Week of June 21, 2009

Noctua, makers of silent PC cooling components, sent us their newest fan: the NF-S12B FLX. With silence in mind, the NF-S12B was designed to produce the smallest amount of noise possible, while still pushing enough air to keep your computer cool. Can it live up to Noctua's reputation for manufacturing super quiet, well performing fans and heatsinks?

"ES-800 (also known as BFGR800WESPSU) is a power supply using a different internal design called "frequency conversion", with BFG claiming it provides higher efficiency even under very low loads. Is that so? Let's check this out."

"Today we are going to examine five premium coolers: ASUS Royal Knight, Noctua NH-C12P, Scythe Mugen 2, Thermalright IFX-14, and Thermaltake BigTyp14Pro. They are the best there is. Although only Scythe Mugen 2 is a new model here (taking the first steps on our market), all of them, including the true veterans Noctua NH-C12P and Thermalright IFX-14, are leading their series."

"NZXT has a sound product offering with its CRYO S notebook cooler. Beautifully crafted, attractive features and a price tag you can live with, the CRYO S is a solid choice for those needing some cooling for their notebook or netbook device..."

"The HX1 was one of the biggest hits from the 2009 PMA convention, the camera industry's toned-down version of E3. Press people tend to be pretty jaded, yet there were audible gasps when this camera strut its stuff during the official introduction. We're referring to a demo of the sweep panorama function, which lets you take a 224-degree panorama image just by holding the shutter and sweeping the scene. We--along with everyone else--were very impressed when the results were shown on a big screen. Anyone who has tried to stitch photos together on a computer will immediately appreciate this feat. On top of that, the 9.1-megapixel DSLR lookalike grabs 10 frames per second at full resolution, captures 1080p videos, and has a wide-angle 20x mega-zoom, all for $469. This sounds really sweet on paper; let's see how she works in this big bad world."

The ICY DOCK MB877SK-B HDD mobile rack allows users to use their 3.5' backup Hard Disk Drives and turns them into a portable device. This device gives us the ability to remove our SATA HDD's easily and without the need of going inside of our computers, unplugging the HDD's SATA cables, power cables, while also not having to remove a bunch of screws so we can remove that drive. It is as simple as counting 1,2,3 and that drive we need is out. This unit is also perfect for those who need to recover your family's/friend's precious information stored on their HDD's simply and effortlessly.

"The ECS X58B-A delivers a little of the good, the bad and not so much on the ugly. The board is a full featured board that at stock speeds delivers performance on par with some hardware that costs as much as $180 more than the X58B-A. The onboard debug LED is useful for diagnosing no boot conditions and just in case you go too far the CMOS reset button is within easy reach on the I/O panel. The onboard power and reset buttons are easy to use and come in handy on a tech bench when you don't want to spend the time to hook up the front panel connections. Overclocking the ECS X58B-A was a challenge. All of the boards I have looked at were able to hit at least a 200+ MHz bclock without any drama. The ECS was just not going to play nice at this level. No amount of tweaking would get me there, voltages, timings, nada! That's not to say that the ECS X58B-A can't overclock, indeed it can taking my little CO stepping i7 920 up to 3.7GHz running at 185x20. This means that the overclock is just over 1GHz from the ECS X58 solution. The one thing I feel holding it back is that there is a serious drop in voltage to the CPU when loading it heavily. When the CPU core voltage is set to 1.425 in the BIOS, under load I saw as little as 1.35 volts during some serious Prime 95 load testing. The CPU I used in this review runs Prime stable at 4.1GHz with 1.4125 volts."

ASUS has taken the Core i7 platform and turned it into a pseudo supercomputer. The combination of three NVIDIA Tesla cards and a Quadro card brings up to four TeraFLOPS of possible computing performance. Performance of the board itself was extraordinary with high scores throughout the testing. The P6T7 is designed for the workstation crowd and stability, manageability, support for SAS drives are as important as performance. The board was completely stable throughout testing and the ability to run four dual-GPU cards together will bring the ultimate in performance in games anyway. ASUS has an Editor's Choice product here for sure; especially in light of all of the extra features this board offers for the workstation crowd, great stability and great performance making this board a great choice for your new computer.

