November 2006

"The Thermaltake Armor LCS features a 120x240mm front mounted radiator with dual 120mm fans sporting blue LEDs, a hefty CPU water block with an acrylic top and another blue LED, and the P500 pump with an attached reservoir. Plenty of coolant and tubing is included, and also happens to be UV reactive"

For the fanboy loyal only to AMD, abit has released the Fatal1ty AN9 32X motherboard based on the Nvidia 590 SLI chipset. With support for AMD’s newest chip socket, AM2 and DDR2, the Fatal1ty AN9 32X should be a great platform to keep you afloat until future releases by AMD regain the performance crown.

"The IcyDock M122SKGF removable hard drive rack is a hot swappable Serial ATA device, with integrated LCD display and thermal alarm. The unit is beige in colour, and supports Serial ATA I and Serial ATA II hard drives. The HDD caddy is made of aluminum which should help keep high speed drives a littler cooler than plastic would. There is also a small 40mm ADDA fan at the back of the unit to draw air through the unit. On the front of the HDD caddy is blue LED illuminated LCD that displays the ambient temperature and has a few simple temperature related alarm controls."

"One attractive design feature of the Adamas is the beveled fins on the top, bottom and front of the case. This is mostly cosmetic, as the 3mm thick outer panels do not require the extra rigidity, and the abundance of active cooling (4 x 120mm fans) make the fins completely useless as a heatsink. It does look very cool though and should appeal to those consumers looking for something very unique. The power and reset buttons are in a standard location on the front of the case, as well as a blue power LED and green HDD activity LED."

“Today, AMD aims to re-capture the hearts of hardcore enthusiasts with the official launch of their QuadFX platform. News about QuadFX has been trickling out for months under the "4x4" banner. But today we can show you all exactly what QuadFX is all about. At its most basic level, QuadFX is AMD's vision of a high-end quad-core desktop computing platform. There's a lot more going on under the virtual hood, however.”

"Tagan may not be a company with which most consumers are familiar, but they have been making quality power supplies for some time. Their most recent push is to enter the competitive performance PSU market, something that will put them up against firmly established companies like Antec, PC Power and Cooling, SilverStone, and Thermaltake. This is no easy task but Tagan has a number of things going for them, the most exciting of which is their Turbo Jet. This is an 1100W power supply that, unlike some other models, is sized to fit within ATX specifications. This review will be taking a look at the Turbo Jet and using it to see just what Tagan is bringing to the table with their line of enthusiast power supply units."

"The Zalman CNPS9700 LED is a supersized version of the CNPS9500-series heatsinks we've all come to know so well. Now, there's no point in dancing around the fact that Zalman's CNPS9700 LED is just about the best socket 775 heatsink FrostyTech has tested to date, and among the very best ever on the socket 939/AM2 platform. It's been a while since Zalman produced a heatsink that displayed such admirable thermal qualities, and even more impressive considering the low noise levels... The Zalman CNPS9700 LED is a big copper heatsink, made up of about a hundred 0.2mm copper fins attached at regular intervals to three copper heatpipes that form a figure-eight. The entire heatsink is cooled by one 110mm diameter fan which is internally illuminated with blue LEDs."

"While testing on a dual core X2 3800+ AMD processor, we found that the Tempest was good enough to allow our system to run at stock speed. Judging by the load temperatures, we would not expect the Tempest to allow us extreme overclocking, but we could overclock up to 500MHz while maintaining temperatures below 60ºC. If you’re looking for a small sized CPU cooler that does the job right, the OCZ Tempest is probably the suitable cooler for you. Priced at $50, the OCZ Tempest is not too expensive considering that you are getting a CPU cooler with excellent bundle and bright blue LED fan."

When is a mouse not a mouse? When it's Logitech's VX Revolution. Offering a host of high-end features normally reserved for desktop mice, the VX aims to render your touchpad useless. Will the Revolution live up to it's name? Or is it all just a marketing gimmick? Read on to find out!

"The ratings and specs for this unit is truly amazing. It will power anything on the market today and the foreseeable future. If you're running a Quad-SLI rig, or thinking of building a Quad-SLI rig, this is the perfect power supply to future-proof yourself as much as humanly possible."

"The MSI MEGA mPC945 system is based around the Intel 945G and is compatible with all Socket 775 Intel processors. Under the glossy white hood, the mPC 945's two DDR2 memory slots will support up to 2GB of dual channel DDR2-533/667 memory. In terms of storage space, the system has one 3GB/s Serial ATA II channel and one IDE controller. There is onboard video care of the integrated Intel GMA950 graphics card, it comes part and parcel with the Intel 945G chipset. If you want to use a better videocard the system will accommodate single or double slot PCI Express graphics card. PCSTATS would advise a Geforce 7800GTX or equivalent videocard if you plan on doing any gaming at all... as you'll see in the benchmarks."

“Out of all of the video card makers out there Sapphire is one of the names you hear the most. Probably because they are ATI's largest and best performing partner world wide. Today we will be taking a look at the Sapphire Radeon X1300 XT PCI-E video card. This video card features 256MB of GDDR3, CrossFire support, and is Vista ready. So let's take a look and see what this card can do.”

"The ASRock 945G-DVI was intended to be a budget board. If you keep this in perspective, then the results here should be very pleasing to the intended target of this board. It performed very well at default speeds against the Gigabyte DS3, which is a proven overclocking monster. With the ability to overclock to around a FSB of 300, you can get some additional speed for you HTPC or office PC by using thE ASRock ConRoe945G-DVI motherboard..."

"We’re looking at two graphics cards today that both utilize the Zalman cooler, both are mid-range cards and both come from different sides - one red and one green. They come in the form of the GeForce 7900GS which has easily become a favorite due to the huge overclock on offer and competitive pricing. The other comes in the shape of the Radeon X1950PRO which sits behind the green team as far as popularity goes."

