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Latest Industry News |
2 Minutes for Ubuntu Eye Candy
Tuesday June 30 @ 08:52:01 GMT +02:00
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Bunftu posted a brief guide about configuring
Compiz under Ubuntu Linux
When taking a look at "CompizConfig Settings
Manager" in Ubuntu it can be a little
overwhelming when considering all the possible
combinations available to us. Often when you set
up a couple effects, it seems that you rarely
ever see them, or they have to be self induced.
Even when we place an effect on a common task we
quickly become bored with the same effect
happening time and time again.
After taking a closer look at the "Animations"
panel located inside "CompizConfig Settings
Manager". I took a close look at the “Window
Match” string and compiled my own string to
include as many “Window Match” keywords as
possible.
2 Minutes for Ubuntu Eye Candy |
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Mainstream Graphics Card Roundup
Tuesday June 30 @ 08:49:36 GMT +02:00
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Tom's Hardware Guide posted a Mainstream
Graphics Card Roundup
When it comes to graphics cards, the upper crust
of the mid-range is perhaps your best bet for
snagging great performance at a reasonable
price. In order to deliver the goods without
breaking the bank, vendors usually equip their
cards with enhanced cooling solutions or a bit
of extra graphics RAM.
If you're only comparing 3D performance, the
difference between these mid-range cards and
those you'd find at the very top of our latest
graphics charts is less than what you might
think. While the GeForce GTX 285 may be the
fastest single-GPU card around, a GeForce GTX
260 or a Radeon HD 4870 doesn't lag behind by
much. If you can live with that relatively minor
difference, you stand to save between $100 to
$150 or more.
Mainstream Graphics Card Roundup |
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Windows 7 Upgrade deal maxes out
at 25 PCs
Tuesday June 30 @ 08:34:00 GMT +02:00
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Mary-Jo Foley posted a news story that the
Windows 7 upgrade offer for Windows Vista PCs is
only valid for the first 25 machines.
Via the program, users who purchase new PCs with
Windows Vista preloaded from participating PC
makers and retailers, as of June 26, will get
coupons entitling them to a free copy of Windows
7 some time on or after October 22. The fine
print: As InformationWeek noted, the Upgrade
Option program maxes out at 25 upgrade coupons
per customer.
Windows 7 Upgrade deal maxes out at 25 PCs |
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Asus Crosshair III Formula
motherboard Review
Tuesday June 30 @ 08:26:05 GMT +02:00
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TechSpot posted a review on the Asus Crosshair
III Formula motherboard
A quote from the article:
Roughly a year ago we reviewed the Asus
Crosshair II Formula, based on the Nvidia nForce
780a SLI chipset. This board provided those who
were brave enough to pick up a Phenom processor
with a stable platform that sported a number of
impressive features such as Triple-SLI. At the
time we said the Crosshair II Formula was a well
designed motherboard that was let down by a
power hungry chipset and sub-par processors.
But AMD managed to turn things around when they
released the Phenom II X4 with models clocked at
2.8GHz and 3.0GHz. And now with the Phenom II X4
955 in their arsenal, AMD is finally starting to
look like they mean business.
Now after much anticipation AMD has a processor
that really deserves a quality high-end
motherboard. The new Crosshair III Formula dumps
the Nvidia chipset for the popular AMD 790FX and
as a result drops SLI support for CrossFireX.
This latest Asus motherboard comes stocked with
just about everything in traditional ROG
(Republic Of Gamers) fashion.
Asus Crosshair III Formula motherboard Review |
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Why You Should Buy a Netbook
Tuesday June 30 @ 08:18:28 GMT +02:00
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Futurelooks gives you some good
reasons for getting a netbook
It seems that netbooks are the hottest things
since sliced bread. At the same time, you might
remember my article a while back that explained
why netbooks are already obsolete. In the
interest of fairness and balance, I thought it
would only be fitting to give the flip side of
that argument, discussing the reasons why a
netbook should be an integral part of your
digital lifestyle.
Why You Should Buy a Netbook |
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ASUS Eee PC 1008HA Seashell
Netbook Review
Tuesday June 30 @ 08:07:19 GMT +02:00
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Techgage.com posted a
review of ASUS' recently-launched Eee PC, the
1008HA Seashell A quote
from the article:
With an incredible number of netbooks available
on the market, how does one compete? With ASUS
and their 1008HA (Seashell), the simple answer
is to make not a faster notebook, but a
feature-rich netbook with a better design. The
1008HA delivers on both counts, with the best
netbook design we've seen to date and other
bonuses on the software front.
ASUS Eee PC 1008HA Seashell Netbook Review |
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Microsoft Security Essentials
(Codename Morro) Review
Tuesday June 23 @ 08:52:01 GMT +02:00
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TechReviewSource.com posted a review on
Microsoft Security Essentials
A quote from the article:
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.
Microsoft Security Essentials (Codename Morro)
Review |
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ASUS Xonar DS PCI sound card
review
Tuesday June 23 @ 08:49:36 GMT +02:00
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Elite Bastards posted a review on the ASUS Xonar
DS PCI sound card
A quote from the article:
Compared to the larger PCBs, complete with EMI
shield, that we're used to seeing from ASUS'
Xonar parts, the Xonar DS is certainly
diminutive, doubtless taking some hints from the
small form factor of Auzentech's X-Fi Forte
which proved that audio quality needn't be
compromised by using a small physical PCB. Also
of note here is that the OPAMPs used by the
Xonar DS can be replaced by the user if you're
looking for even higher quality analogue audio
output.
ASUS Xonar DS PCI sound card review |
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How to Run Linux in a Virtual
Desktop
Tuesday June 23 @ 08:34:00 GMT +02:00
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Bjorn3D posted an article about how to run Linux
in a virtual desktop Virtual PC has been
around for some time now, with the latest
version being Virtual PC 2007. While the term
virtual machine thrown around a bit, it's
important to make the distinction: Virtual PC
creates a virtual machine on your computer, but
Virtual PC is the software created by Microsoft
to perform that task. Some will be surprised to
hear that Virtual PC is free, the full download
is available from Microsoft's website.
How to Run Linux in a Virtual Desktop |
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Seagate FreeAgent Theater Review
Tuesday June 23 @ 08:26:05 GMT +02:00
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The TechZone has posted a review of the Seagate
FreeAgent Theater
A quote from the article:
At its core, that's the idea behind the Seagage
FreeAgent Theater HD Media Player Solution. By
their own branding, this device will let you
bring all your stuff to your home theater.
Seagate FreeAgent Theater Review |
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Sapphire HD 4850 Toxic Review
Tuesday June 23 @ 08:18:28 GMT +02:00
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Neoseekers takes a look at the
Sapphire HD 4850 Toxic video card
A quote from the article:
Instead of the fancy VaporX cooling solution we
saw on the Toxic 4870, you'll receive a ball
bearing cooler from Zalman. It uses only 512MB
of GDDR3 memory clocked at 2200MHz and has a
slightly overclocked core (675MHz). The Toxic
4850 is nothing more than a normal 4850, but for
many consumers, that is more then enough power.
Sapphire HD 4850 Toxic Review |
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Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400 CPU Review
Tuesday June 23 @ 08:07:19 GMT +02:00
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HotHardware.com posted
a review on the Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400 CPU
A quote from the article:
It was not too long ago that the web was buzzing
with dual-core versus quad-core debates. Sides
were taken and lines were drawn. At that time,
one of the main arguments against quad-core
processors was their high asking price. But as
time passed and manufacturing refinements were
made, costs steadily decreased and quad-cores
found their way into the more mainstream market
segments. And before you knew it, a price war
was imminent.
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...
Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400 CPU Review |
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GMABooster 2.0a
Tuesday June 16 @ 08:52:01 GMT +02:00
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The world's first and only perfomance boost
solution for Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator
series.
Dear visitor, You are one click away from
downloading a GMABooster, the world's first and
only perfomance boost solution for Intel®
Graphics Media Accelerator series (currently
supported chipsets: Intel® 945GM/GME/GMS/GSE and
943/940GML/GU Express featuring GMA 950).
Offering up to an astonishing 2.4x of extra
processing power for Your computer's integrated
graphics engine, the GMABooster is a must-have
tool for every user interested in advanced 3D
gaming, truly flawless Windows® Vista and Mac®
OS X experience, smoother operation of Google®
Earth, improved video playback, and perfomance
gain in a variety of professional applications!
One might ask: 2.4x boost without adjusting the
voltage (right, Your hardware will not be
exposed in any way!), how is it possible?
Please read here to find out.
Why wait? Try GMABooster Yourself and experience
the 2.2x extra MTriangles/sec in Multitexturing
test and 1.8x extra FPS in Pixel Shader test
(Source: FutureMark® 3DMark® '06). Try it
Yourself and experience a solid boost of vital
minimum FPS in the demanding games and a truly
flawless Aero Glass experience in Windows®
Vista!
GMABooster is a free ("donateware") program,
available for Windows®, Mac® OS and Linux®. You
can endlessly use it without charge: just
download a new weekly build once the previous
weekly build has expired. However, if You like
GMABooster and use it often, You are welcome to
make a voluntary donation. In appreciation for
donors' generosity, every donor will be supplied
with a Personal Serial Number and will be able
to register his/her copy of GMABooster. The gift
is, a given Number, once entered, permanently
disables the expiration date check!
Download |
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Corsair HX850 850W PSU Review
Tuesday June 16 @ 08:49:36 GMT +02:00
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JonnyGURU.com posted a review on the Corsair
HX850 850W PSU
A quote from the article:
It seems an eternity since the last time Corsair
released a modular power supply in their high
performance HX line of units, and there has been
a good deal of speculation around the net on
when Corsair was going to finally release
something in the 750W-850W range to better
compete with the likes of the Seasonic M12D and
Antec Signature units at that level.
Well, the waiting is over because Corsair is
releasing two new units at 750W and 850W to fill
the void. Today, I'm looking at the larger of
the two units in the HX850.
Corsair HX850 850W PSU Review |
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G.Skill Falcon 128GB SSD Review
Tuesday June 16 @ 08:34:00 GMT +02:00
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Hardware Canucks posted a review of the new
G.Skill Falcon 128GB SSD
A quote from the article:
While SSDs may be a dime a dozen, there are very
few drives out there that could be counted as a
viable alternative to the ages-old hard disk
drive. Stutter issues as well as general
performance pitfalls have kept these expensive
products to niche markets instead of making
serious inroads as people's OS drives. G.Skill's
Falcon series promises to rectify all that. But
can it?
G.Skill Falcon 128GB SSD Review |
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80-way Thermal Interface Material
Performance Test
Tuesday June 16 @ 08:26:05 GMT +02:00
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Benchmark Reviews posted 80-way Thermal
Interface Material Performance Test Prior to
our 33-Way Thermal Compound Comparison article
published back in March 2008, there had not been
another project of its size available online. So
when Benchmark Reviews revealed our test
results, it was a surprise to find that many
overclockers had been ill-informed by marketing
hype and misleading enthusiast opinions.
