"These days where you can find a Sony DVD player with HDMI output costing USD 60 at Best Buy you may wonder why someone in his (or her) right mind would buy a USD 100 player from Panasonic. The answer is simple: Panasonic DVD-S53 can play not only Divx files - a feature somewhat easy to find on players from major brands - but also MPEG4 files. If you have a lot of home videos stored under these formats in your PC this feature gives you the opportunity to burn all your videos directly to DVD-ROM as regular files and play them on your TV, without the need to convert them to DVD-Video format first, process that takes an eternity."

CLICK HERE FOR Panasonic DVD-S53 DVD Player SHOPPING & PRICING

"The Rosewill RX353-S BLK is a SATA drive enclosure that offers both USB 2.0 and the latest eSATA interfaces. The aluminum case accepts any single 3½" SATA drive, either SATA150 or 300, with support for NCQ and up to 1TB of capacity. With the USB 2.0 connection, transfer rates of up to 60MB/s are possible and 300MB/s with eSATA, depending on the drive used."

"Samsung's Syncmaster 275T LCD/TFT display is a 27" wide screen (16:10 aspect ratio) monitor with a native resolution of 1920x1200 pixels. The LCD panel has an anti-reflective non-glossy coating and features a brightness rating of 500 cd/m2, contrast ratio of 1000:1 (dynamic contrast of 3000:1). The LCD panel boasts a 6ms G-to-G pixel refresh time and a moderately tight pixel pitch of 0.303mm. In our experience, brightness and contrast ratio take a back seat to viewing angles, and in the Syncmaster 275T's case it has the best you can hope for - 178° / 178° horizontal / vertical."

CLICK HERE FOR Samsung Syncmaster 275T 27-inch LCD Display SHOPPING & PRICING

CLICK HERE FOR TWEAKNEWS.NET'S REVIEW ON THIS PRODUCT

Sunbeam is well known for their four channel Rheobus fan controller. Recently, they decided to create a new version called the Rheobus Extreme which has six channels and can support up to 30 W per channel. Each channel has a clear knob that glows blue, and the brightness changes with the fan speed setting. We take a look at this new fan controller and put it to the test.

"For many enthusiasts looking for a new GPU, it would seem best to wait for the 9 series which will be coming from nVidia over the next few months. However, what do you do if you happen to want something now, now, now? Well, the latest card from the green camp is the 8800GTS "refresh" with 512MB. Is it worth it's price tag? Let's find out."

CLICK HERE FOR XFX 8800GTS 512MB SHOPPING & PRICING

We were introduced to Maingear in the process of NVIDIA's 3-Way SLI launch, when NVIDIA had the company configure us a system to test and evaluate 3-Way SLI technology in general. Obviously, NVIDIA felt Maingear's Ephex system build was high quality enough to send out to the press on behalf of their new 3-Way SLI technology.

"Today TechwareLabs takes a look at the Tagan 900W power supply which includes some unique features we have not seen elsewhere. If you like lights and adding not only a powerful, reliable power supply to your case but also a components which will attract attention then the Tagan BZ900 may be just what your looking for."

CLICK HERE FOR Tagan 900Watt BZ900 Power Supply SHOPPING & PRICING

"Asustek needs no introduction when it comes to the field of high end hardware; they've been delivering the good stuff before some of us even knew what a CPU was. With a massive market catering to nearly every inch of the enthusiast sprawl, if there's a niche where Asus hasn't proven their mettle, you can bet they're thinking up a product for it as we speak."

That said, there are however a number of 1800MHz modules rated at CAS 8 which are considerably less expensive. Today we are looking at two such products from OCZ and Kingston to find out how much performance we give away when pitted against Corsairs CAS 7 Dominator modules. We will also find out if the review products can in fact match, or exceed, the more expensive sticks when overclocked. If successful it would make these products excellent value for money.

Speaking of temperatures, the Zalman GPU after-market cooler on the 8800GT TurboForce is a godsend and certainly keeps the temperatures in the lowest range we've again seen on any stock 8800 series card. It averages 10 degrees Celsius cooler than any other card we've tested in this performance range. Even when this card was overclocked to a gargantuan level we only experienced a load temperature of 52 degrees Celsius, which is amazing!

“The Destructor's surface is made with a proprietary "gunmetal" coating which gives it the exceptional reactive surface. In layman's terms, that means the surface helps laser type mice respond easier than compared to something like the Everglide series. The gunmetal coating appears to be pretty resilient against even against minor abuse such as when you get pwned in game and start slapping the pad or banging your mouse against it. You know who you are out there...”

