Week of November 11, 2007

"Looking at the specs the A-DATA Vitesta Extreme Edition DDR2-800 memory has all the makings of a high end DDR2 kit; 2GBs of PC2-6400 dual channel goodness, Enhanced Performance Profile support (EPP), 4-4-4-12 memory timings and a pretty swanky bright red memory heatsink."

“It's been over nine months since Microsoft announced the Windows Home Server at CES 2007 in Las Vegas. There has been a lot of hype, and a very strong enthusiast community stands behind it. Microsoft has set out to create a simple server - one that everyday folks can use and manage, which won't require an MCSE or the neighborhood computer kid. Late in August Microsoft announced the gold version of WHS, and after about five or six weeks of anxious waiting, it finally became available at US outlets like Newegg for around $185. So how does the final 1.0 version of Windows Home Server stack up? Fairly well, read on for more details.”

CLICK HERE FOR Microsoft Windows Home Server SHOPPING & PRICING

" Today, we will be looking at a new product from Scythe, the Kama-Wing, a passive cooler for PC memory. This heatspreader is unique in its appearance which features a set of "wings" that come off at an 80 degree angle from the memory area of the spreaders. Let's see if the Kama-Wing actually improves the temperature of our memory. "

CLICK HERE FOR Scythe KAMA WING SILVER Aluminum Memory Heatsink SHOPPING & PRICING

" I recently got the chance to play with not one but two cpu's from Intel, the Intel E6750 which runs at 2,66Ghz and the QX6850 which runs at 3.0Ghz. This review is not about one vs the other, looking at them pricewise the QX6850 would be the winner weighing in at $ 944,- (OEM). But then again if your budget isn't up that then the E6750 might win you over selling for $ 194,- (OEM) does make it look very attractive. "

CLICK HERE FOR Intel Core 2 Duo Desktop E6750 SHOPPING & PRICING

CLICK HERE FOR Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6850 SHOPPING & PRICING

CLICK HERE FOR TWEAKNEWS.NET'S REVIEW ON THE E6750

CLICK HERE FOR TWEAKNEWS.NET'S REVIEW ON THE QX6850

"Once I had removed the HD 3850 from the packaging, I was able to tell that the card itself had a picture of the same lady as the box did. The Sapphire HD 3850 card is has ATI's Crossfire X Technology and also will support PCI-E 2.0. The heatsink and fan setup on this card does not extend to the end of the card like some other video cards but the fan housing does completely cover the GPU's heatsink. This card has two DVI-I outputs on it as well as a S-Video output located between the DVI-I outputs."

"Since then we have seen several speed increases. When DDR topped out at 400MHz we saw DDR2 memory make its debut, this added new technologies to increase speed along with lower voltage requirements and the same Dual Channel status. Now the torch has been passed to DDR3, and while still in its infancy it’s gained the big blue giants approval, and even some modifications as well.

Intel has brought to the DDR3 memory table what it likes to call Extreme Memory Profile, or XMP for short. What is it and how does it work? Today we find out with our first XMP memory modules from OCZ Technology."

CLICK HERE FOR OCZ DDR3 PC3-12800 Titanium SHOPPING & PRICING

"With gaming becoming an increasingly competitive activity, some gamers choose to add a little edge to their play through upgrading their main weapons, the keyboard and mouse. Some however, choose to break away from a device originally designed for typing, and use a gamepad or gaming board. Cyber Snipa are one company attempting to cash in on this gamer choice with their PC-Gamepad 2. Let's see what it can do."

"Calling all cooling enthusiasts, there is a new TIM in town! Arctic Cooling has concocted a new, versatile thermal compouned dubbed MX-2. Does Arctic Cooling have an award winner or is this just another one hit wonder like the previous New Kids on the Block? Let's find out!"

Game storyline: When some creature escapes into space with Princess Peach, Mario gives chase, exploring bizarre planets all across the galaxy. Characters: Mario, Peach and enemies new and old.

CLICK HERE FOR Super Mario Galaxy SHOPPING & PRICING

The Kingwin KF-4000-BK 4-Bay Hot Swap SATA Drive Rack supports up to four drives in the space of just three drive bays. Enclosures like this are not only useful in servers, but as the storage needs of home users increase, they provide a convenient way to keep up and up-to-date.

