Week of May 6, 2007

The Home Entertainment Show, as the implies, is dedicated to "products ranging from loudspeakers, turntables, HDTV, home theater systems, computers, gaming consoles, imaging products and much more." The 2007 edition of the show runs from Friday May 11, 2007 through Sunday May 13, 2007, and I spent a few hours on the opening day trying to focus on the computer and gaming console portion of the show.

“The Thermaltake Mini Typhoon CPU cooler has been out for some time now. They have just recently upgraded this cooler with a value pack that includes 2 50mm fans that attach to the Mini Typhoon and can be angled to cool your memory, northbridge, or other parts of your motherboard. This is a really unique idea, we will have to see how effective it really is. The Mini Typhoon itself features 6 heatpipes, and all copper design, and a silent RX type flow fan.”

CLICK HERE FOR Thermaltake Mini Typhoon SHOPPING & PRICING

The MSI K9AGM2-FIH motherboard is a good simple mainstream platform for building an AMD Socket AM2 motherboard. For 2D tasks, like regular office work, surfing the web and the like, this motherboard is a perfectly suitable and quite inexpensive. The onboard Radeon Xpress 1250 videocard handles 2D applications just fine, and is Windows Vista Aeroglass compliant. Better still, the onboard HDMI connector allows the MSI K9AGM2-FIH to output video at 1920x1080 (1080p), HDCP content included.)

CLICK HERE FOR MSI K9AGM2-FIH Motherboard Review Motherboard SHOPPING & PRICING

Overclocker memory makers surprise us not only by the record-breaking frequencies of their DDR2 SDRAM, but also by the originally designed cooling solutions for their memory products. OCZ has already introduced liquid-cooling for its top-of-the-line products, now the time of heatpipes has come.

CLICK HERE FOR OCZ DDR2 PC2-9200 Reaper HPC Edition SHOPPING & PRICING

The Steelpad 5L professional gaming mouse pad is an extraordinary mouse pad. The Steelpad 5L is not merely for professional gaming though, the pad handled every task from gaming , graphics, and office applications with no problems at all.

CLICK HERE FOR Steelseries Steelpad 5L Mouse Pad SHOPPING & PRICING

The festival was a mix of large-scale LAN gaming and spectator events, with an international pro tournament as the main attraction. Electronic Arts and Creative Labs sponsored a Battlefield 2142 Whoop Ass!! tournament, with a large ?10 000 ($13 000) first prize that attracted pro teams from around Europe. With a total of ?30 000 ($39 000) in prizes, Assembly Winter 2007 was the best sponsored pro gaming event in Finland to date.

Assembly Winter 2007 also hosted a series of pre-qualifying tournaments for the World Cyber Games organization: professional players played for cash prizes and spots on the qualifying tournament in the next Assembly, to be held in August in Helsinki, Finland. This year's WCG Grand Final will take place in Seattle, and many of the pro players in
Assembly Winter already have their eyes fixed on that goal.

The demand for ultra-mobile storage and the quick development of flash memory during the past few years has led to the high popularity that USB flash drives enjoy today. Flash drives are rarely supplied from companies who manufacture mechanical drives; they are usually built by RAM
manufacturers since they are basically flash memory without any moving parts. Perhaps the most reputable RAM manufacturer, Corsair, is no exception as they are one of the first RAM manufacturers which offered USB flash drives and one of the few which designs their drives to be extremely tolerant to abuse. Today we will take a look at their latest, largest and fastest USB 2.0 flash drive, the 8GB Voyager GT.

CLICK HERE FOR Corsair Flash Voyager GT 8GB SHOPPING & PRICING

The Sunbeam Quarterback is a midtower ATX case with tool-less drive bays and PCI slots, Core Fan system, VGA vent and a side window. The front bezel adds a door that makes the case look as muscular as a quarterback, which definitely adds to its style.

"The front bezel houses two 5¼" drive bays and one 3½" opening, next to which is the LCD temperature display. Immediately below this is the spring-loaded steel carry handle. It retracts into the case when not in use but can easily be pulled out when you need to carry the X-QPack 2 to your next gig. Standard USB, Firewire and mic/headphone audio ports adorn the front next to power and HDD activity LED's. Power and reset buttons finish off the front panel features along with two mesh pieces on either side for ventilation."