"Going back to performance, at stock speeds, the K9A2 Platinum performed very well with the Phenom 9600 Black, despite the TLB issue which never affected us. The 790FX platform as a whole is quite solid and shows a lot of promise. Provided you're planning to stay closely within specifications, we think the MSI K9A2 Platinum AMD 790FX motherboard is a solid and reliable platform but the overclocking results surely vary depending on the processor you have."

CLICK HERE FOR MSI K9A2 Platinum AMD 790FX Motherboard SHOPPING & PRICING

“Though the memory manufacturers are still designing and building new DDR2 memory modules, DDR3 memory is here and being used. There are plenty of motherboards out there that utilize DDR3 memory, and new modules are being introduced monthly. No, you have probably not yet heard of Aeneon. Aeneon is a division of a German company Qimonda, the world's third largest manufacturer of DRAM, part of Infineon Technologies AG. So, there is really nothing new about Aeneon but the name.”

"... The MSI K9A2 Platinum is specifically designed to work and run on AMD Phenom processors and has support for 4-way Crossfire X capability. "

CLICK HERE FOR MSI K9A2 Platinum Motherboard SHOPPING & PRICING

A new NAS (Network Attached Storage) device from the folks at QNAP Systems comes with 2 bays for Serial-ATA hard drives, RAID capability and enough built-in services to make many big servers totally obsolete. Here at OzHardware we take a closer look.

CLICK HERE FOR QNAP TS-209 Pro 2-Bay NAS Device SHOPPING & PRICING

Today we are going to talk about a new abit mainboard on Intel X38 Express chipset that boasts remarkable features and functionality, overclocks processors quickly and easily. Among the innovations introduced in this product we should mention unique chipset cooling system and digital processor voltage regulator.

CLICK HERE FOR abit IX38 QuadGT Mainboard SHOPPING & PRICING

ATI is back in the game with their high end 3870X2 being the top performing video card on the market today. DirectX 10.1 offers new features that haven't made the jump to the NVIDIA side of things. The decreased power draw of the 3870x2 card meant that putting two chips on one board allowed the same power to be used versus the old generation 2900XT and was a major negative of ATI's last generation high-end. Today that has changed with the 3xxx series all on the 55 nanometer die process and power consumption levels back to normal. The advent of the HD3870X2 makes quad Crossfire a possibility with only two video cards.

CLICK HERE FOR ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 SHOPPING & PRICING

The NZXT Rogue is a very unique case. It combines the portability of a cube with the possiblity to install large graphic cards and high performance power supplies. A carrying strap is also included, to make carrying the black or silver cube - featuring either blue or red LEDs - to and from a LAN party as easy as possible.

CLICK HERE FOR NZXT Rogue mATX Gaming Case SHOPPING & PRICING

During Nvidia's fourth-quarter financial results conference call, Nvidia shed a little more light on its acquisition of Ageia and what it plans to do with the firm's PhysX technology. Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang made no announcements regarding the deal until asked in the question-and-answer session, but he was happy to divulge a decent number of details.

"Today for review I've got an excellent product from a company called AutumnWave that's called the OnAir GT. The OnAir GT is a portable HDTV/DTV/ATV receiver that allows you to not only watch Hi-Def television on your PC but also record it to watch later like a standard DVR allows you. The OnAir GT also features the ability to attach external devices like game systems, video cameras, and DVD players as well to watch on your computer, or record, like in-game movies to share with your friends. It comes with a fully functional remote to control the OnAir GT, and even comes with software to edit the videos that you've recorded. "

CLICK HERE FOR AutumnWave OnAir GT USB HDTV/DTV Receiver SHOPPING & PRICING

"Thermaltake Big Water 760i proves that a liquid cooling system is still a rational choice: given the performance is a bit higher and the pump quieter, we would have got an absolute must have!"

CLICK HERE FOR Thermaltake BigWater 760i Liquid Cooling Kit SHOPPING & PRICING

CLICK HERE FOR TWEAKNEWS.NET'S REVIEW ON THIS PRODUCT

"We had the chance a while back to review the Corsair HX series 620 watt power supply and it managed to be one of the most stable we have yet to come across. The power levels were incredibly clean and showed no stability issues at all. While this was a sure winner in our labs, past performance won't help out in today's testing.

When it comes to power supplies, the days of picking up whatever happens to be on the shelf are long gone. With the advent of more powerful processors, graphics and cooling solutions, power is just too important to take shortcuts with."

CLICK HERE FOR Corsair TX750W 750watt Power Supply SHOPPING & PRICING

"Lancool Metal Boned K10 brings the best of both worlds: its exterior is made of aluminum, bringing a flawless finishing and being lighter than all-steel cases and, at the same time, its internal body is still made of zinc-coated steel (a.k.a. "SECC"), which makes this case to cost far less than all-aluminum products . This case is particularly targeted to users that go to LAN parties, not only because it is lighter than other steel and hybrid cases around, but because it presents a very robust construction and a couple of small features to prevent unauthorized people from opening your case."

