"Overall, the Ultra Mini Portable Disk Enclosure is a pretty decent external enclosure especially with the bright LED indicators and built-in cooling fan. The performance also speaks for itself thanks to the fast Firewire interface. So if you’re looking for a portable storage that doesn’t burn a hole in your pocket, grab a decent hard drive and get the Ultra Mini Portable Disk Enclosure."

"Ah! It’s Godzilla ... Or more like Godzilla's mouse pad, I thought when I opened up the plastic container which was holding the Lowsense from attacking me with its ferocious blue reticule eye. How big is it exactly? This oversized mouse pad is 16" x 11" and has a thickness of roughly 4 mm. The length and width make for a total mousing area of almost 176 square inches."

Today we are taking a look at an all-in-one bay unit from Thermaltake, called the Hardcano 13. This is a very feature packed device with a 6 in 1 card reader, ability to control 4 fans and monitor 4 temperature probes, as well as an LCD screen that can be switched over to a 24 hour clock if you don't wish to see all the temperatures and fan RPM's. To add to all the technical features, the Hardcano 13 is topped off with a very stylish look and colour backlit LCD.

The 1st prize winner gets a Mini Wizard Tower Case, an X Connect PSU along with a bunch of other modding accessories including CCFLs and fans. If you come in 2nd or 3rd you too will get an X Connect PSU along with some other modding goodies.

To enter, the first thing you'll need to do is make sure you're registered on our forums. Then, we want you to get modding your PC. Start a thread in the Project Logs section of HEXUS.modhouse and create a log of your modding project from start to finish. We want to see what you do, why you did it and how.

You can do just about anything you want in the mod, but what we want to see is effort. The winners will be the modders who have put the most effort into their projects.

For those of you who've been waiting, the final version of my full Battlefield 2 Tweak Guide is out. Following on from my initial release of the BF2 Demo Tweak Guide, this full version guide contains nine pages of information designed to explain BF2's settings, provide an insight into the reasons behind many common problems, and provide some handy tips and tweaks for you to try. Keep in mind that it will also be continually updated as EA releases patches for BF2 and as I discover new tips/tweaks.

"Recently, we had time to speak with the BD (Business
Development) manager of XGI Technology. In this interview, we found the
precise status of the current generation XGI Linux and Windows display
drivers along with their future. Among other things, we learned that XGI
Tech will finally be supporting the Linux 2.6 kernel in September of
2005. Join us for these exclusive details."

Gigabyte has done an excellent job in getting their GeForce 7800 GTX product to the market at the time of launch. It is now possible to order one, or two if you dare, of these cards online for $600 US a piece. Although there is nothing unique or special, so to speak, about the Gigabyte GeForce 7800 GTX, it is available at the MSRP.

"Thermal Take has been a huge name in computer cooling for ages, ever
since their classic Golden Orb became such a hit, Thermal Take has been
working harder, and harder to improve their products; rumors have been
going around talking about Thermal Take's lack of quality as of late,
let's check out the latest fan in the Smart Case line, and see if it's
up to Thermal Take's normal snuff."

Hi, Imation just stepped into the miniature storage market with their own Micro USB Hard Drive, available in 2GB & 4GB. While we see a lot of these like the Seagate 5GB USB and Sony Micro Vault Pro 5GB, Imation's features a novel fexible connection cable, which loops over the drive to make it appear as a padlock. Its cable locks firmly into transport position, and can also be used as an attachment clip.

If you are looking for better cooling, but don't want more fans to add to the noise, SilverStones FM82 may be for you. It promises to be the most silent 80mm fan out there. Let's take it for a test drive.

“All those times you see those clear cases at computer conventions, and you just think, "How cool would it be to get one of those?" Or maybe you just want something that will let you show off all your computer hardware. Well, we have a look at Mutant Mods' very own acrylic mid-tower ATX Case and see if it's just what the doctor ordered!”

"The idea is simple: provide a PC-based radio with TiVo-like time shifting of live radio, scheduled recording, and on-the-fly recording. Then market it to iPod and MP3 player owners. What a great idea! That’s the Griffin radioSHARK. MP3 player add-ons are always a hot seller, and at $69.95 MSRP, the price point is just right. We were deeply disappointed by the actual execution, though."