CLICK HERE FOR Apevia X-QPack 2 SHOPPING & PRICING

"No matter how much blood, sweat, and tears goes into creating the ultimate computer setup, almost nobody sees the amount of time and expertise that it took to build it. They always judge the system solely on the final visual result…the case. With so many choices in the market place, the computer case has become more than just an enclosure. It’s similar to the car that you drive as it can tell everyone a little bit about the type of person you are. The case you decide on ultimately affects so many factors, ranging from system performance to curb appeal or aesthetics. Things to think about when making this decision are design, air flow, noise level, upgradeability, looks, and for the budget minded, cost. One of Lian Li’s latest cases to hit the market is the PC-A08. With its clean design and elegance that Lian Li has become well known for, the PC-A08 fits perfectly with its existing product line up."

"The MOTORIZR Z3 might have the look and feel of the RAZR or SLVR phones, but offers a cool design that slides open to reveal the keyboard."

CLICK HERE FOR Motorola MOTORIZR Z3 SHOPPING & PRICING

"What has 80 amps of current, four 12 volt rails, and looks really sexy? If you guessed the new Ultra 800 watt X-Finity you're absolutely correct. Ultra has made some great products in the past and still do today. Products such as cases, case lighting, and fans for modders as well as quite a few other products such as MP3 players, tools, and even barebones kits. The new X-Finity sure looks sweet right out of the box with its anodized black shell and silver cables. Let's see if the performance backs up the great looks. Today I have the pleasure of reviewing the latest X-Finity PSU that Ultra was nice enough to send us, the X-Finity™ 800 Watt PSU w/ Active PFC and, as you will see, she sure does put out. :) "

"Jetway the manufacture that makes computers affordable. At least if you check the price... But what about the quality? Is it like the price really low, or is it the opposite of the price. We tested the motherboard and where stunned, it preformed really well and is a real good value for money. We recommend this board when building a media centre or cheap home computer system with latest technology "

The two single largest features of the AMD 690G and nVIDIA GeForce 7050PV chipsets are native HDMI output and High Definition Content Protection (HDCP). Both chipsets are currently AMD only affairs, but with the extremely competitive pricing of AMD's Socket AM2 chips it's the perfect opportunity to build that small home theatre PC you've always wanted to have. After all it would be nice to watch all those illegally downloaded bit torrent movies on something larger than a computer monitor. If you're going to rip movies, you might as well watch them in HD, in full surround sound, and get the best bang for your buck. ;-)

CLICK HERE FOR Biostar TF7050-M2 GeForce 7050PV Motherboard SHOPPING & PRICING

"MaxOrb is a new rounded CPU cooler from Thermaltake, manufactured in aluminum, featuring six heat-pipes and also having a speed control knob attached to its body. Let's take a quick look on it."

CLICK HERE FOR Thermaltake MaxOrb CPU Cooler SHOPPING & PRICING

"As for the story of the campaigns in the expansion pack, imagine the scenario in which the Nazis would have managed to steal the research data that led to the creation of the nuclear bomb. This is exactly what Rush for the Bomb builds upon, with two separate campaigns in which the player either gets the chance to protect the above mentioned information, leading the allied forces, or tries to snatch it off their hands with the Germans. StormRegion promises 12 new, story-driven single-player missions, 6 for both sides, brand new heroes with interesting special abilities and several new units, further enhancing the tactical possibilities of the original game."

In this review, Benchmark Reviews will evaluate the progression of technology into a product which hopes to establish itself as the pinnacle of PicturePhone evolution: Logitech's QuickCam Ultra Vision Special Edition Webcam.

CLICK HERE FOR Logitech QuickCam Ultra Vision Webcam SHOPPING & PRICING

"The Gigabyte GA-965P-DQ6was a fun motherboard to review. It was quick to set up, as I have found most Intel chipset boards to be, and it was just plain easy to use. Gigabyte did a wonderful job with this board. The Gigabyte GA-965P-DQ6 is a wonderful update the the first release boards that Gigabyte had. The features and layout on this board are outstanding, leaving really no room for desiring anything else..."

"Not only have the devices themselves got a lot smaller and faster, but these days there is a lot of extra functionality – such as encryption or the ability to run applications from your memory key – and you can even get ruggedized drives for those of us that have a habit of dropping things.

With Windows Vista a new use for USB flash drives was introduced – ReadyBoost – and we are going to put the Flash Voyager GT to the test in that to see if it makes a difference. We will also be measuring the drive's performance in real world file copy tests and using HD Tech and comparing it against two other drives, the previous-generation Flash Voyager, and the SanDisk Cruzer Micro. So let us move on to the results and see if the Corsair Flash Voyager GT lives up to expectations."