CLICK HERE FOR Kingwin KF-4000-BK 4-Bay Hot Swap SATA Drive Rack SHOPPING & PRICING

Some motherboard manufacturers specialize in providing products for a specific group of users or a select audience. While some boards are geared toward PC gamers and enthusiasts, others are made to cater to multimedia users and budget-minded consumers’ needs. ASRock typically creates unique motherboards that are extremely feature-rich, but won’t break the bank. Today, we have the ASRock 4Core1333-eSATA2 ATX motherboard on our test bench. This board sports a host of features including support for 1333 FSB, CrossFire video cards, PCI Express, eSATA, and HDMI to name a few. Those features are just the tip of the iceberg for this motherboard, so let’s move right into the review.

“Swappable hard drives are nothing new, we have seen them for over 5 years now. One thing that was always a pain was that if I wanted to move something 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 to both of these first the flash drive can only hold so much data and the external USB hard drives are usually big and are not fun to carry around with you. Icydock has a solution for this problem the MB663 hard drive enclosure. It is a 2.5-inch external enclosure that comes with a 3.5-inch internal swappable bay.”

"Are you tired of boring traditional computer impressions and long to experience the excitement of revolutionary hardware design? We thought so. In that case be sure to check out the latest, er... case, from Sunbeamtech... the Quarterback."

"Be a pro gamer with the new Logitech G9 Laser Mouse, the most precise mouse we have seen to date."

CLICK HERE FOR Logitech G9 Laser Mouse SHOPPING & PRICING

Installation was child's play, at least for my socket 939 CPU. You simply interlock the mounting clip pieces around the base plate and clip the heat sink onto the stock motherboard retention frame. You do need to check the clearance on your motherboard capacitors and any heat sinks sprinkled around the motherboard. On the DFI LanParty UT nF4 Ultra-D, one of the heat pipes barely cleared a mosfet heat sink. Low profile coolers do have their drawbacks, and the CNPS8000 is no exception. Users with Intel CPUs must replace the retention frame.

CLICK HERE FOR Zalman CNPS8000 CPU Cooler SHOPPING & PRICING

CLICK HERE FOR Zalman VF900-Cu GPU Cooler SHOPPING & PRICING

"In this review PCSTATS is pleased to be testing a new 4GB pair of Patriot Memory's DDR2-800 PDC24G6400LLK memory. The dual channel memory kit is rated to run at DDR2-800/PC2-6400 speeds with impressive 4-4-4-12 memory timings!"

CLICK HERE FOR Patriot PDC24G6400LLK DDR2-800 4GB Memory Kit SHOPPING & PRICING

This game is great. The developers realized that instead of making a 12 hour game with about six hours of pure repitition, they decided to cut out the filler and serve the tender meat only. This game is short, but that is not a knock against it. You'll appreciate the fast pace and the tense situations. These are the most intense cutscenes/pseudo-cutscenes in any game, and they may play with your emotions at times. It's a game you want to play for presentation alone.

CLICK HERE FOR Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare SHOPPING & PRICING

“ECS has had some pretty darn decent motherboards since their NForce 5 chipsets first arrived. Now that we're on to Intel Core 2 Duo, ECS opted to go for a more feasible LGA 775 motherboard built around the Bearlake P35 Chipset. Now, we all know the flagship P35 boards overclock very, very well and offer some excellent performance results. Scaling back the amount of features a P35 has to offer isn't a bad thing and often performs just as well minus top range overclocking, extra e-SATA ports, and elaborate heat pipe cooling.”

The X-Jupiter Junior S Type case has some big features that are defiantly worth mentioning. First and foremost there is a very noticeable 250mm intake fan. Additionally, it has a tool-less design, sturdy construction and sharp looks.

CLICK HERE FOR Apevia X-Jupiter Case SHOPPING & PRICING

Hellgate London has a very fun concept behind it and lots of content to keep players going, but I'm not sure if that's going to be enough this time. Don't get me wrong, this is a fun game, but it's hard to play though the problems. Locking, lagging, crashing, all seem to be present even with the newest video drivers and OS patches in Windows Vista. I would highly recommend not having any programs running in the background that might draw focus to them, as that in and of itself leads to many crashes. This game isn't a big fan of the alt+tab motion either!