"This litigation follows a recent ruling from the Fair Trade Commission of Japan (JFTC), which found that Intel abused its monopoly power to exclude fair and open competition, violating Section 3 of Japan's Antimonopoly Act. These findings reveal that Intel deliberately engaged in illegal business practices to stop AMD's increasing market share by imposing limitations on Japanese PC manufacturers. Intel did not contest these charges."

"It seems that nothing can get us back to the bland grey and simple power supply units of ages past. The presence of such a power supply unit seems intolerable to most enthusiasts in this day and age. Most have already been replaced by more powerful and much more aesthetically pleasant units. Furthermore, what seemed to be an innovative thought not even a year ago, the modular type power supply unit appears to be taking the market by storm. AeroCool, the famous manufacturer of enthusiast hardware is among those manufacturing modular power supplies. The Turbine series of power supply units was released a while ago, boasting excellent appearance, modular design and exceptional performance all in one. Today I have a Turbine Power 450W unit for evaluation, so we will shortly know if it stands up to the quality AeroCool is usually known for."

The fact that digital consumer electronics are quickly replacing their analog counter parts only proves that
it's only a matter of time before VCR's are on their way to extinction. The new players on the market are DVD recorders,
cable of burning your TV shows to DVD recordable media. On top of the benefit of better quality recording, DVD's take much
less room than a VHS tape. Today we take a look at one such DVD Recorder from Samsung that's capable recording in multiple
formats, their DVD-R120 Recorder.

"The hard core story is a lot less intense after several decades of movie watching. The whole thing is still quite powerful. A jerk of a guy goes to prison for good reasons, only to find that the inmates are unfairly beaten, racially taunted, and generally abused by the warden and guards...."

"Ultimately, not matter how good or bad a product is, most of us are going to be concerned about the price. At $122 USD, the Seagate 5GB Pocket Hard Drive rings in at little more than $0.02 per Megabyte. Compare this with a 4GB flash drive at $350 USD, which rings in at about $0.09 per meg, we can see the Pocket Hard Drive's value."

" It's quite hard to convince you whether you should purchase a mouse pad that costs 50 euros when your also able to get a free mouse pad on any computer convention you go to.... I must say though this is by far the best and most impressive mouse pad I've had the pleasure to test! It looks fantastic, it's made with precision and it's really great to use."

"Like a kid on Christmas, I couldn’t decide which one to open first so I went with the biggest box first, the 20-In-1 Superior Panel. Once I opened this sturdy box, I felt intimidated by what I saw. After all, the last time I hooked up a car stereo it had fewer wires packed inside the box than this one did. Thankfully, I came to my senses and actually remembered that I know what these wires were for (unlike the car stereo)."

"ECS has always had a reputation of being an inexpensive solution for DIY system builders. They haven't had a great history
in terms of overclocking but their new micro-ATX motherboard may actually be a viable solution for HTPC systems."

"At this year's C3 Expo the focus was on "corporate and channel computing" as expected but there was the occassional item that consumers will find to be interesting. Unlike Cebit or CES this exposition is aimed at the enterprise and corporate level, but some enthusiast-friendly items were able to find their way to the show. Though most of these companies decided to demonstrate at Digital Experience, a completely seperate event the night before C3, we did find at least one exciting booth at C3. SilverStone had lots of exciting products at the show, including two new cases."

"Tired of getting fragged left and right? If you are questioning your fragging skills, maybe it's time to take a look at your mouse.

Today, we will take a look at the Razer Diamondback professional gaming mouse with its incredible 1600 DPI resolution and 16-bits data resolution! This could be the mouse that will make you the Fragmeister! "

Graphics cards, like so many other tech components, seem to require their own language to describe the functions and features they provide. This Tech Tip will take a look at a handful of terms related to graphics cards, and some more specifically related to graphics cards as used for video games.

"The Ultra Hard drive cooler is an excellent cooling product, temperatures on my hard drive dropped dramatically once installed. If Ultra fixed the minor cabling mess and designed it to allow for a hard drive to be installed underneath it would be even better."

Isaac at Leadtek has let me know about a new BIOS out for the Leadtek 7800GTX. It increases the core to 450MHz and the RAM to 1.25GHz. This is of coarse supported overclocking by Leadtek's warranty. He also informed new boards will be shipping with this BIOS.