CLICK HERE FOR Corsair Flash Voyager GT SHOPPING & PRICING

"Nearly everybody today uses various kinds of flash storage: USB dongles, memory cards, compact external hard drives. These products are rather affordable, and flash media reached 4-8 GB capacitites long ago. So why not install a fully-featured (but lite) version of Mac OS X on such a drive with a minimal set of applications and files? Many Mac users would like this idea, especially those who often work on different computers and want to do that in their personal environments. So, let's see how you can install Mac OS X this way."

Most of us never really think about the power quality our systems are fed. We use simple power strips or surge protectors, and generally never give the issue another thought.. That is, until you have a power surge or blackout, and lose that important article or term paper you've been working on for the past 12 hours. However, power outages and surges are not the only concern facing computer users, as poor power sources (low quality wiring, old homes, etc) can also create problems with fluctuations, which can damage you hardware or corrupt your data.

CLICK HERE FOR CyberPower CP1500AVRLCD 1500VA 900W UPS SHOPPING & PRICING

This (re)volution happened back in 2001 and today the game has a huge following. But even though Bohemia did an exemplary job with OFP, some aspects of the game left fans crying for more. Over the years the insane amount of mods available made most of the complaints moot, but the announcement of OFP2 still made a lot of people ecstatic. After years without a single word from Bohemia, fans started to get worried and after Bohemia lost the rights to the franchise things looked very grim. Luckily Bohemia didn't intend to go down without a fight and the result of
their strong will is Armed Assault.

The A-DATA MyFlash PD16 is a very solid and spacious USB 2.0 memory device with capacities of up to 16 GB. It features a lifetime warranty and can be used for Vista ReadyBoost. The aluminum/plastic construction makes it a bit heavier than other memory sticks, but also adds to the durability. We take an all around look and benchmark the PD16 to see if it performs as good as it looks.

"At the MSI PC2008 event yesterday in Taipei MSI showed off its watercooled version of the Radeon HD 2900XT and we snapped a shot for you to ogle over for now. We’re working on the coverage of the whole event and it will be up later today. But for now, enjoy this picture of this card which has a very nice looking watercooler on it."

"Now motherboards based on Intel’s P35 chipset are hitting shop shelves in Taiwan and other places around the world, we are able to start testing and providing reviews.

Today we have been given the first of what we hope to be many retail boards based on the Bearlake P35 chipset. It is set to replace the Intel P965 chip as the mid-range monster with some updated features and specs such as support for upcoming 45nm Wolfdale and Yorkfield processors, PCI Express 2.0, updated ICH9 Southbridge as well as support for DDR-3 memory."

"The OCZ Equalizer is a solid gaming mouse. The ease-of-use, extra buttons, and wide range of DPI settings (all in hardware) are features that one can't ignore. Additionally, the Equalizer's creature comforts such as the "Triple Threat" button and the side/thumb grips make the mouse stand out in a crowded market."

CLICK HERE FOR OCZ Equalizer Laser Gaming Mouse SHOPPING & PRICING

Initially, I was not even sure I would be able to meet spec with these modules, however at Mushkin's suggestion, I tried them on a 680i motherboard - and lo and behold... the issues I had running them at spec disappeared; and as I mentioned earlier, the second set of modules they sent us was also able to meet (and beat) spec on the Asus P5B-E.

"Zalman is going to release this month two new VGA coolers, ZM90-HP, which is a passive solution and thus noiseless, and VF1000, which is an active solution, i.e. uses a fan. Let's take a quick look on these forthcoming products from Zalman."

In the market for inexpensive studio headphones? Altec Lansing might have just what you need. We were impressed with the sound quality displayed here. Though it doesn't have any bells and whistles, it's price is right.

CLICK HERE FOR Altec Lansing AHP524 Headphones SHOPPING & PRICING

"Going to the movies is one of America’s favorite pastimes. You can sit down and watch the big screen and feel immersed by the movie because of the surround sound. Can you get that same experience on your computer in the comfort of your own home? Let’s look into Logitech’s new X-540 5.1 surround speaker system to see if these speakers can put you into the movie, game, or studio."

CLICK HERE FOR Logitech X-540 5.1 Speaker System SHOPPING & PRICING

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

"Last time we visited Super Talent they showed us some "special" USB drives for Ready Boost, Windows Vista caching mechanism that at least in theory improves the PC performance. So what is special about them as any USB drive or memory card can be used for Ready Boost? What is different about them is the fact that instead of using the standard 4-pin USB connector, they use the 10-pin motherboard header connector and thus are targeted to be installed inside the PC (and not outside), directly on the motherboard."