CLICK HERE FOR Hellgate London PC SHOPPING & PRICING

"... If you’re looking for a cheap and efficient solution to PC cooling I also highly recommend this kit."

Thermaltake recently added the Max 4 Active Cooling Enclosure to their lineup. This portable unit works with SATA hard drives and allows them to be used with USB 2.0 ports or faster eSATA connections. To help keep the drive cool, there is an 80 mm by 15 mm blue LED fan on one side and black mesh on the front and rear.

CLICK HERE FOR Thermaltake Max 4 Active Cooling Enclosure SHOPPING & PRICING

VidaBox produces some of the finest HTPCs on the market, but until recently, they've bundled keyboards from other companies. We are taking a look at their first own offering, a wireless solution with built-in trackball. It's compact, sturdy and surprisingly impressive.

Hmmmm… What is it that I am possibly missing? I know… a powerful power supply. Powering a system of this multitude takes a pretty powerful power supply. Most people would immediately scream out 850 plus watts. If you want the room and power to spare Tuniq has a new power unit just release to the market. The Miniplant is a small power-plant capable of providing a massive 950 watts of power, proving great things can come in small packages.

Here are some launch sites that have the latest information on what this new video chipset has to offer.

HotHardware
EliteBastards
Tweaktown
OverclockersClub
TechReport
NGOHQ
Mvktech

“Users love screen real estate-the bigger the monitor, the better. LG's L204LT 20.4-inch widescreen LCD display indulges this desire with its spacious, simple design and very high resolution. The contrast ratio is quite high for an LCD, and the response time is among the fastest we've seen. ThinkComputers takes a look at the L204WT-one of the best LCD monitors we've reviewed-in this review.”

CLICK HERE FOR LG L204WT 20.4-inch Widescreen LCD Monitor SHOPPING & PRICING

The TemJin 10 Case from Silverstone truly is a remarkable case. The engineers at SilverStone really outdid themselves with this case. It has really only one drawback and that was with the mounting system for the drives. Other than that there is no real downside to this case. It supports all of latest hardware. And offers an enthusiast a truly aesthetically pleasing enclosure to hold and protect what in most cases will be a very expensive computer system.

CLICK HERE FOR SilverStone TJ10 Case SHOPPING & PRICING

"If you're after a chassis that has room for watercooling in the near future, then the Gigabyte 3D Mars is a chassis definitely worth considering. It offers great features at a reasonable price."

“The OCZ ATV Turbo 4GB flash drive is a no doubt a handy little device with the ability to withstand the elements and shock by it's completely rubberized exterior. If you're tough on your flash drives and need them to withstand a beating, then this flash drive is designed for you. However even if you're like me and actually take care of your computer parts, this is still a nice unit to own because you know it can take a beating if it had to, and also for it's tough looking design.”

CLICK HERE FOR OCZ ATV Turbo Flash 4GB Drive SHOPPING & PRICING

Thermalright announced their new cooler dubbed the HR-11 VGA Backside Cooler. The HR-11 has dual heat pipes and a large surface area to offer additional cooling, with minimal effort required for installation. The HR-11 will even work in a SLI / Crossfire condition on today’s latest cards.

The DT2000 Thermo Eye from Jetart is a small gadget with two temperature sensors. The product is marketed as a tool to monitor temperatures of various computer components like graphics cards, memory, heatsinks, hard drives or your case's temperature.

"AirLive offers wide range of products from more basic hardware like routers and network cards, to more specialty items like Bluetooth accessories and Skype phones. Today HardwareLogic takes a close look at their new Wireless Hard Drive (WMU-6500FS), a suprisingly versatile box."

The desktop mouse sector has been relatively stagnant, with little to no new features except for slight cosmetic redesigns and the inclusion of a few more buttons. Then out of the blue came Logitechs Hyper-scroll technology, which singlehandedly (r)evolutionized how people used mice. Being able to scroll through hundreds of pages with just a flick of the wheel was impressive, but the technology behind the dynamic switching between hyper and regular scroll was even more jaw-dropping.