Benchmark Reviews later published several other
complimentary articles for performance hardware
enthusiasts, offering an instructional guide on
Thermal Paste Application Methods and testing
for the Best CPU Cooler Performance. As the
author to both of those articles, I have
discovered that the most critical factors
pertaining to thermal cooling performance seems
to be overlooked. In this massive follow-up
article, which was built from entirely new
project data taking over one year of research to
publish, our collection of test material has
grown to include every product we could acquire
from the marketplace. Benchmark Reviews has
received advice of industry experts,
manufacturers, and elite overclockers to bring
you this comprehensive 80-Way Thermal Interface
Material cooling performance comparison
benchmark test.
80-way Thermal Interface Material Performance
Test |
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MSI 285GTX Superpipe Review
Tuesday June 16 @ 08:18:28 GMT +02:00
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Bjorn3D takes a look at the MSI
285GTX Superpipe.
A quote from the article:
I myself look at what that manufacturer uses for
a heatsink on their video card. Yes, getting
extra software, having an overclocked video card
are all niceties but what's the point in getting
a video card when you might need to spend an
extra 30-50 dollars on top of your video card
for a good GPU cooler that will make sure the
video card stays cool at all times. Not to
mention the possibilities of 'WHAT IF' that GPU
cooler does not properly work, or gets installed
wrong, what then?
MSI has been one of the top manufacturers that
uses an aftermarket cooler for thier video
cards. The 285GTX Superpipe is no exception to
MSI's continuation of quality, not to mention
their ability to think outside the box when it
concerns thier products.
MSI 285GTX Superpipe Review |
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MSI: Dual CoreCenter 2.0.5.9
Tuesday June 16 @ 08:07:19 GMT +02:00
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MSI hardware monitor,
overclock, fan control tool & voltage control.
Support list :
MB:
MS-7173(v2.2),MS-7176(v3.0),MS-7226(v1.0,v2.0),MS-7235(v2.1),MS-7236
v2.5,MS-7238,MS-7241(v1.1),MS-7246(v2.2),MS-7250(v1.0),MS-7253(v1.1),MS-7255(v1.2,v2.0),MS-7267(v3.0,v4.0),MS-7280,MS-7309(v1.2),MS-7317
v1.0,MS-7320
v1.0,MS-7325,MS-7331v1.0,MS-7337,MS-7338,MS-7345,MS-7346,MS-7349
v1.0,MS-7350,MS-7356 v1.0,MS-7357,MS-7358
v1.0,MS-7359
v1.0,MS-7360,MS-7362,MS-7364,MS-7365,MS-7382,MS-7383(v1.0,v2.0)
MS-7387 v0A,MS-7392
VGA:(full function support model)
ati: V044
nvidia: V046,V060,V069
v1.0.2.5 start to support all nVidia/ATI AGP/PCI-E
VGA Card
OS : Windows XP32,Vista32/64 (not support XP64)
Download |
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Microsoft Office 2010 Consumer Technical
Preview (CTP) Review
Tuesday, May
19
@ 08:41:59 GMT +02:00
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TechReviewSource posted a review on the
Microsoft Office 2010 Consumer Technical Preview
A quote from the article:
Microsoft recently announced the consumer
technical preview (CTP) of Microsoft Office
2010, which was shown to attendees of
Microsoft's TechNet conference.
TechReviewSource.com has reviewed the CTP before
its scheduled release date (July 2009) and check
it out. Microsoft has changed around a few
things, especially when it comes to the "ribbon"
menu integration across all programs in the
suite and a few other features with regards to
productivity.
Microsoft Office 2010 Consumer Technical Preview
(CTP) Review |
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ATI Catalyst 9.5 Vista Driver Analysis
Tuesday, May
19
@ 08:41:59 GMT +02:00
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TweakTown posted ATI Catalyst 9.5 Vista Driver
Analysis
This is a bit of an interesting release. Another
website late last week leaked the Catalyst 9.5
drivers out; these didn't seem to be a beta,
though, for the plain fact that they seemed to
be WHQL certified. It's also not that uncommon
for WHQL drivers to show up a few days before
they are seen on the Game.AMD website.
With the drivers not showing on the Game.AMD
website yet we don't have any release notes on
what to expect from the latest driver release.
So with that said, we'll be winging it a bit and
just taking everything as it comes. So let's not
delay any longer and check out the testbed then
we’ll get stuck into the performance side of
things to see what exactly is on offer from the
Catalyst 9.5s.
ATI Catalyst 9.5 Vista Driver Analysis |
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Ubuntu 64-bit More Competitive Against Mac
OS X
Tuesday, May
19
@ 08:39:54 GMT +02:00
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Phoronix compared Ubuntu 64-bit against Mac OS X
Last week we published Ubuntu 9.04 vs. Mac OS X
10.5.6 benchmarks where we compared the
performance of these two popular operating
systems on a Mac Mini. With the OS X kernel
currently being 32-bit but with support for
64-bit applications, we had used the 32-bit
version of Ubuntu 9.04. In a majority of the
Leopard operating system from Apple outperformed
Canonical's Jaunty Jackalope, but today we are
adding in the results from an Ubuntu 64-bit
installation. As you can see from the results,
the x86_64 version of Ubuntu Linux is more
competitive against Mac OS X 10.5.6.
Ubuntu 64-bit More Competitive Against Mac OS X |
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OCZ Z-Drive Sneak Peek - 4
SSDs, One PCIe Card
Tuesday, May
19
@ 08:28:37 GMT +02:00
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HotHardware posted a preview on the OCZ Z-Drive
It's not all that often that we post something
up in the news just for the drool factor alone.
However, we'd go so far as to say that this
little slab of circuitry classifies as a
proverbial technological "hey-now!" .
That said, we will offer one very large caveat
that what you're about to see is a VERY early
stage design prototype of OCZ's upcoming Z-Drive
SSD RAID PCI Express card. In other words, drool
for now but you can't and won't ever be able to
buy this little gem as you see it here. However,
the product's base design approach will remain
largely unchanged when it hits the market (soon
we hope).
Alright then, commence the salivation process...
OCZ Z-Drive Sneak Peek - 4 SSDs, One PCIe Card |
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QPAD CT KODE5 DOTA Limited Edition Review
Tuesday, May
19
@ 08:21:19 GMT +02:00
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Vortez Hardware posted a review on the QPAD CT
KODE5 DOTA Limited Edition
A quote from the article:
QPAD remain a respected brand in the world of
gaming, providing some of the finest gaming
surfaces available to gamers. We have had the
pleasure in the past of reviewing some of these
gaming pads and have been impressed with the
quality and standard QPAD set. Today we have the
delight of reviewing the QPAD CT KODE5 DOTA
Limited Edition.
QPAD CT KODE5 DOTA Limited Edition Review |
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ASUS W90 18.4" Notebook - A
True Desktop Replacement
Tuesday, May
19
@ 08:15:35 GMT +02:00
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Techgage.com posted a review on the ASUS W90
18.4" Notebook
Looking for a modest notebook? Turn around and
walk away! ASUS has sent us their W90 "Republic
of Gamers" notebook, which although they don't
call it as such, is a perfect desktop
replacement. It offers incredible gaming ability
(with an X2 ATI card), a Quad-Core processor, a
massive display (18.4") and a whole lot more.
ASUS W90 18.4" Notebook - A True Desktop
Replacement |
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Asus M3A78-T Motherboard AM3 Reverse Compatibility Review
Tuesday, May
19
@ 08:01:21 GMT +02:00
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Hi Tech Legion posted a review on the Asus
M3A78-T Motherboard AM3 Reverse Compatibility
A quote from the article:
The Asus M3A78-T motherboard packs into its
board many useful features for just about any
mainstream user. The Asus M3A78-T accommodates
AMD AM2/AM2+ socket CPUs with reverse
compatibility. The Asus M3A78-T features the AMD
790GX chipset with integrated graphics, support
for CrossFireX technology, and DDR2 memory
support. The Asus M3A78-T has a very user
friendly layout with all the features expected
of modern motherboards, with upgradability on a
budget in mind.
Asus M3A78-T Motherboard AM3 Reverse
Compatibility Review |
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ATI Radeon HD 4890 vs. Nvidia GeForce GTX
275
Tuesday, May
12
@ 08:41:59 GMT +02:00
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TechSpot compared the ATI Radeon HD 4890 against
Nvidia GeForce GTX 275
Starting with the Radeon HD 4890, this new card
is in essence an overclocked Radeon HD 4870 with
far greater overclocking abilities. ATI has
fine-tuned the RV790 XT core allowing for
incredible core frequencies. The GeForce GTX 275
is also a derivative from an existing product,
borrowing its GPU from the GeForce GTX 295,
which is a dual-GPU graphics card. The GTX 275
uses a 55nm GPU featuring the same amount of
SPUs and TAUs as the more powerful GeForce GTX
285, while only as many ROPs as the GeForce GTX
260.
Today we will put both cards to the test and
find out which is faster in a wide range of
games using the latest drivers. We will also be
looking at their maximum overclocked performance
to help you decide which is the best value
option for enthusiasts and PC gamers alike.
ATI Radeon HD 4890 vs. Nvidia GeForce GTX 275 |
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HTC Touch Diamond2 Review
Tuesday, May
12
@ 08:39:54 GMT +02:00
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IT Pro published a review of the HTC Touch
Diamond2
A quote from the article:
There's no denying that the HTC Touch Diamond
was a revolution for HTC. It brought the
business-based Windows Mobile phone to the
masses, which meant that for many, it was no
longer necessary to carry both separate
business and personal device.
However, the one rather big problem with the HTC
Touch Diamond was that despite HTCs Touch Flo
3D, the 'quirky' Windows Mobile interface was
still too much in evidence, not as well hidden
under a shell as it needed to be and this made
it quite a task to use seamlessly. The screen
was sometimes unresponsive and you often needed
to use the stylus for scrolling, emailing or
texting. Even dialling was hard without one.
Thankfully though the HTC Touch Diamond2, is a
device that irons out almost every single crease
in the HTC Touch Diamond's brow.
HTC Touch Diamond2 Review |
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ATI RADEON HD 4890 Crossfire
Video Card Setup
Tuesday, May
12
@ 08:28:37 GMT +02:00
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PCShopTalk posted a review on the ATI RADEON HD
4890 Crossfire Video Card
In the ATI Overdrive menu, we can see that we
can select the GPU to configure from the
drop-down menu, and, depending on the card, we
can set the GPU clocks, the Memory clocks and we
can also set the fan speed for each card,
independently. In this menu we can also see the
Current values of the GPU/Memory clocks, which
usually show when no 3D application is on the 2D
clocks, which are in this case 240/975. On the
right side, there can be seen the temperature
for each GPU, the activity percent and the fan
speed percent.