"With more and more people using their computers for long periods of time, it has become necessary for companies designing input devices to approach the issue of repetitive strain injury. A4 Tech has recently designed a wireless keyboard and mouse with many features intended to help prevent the onset of RSI. The keyboard features a number of pre-set multimedia keys for use with applications such as Microsoft Office, Windows Media Player and Internet Explorer. The optical mouse also has a number of attributes, including a new-design scroll wheel and various programmable buttons. The set uses RF wireless technology with ranges up to 2 metres and no angle restriction. There are 255 ID's, which allow a number of units to operate in close proximity to each other without causing interference."

"Yesterday it turned out to be the most widely anticipated day in the microprocessor realm. AMD finally filed an antitrust complaint against its archrival Intel, the world’s largest chipmaker. Regardless of the obvious superiority of AMD’s Athlon 64 line of microprocessors, the world’s largest OEMs such as Dell, HP and Sony have either offered limited AMD based systems or they have outright declined to work with AMD at all. Allegedly, this is due to unfair and monopolistic business practices by Intel."

All of us have movies, pictures and/or music that we treasure and would hate to lose. You may have already heard or read it a thousand times, but you really should back up any data that is important to you. Before you reach for those 3.5' floppies, you should realize that your backed up data is only as good as the media you put it on, which is why you should steer clear of floppies, especially when there are so many superior options available today. Besides, you can't fit much more than a few school papers on a floppy.

Just released is Futuremarks latest system benchmarking tool, PC Mark 2005. We take a look at what's new, and tell you what you need to get an uber score.

"This isn’t a review of XM Radio; I’m already hooked. I have it in the car, I have it at home. With Pioneer’s AirWare XM2Go portable, I can have it anywhere I go thanks to 128MB of memory that packs away 5 hours of programming. That’s if I’m willing to go through the hassle of hooking it up in a spot within reach of the satellite signal. I’m still working on that cost/benefit chart.

My review was delayed a few days because the reviewer who had it before me forgot to put the AC adapter back in the box. I’m surprised that’s all he or she left out. The package comes with 18 pieces, including accessories for car and home use, headphones, battery and docks. My goal is to see how few of them I can use and still have a happy experience."

“Whether you’re listening to music, playing games or watching movies, the Altec Lansing VS2221 system brings entertainment to life. Full-range drivers play clear highs while a long-throw ported subwoofer pumps out the bass so you don’t miss a single wham, bump or thump of your favorite music or games.”

If I had to sum up the Chaintech VNF4 Ultra in one sentence, I'd have to say that it's a case of substance over style for a nice price. Powered by the nForce4 Ultra chipset, it brings home good performance all around with while outshining the competition with it's memory and drive systems.

"Earlier this month we reviewed the ATI All-in-Wonder X800XT and really liked what we saw. A top performing graphic card with an excellent set of features complimented by smart design and accessories. Today we have the luxury of reviewing another AIW X800XT but this time it's from the friendly folks at Connect3D. Like the ATI card, this model comes with a bundle of features including EAZYLOOK, TV-ON-DEMAND, and MULTIMEDIA CENTER."

"There's no question that these are decent speakers. The reviews are already out there, and they're pretty universally favourable. Tons of gamers have raved about the bass, the bass, the bass. The bass seems to be a particular thing with gamers. They like the bass. But what about somebody that's not all that interested in the bass? I'm not a big gamer, first of all. I play games like Civilization and Evil Genius, where things like bass aren't really a going concern. What I do love, however, is music."

"Ultra Products still has a bit of refinement left for the Ultra
Fire; more fins would definitely be an advantage. The push-pull fan
system will surely be able to capitalize on such an improvement. If
Ultra Products used 80*80*25mm fans, we could expect more air flow,
lower dBa's and an overall increased performance. As it stands, the
Ultra Fire is a basic stock cooler replacement with potential to be much
more."

"www.hardwarezone.com® managed to obtain MSI's latest Intel 945P Express motherboard and we give you an exclusive look at the soon-to-be released 945P Neo Platinum. This board comes with DTS certified audio, a 5-phase power supply and full system overclocking for novices."