"Super Talent is a company most commonly known for their contributions to the memory market. Unbeknownst to most consumers, however, they also manufacture a variety of solid state memory, power supplies, and digital music players. Today we’re going to have a look at one of Super Talent’s less main stream products, the Vidego touch-screen digital music player."

CLICK HERE FOR Super Talent Vidego28 SHOPPING & PRICING

"First up was Crysis and all seemed well until I got in a Hummer and could barely hear the sound of the engine when the car was pointed forwards (into the screen) and the camera view was external. Adjusting the volumes of the centre and rear channels helped a bit, but the sound was still noticeably uneven, it seemed as though some of the sound was missing as the vehicle careered down a dirt track in near silence. Whilst driving, moving the camera to either side using the mouse revealed the sound of the engine. I sighed a little. Although not nearly as severe, the Ear Force X-52 has the same uneven 3D soundfield as the Medusa 5.1 headsets."

CLICK HERE FOR Turtle Beach Ear Force X-52 PC Gaming Headphones SHOPPING & PRICING

"Having a mixed up CrossFire configuration performed better than expected and was able to near the performance level of other high end ATI CrossFire setups. This goes to show that ATI has made great improvements to their CATALYST drivers as taking an ATI Radeon HD 3870 and running it in CrossFire mode with an ATI Radeon HD 3850 was found to be stable and offered great improvements over a single card of either model. How many people will actually try this has yet to be seen, but this is an easy way to cut costs and improve performance..."

Looking to move up to Draft N wireless but don't want to spend a fortune? TRENDnet has a $70 solution for you, in the form of the TEW-631BRP. Despite it's budget price and bright blue hue, the router turns out to be a great offering.

CLICK HERE FOR TRENDnet TEW-631BRP Wireless N Router SHOPPING & PRICING

AMD's Radeon HD 3850 Series has been on the market for a while now. Add-in-Board Partners are constantly looking for ways to seperate themselves from the competition and that's why Sapphire has engineered a Radeon HD 3850 with 1024 MB of GDDR3 memory and faster core clock out of the box. But can a card like this really benefit from 1 GB of video memory?

"Once again, we have a Gigabyte DQ6 motherboard on our testing table, which means we are dealing with something prestigious. As we expected, the motherboard worked great. Everything was rock-stable and the overclocking was good as well. Besides, the mobo is very cool no matter the O/C values, which is also a testament to the efficiency of the cooling system."

CLICK HERE FOR Gigabyte GA-X38-DQ6 SHOPPING & PRICING

"The number one question Frostytech readers ask us is "what's the best silent heatsink?" Much of the time, readers find themselves asking us this question after they've built a media center PC using the standard type of heatsink one normally finds in local computer stores. If you need a silent heatsink, and I do mean silent, the Scythe Zipang (SCZP-1000) is the next best thing to a passive block of aluminum (the only truly silent option). What makes the Zipang quiet is a 138mm wide fan that spins at a lazy 1000RPM."

"With the release of the Phenom, AMD has introduced the world to native quad core computing at a consumer level. We test the Phenom 9600 Black Edition for its performance and overclocking results. Will the Phenom 9600 Black Edition please consumers and provide results as well as overclocking? Read our review to see our "Mixed" results."

CLICK HERE FOR AMD Phenom 9600 Black Edition SHOPPING & PRICING

"I recently purchased a Dell Inspiron 531 desktop computer, which came with Vista as the only option. After trying to make use of the computer with my normal operating habits for a week, I decided to make the switch back to XP. In truth, it wasn't simply an upgrade to a "more familiar experience" it was an upgrade to a more usable machine that provided a better level of performance with the same hardware."

CLICK HERE FOR Windows XP SHOPPING & PRICING

We want to let you all know that we’ve just posted a new article at HotHardware featuring ASUS’ slick U6S notebook. If you’re unfamiliar with it, the ASUS U6S is best described as a full-featured ultraportable laptop. Except for the relatively small 12.1" LED backlit screen, the U6S offers many of the same features of a standard full-size notebook, but in a compact ultraportable body. Built on Intel's fourth-generation Centrino platform, also known as Santa Rosa, the U6S manages to cram the same level of performance as a full-sized notebook into a diminutive 3.5lb package. Head on over to the site and check it out, this is one good looking machine...

CLICK HERE FOR ASUS U6S Ultraportable Notebook SHOPPING & PRICING

Apevia aren’t the most widely known maker of cases, especially since they changed their name from Aspire. We’ve seen a couple of their cases before, and today I have another to add to the list. The rather cumbersome name – G Junior Type X-Telstar – relates to a front temperature and voltage display with a couple of 120mm fan thrown in.

