy buffs are infor a definite treat when it comes to Tom Clancy’s Endwar.The game may still look a little bit rough and may be a bit on thesmall-scale side of things, but the game is very fast-paced and has adeceptive level of depth once you’ve got to grips with the voicecontrols and are able to order groups to take cover in buildings orunleash special abilities. Endwar is an interesting looking game and while it obviouslyisn’t going to be the definitive Tom Clancy experience by the look ofthings (that honour still lies with Rainbow Six), it couldcertainly be one of the most interesting console games of this yearregardless. Gigabyte's GA-EP45-DQ6 motherboard @ bit-tech.net [Jun-18-08] (0 Comments) We do think Gigabyte has made a motherboard with a lot ofpotentialhere – the board currently works very well under default conditions. Ithas tons of features—and some are genuinely great little nuggets—far,far better software and very good performance for DDR2 but even thoughit has lots of BIOS options we are unable to use with the board in itscurrent state. Strip out the four Gigabit Ethernet sockets and strap on802.11n Wi-Fi instead would give it a similar high end appeal but withmore variety for home users. The hardware RAID implementation alsoneeds more thought put into it.What is has done for us is lay the foundations for what could be someawesome value friendly EP45-DS3R or the DS5 that we had a first lookat not too long ago. However, we'll give it a few months to see whatGigabyte comes out with on the BIOS side before we really see if theycan shine. Scythe Ninja Copper heatsink @ bit-tech.net [Jun-17-08] (0 Comments) The key problem for the Ninja Copper lies in the fact thatwe’vealready tested ultra low noise coolers like the Noctua NH U12P andThermalRight Ultra 120 eXtreme, and not only were they very quiet, butboth performed brilliantly thermally. When you consider that the NinjaCopper is priced in the same region as these top performers, it becomesimpossible to recommend as even a silent cooling solution.The enormously frustrating mounting process for S775 and thefingerprint magnet copper surface are the final shuriken to the heartof the Ninja Copper. Scythe has left the Ninja’s design fundamentallyunchanged for over three years now, while its competitors have beenreleasing more and more advanced coolers, packing in more cooling finsand more efficient heat pipes - this is starting to show now.While it might be silent, we simply cannot excuse the poor thermalperformance and S775 mounting problems of the Ninja Copper, and at over£40, it represents very poor value for money compared to moderncompetition. Silent? Yes. Deadly? Definitely not. Cyber Snipa Sonar 5.1 Gaming Headset @ thinkcomputers.org [Jun-17-08] (0 Comments) Cyber Snipa is emerging on the gaming grade market with qualityproducts for a reasonable price. Today I got to a chance to take a look atthe Cyber Snipa Sonar 5.1 Surround Sound Gaming Headset. The quality is muchhigher than I could have ever expected for the cost. Connecting through USBand having an in-line audio control the sound quality of the eight totalspeakers which includes a decided sub speaker in each ear. These stylishheadphones provide premium comfort and cooling with soft foam covered withvelour and mesh fabric. Asrock X48TurboTwins-WiFi @ pro-clockers.com [Jun-16-08] (0 Comments) The Asrock X48TurboTwins-WiFi is the highest price motherboard fromthe company. But is cheaper than others sporting the same chipset. Spending$300 plus on a motherboard may be painless for some but many of us would beill for some time even thinking about spending that much money on amotherboard. So in this class the X48TurboTwins would be considered thevalue board at $240. We will put it thru the test and see if it is worth theasking price. Thermaltake DuOrb CPU Cooler @ tweaktown.com [Jun-16-08] (0 Comments) Over the past year I have looked at several high performance heatsinks from various manufacturers. The mould has stayed the same for nearly all of the coolers; build it tall and put large 120mm fans that push the air to the top or rear of the case and hope a case fan removes the air quickly. This is a very efficient way to cool a processor, but it leaves pockets of air around the motherboard. Thermaltake has responded to the complaints of the motherboard manufacturers in a big way; they’ve brought the Orb design back into the big leagues. This time it’s as a twin fan that will not only cool your processor, but your memory, back side of your graphics card and motherboard as well. Acer AL2016WB Widescreen 20-inch Widescreen LCD Monitor @ thinkcomputers.org [Jun-16-08] (0 Comments) Today I will be looking at the Acer AL2016WB 20 Asus Eee PC 901 First Impressions @ bit-tech.net [Jun-16-08] (0 Comments) We like the Eee PC. It's small, it's lightweight, it'sperfectlybalanced - it's perfect for press trips; in other words when we need adinky little notebook to help us bring you the latest news and reviewsfrom events round the world. Also, at the same time, it runs Linux - which can't help but appeal tothe elitist geek in all of us. The nice folks at Asus know that we like the Eee PC as well, which waswhy they took the first possible chance to head down to the new bit-techoffices and show us the brand new model of the insanely popularsub-notebook. The Eee PC 901 is the latest in the Eee PC line and is fundamentallysimilar to the Eee PC 900 we revieweda few weeks ago, but with a handful of new features and software thrownin - including a new 1.6 GHz Atom Processor instead of the older,underclocked Celeron. On top of that swanky, sparkling new 45nm CPUchip, the Eee PC 901 also houses new Bluetooth support and Dolby SoundRoom on the XP versions, but unfortunately not the Linux like we havehere. The Incredible Hulk (Xbox 360) @ bit-tech.net [Jun-16-08] (0 Comments) We expected The Incredible Hulk to be bad from theoffset, notout of some inherent bias but more to do with a realistic reflection ofthe past and the facts of the matter. On this front, TheIncredible Hulk didn’t disappoint us. It’s predictable, samey, bland and as by-the-numbers as any game ofthis type could be. The developers have got a checklist of all theusualerrors made on movie tie-ins and they’ve zipped down and ticked themall expertly. As a game it’s more shallow than a Paris Hilton-wannabeand uglier than the real-deal. But, at the same time, it is kind of fun to mess around with. And no,the Paris Hilton jokes stopped last paragraph thankyouverymuch.Elements of The Hulk’s character are captured very well and it’s quitebizarre to see that Sega has done a better job of capturing the wallclimbing experience than Activision did with Spiderman 3.Also, just because a game is shallow doesn’t mean that it’s bad – everyid Software game ever proves that, just about. Despite all the chinksin the armour and the fuzziness on the lens there is still a sense ofprogression that makes the game involving to play and aspects of theanimation do feel suitably kinetic and powerful. In the end, though Hulk can’t claim to be as good as themajority of the games out on shelves nowadays, he can certainly wipethe floor with Iron Man and the othercomic-movie-adaptation-tie-ins at the moment. Our 5 Favorite iPhone Apps @ thinkcomputers.org [Jun-15-08] (0 Comments) The iPhone has been out for a while and Apple has just announced thenew iPhone 2.0. Many people are excited about the 2.0 firmware for bothversions of the iPhone because they will be able to download applicationsfor their iPhone for mobile use. Well I'm sure you have heard about peoplejailbreaking their iPhone's. That is the first thing that I did when I gotmy iPhone! Jailbreaking opens up the iPhone so you can put third partyapplications on it. There are a ton of applications out there, but we have alist of 5, which are our favorites. QNAP TS-409 Pro Turbostation @ techpowerup.com [Jun-14-08] (0 Comments) QNAP already added nearly every thinkable feature to their NAS firmwares. To make a new series innovation had to be found elsewhere. QNAP decided to double the capacity in their TS-409 Pro and add features to utilize this space. The four disks that the TS-409 Pro houses can therefore be put in any RAID level including 6. Besides adding RAID 5 and 6 support QNAP shows they take their RAID arrays seriously by adding support for online expansion and RAID migration. Combined with the already proven ease of use and list of software features the TS-409 Pro Turbostation promises to be a solid product. OCZ EliteXStream 800W @ pro-clockers.com [Jun-13-08] (0 Comments) The EliteXStream is the example of what two companies can think upwhen they get together. The EliteXStream is a single 12 volt rail behemoththat is sure to raise some eyebrows. The EliteXStream belongs to the crowdof people that believe all the power should be in one main 12 volt rail.This is a philosophy that we have seen for many years from PC Power andCooling. But if you are a member of the multi-rail power supply club, OCZhas the ProXStream for you. The EliteXStream is available in to varieties,an 800 and 1k models. Each is enough to power the biggest of gaming systems.And today we will be reviewing the 800 watter for you. Noctua NH-C12P CPU Cooler @ legitreviews.com [Jun-12-08] (0 Comments) Noctua changed things up a little this time around by going to a down draft style cooler, but in the process they made several improvements. The biggest, and most noticeable, is the reduction of the overall height. The NH-C12P is 2.63 inches or 67mm shorter than its predecessor, the NH-U12P. At an overall height of 4.5 inches or 114mm (with the fan), it can fit in cases that the NH-U12P could never think of, such as desktop mini tower... Thermaltake @ thinkcomputers.org [Jun-12-08] (0 Comments) Although we were unable to make it out to Taipei for Computex thisyear our friends at Thermaltake were nice enough to give us all theinformation on their new cases, power supplies, and coolers. Although theydid not announce as many products as they did during CES they still had somereally cool new products. Let's take a look and see what Thermaltake has instore for us! ASUS Eee PC 2G Surf 7-inch Laptop @ thinkcomputers.org [Jun-11-08] (0 Comments) When the Eee PC was announced many people were excited for it,myself included. The thought of a small 7-inch laptop for under $400 wouldexcite anyone! Now this is a budget notebook so you're not going to beplaying games on it, but for most people they do 2 things on their computer,surf the web and word processing. Having a small notebook that can easily becarried and used for those functions for that price tag is pretty amazing.Now the notebook comes with Linux pre-installed, that might be a barrier forsome people, but we will have to see how we like it. Read on to check outthe ASUS Eee PC! Samsung SC-MX10 Digital Camcorder @ thinkcomputers.org [Jun-10-08] (0 Comments) Digital cameras revolutionized the consumer photography scene and itseems that we are currently undergoing a similar revolution in the arena ofdigital videos. Up until now, most digital camcorders have been tooexpensive for the average consumer. With products like the Samsung SC-MX10Flash Memory Camcorder, it just got a heck of a lot easier for Joe Public totransform into the next Steven Spielberg or Martin Scorsese. Oh, I guess youshould have some movie-making talent before you can make that leap. Age of Conan:Hyborian Adventures @ bit-tech.net [Jun-09-08] (0 Comments) It’s always a painful and futile experience to try reviewing anMMO.For instance, there are problems with credit cards and the inevitablefact that we forget to cancel the subscriptions after the review isdone, therefore inadvertently charging a couple of hundred pounds tocompany credit card. Most of all though, the review very quickly runs out of date as thegame is constantly updating and how much anyone enjoys the game ismassively dependent on the calibre of gamers they end up gamingalongside. That means you’re going to have to take any conclusions weoffer with a pinch of salt – ok? Just so we’re clear.That said, Age of Conan is a lot of fun once you get intoit – the proviso mainly being that you do have to make an effort to getinto and jump over the initial few hours of boredom. Game designers seem to be labouring under the impression at the momentthat MMO games as a genre have only one aim; to topple World ofWarcraftas Lord of the Pings. To do this, they seem to think that you need acertain gimmick or hook – PvR gameplay or genre blending MMOFPS actionfor instance. So far, that tactic doesn’t seem to be doing to well – soit’s refreshing to see that Age of Conan bucks the trend andinstead focuses on creating just a solid and persistent world to playin. Age of Conan:Hyborian Adventures doesn’t bring anything hugelynew to the table and the only real gimmicks it has going for it are thefranchise behind it all and the fact that you can’t take two stepswithout faceplanting into the second biggest pair of boobs you’re everlikely to see. It’s a fun and accessible RPG though, and on that frontit can’t be faulted. Zalman Reserator XT External Water Cooling System @ thinkcomputers.org [Jun-09-08] (0 Comments) The Zalman Reserator XT offers more than your typical external watercooling system. It includes detailed gauges and sensors for the avid watercooler wanting to know what's going on. It also allows, with ease, thesupport for additional water blocks. Don't worry about remembering to refillthis system because it will tell you when it's thirsty. Read on further tosee what other features the Reserator XT has to offer. Corsair XMS3 DHX DDR3-1600 EPP 2.0 Certified 4GB Dual Channel Memory Kit @ thinkcomputers.org [Jun-06-08] (0 Comments) Today I will be looking at one of Corsair's latest system memoryproducts, the TW3X4G1600C9DHXNV, a PC3-12800 4 gig kit verified at DDR3-16009-9-9-24 @ 1.8v, and sports nVidia's EPP 2.0 nForce certification, alongwith Corsair's DHX patented heat spreaders. Will the XMS3 prove to be thestrong, stable, trustworthy product that we have come to expect from memorybearing the Corsair sails? Read on to see! Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 Processor @ aphnetworks.com [Jun-06-08] (0 Comments) When we speak of heated competition in the computer world, we used to think of two pairs of rival camps:Intel and AMD, and then there were the nice memories of ATI and NVIDIA. After July 2006, it seems the maps have changed as AMD began to fight its still-ongoing two front war like Germany in World War II. Interestingly, this two front war came just at the right time after Germany took over the French capital. Those were the days when the Athlon 64 X2 was owning the Pentium D. Then they tried to blow its way against the east by spending $5.4 billion buying out ATI Technologies. Meanwhile, the other team were getting their acts together and the United States entered the war -- Intel brought in the Core 2 Duo that literally owned AMD in the enthusiast and consumer market. Two years later, Intel continued to floor the gas pedal -- and it's not a gas pedal in just any car -- continuing the cycle of price slashes, new stepping revisions, and lately the arrival of the Penryn 45nm CPUs. Well, here we are, with two vastly different CPUs sitting in our labs right now. Of which one is a so-called 'low end' dual core Wolfdale E7200 CPU (Like dang, I paid $200 for an E6300 back in 2006... this thing is low end? It's faster than an E6600) priced at $133 per 1000 units, and the second is the second best consumer processor from Intel -- the Core 2 Extreme QX9650 retailing for over $1000. Today, we'll look at the Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 Wolfdale CPU and see how much bang you can get for the buck. G.SKILL F3-12800CL7D DDR3 Memory @ rbmods.com [Jun-06-08] (0 Comments) Today we look at the new DDR3 kit from Gskill. The F3-12800CL7D seemsto be a middle class memory kit from Gskill that is supposed to perform verywell, it is also equipped with a new heatsink that is also supposed tooutperform the old design Gskill uses. Check out the rest of the review tosee what speeds we can boost this ram kit to. Razer Mako 2.1 Speaker System ed @ thetechlounge.com [Jun-05-08] (0 Comments) Razer's entrance into the gaming sound arena was impressive and simple, following the path they'd cut for input devices. Their audio lineup includes a superb sound card, a headset, and a 2.1 speaker system. Their sleek style stands out first, and, priced as they are-- $400--quality is expected. Re-thinking the very shape of a speaker seems appropriate. Not only for Razer, but also for THX, their partner in this matte-finish affair. The center of the re-design is simple: point the drivers down, bounce the sound out in every direction. And now every spot is the sweet spot. But their combined forces multiply marketing, add to the technical BS, and I say there are faults to find. Thermaltake Bigwater 760i Liquid Cooling System @ thinkcomputers.org [Jun-05-08] (0 Comments) Thermaltake has made water cooling easy with the Bigwater 760i 2UDrive Bay Liquid Cooling System. This system is internal and fits nicelyinto two empty drive bays in your case. This system has everything that youneed to get started, even coolant and tubing. This is the first watercooling system that I have ever built and found it quite easy and fun toinstall. This system provides many nice features even the water cooling guruwould find attractive. Read on further to find out what they are. Diamond Viper HD 3870 1GB Video Card ed @ thetechlounge.com [Jun-04-08] (0 Comments) Under the heatsink is a whole lot of GDDR3, which in itself doesn't mean much--you can find a pile of budget cards with a gig of RAM, the extra memory incapable of boosting their meager performance--but the 3870 is plainly able to fill its frame buffer. If it were truly a budget card, it would come off as sheer marketing; with a high-end card like this, it really does make a difference. The last great ATI card was the HD 2900 XT, a spectacular misfire. But despite it's ridiculous power consumption, sub-par video processing, and tremendous heat with the blower to match, it still beat out the 512MB HD 3870. I hoped that this redesigned 3870 would have what it takes to finally put out the year-old performance despot. And it does, in almost every way. Far Cry 2 hands-on p @ bit-tech.net [Jun-04-08] (0 Comments) Now admittedly we were a little disappointed that our plan toincinerate the ramshackle huts had failed so early on and that we hadhad to fall back and rely on Warren’s help, but the process actuallyhelped to prove how great Far Cry 2 is when it comes to providing anemergent experience and an arena for players to experiment in andcreate their own stories.This, if anything, would seem to be Far Cry 2's speciality –it just refuses to be consistent in any aspect of the game design.There are a few hard and fast rules which make the game worldconsistent with how we think the world should be – wind that blows,fire that spreads, wood that splinters – but that’s about it. The restof the game is different every time you play it because the details arealways changing. Put simply, when it’s the case that the direction that the wind isblowing in can change your entire approach to a mission then you knowyou’re in for a hugely open and vastly replayable gaming experience. Far Cry 2 may yet have problems we haven’t uncovered and grantedthat a single mission is no basis on which to judge an entireunreleased game – but if we were so foolish as to do judge in that waythen Far Cry 2 is one game that we’d definitely get veryexcited about. GFXChilla by Coolink @ modders-inc.com [Jun-03-08] (0 Comments) The GFXChilla is a new cooling solution for your graphics cardthat uses two fans and a series of heat pipes. It easily dropped thetemperatures of the video card and installing the card is a simple process. NEW CONTENT (Computex Taipei 2008 Coverage) - Day 1 News Links @ tweaktown.com [Jun-03-08] (0 Comments) Day 1 of Computex 2008 sees Intel announcing and demonstrating its latest additions to its processor and chipset families - Atom now takes its place in Intel's processor line-up with other names like Pentium and Core. For my first meeting of 2008 I was invited to the GIGABYTE suite in Taipei 101, and what a view from the 36th floor! - But being the computer geek I am, the sight from within was even better.With Atom launching today, GIGABYTE’s GA-GC230D Atom powered motherboard was on display. We are really looking forward to getting this one in for review. The Reflection HTPC @ bit-tech.net [Jun-03-08] (0 Comments) So now its time again for me, the crazy Swede, to build a HTPCcase -but this time, I have strayed a bit from my usual path. I'm trying togo a bit more clean and stylish in my design than before. My casemods usually have some skulls, flames or pentagrams in them, butthis one has none of that at all. Even I get tired of the same oldthing eventually, so now it's time for me to boldly go where I haven’tgone before. My past projects like the Pentagram HTPC and the WeightedCompanion PCwere a lot of fun to build and I'm very happy with them, but fittingthe pentagram beneath my TV turned out to be a bit of a problem. So,this time I'm going small sleek and stylish...or at least I think so.The aim here is to build a case that could be used in any living roomwithout scaring your grandma out of her socks. For me that is a bit ofa challenge since I have no experience in this type of design. But,enough with the small talk - lets get to it and do some case building. Computex Taipei 2008 Coverage - Day 0 News Links @ tweaktown.com [Jun-02-08] (0 Comments) In the lead up to the show, we heard nothing but people complaining that the show would be a disaster because of the travelling between halls. While we agree it is a bit of an inconvenience, but we don’t think it is that bad as everyone is making out. Here's why.We met several companies out in the Nangang hall today and we can report that by taxi from the Grand Hyatt, it took us 12 minutes to get out there or $180 NTD around 2pm. We heard reports that it would take up to one hour in peak out but that’s just not true. We returned back to the Grand Hyatt at just after 5pm and it took a little over 15 mins or $220 NTD. Given the show hasn't started yet, it won't add that much time as the express way is rather good. Honeywell Arius 22-inch Widescreen LCD Monitor @ thinkcomputers.org [Jun-02-08] (0 Comments) Honeywell is not a name you think of when you think of LCD Monitors,actually they are very new into the market. Recently they partnered withSoyo to produce LCD monitors and televisions. We got a chance to take a lookat one of their latest LCD's the very affordable Topaz S 24-inch LCDmonitor. Now Honeywell has a new LCD that is a more advanced and premiumversion of the Topaz S. Let's take a look at the Arius 22-inch WidescreenLCD Monitor! The Mobile Charge @ pcper.com [Jun-02-08] (0 Comments) In our line of thinking we often consider the CPU the core of theplatform, but that is beginning to change. In the Tegra line the CPU actsas the conductor of the platform, but most of the performance features thatNVIDIA is pushing are actually accelerated by the graphics portion of theplatform. Consider how video decode and encode has gone from the CPU to theGPU in the past several years. This is merely an extension of that overalltrend, but trimmed down to the very basics. Nehalem and X58 show up in Taipei @ bit-tech.net [May-30-08] (0 Comments) First, the CPU and its new socket:while the roadmaps say thehigh-endNehalem to be launched in Q4 will have up to eight cores, the one MSIhad in its office was just a quad-core but with eight threads. The socket is still LGA, but instead of the 775 used on current boards,this one now features 1366 pins and is slightly rectangular – notPentium Pro rectangular, but simply a stretched out square. The back of the socket now has a metal backplate to brace itself andI’m afraid you’ll be buying a new heatsink too because the socketfittings have changed since LGA775. In fact, the whole area that needsto be exclusively for “Intel CPU use” is now apparently over twice thevolume of that compared to LGA775 giving motherboard manufacturers evenless space to shoehorn in additional components. Technic3D/EKL =?UTF-8?B?R3Jvw58tQ2xvY2snbmVy? @ technic3d.com [May-30-08] (0 Comments) The EKL Gro=C3=9F-Clock'ner CPU Heatsink arrived Technic3D. Th e CPU Cooler with 120mm PWM Fan, H.D.T. technology, 4 Copper heat pip es and easy installation. See you in the following Review the EKL comp ared with Standard Boxed Cooling, Xigmatek, OCZ and more. Apple iPod Touch 8GB and Giveaway! @ illuminandi.com [May-30-08] (0 Comments) Apple pulled all the stops for this device, and it shows. Presentation and looks are flawless, though the niche in the market for a device of this complexity and price is shrinking. Thermaltake BlacX SATA to USB HDD Dock @ tweaktown.com [May-30-08] (0 Comments) Thermaltake has just come up with the ultimate enthusiast accessory; at least that is what went through my head when I first saw the press release of the new BlacX and BlacX SE. As I read the release my mind started to drift away, thinking about the two foot tall stack of SATA drives sitting in my closet and how useful it would be to just grab a drive and start transferring data to it within seconds. Forget about the need to take off the side panel, get on the floor, find a flash light and locate one of two hundred SATA cables that are in the room (that you can never find when you need one). Just grab a drive and plug it in. If this scenario sounds familiar, than you are definitely a PC enthusiast and will want to read on to have a look at the new Thermaltake BlacX. Cyberlink to launch new TrueTheatre video-enhancing @ bit-tech.net [May-30-08] (0 Comments) Cyberlink, the Taiwanese outfit behind the popular PowerDVDsoftware isabout to launch some new technologies – we were given exclusive firstaccess to its new Noise Reduction technologies, Video Stabiliser, VideoUpscaling (re-engineered) and fps upsampling engines.The products are still in the development stages – the noise reductionwon’t be available until next year, we were told, so the technology wasstill a work in progress and “out of its PowerDVD wrapper”. Cyberlinkis branding everything top to bottom to match its TrueTheatre range –if you’ve already seen PowerDVD 8 you’ll be aware of the TrueTheatreSurround audio upscaling option that’s already nosed its way in there.First up, the TrueTheatre HD technology – this is the latest generationof Cyberlink's CLEV which is specifically designed to upgrade DVDs toHD resolutions while retaining the quality. Cyberlink admitted it wouldnever be as good as an original HD print, however, it also will try tocapitalise on the many DVDs already sold and many HDTVscurrently being sold. >From the demo video, it looks pretty perfect (as we’d expect) althoughperhaps a little too sharp in some places. We were told that thesharpness and other factors were not a changeable setting, it wassimply going to be an on or off option at the current time. ASUS EAH3850 X2 1GB Dual GPU Video Card @ thinkcomputers.org [May-30-08] (0 Comments) Recently, ASUS was among the first companies to put a pair of ATI HD3850s on a single graphics card, for a more affordable dual-GPU experience.I reviewed a Radeon HD 3850 (single GPU) earlier this year, and was veryimpressed with it.performance just shy of an 8800GT at $100 less. A pair onone card should be an awesome experience. Today I will be looking at theASUS EAH3850 X2 1GB, twin 3850s with 512MB each, one of the few on themarket. Will it meet my dual-3850 expectations? How will it compare to the9800GTX, nVidia's top of the line single-GPU card? Read on and see! Boom Blox (Wii) @ bit-tech.net [May-29-08] (0 Comments) With all that said though, there are a few weak points in BoomBloxwhich perhaps limit how much fun you can have with it. The first andmost damaging flaw is the length of the game because after only a fewhours of gaming we¡¦d already finished nearly the entire Explore modeand were making a decent dent in the Adventure side of things. The other thing to bear in mind is that, like all puzzle games, BoomBloxwill frustrate you as much as it¡¦ll keep you entertained. Playingthrough the Chemical Blox campaign in Explore mode was something we didwith ease until about the eighth level, at which point we got stumpedfor more than an hour. Lots of swear words were uttered before weeventually got a gold medal. Still, it¡¦s all very much a minor chink in the armour of BoomBloxand this is definitely one of the must-have family games in ouropinion. As a party game it may play second fiddle to the likes of Warioware,but if you¡¦re after something to play on a week night when you don¡¦tneed a bottle of tequila to have fun then this is definitely the gamefor you. The combination of fluid controls, screaming chickens and hugeexplosions is a sure winner. Cyber Snipa Stinger Laser Mouse @ thinkcomputers.org [May-29-08] (0 Comments) Most people probably haven't heard of the Cyber Snipa brand. Thiswas the first time that I've ever used or even heard of their products.Don't let this fool you. The Cyber Snipa Stinger is quite a powerful mouseand if you ask me, a better mouse than most other high end gaming mice. Itoffers everything you can think of in a gaming mouse:ergonomics,comfortable, weight system, mice feet, and horizontal scroll just to name afew. Read on further to see how good this mouse really is. ZEROtherm ZEN FZ 120 CPU Cooler @ thinkcomputers.org [May-28-08] (0 Comments) ZEROtherm has really made a name for themselves over the past year.The last 3 products we reviewed from them scored very high and all of themhave received awards. But there are still people who have not heard of them.Well ZEROtherm has announced a new cooler, the ZEN FZ 120, which they werekind enough to send us. Will it perform up to what we have grown to expectfrom ZEROtherm? Read on to find out... Asus Xonar DX PCI-Express sound card @ bit-tech.net [May-26-08] (0 Comments) The Asus Xonar DX isn't the perfect product a spec sheet wouldlead youto think – its software interface might be appalling and we've had towait for a proper EAX driver to fix popular games like BioShockand Half-Life 2:Episode Two,but at least it installed without issue on various systems includingboards based on Intel’s P965, X48 and P45 chipsets, along with NvidianForce 780i SLI and AMD 690G-based motherboards – we even used an x8slot instead of just an x1 and as expected, it made no difference. Theonly problem we've heard is that there are issues with it and the 790iUltra SLI because of the PCI to PCI-Express bridge chip. The Xonar DX has a fantastic core feature set – its sound quality islargely indistinguishable compared to the Xonar D2X and it'ssignificantly better than on-board audio. What’s more, the price tofeature ratio is what makes it very accessible to buy.In games (where EAX is progressively becoming less of a key feature),the quality was absolutely excellent, and now finally there are gameslike BioShockthat benefit from the working GS3D 2.0 engine, but that's not to saythat future EAX games will though. However, Asus did come througheventually and in only a few weeks, which is more than can be said forCreative's driver tradition.While we may harp on about Creative's record of support and bug fixing,what would happen if someone reverse engineered Asus’s software toenable DTS effects on the DX? Or opened up the ALT for other use? Asushas also yet to prove itself on how it supports its soundcard productsin the long term – it’s unclear whether in three years time, the D2X,D2 and DX will have Lenovo ThinkPad X300 Series Notebook @ tweaktown.com [May-26-08] (0 Comments) The X300 notebook has an Intel Core Duo SL7100 (1.2GHz, 4MB L2, 800MHz FSB) CPU. The monitor is a 13.3” WXGA+ TFT (LED backlight). There is a 3x3 UltraConnect II which is a connectivity suite offering wireless LAN, UWB (UltraWide Band), Bluetooth and numerous wireless WAN choices including a system that utilizes native GPS functionality that is built into the X300. The hard drive is unique in that it is a solid state drive (SSD) 64GB in size. What this means is that the hard drive is not a rotating disk in the traditional sense, but rather comprises of several chips with addressable memory arrayed in a specific format to prolong the usability of the SSD drive. NZXT Tempest Case @ thinkcomputers.org [May-26-08] (0 Comments) NZXT has recently been coming out with some great mid tower cases.ThinkComputers got the chance to take a look at the new NZXT Tempest case.This case is probably different than most other cases you've seen because ithas a bottom, rather than top, mounted PSU. It also includes plenty offeatures for overclockers, water coolers, and storage fanatics, while stilldisplaying a sleek design. NZXT calls this the Technic3D/Xigmatek HDT-D1284 @ technic3d.com [May-26-08] (0 Comments) The Xigmatek HDT-D1284 CPU Heatsink arrived Technic3D. The Top -Flow CPU Cooler with 120mm PWM Fan, H.D.T. technology and easy instal lation. See you in the following Review the D1284 compared with Standa rd Boxed Cooling, Xigmatek Tower Cooler and more. Razer Lycosa Keyboard @ rbmods.com [May-25-08] (0 Comments) You might have tried several keyboards but none really feels good. If that's the case then take a look attodays review; the Razer Lycosakeyboard. This is the latest gaming keyboard which has non slip rubberbuttons which probably will come in handy when gaming for hours. It alsohave backlight for the keys so you can see what keys you are using in thedark. Lets have a closer look at what we think about the keyboard. Asus Striker II NSE 790i SLI Motherboard @ aphnetworks.com [May-24-08] (0 Comments) Imagine this:You are an engineer working at Asus. As a member of the team to design and engineer boards for the company's Republic of Gamer line, you and your team are given a task to create what the world will soon define as the ultimate enthusiast motherboard on the Intel platform. The goal of this project is to make a board that totally dominates the competition in the market as a flagship