“The most promising physical technological improvements have been, and still are, the implementation of heat pipes. Manufacturers have designed heat pipe specific CPU coolers using various numbers of pipes. Some makers design theirs with only a couple heat pipes while others seem to add as many as they can fit on a CPU cooler. Some look like CPU coolers and others look like engines with copper headers. While all these variations have their own appeal, ASUS has chosen to design coolers with a more isometric feel in their lineup.

We've seen a few of their coolers here at VH before and they were always worthy of recommendations. We have a new one on hand that is actually an updated version of the original Silent Knight CPU Cooler. Today, the Silent Knight II CPU Cooler is on the work bench and looks quite promising.”

"During CES 2008 Foxconn showed us a prototype of a motherboard based on a non-revealed Intel chipset (probably Intel's forthcoming P45 chipset) that will have four PCI Express x16 slots, allowing four video cards under CrossFireX using an Intel solution. It is not only that, this prototype - internally known as F1 - will come with a water-cooling solution to cool down the chipset and the transistors from the voltage regulator circuit, and below the north bridge block it has a thermoelectric cooler (TEC, a.k.a. "Peltier")."

The Black Siberia headphones represent a good midrange option when it comes to gaming headsets. The extra long cord, detachable microphone as well the independent controls are great additions that set these headphones apart from most. Add to that the quality of construction of the headphones and you have setup that is well worth your money and probably outlast most other headsets in the same category. While the sound from the speakers could have been better for the price they are well within the accepted standards.

CLICK HERE FOR Icemat Audio Black Siberia Multi Headset SHOPPING & PRICING

"OCZ's broad market availability means you won't have a hard time tracking down the Vendetta heatsink in your neck of the woods. The Xigamtek HDT-S983 was a great heatsink, and the OCZ Vendetta cooler will certainly follow in its footsteps. The OCZ Vendetta heatsink FrostyTech is reviewing today is equipped with soft rubber vibration absorbing fan posts, and a 92mm PWM fan that spins at 1200-2800RPM, and some rather unique fin geometry."

CLICK HERE FOR OCZ Vendetta SHOPPING & PRICING

OCZ's PC2-6400 ReaperX features a new HPC (Heat-Pipe Conduit) that has two heatpipes and aluminum fin arrays for maximum heat dissipation. Rated at DDR2-800, these modules run at an aggressive memory timing of 4-4-3-15. Our CPU3D review team takes these modules to the test.

CLICK HERE FOR OCZ DDR2 PC2-6400 ReaperX HPC Kit SHOPPING & PRICING

In the digital home, there are many ways to play media that's physically located on your computer on your home stereo system. From the classic method of using a high end sound card such as the Asus Xonar D2 (Or an Asus Xonar U1 if USB is your only choice), to using a Slim Devices Squeezebox to stream media using a network, the possibilities are endless. One to add to this combination is the Vizo Milano. This unique hard drive enclosure allows you to simply pop in a hard disk drive, and the enclosure does the rest. It supports digital out to your receiver for audio, and hooks up to your TV using major analog formats to play video and display pictures. It even comes with a remote control! Will this media enclosure change the way we play digital files on home theater setups? Let's have a detailed look at the Vizo Milano media player and hard drive enclosure today.

"Gaming mice are all the rage, with the ability to crank up the accuracy to 4000DPI and beyond, it’s no surprise that hardened PC users are looking to grab one. However, the surface they glide over is as important as the mouse itself, not just in the realm of accurate tracking but friction and movement.

Today I have a SteelSeries mouse pad that follows in there hybrid range, this time with a fully hard top with soft rubber backing to grip your desk. Named the SP Pro Gaming mouse pad, lets see whether it lives up to its name…"

This is my short story of a first year visit to the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) which began in Las Vegas, Nevada on January 7th, 2008. Prior to starting Benchmark Reviews in March 2007, I had only heard of the aftermath and accolades from the stories handed down from affiliate webmasters from the previous years' CES. Since I am a resident of Nevada, I feel the gravitational pull of Las Vegas more than a few times per year; most in part to my competitions twice per year in the Grapplers Quest National Tournaments. But this year I was on a mission: meet the manufacturers, ask the important questions, and attend the parties. This is a diary of the most interesting experiences while I attended the 2008 International CES convention, and the lessons I learned the hard way. This article is dedicated to anyone who is considering, planning, or just slightly curious in joining the crowd in Sin City.

