Saturday, April 18 2009 |
Posted by Nathan @ 7:34 PM (EDT) |
The SilenX iXtrema Pro IXG-80HA2 cooling system is not cheap in terms of price. The combination of the IXG-80HA2 and the Fan kit makes for an excellent cooling system that can lower the temperatures of a graphics card by several degrees. Alternatively, it can allow for much quieter operation when the system is running. When paired with an ASUS EN9800GT I saw temperature drops of over 10 Degrees with the fans installed. The kit makes sense for those wanting a quiet operating graphics card that runs cooler and more stable under overclocking, in that respect this kit fits the bill. |
Posted by Nathan @ 7:33 PM (EDT) |
"Overall the OCZ Vertex 120GB proved itself to be one very fast SSD and one that we would rank up there with the Intel X-25M and Corsair P256 (a rebadged Samsung PB22-J). The good news is that the Vertex 120GB SSD costs only $334.99, which is much less than the Intel X25-M 160GB at $739.99 and the Corsair P256 at $749 (and is still two weeks away from being released). At nearly half the price of the Intel X25-M the OCZ Vertex looks like a good solution. Now that firmware v1.10 has been made public the Vertex can do TRIM like features on Windows XP and Vista, which is a nice touch as you need to erase those data blocks for peak performance..." |
Posted by Nathan @ 7:33 PM (EDT) |
"Today for review I’ve got a 47" LCD HDTV from Vizio that retail for under $1000, and that’s even after taxes! The Vizio V047L is an excellent television in my opinion, the picture is beautiful, and it’s got numerous inputs for all of your components. There’s one glaring problem with it though, the sound from the built in speaker is just terrible, but since it’s inexpensive compared to others out there, it’ll leave you with money left over to get a nice surround system to go with it." |
Sapphire Vapor-X Radeon HD4850 512MB Graphics Card Review @ Bigbruin.com |
Posted by Nathan @ 7:33 PM (EDT) |
The biggest selling point of the Sapphire Vapor-X Radeon HD4850 512MB graphics card may be that it runs cool, quiet, and it is relatively energy efficient. Sapphire has made a few electrical tweaks, as well as developing a new cooler, that give you all the performance of a Radeon HD4850 without as much heat, noise, or electricity consumption. |
Posted by Nathan @ 7:32 PM (EDT) |
The truth is that all television antennas are designed to receive signals at Ultra High Frequencies (UFH), Very High Frequencies (VHF), or both regardless or analog or digital. This means that even the old antenna that you have in your house from the analog age would still work with current HDTV. Do not get fooled by all of the marketing hypes of HDTV antenna. However, even among all of the antennas, there are some with good reception and some are having poor reception. In my opinion, as long as an antenna is able to receive a clear signal, then it is a good antenna. |
Posted by Nathan @ 7:32 PM (EDT) |
DisplayLink has the answer with their innovative USB to Graphics adaptors. These little devices are small little boxes that plug into a USB port, and then connect to any DVI or VGA monitor. The software uses your existing video card's capabilities, so even full-motion video and 3D accelleration is still possible on your other monitors. |
Posted by Nathan @ 7:31 PM (EDT) |
"Overall, it was a joy working with the EX58-UD4P. Overclocking was simple, but it also has the capacity to get complex for hardcore users. This board is third behind the top of the line EX8-EXTREME, which is aimed for the top of the line market, but this board still puts up great numbers. The only real con is that it only has one LAN port, but the next two models do have dual LAN, so I won't grudge this board. Otherwise the two orange ports are kind of funny, but it is not hard to move on past that. The screw mounted Northbridge and Southbridge show great attention to thermal and overclocking qualities, as do the back plates. The PCI Express slots are configured in a more efficient way in which users of triple-card setups will appreciate that the lanes are split x16 x8 x8, allowing cards to run closer to their full potential rather than being starved of bandwidth." |
iXBT Labs Review: ASUS RADEON HD 4850/4870 and GeForce GTX 285/295 |
Posted by Nathan @ 7:31 PM (EDT) |
"GTX 295 is a very fast card, the first of its kind so far. But much depends on its price tag. Perhaps, it's cheaper to buy two GTX 280 cards that will apparently be faster in the SLI mode? So be sure to watch the prices." |