ATI RADEON HD 4890 Crossfire Video Card Setup |
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ASUS Rampage II GENE Review
Tuesday, May
12
@ 08:21:19 GMT +02:00
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InsideHW.com has reviewed ASUS Rampage II GENE
motherboard
A quote from the article:
After Rampage II Extreme motherboard ASUS
engineers couldn't sit still and they surprised
us with another top-quality motherboard but in
many senses completely different from its
predecessor. Since high-class users and
overclockers were "covered" by Extreme edition
this time ASUS created something very different:
motherboard in microATX format. Before this
motherboard, microATX format was reserved for
motherboards with very limited features that
were used as base for brand configurations. ASUS
with Rampage II GENE is changing this perception
of microATX format.
ASUS Rampage II GENE Review |
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Remembering Apogee & 3D
Realms
Tuesday, May
12
@ 08:15:35 GMT +02:00
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Techgage.com take a look at the history and
accomplishments of Apogee Software (3D Realms)
The news of 3D Realms demise hit the Internet
like a ton of bricks last week, and to say it's
disappointing would be a major understatement.
As a developer that's been around for over 20
years, they have a lot to boast about today.
Read on as we take a stroll down memory lane,
and see just what it was that made Apogee so
innovative and unique.
Remembering Apogee & 3D Realms |
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Test Updates Coming for the Windows 7 RC
Tuesday, May
12
@ 08:01:21 GMT +02:00
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Microsoft's Brandon LeBlanc reports that
Microsoft will release up to ten test updates to
PCs running the Windows 7 RC in order to verify
our ability to deliver and manage updating of
Windows 7 in certain real-life scenarios.
These updates do not deliver any new features or
fixes. This is the second set of test updates
we’ve released to test the updating mechanism
for Windows 7 - the first set were released on
February 24.
Test Updates Coming for the Windows 7 RC |
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ASUS P6T6 WS Revolution X58 Motherboard
Review
Tuesday, May
05
@ 08:41:59 GMT +02:00
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TweakTown posted a review on the ASUS P6T6 WS
Revolution X58 Motherboard
A quote from the article:
When X58 was first announced there were rumours
about its graphics card support. Would it get
SLI approval from NVIDIA and would it still
support Crossfire? - Originally NVIDIA specified
that X58 would need to use an nForce 200 PCIe
bridge chip to run SLI, but a lot of pressure
was put on NVIDIA from all of the motherboard
companies and SLI support was granted to X58
through a native setup allowing two or three
cards. However, Intel’s 3-way SLI still requires
a 16/8/8 setup; not the fastest out there, but
still good enough. NVIDIA still recommended its
nForce 200 chipset for best performance SLI.
To this end ASUS has finally produced its first
X58 board paired with the nForce 200 chip. This
has given ASUS the ability to provide the board
three PCI Express x16 slots as well as three
extra x16 slots in a variety of modes, which we
will explain later.
ASUS P6T6 WS Revolution X58 Motherboard Review |
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CPU Cooler Roundup - 23 Heatsinks for
Intel/AMD Compared
Tuesday, May
05
@ 08:39:54 GMT +02:00
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Madshrimps posted a CPU Cooler Roundup
After 200 Hours of testing we are proud to
present our first CPU Cooler Roundup of 2009,
featuring a 23 different products compared to
the best out there; make use of our dynamic
chart generator to compare up to 72 Intel/AMD
heatsinks.
CPU Cooler Roundup - 23 Heatsinks for Intel/AMD
Compared |
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Sapphire Radeon HD 4770
512MB GDDR5 Review
Tuesday, May
05
@ 08:28:37 GMT +02:00
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Hi Tech Legion posted a review on the Sapphire
Radeon HD 4770 512MB GDDR5
A quote from the article:
The Sapphire Radeon HD 4770 512MB GDDR5 is a
great start for upgrading from that old card.
The Radeon HD 4770 512MB GDDR5 by Sapphire is
based on 40nm process technology. The HD 4770
512MB GDDR5 is very energy efficient, thanks to
the new 40nm technology. The Radeon HD 4770
supports DirectX 10.1 for better performance
during lighting and rendering in gameplay. The
HD 4770 512MB is able to process physics in
games, which your old card may not be able to,
and the HD 4770 512MB GDDR5 can support HDMI
output, with 7.1 digital surround sound, for an
intense movie and gaming experience.
Sapphire Radeon HD 4770 512MB GDDR5 Review |
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Sapphire HD 4890 Atomic Edition Review
Tuesday, May
05
@ 08:21:19 GMT +02:00
|
OCC has published a new review on the Sapphire
HD 4890 Atomic Edition
A quote from the article:
The Sapphire HD 4890 Atomic Edition is a ready
to be a prime time player. In the single GPU
field, the GTX 285 has been the undisputed king
of the mountain, and usually carries the title
of the fastest single GPU card on the market. It
now has competition in this category, as the HD
4890 Atomic puts a serious dent in the
performance gap between ATI and Nvidia. So much
so that when pushed, the Atomic HD 4890 even
pulled ahead of the factory overclocked GTX 285
in more than a couple tests. Not quite there,
but getting much closer. What makes this card
appealing to me is the fact that Sapphire has
once again gone out and produced a video card
using their own PCB, with improved voltage
regulation, added their own Vapor-X cooling, and
delivered a factory overclocked video card that
serves notice that ATI will not allow Nvidia to
rest on its laurels. Usually you wait months for
a card like this to appear, but Sapphire wasted
no time bringing this one to market.
Sapphire HD 4890 Atomic Edition Review |
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Kingston 80GB SSDNow M
Series Drive Review
Tuesday, May
05
@ 08:15:35 GMT +02:00
|
Legit Reviews posted Kingston 80GB SSDNow M
Series Drive
A quote from the article:
Kingston's line of SSDNow solid-state drives (SSD)
rounds out its suite of enterprise products. The
SSDNow M Series uses Intel solid-state drives,
which are said to be the best-performing drives
on the market. Read on to see how the Kingston
SNM125-S2/80GB does against seven other 2.5"
drives!
Kingston 80GB SSDNow M Series Drive Review |
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Samsung YP-P3JCB MP3 Player Review
Tuesday, May
05
@ 08:01:21 GMT +02:00
|
Computer & Consumer Electronics has posted a new
review on the Samsung YP-P3 MP3 Player
A quote from the article:
The Samsung P3 is a very good player, and makes
a great addition for any avid music listener.
The design is very stylish, and the improved
interface is very intuitive and works like a
charm. The haptic feedback adds a lot of value
to the player, and the glass touch screen is
very accurate. The ability to just drag and drop
your music into the player is also a plus, and
the Bluetooth connectivity with headsets and
mobile phones makes room for a lot of options.
Samsung YP-P3JCB MP3 Player Review |
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Mozilla Firefox 3 3.0.10
Tuesday, April
28
@ 08:41:59 GMT +02:00
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A free, open-source web browser featuring tabbed
browsing, popup blocking and more.
Mozilla Firefox project (formerly Firebird,
which was formerly Phoenix) is a redesign of
Mozilla's browser component, written using the
XUL user interface language and designed to be
cross-platform.
Mozilla Firefox is a small, fast and very easy
to use browser that offers many advantages over
other web browsers, such as the ability to block
pop-up windows and the tabbed browsing.
FireTune for Mozilla Firefox was developed for
an easy and fast optimization of your browsing
experience with Firefox.
Download |
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Windows Vista SP 2 Nearing Release
Tuesday, April
28
@ 08:39:54 GMT +02:00
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ActiveWin reports that a Windows Vista SP2
Prerequisites update is coming via Windows
Update on April 28, 2009
A "Windows Vista SP2 Prerequisites" update is
coming via Windows Update on April 28, 2009.
Showing that Service Pack 2 is expected early
next month.
Update for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista
(KB955430)
Locale: All
Deployment: Important/Automatic Updates, WSUS,
and Catalog
Classification: High Priority, Non-Security
Target platforms: Windows Server 2008 and
Windows Vista
Approximate file sizes:
Windows Server 2008 for IA-64 update: ~ 14268KB
Windows Server 2008/Windows Vista update: ~
4287KB
Windows Server 2008 x64/Windows Vista x64
update: ~ 10148KB
Windows Vista SP 2 Nearing Release |
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Windows 7 FAQ
Tuesday, April
28
@ 08:28:37 GMT +02:00
|
Paul Thurrott updated his Windows 7 FAQ for the
release candidate
With Windows Vista finally behind us, it's time
to turn our attention to the next Windows client
release, Windows 7. (Microsoft had used other
code-names, like "Vienna" and "Windows Seven,"
to describe this product in the past. Clearly,
what's needed is a central location for accurate
information about Windows 7, from a source you
can trust. This is it.
Windows 7 FAQ |
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Crossfire vs SLI Performance Comparison
Review
Tuesday, April
28
@ 08:21:19 GMT +02:00
|
OCC has published a new review on a Crossfire vs
SLI Performance Comparison
A quote from the article:
When you look at the scaling in performance you
get from going to a quad GPU setup, it is not
going to be anywhere near 100% in most cases.
There were a few instances where the scaling on
the HD 4850x2 and HD 4870x2 scaled closed to
100% - which was a real surprise. This was the
exception, and not the rule. In turn, there were
games where there was no scaling whatsoever with
cards in CrossFireX, while the SLI combo scaled
well. That's something that could be a driver
fix, to enable better CrossFire support in
games. To use all this video horsepower, you
will need a monitor that runs no less than a
1920x1200 resolution, as anything else means you
are just throwing money away. The ideal solution
is to go with that 30+ inch monitor you have
been lusting over to take advantage of the
firepower. Currently, Nvidia and its SLI
technology is the performance winner here, on
this system, with the drivers and video cards
tested. The numbers are the numbers, and this is
what they show. ATI has great price points, but
they just can't deliver overpowering performance
for that price. On the other hand, Nvidia
delivers the performance but at a steeper price.
The old adage "you have to pay to play" comes to
mind here.
Crossfire vs SLI Performance Comparison Review |
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Gigabyte P55 Core i5
motherboard spotted
Tuesday, April
28
@ 08:15:35 GMT +02:00
|
PC Perspective send words that the first
Gigabyte P55 Core i5 motherboard has been
spotted
At a recent Gigabyte Overclocking event in the
LA area, PC Perspective editor Steve Grever
caught sight of an upcoming Gigabyte motherboard
based on the P55 chipset for the upcoming Intel
Core i5 processors; the same we recently
discussed delays about.
Gigabyte P55 Core i5 motherboard spotted |
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HP's Pavilion dv2 ultraportable notebook
Tuesday, April
28
@ 08:01:21 GMT +02:00
|
The Tech Report posted a review on HP's Pavilion
dv2 ultraportable notebook
HP aims to put netbooks on notice with a new
Pavilion dv2 ultraportable whose svelte 12" body
is packed with a 1280x800 display, Athlon 64
CPU, discrete Radeon GPU, 4GB of RAM, and a
320GB hard drive—all for $750. Let's see how it
measures up in the real world.