enthusiast motherboard, which naturally has to be completely-really-uber-1337 in all areas. Did you say performance? Check. Did you say features? Check. How about the looks? We got that covered. Anything else a hardcore computer enthusiast will appreciate? That's quite a challenge -- you got to be creative and imaginative. Fortunately, none of us here at APH Networks works in quite a department that requires such superior engineering skills and imagination at hand. The great thing of being a reviewer is that instead of thinking about what to implement in the design, we were instead given a product as a result of such marvelous work -- the Asus Striker II NSE motherboard, based upon NVIDIA's 790i chipset -- and we can have all the fun in criticizing (And praising, what were you thinking?) the hard work of these people. So we present to you our review of the Asus Striker II NSE motherboard, a product that's based off the Striker II Extreme that the Asus bosses probably told their engineers, APACK ZEROtherm ZEN FZ 120 CPU Cooler @ tweaktown.com [May-24-08] (0 Comments) Today we will be looking at the APACK ZEROtherm ZEN FZ 120; the latest CPU heatsink and fan combination from the company. Once again, from the outside the cooler looks like many others’ designs that have taken over the enthusiast market for the last few years. Let’s have a look and see if the ZEN FZ 120 can surprise us like the Hurricane HC92 Cu8800 VGA cooler did in our MEGA 9-Way VGA Roundup back in April. The ZEROtherm ZEN FZ 120 features a copper base and heatpipe that extends to aluminum heat dissipation fins that stand just a tad over 6 inches tall. The specifications claim that the cooler is capable of cooling up to 150 watts, making the FZ 120 an enthusiast class cooler built for overclocking or cooling Intel and AMD’s flagship processors. Watercooling Radiator shootout @ bit-tech.net [May-23-08] (0 Comments) Both the Black Ice GTX and the TFC X-Changer series ofradiators arewell designed, but it's clear that there's definitely a difference inperformance for the price increase. Feser's performance starts off witha nice and cool two degree difference at idle on the 120mm radiator,and though the idle difference shrinks as the sizes increase as we'dexpect, the temperature differences at load continues to increase. Looking at either extreme, we have cost vs. performance issues. The TFCX-Changer is almost 50 percent more expensive than the Black Ice at the120mm level, but we start out two degrees cooler at idle. Granted, most people shouldnot attempt to cool an 8800GTX anda Q66600 CPU on just a 120mm radiator, but it quickly sorts the wheatfrom the chaff - the TFC X-Changer wins hands down. At the moment itlooks like you'll be paying quite heavily for that privilege - however,if you're looking at cooling a lot in a small space and you've alreadybought into watercooling, it'll be worth the investment withoutquestion. The 360mm group shows much less differentiation for the same nearly 50percent price increase, and my best guess for the performance is abovein the results section. In order to get the most out of this type ofsetup with either instance, you're really going to need to look at why you need it - If you're not looking at 8800GTX SLI setups witha fairly well overclocked processor all in the same loop (in which caseI ask, Sony HDR-SR12 @ reviews.digitaltrends.com [May-23-08] (0 Comments) The popularity of hard disk drive standarddefinition and high-def camcorders continuesto climb. Nothing beats the storagecapability of a HDD video maker-just think,you can record hour after hour of babygiggles, if that's your thing (and newparents, you can admit it). Hard drive camsare great for everyone else too since you canrecord anything to your heart's content formuch longer than any tape or disk-basedsystem. And nothing beats the instantlygenerated thumbnails that let you hop fromscene to scene during playback. Sonydominates the HDD market for SD and HD videomakers-just as they do every other camcorderformat. That said we were happy to get ourhands on the new HDR-SR12, the company'stop-of-the-line HDD model that records FullHD 1920 x 1080I video along with 10-megapixeldigital stills to a hefty 120GB hard drive.The camcorder even has Face Detection, thedigicam feature du jour that works for videoand stills. Even though there were notoddlers in the house, we definitely wantedto start recording ASAP. ASUS EN9800GTX Top 512MB Video Card @ thinkcomputers.org [May-23-08] (0 Comments) If you are like me, and have been happy with mid-range cards, spenda few hours at your favorite game played at the highest settings, using AA,and higher resolutions while using an upper end card, and you'll probablyrealize that you've been in denial for all of this time. Today I will belooking at the Asus EN9800GTX Top, a factory overclocked version of nVidia'slatest top-of-the-line single-GPU video card, with 512mb of DDR3 memory.Will this video card finally make me realize that rather than beingpractical when buying mid-range cards, I've just been cheap? Read on andsee! Saitek Cyborg Laser Gaming Mouse @ thinkcomputers.org [May-23-08] (0 Comments) The Cyborg Laser Mouse is a part of many other gaming peripherals onthe Cyborg series put out by Saitek. This mouse offers a unique design withmany features. These include pre-installed Hyperglide mouse feet, 10programmable buttons, 3200DPI, and a motorized mouse extension. I've seenmice with adjustable weights and adjustable buttons before, but this is thefirst time that I have seen a mouse with an adjustable length. Read onfurther to see the mouse in action. Aeneon Xtune DDR3-1600 2GB Dual Channel Memory Kit @ thinkcomputers.org [May-21-08] (0 Comments) A few months ago I reviewed the Aeneon Xtune DDR3-1333 2GB kit fromQimonda. It was an impressive pair of memory modules from a company we'dnever heard of. The kit was very flexible, gaining tighter timings at lowerclockrates, and overclocked reasonably well, all at the PC3 standard of1.5v. Today I will be looking at Aeneon's latest PC3 kit, their DDR3-16002GB kit. It is rated at DDR3-1600, CL9, once again at the standard 1.5v.Will this new kit impress us as well as the earlier kit did? Continuereading to see. Inno3D GeForce 9600 GT iChiLL Hurricane @ nvnews.net [May-21-08] (0 Comments) Today we are taking a look at Inno3D's GeForce 9600 GT Hurricane, which is based on their iChiLL Series of graphics cards. This particular model features a custom cooling solution from ZEROtherm. What makes this product unique is that the cooling system, which consists of a heatsink, fan, and shroud, is separate from the graphics card and must be installed by the owner. The cooling system supports three types of configurations - overclocking, standard, and silent. Targus Fandango Tote Women's Laptop Bag @ thinkcomputers.org [May-20-08] (0 Comments) When it comes to laptop bags women do not have that much varietywhen it comes to laptop bags. Women usually carry more things than men so itwould be nice if there was a laptop bag that could accommodate them. WellTargus has the answer with the Fandango Tote, which is a laptop bag that notonly accommodates everything that a woman would carry, but looks good too.Let's take a look... Alienware Hangar18 HD Entertainment Center @ thinkcomputers.org [May-19-08] (0 Comments) Home theater PC's have become very popular lately. It seems almosteveryone I know has been taking their old computers and turning them intomedia machines. Well what if you want the best media machine money can buy?The Alienware Hangar18 HD Entertainment Center could be just that. Alienwareis mainly known for making gaming machines, so it will be interesting to seehow they do on the Hangar18. The Hangar18 is an all-in-one media machinethat can play DVD's or Blu-ray media, watch live TV, watch internet TV,listen to music, and share it all wirelessly. Let's check it out! LaCie Mini Hub 500GB USB 2.0 FireWire External Hard Drive @ thinkcomputers.org [May-16-08] (0 Comments) Looking for a new external hard drive? Tired of reaching behind yourcomputer to access USB or FireWire ports? Well the mini Hub 500GB USB 2.0FireWire External Hard Drive is perfect for you. It offers the functionalityof an external hard drive while providing 4 USB and 2 FireWire hub ports.This drive is a very sturdy hard drive and provides a unique design whichmakes it stackable with Mac Mini's. Read on further to see what thisexternal hard drive is all about. Technic3D/OCZ Vendetta2 @ technic3d.com [May-16-08] (0 Comments) The OCZ Vendetta2 CPU Heatsink arrived Technic3D. The CPU Cool er with 120mm PWM Fan, H.D.T. technology, 3 Copper heat pipes and eas y installation. See you in the following Review the Vendetta2 compared with Standard Boxed Cooling and more. Lian-Li PC V1010 Case @ thinkcomputers.org [May-15-08] (0 Comments) I liken Lian-Li to the Mercedes-Benz of the chassis design world.The Taiwan-based company designs its chassis with sleek, conservative styleand hand-builds cases out of lightweight, yet durable aluminum. The chassisare generally not flashy, but are very, very conducive for high-performancecooling while overclocking. Lian-Li recently renewed its V series line-upwith five new cases:PC-V2110, PC-V2010, PC-V1110, PC-V1000Z, and the focusof this review, the PC-V1010. ThinkComputers goes inside the Lian-LiPC-V1010 chassis in this review. BFG Tech GeForce 9800 GTX OCX 512MB graphics card @ bit-tech.net [May-15-08] (0 Comments) To be fair, I’m still in two minds about the GeForce 9800 GTX.And eventhough BFG Tech has gone above and beyond the call of duty here, Istill don’t think it’s enough for me to change my mind about thisparticular card in Nvidia’s line-up. You see, the standard cards are still on the expensive side compared tothe GeForce 8800 GTX and GeForce 8800 GTS 512, while BFG Tech’s GeForce9800 GTX OCX is priced at such a point that it’s no longer competingagainst only products in Nvidia’s line-up, but also against the RadeonHD 3870 X2. And over time, it seems like the 3870 X2’s drivers haveimproved a bit and it’s now becoming a more rounded purchase when youcompare it to something like the card we’ve looked at here today.When the 3870 X2 drags its feet in games that don’t scale so well, theBFG Tech GeForce 9800 GTX OCX is a faster card, but when you get intoscenarios where scaling is there, the Radeon HD 3870 X2 is generally asignificantly faster proposition. And because of that, I think it’s thebetter purchase right now in the £250 price bracket.That’s not to say that BFG Tech’s card is one that you shouldn’tconsider at all – the company has worked to correct the omissions fromits earlier bundles and you can now use the audio over HDMIfunctionality thanks to the included S/PDIF cable. It’s also one of thehighest-clocked GeForce 9800 GTX cards out there—and it’s backed by animpressive warranty term—which makes it one of the best G92-based cardson the market today. It’s also the first G92-based card we’ve seen thatbests the GeForce 8800 GTX in a convincing enough manner for it to beconsidered a replacement. CoolIT Freezone Elite watercooling kit @ bit-tech.net [May-15-08] (0 Comments) The Freezone Elite will definitely beat anything you can likelybuild to fit in anywhere nearthe same space by a mile - let alone any pre-built kits. But its priceclass puts it in a whole different realm, which is why I built such abig system to compare it to. An enthusiast is going to look at what heor she can build for a similar cost, not just what fits in the samespace.The watercooling system I compared to costs around £200 in the UK (and$320 in the US) – that's about £50 less, and it's quieter and cooler.However, every time I need to make a change, I invest twenty minutes inundoing everything, draining the loop, etc. And that's in a case that'sdesigned for it.It took me all of two minutes to disconnect the Freezone Elite. Ofcourse, then it took another five to get all the pre-applied thermalpaste off, then a hunt for the manual to hook it back up again when Icouldn't remember which unmarked cable goes where. They may seem likeminor niggles, and they are – but for almost £250 of yours or my money,you can damn well bet that I don't want to be talking about littleniggles.With the Freezone Elite, I think CoolIT has a good product...but it hasa better foundation for a great product. There's a lot of potentialhere, but I think it's not yet realised in this particular model. Withthe brilliant MTEC software and controller, the great TEC performanceand the incredible ease of use, it's off to a great start – but it willonly ever get rid of as much heat as that CPU block can absorb. RIM BlackBerry Bold (9000) Smartphone @ cooltechzone.com [May-15-08] (0 Comments) RIM just announced a new smartphone for its portfolio of existing BlackBerry devices boldly called the Bold. The name is quite bold (pun intended) and obviously so. It?s a complete rehash on UI and hardware sides that make for a powerful device that?s surely to quell iPhone?s market takeover intentions. It?s not that we particular think of the iPhone as the BlackBerry Killer, but it?s the next best alternative, and with Apple moving in swiftly behind RIM, it could?ve happened. However, RIM is taking care of itself and very well so. Technic3D/Xigmatek HDT-SD964 @ technic3d.com [May-14-08] (0 Comments) The Xigmatek HDT-SD964 CPU Heatsink arrived Technic3D. The CPU Cooler with 92mm PWM Fan, H.D.T. technology and easy installation. Se e you in the following Review the SD964 with one and two fan compared with Standard Boxed Cooling and more. Maxtor OneTouch 4 Plus 1TB External Hard Drive @ thinkcomputers.org [May-13-08] (0 Comments) Terabyte hard drives are becoming more popular with the need formore hard drive space. If you're looking to expand your hard drive capacityI think the Maxtor OneTouch 4 Plus 1TB External Hard Drive would be greatfor you. This drive includes USB and Dual FireWire interfaces with availablecapacities of 250GB, 500GB, 750GB, and 1TB. The drive is jam packed withplenty of software to suffice the most avid external storage fanatics, whilebeing easy to use for the everyday individual. Read on further to see whatall this OneTouch drive has to offer. DFI's LANParty LT X48 T2R motherboard @ bit-tech.net [May-12-08] (0 Comments) For a DDR2 board thegaming performance is very good, outperformingeven the Nvidia nForce 780i SLI board in all of our gaming tests. Itcan't keep up with the DDR3 boards, but buying 4GB of DDR2 is still afraction of the cost of even 2GB of DDR3 – that alone will offersignificant headroom for games as well.It is more expensive than its X38 brethren and you'd be hard pressed totell the two apart if they were standing side by side. However, if youwere concerned about price you'll probably want to wait for the P45launch anyway. It's not power friendly either, but DFI has neverclaimed to even care – it's not about the latest bandwagon, it's aboutbeing true to its core, of which it does in spades. The incrediblenorth bridge heatsink and its simple interchangeability is no greaterexample of this – you're free to replace it with anything you likebecause they are no heatpipes. If you love your DFI boards then you'll be onto a winner with theLANParty LT X48 T2R – everything you need out of Intel's X48 chipset isprovided and there's a lot of fun and time investment to be had withit. After talking to BIOS engineers and others in DFI's QA team, thelimitations we've been finding are essentially chipset level andthere's plenty of beta BIOS out there to try on DFI communities thatonly add to its true, core-enthusiast appeal. However finding theseplaces and knowing who to ask isn't the most obvious thing on earth –DFI should fill its manual with more BIOS details, overclocking tipsand support forum links for new DFI owners can dive into. This Palit GeForce 9600GT 1GB Sonic Video Card @ thinkcomputers.org [May-12-08] (0 Comments) Today I will be looking at the Palit 9600GT 1GB Sonic. The 9600GT isnVidia's latest mid-range GeForce card, and rather than the reference 512gigs of DDR3 memory, Palit has opted to add a full gig of memory, along witha heatpipe cooler, to this card. How will it stand up against the lastgeneration of GeForce mid-range cards? Continue reading to see... NZXT Cryo LX Notebook Cooler @ thinkcomputers.org [May-11-08] (0 Comments) Laptops are really becoming popular, especially when it comes todesktop replacements. Many laptops now are just as powerful as desktopcomputers if not more powerful. A lot of people now prefer laptops overdesktop because they can easily take the laptop with them and they take upless space on their desk. One thing about laptops is they easily overheat,especially gaming laptops. That is where notebook coolers come in. Today wewill be looking at the Cryo LX notebook cooler from NZXT, which looks like apretty extreme notebook cooler. Bad Company interview with Jamie Keen @ bit-tech.net [May-11-08] (0 Comments) BT:You’resick of talking about premium content, I bet. But it was kind of agutsy thing to do, you have to admit.JK:<sigh> Yeah. BT:So, I guess – why did you try to do it? And why with thisgame especially?JK:Yeah, so…I think the thing that people need to remember isthat development costs on games these days are huge. So we always needto look at new revenue streams. It’s not just a question of trying torip people off and it’s not just us trying to put one over on people –we genuinely need to y’know…well, at the end of the day it’s abusiness, right? We have to recoup costs and we have to make money. So, there are those kinds of things happening. You’ll probably see moreof that in the years to come. We’ve got nothing more planned at themoment, we’ve listened to the customers and the community is reallyimportant to us. We really want to maintain that two-way dialogue withour fans. So, we’re not going to be doing anything – I mean, we’re givingConquest away as free downloadable content later on. The weapons arenow going to be free – we just hope that the fans see that we’relistening to them. Warhammer Online Interview:Josh Drescher @ bit-tech.net [May-10-08] (0 Comments) BT:So, speaking of other Warhammer games, did you know aboutIron Lore shutting down? Their last game was the Warhammer 40K Dawn ofWar:Soulstorm expansion and the company said that piracy played a bigpart in their closure.JD:Yeah, well if I’m honest then piracy is the number one concern fora PC gaming developer.BT:You think it’s putting off a lot of PC developers and driving themto consoles?JD:I think that in other genres, yes. Luckily, as an MMO we’re largelyinsulated from all that because of our model. It’s impossible for aplayer to pirate our game and, even if they did, then it’d be themalone in their basement. For our game to make sense you need thousandsof players all playing together on a massive architecture.As a result, we’re very attracted to Asian markets along with Russiaand China – places where piracy is everywhere. Piracy is just apandemic there. So, while we’re very worried about it, it doesn’treally affect us as much.Obviously, I can’t speak for other developers like Iron Lore. But,y’know I had friends who worked there and we tried to bring a load ofthem over to us when they closed. If they say piracy was a problem forthem then I absolutely believe them. Piracy is why we see so many sameyshooters. Asus EAH3870 X2 1GB graphics card @ bit-tech.net [May-09-08] (0 Comments) I have to say that I’m impressed with the Asus EAH3870 X2graphics card– it’s quite a step away from the reference design and innovation likethis should be encouraged. The inclusion of four DVI ports will be awelcome addition for anyone looking to run more than a couple ofmonitors on their workstation and what makes it even better is the factthat, unlike Nvidia’s SLI, ATI CrossFireX technology scales acrossmultiple displays.There is no need to disable CrossFireX in order to enable multi-displaymode – and believe me when I say that is a big thing for anyone like mewho is a gamer but also runs multiple displays. It’s for that reasonalone that I have never used a GeForce 9800 GX2 or GeForce 7950 GX2 inany system that isn’t used for testing purposes – it defeats the objectof having a single graphics card for me because it has all thecompromises of SLI.It’s not all rosy though because there are some things that aren’t aslikeable about the Asus EAH3870 X2 1GB. The biggest one is of courseperformance. In short, the Radeon HD 3870 X2 is not as competitive asit needs to be and, if you took some games in isolation, you could makethe card look like exceedingly poor value for money compared to theGeForce 8800 GTS 512 and GeForce 9800 GTX, which are both retailing forunder £200. The 3870 X2, on the other hand, sits at about £240 (inc.VAT) at best, and heads up towards the £280 mark at worst.Another peeve of mine is with the fansink. Now, I accept that it’s acompromise that had to be made in order to accommodate the fourdual-link DVI ports on the PCI bracket, but that doesn’t mean it’s agood thing. While the two fans don’t really increase the amount ofnoise pollution by a significant amount, it does mean there are now twopoints of failure on the card – you could say you’re twice as likely toneed to change the card’s heatsink later down the line when one of thefans inevitably fails. There’s also the fact that heat created by theGPUs is no longer exhausted out of the back of the card, which meansthat you end up heating up the inside of your chassis – I doubt that’sgoing to be a major concern for most though.On the whole though, I think that the Asus EAH3870 X2 is a good choicecompared to what’s on offer from other partners on both red and greenfronts. It will undoubtedly please the multi-monitor crowd and that’swhere I see this card making the most headway. A word of warningthough:Asus has two EAH3870 X2 cards—one with four DVI ports (thisone), and one that follows the reference design pretty closely—so ifyou’re unsure, please do check with the retailer before purchasing. Razer Destructor Professional Gaming Mat @ thinkcomputers.org [May-08-08] (0 Comments) The Razer Destructor Professional Gaming Mat is certainly somethinggamers should look into buying. Razer's test showed an increase in trackingof 37% with laser mice and 25% compared to other gaming-grade surfaces. Thissurface is of the highest quality. Razer claims it as the Razer Fractalsurface for high-precision gameplay. Something that you probably haven'tseen with any other gaming-grade mousepad is a protective carrying case,which comes included with the Destructor. Perfect for on-the-go gamers. OCZ ReaperX HPC DDR3-1333 2GB Memory Kit @ thinkcomputers.org [May-07-08] (0 Comments) In a few short years, OCZ has really made its mark in the PCenthusiast world. They have branched out into power supplies, CPU coolers,thermal compound, peripherals, flash media, they even have a newphase-change cooler for those extreme overclockers that need sub-zero temps.But, OCZ's forte is still high-performance system memory. Today I will belooking at OCZ's latest offering in the ReaperX series, the ReaperX PC3-1066(DDR3-1333) 2 gig kit. Will the DDR3 ReaperX prove to be the awesomeoverclocker that its DDR2 little brother is? Read on and see... ASUS M3N-HT Deluxe - nForce 780a SLI for Phenom Arrives @ pcper.com [May-07-08] (0 Comments) The drawbacks to the Hybrid Power though outweigh the positives inthis current implementation. First, only the 9800 GTX and the 9800 GX2graphics cards are supported with the 780a SLI chipset - that leaves a wholehost of NVIDIA users with 9600 GTs, 8800 GTS and GT cards that probablythink they have the right to Hybrid Power technology since their cores arebased on the same that rests under the hoods of the 9800 GTX and GX2. Also,the REAL KILLER here is that NVIDIA is promoting the nForce 780a SLI chipsetas an enthusiast platform, and pushing Hybrid Power with these high endcards, yet the fact that the motherboard GPU can only output at 1920x1200resolutions is not-so-cleverly hidden. Technic3D/Xigmatek S1283 Red Scorpion @ technic3d.com [May-07-08] (0 Comments) The Xigmatek S1283 Red Scorpion (Achilles) CPU Heatsink arrive d Technic3D. The CPU Cooler with new silent LED PWM Fan, H.D.T. techno logy and easy installation. See you in the following Review the Red Sc orpion on a Intel Dual-Core XE6800 CPU compared with Standard Boxed Co oling and more. Zalman ZM850-HP 850W Modular Power Supply @ thinkcomputers.org [May-06-08] (0 Comments) A little while ago, ThinkComputers reviewed the Zalman ZM500-HP 500Wpower supply unit. This time around, Zalman, maker of fine cooling productsand power supplies, submitted for review a more powerful, but louder versionof its line of power supply units, the ZM850-HP 850W. This 80PLUS-certifiedunit has lots of connectivity with its modular design, and two heatpipes andan ultra-quiet fan keep the unit virtually silent. The review is here. ECS GeForce 8800 GT 256MB Video Card - N8800GT-256MX @ legitreviews.com [May-05-08] (0 Comments) The ECS N8800GT 256MB packs in double the memory with an availabl e BIOS update giving you the performance of a true 8800 GT 512MB. The ext ra memory along with a nearly silent heat sink/fan combo and a $169 price tag assures it to be a great success! ASRock Penryn 1600SLIX3-WiFi 680i Motherboard @ thinkcomputers.org [May-05-08] (0 Comments) ASRock came on board in 2002, not long after I started building myown rigs. In those six short years, they have come up with some remarkablyinnovative designs for economy motherboards. Today I will be looking at theASRock Penryn 1600SLIX3-WiFi motherboard. ASRock has taken the nVidia 680iSLI chipset, given it the capability of running the new Core 2 Extreme1600mHz FSB processors, added WiFi, and placed that in an economy-mindedboard. Targus Travel Power Outlets @ thinkcomputers.org [May-01-08] (0 Comments) When you are traveling you bring a ton of gadgets with you, I know Ido. I have my laptop, cell phone, MP3 player, and digital camera with me atthe very least. All of these gadgets need recharged, but it is sort of hardwith the 1-2 extra outlets that most hotel rooms have. Usually I have tobring a large surge protector, that is a pain since they are huge and takeup a lot of room in my carry-on. Targus has come up with the perfectsolution, the Travel Power Outlets. It is a portable power strip thatprovides 4 outlets in a very small package. Razer Piranha Gaming Communicator @ thinkcomputers.org [Apr-30-08] (0 Comments) The Razer Piranha Gaming Communicator headset is perfect for gamersof all types. This headset is geared towards gamers, but in my mind, isperfect for anyone looking for a quality headset with a quality microphone,especially those who use voice chat on the PC. Most of the headsets that Ihave had have been rather uncomfortable for extended periods of time, butthe Razer Piranha is different; it provides comfort for extended periods ofuse. If you're in the market for a new headset the Piranha is definitelysomething you should consider. PCPer Hardware Leaderboard @ pcper.com [Apr-29-08] (0 Comments) The High End system also saw a price increase going from $1245 to$1399 - a modest increase I think considering the changes I implemented.First we moved to a new Yorkfield, 45nm Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 processorbut kept the 780i SLI chipset motherboard. I also upgraded graphics card inthis system as well with the new 9800 GTX card - a great single-GPU boardthat offers 8800 Ultra-like performance at a lower price. Ultra m998 ATX Mid-Tower Enclosure @ tweaktown.com [Apr-29-08] (0 Comments) Anyone who has tinkered with computers for any amount of time will immediately know the name Ultra. With a number of products that cover case fans and lights, designer cases, DVD products, hard drive coolers, media drives, complete memory solutions, memory coolers and power supplies, these folks can provide you with a large selection of upgrade items. Today we will be taking a look at one of their system enclosures, the m998. It is a mid-tower design based around the ATX standard and has some features that may be a little different than what you have seen in the past. Cooler Master Real Power Pro 1000W Power Supply @ thinkcomputers.org [Apr-29-08] (0 Comments) ThinkComputers looked at Cooler Master's Real Power Pro series lastyear when I reviewed the 650W version. Cooler Master submitted its bigbrother, the 1000W version, to us for review. This powerhouse (literally) isready to pump juice into a high-end gaming rig, possibly with multiple videocards or multiple processors. ThinkComputers has the review herein. Crisis Core:Interviewing Yoshinori Kitase @ bit-tech.net [Apr-28-08] (0 Comments) BT:We’re ten years on now and there’s been multipleFinalFantasy games since VII and yet between Dirge of Cerebus, AdventChildren and Crisis Core, you’ve always returned to Final Fantasy VII.What is it about VII that you think makes it so popular and special?YK:Well, Final Fantasy VII came out a time in a time oftransition when the PlayStation 1 allowed for a whole new realm ofgames with improved audio and graphics. Also, at the time I was a muchyounger man. Ten years younger in fact – though don’t count me out justyet! It was a time when I had all this enthusiasm and as a young creator Iwanted to try and challenge the idea of what an RPG could be. Combinewith that the hardware and these new realms of possibility forcreators. That combination seems to have worked because although it washard to say how successful we were at the time, ten years later thegame is still being talked about and I think we really did set a newstandard.We really have a soft spot in our hearts for Final Fantasy VIIbecause that was when we tried to change things. It was just the righttime for it. XFX Nvidia nForce 790i Ultra SLI motherboard @ bit-tech.net [Apr-28-08] (0 Comments) We realise this board is for the enthusiast who has oodles ofmoney tospare but we still think this motherboard is just too expensive. Itdoesn't offer compulsive features that has made me go Cooler Master Giveaway @ thinkcomputers.org [Apr-27-08] (0 Comments) ThinkComputers has teamed up with Cooler Master to give you anothercontest. They will be providing us with 3 great prizes to give away! We havea Stacker 830 full tower PC Case, Real Power Pro 1000W Power Supply, andSphere CPU Cooler. These are 3 great products and we are giving them awayfor free! Just like the previous contest we will be running this one on theforums. To qualify for any of the prizes you need 35 posts in our forums andNEED to reply to this post. That gives you 1 entry into the contest. We willbe doing Cooler Master trivia all throughout the contest. Check back to thisforum thread for trivia questions. Once they are posted you will have 24hours to answer them. To answer them you will need to send me a message onthe forums with the answer. Each correct answer you submit will give you anextra entry into the contest. Larrabee team member speaks on rasterization @ pcper.com [Apr-25-08] (0 Comments) There's no doubt Larrabee is going to be the world's most awesomeraytracer. It's going to be the world's most awesome chip at a lot of heavycomputing tasks - that's the joy of total programmability combined withserious number-crunching power. But that is cool stuff for those that wantto play with wacky tech. We're not assuming everybody in the world will dothis, we're not forcing anyone to do so, and we certainly can't just do itbehind their backs and expect things to work - that would be absurd.Raytracing on Larrabee is a fascinating research project, it's an excitingnew way of thinking about rendering scenes, just like splatting or voxels orany number of neat ideas, but it is absolutely not the focus of Larrabee'sprimary rendering capabilities, and never has been - not even for a moment. [News] GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3P Motherboard @ virtual-hideout.net [Apr-25-08] (0 Comments) The Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3P Motherboard is an aggressive, extreme, yetefficient platform. It's a shock to see this board do so well and do it evenbetter at more extreme frequencies. It's more affordable than most P35overclocking motherboards and has plenty of the top end features a poweruser could want. There is a large void out there for energy conscious userswho still want real power. This is absolutely the best choice for those on abudget who didn't think they could afford extreme performance. GIGABYTE G-Power 2 Pro CPU Cooler @ tweaktown.com [Apr-25-08] (0 Comments) The GIGABYTE G-Power 2 Pro was first presented to me with a flash presentation detailing the functions and basically letting me know that it was not a mediocre product. From the start I was interested, and now t hat I am finished with my testing I can make you interested too. The G-Power 2 Pro is the third in a series of G-Power products. The first and second, the G-Power Pro and G-Power Lite were both good products, bu t when it came to design they followed in the footsteps of other traditio nal CPU heatsinks. The latest version, 2 Pro steps away from what's tra ditional and looks to prove that innovation leads to higher performance. Noctua NF-P12 Case Fan @ modders-inc.com [Apr-25-08] (0 Comments) Noctua has come up with another uniquely designed fan, the NF-P12.Although some might mistakenly think these are similar to their NF-S12 fansdue to the colors used. They are completely different in design. Virus Protection on Leopard? I Don't Think So. @ cooltechzone.com [Apr-24-08] (0 Comments) When you install a new operating system, everything on your computer tends to feel a lot fresher. Even though some of the stuff on your hard drive may be several years old, a new OS gives you a revised way to use that information. Since installing Leopard, this fresh feeling has extended to the way I view viruses and other assorted software and Internet vulnerabilities on OS X. I never really had a problem in this regard on Tiger, and now that I?ve upgraded to Leopard, everything feels even more secure. I trust the advancements of OS X and its good track record to keep my computer safe, but perhaps I shouldn?t feel that way. Buffalo TeraStation Pro II 1TB Rackmount