"Kingston has released their SSDNow V-Series Solid State Drive, specifically targeting the entry-level consumer that may be looking to jump on the SSD bandwagon. But this drive comes with the infamous JMicron controller, notorious for stuttering problems. However, Kingston is confident they've eliminated the problem. Have they? If so, how? We take a closer look at the Kingston SSDNow V-Series as we absolutely hammer this drive to find out. Fair warning before continuing: you may be surprised at the results."

"So far only two 2 TB hard disk drives have reached the market and both are "green" models, meaning they rotate at lower speeds in order to save energy. Models spinning at 7,200 rpm will reach the market only by the end of the year (it is more complicated to build a 7,200 rpm 2 TB drive than a 5,400 rpm one) and they will be faster than these two models we are reviewing today. Let's compare the performance of Seagate Barracuda LP with Western Digital Caviar Green."

CLICK HERE FOR Seagate Barracuda LP PRICING & SHOPPING

CLICK HERE FOR WD Caviar Green 2TB PRICING & SHOPPING

Spire's TherMax II is a new DHT CPU cooler for AMD and Intel CPUs. Its four heatpipes make direct contact with the processor for optimum cooling. Also included in the package is a fan controller which allows you to control the UV reactive fan in any way you want.

CLICK HERE FOR Spire TherMax II PRICING & SHOPPING

Speed, stealth, and function are important for more than just a military air craft. Using the design and overall theme of an aircraft the people at in-win came out with the B2 Stealth Bomber PC Chassis. Combining form function and silence all in one packaged they seek to surgically strike there competition with a carefully planned airstrike from their latest case. There is a lot of competition in the gaming chassis world so In-Win is going to need a top quality product to break into the market. Let’s take this puppy out for a spin and see how she handle:

CLICK HERE FOR In-Win B2 Stealth Bomber PRICING & SHOPPING

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

The Lenovo IdeaCentre A600 is an all-in-one desktop with plenty of features and bells-and-whistles to keep all but the most jaded of users happy. Perhaps taking a page out of Apple's book, Lenovo put a lot of effort into the look and feel of the A600, with its black-colored chassis, borderless 21.5-inch 1920x1080 TFT display, curved back, and svelte form factor--measuring only 1-inch thick at its thinnest point. The A600 Series comes in a variety of configurations, which range in price from $679 to $1,399.

CLICK HERE FOR Lenovo IdeaCentre A600 PRICING & SHOPPING

"What is there to say? The EVGA X58 E761 Classified is like an over-the-top blockbuster movie; it wows you on all fronts all the while costing an arm and a leg to produce. Core i7 is a new processor and motherboard and BIOS engineers are still figuring it out, but the team at EVGA has clearly stumbled across something to be able to release a board that pushes these chips past the notorious 220MHz base clock wall. This board reminds me a lot of the Asus LGA775 Rampage Extreme, except the Rampage Extreme came so late in the game..."

While the memory performed well, the results in any test couldn't really make a strong case for 4GB over 3GB or 2GB, and for that matter 800MHz over 667Mhz. Benchmark results are not the only thing to consider when looking at a memory upgrade, as most people are well aware that adding more memory improves overall system performance, especially when multi-tasking.

Quick swap Hard Disk Drive bays have been around for a long time. The reason is becuase many companies can not afford to have their servers down for an extended period of time, so they clone the drive and put in a brand new working drive to keep the system up. It is a fact that many of us are not buisness owners, so what use would we have of this technology? If you happen to have tech savy friends, this is very easy to answer. You can all get the same hot swap bay and swap HDD's to share the latest game update without downloading the same file multiple times. This can save a lot of time in the long run.

"Hard drive failure is inevitable, and if you're not backing up your PC on a regular basis, you're running the risk of losing all the music, digital photos, documents, and everything else that's stored on it. It's a fact. It's also a fact that most of us don't back up our hard drives because it's a royal pain. Who has the time? Besides, when was the last time your hard drive actually failed?"

CLICK HERE FOR Seagate Replica PC Backup System PRICING & SHOPPING

Some users just like really tiny keybaords. Personally I am an ergonominc fan, so the wider my hands can be apart, the better. For those who like tiny keyboards (programmers love them for some odd reason), then you'll be glad to know that there's finally one that's built like a tank: the Enermax Aurora Micro. This review was actually written using this keyboard entirely, in addition to some all-day testing.