Posted by Nathan @ 7:30 PM (EDT) |
Gateway launched three new notebook series just a few weeks ago, with the MD arguably being the most interesting. As a value-focused multi-media series, the models feature a large screen and modest resolution, fast processors and ample storage. This along with superb design, and with multiple models available, there's one bound to suit you. |
Posted by Nathan @ 7:30 PM (EDT) |
Thermaltake's TMG IA1 looks like the Hulk. The TMG IA1 by Thermaltake may look intimidating at first, but it's completely harmless. The bulkiness of this heatsink can discourage a novice setting up their own computer for their first time, but if there is a will, there's a way. Thermaltake's reputation is strong when it comes to heatsinks, and computer components in general. The heatsink has four copper bars, and the bulkiness of the design is for conducting the heat coming from the CPU effectively and also, at the same time, the surfaces dissipate the heat. Let's find out if this medicine will tame the fever. |
Friday, April 17 2009 |
Posted by Nathan @ 5:14 PM (EDT) |
"The Seagate FreeAgent Desk hard drive storage device gives you one terabyte of storage space to backup and store your photos, music, videos, and documents. It offers Mac compatibility with Time Machine-readiness and speedy USB 2.0 connectivity at a low price." |
Posted by Nathan @ 5:14 PM (EDT) |
Today we are taking a look at the 4850 Matrix videocard from Asus that is very similar to the other 4850 cards Asus offers but this one comes with a lower clock frequency and hopefully a lower price. We are going to see how this card can handle high resolutions and also share our overclocking results from our testsl Lets have a closer look. |
Posted by Nathan @ 5:14 PM (EDT) |
"It is the WD Caviar Black 1TB drive I will be taking a look at today. The Black series, in addition to offering the greatest performance of Western Digital's consumer lineup of Caviar drives, also includes the same five year warranty as their more expensive Enterprise class. Sporting a class-standard SATA 3.0Gbps interface, 7200rpm spindle speed and a whopping 32Mb of cache, the WD1001FALS represents Western Digital's top of the line consumer grade hard drive." |
Posted by Nathan @ 5:13 PM (EDT) |
In this review, we'll be taking a look at Coolermaster's CM Storm Scout chassis. It's based on a midi tower style with a screwless design and it's mainly targeted at the gamers. It features a pretty unique reinforced carrying handle, as well as a window side panel and an all black interior. Like the CM Storm Sniper, the Scout also features the innovative StormGuard™ ... a ground-breaking security system for safeguarding your gaming peripherals. |
Posted by Nathan @ 5:13 PM (EDT) |
Many positive commentaries have been written about Intel's current flagship Core i7 processors and its companion X58 Express chipset, due to the solid performance gains offered by the platform. In addition to the increased performance offered by Core i7 processors though, the X58 chipset also brings with it native support for ATI CrossFireX and NVIDIA SLI multi-GPU technologies--provided support is available in the BIOS--as well as support for the flexible triple channel memory controller integrated into the Core i7. What might be concerning for some, however, is the overall cost of putting together all of the components we just mentioned. Currently, the cheapest Core i7 out there, the 920, will run you about $280, which is a huge savings over the 940 at about double that price and the Extreme Edition 965 at a cool $1K. DDR3 memory has really come down in price, thankfully, so picking up a three sticks of RAM is certainly not as pricey as it may have been when the Core i7 launched. And obviously graphics cards pricing is all over the map these days. |
Posted by Nathan @ 5:13 PM (EDT) |
“Vostro is brand of Dell notebooks that belongs to accessible business class. Vostro A860 is model that was designed with one goal: achieving as low as possible price tag that will be attached to it. Since manufacturer is trying to go with lowest price as possible, compromise between desires and possibilities has to be made. It will be very interesting to see how one of the largest notebook manufacturers is going to make his choices when it comes to components and build quality under these conditions…” |