"You can increase the gaming performance of your computer by overclocking your video card. Overclocking is a technique that makes a given hardware part to operate at a clock frequency above its standard frequency, thus increasing its performance. In this tutorial we will explain in details how to overclock your video card, with several tips and tricks."

A few weeks ago, I reviewed Antec’s Vcool. I was extremely pleased with the easiness of use and the performance. Couple of weeks after I finished my review, Antec has released a new cooling fan—SpotCool. When I saw the news release I thought “what a great idea, a fan for any component inside the case. It would be interesting to see how it performs.” Well, Bjorn3d was really glad when Antec asked us to do a review on it. So, here we are today, we will take a closer look at Antec’s SpotCool and see what this cooling fan can deliver.

"Voltage specifications are printed on the obligatory side panel sticker. From the listed UL number E130843 we can determine that the Rocketeer IV is made by Topower, a well-known, high-quality power supply manufacturer, who also happens to make power supplies for OCZ. The UL listing will often reveal the true manufacturer of a power supply if it is simply rebranded under another company name."

"DDR2 memory is now mainstream and needed for current motherboards. So, when upgrading your computer system, it's required to pick up at least 2 gigabytes of DDR2 memory. Selecting memory can be a daunting task, as there are so many memory companies on the market. OCZ has really taken the guesswork out of this memory though, since it's designed to work best with ATI chipset motherboards. So if you are getting a new ATI chipset motherboard, this would be the memory to get. With a default speed of 800MHz DDR2 and a timing of 4-4-4-12 it is sure to perform very well in high-end motherboards..."

Today it's time to take a look at a motherboard. Msi has sent us a sample of their K9N Neo-F motherboard for socket AM2 and we are going to test it with our brand new 4800+ X2 processor to see what type of speeds we can get out of it. The market is getting full with different sockets these days and it can be hard for consumers to know which one to get and hopefully this review will help you with that issue since we will compare it to a S775 board to see the actual speed difference.

"Over the years we've seen aluminum heatsinks migrate to copper, and then heat pipes slowly began appearing here and there. The first heat pipes were added on as afterthoughts, and then thermal designs caught up with the technology. Now, what we're seeing is a shift from multiple 6mm diameter heatpipes to a reduced number of larger, 8mm diameter heatpipes. There will be more coolers arriving on the market place with this method of enhanced heat transport, but the Akasa AK-873 is clearly one of the first to cross our test bench."

Ahhhh......Water cooling. What once was a tedious cooling method practiced only by the experienced enthusiast, has been reduced to a ho-hum mainstream cooling method any noob can accomplish without issue. Today, HardwareLogic takes a look at an external cooling unit marketed at the HTPC crowd, the Thermaltake Sypmphony mini...

"Microsoft enters the portable media player market with their Zune Player. The Zune Player is a portable video and MP3 player that also lets you share your media with other people with Zune players, adding a social twist. The Zune player comes in black, brown or white colors, has a 3 inch LCD screen with a 320x240 resolution. It can playback MP3s, WMA, AAC audio files, JPEG image files, but it can only playback Windows Media video files."

“Power -- It's one of the most important factors for peak system performance and stability. Yet, the PSU is still an often overlooked PC component. While not as sexy as a high-end motherboard, video card or RAM, the power supplying these components is just as important as the components themselves.”

"The CNPS7700-CU LED is Zalman's famed 'flower' heatsink technology at its best, and it's a method of manufacturing that offers very direct thermal pathways between the cooling fins and heat source. Each individual copper fin is in direct contact with the CPU, and that dramatically reduces elements of thermal resistance from entering into the equation. Coupled with a large slow moving fan, the Zalman CNPS7700-Cu LED uses its sheer amount of surface area, and large volume of air, to cool itself quietly above all else."

"For some people, fast just isn't fast enough. When you want to build a really high end system, you must search for the best memory out there. Today we take a look at 4 memory kits that are positioned at the upper end of the performance spectrum. Let's find out which kit comes out on top."

The Fatal1ty FC-ZE1 Champion Series case represents the ideals of one of the ultimate gamers. Trimmed and fitted in thick black aluminum and white advertising the case asks to be paid attention to. These features as well as the presence of a healthy number of cooling fans leads to a very stylist looking case but at the same time a very heavy one.

“As hardware manufactures add more and more components to PCs such as multi-core processors, multiple video cards, Physics processors, large RAID arrays, etc the need for a strong power supply becomes more and more important. Now a day's a 500 watt power supply seems to be just enough to squeak by when you reach the midrange-higher end. Thermaltake has answered the call of many enthusiasts with the Toughpower 750w which provides quad +12V rails, Active Power Factor Correction and a high efficiency of up to 85%, and on top of all that it is a modular Power Supply so it won't clutter up the inside of your case.”

"Featuring a large 3-inch screen, the Microsoft Zune allows both music and video playback for under $250 US. Read our review before you buy it!"

X-Micro has put together a very combo to let anyone quickly setup a decent wireless network capable of reasonable speeds and quality of service inside ones home. The router has a very simple look that is small enough to fit anywhere inside your house.

When ATI or NVIDIA launch a new graphics card they usually claim it's a new architecture. The truth is often closer to a refined or extended version of an already proven architecture. In this case it's entirely true though, the graphics circuit housed on 8800GTX's long black PCB is of a completely new design. We start off with a comparison of the specifications.

Home Theater PCs are becoming more popular these days, and they all try to tone down that they're a PC, trying to blend in with other Home Theater equipment. Antec's Fustion case is one of Antec's latest offerings for the home theater enthusiast. Antec designed this case to reduce noise and heat buildup using an innovative chamber structure, and even included a VFD display to complement your home theater software.

"There are so many things to like about the motherboard from the color scheme to the quality of components. The motherboard performs very admirably presenting stability and function. It comes with ample features and capabilities that cover the entire spectrum of users from the HTPC user to the gaming enthusiast."