CLICK HERE FOR Enermax Aurora Micro Aluminum Keyboard PRICING & SHOPPING

In Win set out to design a unique solution on their X-fighter case and it shows in the design and features of the case. The X-Fighter looks sort of like a spaceship but does not look like the ships we come to expect from the Star Wars universe like the X-Wing and TIE fighters. In terms of cooling the case has adequate cooling with a front fan, a rear fan, and a GPU cooling solution. The X-Fighter is available online for under $100 USD and sports high end features like the I/O area having e-SATA, Firewire, four USB.20 port. The inclusion of anti-shock drive rails is another high-end selling point of this case. Overall this case has potential for the end user, especially if you are looking for something a bit out of the ordinary.

The 212 Plus is the larger brother of the TX3, though there are several differences between the two. The 212 Plus is aimed at the individual who is looking for a little bit more performance, but doesn't want to give up the bank to do it. Coolermaster accomplished this by giving the 212 Plus more surface area and four heat pipes to conquer the dreaded enemy named heat. We know this is enough to outperform the smaller brother, but is it enough to compete against the other big dawgs on the market?

“Vizo is a manufacturer of a vast amount of drive enclosures and it seems that this is their specialist area. However, they also have a large collection of coolers. One are of cooling which is often overlooked is the hard drive. Vizo’s own solution for HD cooling is the Orbiter, today we’ve been lucky enough to get our hands on one.”

The 1005HA is undoubtedly a member of the expanding Eee PC lineup, and while it's numbered lower than the aforesaid 1008HA, there are actually a few aspects that we prefer on this model versus its predecessor. Actually, maybe predecessor isn't the proper term; it's not like the 1005HA is taking the place of the 1008HA. In fact, we envision them both hanging around on store shelves for some time to come.

"The Western Digital My Book World Edition II 2 TB network storage system uses RAID 1 (Mirrored) technology to automatically and continuously maintain a second copy of user's data using supplied software that you need to install on each computer that you want to keep backed up. When running in RAID 1, if one drive in the two-drive system ever fails, the system continues to run and the data is safe. The My Book World Edition II storage device can be run in RAID 0 (Striped) mode as well if speed over redundancy is required. All My Book World Edition II's ship in mirrored mode, though, as the main purpose of this drive is for data security. As a result, that means you can only use half the rated capacity for file storage since one drive is used for a mirror..."

CLICK HERE FOR WD My Book World Edition II External PRICING & SHOPPING

Speakers and headsets are very important things to consider when gaming as they can transport you to a whole new dimension if they perform well. Unfortunately, for a real top notch headset you are normally talking around the £80 mark which is a lot in today’s somewhat troubled economic climate. Speedlink has always been regarded as producing great products for very fair prices and today we have one of their headsets to take for a spin. With a vast amount of headsets produced by Speedlink, will the Tube be able to stand out from the crowd?

"We were surprised how much we liked Microsoft's wireless SideWinder X8 gaming mouse, but let's face it: $100 is a lot of dough to drop on a rodent. So we're happy to report that the wired SideWinder X3-which costs less than half as much as it fancier cousin-is nearly as good."

CLICK HERE FOR Microsoft SideWinder X3 Gaming Mouse PRICING & SHOPPING

As an ATI user myself, I can not dismiss the fact that one of the most versatile computer components that is out today, is a Nvidia 9600GT based video card. Reason for me saying this, well it is cheap enough for just about any one on any budget for light to moderate gaming, can be used in a HTPC for Blue Ray play back, and finally can be used as a dedicated Physx card for those who wanting or needing that extra little bit in our Ageia Physx based games.

CLICK HERE FOR ASUS EN9600GT PRICING & SHOPPING

As a whole, the Rosewill RKM-800RF Wireless Keyboard and mouse combo is a decent, solid performer. In a very crowded field of contenders, it doesn’t really stand out, and doesn’t draw attention to itself, but it performs admirably. If you are a hard-core gamer, or if you have large hands like me, you might want to try it before committing to the RKM-800RF.