CLICK HERE FOR Logitech MX Air SHOPPING & PRICING

The new Easywatch is a front panel device that allows you to eyeball temps from different components inside your computer. It will also give the user the ability to adjust fan speed with the push of a button. There are several different devices like the Easywatch on the market, but, the thing the Easywatch has over a lot of the others is that it remains pretty sleek and simple. No excessive bling bling.

"The new Microsoft Zune comes out of the gate with better features, a slim design and awesome sound."

CLICK HERE FOR Microsoft Zune 8GB SHOPPING & PRICING

"So what can we conclude about the PNY 8600GT 512MB Overclocked video card? It clearly showed that it's a mainstream card that was run-of-the-mill. It did do marginally better than the Gigabyte 8600GT, but it wasn’t quite as good as the XFX 8600GT Fatal1ty. I was happy to see that the card didn’t buckle at high resolutions because I usually play my games at 1680x1050. The PNY 8600GT was easy to install and setup, so that was a plus. The card supports the new DirectX 10 technology and in addition, plays graphically challenging games such as BioShock at playable frame rates."

CLICK HERE FOR PNY GeForce 8600GT 512MB SHOPPING & PRICING

"Thermalright combines the best of their blow-down coolers with the unique design of the high-riser series to bring us the SI-128 SE. Instead of "Second Edition" as you might think, the "S" in SE is for Silent, something their HR line of coolers was quite good at."

CLICK HERE FOR Thermalright SI-128 SE Heatsink SHOPPING & PRICING

"The Olympia OP1200 1200W power supply delivers solid voltages, with excellent regulation and above average efficiency. It comes with sleeved cables and lots of connectors, which include two 8-pin EPS12V, four 6-pin PCI-e and two 8-pin PCI-e connectors. The enclosure is longer (220mm) than a standard ATX unit so the OP1200 might not fit some of the small PC cases. The Olympia OP1200 was quiet during normal operation and under load."

"The WN-5000R is an advance wireless router that uses the latest 802.11n technology. This means your file transfer speed can reach up to 120Mbps in real throughput which is over 6 times faster than standard 802.11g devices! It uses MIMO technology to provide ultra long range and wider wireless coverage."

“Gigabyte is mainly known for making motherboards, but if you didn't know they make a lot of other products. A while ago we took a look at their 3D Rocket II CPU cooler and it did perform well at all. They have just released a new cooler the Volar, which is very different from any CPU cooler that I have seen. And believe me I have seen a bunch of different CPU coolers! Let's see if this unique design can help the Volar perform better than the 3D Rocket II.”

"This motherboard definitely merits a reward in its own terms, but we simply have to omit one. Even if this board manages not to be too expensive, it is plain rabid to give 400€ for 2 gigs of DDR3 RAM. However, if you want the best of the best without caring much about the price, we recommend this board wholeheartedly."

CLICK HERE FOR ASUS P5E3 Deluxe/WiFi-AP@n SHOPPING & PRICING

If you were a teenager in the 80s then you certainly have fond memories of Don Bluth's laser-disc games like Dragon's Lair and Space Ace. These games were simply amazing at the time and were so bleeding edge that you could sever an arm if you got too close to the cabinet.

"What does a modern quad core processor with dual videocards and a lot of hard drives add up to? A killer gaming PC, and a huge headache for the power supply! The Enermax EGX850EWL-DXX weighs in at 850W, supporting the PCI Express 2.0 power connector for super duper performance videocards, and has an all-modular cable set up."

CLICK HERE FOR Enermax Galaxy EGX850EWL 850W Modular Power Supply SHOPPING & PRICING

"These days there are tons of gaming related devices available. For the most parts, these products can be dismissed as marketing tricks. These devices have nothing to do with gaming or they have a name of some famous gamer slapped on to them at best. This makes it hard for a gamer to decide what product is worth its asking price, as gaming related items tend to be more expensive than similar products without this labeling."

