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February 20, 2005 - February 22, 2005
| VH News: Tuesday Late-Night Edition....
Posted by Diceman on Tuesday, 22 February, 2005 @ 10:37 |
| Thermaltake VB1000 Soprano Review @ The Moditory
copyright moditory
"The Soprano is another entry into the enclosure field from the cooling giant Thermaltake. Lately we've been seeing a lot of pre-mod cases being mass produced and many of them aren't worth buying. Obviously the appeal is there for many individuals who want the "cool" looking case but don't want to do the work. Pre-mod cases aren't all bad for modders though, as even the transparent PC cases have spawned some of the greatest mods around. With the Soprano under our inspection, let's see if Thermaltake has created a pre-mod case worth buying."
Overclocking the Socket 754 AMD Athlon 64 @ OCIA.net
copyright ocia
"Once you feel like you have a pretty good understanding of what is going on, the next thing to do is consider your components. In my case, I purchased the motherboard and CPU on a budget and didn't plan to overclock from the beginning, so I will just have to tough it out. But as you will see in the end, a budget system can oftentimes clock higher than more expensive setups."
MSI NX6600GT-VTD128 @ Viper Lair
"For AGP based motherboard owners who are a little dismayed with all the PCIe attention by chip makers, nVidia and MSI have addressed your concerns with the NX6600GT-VTD128. The card was rock solid, and the performance improvements are light years over MSI's previous nVidia based mainstream solution."
V-Tech X-Focus Review @ FastLaneHW.com
Well, I was just starting to think that every new case on the market was modeled after something you might find in a comic book. Today we're here to see a pleasant surprise, a new case from Vtech called the X-Focus.
Bluetake BT007Si Bluetooth USB Adapter & G5 Headset Review
copyright hardware-pacers
"Both the BT400 G5 Bluetooth Headset and the BT007Si Bluetooth USB Adapter are cleverly designed products. The Bluetooth USB adapter is exceptionally portable and still maintains an excellent stable signal. The USB Bluetooth adapter can connect to any Bluetooth device, from Bluetooth cell phones to Bluetooth headsets. With the thickness of only ten mm and the length of forty nine mm, the USB Bluetooth adapter still packs a load of features. These features include the 'Human Interface Device', 'Advance Audio Distribution Profile', and the 'Basic Image Profile'. The Bluetake adapter is perfect for consumers who have numerous amount of Bluetooth products. This adapter is designed to be capable to be conveniently transported along with other Bluetooth products. It can easily fit into any pocket and carried around all day. "
| | | | |
| VH News: Tuesday Afternoon Edition
Posted by Diceman on Tuesday, 22 February, 2005 @ 4:33 |
| Take a good look around folks. Do you notice anything different? o_0
Intel Pentium 4 6xx Review @ The Tech Zone
With Microsoft recently announcing that they will no longer work on a mainstream Windows XP version for the Itanium chips (they will still maintain their server/high-end OS version), Intel has no choice but to release a compatible 64-bit chip to AMD’s solution. On February 20, 2005, Intel officially released the 6xx series Pentium 4 processors and a Pentium 4 Extreme Edition 3.73 GHz. These processors will support their EM64T 64-bit extensions as well as a few other features.
Neoseeker DFI LanParty UT nF4 Ultra-D Review
"Voltage adjustments for the CPU is pretty unique. Besides the standard 0.0125 voltage stepping, DFI also has something an additional fine tuner if you will - a multiplier (from 1.00 to 1.36)can be applied to the base voltage to fine tune the actual voltage fed to the CPU in even smaller increments."
The Current State of nVidia SLI - SLI Part 3 @ OCModShop
pic from ocmodshop
"Software support and strange bugs seem to plague those who want to write their own profiles for applications that nVidia has not supported yet. It’s a mixed bag of performance and issues that need to be worked out. However it shows a lot of promise, and if you don’t mind spending the extra dough to stay bleeding edge with your gamming performance in 15 games, nVidia SLI is the only route to go."
SweMOD News 2005-02-22 - Icemat Siberia Headset
The creators of the popular gaming mouse pads have done it again. Tonight we have a look at the Icemat Siberia that not only looks good but works great.
Zalman CNPS7000A-AlCu Heatsink Review @ ipkonfig
copyright ipkonfig
Zalman: The name strikes fear into the core of all the heat generating CPU's everywhere. The CNPS7000A-AlCu from Zalman keeps up the battle against thermal meltdown on multiple fronts.
Water-cooling for Everyone 3: Swiftech & ThermalTake @ A True Review
copyright atruereview
Welcome to the third installment of the Water-cooling for Everyone series. Quite a lot has changed in the computer world since the first installment was written over a year ago; especially CPUs and their operating temperatures. Today with most air cooling, like the god forbidden stock cooler, the CPU idles at a temperature that would have warranted concern as a load temperature back then. This rise in temperature makes alternative cooling, like water-cooling, a more logical and sought after choice, now more than ever. This makes water-cooling more mainstream than ever.