Posted by Nathan @ 5:08 PM (EDT) |
"CES 2009 held few drool-worthy surprises for tech aficionados, but Sony's svelte Vaio P definitely qualifies as one of them. The company's answer to the booming netbook market manages to make its already-small competitors look like giant toys, with typical Sony style to seal the deal. It even offers a high-resolution screen and 3G modem built in. But as it turns out, the black magic Sony pulled to fit everything inside has some unintended consequences when it's time to fire it up, making its real-life usability a far cry from what the outside would suggest." |
ASRock X58 SuperComputer Motherboard Review @ Virtual-Hideout |
Posted by Nathan @ 5:08 PM (EDT) |
“In the world of computers, value priced hardware has had quite a bit of a bad rap for quite a while. In the early dawn of the industry, cutting costs meant cutting corners. In these later days, the procedure of cutting costs has come through efficiency, simple manufacturing, and limited bundles. Now, while ASRock has spent much of it's time in the former of these worlds, I happen to be able to confidently say that this board - the x58 SuperComputer is going to be a positive change on the pattern - a board with a good layout, plenty of features, and a nice low cost. The only potential catching point? We'll need to see how it performs. After all, if that ticket is in the bag, we may simply have a contender for the top slot!” |
Posted by Nathan @ 5:07 PM (EDT) |
“Logitech’s G series has consisted of a successful line of gaming accessories over the years … their mice and keyboards are the biggest sellers on the market. Their previous flagship gaming keyboard, the G15 went through two separate phases of design, with the v2 product seeing numerous layout changes, one of the more notable changes being the large reduction in macro function keys.” |
Posted by Nathan @ 5:07 PM (EDT) |
We've been waist deep in ram reviews at Bjorn3D. Some of the fastest kit's in existence have passed through our hands and we've driven them as hard as they will drive. We have on hand a kit of OCZ Reaper and we're going to do something a little different with this 6 GB kit of Reaper DDR3 TC 1866 ram. We're going to review it at stock speeds on the Core i7 965 then pass it on to another reviewer with a Core i7 920 and let him run it stock and OC so we can see how much difference we get from a multiplier OC and a FSB OC to settle the FSB/Multiplier OC debate once and for all. |
Thursday, April 16 2009 |
Posted by Nathan @ 3:41 PM (EDT) |
Over the past couple of years we have reviewed several of Asrock's mATX motherboards here at Pro-Clockers. Asrock's whole thought process beyond their smaller line of motherboards is affordability, stability and upgradable. And all three of these aspects is what you will see in our next review sample. The A780GMH/128M offers a new twist on an older chipset. The motherboard is based on the AMD 780G but instead of using the older SB700 South Bridge, Asrock took it upon themselves to implement the newer SB710. Why not the SB750 SB?. Well, we did mention that the motherboard offers afford ability. And this was one way to cut cost. What else does the board have to offer? You will have to read a little more. |
Posted by Nathan @ 3:41 PM (EDT) |
"I'm impressed with the performance I received from the Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R. I started this review expecting a minimal overclock due to the motherboard itself and found that if it weren't for my heatsink I would have more room. Friends have told me horror stories of how different the BIOS were going to be, due to the addition of QPI, so I was a little worried about setting up the BIOS when I began to overclock. Personally, I found them simple - names might have changed, but when I realized what was what, it was like getting back on the bike you hadn't ridden for a long time." |
Posted by Nathan @ 3:40 PM (EDT) |
"Manufacturers are fighting for the AMD motherboards market that is expected to grow with the expansion of Phenom II. On this occasion Gigabyte spared no copper and implemented a very interesting idea that added to the list of Ultra Durable options. These traditionally include power circuitry features and cooling. Let's see how the upgraded product differs from the previously tested Gigabyte MA790GP-DS4H." |
Posted by Nathan @ 3:40 PM (EDT) |