NAS @ thinkcomputers.org [Apr-24-08] (0 Comments) Some organizations-or people-need serious storage. Sometimes asimple server running Windows 2003 or Linux might not be sufficient, interms of storage space, redundancy, or cost for all of these. The BuffaloTeraStation Pro II series of network-attached storage devices aims to pleaseusers and administrators who need a large amount of redundant storage,automatic backups to other units, gigabit networking, and the ability toincrease the capacity. ThinkComputers takes a look at the one terabyterackmount version in this review. Wii Fit @ bit-tech.net [Apr-24-08] (0 Comments) I say this a lot, but it really is hard to know what to thinkabout Wii Fit.On the one hand it’s obviously great. The hardware has a lot going forit in the future and is just as clever as everything else in the Wii.It’ll help get lard-arses off the couch and on their feet and even ifyou aren’t into fitness then the game itself is still fun for a littlewhile. Yet, on the other hand the balance board is quite expensive, it isstill just another collection of minigames at the most basic level andthe reality is that those lard-arses will play the game every day forabout two weeks at most before going back to exercising their drinkingarm. Sure, that last part is grumpy as hell, but it’s also true. There’sroom for movement, but the vast, vast majority of people willvociferously defend themselves and pledge to play the Wii for hoursevery day – only to let themselves off because they had a hard day atwork. I know. I’m one of those people. Judged on fun and ingenuity, Wii Fit gets top marks. Judged onlongevity and value though, the game suffers horribly at our admittedlygrumpy hands. The decider then goes to the future of the balance board and whetherthe hardware can prove itself useful in upcoming games. If the supportis there then the game and the hardware will flourish – but otherwiseit may end up as ugly and uncomfortable as the Zapper. Tuniq Ensemble 1200W Power Supply @ thinkcomputers.org [Apr-22-08] (0 Comments) Tuniq is a performance chassis and power supply purveyor subsidiaryof cooling, lighting, and chassis maker Sunbeamtech. Tuniq is in the Fallout 3 p @ bit-tech.net [Apr-21-08] (0 Comments) You should be able to tell by now that we already love howFallout 3is shaping up. It’s grim and visceral, keeping close to the good sourcematerial and barely dealing with the lamentable spin-offs that laterruined the Fallout name. The best thing of all though is that we’ve barely scratched the surfaceof the game – in fact, we’ve barely scratched the surface of the Alphabuild of the game which is growing by the second. The ending, which isdesigned on the same branching model as in the first games, has grownfurther now too so that there are now around 500 endings on offer. You may think that that is too many endings. You may be right. Ifthat’s your line of thinking though then the people you should feelsorry for are the Xbox 360 Gamerscore addicts like Jamie – Pete reckonsit’ll take at least three or four playthroughs to get all theachievements on offer. And yeah, that does sound daunting – but personally I can’t wait togive it a shot. MSI P7N SLI Platinum Motherboard @ nvnews.net [Apr-21-08] (0 Comments) As with the P6N motherboard, the P7N Platinum features an elaborate copper heatsink/heatpipe chipset cooling solution on a jet-black circuit board. The heatpipe arrangement runs from the MOSFET's to the System Platform Processor (C55 SPP), the nForce 430i Media & Communications Processor (C51 MCP) and the nForce 200. In Win B2 Stealth Bomber Case @ thinkcomputers.org [Apr-21-08] (0 Comments) The B2 Stealth Bomber case is really what you might think it is, acase that looks like the B2 Aircraft. The B2 case, like the aircraft issurely an advanced case. This newly released case comes equipped with twoeSATA ports, auto-sensing mechanical front door, shock-free railing system,dual fan VGA turbo cooling system, water-cooling friendly, and with a designinspired by the B2, this case is surely not something your grandma willunderstand. Read on further and see a video of the mechanical front door inaction. Western Digital VelociRaptor 300GB WD3000GLFS - Evolution @ pcper.com [Apr-21-08] (0 Comments) What can you really say after seeing all of those benchmarks andtests? Without a doubt the new Western Digital VelociRaptor 300GB drive isthe fastest hard drive we have ever tested. The upgrade of the Raptor lineto the SATA 3.0 GB/s specification was well overdue and you can clearly seethat at least part of the performance boost was due to that change. Withburst speeds of 247 MB/s and sustained transfers over 110 MB/s theVelociRaptor is the best enthusiast hard drive you'll find for anyapplication we can think of - games, boot times, video encoding, etc. Asus P5E-VM @ neoseeker.com [Apr-17-08] (0 Comments) With a video card, I was able to boot into the Windows desktop at 535MHz x6 - but it was not stable; I think giving even more voltage to thenorthbridge would stabilize it, but frankly, I was worried about frying thenorthbridge. But 500MHz x 8 is stable, with the memory running at 5-5-5-15,when I use a video card. Thermaltake Toughpower 1500W PSU @ bit-tech.net [Apr-16-08] (0 Comments) It's difficult to ascertain the value and the worth of 1,500W –whileThermaltake makes the only one worth buying for far less than the veryfew competitors sell for, the value of 1,500W is certainlyquestionable. Even if we wanted to kit out the baddest rig under thesun, we'd still opt for other units on the market. After all, if youthink you need one you're already splashing out several grand for thebest hardware on the planet, so at least complement it with somethingthat’s as super high end. Coolink SWiF 1202 Cooling Fan @ modders-inc.com [Apr-16-08] (0 Comments) With our comparison between the Coolink and Noctua fans, we can seethat the Coolink does have a slight lead in the cooling area, but comes atthe slightly louder noise level. Scythe Zipang - XSs @ xsreviews.co.uk [Apr-15-08] (0 Comments) Scythehave produced some insane coolers in the past, most notablyperhaps, the Scythe Andy. Oddly named, but whopping in size and surfacearea. Now though, they've come out with something bigger, badder andhopefully better; the Sycthe Zipang, its monstrous. With 12 copperheatpipes, and what is in essence, two heatsinks, I'm hoping for someawesome temperatures from this one. D-Link DGL-4500 Xtreme N Gaming Router @ techgage.com [Apr-15-08] (0 Comments) D-Link's DGL-4500 wireless router brings a lot to thetable, including dual-band operation, 802.11n support, a killerbuilt-in OLED screen, on top of features perfectly suited for onlinegamers. Of course, such a feature-packed router doesn't come cheap, sois it worth your hard-earned $180? Cyber Acoustics CA-5001 5.1 Speaker Kit @ tweaktown.com [Apr-15-08] (0 Comments) Cyber Acoustics are based out of Asia and claim to have had invol vement in the PC audio industry for many years, since the 80`s in fact. N ow, that should be plenty of time to get the recipe right, so to speak. T he company offers many products from headsets and iPod solutions to full on surround sound systems like the one I`m looking at today. For the purposes of testing I have several systems around my home to prov ide an adequate representation of where these speakers stand, all things considered. I think that when evaluating speakers in general, it's a ve ry good idea to try and listen to the same piece of music through several different systems. Thermaltake Toughpower QFan 650W Power Supply @ thinkcomputers.org [Apr-14-08] (0 Comments) ThinkComputers loves ThermalTake's lines of cooling supplies andcases. The company is known for its [News] ASUS DRW-2014 L1T DVD-RW @ virtual-hideout.net [Apr-14-08] (0 Comments) As far as DVD optical drives go, the Asus DRW-2014L1T is right onpar with a lot of the other drives in its class. The LightScribe is a bonusfor those who like to label their discs. Most drive noise is created whenthe optical disc starts to wobble and vibrate. This vibration is transferredto the drive motor and tray, thus making the noise. The QuieTrack featureand Auto Vibration Reducing System seem to work really well, as the noiselevel from a spun up disc was low. FlextraLinkT prevents buffer under runproblems caused by an empty data buffer, thereby eliminating the creation ofCD-coasters. This technology is similar to, and seems to work as well as,other companies' buffer under run technologies. Terratec 2400 Dual TV tuner @ xtremecomputing.co.uk [Apr-14-08] (0 Comments) Today I will be looking at a product from a manufacturer that I personally don’t know a great deal about, you however maybe more familiar with the name of TerraTec. The product I will be reviewing is a digital tv card the Cinergy 2400i DT. This is a dual digital tuner card, nothing special there you may think BUT this card uses a pci express x1 slot which is refreshing as, in my honest opinion, most manufacturers overlook this expansion slot. Lian Li to release ten cases before Computex @ bit-tech.net [Apr-11-08] (0 Comments) Of the cases we saw during our visit to the company’s officesinKeelung City in the North East of Taiwan, there were a few that reallycaught our eyes.First of all, the company’s new home theatre cases—the PC-C36 andPC-C37—look promising with some interesting new ideas. One complaintthat Lian Li said it had from its previous HTPC cases was the supportbar across the middle – it was fixed in place.With these two new designs, the bar is removable, which will definitelymake the installation process a lot easier. There are otherenhancements too – both feature a small PCB at the front thatapparently allows you to boot into a Linux distro to search for (andpresumably playback) media files. bit-tech Feature:How To Start Your Own Games Studio, Pt 1 @ bit-tech.net [Apr-09-08] (0 Comments) *Written by Mark Morris of Introversion software (creator of DEFCON, Darwinia and Uplink).*There are many fantastic things about my job, but there are also many frustrations. Perhaps one of the most trying of these is when I get emails that read: Rosewill RCX-Z775-EX Intel CPU Cooler @ thinkcomputers.org [Apr-08-08] (0 Comments) Rosewill is one of those companies that is often overlooked byenthusiasts. I have also been guilty of name-dropping, and thinking Rosewillas Corsair TX750 750W Power Supply @ thinkcomputers.org [Apr-07-08] (0 Comments) Corsair is best known for its memory products-DIMMs and flash-but ithas a solid line of power supply units, as well. The company sentThinkComputers its TX750, a 750W unit with a single 60A 12V rail-powerfulenough for a GeForce 8800 GTX. While non-modular, the cables are sleeved andhave quick-release connectors. We tested this device with a five-yearwarranty-results within. A Pro Modder ... Really? @ modders-inc.com [Apr-04-08] (0 Comments) I have heard a lot talk about Pro Modders and in my honest opinionI think too much emphasis is put upon such a distinction. ASUS P5K Pro Intel P35 Motherboard @ thinkcomputers.org [Apr-04-08] (0 Comments) Today I will be looking at the Asus P5K Pro, a DDR2 P35 board.Though the X38 boards have been out a while, and the X48 boards are finallyhitting the market, the P35 chipset is still very popular, with its maturityand excellent performance. The P5K Pro is an economy-minded board, fillingin the fairly sizable gap between the P5K Deluxe and the stripped down P5KSE. How will the P5K Pro size up against its big brother? Read on to see... Sapphire Radeon HD 3650 OC Edition Video Card @ thinkcomputers.org [Apr-02-08] (0 Comments) Hong Kong-based Sapphire has been in the industry for a while,manufacturing primarily video cards and motherboard chipsets. It's thelargest supplier of ATI-based cards in the world, and was the first torelease a card with an HDMI connector. ThinkComputers got its hands onSapphire's Radeon HD 3650 OC Edition, a faster, more spacious version of themid-range card from the red team. We subject this card to a battery of teststo see how it measures up to one of the best the green team-nVidia-has tooffer. bit-tech :Command and Conquer 3:Kane's Wrath @ bit-tech.net [Apr-02-08] (0 Comments) There's an awful lot to like about /Kane's Wrath/ and, if I'm going to be utterly open about it, I think it's not just an expansion on the original game, but a radical improvement on it. It's managed to do what a lot of hardcore /C&C/ fans thought was impossible and introduce more of the old-school flavour and personality into the framework set out in /Tiberium Wars/. Kingston DataTraveler 400 2GB Flash Drive @ thinkcomputers.org [Apr-01-08] (0 Comments) The technology age is booming, more and more people are starting totravel and use multiple computers. There's got to be a time where you havethought to yourself ASUS PG221 22-inch Widescreen LCD Monitor @ thinkcomputers.org [Mar-31-08] (0 Comments) We have taken a look at a lot of LCD monitors here atThinkComputers. While most of them are adequate for all scenarios, none ofthem have been dubbed as gaming monitors. Well the ASUS PG221 is dubbed as agaming monitor and we can see why just by looking at the specs, a 2000:1contrasts ratio, 2ms response time, and all the connections you want on aLCD. Not only does it have these features it also has a 15W bass speaker,built-in webcam, touch-sensitive controls, and a cool lighting effect. Itseems the PG221 has everything any gamer or consumer alike would want. Let'ssee if we can find anything wrong with it. Seagate FreeAgent Pro 750GB External Hard Drive @ thinkcomputers.org [Mar-29-08] (0 Comments) The Seagate FreeAgent Pro is among many other current external harddrives. Its sleek design will help keep your desktop clutter free. Availablein 320GB, 500GB, 750GB, and 1000GB capacities and supporting USB, eSATA, anddual FireWire 400 there is quite a number of drives to choose from for yourliking. The touch sensitive power points and included AutoBackup softwarehelp the FreeAgent Pro stick out from the crowd of other devices. Let's takea further look at this external hard drive. Cooljag Mini LED Flash Fans @ thinkcomputers.org [Mar-28-08] (0 Comments) Case lighting has definitely come a long way. In the early days, anyand all case lighting involved a drill, soldering iron, some knowledge ofelectronics, and an attempt to find something that would work in a case thatwas originally beige. Today, it is pretty hard to find something new andunique, nearly everything one could imagine has already been done, but theguys at CoolJagUSA have come up with a really cool item, programmable LEDmarquee fans. Program a message to be displayed on your case fan. Gigabyte iSolo 210 chassis @ bit-tech.net [Mar-27-08] (0 Comments) There’s basically two ways to look at the iSolo 210 and itdepends ifyou’re a glass half full, glass half empty or an “I ordered acheeseburger with my drink” kind of person. On one hand, you could say that the Gigabyte iSolo 210 is a little dulland uninspiring – certainly not as cool as my word association gamesmay have convinced me it was. The inside of the case is very muchby-the-numbers, the performance is solid but not truly outstanding andthe same is true with the noise performance. Then you can look at it the other way. You can say that this is abudget end chassis, that the case follows the standard designconventions for a reason and that the performance for the case ispretty damn good. You can say that the exterior of the case is prettysnazzy looking and that there’s plenty of room for modding. This is theview we’re leaning towards here, though we don’t really like the windowall that much and we’d do away with the tool-less system if we could. Now you’ll have to excuse us – our glass may be half full, but we stillhaven’t got our cheeseburger yet... ASUS WL-520GU Wireless Router @ thinkcomputers.org [Mar-27-08] (0 Comments) ASUS wowed ThinkComputers in January 2007 within its WL-500W, anpre-802.11n router with USB ports for mass storage devices or a printer.ASUS recently released a 125 Mbps 802.11g router with a USB port for aprinter, called the WL-520GU. This router is Vista-ready and features aneasily configurable Bandwidth-On-Demand feature for Quality of Serviceadjustments. ThinkComputers investigates... Technic3D/Accelero Xtreme 8800 @ technic3d.com [Mar-26-08] (0 Comments) The Arctic Cooling Accelero Xtreme 8800 VGA Heatsink arrived T echnic3D. Accelero Xtreme 8800 supports VGA cards from NVIDIA Geforce 8800 series. The VGA coolers comes with three 80mm Fans and place for SLI. See you in the following Review the Xtreme on a XFX 8800 GTX XXX compared with Standard GPU Cooling, Xigmatek Battle-Axe Cooler and the Zerotherm Hurricane HC92 Cu. Kingston DataTraveler HyperX 4GB USB Drive @ thinkcomputers.org [Mar-26-08] (0 Comments) Earlier this year Kingston released the DataTraveler HyperX seriesUSB drives which are available in three different capacities:2GB, 4GB, and8GB. This is by far the fastest USB drive Kingston has produced withtransfer rates of 30mb/s read and 20mb/s write. It not only has fasttransfer rates, but fast access times as well. The HyperX is enhanced forWindows ReadyBoost and comes with a 5 year warranty. Read on further to seehow well this USB drive puts out. Thermaltake BlacX HDD Docking Station @ techpowerup.com [Mar-25-08] (0 Comments) For those users out there that are constantly swapping around parts, Thermaltake introduces the BlacX HDD Docking Station. This USB 2.0 device is a variation of a hard drive enclosure that lets the user plug a bare drive into an opening on top, and then eject the drive with a push of a button. The BlacX is so simple and easy to use, anyone with extra drives laying around should think about picking one of these up. What is Happening to Modding @ modders-inc.com [Mar-24-08] (0 Comments) Strangely enough it seems that lately there has been a decrease inthe Modding community. We see more of the same mods over and over and lessnew stuff. So, why is that? I have an opinion, yeah I know everyone usuallydoes and they usually stink! lol First Look:Cyberlink PowerDVD 8 & Media Show 4 @ bit-tech.net [Mar-24-08] (0 Comments) If you're afilm-nut and want to spill your beans on a dedicated websitethen PowerDVD 8 has got to be the way to go, and this is even truer ifyou're into your High-Definition content. However the prime place forthis is a Home Theatre PC, but since it's a stand-alone piece ofsoftware and not easily able to integrate into a current portal likeMythTV or Windows MCE, Cyberlink is seriously missing a trick, still.In addition, while the mashups and MoovieLive services are an ingeniousmarket niche, I'm not going to sit on my sofa in front of my TV andstart using the software extensions and website through a TV. At thesame time, I'd prefer not to spend a few hours sitting in a computerchair, watching a movie on a monitor, but I know a lot of people do. If Cyberlink was to sell a PowerDVD 8 plugin with HD support that boltsonto popular HTPC media player software it'd probably sell bucketloads. While it has a good OEM business doing this with people likeAcer, for example, there are many of us that are looking for the samekind of support. ASUS M3A32-MVP Deluxe/WiFi-AP Motherboard @ thinkcomputers.org [Mar-24-08] (0 Comments) ASUS is one of the most well-known motherboard manufacturers. Itsboards are known for consistent stability and awesome features, as well asexcellent design. ThinkComputers reviewed the M3A32-MVP Deluxe/Wifi, atop-shelf, Crossfire-capable motherboard using the AMD 790X chipset and anon-board wireless module. This writer's first motherboard review, I loadthis board with everything I could throw at it:a top of the line powersupply and graphics card, oodles of RAM, and three operating systems. Antec 900 Case @ bleedinedge.com [Mar-23-08] (0 Comments) Thinking about getting a new case to allow you to overclock your newhardware on air and yet doesn't cost you an arm and a leg? Enter Antec'sNine Hundred Gaming Case that is reviewed at The BleedinEdge.com. Lowepro Cirrus TLZ 25 Camera Bag @ thinkcomputers.org [Mar-23-08] (0 Comments) We have taken a look at quite a few Lowepro bags, but they have beenmostly larger camera / notebook bags. Today we are going to be taking a lookat a smaller bag, it's more of a pouch really. Even though it is apouch-type bag it can stall carry your D-SLR camera and a few accessories.Lowepro makes some of the best camera bags out there so the Cirrus TLZ 25shouldn't be any different. Read on to see how we liked it... Soyo Topaz S 24-inch Widescreen LCD Monitor @ thinkcomputers.org [Mar-21-08] (0 Comments) LCD monitors are pretty much common in all homes, it is not oftenyou see someone with a CRT monitor anymore. With LCD's being very common thestandard seems to be 19 and 20-inch displays. If you want something largeryou can go with 22-inch display, but you are still getting the sameresolution so the next step up is a 24-inch display. Soyo who we don't knowfor making LCD's just sent us their newly released Topaz S 24-inchWidescreen LCD monitor. Let's check it out! NZXT Giveaway! @ thinkcomputers.org [Mar-20-08] (0 Comments) ThinkComputers has teamed up with NZXT to bring you anothergiveaway. NZXT was nice enough to give us one of their newest cases, theTempest. Just released yesterday the Tempest is said to be the airflow kinghaving 2x 120mm intake fans, 2 huge 140mm top exhaust fans, 120mm rearexhaust fan, and a side 120mm exhaust fan! Some other features include abottom mounted PSU, room for up to 8 hard drives, and cable routingfeatures. You can see all of the specs and info about the Tempest on NZXT'swebsite. So how can you win this awesome case? Well just like our lastcontest we are going to be running this contest on our forums. If you arenot a forum member, you can easily register for free. The first thing thatyou are going to want to do is reply to this post (you can do so at thebottom of this page). Not only do you have to reply to this post you have tohave a minimum of 40 posts on the forums. EVGA nForce 790i Ultra SLI Motherboard and Chipset @ pcper.com [Mar-20-08] (0 Comments) To be fair, this isn't the most expensive Intel motherboard you canbuy - after all there is the Skulltrail platform. But other than that, thetwo 790i motherboards top the Newegg.com Highest Price list in the IntelMotherboards section. Yes there are other motherboards from companies likeASUS and Gigabyte that are in this same $300+ range and we have hard timerecommending those to anyone but the most hardcore PC enthusiast but wecontinue to want to think of these NVIDIA boards as a good value. Coolink Chipchilla Chipset Cooler @ rbmods.com [Mar-20-08] (0 Comments) Chipset coolers are often overlooked in a computer build, as mostpeople focus on CPU coolers and case fans. But as computer performanceincreases, these chipset temperatures are also rising. Today we'll look at anew chipset cooler, the Coolink Chipchilla Chipset Cooler. Will this chipsetcooler be an improvement over a stock chipset cooler? Read on to find out. DFI LanParty UT ICFX3200-T2R/G Intel LGA775 Motherboard @ thinkcomputers.org [Mar-19-08] (0 Comments) Back when Socket A, and later Socket 939, were the preferredplatforms for enthusiasts, one motherboard company emerged as the king ofoverclocking, DFI. DFI's LanParty boards had it all:colorful UV reactivecomponents, excellent BIOS conducive to overclocking, rock-solid stability,and excellent reliability. Today we will be looking at the DFI LanParty UTIFCX3200-T2R/G. It is an LGA775 motherboard powered by the ATI RD600chipset, and featuring ATI CrossFire Xpress 3200 IE. This board has beenaround for some time but is still available, and at an excellent price, Imight add. So rather than spend time comparing it to newer boards with newerchipsets that cost up to triple the price, I am going to attempt to reviewit on its own merits, and look at it more as an economy board rather thanthe upper-end board it was a year ago. Noctua NT-H1 Heatsink Compound @ pro-clockers.com [Mar-19-08] (0 Comments) Noctua has been known for serving up one of the best coolers on themarket. I am sure most of us have heard of the NH-U12P. It was one of thetop coolers on every website's list. And coupled with their newest fan theNF-P12 there aren't too many coolers that can come close. Now take thiscooler and fan and throw in the NT-H1 and you have everything you need tocool that new processor. So do we have another compound that is capable oftaking down the old king? We will find out soon. XFX GeForce 9800 GX2 1GB - Dual G92 is Sexy @ pcper.com [Mar-18-08] (0 Comments) Is the extra performance you get out of the 9800 GX2 in thebenchmarks and gaming results we saw today worth that much extra money?While this is a very personal question between you and your wallet I'd haveto say it is a definite maybe. In talking with XFX I'm reasonably certainthat the prices for these cards will be at the $599 price point but I thinkthat in NVIDIA's complicated board design and cooler design has forced themto raise the price of the car to higher than they or their partners wouldhave liked. Zotac GeForce 9800 GX2 @ techpowerup.com [Mar-18-08] (0 Comments) Today NVIDIA launches their GeForce 9800 GX2 dual GPU card. It comes with two G92 GPUs and uses a new cooling design where a single cooler sits in the middle and cools both GPUs. We have the card from Zotac on our testbench today which follows the reference design specification. Unlike many other publications all our testing was conducted in Windows XP because we think that's what the majority of users still plays on. Cooler Master Cosmos S Case @ thinkcomputers.org [Mar-17-08] (0 Comments) Cooler Master's Cosmos case made waves last year because of itsincredibly silent design, awesome size, and excellent accoutrements. Thisyear, Cooler Master altered the Cosmos design and released a new model:theCosmos S. Whereas the Cosmos case was a silent beast, the Cosmos S isdesigned to keep things inside as cold as possible, sacrificing silence forperformance. After salivating upon seeing this case in Cooler Master's boothat CES, we had to get our hands on it. ThinkComputers blasts off to explorethe unknown regions of this expansive case. Arctic Cooling Silentium T2 Eco 80 @ bit-tech.net [Mar-16-08] (0 Comments) In the words of Sam Beckett:“Oh, boy.â€Really, it’s hard to know where to begin with a case like the SilentiumT2 ECO 80. On paper, Arctic Cooling’s intentions are cleary for thegood and aiming in all the right directions. The idea of using rubberaround the fans to prevent vibration and using heatsinks instead offans to cool the HDD is fine and we of course love anything that canhelp make computing a more environmentally friendly hobby.The real problem though is that the execution is terrible and thefinished product is really just a mish-mash of ruined ideas. On somelevel it’s actually quite depressing and there’s a distinct feelingthat if the Silentium T2 was a person then it’d be a bright andpromising young student who got tragically mauled by asledgehammer-wielding Rottweiler.The whole case just stinks of good ideas gone wrong and bad ideas leftto run rampant. In the end, with a number of structural problems, poorthermal performance and a generally unappealing look it’s hard torecommend the T2 to anyone. Frankly, this is the type of thing wereally do wish Arnold Schwarzenegger would come back from the future todestroy. A shame. Mass Effect:Bring Down The Sky @ bit-tech.net [Mar-15-08] (0 Comments) I'm giving this one the benefit of the doubt. There are flaws,least of not allowing you to just jump in and play the episode ifyou've already completed the main game, but it does do what BioWare setout to do:it adds new characters and new conflicts to the whole storyarc, and I hope that we'll be seeing more of the Batarians in futureepisodes.Whether or not you think 400 points is too much to spend on 90 minutesof additional gameplay depends on how much you're interested in theMass Effect story. If you want to immerse yourself in everything theMass Effect universe has to offer you, including the novel, then youshould definitely be downloading this episode.If, however, you're dithering and you're not sure, ask yourself this:did you enjoy completing the side missions of the original game? If youdid, then you'll enjoy Bring Down the Sky. If you thought they were anextra chore best left alone, then you'd probably be better off leavingthis episode alone too.You don't know what you'd be missing though, and when the Batarianscome back wanting reparation, don't say I didn't warn you. Because Idid... Thermaltake M9 Mid-Tower Case @ thinkcomputers.org [Mar-14-08] (0 Comments) Most enthusiasts that have been building for at least a few yearsmost likely have used something with the Thermaltake logo on it. Thermaltakehas a wide variety of products:cases; fans; CPU, GPU, hard drive, andchipset coolers; liquid cooling; power supplies; storage solutions; andvarious other stuff. Today I will be looking at the Thermaltake M9, amid-tower that appears to take some of its inspiration from the Xaser VI.Will it meet my expectations of a Thermaltake case? Stay tuned to find out. Griffin Elan Form Cork iPhone Case @ thinkcomputers.org [Mar-13-08] (0 Comments) Griffin makes all kinds of products for iPods and the iPhone. AniPhone is quite an investment for most people, usually people do not spendmore than $150 on a phone. I have seen so many people drop phones and havethem break. I'm pretty sure if you bought a brand new $400 iPhone anddropped it you would be very upset, so why not protect your phone with acase. So many iPhone cases are the same but the Elan Form Cork case offerssomething different and unique. Army of Two @ bit-tech.net [Mar-13-08] (0 Comments) Here’s what Army of Two has to offer; a fun,over-the-topshooter filled with mindless swearing and attitude. You’ve got a widearsenal of customisable weapons to tinker with, a predictable array oflevels to test them over and a load of collectibles to scrounge for inbetween your mass murders. It’s enjoyable and clearly doesn’t takeitself as serious as it might seem to. Basically, think something along the lines of a two-player, linearversion of Mercenaries:Playground of Destruction, which is nobad thing. If you’ve got a hankering for something violent and team-based andyou’ve got friends who want the same thing then Army of Twowill be right up your street. It isn’t massively long in the tooth andit isn’t as hugely groundbreaking as you might hope, but it’s apassable romp that’ll strike a chord with gamers across the market. Kingston HyperX DDR3-1625 2GB Memory Kit @ thinkcomputers.org [Mar-12-08] (0 Comments) Kingston is one of the oldest names in the PC world, and they arethe largest manufacturer of system memory purchased by third party buyers. Iremember hearing of Kingston in the late 1980s, a time when most PCs onlyhad a megabyte or two of system memory, and I used their memory in my firstRAM upgrade about a decade later. Recently I reviewed the Kingston HyperXPC3-11000 2 gig kit. Kingston considers it an entry-level enthusiast DDR3HyperX kit. Today I will be looking at the PC3-13000 HyperX 2 gig kit, whichat present, is considered the Technic3D/Xigmatek Battle-Axe VGA Cooler @ technic3d.com [Mar-10-08] (0 Comments) The Xigmatek Battle-Axe VGA Heatsink arrived Technic3D. Battle -Axe supports VGA cards from AMD and NVIDIA including the Geforce 8800 series. The VGA coolers comes with Direct-Touch-Heatpipes and two 92m m Fans. See you in the following Review the Xigmatek Cooler on a XFX 8 800 GTX XXX compared with Standard CPU Cooling and the Zerotherm Hurri cane HC92 Cu. Lian Li PC-A77 Full Tower Case @ thinkcomputers.org [Mar-10-08] (0 Comments) If you are a computer enthusiast then you have heard of Lian Li.They make some of the best cases out there and have been doing it for years.One of my favorite cases of all time was the Lian Li PC-6089 case, to badyou can't really find it anymore. Today we are looking at a brand new casefrom Lian Li, the PC-A77. It features an all aluminum design, removablemotherboard tray, and so many features that you just won't find on othercases. Let's take a look and see if Lian Li can impress us again. Coolink Chip Chilla Chipset Heatsink @ techwarelabs.com [Mar-07-08] (0 Comments) Cooling your chipset can be very important. Think of the chipset as the nerve center of your motherboard. It communicates with the CPU com mands from many components and if running hot can lead to reduced perform ance or end up in a damaged system. Read our review to find out why the C hip Chilla has both a good and bad design. Chipset Cooler @ modders-inc.com [Mar-07-08] (0 Comments) CPU cooled... Check! GPU cooled... Check! Hard drives cooled...Check! Case cooled... Check... Did you cool your chipset?!?! Is your chipsetoverheating? You know your chipset is a very important part of yourmotherboard, so it only make sense to cool it better than stock as well.Coolink has the answer, the ChipChilla will indeed cool your chipset. Saitek Cyborg 5.1 Gaming Headset @ thinkcomputers.org [Mar-07-08] (0 Comments) I have a great appreciation for high quality cover-the-earheadphones. I've used ones that cost under $20, and others that cost over$200. I prefer cover-the-ear, as I'm easily distracted by outside noise.andin gaming, distractions often mean the difference between getting a cleanheadshot and getting pwned. Saitek has been around for nearly 30 years, andhas grown to be the world's second largest manufacturer of gamingperipherals. They design and build a huge array of PC peripherals andspeakers, to enhance the overall PC experience. Will the Cyborg Headsetprove to be as innovative and effective as Saitek's other products? Readahead to see... Honeywell SecuraDrive 1.8-inch 80GB USB Hard Drive @ thinkcomputers.org [Mar-06-08] (0 Comments) On the run all the time? Transferring large documents through sillyUSB sticks? The Honeywell SecuraDrive has the perfect solution for you.Available in three different capacities:80GB, 120GB, and 160GB, theSecuraDrive offers security and portability for all of your files. Theincluded software allows you to partition the external drive into twodifferent partitions:public and private. Keeping