"Think carefully about what you want from a S939 board. If it's
features above all else, look elsewhere, frankly. If it's the promise
of sky-high overclocks and care and attention paid to cooling and
tweaking, the ABIT Fatal1ty AN8 SLI is hard to beat. Recommended to
the enthusiast/gamer."

"Give it a twist, a flick of the wrist, that's what the showman
said! That is exactly what Swissbit has us doing with the
SWISSMEMORY(tm) USB TWISTPRO. Swissbit knows that your tired of losing
that cap on the end of your thumb drive, and they also know you just
need more space to carry around your work files, along with those play
time files. What else could you need in a USB device?"

"The included power supply also performed really good and stable at high loads. The integrated front panel is another nice feature with the case where it shows real time temperatures and also the power consumption. However, the retail price for the Nextherm ICS 8200 is no joke as it costs a hefty USD360! Not everyone will be willing to spend such huge amount on a PC case. If you think you need a case with superb cooling and decent power supply, the Nextherm ICS 8200 should be yours."

This review examins three of the latest modular power supplies in the market: Aerocool Turbine Power (550W), SkyHawk Power One GM620, and Thermaltake PurePower TWV500W. While each of these PSUs shares a few similarities, each also brings to the table something unique. Do any of them deserve a spot in your computer? Read on and find out.

In this article, John Guzman, who's always willing to share his point of views, is expressing his opinions regarding password security. With identity theft on the rise, this is a great article for beginners to learn some tips for securing their passwords.

One of the newest products on the virtual shelves of Logic Supply adds that extra appeal of silence to Mini-ITX systems by eliminating the need for fans on the processor or anywhere on the case. The Serener GS-L01 Fanless Mini-ITX Case utilizes heatpipe technology and large aluminum fins on the exterior of the case to passively cool the entire system, making it an appealing choice for home, commercial, or industrial applications.

AMD announced today that it filed an antitrust complaint against Intel Corporation (“Intel”) yesterday in U.S. federal district court for the district of Delaware under Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act, Sections 4 and 16 of the Clayton Act, and the California Business and Professions Code. The 48-page complaint explains in detail how Intel has unlawfully maintained its monopoly in the x86 microprocessor market by engaging in worldwide coercion of customers from dealing with AMD. It identifies 38 companies that have been victims of coercion by Intel – including large scale computer-makers, small system-builders, wholesale distributors, and retailers, through seven types of illegality across three continents.

Despite the launch of the latest 7800GTX and the immensity of falling prices, NVIDIA’s 6600GT would still remain one of the most sought after graphics adapters for enthusiasts on a budget. The 6600GT core has been getting its well-deserved appreciation ever since it debuted. Thankfully, NVIDIA introduced the 6800 vanilla before the 6600GT or else it would’ve surely hurt the sales of its supposedly better counterpart.

As you know ATI has released the Catalyst 5.6 driver for the Microsoft Windows x64 platform, unfortunately this driver only supports Radeon 9500 and above. Have no FEAR! The NGO ATI Optimized Driver is here with support for ALL desktop and mobile radeon cards.

Microsoft has reigned the browser market for a long time, ever since it took the original Netscape browser out of the picture; there has been no competitor able to keep up with Internet Explorer. Unfortunately for end users however, the software giant has been sitting duck for about half of its lifetime, adding almost no new features since IE 6 was introduced in 2001, and until very recently, barely keeping up with security holes found in its browser.
Just as Linux is to Windows, Mozilla’s open-source Firefox is to Internet Explorer. The fact is, although IE is still the top used browser, Firefox is by far the best out there.
TechSpot's Firefox tweak guide covers every functionality aspect found in this great browser, from the very basic appearance and menu options, to advanced customizations in Firefox’s behaviour such as caching, net connection handling, plug-ins and web page rendering. Also make sure not to miss Firefox's extensions top 10 recommendation list.

The DISH Player DVR model 942 is a high definition satellite receiver capable of recording up to 25 hours of high definition or 180 hours of programming on a 250GB hard-drive. However, what really makes model 942 exceptional is the fact that it allows you multi-room capability via one satellite receiver. It also includes DISH's Video-On-Demand Service that provides the capability to "pause" live TV, record any type of DISH Network programming, skip recorded commercials, and create "instant replays." Besides being able to "pause" live TV, the Video-On-Demand service allows you to fast forward/fast reverse at four speeds ( 4x, 15x, 60x, and 300x), skip forward (30-second increments), and skip back (10-second increments), and the capability to view shows in slow motion or frame-by-frame.