Today's graphics cards are monster power consumers and heat producers, and these two problems have made companies develop unique techniques to cleverly move heat away from the CPU and memory chips so they don't melt down during intense use. One after market solution from Vantec called the Iceberq 6 uses a proven technique that many PC builders have used to cool processors and chipsets. Let's see if this blower/copper heatsink combo can cool our BFG 7800GT better than stock cooling.

"I will be the first to admit that most all of the Fatal1ty products I have seen to date look pretty sweet, but many end users have complained about the hefty premium price tag put on these items and cannot justify spending the extra money. Today I will be looking at the Zalman Fatal1ty FC-ZE1 Champ1on Series Aluminum Case... definitely a flashy looking system, but does it warrant the near $360 asking price?"

"If Corsair can make great memory modules, they have now proven that they can also make great power supplies. The packaging is impressive, the design elegant, and the performance superb. Add to that the quietness of the unit, you got yourself one of the best power supplies in its class money can buy."

"In this review PCSTATS will be testing out the new Biostar iDEQ 250N Mini PC barebones system. The iDEQ 250N is a socket AM2 AMD Athlon64 platform which is based on nVIDIA's extremely popular GeForce 6100 and nForce 410 series chipsets. It will accommodate up to 4GB of DDR2-533/667/800 memory, and like all small form factor PCs its expansion capabilities are limited to two devices. In this case, Biostar certainly picked the best of the bunch. It's iDEQ 250N can support one PCI Express x16 videocard and one 32-bit PCI card. The Geforce 6100 chipset gives away one other hidden talent to this small form factor barebones system... onboard Geforce 6-series graphics come standard. On the list of critical features, the usual suspects are all checked off."

"The Zerotherm CF900's Protechnic MGT9212HS-S25 fan has a thermistor attached to a short length of wire coming out of the motor hub, and this plays a crucial role in how the heatsink performs. The thermistor is cleverly located inside a well formed within in the array of copper cooling fins, so it accurately responds to the temperature of the metal, not the internal case air temperature. This enables the Zerotherm CF900 fan to scale its impeller speed as necessary, and cuts down on unnecessary noise. At its slowest speed (800RPM), the 95mm diameter Protechnic fan barely produces 35 dBA noise. At its full speed of 2300RPM, the fan rumbles away with a moderately audible 48.3 dBA."

While we will be looking at the SilverStone Temjin TJ09 in just a matter of days, we took this opportunity to look at the TJ08. The SilverStone TJ08 is a micro ATX chassis that is designed to pack the power of a standard ATX chassis but on a much smaller scale. This 195 x 381 x 378 mm chassis ships with dual 120mm fans and a removable motherboard tray.

Combine together the Laing DDC-1 Plus Pump with the Alpha Laing Water Tank Attachment and the AlphaCool Laing Plexiglas Top Attachment, and what do you get? A result sure to make any Modder or Liquid Cooling enthusiast literally drool! The Laing DDC Pump Ultra Water Tank Bundle Set is simply a beautiful piece of Liquid Cooling design. This idea combines both the concept of the reservoir and pump together into one package giving you the look and options that far exceed a stand-alone pump. The Water Tank can hold up to 110ml of coolant and you light up the entire tank using an AlphaCool LED-Ready Module. With the ability to work with any size fitting that you want and with all the advantages of a reservoir... this sweet baby is a multifunctional Modding dream! Better come grab these while they last!

"Like its predecessor, the all aluminum Gigabyte 3D Aurora 570 case is compatible with watercooling systems right out of the box. It is designed for maximum system cooling while maintaining quiet operating parameters - so while there are no less than three large 120mm cooling fans in this case, they all run without really being noticeable. Best of all, it has two tubing pass through vents for watercooling systems. The 3D Aurora 570 case is constructed entirely out of 1.0mm thick aluminum, has a nice grilled side panel that can be swapped out with an included clear case window (how nice is that! It's even pre-drilled for quick installation), contains plenty of tooless expansion space."

When creating a PC system for use at a desk, noise is somewhat of a concern, but a certain level of noise has become acceptable to achieve cooler temperatures. When setting out to create a PC for home theater duty, noise and heat get a lot more attention. Zalman has tried to make the best of both worlds with their HD135... I cannot find anything I do not like about this case; it looks great, cools excellently, and has plenty of room. Given all of these positives and the absolutely excellent engineering that went into it, I award the Zalman HD135 HTPC Case the "Highly Recommended" Award.

"The pump for the Freezone CPU Cooler is a mag drive style with a small built in reservoir. The system is serviced by way of a small screw in plug. This will allow the end user to top the system up if needed, although the Freezone CPU Cooler never requires refilling, for the entire life of the system according to CoolIT Systems. The coolant tubes are wrapped in a metal anti kink coils sleeves, which helps to support the weight of the tubing, as well as preventing any type of kinking."

"nPowertek NPH 775-1 Socket 775 heatsink looks deceptively simple at first glance; but at the heart of this Intel cooler is a huge copper cylinder. The large copper column is not technically a heatpipe as we know it, it's what TTIC call a "heat column." This column, 25mm in diameter and made from a hollow copper cylinder which is vacuum sealed, has a chemical coating on the inside that works to the same effect as a wick in a traditional heatpipe. The heat column used here is essentially an empty cylinder of copper which has been internally coated with a thin "superconducting heat transfer medium." The copper cylinder is sealed off at both ends, and inside is under a vacuum of approximately 1 Torr. The 18x80x80mm looks a little timid for the open framed nPowertek's NPH 775-1 heatsink, but it seems to get the job done without much fuss."

OCZ's Roadster is a tiny little USB stick that uses an ingenious folding concept. With only 3 cm in length and 0.5 cm in height, this is probably the smallest USB key on the market. Its 1 GB of storage should be plenty for all your data transportation needs. With a price of around $25 for the 1 GB version it is also very affordable.

"Super Talent recently revamped the looks of all their overclocking kits with new blue heatspreaders. And let me tell you these are some beefy heatspreaders. The kit I'll be checking out today is rated for 1000MHz operation at an aggressive 4-5-4-15 and a respectable voltage of 2.2v."