"The thought of an 80mm fan scares most. Stereotypically they’re regarded as noisy, offer poor airflow and are a waste of space. However, when we suddenly mention 92mm or 120mm fans, our view on these fans becomes rather opposite. So, what about trying to squeeze a 92mm fan blade into a standard 80mm fitting fan? Well that’s what cooling specialists Evercool have done. Introducing the Evercool Rifling fan." |
Posted by Nathan @ 3:40 PM (EDT) |
"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..." |
Posted by Nathan @ 3:39 PM (EDT) |
"Despite a rather conservative past, RIM has been advancing by leaps and bounds in the last six months or so. The Storm made a splash as the first touch-screen BlackBerry, the Pearl Flip folded its way into history as the first clamshell BlackBerry, and the Bold stood out as the very first 3G BlackBerry. With siblings that carry the BlackBerry name forward in so many ways, it's easy to dismiss the Curve 8900 as more of the same from the Canadian company. But that would be a mistake. Despite its somewhat dated EDGE modem, the Curve 8900 makes a number of significant, if not necessarily earth-shattering, improvements to the traditional BlackBerry, without sacrificing what has drawn the company such a rock solid fan base to begin with." |
GSkill Pi Black Triple Channel PC3 12800 6GB Memory Review @ Ninjalane |
Posted by Nathan @ 3:39 PM (EDT) |
The G.Skill Pi Edition PC-3 12800 6GB Ram Kit showed exactly why G.Skill has earned the respect and loyalty of hardware enthusiasts. The kits arrived in excellent condition and they performed better than promised. They also look very nice and proved to be extremely stable as our testing revealed no weaknesses even when pushed past their rated speeds with tighter than stock timings. |
Posted by Nathan @ 3:39 PM (EDT) |
“Founded in 2005, Xigmatek have not been around for long but we have reviewed many of their products, including heatsinks and several PSUs. The heatsink market is certainly a crowded area to compete in, full of different products with various design ethics and applications.” |
Posted by Nathan @ 3:38 PM (EDT) |
Asus comes at us again with another board for the AMD camp. We all know that Intel's Core i7 and the X58 platform is where it's at right now, but if you're a lowly guy like me you can't afford the toys for the big boys. Or, if you can, the wife doesn't want you spending that hard earned money for something to take your attention off her *wink*. Anyways, today we will be evaluating the Asus M4N72-E 750a Motherboard designed for the Phenom II CPU set. There has been controversy over whether or not to make the jump to DDR3 and I will be making a few comparisons to not only our different makers of chipsets but also to DDR3 and DDR2. Is it really worth it? |
Posted by Nathan @ 3:38 PM (EDT) |
Sennheiser recently launched the IE6 earphones. Marketed at budget conscious sound enthusiasts, Sennheiser aims to conquer a market already booming with new and innovative products. For a price of $200 you get a very smooth listening experience with a nice balance between the lows and highs. |
Posted by Nathan @ 3:37 PM (EDT) |
If you've noticed lately, everything is more power hungry than ever. A decent video card now requires its own power source, and many people are Crossfiring the crap out of their systems, so that�s twice the original juice flowing through. And now there are Blu-Ray drives, and you'll probably want to keep your old DVD burner for a while, so now you have two optical drives. Twice the power again. Overclock, put in more RAM, a million fans, and all the gadgets that plug into your USB and suck away more energy. Jeeze, people. I hope you are all enjoying that hefty electric bill. |
XFX ATI Radeon HD 4890 XXX Edition Video Card Review @ Motherboards,org |
Posted by Nathan @ 3:37 PM (EDT) |
XFX's move to making ATI-based video cards is a long awaited one. With NVIDIA having troubles throughout and with the economic recession in full force throughout the computer industry, choice and price/performance are more important than ever. With retail price of only $15 USD more than the next expensive XFX HD 4890 card the XXX Edition is well worth the purchase as you get a 50MHz overclock out of the box and the support that XFX is well known for. The inclusion of HAWX, a game that was released less than a month ago is an added bonus with DirectX 10.1 enhancements to speed that show off what the card can do. |