The 650i is a clipped down version of NVIDIA's current flagship chipset, the 680i. The 650i is aimed to give the masses the performance of the new architecture, while at the same time not breaking the bank. ECS was kind enough to send over one of their new motherboards that features the 650i chipset, the NF650iSLIT-A (V1.0).

CLICK HERE FOR ECS NF650iSLIT-A (V1.0) NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI Motherboard SHOPPING & PRICING

“In the past, scanners were big, bulky, and heavy. Having a flatbed scanner at your workstation meant that a significant portion of your desk would be taken up by it. Once, I hung a shelf over my desk to be used as a perch for my scanner. The problem was somewhat eliminated at the workstation by the "all in one" printer/scanner, since more space is taken up by a printer, but forget traveling with it. Today, I will be looking at Plustek's OpticSlim M12 sheetfed color scanner, one of several scanners in PlusTek's lineup. We'll see what kind of quality we can get from a scanner that will easily fit in a briefcase or backpack.”

CLICK HERE FOR Plustek OpticSlim M12 Portable Color Scanner SHOPPING & PRICING

There are many optical drive manufacturers releasing Serial-ATA versions of the DVD writers recently, they all come with a price premium of around $25 on top of their IDE counterparts, but are they worth the extra cost? Today we look at the current range of ASUS DVD writers, in both IDE and SATA format to find out. The results may surprise you.

"Microsoft gives hardcore gamers a new system to choose from in the Xbox 360 Elite which features a large 120GB hard drive and HDMI output."

CLICK HERE FOR Xbox 360 Elite SHOPPING & PRICING

GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB graphics accelerator is a very popular solution these days as it combined all features of the new-generation video card with relatively low price. Today we are going to take a look at six solutions based on this GPU from different Nvidia partners including Asus, EVGA, Foxconn, Gainward, Gigabyte and XFX, and will try to find out all highs and low of each solution.

CLICK HERE FOR Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB SHOPPING & PRICING

Case fans come in lots of sizes and varieties. Today I'm taking a look at two case fans from Noctua. While some fans are designed to be as flashy as possible, these fans from Noctua were engineered to be as quiet as possible. Some of you may already be familiar with Noctua, they recently launched a couple of very successful silent processor coolers but they also have case fans and chipset coolers. Noctua is an European company, they have their headquarters in Austria and they work closely together with the Austrian Institute of Heat Transmission and Fan Technology (Österreichisches Institut für Wärmeübertragung und Ventilatorentechnik, ÖIWV) to develop high-end sound-optimised cooling products.

"The EVGA 650i Ultra is a budget motherboard that has not been totally neutered in terms of real working features. If your feature needs are meager and you are not looking to overclock to the bleeding hardcore edge, there is no doubt that this motherboard will make a lot of budget overclockers happy. We do suggest you put your best enthusiast foot forward however and make sure you cool off the chipsets if you are into overclocking for the long term."

CLICK HERE FOR EVGA 650i Ultra Motherboard SHOPPING & PRICING

Back in the end of July -05 we had a look at a more or less revolutionary computer enclosure from Antec's Performance One series; called the P180. It had some innovative features such as three layer sound dampening side doors with separated apartments for the Power Supply unit and the motherboard. We liked this case so when Antec contacted us about a new updated Special Edition; version called the P182 SE (which only will be made in 5000 units), we couldn't resist having a look at it.

CLICK HERE FOR Antec Performance One P182 Case SHOPPING & PRICING

"Albatron has a great product on their hands that you can depend on. By sticking with the NVIDIA design, we are sure that this card is unlikely to fail. The Albatron GeForce 8600 GTS is a well built card devoid of all the bells and whistles that other companies make you pay extra for. For less money you get a quieter, lower heat producing, and reliable card..."

CLICK HERE FOR GeForce 8600 GTS Video Card SHOPPING & PRICING

When we first reviewed the original 3d Galaxy water cooling kit, we were pleasantly surprised at the ease of installation and how well it performed. Gigabyte has made a number of great changes to the second version of this kit, perhaps the most important is the increase in tubing size from 3/8" to 1/2". The means by which the water block is attached to the socket LGA 775 is a vast improvement over the first model. So come on along and check out this very slick water cooling kit...

CLICK HERE FOR Gigabyte 3D Galaxy II Water Cooling Kit SHOPPING & PRICING

The Antec P182 is the newest addition to Antec's Performance One family. With a few extra enhancements that were not present on the highly popular P180, the P182 might just be your excuse to upgrade to a new case. Some great features to enhance cable management have been incorporated into this case, and those daring enough to watercool their rig will like the feature that was included just for them. Read on to see what the P182 has in store for those willing to give it a try.