"In this review Frostytech is testing out Glacialtech's new Igloo 5750 PWM heatsink - a versatile CPU cooler with twin Pulse Width Modulation controlled 92mm fans and a single power cord for the sake of convenience. The Igloo 5750 PWM heatsink and previously reviewed Igloo 5750 Silent are identical models, except for the fans used. If you read that review, feel free to jump ahead to the acoustic and thermal test results for the full low down. Glacialtech's Igloo 5750 PWM heatsink accomodates both socket 775 Intel and AMD K8 processors (socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+)."

“If a poll was conducted amongst PC enthusiasts about which PSU manufacturer they prefer, Enermax would certainly be in the top three. They are one of the oldest and most reputable PSU manufacturers, continuously releasing products that never cease to please the perpetually unsatisfied hardcore PC users. Today here at DriverHeaven’s we have one of their new high class range PSUs, the Infiniti 720W unit. The Infiniti series is not the most powerful series that Enermax currently produces, but it is loaded with pretty much all features a PSU can have.”

CLICK HERE FOR Enermax Infiniti 720W SHOPPING & PRICING

"... if you're a hardcore gamer with a 100 dollars to spare ... go to the nearest Razer store and buy the Razer Tarantula keyboard. You will have the perfect keyboard for you gaming experience."

CLICK HERE FOR Razer Tarantula Gaming Keyboard SHOPPING & PRICING

"Last year we took a look at a few useful programs from SmarThumb, these programs are small and made to be installed on a USB Drive and taken with you as a portable suite of different types of software. They've recently released Vista compatible versions of their more popular tools and have me to check them out and give my impressions.

So, read on to check out the four new versions of the SmarThumb Software, myBackup, myEncoder, myShredder and myZip. This review will be done a bit differently than others, in that each page will be devoted to one of the programs... "

The vast, rolling plains and mild climate of Ellyrion make this inner kingdom the perfect breeding ground for the finest Elven steeds in all of Ulthuan. Great herds of these amazingly swift and graceful creatures roam the grasslands throughout the year, and are prized among the noble lords of the Phoenix Kings court for their magnificent quality and majestic beauty.

2007 seemed to be the year of the power supply here at Bjorn3D. 2008 may end up being much the same. Today we are taking a look at the 750 watt version from the Corsair TX line of power supplies. According to Corsiar, the TX series is designed for PC enthusiasts looking for a great product at a great price. In our previous review of the 450 watt model from Corsair's VX line, we found that Corsair lived up to it's claims of a price-conscious product. Let's see if they keep with that trend with the TX750W.

CLICK HERE FOR Corsair TX750W Power Supply SHOPPING & PRICING

"Not only does this heat make using my laptop for long periods of time uncomfortable, it can also damage and shorten the life of computer components. So it is in my (and probably your) best interest to keep your laptop as cool as possible. Laptops don't generally have any way to control the fan speed on its cooling fan(s) so what other way of keeping the laptop cool is there? Well that is where things like Thermaltake's range of laptop coolers come in handy."

CLICK HERE FOR Thermaltake T1000 Laptop Cooler SHOPPING & PRICING

Here is more coverage from various sources covering CES 2008 events and releases.

DriverHeaven
LegitReviews
Aselabs
Pro-Clockers
OCIA

Apple long has had the MP3-market in its firm hands. Ever since the first iPod was released they somehow have managed to win the hearts of millions of customers even if their players never have been at the technological forefront.

CLICK HERE FOR iPod Touch 16 GB SHOPPING & PRICING

"Graphics card cooling is a continually expanding market as more and more people are turned on to the fact that better cooling on your GPU not only means improved temperatures and therefore maybe a better overclock, but they are usually a lot quieter too. With that in mind, Spire sent over their Cool Force 3; let's see how it does."