CLICK HERE FOR Apevia G-Junior Type X-Telstar SHOPPING & PRICING

"The Kingston DataTraveler HyperX USB Flash Drives have a read speed of 30MB/s and write speed of 20MB/sec so they certainly deserve the HyperX name as it is hands-down the fastest USB Flash drive that Kingston offers. The Kingston DataTravler HyperX USB Flash drive that we are looking at today is the 8GB version, but Kingston offers the drive with different capacities at various price points, so if you want a HyperX USB Flash drive you can pick from a 2GB ($54.99), 4GB ($99.99) or 8GB (189.99) capacity..."

CLICK HERE FOR Kingston DataTraveler HyperX 8GB USB Flash Drive SHOPPING & PRICING

"Thermaltake is a company that is very well know to the enthusiast computer builder community. They provide many great products including a line of heavy (as in weight) power supplies, modding, cooling, and cases. ThermalTake was founded in 1999 and has really grown every since. They have always put out good looking products and the SopranoRS 101 is no different. Let's take a closer look."

CLICK HERE FOR ThermalTake SopranoRS 101 Case SHOPPING & PRICING

HardwareLogic takes a look at one of Asus' newest CPU coolers, the Silent Square EVO, and put it through the torture chamber otherwise known as 'The Cooling Lab'. After hours of grueling testing and dissecting, the Silent Square Evo made it out alive but how did it fare?

CLICK HERE FOR ASUS Silent Square EVO CPU Cooler SHOPPING & PRICING

"Asus has put yet another sexy, quiet CPU cooler on the street. Once you have this monstrous heatsink sitting in your rig, invite your friends over to gawk at its size and seductive design. The blue LED light emitting from the center makes it look like an alien power generator of some kind. Installation went smoother then expected and it will be difficult to find a quieter air cooler out there (unless you go fanless). "

CLICK HERE FOR ASUS Silent Square EVO CPU Cooler SHOPPING & PRICING

Presenting the Thermaltake Bigwater 760i, an internal, all-in-one water cooling solution for the masses. It has an adjustable LED fan, easy to read reservoir, quick disconnect fittings and a whole lot more. But does it have what it takes to supplant air cooling as the choice of cooling for millions of users?

CLICK HERE FOR Thermaltake Bigwater 760i SHOPPING & PRICING

"One area that I was especially impressed with was the ease with which a failed overclock recovered. I found myself pushing so far out of bounds that the hardware had no chance of booting. Boot to a few warning beeps, a shut down and presto, a perfect boot at the default processor and memory settings. Not once did it fail to recover. That's huge in my book. Speaking of overclocking, I was able to push the FSB threshhold 3 MHz higher than my previous best with my trusty Q6600. The other side of that is that in raw processor speed, I was able to achieve 3760MHz, which is 160MHz higher than I had been able to get stable before working with the MARS. The Gladiator BIOS is easy to navigate through with the extreme voltage limits clearly marked. As you reach a level that is considered dangerous, the color of the measurement changes from white to red to let you know you are in the high end of the voltage range."

CLICK HERE FOR Foxconn Mars SHOPPING & PRICING

Well, Thermaltake has a solution for people like me and maybe someone like 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 opening up an enclosure, mounting a drive and then closing it all back up, the Blac X doesn’t use an enclosure. Confused? Yeah, I would be too. But read the review and we will clear it all up for you.

We continue checking out the efficiency of mainstream liquid-cooling systems. Today we will talk about a new solution from Cooler Master. It is inexpensive, simple to install, universal. Will it also be able to prove better than a traditional air-cooler?

CLICK HERE FOR Cooler Master Aquagate S1 Liquid Cooling System SHOPPING & PRICING

"The Samsung Beat is a music phone for those on a budget. While it offers up some good sound, it's lacking in other areas."

“The SteelSeries Ikari Series mice, just being released not too long ago, are a perfect gaming addition for anyone looking to improve their gaming. With 15 months of research and development SteelSeries has been able to 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 perfect sensitivity. Wondering what CPI means? Check out the review to this as well as many other features of the Ikari Laser mouse.”

CLICK HERE FOR SteelSeries Ikari Laser Mouse SHOPPING & PRICING

It has been a while since we have seen a new case from our friends at AeroCool, but they have come out swinging with the new M40 Small Form Factor Case. It feaures an LCD Display with temperature, Fan speed and Hard Drive activity indicator. It also has room for a pair of optical drives and perhaps the coolest feature of all is the two part chassis. Come on along a see what you think of this newest offering.