The OCZ EvoStream 600W is a powerful PSU that comes with modular connectors to help you reduce the cable mess in your case. On top of that you get four independent 12V rails that can supply all the power your video cards may ever need. In our testing on a Crossfire system the 12V line was exceptionally stable, making this unit a great choice for overclockers.

"The Corsair HX Series modular power supply marked a new exciting product for Corsair. Corsair has engineered the HX Series to stand up to the demands of the most robust PC systems which includes high performance PCs and gaming systems, audio/video workstations, and file servers. Available in 620W and 520W models, Corsair aims to deliver continuous fully rated output with triple +12V rails. Apart from that, theses new Corsair HX power supplies features modular cable solution that offers flexible cables for better cable management. Join us as we put the Corsair HX620W power supply to the test and pit it against the best 600W modular PSUs in the market."

The second part of our massive PSU shoot-out is ready. We would like to discuss another 10 power supply models from Hiper, Mushkin, OCZ, Seasonic, Silverstone, Zippy and Zalman. Find out what products out of 16 PSUs tested are the best!

Ultra has packaged up several great features with the Ultra Box barebone kit. The MicroFly is by far one of the better SFF cases due to the fact that it provides excellent cooling, offers a removable motherboard tray, and will accept standard size ATX power supplies. It has great looks, is lightweight, and will be easy to carry back and forth to LAN events.

"The Intel 'Prescott FMB2' compliant Evercool PT02-9232CP heatsink is equipped with a 32x92x92mm 4-pin PWM fan that rotates at between 1300 and 4000RPM. When installed on a PWM fan compatible socket 775 motherboard, the fan will scale its speed from 4000RPM down to meet the immediate thermal needs of the processor without creating unnecessary noise. When the PT02-9232CP heatsink is connected to a standard three pin fan header however, the fan spins at its maximum speed of 4000 rpm by default."

"Zalman ZM600-HP is a high-end power supply featuring a big 120-mm fan, an internal heatsink with a heat-pipe, modular cabling system and also EPS12V-compatible, being targeted to high-end SLI and CrossFire systems. Let’s take an in-depth look on this power supply. "

Most DIYers shopping for a PC enclosure fall into one of two categories; the hip gamer looking to express himself with a tricked out chassis, and the refined professional more comfortable with an elegant case to match the home decor. Having catered almost exclusively to the former, NZXT switches gears with a chassis they hope will appeal to the latter; the Adamas.

The last time we reported about Kinc's progress he had managed to push our GeForce 8800 GTX card to over 900MHz GPU frequency. A neat increase from the 575MHz, which NVIDIA limits its partners to use, simply because there's a risk of instability at higher frequencies. Kinc has now been able to reach a real milestone, namely over 1GHz clock frequency with the graphics core.

"OCZ are widely regarded as making some of the highest quality RAM modules. Today we will take a look at a very interesting set of DDR2 RAM modules which are supposed to offer great performance with a very aggressive price tag, the Special Ops Edition series PC2-7200 (900MHz) set. Can OCZ offer both great performance and great value in a single package?”

"The HIS X1650XT series of Video Cards offer tremendous value. When combined in a CrossFire configuration they still offer great value, but performance goes way up! As a matter of fact, two X1650XT Video Cards will outperform a single X1950Pro Video Card in some instances. If you're on a budget and want a CrossFire setup, get 'em! Watch the Video to find out more..."

Devices such as the USB to SATA/IDE Universal Kit with One Touch Backup aim to make life easier due to their convenience. However, there is a small price to pay, other than the price itself, for the convenience.

This summary should help you cut some of the decision making short or help you decide what components you want to mix and match in your system. However, do keep in mind that each kit is being revised or replaced constantly and the best thing to do is to double check each sponsor or manufacturer web site to be better informed. There are other kits on the market besides the "Fabulous 8" we reviewed and it's very possible something new will be added later on.

After playing the second fiddle to AMD, at least from an enthusiast’s point of view, for a long time Intel finally has come up with CPU’s that, to put it mildly, kick some serious AMD butt. The new Core 2 Duo’s has an excellent performance to price ration and are bound to be the new favorites among many computer users. We have earlier reviewed an ASUS nForce 570 motherboard, the ASUS P5NSLI, and today it is time to review the big brother, the ASUS P5N32-SLI Premium which uses the nForce 590 chipset.

"The Apack Zerotherm CF800 heatsink is a compact aluminum finned socket 775 cooler. It has been designed to operate quietly, with the ability to scale the speed of its translucent fan automatically and tackle heat loads as high as 130W. That makes this 357 gram lightweight heatsink an ideal candidate for socket 775 Intel Pentium D/Core 2 Duo processors. The CF800 heatsink has a thermally responsive fan that adjusts its speed between 800-2300RPM, blowing upwards of 42CFM over over 2300mm2 of cooling surface area."

"The accurate models of the cards in this review are MSI NX7600GT Diamond Plus, Palit 7600GT Sonic and Leadtek Winfast PX 7600GT TDH Extreme. It's pretty easy to say from the outlook of the cards which one is the factory-overclocked TDH version. Leadtek's cooler not only has the largest fan but also hides almost half of the card under it."

We continue our series of indepth PSU roundups. This time we would like to offer you two articles. Our today’s roundup goes into details about the new technologies implemented in the latest PSU models and introduces to you six solutions from Antec, CoolerMaster, Corsair and High Power.

Currently, C-Media's highest level sound processor for PCI sound cards is the Oxygen HD CMI8788. Featuring specifications and features not found on any other computer audio solution, the Oxygen HD chipset is designed to impress. It is this sound processor that powers BlueGears' new sound card, the b-Enspirer. Just what exactly is the b-Enspirer capable of? Read on and find out.

"Logitech's MX Revolution is their newest flagship model featuring wireless connectivity and a swooping new design. A meek remodeling this is not. Bold lines carve sharp curves into this input device while a new technology promises to deliver “The World’s Most Advanced Mouse,” but we’ll see about that. It does have lasers, of course, so that’s a good start."