"SunAge is almost the culmination of over a decade of work by lead designer and programmer Roman Pfneudl. He brings his vision to life in the form of a 2D, three-faction RTS with easy-to-grasp mechanics and straightforward gameplay. The game is strictly a throwback to a time when Windows 98 was beginning to make an appearance on desktops and DirectX was just gaining a foothold as a viable game development API. This also happens to be the era of some of the most revered RTS games of all time, and this nostalgia serves to highlight the shortcomings of SunAge."

CLICK HERE FOR SunAge SHOPPING & PRICING

"During CES 2008 Zalman displayed their next high-end case, Z-Machine LQ1000, which is basically their Z-Machine GT1000 with a Reserator XT water-cooling system added. Let's take a look on this forthcoming product from Zalman."

"The Scythe Andy Samurai Master (SCASM-1000) heatsink may be big and voluminous, but it proves to be an effective and most importantly, quiet, heatsink to operate. The Andy Samurai Master stands 126mm tall, and the upper body a shocking 120mm square, but Scythe float much of this becometh over a relatively compact lower body (78x80mm in general shape). In other words, Scythe have built a heatsink to hover over the motherboard like a Vogon mother ship. Design wise, the Andy Samurai Master heatsink weighs in at 685grams and comes packing no less than six 6mm diameter copper heatpipes and a 120mm 1200RPM fan."

CLICK HERE FOR Scythe Andy Samurai Master Heatsink SHOPPING & PRICING

“Today we are going to have a look at another interesting product from Enermax. While most people who read the word “Enermax” would think that this is a review of yet another power supply unit, think again. Enermax have a wide range of products available from Phoenix cases to Aurora keyboards. In this review we are going to take a look at their new external HDD cases line-up, the Jazz range. The Jazz enclosures are designed to offer optimal (yet fanless) cooling in mind, discreetly keeping your external disks cooler. Read on to find more about their looks, quality and performance.”

CLICK HERE FOR Enermax Jazz HDD Enclosures SHOPPING & PRICING

"First of all, DES is not a fad and it will be available on pretty much all GIGABYTE motherboards bar the really low-end models. However, the roll-out will take some time but the good news is that GIGABYTE has already shipped motherboards with DES.

As you surely have figured out, Dynamic Energy Saver is something that will save power; but it’s not very clear how this works from a marketing name alone, so let’s take a closer look at how it all works."

As an Enthusiast I have always considered many Small Form Factor cases to host my gaming rig, and I can comfortably state that a large number of members of gaming community consider SFF cases as well, but in my case full or mid tower cases have always been my choice due to higher cooling potential and better airflow they have been known to offer. Today at Benchmark Reviews we have the new NZXT Rouge Crafted Series SFF gaming chassis which focuses on key-points such as higher cooling potential, supporting bigger power supplies and most importantly hosting the highest end gaming cards with no size restrictions. Please join us as we explore NZXT's newest addition to SFF gaming cases.

"During CES 2008 ASUS presented their forthcoming gaming laptop: C90P. This will be a high-end laptop that will allow overclocking by simply touching a button. It is not only that: it will use regular desktop CPUs, making it easier to install and upgrade the processor (the product is based on Intel CPUs), lowering the system cost (as desktop CPUs are traditionally cheaper than mobile CPUs) and allowing faster CPUs to be installed (as usually very high-end CPUs are only released for the desktop market). Sounds interesting? Read on."

These days Intel refreshes their dual-core Core 2 Duo processor lineup. The new CPUs manufactured with 45nm process boast a lot of advantages compared to their predecessors.

“Visiontek have taken the 2600 XT 256Mb and redesigned it to perfectly suit low profile PCs or Media Centres. Part of this redesign is a native HDMI port which when added to full high definition video support could make the card an essential purchase. In this article we will be putting the card through a number of gaming and media tests to find out if media centre enthusiasts have a new must have purchase.”