CLICK HERE FOR Microsoft SideWinder Mouse SHOPPING & PRICING

"Today I've got a very feature rich Micro ATX motherboard from Gigabyte, it's based off of the Intel G33 Bear Lake chipset, it's got tons of features with full support for the latest CPUs and even HD audio and video support as well for those who might want to use it for a higher end HTPC setup, or just a nice gaming rig. This motherboard is the GA-G33M-DSR2 model, and it's from Gigabytes' Ultra Durable 2
line of motherboards featuring all solid capacitors, ferrite core chokes and low RDS Mosfets to enable longer life and lower overall temperatures for the board and system. It truly is a very capable board, from my tests it easily holds it's own up against the latest offerings from Nvidia... "

CLICK HERE FOR GIGABYTE GA-G33M-DS2R LGA775 Intel G33 Bear Lake Micro ATX Motherboard SHOPPING & PRICING

"So what exactly is this product? The Kama Connect 2 is an IDE and SATA to USB adapter - It is not a USB enclosure. The entire idea is to allow users to connect their IDE or SATA devices (Desktop HDDs, Laptop HDDs, CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, etc) to the computer externally via the USB port, virtually eliminating the need of opening the case. These of you who had the chance to work as technicians can only imagine how useful this kind of product can be especially with Norton Ghost around."

CLICK HERE FOR Scythe Kama Connect 2 Adapter SHOPPING & PRICING

The Razer Lachesis is the first mouse to feature a third generation laser sensor which operates at a maximum of 4000 DPI. The new technology looks good on paper, but how does it perform in real world scenarios. In this review we will put this new technology to the test and see if it lives up to the expectations.

CLICK HERE FOR Razer Lachesis SHOPPING & PRICING

If you want a liquid cooling system that is functional, flexible and able to be customized to whatever your needs may be, Swiftech is your kind of company. This system uses a self-powered Apogee drive water-block combined with a triple radiator, three fans and dual Stealth VGA coolers. This was done in order to make one bad ass liquid cooled super system based on NVIDIA’s SLI platform. As you can see from the results we were able to overclock our 3.0GHz QuadCore X6850 to 4.0GHz without any warranty voiding mods or outlandish voltage increases.

Last year Seagate launched a 750GB 1st Generation Perpendicular hard drive to the world. When released the Barracuda 750GB 7200.10 was the largest hard drive was the largest drive available, notice we say was. This 750GB drive at the time was only bettered in performance by the Western digital Raptors, which only held 20% of the Barracuda's capacity. So now with people storing more music, videos and in Scott's case games and game demos even larger drives have become necessary. Seagate seeing that need has seen fit to drop a 1TB hard drive on us. This new drive is 2nd Generation Perpendicular technology based and has its CACHE upgraded from 16MB to 32MB.

Today it is our pleasure at Bjorn3D to continue our reviews of the Seagate storage review saga. Because we were fortunate enough to receive both the Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200.11, aimed at the mainstream consumer market and the Seagate Barracuda 1TB ES.2, designed more for enterprise networking solutions; Scott and I will split this review into two separate parts. Part 1 will feature the Barracuda 7200.11 and Part 2 will concentrate on the Barracuda ES.2.

CLICK HERE FOR Seagate 1TB SHOPPING & PRICING

Lets face it; this month could easily be considered the most competitive time to release an FPS on the PC. Games like Unreal Tournament 3, Gears of War, Crysis, and Call of Duty 4 were all set to come out, and amongst the pack remains one less known title. TimeShift, which has seen development changes and delays, finally decided to release itself amongst all the chaos. Even so, the game has a unique charm about it that you wont want to miss.

"Media is the buzz word, with manufacturers gunning for this market with remote controller equiped computers and even whole operating systems designed around providing you with the perfect media platform.

Today I have the much anticipated ThermalTake DH 102 which steps into the game with an included 7” 800x600 LCD touch screen panel on the front. It comes packaged with the tried-and-tested iMON software suite, including the remote control. You now don’t even need a monitor with your next PC…"

Perfection comes in many packages. There is the perfect sunset, the perfect moment and then there is the perfect case. Like beauty, perfection is all in perception. We're all too varied in tastes and experiences to ever agree 100% on anything. With that said, the Ultra m998 is about the closest you can come to a perfect case. During the review process, I found little middling things here and there that can be improved on, but none of them rate enough to knock it off its throne as the best case I've ever reviewed. Read on to find out how a reviewer became a fan boy.