"The NZXT Cryo S notebook cooler is a very well made laptop cooler that does its primary function well, while also providing several secondary benefits - such as the USB hub on the back, and the added benefit of having a keyboard that is tilted as to improve ergonomics. While the cooler didn't pack as large of a punch as its bigger brother, the Cryo LX, it is also quite a bit smaller, and perfectly fits my 15" MacBook Pro. This isn't really a cooler that you would take on a trip with you as it is rather large and bulky, but this is a problem that most people won't be affected by. As seen below, I have given the Cryo S our gold medal, which is one away from our highest award. This is due to the fact that on some laptops, especially Macs, the power provided by the USB ports cannot match the power drawn by the fans, meaning that the only option is to plug the cooler directly into the wall. Other than that one issue, this is an excellent cooler that will have a place on my desk for a while."

CLICK HERE FOR NZXT Cryo S PRICING & SHOPPING

ASUS has some tough shoes to fill. Fortunately, they're familiar shoes; their own, in fact. A long string of high performance motherboards that got adopted simultaneously by the enthusiast and gaming sets, led ASUS to create a specialty brand segment they call "Republic of Gamers". The ROG Creed goes like this: "The Republic of Gamers is committed to delivering the most innovative and best performing PC solutions to enhance the gaming experience of power users." That's a tall order, especially in the competitive PC component market where today's news is already old news. One of the newest members of this Republic is the Maximus II GENE, part of a new group of small form factor components that give nothing away in performance to their larger brethren. Benchmark Reviews is pleased to review this latest offering, based on the Intel P45 and ICH10R, and we put it through the wringer against a well known full ATX-size reference boa! rd.

Altec Lansing, a division of Plantronics Inc., has a new set of compact computer speakers made to conserve desk space and still pack an audio punch. Tailored toward the budget crowd, this setup features two small footprint satellite speakers and an oblong subwoofer meant to use as little space as possible underneath your desk. Can this set of speakers really help save space and still sound great? Keep reading to find out how they stack up to the competition.

CLICK HERE FOR Altec Lansing VS2421 PRICING & SHOPPING

"One of the things that makes the DataTraveler 101 interesting is that the Flash drive was built with simplicity in mind, which helps keep the price low. The 4GB version (DT101C/4GB) of the DataTraveler 101 that we are taking a look at today runs just $11.99 shipped, which is more than a fair price as the DataTraveler 101 is backed by a five-year warranty and free tech support. Other companies like Crucial, Transcend, and RiDATA offer just two year warranties, so be sure to keep the warranty length in mind when pricing USB 2.0 Flash Drives."

CLICK HERE FOR Kingston 4GB DataTraveler PRICING & SHOPPING

"U.S. consumers have been limited to two choices when it comes to deploying a Windows Home Server machine: They could roll their own (from scratch or by repurposing an existing computer) or they could buy one of HP's MediaSmart models. Now there's a compelling third choice on the market: Acer's Aspire easyStore H340."

CLICK HERE FOR Acer Aspire easyStore H340 PRICING & SHOPPING

Not content with the Eclipse SLI, MSI decided to take it one step further by updating this motherboard with some new features ... the result is the Eclipse Plus, MSI's flagship motherboard. So what are the main differences? Well, it's a basically what I would call a 'Facelift' model ... it's viturually identical to the original Eclipse SLI except for several innovation features. These include MSI's OC Dail for 'on-th-fly' overclocking, shielded chokes, solid capacitors, 4 x PCIe slots with the possibility of 4-way Crossfire, Green Power Genie for advanced APS, and D-LED 2 ... a diagnostic LED feature.

CLICK HERE FOR MSI Eclipse Plus (X58) Motherboard PRICING & SHOPPING

“Today we have a selection of these drives for review featuring models with various new controllers from Indilinx and Samsung as well as Intel’s award winning X25-M. Just to make things a little more interesting there is even a model which features a customised version of the old JMicron 602 controller.”