HP's Pavilion dv2 ultraportable notebook |
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Game Booster 1.0 Final
Tuesday, April
21
@ 08:41:59 GMT +02:00
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Freeware designed to help optimize your PC for
smoother, more responsive game play. From the
author of Advanced System Care and Iobit Smart
Defrag. A Majorgeeks premiere!
Designed to help optimize your PC for smoother,
more responsive game play in the latest PC games
with the touch of a button, Game Booster helps
achieve the performance edge previously only
available to highly technical enthusiasts. It
works by temporarily shutting down background
processes, cleaning RAM, and intensifying
processor performance. That means you can keep
all the features of Microsoft® Windows Vista®
and XP® ready for when you need them, but turn
them off when you are ready to get down to
serious business – gaming. Game Booster makes it
simpler to enjoy the latest games and take your
experience to a new level. All systems go!
Download |
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Silverstone Raven RV01 Chassis Review
Tuesday, April
21
@ 08:39:54 GMT +02:00
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Driverheaven takes a look at the Silverstone
Raven RV01 Chassis
A quote from the article:
Today we are going to be looking at the
SilverStone Raven, a case which completely
changes the way in which manufacturers usually
go about designing their interiors by
positioning the motherboard at a 90 degree
angle, which in turn allows the physics of
nature to take their course in a beneficial
manner with the stack effect.
Silverstone Raven RV01 Chassis Review |
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Saitek Cyborg Review
Tuesday, April
21
@ 08:28:37 GMT +02:00
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PureOverclock posted a review on the Saitek
Cyborg
A quote from the article:
Today we take a look at a new rodent that
promises innovation, functionality, and an
affordable price to boot: the Saitek Cyborg
gaming mouse. The Cyborg certainly looks
different, and it does have some very unique
features, but how does it work and feel when
chasing down the little noobies in a busy CS:S
or CoD:WaW server? Let's take a closer look and
find out.
Saitek Cyborg Review |
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Caustic Graphics Ray Tracing Acceleration
Technology Review
Tuesday, April
21
@ 08:21:19 GMT +02:00
|
PC Perspective posted a review on Caustic
Graphics Ray Tracing Acceleration Technology
A quote from the article:
Caustic Graphics is formally announcing
availability of the CausticOne ray tracing
accelerator card today and we are finally
allowed to unveiling the technology we learned
about at GDC last month. If you think the ray
tracing and rasterization debate was interesting
before, wait until you see what this new player
has to say.
Caustic Graphics Ray Tracing Acceleration
Technology Review |
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Seagate Momentus 2.5 inch
500 GB Hard Drive Review
Tuesday, April
21
@ 08:15:35 GMT +02:00
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Bjorn3D takes a look at the Seagate Momentus 2.5
inch 500 GB Hard Drive.
A quote from the article:
We recently got a new laptop in the lab because
our Athlon 64 3200 (single core) HP laptop was
getting long in the tooth and we decided to go
with a dual core laptop from Toshiba. We decided
to go with a low to mid-range system because
it's primary use is writing reviews and the
opportunity to upgrade presents itself to us a
lot more often than the ordinary end user. When
we got the new Toshiba with the Core 2 Duo T5800
2 GHz CPU and 4 GB of ram with a copy of Vista
64 we thought it was running a little slow for
the specifications.
We did some checking and it turns out they
shipped the laptop with a 1.5 GB/s Sata 1 5200
RPM drive. The system itself wasn't dragging but
the hard drive was starving it with a slow data
transfer rate. So when Seagate contacted us
about testing the Momentus 7200 RPM 500 GB drive
it was a match made in heaven. It gives us a
chance to rip the offending drive out of the
Toshiba and run a drive worthy of a Bjorn3D
laptop. We won't take a hammer to the 5200 RPM
drive, but we will stick it in a USB external
enclosure and let it live out it's life in an
environment befitting it's pathetic speed. After
experiencing the Seagate Momentus we feel fully
justified in calling the old drive pathetic.
Stick around and see how bad the pathetic 5200
RPM drive got it's butt kicked.
Seagate Momentus 2.5 inch 500 GB Hard Drive
Review |
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Microsoft Sidewinder X6 Gaming Keyboard and Sidewinder X8 Wireless
Gaming Mouse
Tuesday, April
21
@ 08:01:21 GMT +02:00
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Hardware Pacers has posted a review on the
Microsoft Sidewinder X6 Gaming Keyboard and
Sidewinder X8 Wireless Gaming Mouse
The Microsoft Sidewinder series gaming mice and
keyboards are top of the line gaming products
that are excellent additions to any gamer's
computer system. The Sidewinder X6 gaming
keyboard is packed full of assignable keys that
can be programmed with many different options or
Macros. The Sidewinder X8 Wireless Gaming mouse
has 7 programmable buttons and the ability to
select from 3 different dpi settings (up to 4000
dpi) at the touch of a button. The performance
of the X8 mouse coupled with the features of the
X6 gaming keyboard make a heavenly match for the
gaming enthusiast.
Microsoft Sidewinder X6 Gaming Keyboard and
Sidewinder X8 Wireless Gaming Mouse |
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Vista Codec Package 5.1.9 Final
Tuesday, April
07
@ 08:41:59 GMT +02:00
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Compiles the best codecs from all the big name
codec packs.
Codecs have been a problem for most users at one
time or another. This is because there has never
been an 'out of the box' working solution that
the average computer user could install and just
have everything work properly from the
beginning. There are several decent codec
package solutions out there, but none of them
did everything I wanted. I was always in need of
a tweak, adjustment, or even a re-installation
just to get the codecs I needed/wanted and most
of the time, the file still didn't play
properly. I've never claimed to be a media guru.
My media experience prior to creating these
packages was to doubleclick a file I downloaded
and hope that it played. So with the help of the
MSFN community, I decided to package up the bare
minimum of codecs required by most computer
users and share them with the rest of the world.
The installer will automatically remove most
other popular codec releases from your computer
before installing this concise yet comprehensive
package. You won't need to make any adjustments
or tweaks to enjoy your media content
immediately. Windows Media Player and Vista's
Media Center will instantly recognize all your
files as playable.
It does not contain a media player and it does
not associate filetypes. With this package
installed you will be able to use any media
player, limited only by the players'
capabilities, to play all movies and video
clips. Streaming video is supported in several
formats in all popular web browsers. Users of
VCP have the ability to choose what is installed
and where to install it using the public
redistributable. After installation you can
select to remove specific portions without
removing the entire package. You can also re-add
the removed items at any time.
Download |
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Gainward GeForce GTX 275 Graphics Card
Review
Tuesday, April
07
@ 08:39:54 GMT +02:00
|
TweakTown posted a review on the Gainward
GeForce GTX 275 Graphics Card
A quote from the article:
I've had HD 4890 samples coming in for a few
weeks now. With that said, I chose not to test
the card straight away, because as we draw
closer to NDA we see new drivers come out. What
ended up happening, however, is that we saw the
NDA change for these cards a few times. The HD
4890 was originally set to release two days
before the GTX 275; ATI then put the pedal down
some more and it was released almost a week
early.
In response to this, NVIDIA pulled their NDA
forward to the day after the HD 4890’s new
launch. While this was all happening, HD 4890
samples were in hand but GTX 275 ones hadn't
shipped yet; not just for me, but most writers
around the world. Three days before the NDA was
up on the GTX 275, three companies confirmed
that NVIDIA made a last minute change to the
memory clock and decided to drop it, hence the
delay for samples. Apart from a few reference
cards, this was going to be a paper launch,
which was something that we had not become
accustomed to seeing.
Gainward GeForce GTX 275 Graphics Card Review |
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Western Digital VelociRaptor
10k RPM 2.5'' SATA Review
Tuesday, April
07
@ 08:28:37 GMT +02:00
|
ocaholic.ch posted a review on the Western
Digital VelociRaptor 10k rpm 2.5'' SATA
A quote from the article:
With the Veloci Raptor 300 GByte Western Digital
presents its latest flagship regarding the
Raptor series. Again the only 2.5'' measuring
Veloci Raptor rotates with 10'000 rpm, has 16
MByte of supporting cache and a claimed access
time of 5.5 milliseconds.
Western Digital VelociRaptor 10k rpm 2.5'' SATA
Review |
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Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 Review
Tuesday, April
07
@ 08:21:19 GMT +02:00
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Bjorn3D posted a review on the Seagate Barracuda
7200.12
A quote from the article:
As the platter density increases, hard drives
are able to pack more data per disk and, as a
result, the time for data retrieval is shorter
due to less time that is needed to find the bits
of data. Not only that, hard drives are able to
perform faster. The larger areal density also
allows hard drive manufactures to exceed the
storage capacity of 1TB and now we are seeing HD
manufactures breaking into 1.5TB and even 2TB.
Seagate’s latest Barracuda 7200.12 is the
company’s first hard drive that comes with 500
GB platter density.
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 Review |
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Asus Eee PC 1000HE 10-Inch
Netbook Review
Tuesday, April
07
@ 08:15:35 GMT +02:00
|
Futurelooks checks out the latest ASUS Eee PC
1000HE 10-Inch Netbook
A quote from the article:
While I certainly have reason to believe that
netbooks are already obsolete, it is good to see
that the market isn’t getting too stagnant. The
manufacturers are constantly upping the ante,
granting us access to new features and better
performance. One of the more recent examples of
this is the Asus Eee PC 1000HE, a netbook that
improves on the existing Eee PC line in just
about every way.
Asus Eee PC 1000HE 10-Inch Netbook Review |
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Intel Xeon W5580 Cpus & S5520SC Motherboard Review
Tuesday, April
07
@ 08:01:21 GMT +02:00
|
Driverheaven posted a review on the Intel Xeon
W5580 Cpus & S5520SC Motherboard
A quote from the article:
Today we look at Intel's new highest
specification W5580 processors running on the
new S5520SC motherboard. Just how smoking fast
is this platform and are we about to break a
bunch of records in our testing today?
Intel Xeon W5580 Cpus & S5520SC Motherboard
Review |
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Windows 7 reaches Build 7070
Tuesday March
31 @ 08:47:50 GMT +02:00
|
Neowin reports that Windows 7 has reached Build
7070 now
I just came back from Microsoft, since my Dad
works there. He works for in the SQL server
division and here are some screenshots I took
about the new build 7070.I don't know if there
is anything new to this build, but they
installed it yesterday, so it probably will be
leaked soon. They said it was a major update;
maybe not to the user interface but more to the
Kernel.