your friends andco-workers away from your Thermaltake V1 CPU Heatsink @ techpowerup.com [Mar-06-08] (0 Comments) Thermaltake's V1 CPU heatsink has a classy, elegant design like no other. The all-copper construction and subtle scrolls make this heatsink stand out from the rest. While the V1 is not Thermaltake's flagship cooler, it still performs very well. Yoggie Gatekeeper Pico Security Mini-Computer @ thinkcomputers.org [Mar-05-08] (0 Comments) Windows security is a big deal these days. It's hard to keep up withall of the viruses and spam and other malicious things which threatenWindows. Protection software can be expensive, too. On top of that cost, asmuch as 30% of system resources can be devoted to protecting against thesethreats, according to Yoggie, maker of the Yoggie Gatekeeper Pico. This tinycomputer plugs into a Windows-based computer, and the driver offloadsnetwork traffic onto the device so it can be scanned for threats. Let'scheck it out... AMD 780G Chipset and Athlon X2 4850e P @ David Altavilla [Mar-04-08] (0 Comments) =93The 780G platform launching today combines the core logic expertise and Targus Grove Convertible Messenger/Backpack @ thinkcomputers.org [Mar-04-08] (0 Comments) Targus' line of backpacks is among the best. ThinkComputers' admiresthe line's durability, solid construction, versatility, and protection ofthe contents of the bag. We got our hands on the Targus Grove ConvertibleMessenger/Backpack. It looks and feels like a World War II rucksackre-imagined in the twenty-first century. The olive color certainlycontributes to it. As part of the Targus EcoSmart green initiative, thiscase is PVC-free and features recyclable plastic accents and nickel-freemetal to reduce the amount of toxins released into the environment. Read onfor the review... Conflict:Denied Ops @ bit-tech.net [Mar-04-08] (0 Comments) There are some glimmers of hope to be had with Conflict:DeniedOps.If you can get past the graphics, cardboard cut-out story, wonkyphysics (a shotgun blast pokes a tiny hole in plywood, butrifle-butting a door will splinter it out of the frame?!) anddisjointed, confused gameplay then there is an semi-enjoyably mindlessshooter here. Maybe. Crippling Conflict:Denied Ops though is that the competition is composed offar better, cheaper games. It comes down to this. When I was at university I¡¦d occasionally dipinto my student loan on a slow week and go trawling the bargain bins atmy local GameStation with a fiver in hand. I knew that the games I wasbuying would most likely turn out to be awful, but I¡¦d buy them anywaybecause they¡¦d fulfil my need for a cheap, forgettable game to whileaway the time between thinking about starting my dissertation andforgetting to start my dissertation. Conflict:Denied Ops is about on par with those old bargain bingames from three years ago. It ranks next to games like Stolen,Project I.G.I and Aikens Artifact. There are people out there who¡¦ll disagree with me and who¡¦ll claim adeep love for Denied Ops ¡V but these are the type of people who claim that theoriginal Evil Dead is the best film ever made and they shouldbe discounted completely. Don¡¦t listen to them; listen to me and waituntil Denied Ops drops into the bargain bins if you must playit at all. Princeton VL2018W 20.1-inch Widescreen LCD Monitor @ thinkcomputers.org [Mar-03-08] (0 Comments) Not everyone needs a top of the line LCD monitor with a 2ms responsetime and all of the connections imaginable. Some people just want an LCDmonitor to replace their huge CRT monitor. It is much easier moving around afew thin LCD monitors than a big CRT. Today we are taking a look at theVL2018W from Princeton. The 20.1-inch LCD features a 1680 x 1050 resolutionand 8ms response time. You can get it from Geeks.com for a very decent priceof $179.99. Let's take a look... A-DATA Nobility N702 4GB Flash Drive @ thinkcomputers.org [Feb-29-08] (0 Comments) The Vista feeling slow? Speed it up with one of the many drives inthe A-DATA Nobility N702 Series. Available in red, blue, or silver, andsizes of 1GB, 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB the N702 should be attractive to mostpeople. This drive supports Windows ReadyBoost as well as having some decenttransfer rates. The Nobility N702 has a couple unique features that youprobably aren't going to find on any other flash drive. Take a further lookinto the review to find out what separates this drive from the rest. Noctua NH-U12P Heatsink @ techpowerup.com [Feb-27-08] (0 Comments) On the heels of the successful NH-U12F CPU heatsink, Noctua has released a newer, more compatible version called the NH-U12P. This version has more clearance below the fins, making it easier to install on many motherboards. It comes with the new, ultra-quiet NF-P12 fan and a tube of the new NT-H1 thermal compound. Tuniq TX-2 Thermal Compound @ rbmods.com [Feb-27-08] (0 Comments) When we think about achieving better cooling performance, we oftenfocus on hardware solutions. However, the quality of the thermalcompound/paste that interfaces between the chips and the cooler is anothercritical factor in getting better cooling performance from your cooler.Today we'll take a look at a new thermal compound from Tuniq, well-knownmakers of a variety of cooling solutions, known TX-2. Will this productstand up against the incumbents in the market? We will attempt to answerthat question in today's review. Saitek GM2400 Laser Mouse @ thinkcomputers.org [Feb-27-08] (0 Comments) The Saitek GM2400 Laser Mouse certainly has a unique appearance withits grayscale camouflage. In addition to its crazy color scheme there aresome important features to it. It offers three different settings to changeyour DPI and a quick switch button that helps you switch between the 800, to1600, to 2400 DPI modes. The included software will help you customize theperfect gaming experience with the capability to change all of the sixbuttons on the mouse to something more fit for you. Let's take a furtherlook to see what else this gaming mouse has to offer. Bgears b-Envi Micro Case ay Modders-Inc @ modders-inc.com [Feb-25-08] (0 Comments) Bgears has burst onto the case modder/enthusiast scene with somepretty innovative products. With the new b-Envi Small Form Factor (SFF)case, Bgears tosses its hat into the ring and wants to spar with the othermanufacturers in a crowded case market for the SFF crowd. Does this casehave what it takes to make your friends b-Envious? I think you will findthis to be a special case in many ways, so... step on through and learnabout one of the best kept secrets in town! Lian Li Armoursuit PC-P80 chassis @ bit-tech.net [Feb-25-08] (0 Comments) The Lian Li Armoursuit PC-P80 is, despite the garish Spidermanlook ofthis particular review sample in my eyes, a rather attractiveproposition as a case. The overall design is simple, functional andto-the-point on the basic, non-branded model and the addition of fansall over the case means that the cooling performance is excellent...providing you can live with the noise (or kit the case out withrheostats).There are only a few drawbacks to the PC-P80 in fact, though some ofthem are worryingly fundamental. For example, missing screws and thelack of a manual is a pretty basic error – one an accomplishedmanufacturer like Lian Li should never make and that doesn’t bode well.The look of the case for this ATI model is also pretty dividing – youeither love it or hate it, with very little middle ground for customersto sit in. This design isn’t for the faint hearted at all, but ATIfanboys will lap it up.Still, if a cool running PC is what you’re after and you happen tothink the Armoursuit PC-P80 looks as good as it runs then there’sabsolutely no reason not to go for it. Although the recommended retailprice for the basic model is £250 ($399), which is kind of steep in ouropinion – the fact that Xcase has the standard version on pre-order for£199 (inc. VAT)makes things a little bit easier to stomach though. The ATI versionshown here is even more expensive, at around about £299 – ludicrouslyexpensive? Perhaps, but the PC-P80 does have an awful lot going in itsfavour to justify the cost. ASUS P5K64 WS Intel P35 DDR3 Motherboard @ thinkcomputers.org [Feb-25-08] (0 Comments) It's not something that we in the enthusiast world really thinkabout, but there is a market out there for high-end computers that willprobably never do any gaming, be overclocked, water cooled, or any other ofthe cool stuff that geeks do with their rigs. For example, a design engineermight desire a CAD workstation using multiple large screens...as many as sixor eight...at high resolution. Anyone designing animation would like such arig. So, what does someone desiring to build a modern upper-end graphicsworkstation do? Asus has an answer with the P5K64 WS, a workstationmotherboard based on the very successful Intel P35 chipset. Today we will belooking at the P5K64 WS, to see if it has anything that would hold theinterest of the enthusiast. Can it satisfy the geek? Read ahead to see. ZOTAC GeForce 8800 GT 512MB AMP! HDMI Video Card @ benchmarkreviews.com [Feb-25-08] (0 Comments) When you think of discrete graphics, your probably don't think low-end. It's very common, as with most things we can buy, for people to immediatelyshoot for the stars. In the video card world, this usually means discussing only the best money can buy, and this is the start of a bigger mistake.Very recently NVIDIA released their newest addition to the GeForce family:the 9600 GT. While it offers solid performance for the lower mid-range ofdiscrete graphics, NVIDIA's 9th generation of video cards has only one offering thus far. Essentially, the latest is by far not the greatest. Gigabyte's GA-EP35-DS4 motherboard @ bit-tech.net [Feb-25-08] (0 Comments) All things considered, even though the Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS4performsvery well and fits well into a price niche we can't really recommend it¨C its only advantage over the significantly cheaper GA-EP35-DS3R isCrossFire, and it screws that up so much with its subpar layout that itbecomes a net feature loss, not a gain. If you really want CrossFire,get the MSI P35 Platinum because it not only keeps up with the DS4 inall areas, it has a better layout and costs around 25 percent less!TheMSI P35 Platinum shows that it can not only match the EP35 power savingefforts, without needing funky software, but it's also been doing sosince June last year. In addition, the Gigabyte solution doesn't adjustthe front side bus and auto-overclock under load, like the Asus EPU. Ithink it's a great effort from Gigabyte ¨C we're always massively infavour of energy efficiency, but the current system needs to be greatlyrefined.Unfortunately the Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS4 doesn't do itfor us, but don't discount the whole EP35 range, because we'd certainlygive the GA-EP35-DS3R some serious attention instead. Noctua NH-U12P CPU Cooler @ aphnetworks.com [Feb-22-08] (0 Comments) The market for CPU heatsink and fans has grown quite saturated -- but with this saturation also comes a diversity that allows for a different heatsink to suit every preference. From performance heatsinks, noise conscious designs, to value/budget products, there's at least a dozen from various brands to fill in the specific market niche -- or maybe even a combination of two or more. Noctua has made quite a prominent name for itself in the industry for making quiet PC cooling solutions. Being that, a quiet cooler does not mean it cannot be a performance cooler at the same time. Combined with a design that challenges the best air cooler, it proves one thing -- bigger does not mean better. It's all about cooling efficiency; and combined with arguably the best fan for this application -- the Noctua NF-P12 -- how will the Noctua NH-U12P perform installed in our real life testing scenario? I've always wondered how it stacks up against the Scythe Infinity -- one of the biggest, and one of the best performing coolers over a year and a half ago -- but with a little twist. We want to see how the heatsink itself performs. And we'll even compare the two with the same fan. Now that would be an interesting showdown. Kingston HyperX DDR3-1375 2GB Memory Kit @ thinkcomputers.org [Feb-22-08] (0 Comments) Kingston's 20 year history is packed with numerous awards from thelikes of Fortune, Inc, and Forbes magazines, and for the last four years,they were ranked the #1 memory module manufacturer for the third-partymemory market. They have been extremely successful at building qualityproducts, and taking care of their employees considering the numerous NVIDIA 9600 GT ed @ pcper.com [Feb-21-08] (0 Comments) When we compare the 9600 GT to the previous generation from NVIDIA,the 8600 GTS in our case, the difference is simply amazing. While the 8600and 7600 were very similar in terms of performance, with simply the additionof DX10 features as the main differentiator, that isn't a problem in thiscase. I think that many users that currently have 7600-series or8600-series installed on there systems are staring wide eyed at theperformance graphs with their wallets open. The simple fact is that the9600 GT is a return to the days of actual performance gains from generationto generation:and we love it. NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT - G94 Launched @ hothardware.com [Feb-21-08] (0 Comments) The new NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT is based on the NVIDIA G94 GPU and ismanufactured on a 65nm process with a 64 stream processor architecture. Toput that in perspective, NVIDIA's previous generation mid-range component(the 8600 GT) had half the number of SPs at 32, though due its 65nm processshrink, the 9600 GPU is still quite small thus still cost andpower-efficient. As you'll see in the benchmarks here, the board alsooffers a fair bang for the buck, given its sub $200 price point. Sigma Shark 635W Power Supply @ thinkcomputers.org [Feb-21-08] (0 Comments) Sigma's new Shark line of power supply units combines a functional,stable supplier of required electricity with a stylish, finned, dual-fancooling design, resulting in a silent but powerful device. It's also one ofthe most stable devices we've seen in a while. Combine that with a sub$100-price and it looks like we've got quite a nice unit on our hands. Readon for the review. Advergaming and Other Horror Stories @ bit-tech.net [Feb-21-08] (0 Comments) Virtual worlds are also a popular target for advertisers. In SecondLifea number of companies have purchased land within the game to establisha permanent presence. You can buy products from retailers like Nike andAmazon. Apparently Starwoods Hotels and Resorts built a digital replicaof a hotel they were planning to build in real life to see the reactionfrom people. You have to wonder about this logic though – if companiesthink they can garner useful information from people's online choicesthey may be in for a nasty shock, after all, gaming is about escapismand most people frequently do things in games that they would never doin real life.There are all sorts of fantastical predictions about the amount of adspending there will be in future games, but so far despite claims itwill reach $2 billion by 2011 it remains far short of this target.There's a suggestion that this revenue could be worth $1 per game topublishers – which is certainly enough to catch their attention. StillI think I'd be willing to spend an extra $1 on the game to get itwithout advertising. Personally I don't mind advertising when it'sbundled into something free as they have to pay for it somehow but whenyou are already paying a premium price for something it’s cheeky tojust bombard your customers with adverts regardless. Gigabyte Cyclops - XSs @ xsreviews.co.uk [Feb-20-08] (0 Comments) Mostcooler reviews are of products designed for the latest, greatest andusually hottest GPUs. But what if you have an older system, with a oncepowerful 6600GT or x800? The fan dies or you want to squeeze a few moreMHZ in your OC, where do you turn? Well, Gigabyte of all companies havemade the Cyclops, which comes with changeable front covers, RAM sinksand a solid aluminium core. Let's see how our 6600GT feels with itattached. Buffalo LinkStation EZ 500GB Network-Attached Storage Device @ thinkcomputers.org [Feb-20-08] (0 Comments) Buffalo's routers have always wowed this writer, especially theWHR-G54S. However, this time around, Buffalo sent ThinkComputers a differentkind of networking product:the LinkStation, Buffalo's foray into thenetwork-attached storage device market. Buffalo markets the LinkStation EZto the home user and touts its easy setup and backup software.ThinkComputers investigates. MSI Radeon HD 3870 512MB OC @ tweaktown.com [Feb-19-08] (0 Comments) After looking at the new 9600GT just the other day, it became cle ar to us that the HD 3870 really does still have some life in it. It's not dying off anytime soon thanks to the aggressive pricing that has been implemented recently.It did get us thinking though; with an MSI HD 3870 OC sitting around doin g nothing, it was time to see what would happen when we put overclocked p art up against overclocked part. It's really going to come down to how well the HD 3870 is able to make use of the increased clock speeds that M SI have offered. Lenovo ThinkPad T61p 14.1-inch & 15.4-inch Laptops @ thinkcomputers.org [Feb-18-08] (0 Comments) Back in September we took a look at the new R-Series ThinkPad theR61, now it is time for the T-Series. As we explained in the R61 review theT-Series is the pricier of the 2 ThinkPad series', as it has a more powerfulprocessor and graphics. With ultraportables being all the rage now it ishard to pack all the power into a notebook that can be easily carriedaround. Lenovo is able to do that with the T61p at only 1.1-inches thick andweighing in at 5lbs, it is smaller than most mobile workstations. It is alsothe first widescreen ThinkPad mobile workstation, no more boring 4:3screens! Lenovo was nice enough to send us both the 14.1 and 15.4-inchversions so let's take a look. Ideazon Reaper Edge 3200DPI Gaming mouse @ xtremecomputing.co.uk [Feb-18-08] (0 Comments) At times throughout this review I have referred to “my old mouse” and I think its time to come clean as to what mouse I was referring to, it was a Razer Copperhead. Compared to the Razer Copperhead the Ideazon Reaper Edge is slightly larger and slightly heavier which might put a few people off. But it is still just as accurate and easy to use. Sapphire Pure CrossFireX PC-AM2RD790 motherboard @ bit-tech.net [Feb-15-08] (0 Comments) The first board we received had quite serious issues, and whileweaccept this happens sometimes things only half got better when wereceived a new board. At first the old board had serious overheatingissues – the aluminium heatsink would get far too hot and it wouldrequire active cooling otherwise our 125W AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ wouldlock up when it was running our benchmarks. Thankfully, this secondboard didn't suffer the same problems – the heatsink gets warm, but nownot to the point where it starts glowing red.What has remained is the finicky memory issues that cause The Curse of Genre @ bit-tech.net [Feb-15-08] (0 Comments) The thing is, I do really wish we could throw off the genrelimits andrediscover the freeform game design of the early years of gaming.Sometimes when we try, it falls apart terribly (Trespasser), butoften it works wonders. Portal belongs in both the FPS andpuzzle categories and is all the better for it. Spore willhopefully create a whole new category, as did The Sims. When you forget genres and just sit down and think Aeneon Xtune DDR3-1333 2GB Memory Kit @ thinkcomputers.org [Feb-15-08] (0 Comments) Though the memory manufacturers are still designing and building newDDR2 memory modules, DDR3 memory is here and being used. There are plenty ofmotherboards out there that utilize DDR3 memory, and new modules are beingintroduced monthly. No, you have probably not yet heard of Aeneon. Aeneon isa division of a German company Qimonda, the world's third largestmanufacturer of DRAM, part of Infineon Technologies AG. So, there is reallynothing new about Aeneon but the name. SilverStone Decathlon DA800 800W Modular Power Supply @ thinkcomputers.org [Feb-14-08] (0 Comments) SilverStone Technologies, founded in 2003, has in less than fiveyears become one of the industry leaders in PC power supplies. Thoughprobably not as well known as some of the popular companies who haverecently branched out into the power supply field, SilverStone's robust PSUsare well respected by those who are serious about power supplies.SilverStone was one of the first two companies to receive SLI certificationfrom nVidia. The DA800, being a new model, has not received its SLIcertification by nVidia, but both the DA750 750 watt, and the DA850 850 wattmodels of the Decathlon line have been certified for a pair of 8800GTXs, soI can assume that it will receive the same rating. An interview with Thomas Vu @ bit-tech.net [Feb-14-08] (0 Comments) BT:You also worked on The Sims 2, which obviously has amassive appeal with girl gamers. Do you think you’ll get the samesuccess with Spore?TV:Well, we hope so. Evolution is a topic which isn’t reallygender-based or relevant in the way The Sims was. If you think about The Sims then it was veryrelevant in terms of what…well, everyone knows what a bathtub does andwhat a cooker does. With Sporethough, it’s a little harder to make the gameplay relevant to people,but the core ideas behind it would appeal (we think) to female gamerstoo.The idea of customisation, sandbox gameplay – the idea of makingsomething, putting something into a world and then just seeing whathappens. All the social networking tools in the game, the sharing ofcontent is all very much like The Sims, but taken a lot further.It’s hard to say though. We hope it’ll do well, but we’re waiting andseeing. We’re definitely taking into consideration things likedifficulty levels for different markets. Like for the creator systems –it’s likely that a lot of females will just want to make things and noteven play the game. They might enjoy just sharing it with others. Hands-on P @ bit-tech.net [Feb-13-08] (0 Comments) I actually got a chance to speak to some of the marketingpeople recently and I quizzed them about the future of Spore– pressing on whether we could expect to see a slew of new content onshelves soon after release. The reply was a stark awakening to thebrilliant reality of Spore in that I was treated to a kind of “Idon’t know” answer and an explanation of how that wouldn’t work with Spore.You see, in The Sims, new items can’t be easily created and theexpansions can consist mainly of new furniture and so forth. In Sporethat doesn’t hold true and the future of the game seems to be groundedmore in adding new tools to the game through expansions – ways toexport and import creatures to Photoshop or Maya 3D. It’s not enough tosimply give people a new building or two, because those can always bemade by the community. To me, this attitude perfectly expresses how important Spore will be. Frankly though, even if the game doesn’t prove to be as redefining as Ithink it will be, then it’s still shaping up to be a fantastic game andclearly shows how even the most complex of tasks can be accomplishedwith enough persistence. Spore does have flaws in some regards and it’s plainly obviousthat most players aren’t going to enjoy parts of the game. Personally,while I loved everything from the Creature Stage onwards, I did findthe first part of the game—the Cell Stage—to be a little tiresome andpointless. I’ve nothing against simple arcade styled games at all, butthere are titles that do that better than Spore. Spore’s strength though lies in that the game overcomes thepersonal loves and hates of certain people and frees players uptotally. You can do almost anything you want with the tools on offerhere and the game is totally open to let players skip to the parts theywant. If all you want is the micromanagement and sense of control thenCivilisation Stage is there for you from the get-go. Technic3D/Zerotherm Hurricane HC92 Cu 8800 @ technic3d.com [Feb-13-08] (0 Comments) The Zerotherm Hurricane HC92 Cu 8800 VGA Heatsink arrived Tech nic3D. HC92 Cu 8800 supports almost all VGA cards including NVDIA Gefo rce 8800 series. (Except ATi Radeon X2900 series). The VGA coolers pro vide 3-in-One function (Fanless mode, Aero-Dynamic mode and Overclocki ng mode). See you in the following Review the Apack Cooler on a XFX 88 00 GTX XXX against Standard CPU Cooling. SteelSeries Ikari Laser Mouse @ thinkcomputers.org [Feb-13-08] (0 Comments) The SteelSeries Ikari Series mice, just being released not too longago, are a perfect gaming addition for anyone looking to improve theirgaming. With 15 months of research and development SteelSeries has been ableto closely perfect the art of gaming mice for FPS as well as MMO/RTS gamers.This mouse offers up to 3,200 CPI and manual CPI adjustments for the perfectsensitivity. Wondering what CPI means? Check out the review to this as wellas many other features of the Ikari Laser mouse. Thermaltake Blac-X Hard Drive Pod @ pro-clockers.com [Feb-13-08] (0 Comments) Well, Thermaltake has a solution for people like me and maybe someonelike you as well. The Blac X is an external way of linking any SATA drive,2.5 or 3.5, to your computer. But unlike the traditional method of openingup an enclosure, mounting a drive and then closing it all back up, the BlacX doesn't use an enclosure. Confused? Yeah, I would be too. But read thereview and we will clear it all up for you. Scythe Ninja and Ninja Mini CPU Coolers @ techwarelabs.com [Feb-12-08] (0 Comments) Recently we tested the Scythe Ninja and Ninja Mini heatsinks for performance, design, and installation. We present to you our results may surprise you. Scythe has taken an unusual approach to heatsink design and combined outside the cube thinking with traditional design to come up wi th a heatsink that performs well but has issues. Read our review to find out more. [News] Thermaltake DuOrb VGA Cooler @ virtual-hideout.net [Feb-12-08] (0 Comments) The foot print of the DuOrb is much smaller and lighter than thestock heat sink which is always a nice result. And, the DuOrb does lookbetter adding a bit more flash to a pricey graphics card with a somewhatboring stock cooler. Unfortunately, the included video memory sinks areplain gray, aluminum. This doesn't do the cooler justice and steals away abit of its potential. Matching copper sinks would definitely compliment theDuOrb better and keep the look more balanced. The Thermaltake DuOrb VGACooler is otherwise a good performer and would make your 8800 seriesgraphics cards stand out. Due to the limited designs of stock VGA coolers,it's nice to have a better option made from copper. If you need bettercooling and your current card configuration just can't keep up, give theDuOrb some consideration. Zotac GeForce 8800 GT 512MB AMP! Edition @ bit-tech.net [Feb-12-08] (0 Comments) There is a lot to like about Zotac's GeForce 8800 GT AMP!Edition – theheatsink has some subtle improvements that help to keep the temperaturecomparable with a standard-clocked GeForce 8800 GT at noise levels thatare going to be inaudible in a chassis. It's also the fastest GeForce8800 GT we have tested to date and, from looking around, there doesn'tseem to be any 8800 GTs clocked faster than this – at best, there areequals out on the market. That maybe explains the overclocking problemswe encountered.At these elevated clock speeds, the Zotac GeForce 8800 GT AMP! Editionoften rivals the more fully featured GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB in theperformance stakes—something it manages to do with just a single slotcooling solution. That's an impressive feat in and of itself.CCL Online appears to be the only place selling this card at £182.64(inc. VAT)– a price point that makes it a worthwhile purchase. Other places havebeen asking for between £195 and £200 – at this price, the card is tooexpensive. The problem is that now you can pick up BFGTech's GeForce8800 GTS 512MB OC for under £200 (inc. VAT), it's hard to recommendZotac's GeForce 8800 GT 512MB AMP! Edition if the two are comparablypriced. The reason for this is that the 8800 GTS's superior shader horsepoweris likely to outlast the Zotac 8800 GT AMP! Edition's higher fillratesand slightly higher memory bandwidth. That said, the fact that oneUK-based retailer is selling this card at a competitive price is a goodenough reason to recommend it but on the provision that you don’t paymuch more than CCL's £182.64 asking price for it.Of course, the GeForce 8800 GTS's dual slot cooling solution is no goodif you've got a case—like a Shuttle XPC—that demands a single slotcard. In that scenario, Zotac's GeForce 8800 GT AMP! Edition is a goodchoice at a higher price, but you'll need to make sure your chassis hasenough airflow to keep this card's temperature under control overextended gaming sessions. Thermaltake BlacX USB Hard Drive Docking Station @ thinkcomputers.org [Feb-08-08] (0 Comments) When you think of Thermaltake you think cases and power supplies,not hard drive enclosures. While they do make hard drive enclosures they arenot known for that, but they soon might be with the BlacX. The BlacX is notreally a hard drive enclosure, it is more of a docking station. Unlike otherhard drive docking stations we have seen the BlacX has a totally differentdesign and since it is made by Thermaltake we know it won't be like thecheap docking stations we have seen. Let's check it out... Palit GeForce 8600 GT Super+1GB Video Card @ thinkcomputers.org [Feb-07-08] (0 Comments) I'm sure a lot of you have never head of Palit before. Before wewere approached by them we had never heard of them either. Palit is not anew company, but they have done business almost entirely overseas. Now theyare offering their products here in the United States. They offer both AMDATI video cards as well as Nvidia-based cards. They were nice enough to sendus over their GeForce 8600GT Super+1GB PCI-Express card, let's take alook... Zalman ZM-RS6F USB Surround Sound Headphones @ thinkcomputers.org [Feb-06-08] (0 Comments) Getting yelled at by neighbors or family members while gaming lateat night? Still want that surround sound experience? Zalman has the solutionfor you. The Zalman ZM-RS6F USB Surround Sound Headphones will solve yourproblem. With its easy install USB connection, rather than multiple audiocables, and a compact design for storage and transport, this headset willsure be a good addition to anybody's audio arsenal. Let's take a look to seewhat else these six channels of sound have to offer. Halo 3 and The Art of Repetition @ bit-tech.net [Feb-06-08] (0 Comments) Let’s take Halo 3, and, before I actually say anythingabout Halo 3,I should make a disclaimer digression. I had put up some articles aboutrepetition in games on my blog, and how I felt that repetition issometimes a good thing (more on that later), and may have implied thataspects of the Halo 3 campaign could have benefited from somemore repetition, and I ended up with some comments that went somethinglike this:“Variety is the spice of life. Games with repetition suck. Your gamewill suck and no one will play it.”Now, I think I’ve played through the Halo 3 campaign about halfa dozen times. I love the game—I even pre-ordered it. I enjoy fanboyspeculation about Halo’s association to Marathon.While this does not make me an expert in all things Halo, I think it atleast gives me license to critique and comment. So I say:fanboys,stand down!hat out of the way, the critique goes like this:imagine you areplaying through Halo 3for the first time. You play as the legendary saviour of humanity, whoplays it cool while expertly wielding a massive arsenal to mow downwave after wave of baddies. However you have a somewhat foggy idea ofwhere to go next, what a missile pod does, how all of those crazy newitems work, the feel of a Spartan laser, and so on. So here’s themismatch:in cut scenes, the Master Chief is extremely cool andconfident, but under the control of the first time gamer, the MasterChief is suddenly acting like some bewildered idiot, fumbling withbubble shields and flamethrowers.Games like Marathon and BioShock succeed instorytelling because the main character can be a bewildered idiot. In Marathon,you’re a space marine who lands on a colony ship with very little ideaof what’s going on, when suddenly aliens start attacking and AIs startfighting over you. BioShock is roughly the same story—you landon an underwater city, things start attacking you, and greater powersstart fighting over you via the radio. You’re a dummy with a big gun,and everyone knows and is willing to exploit this fact. Zalman ZM500-HP 500W Modular Power Supply @ thinkcomputers.org [Feb-05-08] (0 Comments) South Korea-based Zalman is most well-known for its coolingproducts, but it makes a line of power supplies, as well. The ZM500-HP isZalman's 500 watt unit. Zalman's main selling points for the series are itshigh efficiency and ultra-quiet heat pipe cooling system. Additionally, it'smodular! Read on for the review. Samsung 743B 17-inch Monitor @ techgage.com [Feb-05-08] (0 Comments) Think large displays are over-rated? Then Samsung's brandnew 743B might just be worth a look. At 17-inches, it sure isn't foreveryone. It offers a 1280x1024 resolution, fast 5ms response time andan outstanding 7000:1 contrast ratio. Does this small monitor pack abig punch? Zalman HD160XT Plus HTPC chassis @ bit-tech.net [Feb-04-08] (0 Comments) While its looks are clearly designed by the gods themselves,it’s notfollowed through into some of the core design aspects – obviouslysomeone made a list of every feature they could think of andsomeone else drew a kick ass looking case – then the two were pressedtogether between someone's palms, hoping to get the ultimate PC case.It hasn't happened here with the Zalman HD160XT Plus – it needs to beseamless and work without issue but it just isn't as we continually hadto find ways around problems.It does a lot of good things and it will look a perfect complement toany home