“ATI's reference design specs the Radeon X1650 Pro's GPU speed at 600MHz, a full 100MHz faster than the X1600 Pro which runs at 500MHz. However, HIS took things a step further, and raised the GPU clock an additional 25MHz, to a default speed of 625MHz.”

"I cannot rave about the Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 enough! Starting at $145 from online e-tailers, it is an overclockers dream! It is fast at default settings! But wait until you overclock it! Gigabyte has certainly unleashed a monster with this board! If you are in the market for a moderately priced overclocking monster, this is the one!"

"The Gateway FPD2485W 24 inch LCD monitor is a sleak, great looking monitor at an oustandingly great price.!"

"The Razer Barracuda AC-1 promises 'pinpoint specific audio sound cues in-game with 38% greater accuracy than conventional soundcards, providing for the ultimate gaming experience,' but is this the truth? After this week's official launch of the Barracuda AC-1 we have our hands on this new sound card and today are offering up a preview. In this preview we expose what audio processor is really is at the heart of the Barracuda AC-1!"

"The ABIT AN9-32X brings a quality configured package with ample features and superb performance to anyone needing a reliable platform for their single or dual graphics needs. This is a serious platform for the serious user demanding the best from their system."

“So many CPU coolers are the same in design. It is hard to create a good performing CPU cooler whose design sets itself apart from the rest. Well today we will be looking at the Cooler Master Eclipse CPU cooler and its design is something that I have never seen before. We will see if its design hinders its performance against other AM2 CPU coolers that we have previously tested. So let's check it out!”

"Corsair is the king of enthusiast grade memory, and now the company is setting its' sights on another important and often unacknowledged component of a modern high end PC - the power supply. The Corsair HX620W power supply is the companies first ever, and this unit certainly has many good things going for it. First off the Corsair HX620W power supply has received nVIDIA SLI and ATi CrossFire certification, so you know it's not a piece of junk. The 620W wattage rating is a sustained value, not peak. Lastly, it comes in a very pretty modular cable design. "

"Today HardwareLogic takes a look at the newest gaming enclosure from ANTEC, the Nine Hundred. While ANTEC has an enclosure for every need or desire, the Nine hundred is really their first all out gaming enclosure since their extremely popular Super LANBOY case more than 3 years ago (No offense to the popular Sonata or Sonata II which are designed as more of quiet solutions than gaming solutions)"

Well known to computer enthusiasts and gamers alike, Lian Li has built a name based on performance and quality above everything else. Every single product released by Lian Li has had meticulous attention paid to details which the competition usually ignores. Clearly, there is no equal to Lian Li, especially in terms of construction and craftsmanship, but even the closest competitors have learned not to try and one-up Lian Li at their own game. In this review, the Lian Li PC-B20A (A for Aluminum Finish) mid-tower ATX computer case is up for close inspection. Labeled as part of the Classical Silent family from Lian Li, you will soon see if this should deserve to be your next investment.

Gamers are always looking for new and exciting products to make their rig customized to their liking. NZXT has sent over the Adamas Premium Aluminum Chassis, but it does not seem like the typical NZXT case. It looks nothing like the flashy Apollo they sent us back in August, and it has a more refined appearance which I prefer.

"As with all products from Swiftech, you get everything you need to install and connect their products to your current system. There are three sets of Swiftech's "Patent Pending" "F" style connectors in the most popular US sizes (1/2", 3/8" and 1/4"), so you shouldn't have any problems connecting the MCW-Ramcool to your current system regardless of the tubing size that you're running now. Swiftech has also included all necessary tube clamps, 1 foot of 1/4" tubing, as well as a small tube of Arctic Silver Ceramique thermal paste."

"The Akasa AK-960E heatsink is designed for socket 775 Intel Pentium 4/D and Core 2 Duo processors. As with most heatsinks that are vying to push the stock thermal solution out of the PC, the AK-960E comes equipped with a Pulse Width Modulation controlled fan that can scale between 500-3000RPM. In other words, when your PC is running on idle, the fan will slow down to reduce noise. When the processor is knee deep in a stream of number crunching, the fan spins up to meet the heat. This approach is soon to be the standard for all heatsinks, whether they be for CPU, GPU or chipset thermal solutions."

"When nVidia announced its first 500 series chipset for the Intel platform, the market was looking forward to a chipset that could perform, after seeing how well the AMD variants worked. We were all expecting to get our Core 2’s blazing on the 500 series for Intel; unfortunately, nVidia dropped the ball here. While a new MCP was introduced, the Northbridge or SPP as its known from nVidia was the same C19 chip that was used on the nForce 4 SLI Intel Edition, the same woeful memory controller and overclocks followed yet still remained fairly popular due to SLI support.

Learning from this mistake, nVidia took its 500 series for Intel and threw them down the toilet and started to work on the 600 series, which would be the first new chipset for Intel platforms using completely new and improved silicon."

680i SLI sports a brand new SPP designed not only to support the latest Core 2 Quad processors, but to overclock like nothing else before it and bring new levels of adjustability to a modern LGA775 product, via implementation of that SPP and supporting MCP on a well-engineered, 6-layer, 6-phase mainboard.

Passive cooling without fans is the holy grail of cooling because it does not add annoying fan noise to your system. While this is almost impossible using air cooling, Thermaltake has engineered an external watercooling solution that can keep a modern CPU cool without any fans. Thermaltake's Orchestra is very easy to install, even for novices, and comes with everything included to get you up and running.

"The ASRock AliveNF6G-DVI is an excellent little motherboard with lots of potential. It's great for people who are on a budget and can't afford a higher end graphics cards. The add-on DVI graphics adapter is a nice touch for users with a DVI on their monitor."