The Phenom 9600 Black Edition is a veritable enthusiast's playground if you know how to tweak it. We turned the knobs and dials on the Black Edition to see what we could get--assisted by a cooler the size of your head.

"The ASUS Triton 77 heatsink is one of the latest processor thermal solutions to come from motherboard manufacturing giant ASUS. The heatsink is equipped with a Sunon MagLev 92mm vapo-bearing PWM fan which runs at a very quiet 2300RPM. Standing a moderate 125mm tall, the Triton 77 heatsink has five copper heatpipes spread across its curved array of nickel-plated aluminum fins, and weighs 505 grams. The bulk of this heatsink is elevated 55mm above the CPU socket for good component clearance."

"Xonar D2 is the first sound card from ASUS designed mostly for Home Entertainment. Nevertheless, the card has software EAX2.0 support and full-size MIDI connectors on an additional bracket, as well as Ableton Live and SONAR LE in the bundle."

CLICK HERE FOR ASUS Xonar D2 Sound Card SHOPPING & PRICING

With the recent release of the Radeon 3850 and GeForce 8800 GS there is a new battle taking place for consumers with a budget of £100-£140 and today we have two such cards on our test bench, the XFX 8800 GS XXX 384Mb and the Sapphire 3850 256Mb.

CLICK HERE FOR Sapphire HD 3850 SHOPPING & PRICING

We take a closer look at the fastest dual core CPU from Intel, the E8500, dubbed Wolfdale, is manufactured at 45nm which translates in low power usage and excellent potential for overclocking. We compare the performance of this newcomer to a 65nm Core 2 Duo and overclock past the limit using LN2.

"TX750W belongs to the latest power supply series from Corsair, TX. It is the power supply with the highest wattage from Corsair today - rated at 50º C, by the way, which is great - and also the only one featuring four power connectors for video cards - even the 650 W model from TX series doesn't have four connectors. Another technical feature of this new series is the use of a single high current +12 V rail instead of several virtual rails with lower currents - units from their HX series have three virtual rails, but models from their VX series also feature a single +12V rail. It doesn't feature a modular cabling system like HX series, but it has a 140-mm fan, high efficiency and active PFC. Let's take an in-depth look inside this power supply and see if it can truly deliver its rated power."

CLICK HERE FOR Corsair TX750W Power Supply SHOPPING & PRICING

"The Muse K1 case from GMC is so feature packed that it has made for my longest review yet, and even after this review there are still features of the case left un-shown. Before reviewing this case I wasn't so keen on it. But since I have used it, it has really grown on me. The extensive feature set surprised me time after time, and I was pleasantly surprised on more than one occasion when I would enter a different mode on the software and find a new use for the buttons and display on the front of the case."

"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 with a heatsink that performs well but has issues. Read our review to find out more."

Logitech's Harmony division have put a lot of of effort into the One, so we put it to the test to see if it all paid off. In addition to the comfortable design and individually contoured buttons, the One features a large LCD screen, support for over 5,000 brands, a stylish charger and a respectable price tag.

CLICK HERE FOR Logitech Harmony One Advanced Universal Remote SHOPPING & PRICING

"Just as there are two basic types of people, the enthusiast peripheral market is made up of leaders and followers. Not content to mingle among the latter, Asus often leads the pack with innovative designs, and this week we're focusing exclusively on three very different CPU coolers from Asus. Today we get medieval with the Silent Knight II. Will the Silent Knight II prove but deadly against two modern day foes (heat and noise), or simply be found wanting? Pull up a spectator's chair as we get set to joust from within HL's cooling lab."

CLICK HERE FOR Asus Silent Knight II CPU Cooler SHOPPING & PRICING

"While the design isn’t unique, it does follow a pattern set forth by some very efficient CPU Coolers. From a distance it would be difficult to tell the 212 from our current performance leader and award winner, the Noctua NH-12P; the designs are so close.

Cooler Master does have a vast distribution system and getting your hands on a Hyper 212 is going to be a lot easier than finding the Rosewill Z5. A big plus for consumers is that they can walk into many retail locations and pull a Cooler Master product right off of the shelf."

CLICK HERE FOR Cooler Master Hyper 212 CPU Cooler SHOPPING & PRICING

"The Japanese manufacturer Scythe has introduced a low profile, sub-70mm tall heatsink for Intel and AMD processors tailor made for low profile computers. If you've got a low profile PC and are looking for that extra cooling edge, this might be just what the doctor ordered. The Scythe Shuriken (SCSK-1000) heatsink features copper heatpipes, high density stacked aluminum fins, a copper base and a low profile 12mm thick 100mm Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) fan."