Thermaltake Armor VA8000 Armor Case Review
copyright overclockercafe
Thermaltake has put considerable thought not only into the looks of the case, but also the thermal properties and air flow of it. The front bay covers are all perforated to allow air to flow through freely. Don't be too concerned with dust either, as each one of the bay covers is fitted with it's own filter to keep those nasty dust bunnies to an absolute minimum.
Plextor PX-230A CD-RW Review @ FastLaneHW.com
When it comes to optical storage devices, there is one manufacturer whose name is synonymous with quality, dependability, and consistent performance: Plextor. Moreover, their products are known for stealth. Without exaggeration, I quite often find myself glancing at a Plextor drive just to make sure it's running. Seriously, they're that quiet. These reasons explain why I have never hesitated to pay a little more for a Plextor.
Seagate Pocket External 5GB Hard Drive Review
"Seagate, one of the most well-known hard drive manufacturers has stepped out from behind the curtain and has begun introducing several consumer level products to the industry. Seagate’s USB 2.0 5GB Pocket Hard Drive is one of those devices. A portable microdrive tucked away into a small, circular, well designed plastic shell. It was envisioned by Seagate to provide consumers an easy, affordable, and convenient way to bring almost any type of data on the road with them. The Seagate USB 2.0 Pocket Hard Drive has also won a CES 2005 Innovation award. So, does it live up to the hype?"
OCZ ModStream 450 Watt Review
Overall for a good looking solid performer the OCZ ModStream series is a good choice. Some improvements could be made to really make this a top of the line power supply, but it'll look great inside most anyone's case!
Logisys Meshed 500W Power Supply @ ExtremeMHz
copyright extrememhz
“Today I get to check out another pre-mod power supply from Logisys Computer. Although we’ve seen power supplies chromed, painted, and clear, we’ve never seen one that was meshed! With 500 watts of juice and a low price tag, is this a good contender for your system?”
Intel 915P Shootout : MSI 915P Combo
As a mainstream product, the MSI 915P Combo is a decent motherboard with sufficient features to please most users. The dual DDR and DDR2 memory support is certainly a welcomed feature, but it is also one that dents its ratings. Read on to find out more.
Abit KV8 Pro @ InsaneTek
copyright insanetek
"As AMD introduced the Athlon64, Abit introduced their first Socket 754 motherboard. The first one, version 1.0, came with one huge bug--no AGP/PCI locks. Everyone looked down on Abit for not providing working AGP/PCI locks and turned away for quite some time. Fortunately, Abit was quick with their revisions and came up with the current version--v1.1. It provides working AGP/PCI locks to allow for potentially great overclocking results. While many consider Socket 754 an aging socket, it should still stick around for a while. Heck, Socket A is still around, so why not Socket 754?"
Legion Hardware - ASUS Extreme AX700PRO/TVD Review
Overall, even with the price premium the ASUS Extreme AX700PRO/TVD is still an exceptional graphics card boasting excellent performance and rock solid stability. The frame rate performance is impressive, though nothing exceptional. On the other hand there is the stunning visual quality and highly stable performance. The current generation mid-range graphics cards are certainly amongst the best value solutions ever released.
Mikhailtech February 2005 Contest - 1 Week Left!
Just wanted to let everyone know that there’s still 1 week left to enter our Xtrac-sponsored February 2005 giveaway!
Ultra-Violent Video Game Editorial @ The Tech Zone
“Ban these evil games”, “Videogame violence corrupting our nation’s youth”, “video games stole my husband”. It seems everyday that the media are making more and more claims about the evils of videogames. But are these claims based on fact, or is it merely that there is a juicy new scapegoat out there that the woes of the world can be pinned on?
Icemat Siberia Gaming Headphones Review
Icemat, the maker of high end glass mouse pads, has recently expanded their business to include headphones and MP3 players. Today I will be reviewing a pair of Icemat Siberia Gaming Headphones, which come with a clip-on microphone, volume control dial, and a 3.5mm to 6.3mm converter. The headphones are self adjustable and sport a clean and modern look. If you are in the market for a new pair of gaming headphones, then this review is for you. | | | | |
| VH News: Monday Noon Edition
Posted by Diceman on Monday, 21 February, 2005 @ 11:28 |
| Ahh, weekends over. Daytona 500 is over. But...there's always more news to keep you busy ;)
V-Tech X-Focus7105H Mid-Tower Case Review @ GruntvillE.com
copyright gruntville
"Snugly packaged inside the box were the two case handles and the two case feet. The two can be distinguished by the textured rubber coating applied only to the ones that point down. “Always keep the rubber side down”, a good tip I’ve learned from my motorcycle riding seems well applied in other areas too. The feet made from the same diameter steel as the case are quite sturdy and I don’t think one need worry about over stressing them. They should be able to take your system weight and them some due to their rolled edges. "
BFR Review: Samsung SCX4720F Multifunctional Laser Printer
copyright bonafidereviews
"The SCX-4720F is a multi-functional machine equipped with the functionality of a laser printer, fax, copier, and color scanner. It also comes with some great features such as ScanToPC and direct scan to a USB disk. All of this capability comes neatly packed in 5,450 (17.7"x17.1"x18") cubic inches worth of space."