"Zalman already has numerous other "Fatal1ty" branded cooling solutions, but a full blown chassis is by far their biggest endeavor. Can the worlds best gamer create the worlds best gaming case? Or will this next chapter in "Fatal1ty" branded products prove that you can't be the best at everything?"

Under power, the loudest thing in the case was the Northbridge cooler which easily overpowered the low volume of the 90mm and two 60mm included fans. Thermaltake's Key 3 Spirit seems to be well defined here but sold short. I believe aesthetics are every bit as important as Tt's other "three keys" and the Tt LANBOX has that one nailed in a highly portable package with clean lines and a subtle elegant appeal.

"Zune goes down in history as being the latest in a string of products from Microsoft that fail to meet market expectations, suggesting a competence in failure that is unmatched in the technology segment. Recall Mira the wireless display, or WebTV, or the Microsoft Phone, the Microsoft USB Speakers, and their Bluetooth Keyboards and Mice. Some did so poorly they are the stuff of legend and Apple simply can’t seem to compete but they could learn to. "

The OCZ Mega-Kart features 8GB of storage, a high speed USB 2.0 connection, and a unique design giving it the shape and size comparable to a thin stack of credit cards. This flash drive isn't like the one that might be in your pocket or on your key chain right now. Although it may be wider and longer, its extremely thin profile makes it easy to store all your photos, music, and files right in your wallet.

The X1650PRO isn't a $200 video card or even a $150 card so it shouldn't be expected to do what the more expensive cards can do. The X1650PRO chipset offers excellent video quality with ATI's AVIVO software as well, so it is tough not to recommend HTPC users to have a look at the X1650PRO as well as gamers on a budget.

"I tried two different approaches, the first using a single large (700MB) ISO file, followed by a collection of around 500 smaller JPG files (250MB) and recorded the amount of time it took to copy these to the drive (Write) and from the drive (Read) separately. Transfer rates were calculated from these times and the Read and Write speeds were averaged to compare to results from HD Tach and HD Tune."

“ASUS has worked closely with the famed Italian automobile manufacturer Lamborghini to bring the new VX1 notebook to market. Blending the performance ideals of each company with the bold, unique and racy designs of Lamborghini, the ASUS VX1 offers a creative new spin on the thin and light notebook platform.”

One such motherboard that will do very well in a new HTPC/SFF build is the ALiveNF6G-DVI from Asrock. The board is small and packed full of multimedia features that will serve the needs of many. Integrated sound and video are a part of the board’s arsenal, and for the person who needs a little more there is an additional PCI-e slot and a couple of PCI slots to expand on. Now let's take a look at the ALiveNF6G-DVI.

"Yes, there are a lot of LCD's out there on the market that are able to do most of the things the Pertelian X2040 can do, but the X2040 takes things a step further and adds quite a bit more interactions in the form of the IRC, eBay, IM and Forum watch plug ins. Like I said early on, I have never owned an LCD before, but in my quick search around the net looking at other LCD unit's the Pertelian X2040 was the only one I found that offers these types of plug ins, and it does it at a significantly lower cost when compared to other 4 x 20 LCD's."

Kinc has shown that the card overclocks well and now even that it overclocks really well. As the first person he has managed to push the card over 900MHz GPU, from 575MHz at stock, while the memory was running at 1240MHz up from 900MHz. That GDDR3 would be an disadvantage has proven to be somewhat of an overstatement.

If you visit this site frequently, the name OCZ should be familiar by now. We’ve reviewed quite a few products from them in the past, everything from high performance RAM to CPU coolers to power supplies. Today we’ll be looking at OCZ’s latest in their line of power supplies, the Evostream 600W PSU. Will it meet our high expectations for an OCZ product or fall short? Let’s check it out.

By day, the Urilift is lowered below street level for a nice clean look. Then at night, an operator comes by with a remote and the Urilift hydraulically lifts to sidewalk level in about two minutes. Then the unit is ready to serve all the nighttime party animals who don’t mind peeing in a very exposed public urinal.

With the release of the next king of video cards, the 8800 series GPU from nVidia, it might be time to rethink that upgrade to the 7900 series. Now that it has been dethroned, cards like the MSI NX7900GTX should be coming to a store near you, at a much more affordable price. Check out what we thought of it right here.

"The Silent Water all in one liquid cooling system from Thermaltake is an interesting product in some respects. The small size and mounting options make it compatible with many cases without modification. It offers the novice watercooler a complete, easily installed solution that has fairly wide compatibility at a very reasonable cost."

ArcticMOD proudly presents the AlphaCool AGB-Eheim 600 Station II. Packed with the power to drive 600 Liters of coolant per hour, this sweet lookin pump really has it all. Made from a dense polycarbonate and empowering an innovative submerged pump design, this pump delivers both good looks and smart engineering. The AGB-Eheim uses two standard BSPT thread connections so you can pick any fitting size you want! Included in this awesome package are rubber feet to dampen vibrations and noise, a 42mm Oil Inspection Glass filling hole/cap, 2x 5mm LED holes to light the pump up with LED-Ready Modules and a 12 V-DC PCI Slot power card. This is one of the coolest lookin pumps in the market today.. and it is here now at ArcticMOD.com!

A month passed and I was getting quite antsy and in the process reading everything I could about the experiences of others and the motherboard(s) they chose. To keep an already long story from getting too much longer lets just say I woke one day, had my wake up caffeine, switched on the computer to get some news and clicked on the link to one of the sites I use for research. There was a veritable plethora of information about a new workstation styled board from ASUS® that was churning out some amazing numbers, the P5WDG2 WS Professional; in just over a week I had one. Normally the story would end here but as with any other high-tech computer product ASUS shortly after this announced the birth of a very similar board with even newer and more exciting features, the P5W64 WS Professional. Well I was not going to spend another tidy sum on a new motherboard when the one I had was working just fine.