theatre setup – I know because I've used the original ZalmanHD160 as an HTPC case for the past six months, but I wouldn't everconsider upgrading, it's just not worth over twice the price. And whileI love the full colour display with the huge potential it brings over astandard VFD – it's just not as easy to use and customise as I'd like.By now, several years down the line since its first HTPC cases, we’dexpect Zalman would have worked on not only its design but the packageas a whole and for £400 we’d expect nothing less than perfection.Unfortunately this isn’t the case. ThinkComputers & Thermaltake Giveaway! @ thinkcomputers.org [Feb-02-08] (0 Comments) ThinkComputers and Thermaltake have teamed up together to give yousome great grear! Up for grabs is a Thermaltake Armor Case a $159.99 value,a Thermaltake Toughpower 850W Power Supply a $259.99 value, and aThermaltake V1 CPU Cooler (review) a $59.99 value. So we are giving outover $450 worth of free gear! So how can you win? Since we have not had acontest in a while we are going to make this simple. The contest will beforum based so all you have to do is be an active member of our forums with10 posts or more to qualify for the V1 CPU Cooler, 20 posts or more toqualify for the Armor Case, and 25 posts or more to qualify for theToughpower 850W power supply. We are really trying to grow our forums andwe feel like giving away free gear is the perfect way to do it! Otterbox for iPhone Defender Series @ thinkcomputers.org [Feb-01-08] (0 Comments) For most people the iPhone was an investment. At $400 it is not acheap phone so you want to protect it. With the popularity of the iPhonethere are a ton of cases out there, but what case will really protect youriPhone. We took a look at the Otterbox for iPod Nano a while ago and itprovided ultimate protection, so we were excited when Otterbox announced aniPhone case. The defender case is not as extreme as it is not fullywaterproof, but it does offer much more protection than many other cases outthere. AMD's new RS780 IGP and SB700 pictured @ bit-tech.net [Feb-01-08] (0 Comments) As you can see below, the chipsets are really tiny, althoughthey'renot quite as small as the discrete AMD 790 series - the good thing isthat both still only require passive cooling. The north bridge is HT3.0and AM2+ capable, and outputs include HDMI, DVI and even the newDisplayPort (with HDCP encryption to boot). Avivo support has beenupgraded and should also mirror the capabilities of the latest RadeonHD 3000 series graphics cards . There are also various rumours about the IGP performance, whether it'sfaster or slower than what Nvidia has to offer may depend on the use ofa local frame buffer, for which Gigabyte hasn't integrated here. Infact, we don't expect many, if any motherboard makers to use thisoption as they never have done before. However, with new HybridCrossFire support linking IGP to low end GPU, this may be set tochange. Booq Mamba Sling Laptop Bag @ thinkcomputers.org [Jan-31-08] (0 Comments) It seems so many laptop bags are the same. Booq is out to changethat. Booq is a new company to us so here is some information about them.Booq strives to create high-end laptop bags while providing excellentcustomer service to the next generation of ambitious creative professionals.The Mamba sling is a very attractive sling-type bag that not only looks goodit is comfortable and protects your laptop too. Let's take a look... Technic3D/Zerotherm Nirvana NV120 @ technic3d.com [Jan-31-08] (0 Comments) The Zerotherm Nirvana NV120 CPU Heatsink arrived Technic3D. Ho neycomb structure for optimized air flow and Manual fan speed Controll er Adapted. See you in the following Review the Apack Cooler with 120m m fan against others CPU Cooling. AutumnWave OnAir HDTV-GT USB ATSC/NTSC Tuner/Receiver @ thinkcomputers.org [Jan-30-08] (0 Comments) AutumnWave Solution's OnAir HDTV-GT USB tuner can receive ATSC,NTSC, an unencrypted QAM (commonly known as digital cable) signals and, whencombined with the included software, can turn a Windows-based computer intoa TV and DVR. It's powered via USB and includes a neat remote and antenna totake advantage of digital and analog over-the-air broadcasts. Read on forthe review. Pirates of the Burning Sea @ bit-tech.net [Jan-30-08] (0 Comments) Pirates of theBurning Sea is an odd kettle of fish. It’s prettyugly and mediocre to look at for the most part, but it does have acertain rugged appeal to the presentation. The control system and styleof combat is difficult to get to grips with and poorly explained, butrewarding nonetheless and worth a look. The quests too are flawed,proving dull for the most part but thrillingly epic if you want to getinto the spirit of it all. So, with how many contradictions, how are we supposed to judge a gameas massive and open as that of The Burning Sea. Reviewing anMMO is a challenge at the best of times and we’ve barelyscratched the surface of what’s on offer on these high seas.The final and ultimate test of any virtual world is the how populatedit is and that’s something that is hard to judge too, confined as weare to the early days of this particular game. However, it has to besaid that even to us the game looked like it had a good number ofplayers onboard. Better, since everybody always wants an excuse todress like a pirate, there were hardly any bright pink trolls runningaround calling each other n00bs. If that’s not a sign of quality, I don’t know what is. Pirates of the Burning Sea may be a little damaged by some flawsand contradictions in the game design, but the truth of the matter isthat there’s a little piece of eight buried somewhere inside and if youtake the time to uncover it then you may well find yourself an MMOworthy of your attention for at least a few months. AMD ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 @ bit-tech.net [Jan-29-08] (0 Comments) While the Radeon HD3870 X2 has the potential to become one of, if notthe fastest graphics cards released to date, it’s not something that Ican recommend over Nvidia’s current flagship GeForce 8800 Ultra and8800 GTX cards because it’s only as strong as its weakest link. Sadlyfor AMD’s graphics product group, that means there’s a long road aheadwith driver support for this beast because, even from just looking atcurrent releases, I believe there will be scenarios in the future whereCrossFire isn’t as well supported as it probably should be.There are many ways to look at this and I’m sure the conspiracytheorists are hard at work. Are the developers locking AMD out becausethey’re working closely with Intel’s and Nvidia’s developer relationsteams? Is AMD’s developer relations team helping developers toimplement proper CrossFire support? Or is there something else thatI’ve missed completely? I honestly don’t know what the situation is,but there are developers which I’ve spoken to in confidence that haven’theard from AMD for a while.Ultimately, the long term success of this card is going to come down toAMD’s driver and developer relations teams and how well it getssupported in this year’s crop of new releases. I’m all for fastergraphics cards using multiple GPUs, but there needs to be transparencyfor the gamer to really harness a multi-GPU card’s potential. In thescenarios where the support is there, the Radeon HD 3870 X2 performsvery well and it can be looked upon as a match for Nvidia’s nownine-month old GeForce 8800 Ultra, but in the scenarios where thereisn’t support, you end up with a card that isn’t even as fast assomething that’s nearly half the price. Galaxy Tvisto Pro Digital Media Enclosure @ thinkcomputers.org [Jan-29-08] (0 Comments) Digital media adapters are all the rage these days. More and moreconsumers are realizing the benefits of storing movies, music, and pictureson a computer and then displaying those media on a large monitor ortelevision. The Galaxy Tvisto Pro DMA takes a SATA hard drive and embeddedLinux and can play back a variety of formats from the hard drive or a wiredor wireless network. It outputs in HD via component or VGA cables, but canalso output to composite, as well. ThinkComputers has the review. Watercooling 201:The Waterblock @ bit-tech.net [Jan-28-08] (0 Comments) So, before we get into that, let's take a look at what awaterblockactually does and how it works. I suppose the first part is easy – awaterblock sucks heat from the CPU, right?Well, sort of... not really. But yes... no.Why the confusion? Well, this is a huge misconception.Let's rephrase this properly:A waterblock obtains temperatureequilibrium with the heat spreader of the underlying chip. That's it.No sucking involved. It's the same misconception as air cooling – a heatsink doesn'tactually cool the chip. It simply provides a greater surface area forthe heat to spread over. Since there's more metal to heat up, there'sless heat in each molecule of metal – so it seems like it'scooling. The real definition of cooling is the removalof heat from the system – no heat is being removed here, just simplyspread out. Instead, it's the fluid—be it air or water—that actuallydoes the cooling. This probably seems pedantic – the block cools, or the block spreadsthe heat and thus lowers temperature. It may seem the same, but it'snot – it radically changes how we need to look at water blocks. We candistil everything above down to one basic statement:A block's function is not to cool your CPU – it's to provide the mostcontact with water molecules as possible. Noctua NT-H1 Thermal Compound @ rbmods.com [Jan-28-08] (0 Comments) When I think of quality cooling fans, typically one name jumps tomind first:Noctua. However, Nocuta isn't just about fans, as they'vestarted to branch out into other peripheral products. Today we get thechance to take a look at one such product, the Noctua NT-H1 ThermalCompound. Will the Noctua product be able to stand up against theestablished incumbents in the thermal compound market? Let's find out. R680 Has Landed:ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 Tested @ David Altavilla [Jan-28-08] (0 Comments) =93AMD officially launched their new high-end flagship graphics card today and Thermaltake SwordM Full Tower Case @ thinkcomputers.org [Jan-28-08] (0 Comments) We first got a glimpse of the SwordM at CES 2007, we were amazed atthe style and that Thermaltake would try such a radical case. Finally thisyear the case was released for sale and you know we had to get one to checkout. Handmade of all aluminum with hydraulic mechanisms for the top and sidepanel it is unlike any other case we have seen before. This is a verylimited case with only 10,000 units world-wide. Let us show you what thisamazing case has to offer. Samsung SyncMaster 2232GW 22-inch Widescreen LCD Monitor @ thinkcomputers.org [Jan-26-08] (0 Comments) Samsung is known for producing some of the most gorgeous LCDmonitors this world has ever seen. Walk into just about any home theaterthat has been equipped with a larger Samsung LCD television and you'll beblown away by the vibrant colors, the crystal-clear resolution, and thecrispness of the contrast. The same can be said about the LCD monitors thatthe company puts out for computers and one of the latest in the long line ofmonitors is the Samsung SyncMaster 2232GW. AirLive WMU-6500FS @ insidehw.com [Jan-25-08] (0 Comments) OvisLink AirLive WMU-6500FS offers a case for a 3.5 Styx Gaming Mouse @ rbmods.com [Jan-25-08] (0 Comments) Styx gaming mouse they say.... It was quite some time ago that Ireviewed a mouse last, Razer, Logitech and Microsoft have been leading onthat part of the market but today we might have an end to that! We recieveda sample of Speedlinks latest Styx gaming mouse with some nice features asDPI setting with a button and also a ergonimiclly designed shape on themouse. Let's have a closer look at this mouse and compared it vs some otherswe have looked in the past. Raidmax Sagitta 2 PC Case @ thinkcomputers.org [Jan-25-08] (0 Comments) The Raidmax Sagitta 2, the new second edition of the originalSagitta, offers a number of aesthetical as well as design improvements. Thisstylish case will certainly stick out at the LAN party scene. Gamers alikewill be asking you where you got this pimpin' case. This isn't one of thosecases that are great on the outside, but not so great on the inside. TheSagitta 2 has a number of features that help separate it from the pack. Thisreally isn't your every day gaming case. Let's take a look to see why itisn't your typical gaming case. Multi-Display Setups with USB @ techgage.com [Jan-24-08] (0 Comments) In a world where multi-tasking is a necessity,multi-display configurations are becoming ever more popular.DisplayLink is a new kind of technology that promises to take thehassle out of adding additional displays to your PC - even six ispossible. Best of all, you don't need a second GPU. ATI Radeon HD 3450, 3470 and 3650 p @ bit-tech.net [Jan-23-08] (0 Comments) Starting with RV635, AMD has decided that instead of havingseparatePro and XT cards like it did in the Radeon HD 2600 series, it wouldstick with just one model name in the Radeon HD 3650 series. AMD’s IainMcNaughton explained that the company looked at the mainstream segmentand asked itself “what can we do that is different and disruptive toour competitors, while offering more value to our customers?”Despite only offering one model name, there are stilltwo products that fit under this name – both share the same engineclock, which is set at 725MHz (slower than the Radeon HD 2600 XT’sengine clock), and the same number of stream processors as the RadeonHD 2600 series cards (120 stream processors or 24 five-way superscalarshader units) – both also feature a 128-bit memory interface.The number of texture units and raster operators hasn’t changed either,meaning there are still just eight texture units and four rasteroperators (or ROPs). What has changed architecturally now though isthat there is support for DirectX 10.1, PCI-Express 2.0 and ATIPowerPlay at a high level... at a much lower level, I've heard (butstill waiting for confirmation) that AMD has added double precisionsupport at one quarter speed, but it’s not exposed in current 3Dgraphics APIs.RV635 also uses fewer transistors—a total of 378 million—than the RV630chip, which itself featured a pretty massive 390 million of the littleblighters. AMD says that it has made some optimisations during the dieshrink, which should help to improve performance per clock andefficiency a little bit when it’s compared to the ASIC it’s replacingat the same clock speed. Technic3D/OCZ Vanquisher @ technic3d.com [Jan-23-08] (0 Comments) The OCZ Vanquisher CPU Heatsink arrived Technic3D. The Vanquis her CPU cooler is compatible with sockets AMD 754/939/AM2 and Intel 77 5. See you in the following Review the OCZ Cooler with 92mm fan agains t others CPU Cooling. Thermalright Ultima-90 CPU Cooler @ pro-clockers.com [Jan-23-08] (0 Comments) If you don't have enough room to support their Ultra-120,Thermalright has introduce a new cooler for the space challenged called theUltima-90. The Ultima-90 looks a lot like the Ultra-120 Extreme but in asmaller package. And that is just what it is. Some may be quick to rush tothe conclusion that a smaller heatsink would lead to a large decrease incooling performance. But the guys at Thermalright say different. We aregoing to take it around the block to see for ourselves. The Rules of Game Design @ bit-tech.net [Jan-23-08] (0 Comments) One of the new features we’ve launched lately on bit-tech hasbeen guest columns. That is, columns written by developers and industryinsiders on a rotating monthly schedule. We’ve had stories and thoughtsfrom every corner of the industry, including budding indie developerslike James Silva and writers for established studios, like Simon Halland Rob Yescombe. After reading Simon Hill’s latest column,which talked about difficulty balancing in computer games and why hethinks computer games have got progressively easier, I got thinking.The more I thought about the topic, the more I decided I wanted to dosomething about it – partly because I’m a pretty heavy gamer and I likemy games to be worth the effort, but mainly because I'm just a noseybusy-body.As I looked into the issue though, the more my mind raged with examplesof how games had changed for the worse over the years – how simpleconcepts that had once been core to the design of every game were nowbeing forgotten or dismissed. The rules that had governed and createdthe Golden Axe Age of Gaming were now no longer beingobeyed.Naturally, being a bit of presumptuous so-and-so, I decided to shove mynose in and take Simon’s complaint to the next level. Thus, I presentwhat I think are the cardinal rules of game design. [News] Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2008 - Part 1 @ virtual-hideout.net [Jan-22-08] (0 Comments) Every year, North America hosts the largest Consumer ElectronicsShow (CES) which is where any and everyone can go to debut their newest orbest products. If you can think of any technical gizmo or gadget, chancesare that it's already there. This year's event didn't quite have the amountof computer components as last year, but there was still plenty and HighDefinition was all the rave. Of course, there were still endless rows ofiPod and music player stations. As a matter of fact, there were more ofthose than High Definition Televisions. I'm not sure we need more dockingstations, but HD TVs advancements are always a good thing. The more newproducts that come out, the quicker prices drop on the current products. Speedlink Styx - XSs @ xsreviews.co.uk [Jan-21-08] (0 Comments) Thereare two key gaming mice manufactures that have been doing justthat for years, Razer and Logitech. However, these high-spec mice comeat a cost, and are often over the top for the average gamer, who wantsaccuracy and comfort, but still some money left in the bank.So today I have Speedlink’s Styx which features a laser diode to pickup your movements, and spitting out 2200 DPI accuracy. Let’s see how itperforms. Sands Expo @ thinkcomputers.org [Jan-21-08] (0 Comments) The Sands Expo and Convention Center is located behind the Venetianand hosts a Mini CES. While the Sands Expo is officially part of CES thecost is far less than being on the LLVC show floor. For this reason we see alot of smaller and start-up companies at the Sands Expo. And sometimes wesee the most innovative and interesting products here. Read on to see thecompanies we talked to at the Sands Expo and what they showed us. Noctua NH-U12P @ bit-tech.net [Jan-20-08] (0 Comments) As you’ve seen on the previous page, the Noctua NH-U12P is agreatperformer and this isn’t just down to the improved fan that the companyhas designed. Along with better performance, you also get absolutelyeverything you would expect – better compatibility, better corrosionresistance, premium thermal paste, the improved fan, extra clips foranother fan, U.L.N.A. and even tools to install it. Top that with a cherry flavoured warranty of six years, and I literallycannot think of anything else you'd need from a heatsink, Noctua has everybase covered.If you have an uncompromising fetish for silence, then there's no otherchoice:you have to get the Noctua, or, at least its £15 fan. After allgiven that there are many heatpiped heatsinks already on the market youcould just throw the NH-P12 120mm fan on any one of these for a similareffect. At £15 a pop, the NH-P12 is the Crème de la Crème of fans and aninvestment and a half on top of that heatsink purchase. And even if youcan match the Noctua's 19dB, like the Zerotherm Nirvana NV120 at itslowest setting, there's still a performance difference in favour of theNoctua.There's never been a truer time to cite the old Cooler Master @ thinkcomputers.org [Jan-20-08] (0 Comments) Cooler Master makes some the most solid, attractive cases on themarket. It also makes some top quality power supplies and cooling products,too. The company's focus on green power supplies and a new hardwaremonitoring architecture garnered it a lot of attention, and we atThinkComputers believe that Cooler Master is doing a lot of cool and goodthings. Read on for coverage. Conflict:Denied Ops - hands on @ bit-tech.net [Jan-19-08] (0 Comments) The PC game looked the worst of all, as if it had been washedout andreduced to a blander version of the original. At first we attributedthis to low settings or a dodgy screen, but a little prying when nobodywas looking revealed that everything was maxed out correctly. Theoptions menu boasted per-pixel lighting, HDR, high texture qualitiesand heat haze shaders – all toggled up to the highest settings. Yet, the PC version still looked a bit ropey despite the increasedframerate. In the end, it’s clear that Conflict:Denied Ops is asolid, if uninspired, shooter that has a few problems still holding itback. However, since these flaws mostly centre on the balancing withinthe game’s mechanics, they should prove relatively easy to fix beforethe game is released.Conflict:Denied Ops sets out to be a casual FPS game suitablefor light play and fun-times, not for hardcore appeal and longevity,and in that respect it’s very close to succeeding at what it sets outto do. If a casual FPS game is the type of thing you think you might beinterested in, or if you regularly find yourself having a few beers andflipping on the Xbox for some split screen fun, then Conflict:Denied Ops may well be a game you want to keep an eye on. BlueAnt X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset @ legitreviews.com [Jan-18-08] (0 Comments) The BlueAnt X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset is designed for not o nly those Bluetooth devices that support the A2DP Profile natively, but t hose audio devices that you want experience wirelessly. BlueAnt incorpora tes a small dongle that can be used with any 3.5mm jack to bridge the sou nd between audio device and X5 headphones. With a retail price of $149, B lueAnt tries to deliver a complete package to the user and prepares them for almost any situation one can think of. How well does the BlueAnt X5 s tack up against the Motorola and Plantronics? Read on... Asus EN8800GT (NVIDIA GeFoce 8800GT) TOP 512MB @ aphnetworks.com [Jan-18-08] (0 Comments) NVIDIA's release of their G92 based graphics card has so far been nothing but a total success amongst enthusiasts. The die shrink not only permitted cards to run cooler and thus use less electricity, but also improvements have been made for higher efficiency reflected by its incredible performance. The first card rolled out is the NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT -- the card that outperformed the previous generation G80 based 8800GTS. Next came the G92 based 8800GTS that outperformed once a flagship graphics card from the company. A lot of times, I find myself looking for an excellent cooler in the market before digging for a video card; not for overclocking but for the silence. When I heard that Arctic Cooling's Accelero S1 that I have sitting on my Radeon X1950 Pro is actually compatible with the 8800GT, it did not take me long enough to realize that I had a truly winning combination for performance enthusiasts and quiet PC enthusiasts alike. Today, we'll take a look at the Asus version of the 8800GT -- the Asus EN8800GT TOP 512MB -- which is not just any 8800GT as it's pre-overclocked, under warranty, straight from the factory. Although factory overclocked cards aren't uncommon nowadays, this one is one of the fastest and most readily available 8800GT on the market today, comes with Company of Heroes:Opposing Fronts game, a plethora of cables, and a really, really big retail box. Let's see how the Asus EN8800GT TOP 512MB (Or what we will refer to as the Asus 8800GT TOP) runs through our tests today. In Win @ thinkcomputers.org [Jan-17-08] (0 Comments) In Win is a company that is not that well know, but very creative.Back in April they sent us their Alpha 360 case and it was one of the bestcases we reviewed last year. Well at CES they showed us a few of their newcases, a new concept case, and a very interesting hard drive enclosure. Readon to see how In Win is changing how people think about PC cases. Sony @ thinkcomputers.org [Jan-17-08] (0 Comments) Sony always makes an impact at CES because of its large booth andflashy products. Sony introduced some new things, but a lot of them areoutside of what ThinkComputers covers. However, there are a few things thatTC simply must mention. Read on for the coverage... ASUS @ thinkcomputers.org [Jan-16-08] (0 Comments) ASUS was one of the hottest names this year at CES. With all thehype from the Eee PC and ASUS's keynote earlier in the week their booth wascrowded, but they took the time to take us through and check out all oftheir new products. They have new notebooks, motherboards, video cards, andother CE products. Read on to see what we saw from ASUS at CES this year. Thermalright HR-05/IFX - XSs @ xsreviews.co.uk [Jan-16-08] (0 Comments) Recentlywe managed to get our reviewing mitts on the Thermalright HR-05 chipsetcooler, that managed to combine a low price with better-than-stockcooling, but had an awkward fan size (70mm) and fiddly mounting system.Today I have another HR-05, but this time it’s the IFX version, similarto the IFX-14 heatsink that we also reviewed recently. The IFX range isthe extreme cooling bracket, where size and weight are far fromlimited. Hopefully this cooler will build on the headway made by thestandard HR-05. Targus @ thinkcomputers.org [Jan-16-08] (0 Comments) If you have not heard of Targus you should have. They are theleading global provider of notebook carry cases and accessories. We checkedout a few of their bags last year and they were nice enough to invite us tocheck out some of their new products that they will be launching in 2008.Although they did not show us as many products as last year, they did havesome new laptop bags and accessories. Dell @ thinkcomputers.org [Jan-16-08] (0 Comments) Dell was neatly tucked away in a corner of the convention center,and attracted a decent mass with its new displays and and all-in-one PC.While ThinkComputers would have liked to see Dell have a larger presence,what it did bring to the table was pretty neat. Read on for the coverage.Before you do, though, grab a napkin-you may salivate. Intel @ thinkcomputers.org [Jan-15-08] (0 Comments) Chip giant Intel made a fanciful showing at CES, but its desktopprocessors were not its top dog this year. No, folks, this year, Intel waspushing WiMax, the next generation wireless standard designed to providebroadband speeds throughout the world. Intel also showed off its mobilecomputing platform and companies who use it. Intel also announced a mobileInternet device platform, as well as a system-on-a-chip platform aimed atset-top boxes. Intel did formally announce its 45 nm process, though.ThinkComputers has the scoop. Getting the most out of your Eee PC @ bit-tech.net [Jan-15-08] (0 Comments) I've been using the device fairly heavily for a few of weeksnow andoverall I've been really impressed with it. It's light, small andsturdy and has a great feature set for its price. It seems perfect fortrain journeys, with its quick boot up time and almost precisely theright size for sitting on chair-back tables seen on planes and trains.Not even my old X-series ThinkPad could manage that.One man's meat is another man's poison, and certainly many people willbe put off by the 800 x 480 display resolution and lack of Bluetooth.Word on the street is that the new Eee PC will sport a higherresolution screen, and as much as I'm now used to the smaller screen –most websites are designed for 1024x768 screens, so this will be awelcome addition. The keyboard is a little tricky to get used to, andeven now I constantly find myself pressing “up” instead of “shift”, and“2” instead of “1”. But for around £220, it still offers amazing valuein my eyes.The operating system is based on Xandros Desktop 4, which is in turnbased on Debian Etch. Asus has changed a few things in the install, soit's not 100 percent compatible with Xandros, but it's very close. Ifyou're a bit of a Linux fan, you might feel like just wiping the driveand installing EeeXubuntu, or Eeedora. However, I like to think of theEee PC as a single function device, rather than a fully-fledged PC.It's got an OS that is designed specifically for that hardware, and itworks well. Changing to a different OS is a recipe for lots offiddling, slower performance and a much greater chance of things goingwrong.As new updates come out, they are rolled out using “Add/RemoveSoftware”. As Asus knows the OS is identical on all their machines, itmakes rolling out such updates a lot easier – this has already pushedout an update for Skype 2.0 during my time using the Eee PC.The OS built into the Eee PC feels a lot like using a Psion device –simple and speedy. You can get a virtual tour of the OS here.With FireFox, Thunderbird and OpenOffice installed as standard, I feelright at home as this combination of software is what I would be usingon any Windows or Linux platform. The OS isn't perfect though, so in this article I'll be showing you afew of the things I've changed to make the Eee PC feel more like a MePC. G.Skill 4GB PC6400 - XSs - Corrected Link @ xsreviews.co.uk [Jan-15-08] (0 Comments) There are several performance memory companies outthere, some more well known than others. Perhaps one of the lesserknown brands when compared to the likes of Corsair or OCZ, is G.Skill.In the past they have put together some of the best overclocking kitsaround and hopefully the one I have with me today will be no exception. ATI HD 2600 Pro 256MB Video Card ed @ thetechlounge.com [Jan-15-08] (0 Comments) ATI's HD 2600 XT is a pretty nice card. It plays games acceptably well,consumes a negligible amount of power, and has flawless video acceleration.It's my first choice for the mainstream. So where does that leave the HD2600 Pro? Being a cut-down, budget version of a cool card, what, then, ismissing? The HD 2600 Pro is targeted to anyone who wants a discreet videocard, the casual gaming ilk, but doesn't really want either the lowest-endmodel or to spend over a hundred dollars. All that seems reasonable, butit's just not true. I think the GDDR3, 256MB HD 2600 Pro should be skippedaltogether. It does a couple things right, but misses the mark too often. Thermaltake @ thinkcomputers.org [Jan-14-08] (0 Comments) Thermaltake was probably showing the most products at CES this year.They had a huge booth this year that was lined with a ton of new products aswell as current ones. They have new cases, power supplies, CPU coolers, harddrive enclosures, and water-cooling systems. Thermaltake is definitely acompany to watch in 2008 and we have the scoop on all of their new products.Read on to find out more... ViewSonic @ thinkcomputers.org [Jan-14-08] (0 Comments) ViewSonic had a lot to show us this year at CES. They had an entireballroom to themselves at the Bellagio. After being shown their products Iwas very impressed, they seem to be one of the only companies taking displaytechnology to the next level. They showed us some of their new HDTV's, LCDmonitors, projectors, and their new HDTV/PC display combos. Read on to seewhat new products to expect from ViewSonic in 2008. Antec @ thinkcomputers.org [Jan-13-08] (0 Comments) This year at CES Antec showed us quite a few of their new products.They invited us up to their suite at the Wynn to show us what they will havefor us this year. We have the scoop on the Mini P180, Twelve Hundred, ThreeHundred, Fusion Max, and the Signature power supply series. Read on to findout more... Microsoft @ thinkcomputers.org [Jan-13-08] (0 Comments) Microsoft was a strong presence at CES 2008. Its booth was one ofthe largest, and much of the space was devoted to companies using Microsoftproducts in their own products. While the Redmond, Wa. giant didn't unveilany new technologies or products at CES, it did show off some of its recentreleases. Windows Home Server and the new Zune revision were present, as wasOrigami 2.0, Microsoft's upcoming revision of its UMPC software. Thermaltake Armour+ case @ bit-tech.net [Jan-12-08] (0 Comments) On the one hand the case is (and I’m finally just going to comeout and say it) pretty ugly. At the same time though it performsdecently in the thermal performance tests, has plenty of room in it andalso is incredibly beefy in terms of the amount of hardware it canhold. But it’s pretty ugly. And noisy. When it comes down to it though, it’s obvious that only a certain typeof person is going to be interested in the Armour+ - those who reallyenjoy showing off their over stylised cases at big LAN events. It’s all about the e-peen. The ThermalTake Armour+ is a good case and ticks nearly all the boxes,but for me personally it is let down by a horrible look, bizarre doorswhich really, honestly, confound me and the fact that it’s a bit toonoisy. Factor into that the price as well, realising that for £20 lessyou could get a far classier and quiter case like the Antec P182 ($60less in the US) and the ThermalTake Armour+ is a bit less overwhelming.Still, it’s a decent enough chassis I suppose, so if you can look pastthe noise or if you happen to think that the design is actually quitesnazzy then you may do well to big one up before the design stopsevolving and just goes extinct instead. ASUS Xonar D2 Sound Card and U1 USB Audio Station s @ pcper.com [Jan-12-08] (0 Comments) The Xonar D2 and U1 sound devices give ASUS a great 1-2 punch thatshould challenge Creative as the best third-party sound products on themarket today. I think the main issue is getting consumers to actually lookat these products and their specifications before they go on auto-pilot andpurchase Creative's respective products. Creative has had a hold on thismarket for years now, but I think they finally have some competition thatshould get some publicity. Lenovo Launches A Trio Of New IdeaPads, Hands-on @ hothardware.com [Jan-11-08] (0 Comments) =93=85 ThinkPads have been highly regarded almost as the defactonotebook of choice for corporate or professional types, but they didn'talways appeal to mass market, mainstream consumers or enthusiasts. At thisyear's CES however, Lenovo showed off a