CLICK HERE FOR VisionTek Radeon HD 2600XT 256MB SHOPPING & PRICING

"Looking for a light weight heatsink that's compatible with both AMD and Intel processor platforms? The Auras LPT-709 heatsink is one such cooler, and it runs fairly quietly too. The LPT-709 comes with a 92mm PWM fan that scales in speed from 800-2400RPM with compatible motherboards. At its fastest speed the fan is moderately audible. Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) compatible fans are noted by their 4-pin power connectors, and what PWM does is enable the BIOS to directly control fan speed so the PC keeps itself cool under load, yet decreases fan noise when it isn't. "

"As usually, after the basic models all made in the same fashion as the referent one, the first cards with more exotic cooling systems begin to arrive. Not that it is an imperative with such cold weather at the moment, but an overclocker values each degree Celsius. This time, we got a graphics card from HIS, made in cooperation with ArcticCooling, the (in)famous manufacturer of different advanced cooling systems for PC components. The full name of the graphics card we present you with today is HIS HD 3850 512 MB DDR3 IceQ 3 Turbo."

CLICK HERE FOR HIS HD 3850 IceQ 3 Turbo 512MB SHOPPING & PRICING

"I went with these specific cards mainly because of the DDR3 that is on them, there are other cards at this price point but not many that have the DDR3 memory. I shopped around quite a bit and did a lot of research before buying them. Originally when I was upgrading my system with the EVGA motherboard I was sort of set on getting the EVGA video cards as well to make it sort of a matched set, but there were others of the same model that were cheaper and I was considering getting those, but in the end after my research I finally decided that the EVGA 8600GTS offered the best bang for the buck. "

CLICK HERE FOR EVGA e-GeForce 8600GTS 256MB Video Card SHOPPING & PRICING

Here is a compiled list of all the coverage we have had submitted to Tweaknews today.

AseLabs
Legit Reviews
TWL
OCC
OCIA

Almost a half year ago I published a review of the PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 power supply and today I'm taking a look at the 610W model. The Silencer 610 is less expensive and features a single powerful 49A +12V line, that's 11A less than the +12V rail of the Silencer 750.

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

"There is nothing today that indicates that the EPSPOW850PRO is anything short of capable of delivering what it is billed as doing within the ATX12v specifications. Given some attention (and polish) to a few details, or excellent pricing, this unit could be more than the just another option in this output range as it is today."

The heading sounds more like military news bulletin doesn't it? Although it's not, it means the same just different context. When it comes to upgrading your PC case, there are lots and lots of options. Hundreds of companies fighting for your money trying to outrun each other with fancy designs, abnormal and extreme solutions. Thermaltake is a company where anything is possible with the right personnel. Whether it's a new case or simple upgrade, Thermaltake comes to a rescue with dozens of enclosures to pick from.

CLICK HERE FOR Thermaltake Armor SHOPPING & PRICING

"Maxtor's latest OneTouch drive (4 Plus) has a monolithic look, and lots of features. It also has some shortcomings."

CLICK HERE FOR Maxtor OneTouch 4 Plus 500GB SHOPPING & PRICING

“Since some users don't need the lower latencies, higher latencies can afford them a bit more avid performance at lower price. A good case and point is the new OCZ DDR3-1333 Gold Edition 2GB Dual Channel Memory Kit. OCZ has obviously been paying attention to the market comments and has done something to help their fans that are looking to make the move to DDR3. It isn't that there aren't many DDR3 kits to choose from, it's more that there aren't a great deal of DDR3 boards circulating yet. And there hasn't been a large enough performance boost from DDR3 boards that can draw people out to spend that pretty penny required to upgrade their motherboard and memory kit to tap in to their Core 2 Duo's hidden potential.”

“I've said before that the HD 2600 Pro should be passed over in favor of the XT for anyone who wants to play video games, or the HD 2400 XT for people just interested in having a discrete graphics card without all that gaming malarkey. But then, Gigabyte has put together a compelling package with the HD 2600 Pro. A memory bump to 512MB, a clockspeed bump of 5%, passive cooling, component and S-Video out, and Neverwinter Nights 2—a popular sequel by a big developer.”