Windows 7 reaches Build 7070 |
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Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400S Review
Tuesday March
31 @ 08:47:50 GMT +02:00
|
InsideHW.com has reviewed Intel Core 2 Quad
Q9400S
A quote from the article:
If you thought that nothing interesting is going
to happen on Socket 775 scene after Core i7 was
promoted, we can only tell you that you have
made a wrong assumption. Core 2 Duo and Core 2
Quad CPUs are still very fast and, to be quite
honest, enough for most today tasks. Intel
decided to continue with optimizations of Core 2
Quad models and results are presented in form of
model Q9400s that we got in our test lab. Intel
Core 2 Quad Q9400s is direct descendant of C2Q
Q9400 model. Probably you have noticed that only
difference is in letter "s" at the end of
marking. That suffix means that this is CPU with
lower power consumption or smaller TDP (Thermal
Design Power).
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400S Review |
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Windows Anytime Upgrade For
Windows 7 Revealed
Tuesday March
31 @ 08:46:09 GMT +02:00
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Tech ARP posted an inside look at Windows
Anytime Upgrade and see how it works
One of the new features in Windows 7 is Windows
Anytime Upgrade (WAU). It will provide end users
with a quick and easy upgrade process to "more
premium" versions of Windows 7. All you have to
do is purchase an upgrade key to unlock the
additional features.
In this article, we are going to take an inside
look at Windows Anytime Upgrade and see how it
works, step by step. We even have actual
screenshots of the process so you can see for
yourselves just how easy it is. Remember, you
read it here first!
Windows Anytime Upgrade For Windows 7 Revealed |
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Logitech G19 Keyboard for Gaming
Tuesday March
31 @ 08:34:19 GMT +02:00
|
Hardware Logic posted a review on the Logitech
G19 Keyboard for Gaming
We hate to kill the suspense right from the
get-go, but simply put, the best just got
better. Logitech's G19 keyboard ditches its old
digs for a revamped look, offers a much improved
LCD display with a few new tricks up its sleeve,
boasts twice as many programmable G-keys, and
meshes with any gamer's setup with adjustable
color backlighting. It also costs twice as much
as it's older G15 sibling. Let's take a closer
look.
Logitech G19 Keyboard for Gaming |
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Chumby Chumby Review
Tuesday March
31 @ 08:22:05 GMT +02:00
|
Hardware Pacers has posted a review on the
Chumby Chumby
A quote from the article:
The Chumby is an amazing little device that acts
as an alarm clock, weather channel, game system,
and much much more. This interactive multimedia
device is a great way to showcase pictures, stay
up-to-date with your social network, watch TV,
get weather updates, get last minute sports
scores, receive e-mail alerts, and have fun in
an always online internet format. A user can
choose from hundreds of widgets to customize the
Chumby to interact in any desired fashion. With
virtually unlimited options and easy to
customize style and design, the Chumby is a
super cool device that will allow you to do just
about anything.
Chumby Chumby Review |
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MSI 790GX-G65 AM3 Motherboard
Review
Tuesday March
31 @ 08:15:28 GMT +02:00
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OCC has published a new review on
the MSI 790GX-G65 AM3 Motherboard
A quote from the article:
Well, when it comes down to the wire, apples to
apples, the DDR3 memory support does give the
AM3 processors a bit of a lead. In just about
every test there was an increase when using a
790GX based board with DDR3 memory support over
DDR2 memory support. If you are in the market
for a new system, then I highly suggest going
the AM3 route. However, in my opinion, if you
are already running a strong DDR2 based AMD
system, then the cost does not justify the
minimal increases that you will currently get.
All of that aside the MSI 790GX-G65 is a rock
solid board with great features that will make
any enthusiast smile. The overclocking on this
board was very easy and has been one of the
stablest I have seen with minimal tweaking. The
added ability to overclock using hardware dip
switches will allow even a novice the added joy
of pushing their hardware beyond the limits.
MSI 790GX-G65 AM3 Motherboard Review |
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GMABooster 1.3c
Tuesday,
March
24
@ 08:41:59 GMT +02:00
|
This tool works wonders with performance of
Intel Graphics Media Accelerators.
This freeware tool works wonders with
performance (gaming and video playback) on
Windows systems with the "Intel® Graphics Media
Accelerator series video adapters (currently
supported chipsets: Intel® 945GM/GME/GMS/GSE and
943/940GML/GU Express featuring GMA 950)."
Supported operating systems: Windows® XP 32 bit
(all editions*), Windows® Vista 32 bit (all
editions), Windows® 7 beta 32 bit.
*Prerequisite for Windows XP operation:
Microsoft® .NET Framework version 2.0 or higher.
Supported chipsets: Intel® 945GM/GME/GMS/GSE and
943/940GML/GU Express featuring GMA 950.
Supported devices: Dell Mini 9, Asus® EEE PC
family, MSI® Wind family, netbooks/nettops by
Acer®, Dell®, HP®, LG®, Samsung®, 2006, 2007 and
2008 Apple Mac Mini, and more. (Not every device
may be supported; please check Your specific
device's technical specs for a compatible
chipset).
Download |
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Unleashing NVIDIAs GTX 295 Graphics Card
Tuesday,
March
24
@ 08:39:54 GMT +02:00
|
Tweaktown posted three ways to remove the
bottleneck on NVIDIA’s GTX 295 Graphics Card
CPU limitation is something that we always talk
about when it comes to high-end graphics cards.
When we say this, we mean that the CPU is
holding back the frames that the graphics card
is capable of putting out. The less intensive
the game, or the lower resolution you play at;
this increases the chances of hitting that
bottle neck.
There are ultimately three ways to remove the
bottleneck on a high-end graphics card. First,
increase the settings in the game; things like
turning on AA and AF help. The problem is that
this might put you at an unplayable FPS level.
Unleashing NVIDIAs GTX 295 Graphics Card |
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ASUS Rampage 2 Extreme
Motherboard Review
Tuesday,
March
24
@ 08:28:37 GMT +02:00
|
Legit Reviews posted a review on the ASUS
Rampage 2 Extreme Motherboard
A quote from the article:
The Asus Rampage II Extreme X58 LGA 1366
motherboard was deisgned to be the ultimate
gaming/overclocking platform for the Intel Core
i7 processor series. Based on the Intel X58
chipset, the Asus Rampage II Extreme supports
Intel's new QuickPath Interconnect, 12GB of DDR3
triple-channel memory, and multiple graphics
cards!
ASUS Rampage 2 Extreme Motherboard Review |
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Apple discontinues iPhone Bluetooth Headset
Tuesday,
March
24
@ 08:21:19 GMT +02:00
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Apple this weekend appears to have discontinued
its iPhone Bluetooth Headset, a possible sign
that the company could be planning to introduce
an updated model alongside new iPhones a bit
later this year.
Apple discontinues iPhone Bluetooth Headset |
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Logitech QuickCam
Communicate Deluxe Review
Tuesday,
March
24
@ 08:15:35 GMT +02:00
|
Phoronix posted a review on the Logitech
QuickCam Communicate Deluxe running under Linux
A quote from the article:
While a relatively simple device, web-cameras
are still an area on Linux that can be
problematic when it comes to compatibility and
the device functioning properly. The level of
Linux support for USB web-cameras has improved
quite a bit in recent years, and for many
devices it is now a plug-and-play experience,
but that is not the case for all devices. In
this article we are taking a brief look at the
Logitech QuickCam Communicate Deluxe. The
QuickCam Communicate Deluxe has a 1.3 mega-pixel
sensor with the capabilities to capture video up
to a resolution of 1280 x 1024 at 30 frames per
second.
Logitech QuickCam Communicate Deluxe Review |
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Antec TruePower New Series 750W Power Supply Review
Tuesday,
March
24
@ 08:01:21 GMT +02:00
|
PC Perspective posted a review on the Antec
TruePower New Series 750W Power Supply
A quote from the article:
Antec has combined quality features from their
high-end Signature Series with the affordable
pricing of the original TruePower line. Overall,
the TruePower New TP-750 proved to be a very
good PSU.
Antec TruePower New Series 750W Power Supply
Review |
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Windows 7: RDP changes improve remote
desktop performance
Tuesday March
17 @ 08:47:50 GMT +02:00
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Neowin
posted a news story that the Remote Desktop
Client in Windows 7 is equipped with new
features and enhancements via Remote Desktop
Protocol 7 (RDP).
Below are the features introduced in Windows 7
Remote Desktop Client
Windows 7 Aero support
Direct 2D & Direct 3D 10.1 application support
True multi-monitor support
RDP Core Performance Improvements
Multimedia enhancements
Media Foundation support
DirectShow support
Low Latency audio playback support
Bi-directional audio support
I fired up the Remote Desktop Client in the
latest Windows 7 build 7057 and tested few
things. Remote desktop connection experience is
very much improved compared to its previous
versions and I also found the session to be
incredibly responsive even while playing HD
videos. Below are few screenshots.
Windows 7: RDP changes improve remote desktop
performance
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Windows 7 to officially support logon
UI background customization
Tuesday March
17 @ 08:47:50 GMT +02:00
|
Within Windows reports that the latest build of
Windows 7 support logon UI background
customization
As you probably know, Windows 7 build 7057, a
build recently leaked to the public, sports a
new (yet ugly) login UI background. Delivering
on the “more customizable” promise, Windows 7
now supports the ability to load images into the
background of the login screen without the use
of third-party software or manual hacks.
Although this functionality was designed for
OEMs in mind, it is pretty easy to turn on and
off using regedit and some images lying around
your hard drive.
Windows 7 to officially support logon UI
background customization |
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File-System Benchmarks On The
Intel X25-E SSD
Tuesday March
17 @ 08:46:09 GMT +02:00
|
Phoronix takes a look at the performance of the
Intel X25-E SSD using the ReiserFS, JFS, XFS,
EXT3, and EXT4 file-systems
Late last month we looked at the Intel X25-E
Extreme SSD on Linux. We ran this
high-performance solid-state drive within a
System76 Serval Notebook and compared its
performance to a Seagate Momentus 7200.2 SATA
HDD. During that testing we were just using the
default EXT3 file-system, but now we have taken
the Intel X25-E SSD for another spin as we
looked at its performance when using the
ReiserFS, JFS, XFS, EXT3, and EXT4 file-systems.
File-System Benchmarks On The Intel X25-E SSD |
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Scythe Mugen 2 tower cooler
Review
Tuesday March
17 @ 08:34:19 GMT +02:00
|
ocaholic.ch posted a review on the Scythe Mugen
2 tower cooler
A quote from the article:
With the Mugen 2 Scythe presents its latest
high-end air cooler. Therefore the 870 gramms
heavy coloss comes with 5 heatpipes and a
backplate to assure a thorough mounting.
Scythe Mugen 2 tower cooler Review |
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SpyBot-Search & Destroy Tools
Beta 1.6.3.51 Beta
Tuesday March
17 @ 08:22:05 GMT +02:00
|
Beta test the next version of Spybot.
Editors note: This is a beta, not a final
release. If your not comfortable using betas,
please download the latest stable version here.