CLICK HERE FOR SSD Drive PRICING & SHOPPING

PC Power & Cooling (Acquired by OCZ in 2007) has long been a serious player in the computer power supply arena. We were pleased and surprised when they contacted us about a Uninterpretable Power Supply (UPS) called the Pro-Source 1500. The UPS arena is new for PC Power & Cooling but given their reputation for rock solid large single rail power supplies we're betting that the Pro-Source 1500 is just as dependable as the PSU so many people have come to know and love. While many PSU companies ran with the crowd and went modular and multiple rail PC Power & Cooling staunchly insisted the modularity in a computer PSU, and the removable power cords, change the PSU's ability to deliver clean power and add resistance to the delivered power. As for multiple rail PSU, PC Power & Cooling doesn't manufacture those, they stuck with large single rail PSU insisting that a single large rail delivers cleaner more dependable power. A company that refused to profit from trends and insists on doing things the single best way might not have the profitability of trendy companies, but you can bet that their product will be top of the line and no compromises were made in the manufacture of any of their products.

“There are many essential components to every computer – some perhaps are less important i.e. sound cards etc – but most are vital. One such component which the entire system depends on is the CPU; basically the CPU is the “heart” of the computer. But it is more than that, it is the component which performs programmed instructions, performs arithmetic and controls data input/output functions.”

CLICK HERE FOR AMD Phenom x4 955 Black Edition AM3 PRICING & SHOPPING

The Trident Series from G.Skill is a very affordable kit, but manages up to 2000 MHz right out of the box. The kit also has very nice high quality heatspreaders. We push the kit to 1.65 V and way beyond that to see check for additional OC potential or if it manages to impress us with a great price / performance ratio.

" Complete with an aluminium body, dual 120mm cooling fans, and enough base to cover the standard 16:10 15.4” notebook computer, the NZXT Cryo S looks to perform well in helping to cool your notebook. We'll take a closer look and find out."

CLICK HERE FOR NZXT Cryo S PRICING & SHOPPING

Portability is popular nowadays in the whole technology sector. Everything we see is getting smaller than what we’ve seen before. Take for example HDTVs. They are getting thinner and thinner as the years go by. We have small tiny MP3 players roaming the market, tiny USB flash drives and now even tiny netbooks and notebooks. The problem with purchasing such a smaller notebook and netbook is the fact that you have to make some sacrifices. One sacrifice is the exclusion of an optical drive. You can alleviate that by mounting ISO’s on the computer but that requires space and average people may not know how to do such a thing.

CLICK HERE FOR Samsung SE-S084C PRICING & SHOPPING

In the past I have reviewed multiple Microsoft Sidewinder products including the X5 and X8 mice. I was impressed with the performance and features of both specifically with the wireless X8. The only problem is not everyone can afford to throw down the money for the gaming mice that are coming out. Prices for some high end gaming mice are over $100 now, add that to the other costs of a gaming rig and you are talking to much money for most gamers. Microsoft recognized this with the x5 making a mouse with all of the great features and a better price. Of course to some the x5 is still out of range, this is where the new x3 comes in. Price a little higher than a basic mouse, but with almost all of the same features found on the x5 and x8 at a regular mouse price the x3 promises to be a great value for budget minded gamers.

CLICK HERE FOR Microsoft Sidewinder x3 Mouse PRICING & SHOPPING

The TS-809 Pro Turbo NAS isn't only good on performance; QNAP has provided the full package with many built-in features. This includes print server, webserver, dataserver, multimedia server and download manager to name a very small list. While the TS-809 Pro Turbo NAS commands a premium price, you get a premium product. The only shortcoming is the 1 year warranty but for any digitally inclined household or business, the TS-809 Pro Turbo NAS is seriously worth considering.

CLICK HERE FOR QNAP TS-809 Pro Turbo PRICING & SHOPPING

"On the PCSTATS test bench is the finest 1.0TB example Western Digital has to offer from its Caviar Black series. The Western Digital WD1001FALS has a capacity of 1 TeraBytes (1,000 GB) and is equipped with an industry standard 32MB cache. The three platters beneath its shiny metal exterior rotate at 7,200RPM and have a density of 333GB, so this 3.5" SATA II HDD should come close to attaining is listed sustained transfer rate of 106MB/s in PCSTATS' benchmark set."