CLICK HERE FOR Antec Performance One P182 Case SHOPPING & PRICING

The only way to get cooler temperatures than with air coolers is to use water cooling. But how do you get cooler than a water cooler without using some form of complicated exotic cooling? The answer is not very easily, until now. CoolIT has come up with a new cooler that utilizes a means of exotic cooling, yet it's designed for ease of use for the average end-user. Today we take a look at this new cooler from CoolIT and see if it really is better than any other cooler out there.

CLICK HERE FOR CoolIT Freezone SHOPPING & PRICING

"Back when 32-bit CPUs were first released, the first being the 386-series for the x86 architecture, registrable and accessible memory size increased up to 4GB. While you can plug 4GB into any 32-bit CPU system it will not all be addressable. Why this is, we will elaborate on later.

Today we are going to give you the low-down on the whys of 4GB memory setups and how you can get beyond the 4GB limit, which is not hard with today's technology."

"It may seem that Xtreme Computing are a bit behind the times in getting round to reviewing a PhysX card but there is a reason behind this. We wanted to wait a while for the technology to mature a bit, wait for the drivers to improve etc, and for more games to come out that support the PhysX processor, and now seems to be about the right time as the technology is a little more established now and the list of games is growing all the time."

CLICK HERE FOR BFG/Aegia Physix Card SHOPPING & PRICING

“Way back in October we took a look at the BFT90 CPU cooler from ZEROtherm. It proved to be a very effective cooler and user friendly. Today we will be looking at another product from ZEROtherm, this time it's a GPU cooler. The GX815 Gamer Edition VGA cooler features a heatpipe design, built-in thermal sensor, and special SLI/Crossfire mounting hardware. Let's take a look and see if ZEROtherm does as good of a job on their GPU coolers as they do on their CPU coolers.”

CLICK HERE FOR ZEROtherm GX815 Gamer Edition VGA Cooler SHOPPING & PRICING

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

"I’m big on packaging; I must admit at times I buy an item just because the packaging grabbed me. The XFX 8800 GTS would be on of those, because approximately 95% of the time a company takes the time out to research and produce an eye catching package, the product inside is worth the expense. Like many other video card manufacturers, XFX does also provide interior packaging or as I like to call it, “the box inside the box”. It seems that the inside box is just as eye catching as the outer."

"How about buying an all-aluminum case with a built-in water cooling system? Meet Mercury Pro, the latest release from Gigabyte. Besides coming with a built-in water cooling system, it also has three 120 mm fans, two at the rear and one at the front. Check it out."

Gaming, it's a term that means many things to many people. Gaming like anything else exists on a spectrum. On one hand, there is gaming at its least concentration. This is what is known as casual gaming. On the other hand, there is gaming at its most and most serious concentration. This is what we call tournament or pro gaming. But, is the spectrum even that easily defined? Is there much of a difference between the two? What is it that makes a gamer "Pro."

Mushkin is the only memory company right now to offer 4GB extreme performance kits, with their top-end offering on our test bench today. Despite the fact that it already has high stock speeds, we were surprised to find out that it still had a lot of overclocking headroom.

"The MSI K9AGM2-FIH motherboard had a good showing from a few areas today, but it is not without some shortcomings. That being said, anyone looking to build a HTPC would be well advised to give the MSI K9AGM2-FIH some consideration. For us, the main selling point is going to be the HDCP supported HDMI interface on the motherboard. This will allow for the best potential image quality provided the display that will be used supports 1080p."

CLICK HERE FOR MSI K9AGM2-FIH Motherboard SHOPPING & PRICING

"We review Logitech's top-of-the-line remote control, the Harmony 1000 to see if Logitech's best will satisfy home theater enthusiasts."

CLICK HERE FOR Logitech Harmony 1000 SHOPPING & PRICING

In this review PCSTATS tests the awesome Asus EN8800GTS/HTDP/320M PCI Express videocard. This Geforce 8800GTS-320 lives up to the hype, and comes with one of the best software packages available for its class. In the box is a full copy of Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter, which just happens to be one of the hottest shooter titles of 2006. The game looks particularly splendid when played over the Asus EN8800GTS/HTDP/320M videocard too. Take my advice, turn up the resolution to 1600x1200 and kick in AA and AF to get the full affect.

CLICK HERE FOR Asus EN8800GTS/HTDP/320M Geforce 8800GTS Videocard SHOPPING & PRICING

"Gigabyte has another great enthusiast-class motherboard in the N680SLI-DQ6. It should easily satisfy most all overclockers looking to get more out of their systems. Had we seen it attain some higher overclocks on the super-high-end, it would have quickly sported a [H] Gold Editor's Award. That might only be a BIOS revision away. Now for the shocker. The N680SLI-DQ6 is selling in e-tail for $350 and over."