CLICK HERE FOR Gigabyte HD 2600 Pro 512MB SHOPPING & PRICING

"Check out the Digital Experience event and some of the vendors and products we took a look at which you can expect to see on store shelves soon. New products like the Dell Crystal, Alienware Superwide screen, and products from CoolIT Systems."

"After brief opening remarks by Gary Shapiro, the President and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association, Bill Gates was welcomed on to the stage. Gates started his speech off by announcing that he will no longer be working at Microsoft full-time but will remain the Board Chairman."

"The Zerotherm Nirvana 120 heatsink is compatible with socket 775 Intel Core 2 Duo/Quad/Extreme and socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+ AMD Athlon64 processors. It ships with a manual fan speed controller that can bring sound levels down to whisper quiet, though we'd prefer to leave that aside and let the Nirvana 120 work at its best. You'll see exactly what we mean by that a little later in this review. A 120mm fan is set within the body of the heatsink, and it spins at a speed of 700-2600RPM (as manually controlled). A pair of blue LEDs illuminate the translucent impeller blades."

CLICK HERE FOR Apack Zerotherm Nirvana 120 Heatsink SHOPPING & PRICING

The original Logitech G15 gaming keyboard was reviewed in Metku.net just over two years ago, and not too long ago
Logitech came up with the revision 2 of the G15. The main features that made the keyboard special are still there
- The LCD-screen, USB-hub and a backlight on all the keys, but there are also some changes from the original
design that we'll explore in detail."

CLICK HERE FOR Logitech Gaming Keyboard G15 Rev2 SHOPPING & PRICING

"While your CPU is underneath what looks like a chuck of metal scavenged from a battleship hull, your chipset is often left with either a simple extruded aluminium number or hidden with a spider chain of heatsinks and heatpipes.

If your motherboard has the former, and you’re looking for a bit more overclocking headroom, you’ll need to search for an upgrade. There are several solutions, but today I have Thermalright’s HR-05. Let see how it performs."

CLICK HERE FOR Thermalright HR-05 SHOPPING & PRICING

“Gigabyte are a Taiwan based manfacturer with a vast portfolio comprising Pc's. optical drives, LCD monitors, keyboards, mice and cooling components. They are however best known for their high quality enthusiast motherboards. Today we are taking a look at their new GA-G33M-S2H. This is based on the G33 Express Chipset that supports the latest multi-core processors up to 1333MHz FSB and the new 45nm platform.”

"In essence, Vapour Chamber Technology is very similar to the heatpipe technology we've seen plenty of times before, taking heat and transferring it away from its source to a cooler area. However, with a VCT cooler this is achieved by providing a vacuum chamber, the inside walls of which are lined with the wick you can see above (the vapourisation wick), which is saturating with a liquid (pure water in this case). As heat is applied to an area, the fluid within it then vapourises and moves to fill the vacuum inside the chamber until it hits a cooler surface (the condensation wick), upon which it will condense, releasing the heat it has taken in during the vapourisation in the process. Once this heat is dissipated, the condensed liquid will return to the heat source via a capillary action (via the transportation wick), at which point the cycle repeats ad infinitum to continually draw heat away from its source, thus acting as a cooling solution."

CLICK HERE FOR Sapphire Radeon HD 3870 SHOPPING & PRICING

Although DDR3 is still out of reach for a lot of users, that hasn't stopped manufacturers like OCZ developing even faster modules. The OCZ DDR3-1800 Platinum 2Gb kits are rated at PC3-14400, with a decent memory timing of 8-8-8-24. They run at a blazing speed of 900Mhz (1800Mhz), our CPU3D review team look to take them past the 2Ghz barrier.

To shed some light on a confusing situation Gigabyte has sent us one of their P31 motherboards for review. P31 hardware is targeted directly for the budget consumer and accordingly can be found for just under $80 in several flavors from various motherboard makers. Intel is not known for cheaply pricing their venerable chipsets, so P31 is unique in that it is a hybrid of the much acclaimed P35 and old stalwart 975X chipsets. For the technically inclined the P31 chipset is composed of the P35 northbridge MCH chip with the 975X's ICH7 southbridge chip for an interesting combination of old and new. For reference 965 chipsets used ICH8 and P35 uses the ICH9 series of southbridge chips.