"For current Radeon HD3870 owners, it's an extremely affordable way of boosting your performance just by getting hold of a cheaper HD3850 card. "

CLICK HERE FOR Radeon HD3870 SHOPPING & PRICING

CLICK HERE FOR Radeon HD3850 SHOPPING & PRICING

NVIDIA’s new motherboard chipset builds upon the successful 680i SLI chipset from last year. The competition from Intel in the motherboard market is about to get very heated with the release of the Skulltrail platform for the high-end enthusiast and the X48, P35 and X38 chipsets offering higher performance with almost the same feature set (sans SLI). The 780i SLI adds support for the new PCI express 2.0 specification via bridge chip and the 45nanometer Intel CPUs to NVIDIA motherboard chipsets.

CLICK HERE FOR EVGA 780i SLI Motherboard SHOPPING & PRICING

As is the case with XFX’s other XXX Alpha Dog Edition cards, their 256MB GeForce 8800 GT offering ships from the factory with a significantly overclocked GPU and memory.

"Noctua derived its name from the Greek mythology. The little owl, Athene Noctua, is the symbol of the Greek goddess Athene, who represents wisdom, science and strategy. She has a marked preference for the most clever among the Greek heroes, like Odysseus, who endure their adventures by the use of savvy consideration instead of mere force. It is the owl's silent flight that Noctua keeps in mind with their fan design..."

"The USB Media Remote is tiny, feature packed including a built-in laser pointer and it fits right inside of a free PCMCIA slot for storage and easy portability. So if you're like me and the majority of laptop owners out there who didn't get a remote with their laptop but want one then I can easily recommend this product, so read on to check it out... "

The Optoma HD80 adds 1080p goodness to your media room, just make sure to fine-tune it for best performance.

"When it comes to memory, lower latencies at lower memory speeds usually outperform higher latencies at higher memory clock speeds. In five out of nine benchmark tests the Patriot Viper Fin PC2 6400 performed better than the competition. The things that make these modules attractive are the low latencies at DDR2 800 speeds and the ability of the specially designed heatspreaders to dissipate the heat generated by the modules. In fact, even when pushing 2.5 volts through them the modules were still cool to the touch. Of course, airflow over the modules needs to be present any time you go over 2.3 volts to DDR2 memory. When it came time to overclock the Viper Fin modules I was more than a little skeptical about how well they would scale based on the 2.3 volts requirement for only DDR2 800 speeds. DDR2 840 was a little dissapointing for the 3-4-3 timings the modules are designed to run at, but relaxing the CAS latency caused the Viper Fin modules to push up another 217 FSB. Pretty amazing from a set of DDR2 800 modules."

CLICK HERE FOR Patriot Viper Fin Extreme Latency PC2 6400 SHOPPING & PRICING

“If you know what a motherboard is, chances are pretty good that you have heard of Asus. Between their enthusiast and OEM motherboards, they have built a significant number of the motherboards in PCs throughout the world. They also build nearly every other component found in a PC...video cards, sound cards, power supplies, LAN and WLAN products, chassis, optical drives, and whatever else. The Maximus Formula is among the latest Asus Intel X38 boards utilizing DDR2 memory. Will it prove to be the excellent board that Asus' P35 boards are? Stay tuned to see!”

CLICK HERE FOR ASUS Maximus Formula Intel X38 Motherboard SHOPPING & PRICING

Over the last few months, NVIDIA has been enjoying the high-end graphic card market with their current 8800 series. AMD was unable to compete with NVIDIA with their HD 2900 series but the situation is getting better with the introduction of the HD 3800 series. Although AMD is still not able to take the performance crown away from NVIDIA, its latest HD 3850 is performing fairly close and their upcoming card may very well steal the crown away from NVIDIA.

The Moneaul Labs M775 Mid Tower Professional Series Case is what you would expect to find on the lower end of the spectrum. It includes only the basics of a computer case, lacking the innovative features that we like to see. While it doesn’t manage to pack in things like tool-less drive bays or removable cages, the M775 does have its only little nifty qualities.

Don't let anyone have you believe that High Definition Televisions are the future. A more correct statement is that HDTV's are the present, the here and now, and have already been around for a few years. Unfortunately, not everyone is up to speed, and some are going to be very surprised by the changes in store ahead. You see, by the time this article is published there will be exactly one year remaining until D-Day hits and the transition to an all-digital terrestrial broadcast begins. In past articles Benchmark Reviews gave you specific instructionson how to survive this digital transition, which offered a guide on how to smartly buy your first HDTV However, in this article we test one of the better alternatives for step-up consumers who want to enjoy full high-definition content without falling into the money pit. Benchmark Reviews has cleared a space atop the entertainment center to inspect the SOYO MT-SYXRT4791AB 47-Inch LCD 1080p Widescreen HDTV in this performance review.