Posted by Nathan @ 3:33 PM (EDT) |
"The first installment in the new Fortress Series of enclosures from SilverStone is the FT01. There has been some controversy around this case, with arguments over the direction of airflow of case fans, and the term “positive air pressure” has been thrown around quite a bit. What is all this hub-bub about? What is positive air pressure, and why should you care? These are just a few of the questions that we will answer today." |
Wednesday, April 15 2009 |
Posted by Nathan @ 6:30 PM (EDT) |
"The Antec CP-850 850 watt Power Supply is here to satisfy your power needs. The CP -850 by Antec is designed for the Antec Twelve Hundred, P183, and P193 cases.The Antec CP-850 is compatible with multiple graphics card having both six pin and eight pin connectors. The CP-850 is semi modular, which cuts down on the extra cables hindering air flow through the case, not to mention, it cuts down on clutter. The CP-850 has a dual PCB layout which keeps the 850W Antec running at its coolest and allows for heavy duty components, as well. The Antec CP-850 has a 120mm fan to keep air moving, not only through the power supply, but also through the case." |
Posted by Nathan @ 6:29 PM (EDT) |
“Canon PowerShot SX1 IS was presented first time at Photokina 2008 along side with its younger brother SX10 IS both successors of very popular Canon S5 IS camera. Both models have 20x optical zoom (28-560mm) but model SX1 instead CCD has CMOS sensor and support for recording of video in Full HD resolution. This feature sets Canon PowerShot SX1 IS apart from all other cameras at this moment. Camera is packed into quality built plastics chassis, very compact, which is not big surprise since Canon categorized this camera as Digital Compact Camera…” |
Posted by Nathan @ 6:29 PM (EDT) |
"Another week, another new OCZ Technology product hitting the market... or so it seems. For the past year or so, the team over at OCZ have been releasing new products at a feverish pace. Whether its a new memory kit, heatsink, power supply, SSD, keyboard or mouse, it seems there is always something new going out the door. Today we will be taking a look at one of their latest peripherals, the OCZ Eclipse Gaming Mouse." |
Posted by Nathan @ 6:28 PM (EDT) |
Inno3D's latest graphics card release is the GeForce GTX 275 Overclocked. It is based on NVIDIA's P897 design but comes with considerably increased clocks. This results in a nice performance boost over the reference cards and allows the card to beat the much more expensive GeForce GTX 285. |
Posted by Nathan @ 6:28 PM (EDT) |
The cooler was the Xigmatek Thor's Hammer. The Hammer is one of those coolers that when you first see it you could not but think how does this thing compete with the big boys like the Coolermaster V8 and Thermalright T.R.U.E. Well that is what I thought anyways. And to think about how well the HDT-S1283 has done at a budget price you would think this monster would be a Top Ten cooler killer. The Hammer is based on the Heat pipe Direct Touch, 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 more direct cooling. We will get more into that later in the review. So, you have to read a little more to see what this cooler and HDT is all about. |
Posted by Nathan @ 6:27 PM (EDT) |
"Choosing a power supply gives endless choice with seemingly hundreds of units to choose from; with different watts, colours, sizes and styles. But, it all boils down to two things – stable rails and efficiency. With poor performance in these two areas, no matter how glamorous or how quiet the unit may be, it’s not really up to scratch. At XSReviews today, we have a 770W unit that comes from a very reputable company. Introducing the Zalman ZM770-XT Z-Machine Extreme PSU, let’s see if it can blow us away with its performance." |
PC Power and Cooling Turbo-Cool 860W PSU Review @ Tech-Reviews.co.uk |
Posted by Nathan @ 6:27 PM (EDT) |
Today Tech-Reviews took a look at a power supply from PC Power and Cooling. The review is on the Turbo-Cool 860W and is the forth PSU in the power supply roundup they’re carrying out. Anyway, check out how the 860 Watt Turbo-Cool PSU performed… |
Posted by Nathan @ 6:26 PM (EDT) |
Thrustmaster have been in operation for many years manufacturing PC and video game accessories and today we’ll be looking at their limited edition T.Flight Hotax S joystick supplied with the new Tom Clancy fighter pilot simulation, HAWX. |