CLICK HERE FOR Western Digital Caviar Black PRICING & SHOPPING

“The new SAPPHIRE HD 4770 is the first card in its class to use GDDR5 memory and is based on the first ever GPU built in 40nm process technology. It uses the powerful graphics architectures from the ATI division of AMD, incorporating multi-purpose stream processing units and improved memory management architecture.”

Intel and AMD have been going at one another for years. With AMD unable to compete well at the ultra high-end of the market, however, their focus shifted towards the mainstream market segments. As always, Intel responded and their most recent salvo comes in the form the affordable Core 2 Quad Q8400 processor. Since the Q9400, a 2.66GHz Yorkfield quad-core, was already on the market, why did Intel feel the need to release another, affordable quad-core model? One reason could be to increase yield and utilize dies that would otherwise be discarded. Another reason would be to position another product at the same price point as AMD's. Whatever the case may be, competition is always good for the consumer as it usually drives prices lower and provides more options to choose from. With that in mind, let's take a look at the Intel Core 2 Quad 8400 to see if it's worthy of consideration for your next build...

CLICK HERE FOR Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400 PRICING & SHOPPING

"Overclocking the ASRock M3A780GXH/128M reminded me of what life was like when I used to overclock budget processors and boards. You are constantly toeing that line of "is this safe?" all while reveling in how much performance you are unleashing. For $89.99, the M3A780GXH/128M surprised me with a 350MHz (75%) HTT overclock on air. At 350MHz HTT the board is 100% stable while 357MHz HTT resulted in BSOD while loading Windows..."

CLICK HERE FOR ASRock M3A780GXH/128M PRICING & SHOPPING

"Kingston recently introduced the HyperX Fan to compliment their HyperX line of ram, but it can be purchased separately for use with any ram, and they were kind enough to send one over for review. Normally this kind of thing is not very useful really, in my experience with ram coolers they tend not to work very well, but the HyperX Fan is truly an exception. The HyperX Fan works, and works very well, it's easy to install and the bright blue LEDs will add a bit of color to your case. So read on to check it out and learn just how well it performs... "

I hope you all had a good weekend. ASUS' Xonar range of sound cards have proved to be both impressive and popular offerings ever since their launch a couple of years ago, with only pricing serving as a potential barrier to entry for users looking to move above and beyond an on-board audio solution. However, the latest addition to the Xonar range looks to remove even this barrier, attempting to bring the audio quality and basic feature set that we've come to know and love to an even lower price point. The result is the Xonar DS, and today we take an exclusive look to see if it's succeeded in its task.

"Microsoft is set to release the beta version of the successor to its anti-virus & malware program Windows Live OneCare, named Microsoft Security Essentials, on Tuesday, June 23rd in a limited release. Code named Morro, it includes a new interface, some new features, and a price tag of free. Microsoft says it expects to release the final version by the end of 2009 and it hopes that everyone will make use of it to provide basic worldwide protection from viruses and malware."

The Panzerbox intends to mow down the competition like a tank, as it is aimed at the uncompromising LAN party gamer. The compact case has all the space for large components to pack quite the punch. We take the case for a spin to see if it delivers more than just a menacing look.

CLICK HERE FOR NZXT Panzerbox PRICING & SHOPPING

Today it´s once again time for a laptop review, Asus sent us a sample of their brand new Pro61s laptop. With features as a Cire T5850 cpu, N Wifi, 16 inch screen, and 4850 videocard this really seems to be a killer. We are going to look at the screen, performance, and battery time in this review so lets have a closer look at what we can squeeze out of it.

The market for consumer electronics and computer hardware has been generally immune to this sponsorship phenomenon — that is, with one exception. There are a host of products out there stamped with the name of a certain Johnathan ‘Fatal1ty’ Wendel. Fatal1ty, if you’re not familiar, has on the order of 30 “notably accomplished” gaming tournament placements on Wikipedia, including five 1st place finishes for Quake III Arena.

CLICK HERE FOR OCZ Technology Fatal1ty 550 Watt Power Supply PRICING & SHOPPING

" Today I figured why not take a look at another Thermaltake product, this time it's a fan, while it might not be as exciting as the BlacX I looked at yesterday, it's still a good product. The fan is a new design by Thermaltake, they took cues from other companies and basically re-designed this fan from the ground up. It's called the ISGC 12, and it features a unique fan blade design to keep things quiet but yet promotes good airflow, it also features an in-line speed controller and comes with silicone fasteners to further keep things quiet. I've put the ISGC up against three other fans I've got on hand for comparison, so read on to see how the Thermaltake stacks up..."