"Besides being the best illustration to date of Monty Python's deathless grasp on popular culture,junk email, unsolicited commercial email, or good old 'spam', is an issue that affects every email user, and by extension, every computer user. The use of email as a mass-marketing tool has become an epidemic particular to the current global use of computers in our society. The best way of dealing with spam currently is through avoidance and redirection. If you use email, sooner or later you will start receiving spam; but if you can redirect this spam to a location where you don't have to look at it, it won't do you any harm."

Sunnyvale, CA—November 16, 2006—OCZ Technology Group, a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory, today unveiled the premier memory overclocking accessory, the OCZ XTC Cooler. As active cooling becomes increasingly important for today’s high-speed memory solutions, OCZ developed the XTC Cooler for effective heat management of OCZ’s proprietary XTC (Xtreme Thermal Convection) modules.

Once installed over the memory subsystem, the XTC Cooler’s dual 60mm fans channel a steady flow of air over and through the XTC modules creating a cooler environment for the memory ICs. For the overclocking enthusiast accustomed to awkwardly propping up case fans, the aluminum-based XTC Cooler is the ultimate air cooling solution.

“To address the requirements of extreme overclockers OCZ is releasing the new XTC cooler which is designed to pair up with the Xtreme Thermal Convection heatspreaders utilized on our entire lineup of premium memory solutions,” commented Alex Mei, OCZ Technology Group, Inc. “This cooler forces airflow through our open Xtreme Thermal Convection heatspreader design to offload even more heat from the entire module array, thus enhancing both stability and performance of the memory, especially when aggressively overclocking.”

"After checking out this product, I haven't been given any reason not to recommend this unit. If you're running, or thinking of running, QUAD SLI, then take a good look at this Tagan TurboJet 1100w power supply. It's got the power, quality, and efficiency to help you get your game on."

"The AOpen 18x Triple Format DVD Rewriter (DSW1812P) is one of the few recordable DVD drives on that market that supports every single recordable DVD format there is - we're talking DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD-RAM, DVD+RW, DVD-RW, DVD+R Dual Layer and DVD-R Dual Layer. But wait, that's not all! With the AOpen DSW1812P drive you also get the Chameleon Bezel, AOpens' mysterious "Silent Technology" and fabled UDMA66 transfer speeds! And if you act now, AOpen will also include CD-R, CD-RW, and regular CD-ROM compatibility!!!"

The main thing we want to know today; can the 8800 GTS, which sits significantly cheaper, come in and match or even beat GTX performance at stock speeds? And if it does, how much further can the 8800 GTX go to make it worth your while to spend those extra hard earned dollars on it, as opposed to the GTS variant?

The Pertelian X2040 is the perfect device for gamers who don't want an interruption in the action, even if they need their computer to keep track of things in the rest of the world. They can configure it to check the status of just about whatever they want, and keep an eye on the Pertelian's LCD screen for updates.

The Noctua NH-U12F is an awesome cooler when it comes to size and weight. Weighing in at 790g, the U12F differs from the older U12 in two areas, one is weight and the second is the U12F comes with Noctua’s new NF-12 120mm cooling fan. We will see how the Noctua monster stand up to the two baddest coolers we have tested here at Pro-Clockers.

"The Akasa AK-961 heatsink is designed for socket 775 Intel Pentium 4/D and Core 2 Duo processors. The AK-961 heatsink's fan spins at speeds of 500-3400RPM, which is slightly more than the AK-960E can muster. Also, the fan on the AK-961 is internally illuminated with blue LEDs and the motor is suspended from the frame; an open fan frame style which yields quieter operation and better airflow at really low impeller speeds. Akasa's AK-961 heatsink is made from a collection of very thin stacked aluminum fins with zippered interlocking tabs, three copper heatpipes, and a small block of copper at the base."

"The Cyber Snipa, even though it's geared towards gamers, is a well rounded mouse that works well in both games and everyday PC applications. Gamers will enjoy the six programmable buttons, ultra fast response times, DPI toggle button, and the cool red and blue illumination."

Boasting the world's first mass market thermal electric cooler for graphics cards, GeCube's new Radeon X1950 PRO is very different from the typical heatsink fan combination. Never heard of the Peltier effect and thermal electric cooling? Read on to find out how this phenomenon is harnessed to cool this card.

The only thing the Cape Bullseye Reservoir needed was a perfect 5.25" Bay Mount to go with it.. and so we here at ArcticMOD have designed one. These Acrylic 5.25" Bullseye Bay Mounts have been custom designed to fit and work perfectly with the Cape Bullseye Reservoirs... and you will only find them here at ArcticMOD.com! We have taken every precaution to ensure strength and durability in these Bays and we are very proud to present them to you.

Sunnyvale, CA—November 15, 2006—OCZ Technology Group, a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory, today unveiled the new OCZ System Elite memory product family, a clear-cut means for system integrators to select the best possible memory solution for new builds or total system enhancement.

Reinforcing OCZ’s existing market leadership in high-quality premium memory products, the System Elite series is continually tested and optimized for the latest mainstream platforms ensuring absolute hardware compatibility and functionality. Furthermore, OCZ System Elite series memory is 100% hand-tested with strict OCZ quality standards and comes backed with a Lifetime warranty that additionally guarantees system compatibility and industry-leading technical support.

“OCZ is proud to bring a series of new modules designed to address the specific stability, compatibility, and performance requirements for System Integrators, “ said Alex Mei, VP of Marketing, OCZ Technology. “This new range of memory is designed to give System Builders a solution that is optimized for system stability and compatibility on the most popular Intel and AMD based platforms chosen for high performance builds.”

Several product offerings will be available in the System Elite line providing SIs and system builders an assortment of performance, speeds, and densities. Parts will be available frequencies of PC2-4200, PC2-5400, and PC2-6400 in 512MB/1GB modules and 1GB (2x512) and 2GB (2x1024) dual channel kits. The System Elite series implements the cooling effects of OCZ XTC (Xtreme Thermal Convection) heatspreader technology.