Download |
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AMD Phenom II In-Depth
Performance Scaling Analysis
Tuesday March
17 @ 08:15:28 GMT +02:00
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Madshrimps posted an AMD Phenom II
In-Depth Performance Scaling Analysis
We previously tested the effects of overclocking
different aspects of an AMD Phenom 1 powered
system, today we delve into Phenom II
performance scaling, from raw CPU speed, HT
Link, Northbridge to HT Link and more. If you
want to get the most out of your Phenom II
system, this is a must read!
AMD Phenom II In-Depth Performance Scaling
Analysis |
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CrossFire vs. SLI
Tuesday March
10 @ 08:47:50 GMT +02:00
|
InsideHW.com has compared performances of single
graphics cards vs. CrossFire/SLI systems
On every presentation of new GPU generation that
we attended in past few years, systems with more
than one graphics card were presented as
ultimate performance setup. Problem with those
configurations was their price in a real world
environment. Even now there are more users that
have only one graphics card in their rig but the
times has changed and now even low-budget users
can have Crossfire of SLI system thanks to price
drops. First of all, motherboards that support
Crossfire or SLI are not too expensive anymore
as they were a year ago. Secondly, graphics
cards have become also cheaper so users now face
a dilemma: if they already have a graphics card
from mid or high-range class with motherboard
that supports CrossFire/SLI, is it better to
sell that one and buy new one, or to buy same
graphics card and make CrossFire/SLI system?.
CrossFire vs. SLI |
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ASUS Xonar Essence STX PCI
Express sound card review
Tuesday March
10 @ 08:46:09 GMT +02:00
|
Elite Bastards posted a review on the ASUS Xonar
Essence STX PCI Express sound card
A quote from the article:
From left to right, we find that the Essence STX
carries analogue outputs for left and right
speakers via RCA outputs (with an RCA to 3.5mm
jack adapter provided with the board) - If
you're using analogue speakers, that means
you'll only be able to produce two-channel audio
from the Essence STX. Moving on, we then find
the card's headphone output and line-in jacks,
both of which use 6.3mm jacks (with one
gold-plated 6.3mm-3.5mm adapter provided as part
of the STX's bundle), and an SPDIF output with
support for both coaxial and TOSlink
connectivity, and allowing for multi-channel
audio via Dolby Digital encoding.
ASUS Xonar Essence STX PCI Express sound card
review |
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Evercool RF-8 Rifling 80mm Fan
Review
Tuesday March
10 @ 08:34:19 GMT +02:00
|
Rbmods posted a review on the Evercool RF-8
Rifling 80mm Fan
A quote from the article:
Case fans come in a wide variety of sizes, with
the most popular ones being 80mm and 120mm. But
is there any way to squeeze more fan blade area
in a standard size fan? Evercool, makers of a
wide range of fans, has produced a new product,
the Evercool Rifling RF-8 80mm Case fan, that
provides 92mm fan blades in an 80mm housing.
Will this design provide the best of both
worlds? Read on to find out more.
Evercool RF-8 Rifling 80mm Fan Review |
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AMD Phenom II 720 X3 Black
Edition Processor Review
Tuesday March
10 @ 08:22:05 GMT +02:00
|
OCIA.net has posted their review of the AMD
Phenom II 720 X3 Black Edition Processor
A quote from the article:
With the launch of Deneb, AMD has finally moved
to the 45nm process and are breaking in a new
socket interface at the same time. The main
difference with AM3 is the introduction of DDR3
support. But rather than require a forklift
upgrade, AMD has incorporated both DDR2 and DDR3
memory controllers into the AM3 chips. One of
the first of these chips debuted last month with
the tri core X3 BE 720, running at 2.8Ghz. But
with only three cores, is the 720 even a viable
upgrade for someone with a first generation
Phenom quad or is it just a hamstrung slug of
silicon?
AMD Phenom II 720 X3 Black Edition Processor
Review |
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Dooble 0.06 Beta
Tuesday March
10 @ 08:15:28 GMT +02:00
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Web Browser that provides solid
performance, stability, and cross-platform
functionality.
Dooble is a Secure and Open Source Web Browser
currently in beta development that provides
solid performance, stability, and cross-platform
functionality.
One of the project's most important goals is to
safeguard the privacy of its users.
The Dooble installer allows you to install
Dooble, a group of integrated privacy features
(browser, search engine, secure e-mail client,
and secure messenger). The installer also
provides a means of installing the Dooble
browser component.
Changelog:
- Filter for Searches in the Webpage
- Elaborated Enter Buttons and Pulldown Menus
- Dooble Search with better functionality inside
the Browser
- More Icons!
Download |
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Desktop Graphics Card Comparison Guide
Rev. 16.4
Tuesday March
03 @ 08:47:50 GMT +02:00
|
Tech ARP updated their Desktop Graphics Card
Comparison Guide
A quote from the article:
Covering 374 desktop graphics cards, this
comprehensive comparison allows you to easily
compare 18 different specifications for each and
every card. If you need to find out about the
specification of any card, just come over and
check out our Desktop Graphics Comparison Guide.
We hope it will prove to be a useful reference.
We will keep this guide updated regularly so do
check back for the latest updates.
Here are the latest updates in Revision 16.4 :-
- Added the Pixel Fill Rate specification for
Trident and Intel graphics cards in the guide.
Desktop Graphics Card Comparison Guide Rev. 16.4 |
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XFX GTX285 and GTX295 Review
Tuesday March
03 @ 08:46:09 GMT +02:00
|
InsideHW.com has reviewed XFX GTX285 and GTX295
graphics cards
A quote from the article:
In its last financial reports nVIDIA has
acknowledged losses that are consequence of
global economic crisis and relatively low sale
rates. Main culprit for second reason is, of
course, ATi that performed better in this period
and proved itself as best AMD investment so far.
nVIDIA's first answer to ATi's success was
GTX260+ model. This had limited effects and now
it is time to take drastic measures. Final
result are two graphics cards: GeForce GTX295
and GTX285. First one is nVIDIA's way to show
everybody that they have "best" (fastest)
product and second one is result of "face
lifting" of older model. Both graphics cards are
signed by XFX.
XFX GTX285 and GTX295 Review |
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ASUS BC-06B1ST Blu-Ray Disc
Optical Combo Drive Review
Tuesday March
03 @ 08:34:19 GMT +02:00
|
Benchmark Reviews posted a review on the ASUS
BC-06B1ST Blu-Ray Disc Optical Combo Drive
A quote from the article:
It wasn't more than a few months ago that
Benchmark Reviews tested the ASUS BC-1205PT Blu-ray
Drive, which was proven to be a future-proof
asset with the format war recently ended in
favor of BD media. But sometimes technology
isn't adopted quite as fast as we might think,
because in the age of Blu-ray there are people
out there who still haven't made the transition
into a DVD-burner. Unlike CDs and DVDs, Blu-ray
Disc isn't in every household, and since music
and movies seem to work perfectly well on the
older platforms there might not be any real need
for such a premium storage device.
In this article, we do away with the benchmark
tests and take a subjective look at the ASUS
BC-06B1ST Blu-ray disc optical combo drive.
After all, there aren't really very many
BD-burners on the market to begin with for there
to be a worth-while comparison. Sure, we could
create a few dual-layer DVD coasters to see how
fast that happens, but in the end it doesn't
concentrate on the primary features a SATA Blu-ray
burner can offer. Benchmark Reviews tests the
functionality and explores the feature set
offered by the ASUS BC-06B1ST Blu-ray combo
drive.
ASUS BC-06B1ST Blu-Ray Disc Optical Combo Drive
Review |
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Crucial Ballistix Tracers 6GB
Kit (BL3KIT25664TB1608) Review
Tuesday March
03 @ 08:22:05 GMT +02:00
|
Bjorn3D takes a look at some Crucial Ballistix
Tracers 6GB Kit (BL3KIT25664TB1608)
A quote from the article:
We've been eagerly awaiting the release of
Crucial Ballistix Tracers for the Core i7
platform. While there are lots of kits out there
there's only one kit that takes the bling factor
beyond the normal high tech heat spreader.
That's right if you want the ultimate in bling
clipped into your ram slots there's only one
vendor that can bring you Tri Channel DDR3 for
the Core i7 platform that feature color keyed
LED's in Blue, Red and Green.
Crucial has had LED lighted ram for quite some
time now, but this time they've gone above and
beyond, previous Tracers used multi Colored
LED's, the newest offering from Crucial features
single colored lights so you can color
coordinate with other lighting in your system.
While we didn't have any problem with
multi-colored lights in the previous generation
of Ballistix Tracers we do appreciate the
ability to have the color of choice to
compliment the lighting you've chosen for that
gaming shrine. Unfortunately the bling factor
isn't the only concern when it comes to ram so
we're afraid we'll have to put the Ballistix
Tracers through our full suite of memory tests
to see if the performance is as sweet as the
bling, and let us tell you the bling is sweet.
Crucial Ballistix Tracers 6GB Kit
(BL3KIT25664TB1608) Review |
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How to Install Vista on the ASUS
P6T Deluxe with SAS RAID
Tuesday March
03 @ 08:15:28 GMT +02:00
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Legit Reviews published a guide
about installing Vista on the ASUS P6T Deluxe
with SAS RAID
Today's hard drive market is starting to grow
towards enterprise level hardware, which is SAS.
SAS, or Serial Attached SCSI, is the server
grade storage medium of choice these days. Some
desktop motherboards like the ASUS P6T Deluxe
offer support for up to a pair of SAS drives, so
read on as we show you how to setup a pair in
RAID and install Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit.
How to Install Vista on the ASUS P6T Deluxe with
SAS RAID |
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First GeForce GTS 240 Card
Exposed
Tuesday February
24 @ 08:47:50 GMT +02:00
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VR-Zone posted first details on the GeForce GTS
240
We have already told you quite a bit of details
about GeForce GTS 240 which is slated for April
release. It is basically 55nm G92 based 9800 GT
GPU on a new P361 PCB and internally Nvidia
calls it D10P2. Now we will provide you a
glimpse on the schematic diagram of the GTS 240
card. The differences are mainly on the power
design department.
First GeForce GTS 240 Card Exposed |
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ASUS P5Q3 LGA775 Intel P45 ATX
Motherboard Review
Tuesday February
24 @ 08:47:50 GMT +02:00
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Benchmark Reviews takes a look at the ASUS P5Q3
LGA775 Intel P45 ATX Motherboard
A quote from the article:
Launched last summer by Intel, the P45 chipset
has quickly grown in popularity, replacing the
aging P35 chipset. Intended for a mid to upper
mainstream consumer base, the P45 chipset boasts
some impressive features, such as: full
DDR2/DDR3 support, 20 PCI Express 2.0 lanes, ATI
Crossfire support, and a 65nm manufacturing
process. By now manufacturers have had ample
time to design and refine their P45 based
motherboards and today Benchmark Reviews takes a
look at ASUS' mainstream P45 DDR3 motherboard:
the P5Q3. As a twist on our usual motherboard
reviews, this article will also shed some light
on the growing DDR2 vs DDR3 debate with some
hard numbers in the benchmark sections.