CLICK HERE FOR Thermaltake ISGC Fan 12 PRICING & SHOPPING

"The Evercool Transformer 4 (HPJ-12025) performed fairly well in testing, chasing after the similar, albeit single-fanned, Titan Fenrir by a couple degrees in each test. The hardware needed to install the Transformer 4 was included and the instructions were somewhat difficult to read or understand due to typos and poor grammar, but it had plenty of pictures that made it easy to infer the general idea. The art and design of the packaging looks good, as does the heat sink itself. The included thermal paste worked well enough, and felt similar to Shin-Etsu. The performance with the CPU overclocked allowed for more headroom and beat the stock Intel offering hands down. During testing, the fans operated very quietly and kept temperatures in the safe-zone. Clearance and size weren't an issue with my setup, but there were a few close calls; users should make sure that this heat sink will fit their system before purchasing."

Along with AMD's launch of the Phenom II and Athlon II processor families this year, we've also witnessed a steady shift in focus from their AM2+/DDR2 platform to a full AM3/DDR3 platform. The good news is that these newer AM3 processors support both DDR2 and DDR3 memory, allowing consumers to upgrade without replacing their whole system. Still, that leaves many wondering if they're missing out by not making the jump to DDR3 memory. To help answer that question, today Benchmark Reviews puts Gigabyte's DDR2-based MA790X-UD4P motherboard to the test.

CLICK HERE FOR Gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD4P AM3 Motherboard PRICING & SHOPPING

“As you all should know by now, We've reviewed a ton of laptop coolers/desks here on VH and I'm personally done most of them. The XPad Slim could be a good addition to someone out there in need of something to put under their laptop to keep the heat off their legs. However I cannot overlook the price and quality of the unit that I was shipped. The odd design with the logo on the bottom and the bottom looking like the top just feels weird to me. The part of the unit that's in direct contact, or closest to the super hot bottom of the laptop is just ABS plastic. How is that any better than using your laptop on a TV tray or lid from a Rubbermaid tote? The slots cut into the 4 corner coolers are functional to a point, but mostly for looks. Proper cooling needs proper airflow and the XPad Slim has neither. It simply props your laptop up a 1/4" on a firm surface. The bottom, the part on your legs, is flat as a pancake and certainly not the most comfortable for extended sessions.”

“The AMD Phenom II 955 BE was made for gamers and overclockers. The free multiplikator is perfect for all overclockers. But does it really worth? In this article we have overclocked the CPU with a good Air cooler, with a watercooler and with dry ice. Our job was to find out the the highest possible stable clock. “

" Last week I took a look at the Kingwin EZ-Dock2, and I found it to be a decent product overall but it had one fault where it didn't support to the hard drives very well, other than that it's a good little product. Today for review I've got another HDD dock, the BlacX from Thermaltake. The BlacX supports both 2.5” and 3.5” SATA drives and features both USB and eSATA interfaces, in my time with I found it to be a great choice if you're in the market for an HDD dock. So read on to learn more..."

It's nice to see Enermax break out of the power supply market and into something new. The Enermax Aurora line of keyboards is a great addition to Enermax's lineup. Aesthetically, the keyboards shine - both literally and figuratively. The brushed aluminum finish is great and is definitely an eye-catcher. The laptop-like keys are also very nice compared to conventional keyboards. In terms of visual design, the keyboards are near perfect - they are works of art.

"The Sanus Elements ELM203 Surge Protector comes with a pretty impressive bundle for being priced at just $18.95 plus shipping. Included with the ELM203 is a 6' phone cord, 6' coax cable, and the instruction manual. The instruction manual goes over the basics and also covers the five year warranty. Not a bad deal deal considering you can fork over $55 plus shipping for the Panamax MIW-SURGE In-Wall surge protection system that protects just a single device. The ELM203 Surge Protector is clearly priced right and in this economy, pricing is everything..."