Posted by Nathan @ 6:26 PM (EDT) |
A so called product ID or OPN description is on each AMD Phenom and Phenom II CPU, but this product ID is not really easy to understand without studying several datasheets. On the new AMD Phenom product ID guide simply select the description of your processor over the drop-down fields or type it directly into the new OPN field. Then you will see the technical data and processor description below in the virtual CPU. The service is of course free available over the web and it is also possible to control this interactive guide directly with OPN data over online shops, forums, or web pages. |
Posted by Nathan @ 6:25 PM (EDT) |
Noctua have really impressed with the products that have been reviewed on Verdis Reviews before; this week we take a look at another cooler from the same company that has received over 150 awards for its high quality design. The NH-U12P has been around for a little while now but is still able to compete with many of the newer additions from rival companies. Enough said, time to have a better look and see what we think. |
Posted by Nathan @ 6:25 PM (EDT) |
"With a chassis measuring just 0.76 inches at its crest and an innovative unibody design, Apple's MacBook Air broke ground in the high-end, ultra-slim, and super-refined laptop category at the beginning of 2008. Half a year later, HP's Voodoo unit took things a step further via the Envy, a carbon fiber-covered siren of a machine with high-end hardware features-such as a touch pad that switches itself off whenever the user begins typing-and a girth even less than that of Apple's couture machine. And now Dell's Adamo has claimed the coveted "Svelte Belt" for itself. Measuring a mere 0.65 inches at its portliest point, the system sports fine glass accents and brushed aluminum lines that will drive most tech fetishists mad with desire. It doesn't offer much in the way of functional innovation-save perhaps its surprisingly agile, low-voltage processor-but the Adamo's unabashed and undeniable sexiness ought to be enough to pique the curiosity of even the most jaded gadget aficionado." |
Posted by Nathan @ 6:24 PM (EDT) |
"Away from the actual CPU cores is where much of the real interest lies, in what Intel prefers to call the "uncore" - Basically everything that isn't the CPU cores themselves. The most notable change within this "uncore" is probably the addition of a memory controller on the CPU die, moving it from the motherboard's northbridge as per AMD's designs since the Athlon 64. This memory controller supports DDR3 at speeds of up to 1066MHz in standard Core i7 parts, and up to 2000MHz on Extreme Edition CPUs, while all Core i7s have a triple-channel memory controller - A step up from the dual-channel controller that has been commonplace ever since the introduction of DDR memory, which gives the CPU more bandwidth to play with (25.6 GB/second with 1066MHz memory) as long as the system's memory is fitted in banks of three modules. As per AMD's on-board memory controller, Intel's use of a similar design removes an extra "hop" for the CPU when accessing system memory, which reduces latency quite considerably." |
Tuesday, April 14 2009 |
Posted by Nathan @ 4:18 AM (EDT) |
I'm looking at the strange and unusual once more today in the Hiper M300, a tiny little 300 watt power supply intended to be used in Hiper's Media Center cases. This unit promises plentiful power at better than 80% efficiency, all while being crammed into a box barely larger than a couple of stacked 3.5" hard drives. |
Posted by Nathan @ 4:17 AM (EDT) |
"Today, we have for review one of Thermaltake’s newest CPU coolers, the Thermaltake TMG IA1. TMG is Thermaltake’s “thermal maximum grade” product group, a series of computer hardware products aimed at the quiet computing audience. You can glean a little bit more information from the forgotten TMG website. In contrast to the brute-force approach of the Thermaltake BigTyp 14 Pro, which I had a chance to review a few weeks ago, the IA1 hopes to provide a more elegant and standard way to cool your CPU without a burden on your ears." |
Posted by Nathan @ 4:17 AM (EDT) |