trio of notebooks designed to dojust that. The Booth Babes @ thinkcomputers.org [Jan-11-08] (0 Comments) This year at CES we saw everything from car audio to laptops.Amongst all of the craziness of CES we were able to get some photos of thenice ladies showing off the new products. We even had our own editor AshleyDonaldson pose with some of the models! We know everyone loves booth babesso without further ado I present our CES 2008 Booth Babe Gallery! Buffalo Technology @ thinkcomputers.org [Jan-10-08] (0 Comments) This year Buffalo was not exhibiting on the show floor, but theywere nice enough to invite us up to their suite in the Renaissance to seewhat new products they will have for us in 2008. They showed us their newMediaStation Blu-ray HD DVD, TeraStation Pro II Rackmount, LinkStation EZ,and a cool device called the Wi-Fi Gamers. Digital Experience @ thinkcomputers.org [Jan-09-08] (0 Comments) Digital Experience is like an ultra-slimmed down version of CESwhich focuses primarily on computer-oriented technology. ThinkComputersvisited a number of vendors, some which are well-known, and a few which maybe up-and-coming in the technology world. Here follows ThinkComputers'experience at Digital Experience. Thermalright HR-05 - XSs @ xsreviews.co.uk [Jan-07-08] (0 Comments) Whileyour CPU is underneath what looks like a chuck of metal scavenged froma battleship hull, your chipset is often left with either a simpleextruded aluminium number or hidden with a spider chain of heatsinksand heatpipes.If your motherboard has the former, and you’re looking for a bit moreoverclocking headroom, you’ll need to search for an upgrade. There areseveral solutions, but today I have Thermalright’s HR-05. Let see howit performs. Geeks Apple iPod Nano 3rd Generation @ rbmods.com [Jan-07-08] (0 Comments) When you think about digital music players, one name comes to mindimmediately:iPod. Apple has regained its popularity thanks to their lineof iPods, including the Itouch, Iphone, Shuffle, etc. But are they worthall the hype? Geeks.com, popular online retailer, sent us the thirdgeneration, 8GB version of the Apple iPod Nano. Read on to find out ourtake on the latest incarnation of the popular media player. CES Unveiled 2008 @ thinkcomputers.org [Jan-06-08] (0 Comments) Well it is that time of year again, time for CES. With CES just afew days away they hold a press event called CES Unveiled that shows offsome of the latest products and gives you an idea of what to expect at theactual show. Although there was not a whole lot so see (it's the smallestpress event of the show), we were able to talk to companies like Logitech,Netgear, and Sandisk to see what they will have for us in 2008. Read on tosee what they have in store for us! SteelSeries Ikari mouse and SP mousemat @ bit-tech.net [Jan-06-08] (0 Comments) The Ikari is one of the best mice I've ever had a chance tolook at =96and because drinking tea at your desk is a constant hazard for me, I'velooked at more than my fair share of mice. It ranks up there with theLogitech G5 and the Razer DeathAdder.It has two problems though =96 specifically and only two. First, theenforced ergonomics on it mean that it won't be suitable for all handsand grip types, so you'll definitely want to go hands-on with a demomodel before you buy it. Secondly, the two thumb buttons are a tad toosmall for my taste. Occasionally your thumb will have to search for theright place to push. Despite that though, the Ikari is still easy to wield and will suitmost gamers down to a tee without forcing you to pay through the nosefor features you'll never use. If you're reallybothered by how heavy your mouse is then you may want to lookelsewhere, but if you're man enough to admit that you don't really mindthen the Ikari is the mouse for you. Minority Report Computing - A Stones throw away? @ xtremecomputing.co.uk [Jan-06-08] (0 Comments) Well were do we begin, you probably are reading this article thinking I am either totally mad or have completely lost the plot, but I have not and I intend to show you why. I was inspired when I saw Tom Cruise in the film Minority Report, using his hands in thin air to control on screen information and move and pull objects. It is been quite a while since that film and slowly the technology to make this happen is not far off, by this I mean we could end up seeing this in action by the end of 2008, Spire Endo Laptop Bag @ thinkcomputers.org [Dec-27-07] (0 Comments) If you have not heard of Spire they make some great laptopbackpacks, bags, and sleeves. Last year we took a look at their Zoom laptopbag and it received a 10 out of 10 score and our Recommended Award. Thistime they sent us one of their courier bags the Endo, which will fit mostlaptops up to 15.4-inches. The Endo is one of three of Spire's new courierbags. The other 2 in the series are the Viro, which fits laptops smallerthan 15.4-inches and the Mojo, which fits laptops larger than 15.4-inches.All three of these bags are practically the same, just different sizes, soif you don't have a laptop that will fit the Endo it will either fit theViro or Mojo. Raidmax Aztec Gaming Case @ thinkcomputers.org [Dec-26-07] (0 Comments) Among the first PC cases I reviewed, and the first expensive one (Iconsider mid-towers over $150USD expensive) was the Raidmax Samurai. Thoughthe chassis was your standard steel tool-free case, it was covered with astreamlined polystyrene shell, with a sprayed-on showcar paint job. It wasRaidmax's top of the line gaming case at the time. The shell gave it anall-out modded look, and there wasn't any other pre-modded case on themarket that came close. That was four years ago. The Samurai is stillundoubtedly the most radical case I have owned, and the friend I gave it tostill uses it and still gets favorable comments on it, ranging fromadmiration to awe. It is the last Raidmax product I had my hands on, so I amlooking forward to seeing if the Aztec lives up to my expectations for aRaidmax gaming case, a well-made case that is definitely not boring. I wouldalso hope to see some decent cooling for today's hot CPUs and GPUs. Read onto see if it does. How To Spend Your Christmas Cash @ bit-tech.net [Dec-26-07] (0 Comments) Christmas is over and, thanks tounimaginative but rich relatives,you've managed to scrape together a little bit of cash with which totreat yourself. Unfortunately, you're so stuffed with turkey that youcan't think of what to buy! Never fear though - bit-tech is here! Zalman VF1000 LED & RHS88 Coolers for the GeForce 8800 @ pcper.com [Dec-25-07] (0 Comments) The Zalman VF1000 LED VGA cooler and RHS88 heatsink combination isan excellent cooling solution for NVIDIA 8800 series graphic cards. Itsignificantly lowers the key component temperatures, even when running theintegrated 80mm fan at a relatively low speed for quiet operation. TheVF1000 LED/RHS88 is a compact, single slot cooling solution and iscompatible with SLI configurations. Both coolers come with everythingneeded for installation and the bundled Fan Mate 2 speed controller offersgreat flexibility for finding just the right balance between performance andnoise. Saitek Notebook Optical Mouse & Mini Hub @ thinkcomputers.org [Dec-24-07] (0 Comments) Anyone that owns a laptop usually has a few accessories. One of thefirst accessories people pick up is a mouse, even some laptops come withmice. A lot people prefer mice over the touchpad on their laptop and findthem a lot easier to use. The second is usually a USB hub because a lot oflaptops do not have enough USB ports for all of your accessories. Saitekoffers both notebook mice and USB hubs. They have sent us their NotebookOptical Mouse and Mini UFO hub. These are perfect stocking stuffers, let'ssee if they are worth picking up. OCZ Vendetta @ bit-tech.net [Dec-23-07] (0 Comments) For the size, theOCZ Vendetta is exceptionally capable, providing yourun the fan at full speed. If you're anything like us, that'll justdrive you nuts, however it seems that some in our community have agreater tolerance to these things so it could suit them well. Using theincluded 4-pin connector on the fan works well, providing yourmotherboard has the facility to use it – although you can still swap itfor any 92mm of choice and take the performance hit. However, does thecost of an extra 92mm fan on top of this heatsink simply equate to abigger heatsink altogether?The attention to detail, like the rubber fan mounts and pitted fins, isexcellent. In addition to its great build quality and because it'ssmaller than most heatsinks we’ve seen recently, it should easily fitmore restrictive boards as well. It's a great replacement for the stockIntel heatsink but some might not be sure if it's worth £5 more thanthe Arctic Cooler Freezer 7 Pro which, at the same noise level, shouldperform fairly similarly to the Vendetta. Noctua NH-U12P CPU Cooler @ tweaktown.com [Dec-21-07] (0 Comments) If you've never seen a Noctua heatsink, the first thing you wil l notice is the quality of the material used. Many heatsinks are now desi gned after the NH-U12 with a copper base attached to heatpipes that lead to aluminum fins, but when comparing them side-by-side it is clear that t he Noctua fins are stronger, thicker and very difficult to bend. Today we will be looking at the Noctua NH-U12P, a revised version of the original NH-U12. The 12P has several improvements over its older sibling, some lead to better performance and some to making the installation easi er and more diverse. Ultra m998 PC Case @ thinkcomputers.org [Dec-21-07] (0 Comments) Ultra makes fantastic products. Its cases, power supplies, fans, andsuch are top-notch and quite affordable. The Ultra m998 PC Case is noexception to this. It's one of the company's newest high-end enthusiastcases. It's solidly built and easy to install and modify-Ultra's exclusivePower Bar makes power cable management incredibly easy and simply fantastic.It's also the first case I've seen with a front eSATA port. ThinkComputerstakes a look at the m998 in this review. Noctua NH-U12P - XSs @ xsreviews.co.uk [Dec-20-07] (0 Comments) Thereare so many heatsinks out there that choosing your preferred CPUanti-perspirant is a mine-field. While it be component conflict, caseissues or price, there are factors that immediately make some offeringsimpossible to use.Today I have the newest heatsink to fly from the R&D departmentdoors at Noctua; the NH-U12P which is an amalgamation of several provenNoctua products onto a new heatsink design. Hopefully it’ll all cometogether; read on to find out… Carbon Li case mod worklog @ bit-tech.net [Dec-20-07] (0 Comments) Just in timefor the end of the year, we've had the chance to sit downwith Ediejo, one of bit-tech's most talented modders, and write up oneof his most popular projects of 2007 - Carbon-Li. He may be a littlelight on words, but we think the carbon fibre does a lot of talking forhim... Thermaltake DuOrb Graphics Card Cooler @ aphnetworks.com [Dec-19-07] (0 Comments) Searching high and low for a new cooler for an NVIDIA 8800GTS, most people realize quickly that there aren't a lot out there even over a year of its release. What I am specifically looking for is something that's readily available, priced reasonably, performs decently, looks great, preferably doesn't occupy the next two slots below it, and above all, quiet. Thermaltake designed a product that on paper fits into all the categories I am looking for -- the Thermaltake DuOrb. Utilizing a pure copper design with heatpipes to distribute the heat around and two fans to blow the heat away, the Thermaltake DuOrb does not occupy any more space than the stock 8800GTS cooler. How well does the Thermaltake DuOrb fit our bill as a graphics card cooler in real life? Let's have a look at this unique heatsink/fan combination today. Thermaltake Extreme Spirit II Chipset Cooler @ thinkcomputers.org [Dec-18-07] (0 Comments) Personally, I feel that the only time you should ever have to worryabout Northbridge temperature is while overclocking. I've never had a bigproblem with NB temps while overclocking, but I'm not really into theextreme stuff. Even with the passive heatpipe cooling, you really shouldhave additional active cooling, such as a fan blowing directly on theradiators, if you are pushing your system to its limits. What we need is anactive NB heatpipe cooler that can do the job silently, efficiently, andwith a fan that will last. The guys at Thermaltake have taken care of thisproblem with their new NB cooler, the Extreme Spirit II, an actively cooledheatpipe cooler for your Northbridge. Let's see if it will give me somepeace of mind in the NB department. Holiday 2007 Price Is No Object Gift Guide @ thinkcomputers.org [Dec-17-07] (0 Comments) The Last week we posted our Holiday Wish list, but most things onthat list were reasonable, things that we might actually get for Christmas.Do you know someone who has everything? Or are you a high roller and moneyis not an object? Well for these select people we have compiled the ultimateHoliday Gift Guide for you. These are some of the most unique and highpriced gifts you can buy today, I'm sure the person you are buying these forwill be impressed. So let's see what you can buy when money is not anobject. Griffin iClear & Headphone Adapter for iPhone @ thinkcomputers.org [Dec-16-07] (0 Comments) The iPhone is probably the most popular phone out right now, but itwill cost you around $400 so it is something you want to protect. You don'twant to drop it and have your $400 go down the drain. Griffin helps us withthis problem with the iClear, which is a protective case that still showsthe beauty of the iPhone. One other major problem with the iPhone is theheadphone jack. You can only use a few select pairs of headphones with theiPhone. I know people who have spent a lot of money on quality headphones,they don't want to give them up just to use the iPhone. So Griffin has comeup with the Headphone Adapter that allows you to use any set of headphoneswith the iPhone. Thermaltake DuOrb VGA Cooler @ thinkcomputers.org [Dec-12-07] (0 Comments) Many vendors of cooling systems use the open fan designedimplemented in the Thermaltake DuOrb VGA cooler, however Thermaltake put twosmaller fans and heatsinks on this design in order to spread the coolinglove to the entire surface of the video card, including the RAM. While itdoesn't appear to help much for full-load temperatures, the DuOrb certainlykeeps the idle temperatures down. ThinkComputers has the review. Rosewill RX81-CW-US Hard Drive Enclosure @ thinkcomputers.org [Dec-11-07] (0 Comments) With the recent release of the Rosewill RX81 series hard driveenclosures Rosewill was nice enough to supply us with the RX81-CW-US forthis review. This hot-swappable enclosure is one of the first that I've seento be both external and be equipped just for a single hard drive. This slimenclosure certainly is a handy enclosure with its screw-less, quick and easyinstallation. The RX81-CW-US supports both USB and eSATA connections anddon't worry it does come with an eSATA bracket for those of us who aren'tlucky enough to have an eSATA port on their case or motherboard. ThinkComputers Holiday 2007 Wish List @ thinkcomputers.org [Dec-10-07] (0 Comments) Here at ThinkComputers we get to check out a lot of cool gear, butthere are always things that we would like to have. With Christmas rightaround the corner I asked a few of my staff members to make a wish list ofsome of the tech items that they would like to see Santa bring them thisyear. Hopefully these lists will give you an idea of what you might want forChristmas or what to give someone this year. I will start with my list, itranges from practical items to things that would just be badass to have! GIGABYTE GP-S7500 2.1 Speaker System @ tweaktown.com [Dec-10-07] (0 Comments) In the past when thinking of PC audio, GIGABYTE weren't the first name to come to mind. Traditionally specialising in motherboards and gra phics cards, it's going to be interesting to see what they have come up with in terms of high-end PC audio with their latest 2.1 Speaker System I'll be checking out today. When you consider the materials and associated costs it all looks very pr omising. Kevlar cones are a first in PC audio, these usually something on ly seen in home audio with MDF cabinets all round. GIGABYTE has even adde d some dome tweeters to boot. This was laughable in the past for PC audio , and for so many years I awaited someone to do exactly what GIGABYTE has done here. Cooler Master Cosmo 1000 Chassis + HD 3870 3DMark06 Record @ insidehw.com [Dec-10-07] (0 Comments) All in all, we might have sounded a little too harsh - this case istop-quality nevertheless. The potential issue here is that the target marketis a little too narrow for the case to sell well. In our opinion, the onlyusers that might find interest in this case are:one, hardcore overclockerswith one or more high-end GPUs and likely a water-cooling system, and two,those users who don't think twice about paying a lot for excellent design,which this case really has. Novint Falcon Limited Edition @ bit-tech.net [Dec-08-07] (0 Comments) The Falcon is a fantastic game controller, although I stillthink afew kinks need to be ironed out. With the circular grip we used theFalcon quickly became painful to use unless you had a lot of desk spaceto spread out on, for example. Several of us ended up almost up-endingthe Falcon completely with some over-enthusiastic swings, for example.However, just because it is good, it doesn't mean that it'llsell or that it's good for the market. I've been round the blockenough to know that selling something like the Falcon, even to seasonedgamers, will be an uphill struggle.This is the major fault of the Novint when you get right down to it, it's an awesome gadget, but it's a pretty sure thing thatit'll never really sell wellenough to take off. Is it the coolestperipheral we've ever had our hands on?Undoubtedly and, although thecomparison has probably been used before and is a bit unfair to startwith, the Novint puts the Wiimote to shame in many regards.Unfortunately though, we can probably only recommend it to readerson the Novint Falcon Limited Edition @ bit-tech.net [Dec-08-07] (0 Comments) The Falcon is a fantastic game controller, although I still think a few kinks need to be ironed out. With the circular grip we used the Falcon quickly became painful to use unless you had a lot of desk space to spread out on, for example. Several of us ended up almost up-ending the Falcon completely with some over-enthusiastic swings, for example.However, just because it is good, it doesn’t mean that it’ll sell or that it’s good for the market. I’ve been round the block enough to know that selling something like the Falcon, even to seasoned gamers, will be an uphill struggle.This is the major fault of the Novint when you get right down to it – it’s an awesome gadget, but it’s a pretty sure thing that it’ll never really sell well enough to take off. Is it the coolest peripheral we’ve ever had our hands on? Undoubtedly and, although the comparison has probably been used before and is a bit unfair to start with, the Novint puts the Wiimote to shame in many regards.Unfortunately though, we can probably only recommend it to readers on the “Oh my god, that’s so cool†factor at the moment. The reality is that there just aren’t enough games out there which are new to the Falcon and, although the Quake 4, Penumbra and Half-Life 2 mods are fantastically cool, without the promise of support from future developers, they just don’t amount to $239 worth of cool. Noctua NT-H1 - XSs @ xsreviews.co.uk [Dec-07-07] (0 Comments) Heatpaste is probably the least interesting part of anyPC build, but a very much necessary part. Heatpaste sits between yourCPU IHS (Integrated Heat Spreader) and the base of your heatsink,ensuring that the conductivity remains high enough to keep your CPU ata working temperature.For as long as I can remember, Artic Silver has remained the marketleader, selling their tubes of silver by the thousands. However, todayI have a pair of challengers ready to take AC’s throne. In this reviewI cover the Noctua attempt; NT-H1 which features instant performance(no curing time) and zero electrical conductivity. Let’s see how itshapes up against the old dog. Super Talent Project X DDR3-1800 2x1GB RAM @ aphnetworks.com [Dec-07-07] (0 Comments) When Super Talent announced their Project X series of DDR3 RAM a few months back, it sounded pretty astonishing -- but at this presentation I expected it to arrive at an astonishing price relative to other sets of DDR3 RAM in the market right now. Surprisingly, Super Talent's Project X paired with Micron's excellent D9GTR ICs with sharp aluminum heatsinks is also a sharp combination with a relatively aggressive price -- at least for memory in this market segment. I've seen other DDR2-1600 RAM costing more than the Project X DDR3-1800 -- something that we don't see every day. Super Talent has been highly regarded amongst enthusiast in the past, and combined with overclocking preferred Micron D9GTR ICs, as well as a relatively lower price compared to other DDR3 RAM, I'm sure that it will live up to its reputation. But will this be a winning combination if you are in the market for performance DDR3 RAM? We'll find out today. Caffeine Showdown @ gideontech.com [Dec-06-07] (0 Comments) What better way warm up the winter months than with a jittery caffeinated writer? Xoxide.com has sponsored this showdown of caffeine with drinks and mints. One test subject has been taking in about 24-48 oz of Pepsi for the last couple of years, as well as using the penguin mints to help pick himself up in the morning or afternoon after a late night of gaming. Some extra caffeine couldn't hurt right? Thermaltake Toughpower 1200W Modular Power Supply @ thinkcomputers.org [Dec-06-07] (0 Comments) Out of all of the 1000W+ power supplies that we have checked outthere was one that stood out among all of the rest, the ThermaltakeToughPower 1000W Modular Power Supply. Today we have its big brother theToughPower 1200W. It is basically the same power supply just beefed up with200W more power. We will see if the extra 200W affects the performance ofthe ToughPower or if it will be flawless just like the 1000W. Read on tofind out. Thermaltake MaxOrb CPU Cooler @ tweaktown.com [Dec-05-07] (0 Comments) The idea of placing a fan inside of a heatsink has been around fo r a very long time. The first time an =93Orb=94 style cooler was used on a CPU was around 1998 when a product became available through surplus cat alogs that didn't have any markings other than on the fan. The fan was Panaflo branded and so this product became known as the Panaflo Orb. Thermaltake has been through a rainbow of colors and super sounding names for their Orb line and today we are going to take a look at the latest O rb. This heatsink uses the decade old Orb philosophy and merges the lates t heatpipe technology to make the MaxOrb. ASUS M3A32-MVP DeLuxe/WiFi-AP Motherboard @ hardwaresecrets.com [Dec-05-07] (0 Comments) We took a look on this high-end socket AM2+ motherboard based on the new AMD 790FX chipset, featuring four x16 PCI Express slots supporting CrossFireX, an 802.11g access point, passive heatsinks for the memory modules and much more. HTC Touch Windows Mobile 6 Smartphone @ tweaktown.com [Dec-04-07] (0 Comments) It has been seen around the world as an iPhone pretender, but qui te frankly I don't think that's the case at all. The HTC Touch most l ikely began as a concept around about the time Sony Ericsson launched the ir P910i Smartphone with a similar touch screen interface way back in 200 5.Like many things in the technology world, the perfect product usually tak es several generations (don't tell Apple Inc.), however the HTC Touch h as quite impressed me even if it is the first in this genre for HTC. Lowero Factor Tote Laptop Bag @ thinkcomputers.org [Dec-04-07] (0 Comments) About a week ago we checked out the Lowepro Factor Slim laptop bagand it was the perfect bag for someone that did not want to carry a lot ofgear. It has a lot of features and many consumers will enjoy it. But thereis one thing about laptop bags is almost all of them don't appeal to women.Women want a bag that can hold their laptop and accessories, but look goodat the same time and be easy to carry like a purse. Well Lowepro has theanswer to this with the Factor Tote. Tuniq 3 Midi tower Case @ xtremecomputing.co.uk [Dec-03-07] (0 Comments) I didn’t think to record the running temperatures of the previous case to compare this one too, but in terms of noise, this one is ridiculously quiet. The supplied 120mm fans are rated at 16dbm(!) and the loudest component in the case became the CPU cooler fan. This was a nice result. Gigabyte MA790FX-DQ6 @ bit-tech.net [Dec-03-07] (0 Comments) On the whole the DQ6 is a good board but one that few people will actually want. Most of us will probably prefer the DS5 instead as it looks to be a better compromise of features and price, but I still think both have a few niggles that could put people off.The BIOS on the DQ6 still needs quite a bit of work which is a problem considering this board was on sale well before the official AMD 790FX launch date. Additionally, we've seen much more intuitive BIOS layouts and finer BIOS adjustments elsewhere. It's not like the board isn't usable though and we know that Gigabyte is working on fixing many of our concerns, but how long until all the features are actually usable together is anyone's guess.Additionally, the board has a few layout issues but after using it for a while, I have to say it's grown on me. Sure, it won't set the world ablaze and convert people back to AMD, but if you've already decided to try that route then the MA790FX-DQ6 might be one for the shopping list. Let's just hope the BIOS gets a bit better though... GMC Noblesse K-1 Muse Multimedia Case @ thinkcomputers.org [Dec-03-07] (0 Comments) HTPC cases are getting pretty popular. I have one, which is a prettynice case, but the cooling is so limited that I wouldn't consider putting mymain rig in it. As far as features, it is pretty plain Jane, it mainly lookslike it belongs with other home theater components, although there were someoptional multimedia features that it didn't come with. GM Corporation, LTD,from Seoul, Korea, a company that has been specializing in cases for over adecade, has produced an HTPC case called the Noblesse K-1 Muse, advertisedas bit-tech :Super Mario Galaxy @ bit-tech.net [Dec-02-07] (0 Comments) Granted, that isn't a problem which immediately detracts fromthe quality of Galaxy,but it is a problem which will bother some of the grumpier gamers outthere (like myself) and will probably be pointed out by some of theXbox 360 and PS3 fanboys who populate the world.I suppose this criticism comes down to my original bite-sizedexplanation of the game; that it is essentially just SuperMario 64 in space. That’s not bad, because both Mario 64 and Galaxyitself are great games, but it is illustrative of a wider issue.Shoving those wider issues aside for a moment though, Super MarioGalaxyis a game which belongs in the collection of any Wii gamer. It’smassive world is one which can be either fully explored, probed andcompleted, or skipped through when the difficulty curve gets too steep.The new transformations and moves available to Mario are fun enough tokeep the game feeling slightly fresh even if it isn’t really that muchof a breakthrough and the levels themselves are complex and interestingenough to entertain anyone.The fact that it’s got the Super Mario name on it may putsome people off the game who think that Mario games are just for kids,but it really shouldn’t. Despite the cartoony and kiddy feel that thegame has on the surface there’s actually a wealth of longevity andreplayability hidden under the crust - Galaxy is a game whichwill keep hardcore and casual gamers entertained for hours and hours. Leadtek WinFast PX8600 GTS Video Card @ thinkcomputers.org [Nov-30-07] (0 Comments) Here at ThinkComputers we have not checked out a video card in sometime. Our previous 5 vide card reviews have been ATI cards so it's nice tocheck out something based on an NVIDIA chip. Today we will be taking a lookat the Leadtek WinFast PX8600 GTS Video Card. Let's see how it will performagainst some of those ATI cards we have previously reviewed. Geeks.com wasnice enough to send it over and is a great place to find inexpensive videocards. Aerocool Silverwind CPU Cooler @ pro-clockers.com [Nov-29-07] (0 Comments) Well, what Aerocool would like for you to take interest in is theircooler for the Core2 processor titled Silverwind. The Silverwind has a styleand shape to it that is kind of unique compared to a lot of current coolerson the block. The extrusion heatsink as Aerocool calls it pulls air downthru the middle of the cooler into an inner set of fins. And then theair...wait you have to click on some more pages before I spill the beans. Kodak Z710 7.1-Megapixel Digital Camera @ thinkcomputers.org [Nov-29-07] (0 Comments) With Christmas rolling around people are looking for great deals.I'm sure that most people will need a cheap camera with quality to take someof those family portraits. Geeks.com has Cheap Digital Cameras for yourpurchasing desires. They have provided us today the Kodak EasyShare Z7107.1MP Digital Camera. There is a whole slew of features jam packed into thiscamera. Let's take a closer look to check out some of these kickin'features. Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000 Webcam @ thinkcomputers.org [Nov-28-07] (0 Comments) When you are looking for webcams there are only a few choices withLogitech leading the way. Now there are other brands like Microsoft andCreative making webcams, but they usually lack the features and quality ofLogitech webcams. Today we will be taking a look at the QuickCam Pro 9000,which features Carl Zeiss optics, RightLight 2 technology, a 2-megapixelsensor, and of course Logitech's QuickCam software. Let's check out the Pro9000 and see if it is the perfect holiday gift for someone special. Thermalright Inferno FX-14 CPU Cooler @ pcper.com [Nov-27-07] (0 Comments) The new Thermalright IFX-14 is a large tower style CPU cooler thatincorporates a secondary, backside cooler for enhanced performance. TheIFX-14 primary heatsink is designed to use one or more 140mm fans (or 120mm)of your choice with several different mounting options. It features a purecopper base, four large heatpipes, and two huge aluminum fin arrays, whichsit on top of the CPU like most other tower style coolers. The IFX-14 maincooler provides approximately twice the heat dissipation surface area asThermalright's popular Ultra-120, the current reigning champ among CPUair-coolers. Asus Silent Knight II CPU Heatsink @ aphnetworks.com [Nov-27-07] (0 Comments) While Asus may not be the first to come to mind when it comes to CPU cooling to most people, my perception of Asus' thermal solution products greatly changed when I took a look at the Asus Arctic Square back in May. Last month, I received an Asus Silent Knight II cooler along with the incredible Asus P5E3-Deluxe/WiFi-AP@n motherboard based on the Intel X38 chipset. Meanwhile, the Asus Silent Knight II holds its own buzz excitement while the Asus X38 motherboard captured most of my attention -- I've been hearing quite a bit on the Silent Knight II's commendable performance for quite a while now. This is especially apparent when one of my friends asked me if I knew about Silverstone Kublai Series KL01 Case @ thinkcomputers.org [Nov-26-07] (0 Comments) Out of all of the cases I've had, I don't have to stop and thinkwhich one was my favorite. Hands down, the case I liked the most was aSilverstone Temjin TJ-05, the original model. It is big and beautiful, and Iused words in my review like elegant and regal about it. It was the firstlarge case I owned, the first with twin 120mm fans, the first that wouldhold more than three hard drives (it will hold seven), and a few otherfirsts for me. I still like it today as much as I did in 2003 when Ireviewed it. I have had three different rigs in it, and I will undoubtedlyuse it again someday, unlike the other 6 or so unused cases that accompanyit in my shed. So it stands that I feel Silverstone builds a fine case,along with their other fine products, which includes enclosures, powersupplies, and cooling solutions. Will the KL01 live up to my expectationsfor quality and innovation? We'll see. Lowepro Slim Factor S Laptop Bag @ thinkcomputers.org [Nov-25-07] (0 Comments) We have taken a look at a few Lowepro bags in the past. They havebeen combination bags being able to carry a D-SLR camera and a laptop. Weall know Lowepro makes some of the best bags for cameras, but what about forlaptops. The combination bags we checked out really worked well, but canLowepro make a standout laptop bag? The Slim Factor is one of Lowepro'snewest laptop bags, let's see if it can set itself apart from other laptopbags. Gigabyte G-Power 2 Pro @ techpowerup.com [Nov-24-07] (0 Comments) Gigabyte recently announced its new G-Power 2 Pro CPU heatsink which adds additional airflow to the CPU Mosfets. This airflow helps to provide additional cooling for those Mosfets, making it easier for the motherboard to provide stable power for hungry CPUs. The G-Power 2 Pro has some nice features, including a very quiet 120mm fan. Synology DS207+ Network-Attached Storage Device @ thinkcomputers.org [Nov-21-07] (0 Comments) Network-Attached Storage (NAS) is a growing market. As the price ofhard drives falls, the affordability of storage for home and small businessusers increases. Manufacturers such as Synology are producing devices thatsupport a variety of protocols and expansion options. Synology's DS207+supports two hard drives in RAID0 or RAID1, with the extensibility of threeUSB and one eSATA port for even more storage. ThinkComputers looks at theSynology DS207+ NAS device in this review. bit-tech Editorial:A Phenomenon in Warsaw @ bit-tech.net [Nov-21-07] (0 Comments) At the eleventh hour of the Phenom production, AMD found anissue inthe L3 cache transition lookup buffer at very heavy loads whichprevented the company from launching it at 2.4GHz. When AMD announcedthis to the members of press present at the event, there was thathorrible silence where opinion in the room just sank.The company did state that there is a BIOS fix available which userswould be able to turn on or off in AMD Overdrive – the company’s newtweaking utility, which actually looks pretty swanky – as thesituations when end users are likely to encounter this problem are verysmall in number. The penalty for enabling the L3 cache TLB fix all thetime is around a 10 percent performance decrease, which I guess is whyAMD is leaving users with the option to enable or disable the fix asthey see fit. The company’s representatives said that the issue wouldbe fixed soon with a new stepping, which will probably be what thehigher-clocked chips will use when they’re launched early next year.However, I think there’s more to it than this one problem in and ofitself. I got this inkling after asking one question during the eventabout how mature the 65nm process was. See, we’ve still not seen Athlon64 X2 chips based on the new process that are shipping in volume atspeeds higher than 2.6GHz. The answer we got was that the process wastaking longer than expected to mature – part of the reason for this wasthat the company had focused so hard on getting Phenom out of the doorin a respectable amount of time. GlacialTech Altair A380 HTPC Enclosure @ hi-techreviews.com [Nov-21-07] (0 Comments) GlacialTech may not be a name that comes to your mind when you thinkof home theater PC enclosures, but perhaps after reading our review youmight change your mind. The Altair A380 offers you room for a singleoptical drive and a pair of hard drives, which should allow you to storemore than enough movies or songs to last through the winter nights. Link: http://www.hi-techreviews.com/Joomla/content/view/5387/27/------=_NextPart_000_003A_01C82BBF.17B9F570Content-Type:text/html; charset= NZTX Alpha Classic Series Case @ thinkcomputers.org [Nov-19-07] (0 Comments) Most of the cases on today's market are designed for standardcomponents. Not a whole lot of cases can offer guaranteed support for largeexpansion cards like the 8800GTX, unlike the NXZT Alpha. This is the firstcase that I have seen that offers eSATA as an external port. Its sleekhigh-gloss black paint and custom drive bays will keep your caseaesthetically pleasing. This steel mid-tower case will surely have youimpressed. Let's take a further look to see what all this case has tooffer. bit-tech :Cooler Master Hyper TX2 & 212 @ bit-tech.net [Nov-19-07] (0 Comments) If you're after the ultimate performance from an air heatsinktheCooler Master Hyper 212 should certainly fit the bill with its includedhigh performance fan and dual fan option, but you'll need to swap thefan out for a quieter alternative or at least lower the voltage on thecurrent one if pine for a quiet environment.For those looking for an inexpensive but still capable heatsink, theHyper TX2 is a good purchase. With both AMD and Intel support includedit does more than the Arctic Cooler Freezer 7 Pro, but it's worthremembering that the Freezer 7 Pro performs better and has a 4-pinconnector to knock the fan noise down on the many compatiblemotherboards. The Hyper TX2 suffers from the same fate as the Hyper212, in that it's audible but not offensive, and the fan can again beswapped out if need be, unlike the Freezer 7 Pro. Rosewill Wii Sports Kit @ thinkgaming.org [Nov-19-07] (0 Comments) The Nintendo Wii has to be one of the most revolutionary consolegaming systems of all time. It proved that graphics are not always asimportant and it lets anyone play games, not just gamers. The Wii comes withWii Sports, which is tennis, baseball, golf, boxing, and bowling. All ofthese are fun to play with the Wii remote, but Rosewill has a kit thatbrings even more reality to the game. The Wii Sports Kit is a set of add-onparts that connect to the Wii remote. Icydock MB663 2.5-inch Internal / External Hard Drive Enclosure @ thinkcomputers.org [Nov-16-07] (0 Comments) Swappable hard drives are nothing new, we have seen them for over 5years now. One thing that was always a pain was that if I wanted to movesomething from my desktop to laptop I could not with a swappable hard drive,I had to do it with a flash drive or USB hard drive. There are drawbacks toboth of these first the flash drive can only hold so much data and theexternal USB hard drives are usually big and are not fun to carry aroundwith you. Icydock has a solution for this problem the MB663 hard driveenclosure. It is a 2.5-inch external enclosure that comes with a 3.5-inchinternal swappable bay. Coolink Silenator @ bleedinedge.com [Nov-15-07] (0 Comments) With the increasing heat output of the modern cpu, cooling solutions havebeen getting larger, more elaborate, and louder. While some may not mind the50+ dB noise output by the current generation of heatsink/fan units, others,like this reviewer, seek the balance of performance and noise. Today, wepresent a new air cooling solution with this in mind, the Silentator byCoolink. LG L204WT 20.4-inch Widescreen LCD Monitor @ thinkcomputers.org [Nov-15-07] (0 Comments) Users love screen real estate-the bigger the monitor, the better.LG's L204LT 20.4-inch widescreen LCD display indulges this desire with itsspacious, simple design and very high resolution. The contrast ratio isquite high for an LCD, and the response time is among the fastest we'veseen. ThinkComputers takes a look at the L204WT-one of the best LCD monitorswe've reviewed-in this review. Technic3D/HE-Computer SilentEdition08 @ technic3d.com [Nov-15-07] (0 Comments) The HE-Computer SilentEdition08 arrived Technic3D. The new PC come with Intel Core 2 Duo E6750@3,2 GHz CPU (Thermalright Cooling Hea tsink), 2GB takeMS Ram, MSI Graphic Card 8800GTS OC and Abit IP35 Pro Mainboard. More Power for Gaming and this very Silent? See you in the following Review. Xilence Xilent Blade Pro - silent cpu cooler @ xtremecomputing.co.uk [Nov-14-07] (0 Comments) The problems I encountered with this procedure are as follows; First when the top ‘H’ plate was resting on the heatsink base and I was trying to insert and screw in the thumbscrews the processor was free to slide about, this could be corrected when the top ‘H’ plate had been tightened a bit (provided that you had noticed it), but it more than likely will cause the thermal paste underneath to spread unevenly and result in poor thermal performance. Gigabyte Volar CPU Cooler @ thinkcomputers.org [Nov-14-07] (0 Comments) Gigabyte is mainly known for making motherboards, but if you didn'tknow they make a lot of other products. A while ago we took a look at their3D Rocket II CPU cooler and it did perform well at all. They have justreleased a new cooler the Volar, which is very different from any CPU coolerthat I have seen. And believe me I have seen a bunch of different CPUcoolers! Let's see if this unique design can help the Volar perform betterthan the 3D Rocket II. bit-tech :BFGTech GeForce 8800 GT OC 512MB @ bit-tech.net [Nov-12-07] (0 Comments) We continue tobe impressed by Nvidia’s GeForce 8800 GT and in the grand scheme ofthings, and BFGTech’s overclocked card continues that trend. Admittedly, the BFGTech 8800 GT OC is only a few frames per secondfaster than the reference card in most scenarios, but the benefit ofthe BFGTech card is that it comes with a decent warranty and, fromexperience, good customer services too.At around £182 (inc. VAT) with free delivery for active bit-tech forummembers, it’s not the cheapest GeForce 8800 GT available - but it’swell-placed in the middle of the pricing matrix. XFX’s Alpha Dog XXXEdition, which comes with 670MHz core and 1950MHz memory clocks is allthe way up at £223 (inc. VAT), while the cheapest stock-clocked GeForce8800 GT we’ve seen is around the £165-mark.Ultimately, it depends what you’re after and, if you don’t mind waitinga few days, BFGTech’s GeForce 8800 GT OC2 should be available to buy onOverclockers UK for around £195 (inc. VAT). This card comes clocked at675MHz core, 1674MHz shader and 1950MHz memory – you can achieve thiswith a bit of overclocking on the 8800 GT OC, but is it worth saving£10 to potentially void your warranty?On the whole, BFGTech’s GeForce 8800 GT OC card delivers and it earns arecommendation from us, but we’d like pricing (on the whole) to settledown to more respectable levels. At the very least, we’d like theprices to come down to the levels we were told the GeForce 8800 GT wasexpected to hit in the run-up to its launch back on the 29th October. I guess we’re not going to see prices settle down until the demandstarts to drop off a little though, so it's a case of either get onewhen you can, or wait a while until the demand shrinks – supply isvery short at the moment it would seem, as everywhere we’ve looked, allGeForce 8800 GTs are on backorder. QNAP TS-109 Pro All-in-one NAS Server @ thinkcomputers.org [Nov-12-07] (0 Comments) Network-Attached Storage (NAS) servers are finally making headway inthe consumer market. Enthusiasts with multiple computers have been doingnetwork backups for years, but the expertise and/or time required to setup aNAS operating system has been quite prohibitive for the everyday user. Now,intelligent companies such as QNAP are at the forefront of the home NASserver revolution. ThinkComputers takes a look at the TS109 NAS server, aSATA hard drive enclosure with a network port, two USB host ports, and evenan eSATA host port. This little guy runs Linux, too. content-type:content-transfer-encoding:content-disposition:x-google-sender-auth; @ dragonsteelmods.com [Nov-12-07] (0 Comments) So, Gears of War is here for the PC.. finally, is it worth it? Yeah Ithink it is... The good news is that you most likely won't have to goout and upgrade your PC to play it, it played fine on my system withan EVGA 8600GTS in there. The bad news of course is that everyone withan Xbox already played it and it's old news now to them so there's notmuch more fun to be had if you already own it and an Xbox, does theextra content warrant owning two versions of it? I think most peoplewon't be running out to get the PC version if they already have theXbox version, or they'll wait till it hits the bargain bin... Meizu M6 Mini Player @ thinkcomputers.org [Nov-10-07] (0 Comments) I guess that the ViewSonic VA1930WM 19-inch Widescreen LCD Monitor @ thinkcomputers.org [Nov-09-07] (0 Comments) ViewSonic is definitely a name that comes to mind when thinking ofLCD monitors. They definitely know what they are doing when it comes tomaking a nice display. We recently checked out the VX2255wmb and today wewill be looking at the VA1930WM. It is a 19-inch display that features a 5msresponse time, 1440X900 resolution, and a swivel stand. Geeks.com was niceenough to send us this display out to review, so let's check it out! Zalman CNPS8700-CU LED CPU cooler @ pro-clockers.com [Nov-08-07] (0 Comments) Zalman was one of the first to incorporate an open face fan andheatsink configuration, and the CNPS8700 shows that this company hasn't beenresting on its laurels, but improving on an already proven fan favorite.This low-profile heatsink uses Zalman's popular Rosewill R5605-BK Case @ thinkcomputers.org [Nov-08-07] (0 Comments) Price, Quality, Services. Is AMD Really a Sinking Ship? AMD Phenom Is Around The Bend @ legitreviews.com [Nov-07-07] (0 Comments) The take home message here is that AMD, from my point of view, is not a sinking ship. They just need to make sure they get out their next generation of processors and chipsets out on time. AMD has been delayed g etting numerous products out the door as scheduled and that is without a doubt hurting them. Sure AMD will have the first =91true' quad-core pro cessor, but how many consumers really cares if something is true or not? Could you imagine walking into Best Buy or Circuit City and hearing a sal es associate telling a customer bit-tech P:Kane and Lynch Multiplayer @ bit-tech.net [Nov-07-07] (0 Comments) Kane and Lynch is shaping up to be a fantastic game, with aninnovative (though perhaps a little too streamlined) multiplayer game,fantastic co-op and a talented and passionate team behind it. That muchhad been proved to me for the second time.I do have concerns though. The last level which I played was of suchstark contrast to the previous levels that I had some misgivings aboutthe direction the consistently brilliant story had taken. Knowing thatthis level came at the end of the game didn’t help matters much eitherand made me think the game had an overly Hollywood-ised endings. Interestingly, endings are something that IO Interactive has hadtrouble with in the past too. The original Hitmandrew considerable scorn for changing pace abruptly in the latterstages, forcing Agent 47 to switch from a silent and stealthy figure ofdetached doom into a minigun toting symbol of freedom and self-hatredas he mowed down dozens of clones of himself.However, comparing Hitman and Kane and Lynch shouldn’treflect badly on either and, if anything, reflects well on IO’s new kidon the block. Kane and Lynchmay possibly have a fly in the ointment regarding the latter part ofthe game, but if that’s all there is to worry about then it’s highlypossible that we could have some game of the year material on our handsin the near future. Technic3D/Titan TTC-HD90 HDD Cooler @ technic3d.com [Nov-07-07] (0 Comments) The Titan TTC-HD90 HDD Cooler arrived Technic3D. Fanless desig n with aluminum heatsink can Reduce the Temperature and make quieter t he Vibration? See you in the following Review. ASUS P5K-E/WiFi-AP Motherboard @ hardwaresecrets.com [Nov-07-07] (0 Comments) We took a look on this top mainstream socket 775 based on Intel P35 chipset, featuring an 802.11g access point, passive heatsinks, solid aluminum capacitors and more. Thermaltake MAX 4 Active Cooling Hard Drive Enclosure @ thinkcomputers.org [Nov-07-07] (0 Comments) The Thermaltake Max 4 Active Cooling Hard Drive Enclosure isdifferent than other enclosures. It offers cooling with style. The silent80mm fan illuminates the surface around it with blue LED's. While thisenclosure may look cool it still serves its' purpose. This enclosure willkeep your hard drive plenty cool when transferring data through either USBor eSATA. Let's see what else this enclosure has to offer. NETGEAR SPH200D DECT Skype Phone @ tweaktown.com [Nov-07-07] (0 Comments) If you mention VoIP these days most people will think of Skype, w hich shows how huge Skype has become in quite a short time. The company h as been busy pushing hardware for its Voice-over-IP service and we've s een some good, some not so good and some really awful attempts at making Skype handsets. A lot of people run Skype on their Windows Mobile devices as well, and wi th varying degrees of success. However, today we're looking at the late st generation of Skype hardware for the home, a cordless phone that uses DECT which is common on many cordless home phones. Zalman CNPS7500-CU LED CPU cooler @ pro-clockers.com [Nov-06-07] (0 Comments) Heatsinks have been around since the inception of the CPU, andmanufacturers have feverishly been trying to develop creative ways to coolthe latest and greatest processors that produce an abundant amount of heat.We've seen every type of fin array imaginable, but Zalman's flower styledesign seems to stand out from the rest. Not only were they one of the firstto use copper fins on their heatsinks, but they were also one of the firstto experiment with different fin array configurations to enhance theirheatsinks' performance. Today, we have Zalman's CNPS7500-CU LED CPU cooleron our test bench. This massive 848 gram beast has a low profile design anda flare for craftsmanship that many enthusiasts have come to expect fromZalman. bit-tech Feature:A first look at the Enthusiast System Architecture (ESA) @ bit-tech.net [Nov-05-07] (0 Comments) On the whole,I think Nvidia should be commended for drafting the Enthusiast SystemArchitecture specification, as I believe the industry can benefit froman open standard for hardware monitoring and control, but I still havemy concerns. While ESA sounds great in theory, the problem is that theonly thing being certified is the protocol and that information isbeing sent to the host PC.What it doesn’t do is guarantee that the information being sent to thehost PC is correct. For example, your power supply could be reportingincorrect voltages or load while your water cooler is reporting thewrong liquid temperature or flow rate. The current draft of thespecification means that you wouldn’t be able to determine whether theinformation you’re actually being presented with is accurate. [News] Zalman CNPS7500-Cu & CNPS8700 CPU Coolers @ virtual-hideout.net [Nov-04-07] (0 Comments) The CNPS8700 LED, which was introduced at CeBIT 2007 in Hanover,Germany, is an all copper heatpipe and heatsink CPU cooler with a lowerprofile and larger, 110 mm fan as compared to the CNPS7000. The CNPS7500-Cuoffers improved performance over the CNPS7700. It is also made of 100%copper and has an 110 mm silent fan just like the CNPS8700. Both coolerssport the Flower Heatsink Design, which is comprised of a plethora of copperfins atop a copper base, with a clear fan with LED lights set in the centerof the fins. The only major difference between the two is that the CNPS8700LED also has heatpipes incorporated into the design. Which one cools better?Are they as quiet as Zalman claims? These thought-provoking questions arejust what this review will attempt to answer. Sunbeam Tuniq 3 Mid-Tower Case @ thinkcomputers.org [Nov-03-07] (0 Comments) Sunbeam started out producing the best CCFLs on the market, and nowproduces all kinds of modding supplies and gadgets, cases, excellent powersupplies, and other building items. This is the third Sunbeam Case I haveowned, the first one from their Tuniq division. The Tuniq division ofSunbeam consists of some of their more experienced employees, and focuses onadding fashion and high function. Presently, they make Tuniq branded cases,power supplies, CPU coolers, hard drive silencer/coolers, and thermalcompound. bit-tech :Tunic Tower 120 @ bit-tech.net [Nov-02-07] (0 Comments) */The provided fan is annoying, ball bearing noisy but thankfully it's upgradable. However, so are Scythe heatsinks, the Noctua NH-U12 and the CoolerMaster Gemini from off the top of my head. I'm sure there are a few more, and these don't have the same 25mm depth restriction. In addition, for £33 I'd expect an awesome fan to come with it in the first place, and while it is Rosewill RD600N 600W Power Supply @ thinkcomputers.org [Nov-02-07] (0 Comments) ThinkComputers take a look at the Stallion series RD600N 600W powersupply unit from Silicon Valley-based Rosewill, the computer and electronicsmanufacturer that makes just about every non-essential part of a computer.Rosewill has a reputation for reasonably-priced and quality parts. We putthe blue-illuminated unit through our torture test-see how it fares in thisreview. Tuniq TX-2 Thermal paste @ pro-clockers.com [Nov-01-07] (0 Comments) The average web-surfing, email-checking net slave doesn't think muchabout thermal paste. Thermal performance probably never enters their minduntil they get a whiff of burning silicon, if then. Now, consider youraverage enthusiast. They probably worry about temps, but not to the extremeof buying branded, high-end thermal paste. Even among the enthusiastcommunity, many are happy with stock cooling. However there is a sub-cultureinside our sub-culture. They crave MHz like an addict craves smack. Everysingle detail of their computer is designed to eek out that little extra fpsor to shave off a millisecond rendering time. They route cables, installfans, mod their PC's and even buy fancy thermal compound to get their CPU'sa degree Celsius cooler. Today, I'm reviewing Tuniq TX-2 thermal paste. Inormally use Arctic Silver 5. Let's see how it stacks up. Western Digital Scorpio 250GB 2.5" HDD @ tweaktown.com [Nov-01-07] (0 Comments) Memory modules are shrinking in physical size, but again the amou nt of memory per stick is increasing giving you even more power out of yo ur PC. With the development of graphics technology getting better we star t to see high-end graphics in tiny packages as well. The one thing that h as its limitations is the storage. Today we are testing out one of the newest HDDs to come out for the lapto p market, Western Digital's Scorpio HDD with an amazing 250GB capacity, this being one of the largest 2.5=94 HDDs on the market. Zerotherm BTF92 Overclocker Edition @ techpowerup.com [Oct-31-07] (0 Comments) Zerotherm has just announced an new all-copper CPU heatsink based on their classic ZEROtherm BTF92 OC Edition CPU Cooler @ thinkcomputers.org [Oct-31-07] (0 Comments) As we said ZEROtherm has announced a bunch of products this week. OnMonday we took a look at the Nirvana NV120 CPU cooler and today we arechecking out the BTF92 Overclocker Edition CPU cooler. The BTF92 is the bigbrother to the BTF90, which we took a look at a while ago. It is a littlebit bigger than the BTF90 and features manual fan control, but besides thatit is just about the same. Let's check it out and see if it can performbetter than the BTF90. Technic3D/Titan Elena VGA Cooler vs. MACS m-sorceress VGA Cooler @ technic3d.com [Oct-30-07] (0 Comments) The Graphics Card Heatsink Titan Elena and MACS m-sorceress ar rived Technic3D. Silent and very good cooling characteristics with The rmo-Electric Cooler and Heatpipe? See you in the following Review with a X1800 XT. Zerotherm Nirvana NV120 Premium @ techpowerup.com [Oct-30-07] (0 Comments) Today Zerotherm launches the new Nirvana NV120 Premium tower style heatsink, which features a copper base and four U-shaped heatpipes with aluminum fins. Over the entire surface of the Nirvana Premium is a dark gray mirror finish like no other heatsink I have seen. Included is a 120mm blue LED fan with a fan controller to dial in the right noise level for any system. With all this style comes great performance, too. Zerotherm Nirvana NV120 CPU Cooler @ pro-clockers.com [Oct-30-07] (0 Comments) The Nirvana NV120! This is one that I think will gain even moreacceptance than the BTF90 due mostly to the gun-metal coloring and the moreconservative look. The NV120 does not look like any pretty insects but doessport a more familiar tower design. Lighter weight and a variable fancontrol does offer more in the lines of end users needs. We all know theBTF90 performed pretty well, but will the changes that the NV120 belongalong put it in the class with the big dawgs? bit-tech :Intel's Core 2 Extreme QX9650 processor @ bit-tech.net [Oct-29-07] (0 Comments) We think it's fair to say that Intel's Penryn architecture canberegarded as a success, as it offers some decent performanceenhancements over existing processors, while using much less power inthe process. Most of the success can be attributed to the ZEROtherm Nirvana NV120 CPU Cooler @ thinkcomputers.org [Oct-29-07] (0 Comments) ZEROtherm is not a name that is really associated with PC cooling,but it soon will be. The last 2 products we have seen from them performedvery well and received our Recommended Award. This week they are releasing aslew of new products and we got our hands on 2 of them. Today we will belooking at the Nirvana NV120 CPU cooler, which features an efficientheatpipe design, 120mm LED fan, and a honeycombed structure design. Let'ssee if it can stand up to the quality of the other ZEROtherm coolers we havelooked at in the past. bit-tech :Shure SE110 Earphones @ bit-tech.net [Oct-28-07] (0 Comments) The SE110s are a decent pair of headphones and, for the price,they’redefinitely worth considering and trying out if you’re thinking ofstraying into the higher-end in-ear headphone market. The difference isdefinitely noticeable if you compare them to the type of headphonesthat most people will insist on using simply because they came packagedwith their iPod. However, the SE110s aren’t without problems and the feeling that thebass has been boosted artificially can taint some of the satisfactionyou might derive from the earphones, especially when you could just aseasily upgrade to a more expensive model. The SE210s, for example,don't have the same issues with bass and are overall a much better pairof earphones - all for just £15 more than the SE110s.Still, in terms of value and overall performance, the SE110s servetheir purpose well and make a good entry level earphone even if thereare better performers just a little further up the food chain. Ifyou’re looking to improve your listening experience and don’t want toflash too much cash then the SE110s would be a good choice. bit-tech :The Legend Of Zelda:The Phantom Hourglass @ bit-tech.net [Oct-27-07] (0 Comments) The Phantom Hourglass has run out of time and now we canonlychoke out our parting shots before we’re buried under a veritablemountain of great gameplay. That’s exactly what’s on offer with The Phantom Hourglasstoo – a mountain gameplay which will keep you coming back for more overand over. The game does well to offer a scaled down version of past Zeldatitles and the design team has obviously learned what was good and wasbad about The Wind Waker. More impressively, they’ve managed todesign a game which is perfectly suited to the hardware of the DS. There are a few problems with The Phantom Hourglassthough, such as the titular hourglass which provides Link with a setamount of ‘safe time’ when traversing the game's central dungeon – TheHome of The Ocean King. The dungeon itself relies more on stealthgameplay than puzzles and the hourglass is an obvious and annoyingattempt to add tension to it all by restricting players to a certainamount of time before they die. That said, as a whole The Phantom Hourglass is a fantasticgame which should be considered a must-buy for the Nintendo DS. Forhardcore gamers there aren’t that many must-have games either, and ifyou want to avoid the likes of Nintendogs then you’re prettymuch limited to Mario, Advance Wars and Castlevania– which makes The Phantom Hourglass even more of a feat. MSI GeForce NX8800GT 512MB Graphics Card @ tweaktown.com [Oct-27-07] (0 Comments) We had no doubt that NVIDIA was going to bring something to the p arty to battle the HD 2900 PRO but we didn't think it was going to be a new card. We thought maybe a few tweaks here and there in the drivers wo uld be done but instead they decide to drop the bombshell that is the 880 0GT. The 8800GT is here and we're going to see stock at the beginning of nex t week all around the world, which is more than we can say for the HD 290 0 PRO which impressed us a great deal. Thermalright IFX-14 CPU Cooler @ thinkcomputers.org [Oct-27-07] (0 Comments) If you have not heard of Thermalright they make some of the mostunique and powerful CPU coolers on the market today. They really specializein heatsink design, a lot of their coolers perform great without fans. Mostof them don't even ship with fans. Their latest offering is the IFX-14(Inferno Fire eXtinguisher), which features an extremely large surface area(140mm x 120mm), 4 large 8mm heatpipes, and a very unique back-side dualheatpipe heatsink. [News] abit AN-M2HD Motherboard @ virtual-hideout.net [Oct-25-07] (0 Comments) Most motherboards are usually geared toward the enthusiast or thebudget builder, but more and more manufacturers lately are creatingspecialty-type motherboards, like ones for home entertainment. abit hascreated a motherboard just for this niche of people:the AN-M2HD. As thedays pass, HTPC's continue to gain massive popularity with moviephiles withthe advent of larger storage devices and HDMI. The AN-M2HD has an onboardHDMI connection for some of today's newer monitors/TV's. The AN-M2HDutilizes the new NVIDIA GeForce 7050PV North Bridge and NVIDIA nForce 630aSouth Bridge chips. Each chip is cooled by a heatsink to add to that extraquietness for a theater setup, but 4 auxiliary fan headers are included onthe motherboard if extra cooling will be needed. Samsung BD-P1200 Blu-ray Disc Player @ thinkcomputers.org [Oct-24-07] (0 Comments) One of the bigger buzzwords going around these days is HDTV.Everyone seems to want high-def this and high-def that. Just as weencountered with VHS and Betamax, we are once again amidst a format war ofsorts. On one side of the arena is HD DVD, backed by companies likeMicrosoft. On the other side is Blu-ray, supported by guys like Samsung.Samsung already has a big family of flat panel HDTVs, so they want toprovide you with some HD content as well. The Samsung BD-P1200 is actuallythe company's second generation Blu-ray player and while it looks awfullypretty from the outside (much like Samsung's LCDs), there were severalissues with the performance that need to be improved. Asus Xonar D2 Sound Card @ aphnetworks.com [Oct-24-07] (0 Comments) When we said that Asus makes everything back in May, we weren't joking about it -- and let it be reinforced if you just take a look at our Asus Arctic Square review published months ago. A unit of Asus' first and flagship soundcard, the Xonar D2, was in our hands for more than a month already at the time of completion of this article; which allowed us more than adequate time to throughly test this product instead of simply rushing out a review. Asus promises to deliver the ultimate in computer sound to bridge home audio systems to desktop systems, complete with a suite of Dolby and DTS sound technologies. Is it true? How awesome is this sound card? Is it worth your money? Does it compete well against Creative's sound card monopoly? We'll soon find out and show you what we think about Asus' Xonar D2, the soundcard that made itself a significant name in computer audio before it even hit the consumer market. bit-tech Feature:DisplayPort - A Look Inside @ bit-tech.net [Oct-23-07] (0 Comments) It’s not often that a new display interface is introduced, butinrecent times it seems like there’s been more activity than we’re usedto. With HDMI’s move into the mainstream in 2005, talk of the newDisplayPort interface has been met with a degree of negativity fromconsumers – many who question the need for yet another displayinterface.I think a lot of that comes from people not understanding exactly whatDisplayPort is all about, other than a reason to get more money out ofconsumers. DVI is just fine, right? And HDMI is DVI’s replacement,isn’t it? These are a couple of the common questions I’ve seen crop upsince the DisplayPort 1.1 specification was approved by VESA back inApril this year.At the recent Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco, I had the chanceto sit down with some of the people behind DisplayPort in order to geta better understanding how this is going to affect our industry. Overthe course of this article, I’m going to discuss the DisplayPortspecification, along with looking at where the new interface will fitinto the market. Additionally, I’ll also look at what might be a veryviable alternative to DisplayPort in the long run, as well... Zalman CNPS7800 LED Heatsink @ hi-techreviews.com [Oct-23-07] (0 Comments) Zalman created a solid foundation for their company when theyintroduced the sunflower design heatsink to the American market, and sincethen they have provided us with a number of items that have kept ourcomputer running far quieter than before. Going back to their start andknowing what works, Zalman has introduced the new CNPS8700 LED heatsink.This variable intensity blue LED heatsink was put through a number of testsin our shop and came away with some very surprising numbers, so come onalong and check them out. APEVIA X-Jupiter Jr. G Type Case @ thinkcomputers.org [Oct-22-07] (0 Comments) The APEVIA X-Jupiter Jr. G Type Case, a mid-tower case, is surelynot as manly as its full tower case. or is it? This gaming case has a ton ofoptions that you don't normally see in other gaming cases. If you getannoyed like me whenever using screws for everything you'll love this casebecause practically everything is screw-less! This stylish case surely willimpress you. Let's check out what other kickin' features this case has tooffer. Technic3D/Spire CoolForce IV VGA Cooler @ technic3d.com [Oct-21-07] (0 Comments) The Graphic Card Heatsink from Spire,the CoolForce IV, arrived Technic3D. Specially designed with a universal mounting clip-mechanis m. See you in the following Review with a PowerColor Radeon X1800 XT a gainst the Accelero S1 Turbo Module (aktiv). bit-tech P:Call of Duty 4:Modern Warfare hands on @ bit-tech.net [Oct-20-07] (0 Comments) The singleplayer is something we can talk about though and fromwhatwe’ve seen it’s shaping up rather excellently. The graphics areincredibly detailed and good-looking, though the smoke effects don’tlook nearly as impressive as they did when Call of Duty 2 came out andthe RPG smoke trails are a little suspect.The action itself is as frantic as ever too, with grenades andtracerscutting through the sky and sending up plumes of dirt whilst your teammates scream and run around taking down the bad guys. There are a fewareas where we think the gameplay could be tightened up but theoverwhelming majority of the game feels crisp and cleanly put together.The key difference between Call of Duty 4 and the other games in the series is, on reflection,not the largely cosmetic differences between World War 2 and ModernWarfare, but the vastly improved cinematic feel. The past Callof Dutygames have often felt grand and beautifully epic, but rarely were theytruly cinematic. They felt distinctly like playing a game rather thanbeing in a movie. This isn’t true of Modern Warfare which, witha new story and more contemporarily gritty feel, manages to feel moreimmersive and polished forever – possibly putting it forward as thebest Call of Duty game yet if the development continues likethis. Rosewill R6AS5 PC Case @ thinkcomputers.org [Oct-18-07] (0 Comments) To those of us computer enthusiasts that are more on the snobbishside, Rosewill is a brand that is often overlooked. You know, in mostaspects of my purchasing life, I buy the generic or the cheapest.but whenbuying computer hardware, I nearly always buy the Envision H190L 19-inch LCD Monitor @ thinkcomputers.org [Oct-17-07] (0 Comments) There are lots of LCD monitors out there, and while