Mushkin PC2-4200 CL3 @ Bytesector
"Mushkin is an active leader in the memory market today with their release of blazing fast low latency PC3200 memory and DDR2 memory in mid-2004. When I took a look at Mushkin’s DDR2-533 CL4 memory a few weeks ago, I was quite amazed with the performance it offered, but I was also disappointed by the lack of performance increase when I overclocked those modules. Today, I will be taking a look at Mushkin’s DDR2-533 CL3 memory which offer an all-time low 3-2-2-8 DDR2 memory timings at 1.8v! I am hoping to find that these modules will offer greater performance than the CL4 modules; let’s take a look!"
Sapphire X800 PCI-E Review @ The Tech Zone
The Sapphire Radeon X800 is clocked at 391.5 MHz core and 351 (702 DDR) MHz memory. The 391.5 MHz core clock is a bit shy of the 400 MHz ATI specs. We’re not sure of the reason why Sapphire would choose to downclock their cards from the reference specifications. They did; however, include an overclocking utility, Redline, that easily clocks the core to 400+ MHz. They also doubled the memory from ATI’s reference to 256MB, which is a nice bonus.
Make Your Own RHN Up2date Repository Guide @ Phoronix
"At Phoronix, we continually find ourselves reformatting our systems for whatever reason. Whether it's an extravagant hardware change, wanting to upgrade a Linux distribution, or just to give the system a fresh install, we constantly find ourselves spending hours on the Internet downloading package updates. However, this isn't the case if you establish your own LAN up2date repository. In this Phoronix article we'll share with you the steps required in order to create your very own Linux up2date repository, configure your machines using this repository, and even host custom RPMs."
Ultra Products PC3200 XL 2-2-2 DDR Memory @ Bjorn3D
The Samsung TCCD ICs have really leveled the playing field like never before it seems. Now, any company that can get ahold of some of these chips and create some memory modules is able to compete with the big boys, like Corsair, Kingston and OCZ, because the Samsung TCCD chips are just that good. Of course, the companies are still trying to distinguish themselves from each other by adding blinking lights or using superior PCB for even better overclocking, but who would have guessed a couple months ago that you could compare Ultra memory to Corsair, and it actually be a fair fight? Ultra obviously has a long way to go before it will be listed in the enthusiasts' top five, but its new PC3200 XL modules are definitely a step in the right direction.
Thermaltake Purepower 680watt PSU reviewed @ XtremeResources
copyright xtremeresources
This beefed up power supply by Thermaltake, is one of the few on the market currently to feature two PCI Express connectors, and also includes four SATA connectors, along with 3 separate +12V rails. All the power cables are sleeved in different colors, to differentiate the type of connectors. Thermaltake advertises this power supply to produce 680 watts of clean power, along with support for the latest motherboards and other components
Albatron 6600Ultra at Techwarelabs.com
Albatron has released the 6600U aimed at the budget minded consumer who also desires performance features. The Albatron 6600U takes a bold aim with features like HDTV, D-Sub, and heatpipe technology, but can it perform? We took the 6600U for a few rounds of testing to answer just that. Take a look inside and see what we found.
HEXUS.review - Intel's Prescott-2M: Pentium 4 660 and Pentium 4 Extreme Edition 3.73GHz
And it's that 64-bit ability of Prescott-2M that's its main selling point, rather than any performance to be gained by the double-sized L2 cache, compared to Prescott-1M. I missed out gaming performance since I honestly couldn't find a game that really enjoyed the 2MiB that the 6-series or 3.73GHz XE had. While I could show gaming scaling with the XE, that was due to bus speed increases and the 3.46GHz Gallatin-2M was often faster. The working set of most games simply doesn't care for much more than 1MiB or so of on-CPU memory.
Sunbeam Samurai Giveaway! @ LAN Addict
LAN Addict and Sunbeam Technologies are teaming up to give you a chance to win a Sunbeam Samurai PC case!
All you have to do is answer a few simple, product-related questions! :-D
This giveaway runs from today, February 21, 2005, until Midnight, Central Standard Time, March 7, 2005, and is open to anyone, anywhere, so long as your entry does not violate any local or international laws.
Sunbeam Samurai Case Review
copyright occ
The quality construction issue was further compounded by the bezel mounts that held it to the face of the case - these as you may recall broke off too. I am at a complete loss to explain the glaring discrepancies between the Sunbeam website's list of the case specs and what the true case specs were. Try as I might to find some redeeming qualities here - truth be told, this is one Samurai that should commit Hara-kiri.
bit-news Guide to Digital Photography Part 1
In Part 1 - we show you how to pick where to buy your camera from, and how to avoid the con-artists that will take your money and run.
Don't forget my recent Directron Interview ;) | | | | |
| VH News: Sunday Night Edition
Posted by Diceman on Sunday, 20 February, 2005 @ 9:12 |
| Welp, news time again here in the hideout. Man, what a race earlier today. You Daytona 500 fans know exactly what I'm talking about. Dale Jr. Could've Won It!#@!. I'm just glad to see he's "fast" now after the crew swap. It looked alittle shakey a week ago, but Jr's smokin now.