"Good sound quality is the essence of a pleasurable home theater experience, but what about gaming? If you pair the rights speakers with the right sound card you gain a competitive edge over your competition. Being able to pin point the exact location of everyone around you just by ear can mean the difference between virtual life and death. The Asus Xonar D1 PCI 7.1 Sound Card boasts a load of extras, but is it really that much better then on board memory? And what about creative they are the kings of PC audio well we will see how well the Xonar performs, but first let’s get a closer look at the card and contents:" |
Posted by Nathan @ 4:16 AM (EDT) |
The W90Vp pulls no punches, makes no excuses, apologies or attempts whatsoever to be something it's not. We've always heard that judging a book by its cover (or a notebook by its lid) was a bad idea, but we can tell you right now -- the W90Vp is exactly what you think it is. Big, beastly, brawny and not for the weak of heart. |
Posted by Nathan @ 4:16 AM (EDT) |
"AMD's 790GX + SB750 platform makes for a great HTPC gaming platform while also offering enough flexibility to function as a full-blown gaming platform and even an extreme benchmarking platform. MSI's 790GX-G65 pulls all three roles off effectively for a paltry $129.99. In nearly all of our tests the AM3 platform pulled ahead of the AM2+ platform with a modest margin, so the performance improvement is there..." |
HDD Upgrade Time: Acard ANS-9010 vs Gigabyte I-RAM vs SSD @ Madshrimps |
Posted by Nathan @ 4:16 AM (EDT) |
As an alternative to the slow platter-based hard drives there already a few ram disk-based solutions on the market. Acard recently designed their ram disk product, which allows users to use DDR2 memory as storage method. Today, we have a look at the performance of the Acard ANS-9010 and compare it with normal hard disk drives, SSD technology and other ram disks. |
Posted by Nathan @ 4:15 AM (EDT) |
"Let's have a look on EP45-UD3L, Gigabyte's Socket 775 motherboard for Intel processors, aimed mainly for Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad processors. Like EP45C-DS3R, this motherboard is based on Intel P45 chipset, which replaced P35. Both chipsets are for the mainstream market." |
Posted by Nathan @ 4:15 AM (EDT) |
"A video camera lives or dies by its optics. A poor-quality model (think: the Flip for about $100, or a no-name brand at Best Buy) is a real disappointment in terms of resolution and color depth, even though it makes YouTube uploading easy. Similarly, a low-quality camcorder introduces noise and artifacts to a movie - there's a noticeable pixilated look. Alas, unless you want to fork over $2000 or more for a professional camera, there are almost certainly bound to be compromises with most models. But somehow, Panasonic has made the sensors in the HDC-HS300 video camera work overtime - color quality and resolution are exceptional. It's not the device you'll want for, say, shooting indie films or other artistic video work, but, against the odds, it's a solid all-around performer." |
Posted by Nathan @ 4:15 AM (EDT) |
"If you're looking for a good value card, but aren't interested in this one for its performance, overclockability, or lower energy requirements, then get it for CUDA and PhsyX. Programs such as vReveal, which are very processor intensive, can perform much better with a GPU that utilizes CUDA technology. If you're into video editing, this card is definitely something you might want to investigate. At present, there aren't a whole lot of games that utilize PhsyX, but that's not to say there won't be soon. For this reason, owning a PhsyX card might be a good idea just to keep the physics calculations away from your CPU. All things considered, I'd say this card performs great, and would I happily recommend it to anyone on a tight budget, who must have a decent gaming system." |
Posted by Nathan @ 4:15 AM (EDT) |
We have come a long way from the major change of high end graphics RAM size that took place near the end of the Nvidia 7 and ATI X1900 series like spans. This change is happening again, only this time it's not 256 MB to 512 MB, it's 512 MB to 1 GB. One gigabyte cards are quickly becoming the norm for higher end cards. Even some of the lower end cards are getting the 1 GB treatment. It is one thing for a company to slap an extra 512 MB of RAM on a card and call it a new card, it's another for the card to actually perform significantly better than the 512 MB version. While the higher RAM size certainly helps in higher resolutions, by how much does it |
Posted by Nathan @ 4:14 AM (EDT) |