CLICK HERE FOR Gigabyte GA-P31-DS3L SHOPPING & PRICING

CES Unveiled is one of the smaller events at CES, but there were a handful of products being showcased worthy of your attention. Of these is Edifier's wireless Rainbow audio transmitter, Yoggie's security thumb drive, SentrySafe's hard-drive protectors, Beko's thin HDTVs and more.

The release of the 8800GT chipset from nVidia has seen the market go crazy for what is one of the best bang-for-your-buck video cards available, and many manufacturers are offering factory overclocked versions to give you even more performance, but are they worth the money? We look at the Inno3D’s normal 8800GT and their Overclocked version to find out.

"The 2008 Consumer Electronics Show doesn't officially start until Monday, but if you are a member of the press, you are invited to get a sneak peek at the latest technology at CES Unveiled. CES Unveiled took place Saturday from 4:00 - 7:00 p.m. in the Marco Polo Ballroom at the Venetian Hotel."

"Intel still supports DDR2 quite readily, and even X38 and upcoming X48 motherboards will both have DDR3 and DDR2 memory controllers as options on select boards, so you still have the flexibility there depending on what board you get.

Today we are testing out another somewhat unknown company to us; while we have heard of PNY before, we haven’t seen them in the extreme memory range which they are pushing for today with the new PC2-9384 DDR2 memory kit we have been sent."

CLICK HERE FOR PNY DDR2 XLR8 Memory Kit SHOPPING & PRICING

"When it comes to DDR3 a 2GB kit will set you back anywhere from $199 for a 1333MHz kit to over $500 for an 1800MHz kit. Obviously, DDR3 memory is still for early adapters and enthusiasts, but prices are expected to drop significantly as the year goes on. Intel is getting ready to release more chipsets that support DDR3 memory with the Intel X48 Express chipset and NVIDIA is rumored to support DDR3 for the first time with their nForce 790i SLI chipsets. With both of these chipsets soon becoming the main component of their flagship performance platforms, it will lead to improved DDR3 memory sales. So, before those chipsets come out Legit Reviews gathered together four 1800MHz DDR3 memory kits from the leading memory companies here in North America. Corsair, Kingston, OCZ and Super Talent are familiar names here on Legit Reviews for good reason - they all make great enthusiast memory..."

CLICK HERE FOR DDR3 1800MHz Memory Kit SHOPPING & PRICING

"Kingston has release their latest version of professional speed Compact Flash Memory with the CompactFlash Ultimate 266X Memory card. These cards are specifically designed for devices that require fast write speeds such as digital SLR cameras. Available in 2, 4 and 8 GB capacities, these cards provide space for hundreds of megapixels of images. "

"There has been a lot of discussion pointing towards a long-term HD DVD, Blu-ray war, but Time Warner may have prematurely ended the war. After the Warner announcement last week, in which the company announced it would end HD DVD support later this year, the North American HD DVD Promotion Group ended up canceling press conferences and meetings during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES)."

Overall I would have to say that if you are looking for large monitor over the 22" size, the V7 D24W33 is something to seriously consider. If price is also a point in your buying plans the D24W33 also offers an excellent price point and you will be able to find this model on line in the $399.00 range shortly after it spreads around the various retailers and e-tailors. The MSRP is set so that the V7 group does not compete with its own partners and deals will be available through many companies soon. Like almost every monitor I have ever owned the onboard speakers are adequate at best and not high-end by any means. For all the good that is here though and the addition of a 3-year warranty this monitor deserves an Gamer's Choice Award as its few drawbacks equal to about zilch in the big picture.

“Well it is that time of year again, time for CES. With CES just a few days away they hold a press event called CES Unveiled that shows off some of the latest products and gives you an idea of what to expect at the actual show. Although there was not a whole lot so see (it's the smallest press event of the show), we were able to talk to companies like Logitech, Netgear, and Sandisk to see what they will have for us in 2008. Read on to see what they have in store for us!”