CLICK HERE FOR Ultra m998 Mid Tower Case SHOPPING & PRICING

“Currently, Gigabyte is the leader in all solid capacitor motherboards. They also use twice as many Phase Power components. So what does this all mean? Well, how about a motherboard that is more efficient and runs almost twice as cool as standard motherboards using older technology? The Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4 is that motherboard, with all the new solid state hardware - not to mention an impressive heatpipe cooling system incorporating a giant copper back plate for that additional cooling.”

CLICK HERE FOR GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS4 Motherboard SHOPPING & PRICING

Having the ability to keep a close eye on your home while on a trip is fantastic. So is being able to watch your homes TV via the internet. Honestech has released a product that offers both those features and many more. It's just too bad it doesn't manage to do any of them well.

CLICK HERE FOR Honestech My-IPTV&CAM Anywhere Deluxe SHOPPING & PRICING

Tagan – A company famous for their high power and high quality power supplies are now trying their hand in the PC Case market, and this latest offering of theirs, the El-Diablo, is certainly an interesting case to say the least.

"Following the release last month of their 5610 series of 80mm upright coolers, GlacialTech announces their latest 92mm 5710 Silent and PWM designs. If you're thinking to yourself, "Glacial-who?" then you should definitely sit up and pay attention, we're about to blow your socks off."

"Recently, we have been seeing an influx of nonmetallic materials hitting the market and they are all claiming to be able to beat the king. Our recent review of the MX-2 product from Arctic Cooling showed that there was more than just a little truth in these claims. The MX-2 compound is completely non-conductive material and was able to keep a processor cooler than the Arctic Silver 5 compound used as a comparative product.

Today we have two more products to add to the list of those who want your TIM dollars, A.I. Technologies and Tuniq (a subsidiary of Sunbeam). Both have TIM products that are making the same bold claims we have already been hearing, so it is time for a little direct comparison. After taking a look at the two newcomers, we will go forward in a head to head... to head... to head (whew) competition and see just how these products all compare to each other."

The computer keyboard is the first and longest standing peripheral hardware device to exist in our industry. Very few changes have altered the way casual users interact with their personal computer. But this is the new age of gaming-grade hardware, and basic equipment is not on the parts list. Logitech introduces the G15 2007 Programmable LCD Gaming Keyboard 920-000379, and Benchmark Reviews tests it with a few of the more popular video games.

CLICK HERE FOR Logitech G15 2007 Gaming Keyboard SHOPPING & PRICING

We have been quite fortunate to review numerous Antec cases and power supplies in the past, so we were very excited when the TruePower Quattro 1000-watt power supply arrived at our door for testing. After we ran it through our normal battery of tests, we were impressed by its ability to maintain near perfect voltage regulation even during the grueling stress tests. To see just how well the Antec TruePower Quattro performed you will need to read the review.

CLICK HERE FOR Antec TruePower Quattro 1000 watt Power Supply SHOPPING & PRICING

The key selling point of the Vantec NBA-100U is that you can add 5.1 channel stereo surround sound to just about any computer with a USB connection. While it might not be a good solution for a desktop computer, especially since most have integrated 5.1 channel audio these days, it is a great investment for any laptop user looking for an audio upgrade.

CLICK HERE FOR Vantec NBA-100U 5.1 Channel USB Audio Adapter SHOPPING & PRICING

"... it’s the best mouse to buy ... well, personally I think it is. If you are thinking to buy a new mouse, then the Razer Deathadder could be a good choice. "

Cooler Master recently brought the CM 690 to the market which offers some great features that a lot of higher end cases don't have. The CM 690 can take up to seven 120mm case fans, and offers a nice sleek looking exterior.