CLICK HERE FOR Gigabyte nForce 680i Motherboard SHOPPING & PRICING

"In this guide you can follow the steps required to unleash the full cooling power of the large tower CPU heatsink from Scythe. The Infinity is fitted with custom motherboard mounting, 2x120mm fans and cool black shroud. Read on to find out how much performance one can extract from this CPU cooler by doing some ghetto style modifications."

"Thanks to Micron's memory circuits, there's a lot of headroom for fiddling with memory settings to find a setting that fits the system's configuration, like FSB and CPU speed. If you can access high voltages, there's a lot of potential for overclocking these circuits far beyond their specified speeds."

"Acrylic cases have been around for some time now, but only recently have prices dropped below $100 on several of these cases. The Sunbeam UFO ACUF-T acrylic ATX cube computer case just happens to be one of these sub $100 acrylic cases as the case we are looking at today was snagged from the guys over at CrazyPC for $81.99 plus shipping. The UFO Acrylic Cube Case comes without a power supply, but does include a pair of 120mm blue LED fans to help things stay nice and cool..."

Do you dream of a quiet system? perhaps one at home you can leave on 24/7 as a network server? Today we show you how it is possible to build a pc that consumes no more than 11 watts of power, is totally silent and hasn't a single moving part ... yes believe it or not, you can build a PC that under load consumes less power than a lightbulb.

HardwareLogic has partnering up with Newegg to sponsor the User Guide Of The Month. Each month, the HL staff will choose the best guide/article/product review submitted by a user, and that person will receive a $50 gift certificate from Newegg as well as having their guide published on the site's main page."

As the world turns to upgrade to the latest and greatest from Microsoft, many let what’s already been available slip their minds. Mac OS X Tiger has been available for quite a while, having many of the same features as Vista currently boasts. But everyone has already talked their way into this and it’s clearly been established. So why not compare what
Vista has to offer and what OS X Leopard, the latest release of OS X due out later this year, has to offer?

CLICK HERE FOR Windows Vista SHOPPING & PRICING

The ZEROtherm BTF90 is sure to catch your eye right off with its unique fin design. Don't let that scare you, oh wait it is just a friendly little butterfly.

CLICK HERE FOR ZEROtherm BTF90 CPU Cooler SHOPPING & PRICING

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

"We have every confidence that gaming in Vista will come around. At the moment, however, if you're concerned about squeezing every last framerate out of your system, there is not a compelling reason to leave XP."

CLICK HERE FOR Windows Vista SHOPPING & PRICING

CLICK HERE FOR Windows XP SHOPPING & PRICING

Computers have come along way since I had my first computer a Dragon 32 back in 19?.. You really don?t need the exact date suffice to say quite a while ago. The only way you could really make your computer stand out was to put a few stickers on it. Then came the era of the beige case, it didn?t matter if you had a real grunt machine inside the case or you had something that was living on borrowed time they always came in a beige case.

The G84 comes with only 32 stream processors onboard is a big drop from the 128 stream processors in the G80. In addition, the memory interface has been dropped from 384-bit to 128-bit. To compensate for the loss of the stream processor and the memory interface, NVIDIA has clocked the 8600GTS at a higher clockspeed than the 8800GTX to keep up with the performance against other cards in the same price segment. The fact that the G84 can be clocked at a much higher clockspeed is partially due to the 80nm fabrication process as oppose to the 90nm processor used on the G80.

CLICK HERE FOR Foxconn 8600 GTS SHOPPING & PRICING

"Blizzard has been very busy with the upcoming 2.1.0 update to World of Warcraft. It started with a set of patch notes a mile long and the improvements to the identified problems with the Burning Crusade expansion just keep coming. The latest update to the Public Test Realms was published yesterday and the magnitude of the changes to the late-game itemization and raiding is becoming clear - the alterations are pretty major."

It seems like we have been waiting on CellFactor forever, but the day has finally arrived. AGEIA has been touting this game for quite some time as the one to showcase all that their PhysX card is capable of. Was it worth all those delays?

Although the SteelSound 5H v2 is clearly targeted at more hardcore gamers, it is also perfectly suited for the casual player who hops online every so often for a session of World of Warcraft, Counterstrike, or whatever other title the kids are playing these days. I'm not much of a PC gamer myself, but I can say without hesitation that this headset is one of the best I've ever seen. The construction is solid, yet surprisingly lightweight. Sound quality is excellent, noise isolation is great, and the added features are of great value.