CLICK HERE FOR SOYO 47-Inch LCD 1080p HDTV MT-SYXRT4791AB SHOPPING & PRICING

The SD2/8GB is an 8GB Class 2 SDHC memory card. Class 2 means that the card writes at (a minimum) of 2MB/s. This is the lowest speed class you can get in SDHC. Don't let that stand in your way; this is an 8GB card after all. Kingston offers a lifetime warranty on all its memory products. You don't have to worry about it breaking, but if it does, you are covered.

CLICK HERE FOR Kingston SD2/8GB SDHC Card SHOPPING & PRICING

Having the ability to overclock a Quad-Core processor while keeping your machine quiet used to be a pipe-dream, until CoolIT's latest CPU cooler came into the picture. With the PURE, we managed a nice 3.67GHz clock on our QX6850, all while being able to hear our hard drives over the cooler.

"If only there was a portable power source specifically for the iPhone user... which is where today's product comes into play, the iPhone Portable Power Station. The iPhone Portable Power Station is a phone case and external power source in one, boasting some pretty neat features on top of all of this."

"The real deciding factor for me, was Piranha’s true-to-life audio quality, and the adjustable, noise-filtering microphone."

"With systems with multiple video cards requiring more power everyday, 1,000 W power supplies are becoming very common. OCZ has released a new 1,000 W product in the market, ProXStream 1000 W, targeted to power-hungry consumers that are willing to put three or four high-end video cards (this unit has four six-pin VGA power connectors) and several hard disk drives inside their systems. What is really different about this power supply compared to other 1,000-watt units around is it uses a small form factor, being at the same size of any standard ATX power supply, due to its interesting internal design using two printed circuit boards stacked. We completely disassembled this new unit from OCZ to see how it looks like inside and what design and components were used, plus we put it on our load tester to see whether it can deliver its rate 1,000 W or not."

CLICK HERE FOR OCZ ProXStream 1000 W Power Supply SHOPPING & PRICING

My monitor had no dead pixels and worked great as well as being simple to connect. At the end of the day the quality of the monitor and its price make for a very solid buy one that I can wholeheartedly recommend as it meets or exceeds the requirements needed by most users. Good product V7 group, keep up the good work. I give the D22W12-N6 the Gamers Gold as it is well worth looking into and highly affordable, not to mention being widely available on the net. The V7 group uses only A grade or better panels in all their monitors and this shows when viewing them.

CLICK HERE FOR V7 D22W12 22 Inch Widescreen Monitor SHOPPING & PRICING

Skulltrail. Even the name sounds mean. If you haven't heard the codename before now then we have a treat in store for you today. Skulltrail is a high end desktop PC platform based on Xeon class workstation processors. How does Dual Cpu, 8 Cores, four graphics card slots, dual 1600mhz front side buses with a total of 25.6 GB/s of bandwidth grab you?

"This time, we are reviewing the new nForce 780i chipset, provided by ASUS, based on the newest Nvidia motherboard solution which should provide quite some novelties for gamers. With this chipset, Nvidia officially supported Penryn processors and, most of all, promoted the 3-way SLI."

CLICK HERE FOR ASUS P5N-T Deluxe SHOPPING & PRICING

We continue talking about new desktop processors from Penryn family manufactured with 45nm process. Today we are going to talk about the youngest quad-core Yorkfield CPU, which should replace the today’s market hit – Core 2 Quad Q6600.

"Gaming mice manufacturers seem to think that more is better, but that's not always the case, sometimes less is better especially when they focus more on the actual performance and the usability of the mouse, rather than added frivolities. SteelSeries has done just that and created a gaming mouse that has a nice balance of performance and features that you'll actually use... so continue on to learn more about my new mouse!"

CLICK HERE FOR SteelSeries Ikari Laser Gaming Mouse SHOPPING & PRICING

"NeoPower is a high efficiency power supply series from Antec, being sold in the past as "HE" (High Efficiency). According to Antec, power supplies from this series have an efficiency of up to 85% (compare to less than 70% on regular power supplies), meaning less power loss - an 85% efficiency means that 85% of the power pulled from the power grid will be converted in power on the power supply outputs and only 15% will be wasted. This translates into less consumption from the power grid (as less power needs to be pulled in order to generate the same amount of power on its outputs), meaning lower electricity bills. Power supplies from this series - currently available on 380 W, 430 W, 500 W, 550 W and 650 W versions -feature a modular cabling system and a standard 80-mm fan on their rear side. We took an in-depth look on the 550 W model and tested to see if it could really deliver its rated 550 W or not."