CLICK HERE FOR Cooler Master CM690 Mid-Tower ATX Case SHOPPING & PRICING

What .... another 2600 review? Well before you close the window, this is no ordinary 2600XT, Visiontek's new "Quad" 2600XT is basically two cards in crossfire, slapped together with a mighty 1 GB of ram! Hardware video acceleration and the ability to power four 2560x1600 monitors certainly deserves some attention, right?

CLICK HERE FOR Visiontek 2600 XT QUAD 1GB SHOPPING & PRICING

"PC Power and Cooling has been making computer power supplies for over twenty years. They have a reputation for no-nonsense quality PSUs. They are also staunch don’t believe the hype advocates when it comes to power supplies and have been the choice for Maximum PC’s Dream Machine going on a decade now. There is no doubt PC power and Cooling can make a killer PSU, but does their Silencer 610 represent? Bring in the victim, it’s review time!"

CLICK HERE FOR PC Power and Cooling Silencer 610 SHOPPING & PRICING

Mushkin's current XP2-6400 DDR2-800 memory is not only highly overclockable, but also reasonably priced. The high performance of the DDR2 800 modules exceeds the expectations and the reason becomes clear with a look under the heatspreader.

CLICK HERE FOR Mushkin XP2-6400 2GB kit DDR2-800 Memory SHOPPING & PRICING

"20.1inch TFT Display with 1600x1200 resolution for less than $190, the H20 provides both DVI and VGA connectors, built in power and 3-watt speaker. High resolutions LCD display in traditional/classic format is aimed at more serious users. Let's see how this inexpensive unit stands up to the trusted Samsung 204B."

CLICK HERE FOR Samsung 204B SHOPPING & PRICING

It’s now been a generation on and Intel has pushed the Core 2 series into quad core variants, something AMD is yet to achieve. While Phenom is on its way, Intel still have the crown for the first quad core CPU to the market; and while technically not a true quad core, it still has four processors working on a single CPU package, just not on a single die.

CLICK HERE FOR Intel Core 2 Evolves QX9650 SHOPPING & PRICING

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

"'Installing' the thermal compound is easy enough, depositing the required amount onto the top of the CPU and then spreading it. Indeed, from our experiences, spreading an even layer of this paste was simplicity itself, and a lot easier to do thanks to its consistency than a number of other pastes I've used in the past."

There are names in the computer industry I just trust. Antec is among them. Year after year, Antec continues to provide quality products for nearly every budget sector of the computer enthusiast market. Normally, I eagerly grab them up as they come out. Today I get a chance to put my mitts on the NeoPower 650 Blue, Antec’s latest offering in power supplies. Let’s see how it does.

CLICK HERE FOR Antec NeoPower 650 Blue Power Supply SHOPPING & PRICING

The unit seems too good to be true: it allows one to mix and match any number of DVD or CD media in any format that your PC can read, so you can have your entire Divx video archive available at the press of a button. In addition, this unit is also a capable double-sided DVD burner, and can automatically burn an entire series of recorded shows to DVD video. Also, this unit allows you to rip your entire CD collection to MP3 in one fell swoop without changing media.

CLICK HERE FOR Sony VAIO VGP-XL1B3 Media Changer SHOPPING & PRICING

Today, while ATI/AMD still doesn't have a "GeForce killer", it does have a number of competent and competitive low, mid and high-end cards that often score high marks for those evaluating performance from a dollar-for-dollar perspective. One such model is the Radeon HD 2600 XT. In this article, we will assess another 2600 XT class card in the form of the MSI RX2600XT Diamond Plus, an aggressively clocked Radeon HD 2600 XT backed with 512MB of high-speed GDDR4.

CLICK HERE FOR MSI RX2600XT Diamond Plus SHOPPING & PRICING

Benchmark Reviews continues on with our High-Speed DDR3 Overclocking and Review Series, which features over one dozen different DDR3 kits. Many of the kits we have tested so far have helped achieve extremely uncommon overclock speeds, and even some of the kits not setting speed records managed to impress us with their combination of performance and value. So far, we have reviewed the Patriot DDR3 1866MHz Kit and Mushkin DDR3 1333MHz Kit, but today we are especially pleased to test the Super Talent PC3-14400 CL7-7-7-21 W1800UX2GP DDR3 1800MHz 2x1GB RAM Kit.