Don't forget to check out my *Exclusive* interview with Directron.com!
SilverStone Lascala SST-LC11 HTPC Case Review @ MODTHEBOX.COM
copyright modthebox
"The emphasis for this particular design has been formed around support for the Micro ATX motherboard format. The entire composition of the case has been designed using a custom aluminum front panel with a 0.8mm SECC body. The main focus for the SST-LC11 is the front bezel design which has been accented with brushed aluminum highlights. The left side of the front bezel includes an embossed SilverStone logo in black lettering as well as four USB ports for simple external device expansion options.
DVdoctor.feature - Serial ATA - technology backgrounder
the rationale for retaining Pata will disappear as Sata DVD and CD drives become the norm. That’s still far from being the case but Sata DVD writers are now available – Plextor’s PX-712SA was one of the first. So using Sata optical writers and readers now is a good way of ensuring these components can be reused in future.
Intel 64-bit Desktop CPU comes to life
"Today we see the launch of the first 64-bit processor from Intel in the flavor of the Pentium 4 Extreme Edition with EM64T which is clocked at 3.73GHz. In this article we cover the changes in the new CPU and how it performs against previous processors from Intel. Read on for your first taste of 64-bit from Intel."
Coolermaster CoolDrive Lite HDD Cooler @ ExtremeMHz
copyright extrememhz
“If you’ve been watching Cooler Master’s product line for any length of time, you’re probably familiar with the CoolDrive series. Having gone through quite a few revisions through the years, I was rather interested to see what Cooler Master had in store after the CoolDrive 5. Surprisingly, it is not over the top with features! Instead they’ve handed us a pretty nice budget hard drive cooler – dubbed the CoolDrive Lite - which features all aluminum construction and a blower-style fan.”
PowerColor 550 Theater Pro TV Tuner @ TheTechLounge
copyright thetechlounge
It is this very feature that I will be focusing on today. In my hands I have PowerColor’s new Theater 550 Pro TV Tuner card. This card should allow me to convert my regular old computer into a digital powerhouse, or at least I should be able to watch a little TV with it. This card should also allow me to listen to FM radio and input various video signals into my computer for editing. Included with the card is a remote which every self-respecting media jockey must wield. But enough talk, let’s kick back and watch some TV… err… I mean, test this card!
OCZ ModStream 520W Power Supply Review @ Techware Labs
More so now than ever people are realizing just how important it is to have a good quality power supply included in their setup. For example, if you are running a stock 300 watt power supply in today's high-end setups you are almost certain to run into a slew of problems. Random reboots, freezing, blue screens, etc. are some of the problems that could persist if your system is not adequately powered. It's probably good logic to overestimate the amount of power needed for your setup to prevent any of these types of problems from occurring.
Corsair Flash Voyager 512 MB USB 2.0 Drive Review & Giveaway
copyright systemcooling
"I don’t think I need to introduce Corsair to the readers of this site. Always on the memory front line, I think that some of us were surprised that they took so long in producing what a lot of us have come to think of as a necessity in daily computing, a flash USB drive. But we also knew that when Corsair did step up to the plate with one, it would stand out from the crowd. Today we’ll look at the 512 MB version of their new Flash Voyager, and see what makes it part of that special Corsair family."
Lite-On SOHW-1673S 16x DVD+-RW Double Layer Writer @ ExtremeMHz
“I have looked at a few Lite-On drives lately, most of which did impress me in terms of overall media compatibility and speedy performance. However, the last model I looked at, the SOHW-1633s, did not really offer much improvements over their previous models and still did not support 4x double layer writing out of the box. Fortunately, Lite-On has released their latest writer, the SOHW-1673S which now offers 4x double layer writing and next gen features such as 8x DVD+RW and 6x DVD-RW writing. These new features now make Lite-On worthy of consideration for those on the market for a 16x dual format writer that also offers faster double layer writing capabilities.”
Thermaltake PurePower 680w PSU Review @ FastLaneHW.com
Thermaltake makers of some of the finest computer components on the market today have introduced another great product, the Thermaltake 680 watt monster power supply. But can this power supply hang with some of the best power supplies on the market?
Intel Pentium 4 6xx Series PREview @ Viper Lair
"While we give Intel a lot of credit for the new features, at the same time we're left thinking is that it? AMD owners have been sitting on similar technologies for almost two years now. While the names differ, for all intents and purposes they do the same thing. Basically, Intel hasn't brought anything new to the table for computing in general. "
PowerColor Theater 550 Pro PVR @ A True Review
Known for their excellence in peripheral cards of all kinds, I'm proud to review PowerColor's brand new Theater 550 Pro. With all the features on this simple and affordable TV tuner card, your PVR (Personal Video Recorder) dreams may have just come true.
Soyo KT880 Dragon 2 Review @ FastLaneHW.com
While many computer users have made the move away from socket A to something newer, there are still many users who are still using and buying products for socket A, and Soyo hopes to captivate this audience and draw them into making the switch to one of their boards.
| | | | |
| VH News: Tuesday Late-Night Edition....