CLICK HERE FOR SteelSound 5H v2 Gaming Headset SHOPPING & PRICING

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

D-Day is upon us, which means the broadcast transition is upon us. None of this should be news, because Benchmark Reviews gave you specific instructions on how-to surviving this digital revolution and buy your first HDTV. We hope you paid close attention. Now let’s take a look at what could turn this transition into an event worthy of celebration. The Sharp AQUOS LC-52D62U sets a new standard for large-screen flat-panel LCD TVs. With Full HD Spec 1080p resolution, dramatically enhanced black level and an elegant new design, it produces a breathtaking picture quality that is second to none.

CLICK HERE FOR Sharp AQUOS LC-52D62U 52" 1080P HDTV SHOPPING & PRICING

"When you decide to upgrade a video card, you should understand that you are to change one of the most important components, which requires skills to choose and configure. This guide is intended for inexperienced users. In it we'll describe major issues that appear when you choose and buy a video card."

CLICK HERE FOR Video Card SHOPPING & PRICING

TTGamer have posted a review of Jade Empire for the PC. While it did see release on the Xbox in 2005, Jade Empire has taken this long to feature on the PC, only to see little in the way of PC focused changes.

CLICK HERE FOR Jade Empire PC SHOPPING & PRICING

"the GX815 Extreme Gamer is an impressive cooler that really gets the job done. The fan noise wasn't even noticeable over the other gear inside the computer. As far GPU coolers go, I would have no problem recommending this unit to anyone wanting a quiet and efficient cooler."

CLICK HERE FOR ZEROtherm GX815 GPU Cooler SHOPPING & PRICING

CLICK HERE FOR ZEROtherm BTF90 CPU Cooler SHOPPING & PRICING

CLICK HERE FOR TWEAKNEWS.NET'S REVIEW ON THE ZEROtherm GX815 GPU Cooler

CLICK HERE FOR TWEAKNEWS.NET'S REVIEW ON THE ZEROtherm BTF90 CPU Cooler

"The water block itself is made of pure copper for increased heat dissipation and has the Thermaltake logo molded into it. The included PCI slot bracket has two holes in it for connecting the hoses and a power jack connected to it with a lead that connects to your 12 volt rail on your power supply to power the twin pumps. That’s right; this cooler has two pumps working in parallel to keep the fluid flowing through the loop. It is a self contained system other than the water block that mounts onto your CPU. You can remove the back cover by taking out four screws that hold it in place. This allows you to see the working parts of the system. This reservoir is already filled when received and will need to be filled further after the system is started up for the first time. This is due to the fact that the hoses and the water block are empty to when shipped and will drain the reservoir a little as they fill when the system is first started. When the fluid returns to the tower from the PC after it passes through the water block, it should be warm from drawing the heat. In the tower, the fluid passes through a large aluminum radiator with three 120 mm fans which blow at 1400 RPM to dissipate the heat."

CLICK HERE FOR Thermaltake Symphony Mini External Water Cooler SHOPPING & PRICING

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

"Today we have a treat for you as I will be reviewing the Gainward 8800GTS 640mb Bliss Golden sample in SLi, this is one of the latest GeForce chipsets on the market, holding a massive 640mb of RAM on each card. Which adds up to a total of 1280mb of GFX memory which should be more than enough to play the latest games on the market, as well as some future titles. Add to that they are also the golden sample editions with a GPU clock speed of 550 and 1760 I am expecting great things."

You know how with some games you can tell if they are good or not from a mile away? Or how you can sometimes play a game that is just about perfect on the surface, but there is something wrong with it deep down under it all? You can't point your finger at it, but it's there. Dawn of Magic is the exact opposite. At first glance it is a mediocre Diablo clone that would only interest the die-hard action RPG fans. But the more you play it, the more you realize that the authors managed to strike the nail on the head in terms of progression speed, game world character and unique features.

Anyone who has ever had to move a large amount of data around a few different computer systems can definitely appreciate the usefulness of removable hard drive racks. If your computer can't handle another hard drive, or upgrading an existing drive is too much of a bother, an external hard drive is a great solution to the problem.

"We overclock a golden oldie, the Athlon 3000+ was a favorite among hardware enthusiasts back in May 2005, now-a-days it's Core 2 Duo, but with the help of some Dry Ice we can extract a bit more power from this AMD CPU. Read on to find out if we reach our 100% overclocking goal"

CLICK HERE FOR AMD Athlon 3000+ SHOPPING & PRICING

"We took a look on the latest high-end CPU cooler released by Thermaltake, V1 (a.k.a. CL-P0401), which is made of copper with four heat-pipes and using a very different design. Check it out."