ASUS P5Q3 LGA775 Intel P45 ATX Motherboard
Review |
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Sapphire's ATI Radeon HD 4870
1GB Toxic graphics card Review
Tuesday February
24 @ 08:46:09 GMT +02:00
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Bit-Tech published a review of Sapphire's ATI
Radeon HD 4870 1GB Toxic graphics card
A quote from the article:
Up until this morning though, we'd have agreed
with that because the Sapphire Radeon HD 4870
1GB was selling for over £220 - it's hard to
justify what amounts to a five percent
performance improvement and a fancy cooler when
the reference one isn't exactly disappointing.
But with the price being realigned to just under
£195, we think it's worth taking the punt if
you've decided that the Radeon HD 4870 1GB is
the right choice for you.
What makes the choice difficult is that the
Radeon HD 4870 1GB and GeForce GTX 260-216 are
incredibly well matched not only on price, but
also on performance across the board. Right now,
the favour seems to have tipped AMD's way, but
it could quite easily flip the other way when
you consider that of the five benchmarks the
Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 1GB Toxic won against
the GeForce GTX 260-216, two of them were by
less than five percent. What's more, it's quite
conceivable that some of the newer titles that
we'll be adding to our suite soon could go
either way - neither the Radeon HD 4870 1GB nor
GeForce GTX 260-216 are a bad choice at this
price point, frankly.
Sapphire's ATI Radeon HD 4870 1GB Toxic graphics
card Review |
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XFX Radeon HD 4870 512MB XXX
Review
Tuesday February
24 @ 08:34:19 GMT +02:00
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InsideHW.com has reviewed XFX Radeon HD 4870
512MB XXX
A quote from the article:
The trend of expanding product's portfolio among
manufacturers of graphics cards doesn't abate,
and this situation resulted in many new products
based on ATI GPUs on the market. Nvidia's so far
exclusive partners are beginning to reject this
kind of "monogamy". For some of those partners
this decision was quite expected from the very
beginning but XFX came out as a true surprise
because of their reputation of being Nvidia's
"hard core" partner. Even though we had to wait
little bit more than it was officially
announced, the first XFX Radeon was finally
introduced.
XFX Radeon HD 4870 512MB XXX Review |
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Early Look: Asus Eee PC T91
Tuesday February
24 @ 08:22:05 GMT +02:00
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Bit-Tech published an early hands-on look at the
Asus Eee PC T91
Pricing is one final topic that we haven¡¯t
covered yet ¨C that¡¯s because nothing has been
confirmed yet. Sadly, the exchange rate
fluctuations we¡¯re seeing at the moment mean
that all Asus can give us is a ballpark range
for the device. The company is expecting the Eee
PC T91 to sell for somewhere between the Eee PC
1000HE at around ?360 and the Eee PC S101, which
is currently available for about ?420.
That¡¯s quite a lot for an 8.9-inch netbook, but
when you factor in some of the features Asus has
integrated into this model ¨C such as the touch
screen, the DVB-T TV tuner, 3G data card and GPS
functionality ¨C it looks like it might be quite
good value. Aside from the price, there are
several more unknowns, including the quality of
the keyboard, touch screen software and whether
or not the touch pad problems we encountered are
limited to this pre-production sample.
Ultimately, the quality of Asus¡¯ touch screen
software is going to determine the fate of this
device because, without great software, you¡¯re
paying for a feature that might be useful on
occasion, but is likely to be a hindrance more
often than not. Having not spent time using the
software yet, it's impossible to gauge the fate
of the T91 ¨C keyboard and touch pad issues
aside though, the device's build quality is a
notch above most other Eee PCs and not too far
from the S101. And given the amount of time
between now and the expected end of April
availability date, we expect the issues we
encountered to be resolved. If touch is your
thing, this might be worth a look.
Early Look: Asus Eee PC T91 |
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ATI Tray Tools 1.6.9.1382 Beta
Tuesday February
24 @ 08:15:28 GMT +02:00
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Easy right-click access to all of
your ATI video card's crucial settings.
ATI Tray Tools is a free utility that runs in
the system tray and provides easy right-click
access to all of your ATI video card's crucial
settings. You can change anisotropic filtering +
antialiasing levels in Direct3D and OpenGL,
adjust image quality, turn on/off special driver
features, or simply just fool around with clock
settings (core and memory speeds). It uses
minimal system resources and isn't intrusive.
Download |
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Antec Nine Hundred Two Review
Tuesday February
17 @ 08:47:50 GMT +02:00
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OCC has published a new review on the Antec Nine
Hundred Two
A quote from the article:
While the Nine Hundred Two may not have a screw
less design, a secret drawer, or any other new
intuitive perks, it does a damn good job at
keeping your hardware very cool. They may need
to think about coming out with a line of
computer case scarfs and wooly mittens. In most
cases, the Nine Hundred Two would perform just
as well as Thermaltake's full tower Xaser VI and
in some cases, better. Turning up all the fan
speeds only decreased temps by another 2-3
degrees C. Antec claims that this is the best
Gaming case available, and they aren't too far
off. In fact, the only real downsides to this
case is the Lack of USB ports and the difficulty
of installing HDD's. I would personally
recommend this case to any gamer/enthusiast. It
looks cool and it will keep your rig cool.
Antec Nine Hundred Two Review |
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Rivatuner 2.23 released
Tuesday February
17 @ 08:47:50 GMT +02:00
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Rivatuner 2.23 has been released
Rivatuner has been updated towards version 2.23
This release has a number of updates and fixes.
But please do check out the changelist.
RivaTuner is a complete powerful tweaking
environment, providing you everything you may
need to tune NVIDIA GPU based display adapters.
The widest driver-level Direct3D / OpenGL and
system tuning options, flexible profiling system
allowing to make custom settings on
per-application basis, both driver-level and
low-level hardware access modes, unique
diagnostic and real-time hardware monitoring
features and exclusive power user oriented tools
like built-in registry editor and patch script
engine.
For novice users, we have a guide to help you
through Rivatuner and setup fan speeds and
overclocks on your graphics card. This guide
will hopefully help you understand how to use
the features that Rivatuner provides.
Rivatuner 2.23 released |
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AMD Phenom II 810 & 720 BE
Processor Dry Ice Overclocking
Tuesday February
17 @ 08:46:09 GMT +02:00
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Legit Reviews overclocked the AMD Phenom II 810
& 720 BE Processors
AMD has done a great job at getting the word out
that Phenom II is a new and improved processor,
but how do these new Phenom II processors
overclock with extreme cooling? AMD showed us
that the temperature bug is long gone by running
a AMD Phenom II X4 processor at 1.95V and at
below -190C, but what can we pull off on our own
test bench? This weekend we purchased ten pounds
of dry ice along with some Acetone to see what
we could get a pair of Phenom II socket AM3
processors could do on the ASUS M4A79T Deluxe
motherboard.
AMD Phenom II 810 & 720 BE Processor Dry Ice
Overclocking |
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OCZ 6GB Triple-Channel 1333 MHz
DDR3 Memory Kit Review
Tuesday February
17 @ 08:34:19 GMT +02:00
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Benchmark Reviews posted a review on the OCZ 6GB
Triple-Channel 1333 MHz DDR3 Memory Kit
A quote from the article:
System memory is one of the most over-looked
hardware components in computer systems, and
with applications demanding greater memory
overhead it is best to use as much memory as
allowed. But not all memory is made the same;
and even memory of the same speed can have
different consumer targets. In this article,
Benchmark Reviews tests the performance of an
entry-level triple-channel product for the Intel
Core i7 platform. The OCZ 6GB 1333 MHz DDR3
memory kit OCZ3P1333LV6GK will be compared
against several other products and benchmarked
for bandwidth and gaming performance. Are the
higher speeds worth the money, or can this
memory kit overclock to their level?
OCZ 6GB Triple-Channel 1333 MHz DDR3 Memory Kit
Review |
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OCZ Summit Series 250GB SSD
Preview - New Samsung MLC
Tuesday February
17 @ 08:22:05 GMT +02:00
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PC Perspective posted a preview on the OCZ
Summit Series 250GB SSD
A quote from the article:
The OCZ Summit line of solid state drives uses a
new controller from Samsungs well as 64MB of
cache to speed up performance, in particular
write speeds. Does this new 250GB SSD have what
it takes to compete against the Intel X25-M?
OCZ Summit Series 250GB SSD Preview - New
Samsung MLC |
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Beats by Dr. Dre Headphones
Review
Tuesday February
17 @ 08:15:28 GMT +02:00
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Hardware Canucks posted a review of
the new Beats by Dr.Dre headphones
A quote from the article:
With Dr. Dre prepared to lend his expertise,
Monster also enlisted the assistance and
experience of Jimmy Iovine who is currently the
Chairman of Interscope Geffen A&M Records. With
Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine onboard, Monster set
out to design a new set of studio headphones.
Naturally, these industry luminaries didn't want
just any new headphones, they wanted a product
that would allow the user to experience the full
sonic spectrum any audio source had to offer.
After three years of research and development,
what this dream team proudly unveiled is the
Beats by Dr. Dre.
Beats by Dr. Dre Headphones Review |
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AMD Phenom II X3 - 720 Review
Tuesday February
10 @ 08:47:50 GMT +02:00
|
Hardware-TEST.dk/ Hwt.dk posted a review on the
AMD Phenom II X3 - 720 2.8GHz
A quote from the article:
We compare the Phenom II performance with the
Core i7-920, Core2Duo, Athlon64 X2
clock-by-clock and look on where do you buy the
best "value for money".
AMD Phenom II X3 - 720 Review |
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AMD Socket AM3 Arrives The Real
Phenom II Detailed
Tuesday February
10 @ 08:47:50 GMT +02:00
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TweakTown posted an article on AMD Socket AM3
Okay, why are we here again? – Well, AMD has
once again released a new CPU, but this is using
the same name as previous yet still fairly new
CPU. Confusing? - I know; it is to me as well.
One month ago to the day, AMD released what it
likes to call the Phenom II processor. While it
is an update upon the original Phenom
architecture, it still uses the same AM2+ board
architecture. For that reason it may be prudent
to call it a Phenom II, but what does this mean
for a new CPU that supports a whole new
processor socket? – Well, that’s where things
now get dicey.
To start things off on our AM3 processor, AMD
has revolutionized the latest addition to the
Phenom II family. All of the 800 series and 700
series CPU’s have a dual mode memory controller.
That is, it has a DDR2 and DDR3 memory
controller onboard. This is the first CPU to
incorporate two memory controllers on one CPU
die.
AMD Socket AM3 Arrives The Real Phenom II
Detailed |
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Q9400S & Q8200S: Intel's 65W
Quad-Cores
Tuesday February
10 @ 08:46:09 GMT +02:00
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Techgage.com posted a review of Intel's Q8200S
and Q9400S 65W Quad-Cores
The benefits of a low-TDP processor are obvious,
but a usual downside is also obvious: low clock
speeds. Intel's changing that thinking with
their Core 2 Quad "S" series, which includes the
Q9550S, Q9400S and also the Q8200S. Compared to
their non-"S" variants, they draw less power and
run cooler, all while retaining the performance
they've become known for.