“Network-Attached Storage (NAS) servers are finally making headway in the consumer market. Enthusiasts with multiple computers have been doing network backups for years, but the expertise and/or time required to setup a NAS operating system has been quite prohibitive for the everyday user. Now, intelligent companies such as QNAP are at the forefront of the home NAS server revolution. ThinkComputers takes a look at the TS109 NAS server, a SATA hard drive enclosure with a network port, two USB host ports, and even an eSATA host port. This little guy runs Linux, too.”

CLICK HERE FOR QNAP TS-109 Pro All-in-one NAS Server SHOPPING & PRICING

"The major selling points of the CNPS8700 NT are its noise levels and its size, making it the ultimate HTPC companion. With these two features at Zalman’s focus, will the performance take a hit or stay true to the Zalman name? Continue as we find out."

CLICK HERE FOR Zalman CNPS8700 NT CPU Cooler SHOPPING & PRICING

One more thing about the fans is the Fan Delay Off feature. An internal temperature sensor will keep the fans running until the internal temperature falls below 50 degrees C EVEN when your rig is OFF. We tested this out with a hair dryer blowing hot air and it worked as billed. Very cool indeed.

"Just so we all know what we’re looking at here… the Hanns.G HW223DP monitor is a budget 22-inch widescreen LCD monitor with built-in stereo speakers and a 4-port USB 2.0 hub."

CLICK HERE FOR HANNS.G HW223DP 22-inch Widescreen LCD SHOPPING & PRICING

The DH-101 is Thermaltake's latest midsize HTPC offering. It features the well known Soundgraph iMON Graphical VFD and a lot of extra controls. It takes a normal ATX mainboard and has space for up to three hard drives, which leaves you free to choose which components you wish to install.

"Ultra sent over four components from their Stackables line: Stackables 180-Watt Multi-Outlet Power Center, Stackables All-In-1 Card Reader & USB 2.0 Hub, Stackables 3.5" SATA Hard Drive Enclosure and the Stackables 3.5" IDE Hard Drive Enclosure. I will take a look at each product in detail throughout this review."

CLICK HERE FOR Ultra Products Stackables SHOPPING & PRICING

" ... The SteelPad QcK with its cloth and optimum size is the best choice for you gaming. If you think that the plastic pads are better than cloth ones than buy one SteelPad QcK and you will see the result. "

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"The single-player campaign starts off just as it did on Emergence Day a year ago, with no back story or plot set-up but with plenty of attitude and action. The story - COG versus Locust Horde in the ultimate battle for supremacy! - remains just as stilted and contrived, but it's enough to drive the action. The new chapters are welcome as well, and it's very cool indeed to finally get a chance to come face-to-face with the Brumak. The extended story is less of a bonus and more of a necessary inclusion, as it was clear that the chase and eventual showdown with the Brumak was cut from the console version to make a 2006 holiday release date. Now, the story feels more complete, though the ending is just as unfulfilling as it was last year (though it does beg for a sequel)."

" It is well known that high temperatures will decrease the life span of most PC components. So, why don't we pay more attention to our friend the hard drive? Luckily the folks at Ultra have come up with a solution for this issue. The have introduced the 3.5" Aluminum Hard Drive Cooler with Heatpipes."

The personal audio market is fierce, and there is serious competition between vendors about who gets to nestle in your warm auditory canal. There are small in-ear sets that are portable and light, but are also light on features. There are also large around-the-ear behemoths that deliver impressive bass, but are too bulky to pair with your iPod. Then there are the complete headsets for the PC gamer which adds a microphone, but who wants to lug a mic with them when all you want to do it listen to music? Can't there be "one headset to rule them all"?

CLICK HERE FOR SteelSeries Siberia In-Ear Headset SHOPPING & PRICING

“I guess that the "personal media player", generically known to most as an iPod, probably is second only to the cell phone as the most common digital item. Most technologically aware people I know carry them, a majority of young people whose parents can afford them, and I know a few older people that own them that I find a little surprising. There are other brands of MP3/MP4 players besides those built by Apple, and one brand, more popular in Asia than in the states, is Meizu.”