"The ECS KN3-SLI2 Extreme is a well rounded, good performing AM2 socket motherboard proving to be very stable. The features are plentiful with ample storage potential, 8-channel integrated HD audio, and SLI graphics capabilities. If you are on a budget and contemplating a motherboard to operate your dual graphics card system, give the KN3-SLI2 Extreme a look."

"Zalman's CNPS9500 AT is identical in materials and size to previous CNPS9500-series heatsinks, but this heatsink is offered with a 4-pin PWM fan for Intel-based computer systems, rather than the standard 3-pin fan power cable. The heatsink is voluminous in size and weighs about 530grams. Like all heatsinks produced by Zalman, it's intended to operate quietly and efficiently without much noise. Because the Zalman CNPS9500 AT heatsink uses a Pulse Width Modulation fan, no FanMate2 fan speed controller is included with it - it's just not needed."

The Aquagate Viva is an interesting piece of hardware. The ability to cool a processor or a video card is very unique for an all-in-one water cooling setup of this nature. The built in waterblock/water pump really cuts down on the footprint inside of a case and the small radiator that can mount in any number of positions really makes the Aquagate Viva a versatile product.

“We know you're out there. Come out from behind the network switch panel now and fess up. Step away from the stack of Red Bull empties and pull off your head-set. You're thinking the same thing we were, frankly. What can all this new-found horsepower do for me when we put together the fastest, most capable components money can buy? Take a Core 2 Extreme QX6700, drop it into a bleeding edge nForce 680i motherboard, install 2Gigs of high performance memory, add not one - but two - GeForce 8800 GTXs in SLI mode, and overclock the stuffing out of everything -- shaken not stirred, thanks very much. If you've got the coin to belly up to the bar, we've got just the concoction the doctor ordered. Read on thirsty speed freaks. This article is for you.“

"If you're an HDTV-owning home theater enthusiast who puts surround sound capability, eye-popping technological pizzazz, Blu-ray/DVD support and on-demand access to downloadable music and video content above base game play, this is the point where you can officially stop reading. Beg, plead, whine, cheat, steal from some poor teen who preordered the unit, even. Whatever it takes to get the job done, the system you're looking to lay hands-on this year is the PlayStation 3.

Is the system, available in 20GB ($499, sans WiFi and a built-in combination Memory Stick product lineup, Compact Flash and SD/MMC card reader) or $599 chrome-trimmed wireless-ready 60GB hard drive models, worth the hefty asking price, the highest since early-'90s systems like CDi and 3DO? Can Sony, who's recently cut back North American November 17th launch date ship projections to just 400,000 units (with some analysts predicting actual distribution of half this number or fewer machines), manage to avoid aggravating a soon-to-be-device-deprived buying public while still keeping up with the competition? And, of course, with so much power and hardware combined in a single unit catered to the highest-end luxury users, is there even a point to upgrading?

"There are very few true gaming keyboards on the market and many of these are not for the hardcore gamer. Serious gamers need a serious keyboard and the Razer Tarantula Keyboard definitely falls into this category. With great looks, a stylish design, great tactile response, interchangeable keys, programmable macro keys, over 100 profile keys, etc., this keyboard is sure to please. Watch the Video to find out more..."

"We all have that urge to build the biggest, baddest, PC on the block, but when it comes to home theater PCs (HTPC), we have a different set of goals. A small footprint and quiet operation are paramount in fusing a PC with our living room, and Antec believes they have just the ticket in their Fusion Media Center chassis. Will this small enclosure leave a big impression on us, or have us begging for our full sized cases?"

"OCZ's second introduction of a tiny micro flash drive is indeed another winner. It is small, it is robust, and best of all, it is incredibly handy. Carrying your car keys around is twice as hard as carrying this six gram monster around. That is right, it weighs six grams which is lighter than a soda cracker.."

"The case has an industrial feel that reminds me somewhat of the early Cooler Master Stacker. No silly doors to annoy, but nine grilled blanking plates. The top plate is obviously designed for an optical drive, while the two below are covered in acoustic dampening, but if removed, you can fit another two optical drives."

"All in all, the Thermaltake TMG ND2 is a quite powerful cooler for your NVIDIA GeForce graphics card. Based on three copper heatpipes and a large copper base, users can expect top quality GPU coolers with the TMG ND2. While the design is not totally out of this world, Thermaltake really impressed us with the attention to detail. Although the installation was a snap, it was shy that it wasn’t compatible on certain GeForce cards such as the GeForce 7900GS. We also liked the idea of using 4-pin molex connector with the cooler, but some users might prefer to hook it up to the onboard fan header."

“Purchasing a new laptop is quite an investment these days, and what better way to protect that investment than a high quality laptop bag. Traveling with a laptop can be quite a pain, especially if you are using cheap bag that offers little protection. Well, Tom Bihn will alleviate most of these problems with the Super Ego laptop bag. For those unfamiliar with Tom Bihn, they create some of the best designed and visually appealing bags on the market. The folks over at Tom Bihn were kind enough to send not only the Super Ego bag, but a few extras worth checking out-the Brain Cell, Seat buckle strip, and keyboard cover.”

"It's lightweight, looks decent, and constructed well enough that it performs admirably and will easily replace any stock cooler in terms of looks and performance. All this considering its current price tag of $70.00, it's an even more enticing alternative to noise and stock performance."

Some people would love to get into a water cooled setup, but aren't quite sure where to start, or don't really want to get into anything too complex. Thermaltake has a solution for this - The Silent Water II. Coming pre-built and ready to go, it's just a matter of mounting this cooler to reap the benefits of watercooling without the hassle of setting up pipes, leak testing, and the other aspects of building a water cooled system.

"If given a choice, we think MSI's K9N SLI Platinum provides slightly better bang for the buck for gamers on a budget. The performance gap between that board and the MSI K9N Diamond really isn't that large at all. That said, those looking for a premium 590 SLI based board will be well served by the K9N Diamond. It has the same features as most 590 SLI boards in its price range but also offers a premium sound solution. If you do have a high-end CPU and a pair of $500+ video cards, the MSI K9N