CLICK HERE FOR Antec NeoPower 550 Power Supply SHOPPING & PRICING

"Thermaltake took note of this and created a product that really stood out at the show, a hard drive docking station known as the BlacX. The idea behind this product is so simple and yet, so ingenious that I am shocked that nobody else has thought of it yet. Simply put, the BlacX is a USB 2.0 hot-swappable 2.5" and 3.5" SATA docking station that accepts all hard drives up to 1TB in size."

The HeadRoom Total BitHead portable amplifier and DAC is a great combination of both a USB audio codec and a headphone amplifier that will drive most high end cans on the market today. The HeadRoom Total BitHead sells for only $149.99 which can be considered a steal for such a product.

It is not often as a reviewer that I get to talk about something exciting in the optical mouse department. That has changed with the addition of the Microsft Sidewinder USB Gaming Mouse. This is the first mouse which features an LED display of the DPI setting on the mouse. Combine that with weight system and repaceable mouse feet and you have a first class mouse.

CLICK HERE FOR Microsoft Sidewinder USB Gaming Mouse SHOPPING & PRICING

Like other 512MB GTS cards, the PNY XLR8 GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB is based on the recently released 65nm G92 GPU that features a full 128 stream processors and a 256-bit memory interface.

CLICK HERE FOR PNY XLR8 GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB SHOPPING & PRICING

"The Auras SMF-660 heatsink is a compact Intel heatsink that weighs just over 400 grams, stands 108mm tall, and hides its lone fan quietly away. If you've been faced with the problem of an ill-fitting processor heatsink for a compact PC chassis, take comfort that sub-150mm tall CPU coolers do indeed exist. Auras ship the SMF-660 heatsink with a 92mm PWM fan that scales in speed from 1200-2100RPM with compatible motherboards."

"After testing the Razer Destructor with all my favourite games, I've made up my mind. The Razer Destructor is one of the best mousepad I've tested to date."

"The single player campaign doesn't really prepare you for fighting on equal terms; almost every mission starts from vastly unequal starting positions, and the AI doesn't even try to "play to win" - it just goes on doing whatever the script says it should be doing. Due to this heavily scripted nature, the other available modes are a whole different ball game in comparison. Once you turn to skirmish games, the actual AI, starting from equal position, will immediately trounce you to tiny bits. Only after you readjust your tactics and start playing under the normal RTS mindset of maximizing your production and resources, and fully exploiting the different unit types to support each other, can you can expect to start pulling off wins."

The AMD(ATI) Radeon 3870 X2 - codename R680 - has been spoken off on websites for a long time and said to be the return of AMD/ATI to the high-end arena and capable of challenging the GeForce 8800 series. ASUS is once again one of the first manufactures to introduce the latest products from ATI and we at HARDiNFO we will be testing this new contender for the performance crown.

CLICK HERE FOR ASUS EAH3870 X2 SHOPPING & PRICING

CLICK HERE FOR ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 SHOPPING & PRICING

"While almost every enthusiast who has tinkered with memory knows the name Infineon, few know Infineon's memory division, Qimonda (the #3 DRAM maker in the world), or Qimonda's OEM branch Aeneon (although, again, those familiar with memory ICs, might recognize the name from some pretty good enthusiast kits). Aeneon memory has, until recently, made their mark primarily as a supplier of OEM parts for notebooks and desktops."

There are three important factors that make GeForce 8800 GT a better run for the money. First and foremost, the GPU is manufactured using 65 nm process, thus making it a smaller and cooler chip. The second change involves the way G92 communicates with the rest of the components; PCI Express 2.0 which in my opinion is more of an evolution than revolution (sort of like AGPx4 -> AGPx8). The last thing that has been overlooked when looking at enthusiast SKUs is VP2 or Visual Processor which takes care of HD video decoding.

“When you think of Thermaltake you think cases and power supplies, not hard drive enclosures. While they do make hard drive enclosures they are not known for that, but they soon might be with the BlacX. The BlacX is not really a hard drive enclosure, it is more of a docking station. Unlike other hard drive docking stations we have seen the BlacX has a totally different design and since it is made by Thermaltake we know it won't be like the cheap docking stations we have seen. Let's check it out...”

“You may notice in the test graph that the PF rating is rather low or high, depending on how you look at it. The .82% is above the normal reading that is given from Ultra, and will be what the average user will see due to the fact that I'm only pulling roughly 350W. My system setup didn't even dent the capabilities of the Ultra X2 750W Extreme Edition, but users with a higher demand for the wattage will see a much more efficient reading overall. You may also notice that I don't have any voltage readings of the rails fluctuating; well, any minor fluctuating is normal whether at idle or at full load.”

CLICK HERE FOR Ultra X2 750W Extreme Edition ATX Power Supply SHOPPING & PRICING