Posted by Diceman on Tuesday, 22 February, 2005 @ 10:37 |
| Thermaltake VB1000 Soprano Review @ The Moditory
copyright moditory
"The Soprano is another entry into the enclosure field from the cooling giant Thermaltake. Lately we've been seeing a lot of pre-mod cases being mass produced and many of them aren't worth buying. Obviously the appeal is there for many individuals who want the "cool" looking case but don't want to do the work. Pre-mod cases aren't all bad for modders though, as even the transparent PC cases have spawned some of the greatest mods around. With the Soprano under our inspection, let's see if Thermaltake has created a pre-mod case worth buying."
Overclocking the Socket 754 AMD Athlon 64 @ OCIA.net
copyright ocia
"Once you feel like you have a pretty good understanding of what is going on, the next thing to do is consider your components. In my case, I purchased the motherboard and CPU on a budget and didn't plan to overclock from the beginning, so I will just have to tough it out. But as you will see in the end, a budget system can oftentimes clock higher than more expensive setups."
MSI NX6600GT-VTD128 @ Viper Lair
"For AGP based motherboard owners who are a little dismayed with all the PCIe attention by chip makers, nVidia and MSI have addressed your concerns with the NX6600GT-VTD128. The card was rock solid, and the performance improvements are light years over MSI's previous nVidia based mainstream solution."
V-Tech X-Focus Review @ FastLaneHW.com
Well, I was just starting to think that every new case on the market was modeled after something you might find in a comic book. Today we're here to see a pleasant surprise, a new case from Vtech called the X-Focus.
Bluetake BT007Si Bluetooth USB Adapter & G5 Headset Review
copyright hardware-pacers
"Both the BT400 G5 Bluetooth Headset and the BT007Si Bluetooth USB Adapter are cleverly designed products. The Bluetooth USB adapter is exceptionally portable and still maintains an excellent stable signal. The USB Bluetooth adapter can connect to any Bluetooth device, from Bluetooth cell phones to Bluetooth headsets. With the thickness of only ten mm and the length of forty nine mm, the USB Bluetooth adapter still packs a load of features. These features include the 'Human Interface Device', 'Advance Audio Distribution Profile', and the 'Basic Image Profile'. The Bluetake adapter is perfect for consumers who have numerous amount of Bluetooth products. This adapter is designed to be capable to be conveniently transported along with other Bluetooth products. It can easily fit into any pocket and carried around all day. "
| | | | |
| VH News: Tuesday Afternoon Edition
Posted by Diceman on Tuesday, 22 February, 2005 @ 4:33 |
| Take a good look around folks. Do you notice anything different? o_0
Intel Pentium 4 6xx Review @ The Tech Zone
With Microsoft recently announcing that they will no longer work on a mainstream Windows XP version for the Itanium chips (they will still maintain their server/high-end OS version), Intel has no choice but to release a compatible 64-bit chip to AMD’s solution. On February 20, 2005, Intel officially released the 6xx series Pentium 4 processors and a Pentium 4 Extreme Edition 3.73 GHz. These processors will support their EM64T 64-bit extensions as well as a few other features.
Neoseeker DFI LanParty UT nF4 Ultra-D Review
"Voltage adjustments for the CPU is pretty unique. Besides the standard 0.0125 voltage stepping, DFI also has something an additional fine tuner if you will - a multiplier (from 1.00 to 1.36)can be applied to the base voltage to fine tune the actual voltage fed to the CPU in even smaller increments."
The Current State of nVidia SLI - SLI Part 3 @ OCModShop
pic from ocmodshop
"Software support and strange bugs seem to plague those who want to write their own profiles for applications that nVidia has not supported yet. It’s a mixed bag of performance and issues that need to be worked out. However it shows a lot of promise, and if you don’t mind spending the extra dough to stay bleeding edge with your gamming performance in 15 games, nVidia SLI is the only route to go."
SweMOD News 2005-02-22 - Icemat Siberia Headset
The creators of the popular gaming mouse pads have done it again. Tonight we have a look at the Icemat Siberia that not only looks good but works great.
Zalman CNPS7000A-AlCu Heatsink Review @ ipkonfig
copyright ipkonfig
Zalman: The name strikes fear into the core of all the heat generating CPU's everywhere. The CNPS7000A-AlCu from Zalman keeps up the battle against thermal meltdown on multiple fronts.
Water-cooling for Everyone 3: Swiftech & ThermalTake @ A True Review
copyright atruereview
Welcome to the third installment of the Water-cooling for Everyone series. Quite a lot has changed in the computer world since the first installment was written over a year ago; especially CPUs and their operating temperatures. Today with most air cooling, like the god forbidden stock cooler, the CPU idles at a temperature that would have warranted concern as a load temperature back then. This rise in temperature makes alternative cooling, like water-cooling, a more logical and sought after choice, now more than ever. This makes water-cooling more mainstream than ever.