Q9400S & Q8200S: Intel's 65W Quad-Cores |
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AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black
Edition and X4 810 Processors Review
Tuesday February
10 @ 08:34:19 GMT +02:00
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HotHardware.com posted a review on the AMD
Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition and X4 810
Processors
A quote from the article:
Last month, AMD launched the Phenom II X4
processor line-up, and with it ushered in the
first desktop processors built using the
company's 45nm process node. While the first two
Phenom II processors to arrive, the 3.0GHz X4
940 and 2.8GHz 920, were clearly superior to
previous Phenoms in terms of performance and
power efficiency, and they remain the two most
powerful processors in AMD's product stack
today, they did not exploit all of the
capabilities offered by their newly tweaked, and
redesigned cores.
You see, the AMD Phenom II X4 940 and X4 920
were designed for the socket AM2+ platform, and
as such, they supported only DDR2 memory. The
latest additions to the Phenom II line-up, the
Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition and X4 810,
however, are designed for the AM3 platform. That
means these new chips can work not only in
existing AM2+ motherboards with DDR2 memory, but
in new AM3-based motherboard with DDR3 memory as
well. The flexibility of these new socket AM3
based Phenom II processors should appeal to
existing AMD system owners who may be thinking
about a CPU upgrade, or potential new AMD-based
system buyers who want the freedom to choose
from a wide array of motherboards and memory
type at multiple price points.
We've taken the new triple-core Phenom II X3 720
Black Edition and quad-core X4 810 for a spin
through the lab using both socket AM2+ and
socket AM3 based motherboard platforms, to give
you all an idea as to how each configuration
performs. Read on for the full scoop...
AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition and X4 810
Processors Review |
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AMD Phenom II X4 810: DDR3 vs.
DDR2
Tuesday February
10 @ 08:22:05 GMT +02:00
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InsideHW.com has compared performances of AMD
Phenom II X4 810 with DDR3 and DDR2 memory
Newest K10 core was from start designed to
support DDR3 memory standard, but from unknown
reasons (to us) AMD decided to disable that
support for 65nm revisions of this CPU. Even
first Deneb 45nm cores had disabled support for
DDR3 memory. Deneb cores that have DDR3 support
are the same C2 revision that initially appeared
on Socket AM2/AM2+. Same mistake with transition
to new memory standard AMD didn't want to repeat
so new AM3 CPUs are backwards compatible with
AM2/AM2+ motherboards. If you have old AM2
motherboard that supports Phenom CPUs, new
Phenom X4 810, X3 720 or any other AM3 CPUs can
be plugged in and everything will work
flawlessly with "good old" DDR2 memory that you
already have.
AMD Phenom II X4 810: DDR3 vs. DDR2 |
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Phenom II X4 810 and X3 720
Black Edition Review
Tuesday February
10 @ 08:15:28 GMT +02:00
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LostCircuits posted a review on the Phenom II X4
810 and X3 720 Black Edition
A quote from the article:
The Phenom X3 II 720 is being sold as Black
Edition, meaning that the multiplier is
completely unlocked, in short, an invitation for
overclocking. In fact, as it turned out, I have
never seen a CPU that easy to overclock out of
the box without doing anything beyond moving a
few sliders on AMD's OverDrive utiliy. Set the
core voltage to 1.45V, the NB to 1.325 V with a
1.235 V value for the HT interface and push the
multiplier all the way to 20 x. Twenty seconds
later, CPUZ showed that we were running at 4.0
GHz. 4.1 GHz caused some problems. Either
setting was done with standard air cooling and
at room temperature. Granted, there were a few
stability problems even at 4.0 GHz but at 3.8
GHz, the X3 720 was purring along no matter what
we threw at it to get 372 fps average in F.E.A.R.
and 170 fps average in Crysis. Without any
hiccup.
Phenom II X4 810 and X3 720 Black Edition Review |
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AMD Phenom II X4 810 and X3
720BE review (AM3)
Tuesday February
10 @ 08:04:19 GMT +02:00
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The Guru of 3D posted a review on the AMD Phenom
II X4 810 and X3 720BE processors
A quote from the article:
It's time for AMD to release their latest Socket
AM3 processors. In total five new processors are
being launched today and Guru3D will look at the
outstanding 2,8 GHz clocked Phenom II X3 720 BE
processor priced at just 145 USD, the second
processor we'll test is again very affordable,
the Phenom II X4 810 processor (2,6 GHz) which
launches at a really nice 175 USD.
Both processors arm your PC with some pretty
good bang for your hard earned money. We'll dive
in deep, into the architecture, the features ..
but obviously most the performance. Have a peek
at AMD's latest AM3 processor (which work on
Socket AM2+ 790 motherboard as well!). Things
certainly are looking up for AMD.
AMD Phenom II X4 810 and X3 720BE review (AM3) |
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BIOSTAR TPower X58 Review
Tuesday February
03 @ 08:47:50 GMT +02:00
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InsideHW.com has reviewed BIOSTAR TPower X58
motherboard
A quote from the article:
BIOSTAR motherboards are known for their
price/performance ratio thanks to which BIOSTAR
motherboards won InsideHW Best Buy Award few
times. This result BIOSTAR achieved by using
second best chipset, that can be found on the
market at the moment (P965, P35, P45), on their
motherboards instead of using the best and the
priciest (X965, X35, X45). This time BIOSTAR
applied different approach and they built new
motherboard on eXtreme chipset. Of course we are
talking about advanced X58 chipset. How well did
BIOSTAR rise to the challenge you can find out
if you continue reading our review.
BIOSTAR TPower X58 Review |
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Chieftec AEGIS Full Tower Review
Tuesday February
03 @ 08:46:09 GMT +02:00
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OCC has published a new review on the Chieftec
AEGIS Full Tower
A quote from the article:
Pretty much all cases out there have at least
one up side to them; they hold all your
components. Luckily, the Chieftec AEGIS does
that well. While it does add several additional
perks, like the ability to easily swap hard
drives and expansion cards with the screwless
design, or the ability to hold CDs or DVDs on
the front of the chassis behind one of the
swing-open doors, it is definitely not a case I
would mark as an enthusiast case, at least not
as delivered. The lack of pre-installed fans and
the lack of several features seen on other
cases, such as bottom-mounted PSU slots or
removable motherboard trays, really leaves this
case in the workstation or entry-level market.
Another market this case might fit into,
however, is the extreme modding market.
Chieftec AEGIS Full Tower Review |
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Memtest86 3.5
Tuesday February
03 @ 08:34:19 GMT +02:00
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Stand alone memory test for x86 architecture
computers.
Memtest86 software is designed to be a stand
alone memory test for x86 architecture
computers. BIOS based memory tests are a quick,
cursory check and often miss many of the
failures that are detected by Memtest86.
Memtest86 is released under the terms of the Gnu
Public License (GPL). Other than the provisions
of the GNU pubic licence (GPL) there are no
restrictions for use, private or commercial.
Windows Installation:
For windows installation begin by downloading
either the Pre-Compiled Windows package to build
a boot-able floppy disk or an ISO (zip version)
to create a boot-able CD-ROM. After the file is
downloaded an extract must be done to uncompress
the file(s). To extract right click on the
downloaded file and select the "Extract All"
option. The extract option will let you choose
where the files will be extracted to. To build a
bootable floppy go the the folder where the
files were extracted and click on the Install
icon. The floppy disk will appear to be
unformatted by Windows after the install is
complete.
To build a boot-able CD-ROM use your CD burning
software to create an image from the un-zipped
ISO file.
Note: Since Memtest86 is a standalone program it
does not require any operating system support
for execution. It can be used with any PC
regardless of what operating system, if any, is
installed. The test image may be loaded from a
floppy disk or may be loaded via LILO on Linux
systems. Any Unix, Windows or DOS system may be
used to create a boot floppy or bootable CD-ROM.
Download |
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MSI X58 Eclipse SLI Core i7
Motherboard Review
Tuesday February
03 @ 08:22:05 GMT +02:00
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TweakTown posted a review on the MSI X58 Eclipse
SLI Core i7 Motherboard
A quote from the article:
Core i7 is Intel’s first CPU to finally
integrate a memory controller directly into the
CPU and because of this a whole new socket and
motherboard architecture needed to be designed.
All previous Intel chipsets were now useless to
run the brand new CPU since it now has an
external FSB but communicates with the chipset
through a whole new interface called Quick Path
Interconnect (or QPI). Because of this Intel has
released its X58 chipset aimed at the top end of
the spectrum.
We have already seen both GIGABYTE and ASUS put
their offerings on the table; today we have yet
another high-end board from a very highly
regarded company, MSI. On the chopping blocks
today is the MSI X58 Eclipse SLI. This board
promises to have it all and then some. But as
expected, a board of this calibre certainly
comes at a price. You can currently purchase it
from Newegg at 349.99 USD. But is it worth every
penny? Let’s take a look and see.
MSI X58 Eclipse SLI Core i7 Motherboard Review |
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Sapphire Radeon HD 4670 Video
Card Review
Tuesday February
03 @ 08:15:28 GMT +02:00
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Benchmark Reviews posted a review on the
Sapphire Radeon HD 4670 Video Card
A quote from the article:
So you want to be a rock star huh? Well just
like the Stones say, you can't always get what
you want. Some of us realize we are just normal
people and must settle for our daily mundane
tasks. The same holds true for computer graphics
cards, or does it? Today Benchmark Reviews will
look at a mainstream card with a bit of an
identity problem. The Sapphire Radeon HD4670
GDDR4 graphics card. This little guy thinks it's
a rock star! Maybe it thinks that "6" in it's
name is an "8"? It does have 512mb of GDDR4 RAM.
Well, I'm positive this card is no HD4870 but
that hasn't stopped this little fella from
rockin'! Let's see if this HD4670 has what it
takes to be a real star.
Sapphire Radeon HD 4670 Video Card Review |
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Raidsonic's Icy Box IB-NAS4220-B
network storage device
Tuesday February
03 @ 08:04:19 GMT +02:00
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bit-tech published a review of Raidsonic's Icy
Box IB-NAS4220-B network storage device
For SOHO or personal and family use, the Icy Box
IB-NAS4220-B is pretty nippy and plentiful for
the majority of people who are after just a
plain two disk NAS. With 2TB hard disks just
released, having a potential of 4TB at your
disposal should be enough for all but the most
prolific porn data collectors. It's a bit noisy,
so in a particularly quiet room you'll certainly
notice it is on, but it's no better or worse
than the alternatives and it still looks great,
works great and for the price we'd certainly opt
to get one.
Raidsonic's Icy Box IB-NAS4220-B network storage
device |
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