"After a few seconds of waiting, I met the person I was going to interview. His name is Brian and he’s the manager of product development of Mushkin. He has been working for Mushkin for a few years now and is hands down the smartest person that I’ve ever met on the subject of RAM. His office is huge and has a great view of the demolition going on across the street. You’ll learn more about Brian in the interview."

CLICK HERE FOR Mushkin Product SHOPPING & PRICING

Alright, let's say you've got $600 US to spend on a kick ass videocard... or videocards. :-) What are you going to get!? The nVIDIA GeForce 8800GTX is the undisputed king of graphics cards right now, but on the next notch down the GeForce 8800GTS 320MB offers a heck of a lot of value and that's hard to pass up. Doing the math, for the price of one super high end PCI Express videocard, you could have two 8800GTSs running in SLI! This is definitely an enticing option, but which route really is the faster choice?

CLICK HERE FOR nVidia GeForce 8800GTS 320MB SLI Videocard SHOPPING & PRICING

The OCZ Trifecta is a unique SD card, it features connectors for USB, regular SD and microSD at the same time. This makes the card very useful for a variety of PDAs, mobile phones and cameras because you can easily take your data with you. With a price tag of below $30 for the 1 GB version it is not too expensive as well.

CLICK HERE FOR OCZ Trifecta 1 GB SHOPPING & PRICING

XFX’s 8800 Ultra XXX screams along at top speed leaving every other single GPU solution in the dust, there is no doubt about that. However it is safe to say that with word on the street that supply and quantities is very low, Nvidia is not expecting to sell many of these graphics cards. We have even heard from some of Nvidia’s partners in Taiwan that they do not even want to touch the tweaked G80 chip in fear that they will not sell. Nvidia believe there will be a few handfuls of ultra high-end extreme users out there that will pay the money just to have the best of the best.

CLICK HERE FOR XFX GeForce 8800 Ultra SHOPPING & PRICING

"While INTEL continues to release quality chipset after quality chipset (with their G33 and G35 chipsets already showing up for pre-order), those who favor the NVIDIA silicon and the benefits they offer (SLI anyone?) are fairly limited. Those wanting to match a Core 2 Duo processor with SLI were forced to toss down premium money on high end 680i motherboards, or settle for the older NVIDIA 570 or 590 SLI mobos, which, while no slouches, don't feature 1333FSB support or other newer features found on NVIDIA's 680i chipset. Enter the NVIDIA 650i chipsets."

CLICK HERE FOR ECS NF650iSLIT-A Motherboard SHOPPING & PRICING

"Great Battles of Rome looks like it was actually developed during Roman times - the graphics. It's obvious that the title was developed primarily with the PSP and PS2 versions in mind, and PC version is just a quick port with the main goal being the ability to run it on just about any PC."

"The Mustek Ality PF-T80R Digital Photo Frame not only shows pictures, but adds a clock and calendar."

HIGH-END MOTHERBOARDS must be a tough sell these days. You see, unlike with other PC components, where high-end parts are faster than their more affordable counterparts, motherboards tend to offer roughly the same performance regardless of their price. Sure, there are variations here and there, but they're subtle at best and generally confined to the speed and CPU utilization of onboard peripherals. Motherboard makers have even tried to exploit the value of onboard peripherals by packing more of them onto high-end products. That certainly adds functionality, but there comes a point where users don't need more Serial ATA, USB, or Ethernet ports.

CLICK HERE FOR Gigabyte's N680SLI-DQ6 Motherboard SHOPPING & PRICING

"Nvidia has listened, traditionally there are only one or two chipsets for each platform from Nvidia, but currently the company has four for the Core 2 platform, five if you want to count the old 590 Intel Edition. Within the 600-series there are now a total of four options; 680i SLI for the enthusiast, 680i LT for the high-end, 650i SLI for the mid-range and the 650i ultra for the vale end of the market.

We have tested a motherboard from ECS, our first 650i SLI chipset, which we found to be a very good contender. Its performance was on the money, in fact it was not that far behind the 680i-series, only the SLI implementation and a few additional features are where the chipset really differs. 650i falls back on the old twin PCI Express x8 slots for its SLI setup. If you want to use SLI, your graphics cards only run at x8 speeds, this eliminates the ability to run quad-SLI."

CLICK HERE FOR MSI P6N SLI Platinum Motherboard SHOPPING & PRICING