Thermaltake Armor VA8000 Armor Case Review
copyright overclockercafe
Thermaltake has put considerable thought not only into the looks of the case, but also the thermal properties and air flow of it. The front bay covers are all perforated to allow air to flow through freely. Don't be too concerned with dust either, as each one of the bay covers is fitted with it's own filter to keep those nasty dust bunnies to an absolute minimum.
Plextor PX-230A CD-RW Review @ FastLaneHW.com
When it comes to optical storage devices, there is one manufacturer whose name is synonymous with quality, dependability, and consistent performance: Plextor. Moreover, their products are known for stealth. Without exaggeration, I quite often find myself glancing at a Plextor drive just to make sure it's running. Seriously, they're that quiet. These reasons explain why I have never hesitated to pay a little more for a Plextor.
Seagate Pocket External 5GB Hard Drive Review
"Seagate, one of the most well-known hard drive manufacturers has stepped out from behind the curtain and has begun introducing several consumer level products to the industry. Seagate’s USB 2.0 5GB Pocket Hard Drive is one of those devices. A portable microdrive tucked away into a small, circular, well designed plastic shell. It was envisioned by Seagate to provide consumers an easy, affordable, and convenient way to bring almost any type of data on the road with them. The Seagate USB 2.0 Pocket Hard Drive has also won a CES 2005 Innovation award. So, does it live up to the hype?"
OCZ ModStream 450 Watt Review
Overall for a good looking solid performer the OCZ ModStream series is a good choice. Some improvements could be made to really make this a top of the line power supply, but it'll look great inside most anyone's case!
Logisys Meshed 500W Power Supply @ ExtremeMHz
copyright extrememhz
“Today I get to check out another pre-mod power supply from Logisys Computer. Although we’ve seen power supplies chromed, painted, and clear, we’ve never seen one that was meshed! With 500 watts of juice and a low price tag, is this a good contender for your system?”
Intel 915P Shootout : MSI 915P Combo
As a mainstream product, the MSI 915P Combo is a decent motherboard with sufficient features to please most users. The dual DDR and DDR2 memory support is certainly a welcomed feature, but it is also one that dents its ratings. Read on to find out more.
Abit KV8 Pro @ InsaneTek
copyright insanetek
"As AMD introduced the Athlon64, Abit introduced their first Socket 754 motherboard. The first one, version 1.0, came with one huge bug--no AGP/PCI locks. Everyone looked down on Abit for not providing working AGP/PCI locks and turned away for quite some time. Fortunately, Abit was quick with their revisions and came up with the current version--v1.1. It provides working AGP/PCI locks to allow for potentially great overclocking results. While many consider Socket 754 an aging socket, it should still stick around for a while. Heck, Socket A is still around, so why not Socket 754?"
Legion Hardware - ASUS Extreme AX700PRO/TVD Review
Overall, even with the price premium the ASUS Extreme AX700PRO/TVD is still an exceptional graphics card boasting excellent performance and rock solid stability. The frame rate performance is impressive, though nothing exceptional. On the other hand there is the stunning visual quality and highly stable performance. The current generation mid-range graphics cards are certainly amongst the best value solutions ever released.
Mikhailtech February 2005 Contest - 1 Week Left!
Just wanted to let everyone know that there’s still 1 week left to enter our Xtrac-sponsored February 2005 giveaway!
Ultra-Violent Video Game Editorial @ The Tech Zone
“Ban these evil games”, “Videogame violence corrupting our nation’s youth”, “video games stole my husband”. It seems everyday that the media are making more and more claims about the evils of videogames. But are these claims based on fact, or is it merely that there is a juicy new scapegoat out there that the woes of the world can be pinned on?
Icemat Siberia Gaming Headphones Review
Icemat, the maker of high end glass mouse pads, has recently expanded their business to include headphones and MP3 players. Today I will be reviewing a pair of Icemat Siberia Gaming Headphones, which come with a clip-on microphone, volume control dial, and a 3.5mm to 6.3mm converter. The headphones are self adjustable and sport a clean and modern look. If you are in the market for a new pair of gaming headphones, then this review is for you. | | | | |
| VH News: Monday Noon Edition
Posted by Diceman on Monday, 21 February, 2005 @ 11:28 |
| Ahh, weekends over. Daytona 500 is over. But...there's always more news to keep you busy ;)
V-Tech X-Focus7105H Mid-Tower Case Review @ GruntvillE.com
copyright gruntville
"Snugly packaged inside the box were the two case handles and the two case feet. The two can be distinguished by the textured rubber coating applied only to the ones that point down. “Always keep the rubber side down”, a good tip I’ve learned from my motorcycle riding seems well applied in other areas too. The feet made from the same diameter steel as the case are quite sturdy and I don’t think one need worry about over stressing them. They should be able to take your system weight and them some due to their rolled edges. "
BFR Review: Samsung SCX4720F Multifunctional Laser Printer
copyright bonafidereviews
"The SCX-4720F is a multi-functional machine equipped with the functionality of a laser printer, fax, copier, and color scanner. It also comes with some great features such as ScanToPC and direct scan to a USB disk. All of this capability comes neatly packed in 5,450 (17.7"x17.1"x18") cubic inches worth of space."