The Thermaltake promotional material claims the BigTyp 14 Pro is "completely silent", which just isn't true at any speed with the included fan. Despite this, I was quite pleased with the performance and noise level at the lowest speed setting. When I switched the stock fan out for a 92mm fan mounted under the cooling fins (blowing upward) things got even better. |
Posted by Nathan @ 4:14 AM (EDT) |
"Thermaltake lists the Xpressar unit as aimed for "light overclockers" looking for added silence. I'm not quite sure if this justifies the premium of the Xpressar but there are a few points to consider." |
Monday, April 13 2009 |
Posted by Nathan @ 5:06 AM (EDT) |
Guitar Hero Metallica has arrived and allows aspiring rockers to jam along to their favorite music and live out their rock fantasies. Following up the successful Guitar Hero World Tour, Guitar Hero Metallica offers 28 Metallica classics as well as 21 other songs from artists such as Diamondhead, Samhain and Mercyful Fate who are credited as major influences to the band. |
Posted by Nathan @ 5:05 AM (EDT) |
The ModXStream is geared more at the creative modder's as well as gamers. The ModXStream boasts a few new features like dual 12 volt rails, a larger fan and a Nvidia SLI certified badge. The feature that I really like is the warranty that backs the ModXStream, a three year PowerSwap guarantee. In brief this means that OCZ with swap out your defective power supply over three years. With OCZ you won’t be getting back a repaired unit that you sent in but a new working replacement. How is that for backing your own products. |
Posted by Nathan @ 5:05 AM (EDT) |
"For those of us out there who watch anime know, many of the best animes out there deal with the future of combat: the mobile suit, the mecha, the Gundam. Someone over at In Win Development Inc. must have also been a fan of the Mobile Suit Gundam series, for today we bring you their new chassis, the AL-13 series Gundam GD. Sure, you get an enclosure that is unique, but will it perform as well as well as its animated counterparts? That is what we are here to find out. Let’s take a look under the hood, and see if the Gundam GD has what it takes to live up to its namesake." |
Posted by Nathan @ 5:05 AM (EDT) |
All-in-one PCs aren't new, but an affordable one equipped with a touchscreen is. That's exactly what ASUS delivers with their EeeTop PC, a 15.6-inch offering designed to give you a new way to use your computer, while living up to the standards that the Eee brand has become for. While it lacks beefy hardware, the under $600 price tag creates a very attractive product. |
Posted by Nathan @ 5:04 AM (EDT) |
Since testing computer hardware products is a PC-centric task, I've never wandered very far from what I know. But after writing my editorial Year In Review: 2008 Computer Hardware Industry Failure it seemed wrong not to taste the forbidden fruit... so I purchased a Sony PlayStation 3. Aside from the PS3 system, which quickly received an Editors Choice Award-winning Solid State Drive upgrade, I also purchased nearly two-dozen games and a Blu-ray remote control. I soon discovered that my racing skills were lacking... and I needed an edge. Enter the new-and-improved Thrustmaster Ru! n'N'Drive wireless gamepad, model 4160527. Now unplugged and built around the 2.4 GHz wireless radio band, this PC/PS2/PS3-compatible controller takes the Sony SIXAXIS to the next level and adds an optical wheel and under-belly triggers. |
Posted by Nathan @ 5:04 AM (EDT) |
“NVIDIA continues to use well known system of price drops and remarking of old graphics card models which resulted in “new” NVIDIA products that are better positioned on the market. This praxis had created situations where certain models, like GeForce 8800GTS with G92 chip, have achieved very long shelf life. Model that was presented at the end of the year 2007 isn’t too much different compared to new mid-class model: GTS250…” |
Posted by Nathan @ 5:04 AM (EDT) |
We take a look at another upgraded version of a heatsink, the OCZ Gladiator Max. The heatsink has grown bigger and offers increased performance on the LGA 1366 Intel 965 Extreme Edition CPU, so letâ?Ts see how it can it stand up to the heats on our tests. |
Posted by Nathan @ 5:03 AM (EDT) |
The CNPS9900LED CPU cooler is no exception to Zalman's continuation of perfection, with superb performance. I am going see just how far a Core i7 920 CPU can go while using this CPU cooler. The results will surprise you. |