most gamers optfor widescreen LCDs nowadays, many home and office users opt forstandard-ratio LCD monitors like the Envision H190L 19 Antec P190 PC Case @ thinkcomputers.org [Oct-15-07] (0 Comments) Antec makes some of the best PC cases and power supplies availabletoday. As far as cases go their Performance One series has been at hit. Wehave seen the P150, P160, P180, and P182 cases. Now it's time for the Logitech G9 3200 dpi Laser USB Gaming Mouse @ benchmarkreviews.com [Oct-15-07] (0 Comments) Ever since I first laid my hand on the funny pointing device attached to the Apple Mac back in the forth grade, I felt that computers would always seem to be approachable. I think that Homeland Security Raids on Console Modding @ bonafidereviews.com [Oct-15-07] (0 Comments) Ok guys when you think of things you’d want to put on your top ten list for problems America has to deal with, what would they be. No not terrorism. No… not education. Not poverty. Not homelessness. Not zombies. In fact, if the actions of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security ICE (Immigrations and Customs Enforcement) have anything to say about it, the biggest threat to our American way of life is console modding. Yes console modding. Prestigio Officer 375 @ insidehw.com [Oct-15-07] (0 Comments) Prestigio in Europe is predominantly known as a notebook brand.Besides that, their manufacturing lines are aspiring life to numerousdifferent products, mainly very good in design. Given we are facing computerplaced into display chassis, Mac products are first we can think of. Still,unlike them, Prestigio Officer is not primarily focused on design itself.Price is play trump, and we salute it... Brando USB Mini Fridge @ thinkcomputers.org [Oct-14-07] (1 Comments) When you are working long hours or are doing some serious gamingnothing can keep you going like a nice cold drink. The problem is once youget a drink from the fridge and take it into your office there is no way ofkeeping it cold. Also if you are at a LAN party and you don't have access toa refrigerator there is no way to get a nice cold drink. This is where theBrando USB Mini Fridge comes in. It is powered by USB and can keep yourdrinks cold while you are doing work or gaming. ATP Pink Petito 2 GB USB Drive @ techpowerup.com [Oct-14-07] (0 Comments) The ATP Petito 2 GB USB stick features a solid metal shell which helps make the drive a lot more resilient to damage. We tested the pink girlie version which you either love or hate and were impressed by the excellent results it delivered. Both bandwidth and access time were among the top of all USB stick we ever reviewed. Thermal Chamber Heatsink Testing Methods @ tweaktown.com [Oct-13-07] (0 Comments) Heatsink technology has rapidly improved over the last few years. The introduction of heatpipes, use of large radius fans and the sophisti cated mounting mechanisms have all aided these developments. One area tha t has remained unchanged is the way these products are tested. The old wa y has proven to be inaccurate, unreliable and careless for comparing one heatsink to another. Luckily things are about to change for consumers looking to find accurate performance information that scales across all of TweakTown's CPU heat sink tests. bit-tech :Portal @ bit-tech.net [Oct-12-07] (0 Comments) Having just finished playing it, I have to admit I feel just atiny bitunfulfilled but I put a lot of that down to having played the amazing EpisodeTwo first. Which would I suggest you play first out of Episode Two and Portal?It’s hard to say. Episode Two is a longer and more excitinggame with a story which is more fluently told, but Portal is amore cerebral and simple experience with an interesting story of itsown. If I had to make a choice, I’d probably say that you’re best offplaying Episode Two first and treating Portalas your dessert. It’ll be a nice breath of fresh air after you finishthe main course and it’ll help fill in a lot of the things you eithersuspect or hope about the storyline from Episode Two, but wecan’t say anymore about that. Portal is a good game and if you’re a keen puzzler with a tastefor action then you’ll probably think it’s a great game. It’s not asgood Episode Two, but that’s a lofty aim to be fair and even ifit was the weakest part of The Orange box then it’d still be anawesome, must-have game. And it really, really is. Evercool Buffalo CPU Cooler @ thinkcomputers.org [Oct-12-07] (0 Comments) Over the past few months Evercool has been quiet when it comes toCPU cooling solutions. Well they have recently released the Buffalo CPUCooler onto the market. This new CPU cooler features the popular heatpipedesign with an all copper base and a 100mm fan. Let's see if it can get thejob done against the other AMD CPU coolers we have tested. [News] CFI TeraBox II+ USB Multiple HDD Enclosure @ virtual-hideout.net [Oct-12-07] (0 Comments) It doesn't get much simpler than this for a 4 slot externalenclosure. Slide the drives in, select what mode you want and plug it in andgo. With the USB format, the enclosure is portable between systems, anythingafter Windows 98 doesn't need drivers and all the drives can be combinedinto a single drive. CFI Enclosure has put this at a MSRP of $149 and Ithink it is a good match. Technic3D/e-bug SLI PC @ technic3d.com [Oct-12-07] (0 Comments) The e-bug SLI PC arrived Technic3D. The new PC come with Intel Core 2 Duo E6320 CPU (Arctic Cooling Heatsink), 2GB Corsair Ram, 2x X FX Graphic Card 8600GTS and Abit Fatal1ty FP-IN9 SLI Mainboard. For Of fice and Gaming very Silent? See you in the following Review. D-Link DWA-652 Xtreme N Notebook Adapter (PCMCIA) @ benchmarkreviews.com [Oct-11-07] (0 Comments) Wireless N is the new emerging standard in wireless networking, which provides greater range over a longer distance and extreme speed. Today at Benchmark Reviews we have the new D-Link Technic3D/NZXT LeXa Redline @ technic3d.com [Oct-10-07] (0 Comments) The NZXT LeXa Redline is the next PC Case in the Technic3D Edi torship. The new Lexa is equipped with three 120mm and one 80mm fans ( running at low speeds). This NZXT also ships with USB 2.0, Firewire, a nd HD audio support. See you in the following Review which qualities t he new Redline Gamer Case with Display presents. NZXT Precise Power 1200W Modular Power Supply @ thinkcomputers.org [Oct-10-07] (0 Comments) NZXT is really not known for power supplies. They have made some ofthe best cases we have seen recently in the Lexa Blackline and the Adamasboth of which received our Editor's Choice Award. So we have never tested apower supply from NZXT, but if they put as much quality into their powersupplies as they do into their cases we should be satisfied. Today we arelooking at the Precise Power 1200W, which features six +12V rails, an ActivePFC, and a badass gun metal finish. bit-tech :Inno3D GeForce 8600 GTS iChiLL Xstriker3 @ bit-tech.net [Oct-09-07] (0 Comments) At the higher price, you only have to look at the GeForce 8800GTS 320MB’s performance and measure that against its £165 asking priceto realise that you’d be a mug to spend £140 on a GeForce 8600 GTS.Thankfully though, Inno3D’s card isn’t as expensive as otherpre-overclocked 8600 GTSes and it actually comes in at a tempting pricepoint if you’re looking for an all-rounder.Where gaming is concerned, the Radeon X1950 Pro will perform as well asInno3D’s iChiLL Xstriker3 and in some cases better than it too – youcan pick one of ATI’s previous generation mid-range cards for around£85 (inc. VAT). Of course, it’s worth remembering that the X1950 Prodoesn’t have DirectX 10 support, but we think that’s a bit of a mootpoint and more of a checkbox feature given the performance penalty forrunning current games in DX10 mode. However, if you are looking at something that has all of the HD videoacceleration features that are available in the current generation’smid-range hardware, you’ll probably take the small performance penaltyin games to compensate for the massively improved performance in HDvideo playback. Therefore we’re not going to make an outrightrecommendation to buy this particular graphics card, but it’s one toconsider if the usage model outlined above fits you. Gigabyte G-Pad Pro @ techpowerup.com [Oct-09-07] (0 Comments) The Gigabyte G-Pad Pro is a notebook cooling surface, intended for 15 inchers or smaller. It features a heatsink shape, can be cooled actively if needed with the included fan and propped on the its feet. Transporting it is made easy as well, thanks to two included bags. Cyberlink talks about PowerDVD audio downsampling @ bit-tech.net [Oct-08-07] (0 Comments) When asked why PowerDVD downsamples HD audio from both Blu-rayand HDDVD discs to 48KHz / 16-bit, Chen responded by saying that Acer AL2002W 20-inch Widescreen LCD Monitor @ thinkcomputers.org [Oct-08-07] (0 Comments) LCD monitors are becoming ever more popular, especially widescreens.A few years ago it was uncommon to see someone at a LAN party with an LCDmonitor. Now you can find that most people will bring their widescreen LCDmonitor because it's a whole heck of a lot lighter than a CRT and most ofthe time the display is a lot better. Let's take a look to see how the AcerAL2002W widescreen monitor will stand up to the performance expected ofgaming at LAN parties. CoolerMaster HyperTX CPU Cooler @ modders-inc.com [Oct-06-07] (0 Comments) CPU Heatsinks need to do one thing... cool. And they must do thatwell, else face the wrath of enthusiasts. CoolerMaster has been playing inthe enthusiast space for many years, and has a good grasp on the pulse ofthis market segment. CoolerMaster has just introduced several new CPUheatsinks and today, Modders-Inc gets to play with the brand new HyperTX. bit-tech P:Team Fortress 2 beta impressions @ bit-tech.net [Oct-04-07] (0 Comments) Graphically, as well, the game is just on another level to itscontemporaries. As already mentioned, the game isn't designed to berealistic, but rather uses a mix of cel-shadingand various engine tweaks created by Valve’s dev team to createenvironments and models that are incredibly polished. Even effects likemotion blur are implemented exquisitely, giving the sensation of speedand movement, but without inducing nausea after five minutes of playlike we’ve found with some games recently.Let's not forget though that this is a Beta we're talking about andthat the dev team still has time to iron out the few wrinkles that docrop up from time to time (namely the occasional crash to desktop).TF2 will also be coming down the tubes through Valve’s infamouscontent delivery system, so updates should be quick and seamless.I could continue writing about the marvels of TF2 for days, oreven weeks (perhaps you should start a bit-tech fan club? – Ed.).Instead though, I will confine myself to stating that while Crysismay have left us speechless with its graphical prowess, TF2 seems, tome at least, a refreshing break from the norm of multiplayerfirst-person shooters.I simply can’t wait for the full release and the influx of thousandsmore noobs ready to succumb to my baseball bat of doom. Muwhahaha!! Cooler Master Vortex 752 CPU Cooler @ thinkcomputers.org [Oct-04-07] (0 Comments) Cooler Master is not extremely well known for their CPU coolers, butthey should be. They are affordable and can compete in performance withother top brands that cost a lot more. Today we are looking at the Vortex752, which is a smaller CPU cooler, but don't let that fool you it is verypowerful. It features 2 heatpipe design, 92mm fan, and an all copper base.Read on to see how the Vortex 752 stacks up against all of the other coolerswe have tested. Gigabyte GA-MA69GM-S2H @ techgage.com [Oct-03-07] (0 Comments) Gigabyte's new GA-MA69GM-S2H board has HTPC written allover it, with no fewer than six possible video output types, opticalToslink output, and AMD's 690G chipset with Radeon X1250 IGP. In ourreview, we find more than a few reasons to recommend it to anyone who’sconsidering a new HTPC. bit-tech :Asus P5E3 Deluxe WiFi @ bit-tech.net [Oct-01-07] (0 Comments) We'd like tosay that this is ridiculously expensive but when the Striker Extremearrived several months ago at £230 we thought the same of that, butAsus sold them as fast as it could make them. Obviously, quite a few ofyou must have considered this hefty sum reasonable value for money andwill probably think the same of the P5E3 Deluxe WiFi-AP @n.If you're already prepared to drop several hundred on DDR3 anyway, thenyour budget should already be large enough to accommodate this, and inthat respect it's quite well suited, just as long as you don't shortchange yourself on the CPU and graphics front. This is a board forthose where money is no object in your next upgrade. If you're after agood all-rounder that's packed to the gills with features, this willabsolutely be the motherboard for you. For those looking for somethinga bit more fiscally conservative, don't worry because the Maximus andnormal Deluxe should be far cheaper.So is the P5E3 Deluxe WiFi-AP @n the ultimate motherboard? Quitelikely. But at the ultimate price? Most definitely. bit-tech :Halo 3 @ bit-tech.net [Oct-01-07] (0 Comments) So, is Halo 3 the best game ever? No, I don't think so, but itis bloody good. The most obvious comparison will be to last month's BioShock,but that is somewhat unfair. BioShockis a single player only game, which means that far more developmenttime could be spent on the graphics and presentation. It's also worthremembering that Halo 3 couldn't really break new ground in thesingle player campaign, since Bungie had to think about the continuitywith the previous two titles - BioShock was under no suchconstraints.One thing's for sure though, I haven't enjoyed playing any Xbox 360game more than Halo 3, whether in single or multiplayer mode,and that just about says it all.Halo 3 isn't the ground breaking epic that many had expected itto be, specifically in the visual department. But what you are gettingis a well written, well paced and well presented end to the Halotrilogy that should keep any fan very happy. Add to that simply thebest console based online gaming experience ever, and it's clear that Halo3 represents yet another triumph for the Xbox 360. ViewSonic VX2255wmb 22-inch Widescreen LCD Monitor @ thinkcomputers.org [Oct-01-07] (0 Comments) Back in January at CES we first saw the VX2255wmb and I instantlywanted one. Its sleek design and integrated 1.3-megapixel really made itstand out from other monitors. Also the VX2255wmh version comes in a pearlwhite, which Mac fans will enjoy. Today will are looking at the VX2255wmbversion which is black and features a 1680X1050 native resolution, 5msresponse time, and integrated speakers as well as the integrated1.3-megapixel camera. Let's see if it's the perfect LCD for you! Asus EN8600 GTS 256MB Video Card @ legitreviews.com [Sep-28-07] (0 Comments) The Asus EN8600GTS in our possession is 100% reference, coming wi th a GPU clock speed of 675 MHz, 1.45 GHz Shader clock, and 2.0 GHz memor y. The 256 MB of memory rides a bus that is only 128 bits wide, yet is st ill capable of 32 GB/s transfer rate. As you can see in the photo above, we have the =93Stalker=94 sticker attached to the heat sink on the card. The rest of the card is... Ultra X3 600W Modular Power Supply @ thinkcomputers.org [Sep-28-07] (0 Comments) Ultra's line of modular power supplies is known for its stabilityand originality, and the X3 series is no exception. The X3 series is up to85% efficient at typical load and has outputs ranging from 600W to amind-boggling 1600W. ThinkComputers got its hands on the 600W version andtests out the robust and easily-routed unit in this review. John Beekley of Corsair Memory in 2007 @ legitreviews.com [Sep-26-07] (0 Comments) Good gawd, man, where did you spot those?!? OK, I guess I'll sp ill the beans... This is a new product line called the NANOMATOR that we think will take the Apple market by storm... Samsung YP-K5 MP3 Player @ thinkcomputers.org [Sep-26-07] (0 Comments) Did you know that Apple isn't your only option when it comes tochoosing a new MP3 player? Pretty shocking, huh? What's more, many of theofferings from other companies actually boast more features than any iPod onthe market, but is this enough to snag some market share from the Cupertinogiant? Samsung thinks so and they're making a mild attempt at toppling theSteve Jobs-fueled juggernaut with the Samsung YP-K5 MP3 player. Scythe FDD and card reader - XSs @ Any regular reader will know about my hatred for floppy disc [Sep-26-07] (0 Comments) Anyregular reader will know about my hatred for floppy disc drives. Thisis the one point where Vista will always win over XP, as there is nolonger a need to have one of these slow, 1.4mb max. drives in your PCfor RAID drivers etc.I’ve tried to like them in the past, but they just corrupted, snappedin my pocket or just straight up fail. To me, there is no need for oneto take up a precious bay in my rig. Fortunately, Scythe have got theirthinking caps on and have bundled something that everyone can use witha FDD; a card reader. Technic3D/Coolink Silentator @ technic3d.com [Sep-25-07] (0 Comments) The Coolink Silentator CPU Heatsink arrived Technic3D. Good an d quiet Fan for perfect Cooling? See you in the following Review the C oolink High-End Cooler against others CPU Cooler. Tagan ITZ Series 1300W Power Supply @ thinkcomputers.org [Sep-24-07] (0 Comments) Back in June we took a look at the GuardianX Silver Power 1000Wpower supply from Tagan and it received good scores. Now Tagan has a new1300W power supply from the ITZ series. It has an 80% efficiency, is quadCPU and video card ready, and has an auto turbo mode to combine all six +12Vrails into one. Also the ITZ is covered in a titanium blue mirror-finishcasing. Let's see how it stacks up to the other 1000W plus power supplies wehave tested. bit-tech Feature:Microsoft's PC Hardware Day @ bit-tech.net [Sep-23-07] (0 Comments) All in all, I was pleasantly surprised by the Hardware Day andit washonestly quite fascinating to see how a team of designers can continueto progress on a tool which many of us take for advantage each andevery day. Sure, it wasn’t the most interesting thing I’ve ever done and when Iwas playing Portallater in the day (watch the front page for an upcoming preview) I can’thonestly say that I was left thinking about how much I wanted to goback in time by a few hours and get another look at that keyboard, butI still enjoyed my time at the Hardware Day. The one thing I was definitely able to take away from the event, otherthan a handful of leaflets and a throat even more sore than it wasbefore, was an appreciation for how hard Microsoft works on even themost simple of devices. The amount of work that goes into constantlyassessing and reassessing even where to put the buttons on a mouse issomething which is baffling, but also reassuring. Xoxide.com Caffeine Shootout @ thinkcomputers.org [Sep-22-07] (0 Comments) While most of us may have a hard time getting up for work andstaying awake during the day, others are jumping around at their desks. Howthough? Because they are pumped up on energy products. In this review wewill see a multitude of energy supplements, some that you may have heard ofand some you haven't. Let's take a look to see what sort of productsXoxide.com has provided to me and see how this much caffeine will affect meover a single weekend. OCZ ProXStream 1000W Power Supply @ thinkcomputers.org [Sep-21-07] (0 Comments) 1000W power supplies are all over the place now so of course wewould see one from OCZ. OCZ power supplies from the ModXStream andGameXStream series have been very popular with consumers. Today we will belooking at a new series from OCZ the ProXStream. The ProXStream has one ofthe smallest form factors of a 1000W power supply that I have seen and hasan industry-leading 3 year warranty. I have never actually checked out anOCZ power supply before so we will see how it stacks up against other 1000Wpower supplies that we have tested. Asus First Out Of The Gate With X38 Motherboard @ hothardware.com [Sep-20-07] (0 Comments) =93Express Gate is actually a self contained instant-on environment that bootsbefore the OS and gives you basic web connectivity as well as Skype andother functionality, like access to the BIOS and more. The EPU (hidingunderneath the socket area heat sink - top right), as the name suggests is asmall microcontroller of sorts that provides digital monitoring of voltageregulation to the CPU for higher efficiency and stable operation. =93 Aerocool AE-Plus Mid Tower Case @ pro-clockers.com [Sep-19-07] (0 Comments) When I was a kid, I often dreamed of putting a jet engine on my bike,because I wanted to be the first kid to break the sound barrier on a BMX. Ifyou want to visualize it, just think of the moment of flight on E.T. but onsteroids. Looking at the AE-Plus, I think the engineers at Aerocool knowwhere I was coming from. The first design meeting probably went somethinglike this, GMC R-2 Toast PC Case @ thinkcomputers.org [Sep-19-07] (0 Comments) The GMC R-2 Toast PC case has very original (and patented!) conceptfor optical drive placement and loading. Instead of the traditionalhorizontally-positioned, tongue-like tray extension, the Toast, as its nameimplies, orients the drive vertically so that the optical drive tray shootsup like a piece of toast. The hard drive is also mounted vertically, so thecase is very slim. Read on as ThinkComputers sees what pops up with theToast. Intel X38 and 45nm Yorkfield Overclocking @ legitreviews.com [Sep-19-07] (0 Comments) The good news is that this 3.87GHz Yorkfield beast is air cooled with a heat sink that is 'normal', which means overclocks like this shoul d be easy to reach with aftermarket cooling. The bad news is that the te st system was only running in single channel mode, which seemed a bit str ange... 2gb kit of OCZ Flex PC2-6400 CL3 Competition - XSs @ Jon \ [Sep-18-07] (0 Comments) Anothermemory competition but this time it's a kit of OCZ PC2-6400 2gbFlex memory. This kit has inbuilt water cooling capabilities and hugeair cooled heatsinks. Designed to be the overclocker's dream, thesemodules are not something to be scoffed at. bit-tech :PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750W PSUs @ bit-tech.net [Sep-18-07] (0 Comments) PC Power & Cooling products are like a racing cars - it's raw and on the edge - it feels like its been made by proper engineers with pens and metal rulers in their pockets and a calender featuring pictures of power transformers, rather than designers behind Macs with glass desks drinking Grande Starbucks. The attention to detail is on the inside, and the outside is only half way there. Thermaltake MaxOrb CPU Cooler @ thinkcomputers.org [Sep-18-07] (0 Comments) Thermaltake's Orb series has been very popular. We have checked outboth the Ruby Orb, and Golden Orb. Each of them performed well and receivedgood scores. The MaxOrb has a little different design, but still has the Technic3D/Xigmatek HDT-S1283 @ technic3d.com [Sep-18-07] (0 Comments) The Xigmatek HDT-S1283 CPU Heatsink arrived Technic3D. The Big Brother from the Xigmatek HDT-S963 Cooler with Direct Touch Heatpipes on the Base for better cooling results. See you in the following Revi ew the third Cooler with this design (Xigmatek HDT-S963 and 3R-Systems Ice Age)against others CPU Cooler. Xigmatek HDT-S1283 Exposed Copper Heatpipe CPU Cooler @ benchmarkreviews.com [Sep-17-07] (0 Comments) Heatpipes have not been an integrated part of the CPU heatsink for very long now, but the tall design with a fan fixed to the front has already been done several times over. Copper Lite-On SHM-165S6S SATA DVDR @ monster-hardware.com [Sep-17-07] (0 Comments) The bundled software was IMO a good choice. I am a big fan of Nero burning software and am somewhat disappointed when I buy an Optical drive that doesn't include it. CyberLink PowerDVD 6 is also included for your movie viewing needs.. If I had a complaint here it would be that the usual electronic users manual is of a generic variety and doesn't offer much in the way of Lite-On model specific information. While I guess a paper manual is too much to ask for these days, is a model- specific users manual? I personally think not. Seasonic S12II 500W Power Supply @ thinkcomputers.org [Sep-14-07] (0 Comments) Seasonic, the first company to produce an 80 PLUS certified powersupply, has a new line of consumer-level power supplies called Tagan ITZ series 1300 Watt Power Supply @ hi-techreviews.com [Sep-14-07] (0 Comments) Do you think you can ever have to large of a power supply insideyour case? My personal opinion is no, not when there is a good chance thatafter one hard drive gets full I will simply add another into the system soI am not forced to take the take the time to reload everything. That iswhere the power supply that we are reviewing today comes into play, TheTagan ITZ Series 1300 Watt PSU is a real 1300 unit which means that I canload 8 hard drives, a dual core processor and two video cards and it willnever break a sweat. Gigabyte Triton 180 PC Case @ thinkcomputers.org [Sep-13-07] (0 Comments) Gigabyte has been around since the mid-1980s, which makes them oneof the founders of the modern custom PC industry. Starting withmotherboards, Gigabyte now also makes video cards, cases, optical drives,storage solutions, most periphials, power supplies, air cooling, liquidcooling, notebooks and notebook cooling, and now home media PCs. Gigabyte iswell known for their high quality products. They generally market theirproducts to the enthusiast willing to pay a little more for that highquality, but desiring products a little less extreme, a little more on theconservative side. So, my expectations for the Triton 180 are that it willbe a well made, high quality case, with attention paid to every detail, butbut somewhat conservative. Let's see if it lives up to that. Linksys USB Wireless-Ready Print Server @ rbmods.com [Sep-12-07] (0 Comments) With home networks becoming the norm in most households, linkingdevices such as printers and storage devices to a network would seem to be apopular thing as well. Geeks.com, popular online retailer of variouscomputer parts, is fully aware of the trend and offers a wide range ofnetworking devices. Today we'll look at one of their offerings, the LinksysUSB Wireless-Ready Print Server. Will this device turn out to be easy tosetup and as functional as it sounds? Let's find out. Rocking Out Before Guitar Hero @ thinkgaming.org [Sep-12-07] (0 Comments) With everyone and their brother talking about Rock Band and thewaves it's making in the gaming industry, I often hear the phrase SilverStone ST1000 1000W Modular Power Supply @ thinkcomputers.org [Sep-11-07] (0 Comments) SilverStone is known for making great power supplies. The last 2power supplies we reviewed from them received 10 out of 10 scores, so I washappy when SilverStone said they were sending me another power supply. Withthe emergence of 1000W power supplies on the market it will be interestingto see how SilverStone's ST1000 compares to other 1000W power supplies thatwe have tested. So let's take a look! First look at Gigabyte's GA-X38T-DQ6 motherboard @ bit-tech.net [Sep-11-07] (0 Comments) Gigabyte's GA-X38T-DQ6 is a board we've found great favour in.We'vefound it very hard to fault the layout if you choose a heatsink thatdoesn't need to be bolted to the motherboard and even as an engineeringsample it's worked flawlessly throughout our testing. There has beensome niggles with the Ethernet adapters but the retail boards areworking as expected and should be shipping very soon. It's been a fantastic board to work with even in this early stage, butfrom the looks of pre-orders, it will be expensive at around £190.Therefore only time will tell if the bundle, stability and extrafeatures due from Intel make it worth the while. Nvidia could command aprice premium on the nForce 680i SLI because it had EPP and SLI, but isCrossFire and Intel's Extreme Memory held in the same regard? At leastthe X38 chipset should provide a diverse range of motherboard options,unlike the nForce 680i SLI, and being an Intel chipset we'd expect itto be far more reliable as well. bit-tech :Be Quiet!'s PC Noise Absorber Kit @ bit-tech.net [Sep-09-07] (0 Comments) If you have an entirely closed system and have gone to extremelengthselsewhere first:fans, hard drives and heatsinks, then yes it will takethat extra bit more off. But then again, if you've been that pedanticanyway with your components why didn't you consider a A4Tech X7 G100 Gaming Keyboard Pro @ thinkcomputers.org [Sep-09-07] (0 Comments) Have you ever had problems spilling your favorite beverage all overyour keyboard in the middle of a game? Time for a new keyboard, right? Notif you have an A4Tech X7 G100 Professional Gaming Keyboard. The designersover at A4Tech have come up with some unique features for the G100 that alot of other keyboard companies have not designed into their keyboards.Let's take a look to see what sort of features we can expect. Attack on Pearl Harbor (PC) @ thinkgaming.org [Sep-08-07] (0 Comments) Attack on Pearl Harbor is an interesting, easy flight simulator withelementary controls and a focus on WWII air combat. Neither its graphics norits storyline will win awards, but its quick gameplay and decent soundtrackwill have players dodging bullets and bombing carriers on any hardware. Readon for the review. Spire Fourier IV SP607B3C Heatsink @ frostytech.com [Sep-06-07] (0 Comments) The Spire Fourier IV SP607B3-C is a heavy heatsink, so it installs with very secure mounting hardware that is quite inconvenient. The heatsink is compatible with socket 754/939/940/AM2 AMD Athlon64 processors and socket 775 Intel CPUs. In each case, the motherboard must be removed from the computer case and a metal rear-PCB support bracket installed. The Fourier IV's mounting screws go in from the back of the motherboard to the front where the heatsink support bracket is. It takes at least two hands to do this, and the rear metal support plate doesn't have an adhesive patch to keep it in place so it's tricky. Open Source Alternatives @ aselabs.com [Sep-05-07] (0 Comments) When you finally take the plunge into alternatives to closed and proprietary software, you may find yourself wondering where you should go first and what programs do I use for certain things. It is true that when people think of an office suite, they think of Microsoft Office. The real question is, how many people actually paid for that piece of software? Many people and companies I know just install the software without thinking of the cost and basically perform copyright infringement. This can cost lots of money in the end, but why do this in the first place? There are good free and open source alternatives to use for nearly every program. Technic3D/LC-Power Cosmo Cool @ technic3d.com [Sep-05-07] (0 Comments) Three LC-Power Cosmo Cool CPU Heatsink arrived Technic3D. The First Cooler with copper, the second with Alu and the third with alu/c opper. Have all three Cooler a chance against others CPU Cooler on the market? See you in the following Review D-Tek Fuzion GPU and Uni-Sink @ techpowerup.com [Sep-05-07] (0 Comments) Before the next generation of GPUs is released, we must deal with NVIDIA's flag-ship card, the 8800 Ultra, and the massive amounts of heat it produces. There are several air cooling options available, but enthusiasts will surely select water cooling. The D-Tek Fuzion GPU block offers versatility, and coupled with the Uni-Sink it should be a great solution for cooling 8800 Ultra and GTX cards. Is it the same in practice as in theory? SteelSeries Steelkeys 6G Gaming Keyboard @ thinkcomputers.org [Sep-05-07] (0 Comments) All of the past SteelSeries products that ThinkComputers hasreviewed have all been geared towards the FPS gaming crowd. This time aroundthe audience is different. The Steelkeys 6G Professional Gaming Keyboard wasdesigned for hardcore RTS gamers. This isn't your fancy keyboard with macrosor multimedia keys, but rather a keyboard that will be a near perfectatmosphere with quick keystrokes and limited disturbances for the hardcoregamer. Let's take a further look to see if SteelSeries has kept to theirstandards of professional gaming products. Xigmatek HDT-S1283 Exposed Copper Heatpipe CPU Cooler @ benchmarkreviews.com [Sep-04-07] (0 Comments) Heatpipes have not been an integrated part of the CPU heatsink for very long now, but the tall design with a fan fixed to the front has already been done several times over. Copper Lenovo ThinkPad R61 14.1-inch Laptop @ thinkcomputers.org [Sep-03-07] (0 Comments) Earlier in the year Lenovo announced a few new models to theirThinkPad line, the R61 was one of them. R-Series ThinkPad's were consideredmore of a value notebook than anything. People who could not afford thepricey T-Series ThinkPad's would get an R-Series instead. The new R61features a 14.1-inch widescreen display, Core 2 Duo processor, wirelessantenna built into the lid, and a thinner and lighter design weighting in atjust 5.5lbs. Let's see if the R61 can breathe new life into the R-Series. World-Exclusive:Zalman VF1000 LED & RHS88 @ techpowerup.com [Sep-01-07] (0 Comments) After a long wait the Zalman VF1000 LED VGA cooler has finally arrived. It is a special cooler designed to meet the cooling requirements of today's high-end cards like the GeForce 8800 Series. The additional RHS88 heatsink plate is required for proper cooling of other components on the board like voltage regulation circuitry. This all copper beauty sure does look nice, but can it live up to the expectations? NZXT Lexa Blackline PC Case @ thinkcomputers.org [Sep-01-07] (0 Comments) Menacing. That's the word NZXT uses to describe its Lexa Blacklineperformance gaming chassis. The massive beast, black skinned and glowingred, is a quiet monstrosity perfect for a water-cooled rig. Its ominousappearance is glossy, yet symmetrically contoured like a stealth jet. Atemperature display crowns the head of the beast, allowing a user to preventthe case from reaching his or her own evil number of degrees. Will the NZXTLexa Blackline measure up to its counterparts, the HUSH and ADAMAS?ThinkComputers bears the meter stick in this review. West |