Mushkin PC2-4200 CL3 @ Bytesector
"Mushkin is an active leader in the memory market today with their release of blazing fast low latency PC3200 memory and DDR2 memory in mid-2004. When I took a look at Mushkin’s DDR2-533 CL4 memory a few weeks ago, I was quite amazed with the performance it offered, but I was also disappointed by the lack of performance increase when I overclocked those modules. Today, I will be taking a look at Mushkin’s DDR2-533 CL3 memory which offer an all-time low 3-2-2-8 DDR2 memory timings at 1.8v! I am hoping to find that these modules will offer greater performance than the CL4 modules; let’s take a look!"
Sapphire X800 PCI-E Review @ The Tech Zone
The Sapphire Radeon X800 is clocked at 391.5 MHz core and 351 (702 DDR) MHz memory. The 391.5 MHz core clock is a bit shy of the 400 MHz ATI specs. We’re not sure of the reason why Sapphire would choose to downclock their cards from the reference specifications. They did; however, include an overclocking utility, Redline, that easily clocks the core to 400+ MHz. They also doubled the memory from ATI’s reference to 256MB, which is a nice bonus.
Make Your Own RHN Up2date Repository Guide @ Phoronix
"At Phoronix, we continually find ourselves reformatting our systems for whatever reason. Whether it's an extravagant hardware change, wanting to upgrade a Linux distribution, or just to give the system a fresh install, we constantly find ourselves spending hours on the Internet downloading package updates. However, this isn't the case if you establish your own LAN up2date repository. In this Phoronix article we'll share with you the steps required in order to create your very own Linux up2date repository, configure your machines using this repository, and even host custom RPMs."
Ultra Products PC3200 XL 2-2-2 DDR Memory @ Bjorn3D
The Samsung TCCD ICs have really leveled the playing field like never before it seems. Now, any company that can get ahold of some of these chips and create some memory modules is able to compete with the big boys, like Corsair, Kingston and OCZ, because the Samsung TCCD chips are just that good. Of course, the companies are still trying to distinguish themselves from each other by adding blinking lights or using superior PCB for even better overclocking, but who would have guessed a couple months ago that you could compare Ultra memory to Corsair, and it actually be a fair fight? Ultra obviously has a long way to go before it will be listed in the enthusiasts' top five, but its new PC3200 XL modules are definitely a step in the right direction.
Thermaltake Purepower 680watt PSU reviewed @ XtremeResources
copyright xtremeresources
This beefed up power supply by Thermaltake, is one of the few on the market currently to feature two PCI Express connectors, and also includes four SATA connectors, along with 3 separate +12V rails. All the power cables are sleeved in different colors, to differentiate the type of connectors. Thermaltake advertises this power supply to produce 680 watts of clean power, along with support for the latest motherboards and other components
Albatron 6600Ultra at Techwarelabs.com
Albatron has released the 6600U aimed at the budget minded consumer who also desires performance features. The Albatron 6600U takes a bold aim with features like HDTV, D-Sub, and heatpipe technology, but can it perform? We took the 6600U for a few rounds of testing to answer just that. Take a look inside and see what we found.
HEXUS.review - Intel's Prescott-2M: Pentium 4 660 and Pentium 4 Extreme Edition 3.73GHz
And it's that 64-bit ability of Prescott-2M that's its main selling point, rather than any performance to be gained by the double-sized L2 cache, compared to Prescott-1M. I missed out gaming performance since I honestly couldn't find a game that really enjoyed the 2MiB that the 6-series or 3.73GHz XE had. While I could show gaming scaling with the XE, that was due to bus speed increases and the 3.46GHz Gallatin-2M was often faster. The working set of most games simply doesn't care for much more than 1MiB or so of on-CPU memory.
Sunbeam Samurai Giveaway! @ LAN Addict
LAN Addict and Sunbeam Technologies are teaming up to give you a chance to win a Sunbeam Samurai PC case!
All you have to do is answer a few simple, product-related questions! :-D
This giveaway runs from today, February 21, 2005, until Midnight, Central Standard Time, March 7, 2005, and is open to anyone, anywhere, so long as your entry does not violate any local or international laws.
Sunbeam Samurai Case Review
copyright occ
The quality construction issue was further compounded by the bezel mounts that held it to the face of the case - these as you may recall broke off too. I am at a complete loss to explain the glaring discrepancies between the Sunbeam website's list of the case specs and what the true case specs were. Try as I might to find some redeeming qualities here - truth be told, this is one Samurai that should commit Hara-kiri.
bit-news Guide to Digital Photography Part 1
In Part 1 - we show you how to pick where to buy your camera from, and how to avoid the con-artists that will take your money and run.
Don't forget my recent Directron Interview ;) | | | | |
| VH News: Sunday Night Edition
Posted by Diceman on Sunday, 20 February, 2005 @ 9:12 |
| Welp, news time again here in the hideout. Man, what a race earlier today. You Daytona 500 fans know exactly what I'm talking about. Dale Jr. Could've Won It!#@!. I'm just glad to see he's "fast" now after the crew swap. It looked alittle shakey a week ago, but Jr's smokin now.
Don't forget to check out my *Exclusive* interview with Directron.com!
SilverStone Lascala SST-LC11 HTPC Case Review @ MODTHEBOX.COM
copyright modthebox
"The emphasis for this particular design has been formed around support for the Micro ATX motherboard format. The entire composition of the case has been designed using a custom aluminum front panel with a 0.8mm SECC body. The main focus for the SST-LC11 is the front bezel design which has been accented with brushed aluminum highlights. The left side of the front bezel includes an embossed SilverStone logo in black lettering as well as four USB ports for simple external device expansion options.
DVdoctor.feature - Serial ATA - technology backgrounder
the rationale for retaining Pata will disappear as Sata DVD and CD drives become the norm. That’s still far from being the case but Sata DVD writers are now available – Plextor’s PX-712SA was one of the first. So using Sata optical writers and readers now is a good way of ensuring these components can be reused in future.
Intel 64-bit Desktop CPU comes to life
"Today we see the launch of the first 64-bit processor from Intel in the flavor of the Pentium 4 Extreme Edition with EM64T which is clocked at 3.73GHz. In this article we cover the changes in the new CPU and how it performs against previous processors from Intel. Read on for your first taste of 64-bit from Intel."
Coolermaster CoolDrive Lite HDD Cooler @ ExtremeMHz
copyright extrememhz
“If you’ve been watching Cooler Master’s product line for any length of time, you’re probably familiar with the CoolDrive series. Having gone through quite a few revisions through the years, I was rather interested to see what Cooler Master had in store after the CoolDrive 5. Surprisingly, it is not over the top with features! Instead they’ve handed us a pretty nice budget hard drive cooler – dubbed the CoolDrive Lite - which features all aluminum construction and a blower-style fan.”
PowerColor 550 Theater Pro TV Tuner @ TheTechLounge
copyright thetechlounge
It is this very feature that I will be focusing on today. In my hands I have PowerColor’s new Theater 550 Pro TV Tuner card. This card should allow me to convert my regular old computer into a digital powerhouse, or at least I should be able to watch a little TV with it. This card should also allow me to listen to FM radio and input various video signals into my computer for editing. Included with the card is a remote which every self-respecting media jockey must wield. But enough talk, let’s kick back and watch some TV… err… I mean, test this card!
OCZ ModStream 520W Power Supply Review @ Techware Labs
More so now than ever people are realizing just how important it is to have a good quality power supply included in their setup. For example, if you are running a stock 300 watt power supply in today's high-end setups you are almost certain to run into a slew of problems. Random reboots, freezing, blue screens, etc. are some of the problems that could persist if your system is not adequately powered. It's probably good logic to overestimate the amount of power needed for your setup to prevent any of these types of problems from occurring.
Corsair Flash Voyager 512 MB USB 2.0 Drive Review & Giveaway
copyright systemcooling
"I don’t think I need to introduce Corsair to the readers of this site. Always on the memory front line, I think that some of us were surprised that they took so long in producing what a lot of us have come to think of as a necessity in daily computing, a flash USB drive. But we also knew that when Corsair did step up to the plate with one, it would stand out from the crowd. Today we’ll look at the 512 MB version of their new Flash Voyager, and see what makes it part of that special Corsair family."
Lite-On SOHW-1673S 16x DVD+-RW Double Layer Writer @ ExtremeMHz
“I have looked at a few Lite-On drives lately, most of which did impress me in terms of overall media compatibility and speedy performance. However, the last model I looked at, the SOHW-1633s, did not really offer much improvements over their previous models and still did not support 4x double layer writing out of the box. Fortunately, Lite-On has released their latest writer, the SOHW-1673S which now offers 4x double layer writing and next gen features such as 8x DVD+RW and 6x DVD-RW writing. These new features now make Lite-On worthy of consideration for those on the market for a 16x dual format writer that also offers faster double layer writing capabilities.”
Thermaltake PurePower 680w PSU Review @ FastLaneHW.com
Thermaltake makers of some of the finest computer components on the market today have introduced another great product, the Thermaltake 680 watt monster power supply. But can this power supply hang with some of the best power supplies on the market?
Intel Pentium 4 6xx Series PREview @ Viper Lair
"While we give Intel a lot of credit for the new features, at the same time we're left thinking is that it? AMD owners have been sitting on similar technologies for almost two years now. While the names differ, for all intents and purposes they do the same thing. Basically, Intel hasn't brought anything new to the table for computing in general. "
PowerColor Theater 550 Pro PVR @ A True Review
Known for their excellence in peripheral cards of all kinds, I'm proud to review PowerColor's brand new Theater 550 Pro. With all the features on this simple and affordable TV tuner card, your PVR (Personal Video Recorder) dreams may have just come true.
Soyo KT880 Dragon 2 Review @ FastLaneHW.com
While many computer users have made the move away from socket A to something newer, there are still many users who are still using and buying products for socket A, and Soyo hopes to captivate this audience and draw them into making the switch to one of their boards.
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