The Logitech diNovo Cordless Desktop is designed for desktop use as well as for people on the move, who carry their notebooks with them everywhere they go, whether from city-to-city, office-to-home, or simply room-to-room. The new diNovo is a lower-priced version of the award-winning Logitech diNovo Media Desktop. It combines the sleek, low-profile design elements of the original product with the top-selling Logitech Cordless Optical Mouse for Notebooks and a separate cordless numeric pad. The result is a versatile modular ensemble that offers desktop comfort plus instant mobility, letting people easily pack away mouse and numeric pad and be on their way.

The highly anticipated update of Antec's Sonata has arrived and promises to be even better than it's predecessor. Can the Sonata II improve upon the award winning Sonata I's style and quiet performance? Lets find out with Futurelooks' WORLD EXCLUSIVE first review of the case.

Is the data on your internal drives important to you? If your answer is a resounding yes, the SimpleTech SimpleDrvie 250GB External that we will be examining today might the solution you are looking for your gaming or workstation PC. SimpleTech believes it is the perfect portable external solution for your backup needs as it features both USB 2.0 and FireWire interfaces. The USB interface is perfectly backwards compatible with the older standard so that you can connect the SimpleDrive to almost every PC that you wish to connect it to. Let us examine the SimplTech SimpleDrive External 250GB external hard drive performance and software to see if it is the backup and storage solution you are looking for.

The crucial 11K barrier on 3DMark05 for single card configuration has been broken with ASUS EN7800GTX card running at an insane 702Mhz/1506MHz. The benching rig is made up of AMD Athlon 64 FX-55 @ 3.56GHz, ASUS A8N-SLI Premium (modded), 2 x 512MB GSkill DDR600 and phase change cascade cooling setup.

Today we're looking at the SCX-4100 multifunction scanner/printer/copier from Samsung. This is possibly a dream machine for every office. It's a very fast scanner and copier, and to add to that speed it's also a laser printer which we all know are very fast printers to begin with. Having the ability to copy something quickly can be very handy for many businesses as well as many home users! Read on to see what the performance is like.

For years now, since its initial release, I simply could not part with my modded Logisys dual optical mouse. Featured in two magazines and websites across the world, this is personally one of the best optical mice ever released. However, if there is one product we have reviewed here that has quickly gained the interest of many enthusiast as well as those in the gaming community, it is the mice put out by Razer. Their high performance mice have truly gained the respect deserved based on their innovative design and unmatched performance. We have had the pleasure of taking a look at two of their most popular mice in the past, both of which earned our very highest recommendation as well as high marks from many other respected review sites. We were left wondering with what they would come up with next? Well, they have done their homework and have just released a new limited edition mouse that is sure to grab everyone's attention, including those in the modding community. The new Razer Diamondback Plasma touches on both overall aesthetics and performance. Today, we not only take a look at this new mouse, but also offer our loyal readers an opportunity to win one of these beauties!

Using an Asetek Waterchill system, with only a water block on the CPU, we tested the overclocking potential of the Foxconn 925XE. We would have put a block on the chipset as well, but with the new chipset HSF mounting solution, we have no way of attaching the block to the northbridge chipset. We managed to get our 3 GHz P4 running stable at 3.75 GHz, which is a healthy 750 MHz overclock.

It used to be that those still using older AGP based motherboards were hard-pressed to find a high end ATI graphics card for their systems. The Rialto bridge chip changed that and now with the native AGP version of the RADEON X850 XT P.E. from Sapphire, ATI's top dog finally comes to AGP.

There are a few factors that determine a heatsink's cooling performance; the heatsink itself of course, the thermal interface material, and the factor most people forget, flatness of the heatsink base. A large number of heatsinks these days have bases that are not flat. Even the best heatsinks are not free from this problem. How do we solve this problem however? Lapping is usually the solution, and Easy PC Kits has a Premium Heatsink Lapping Kit to make it easier.

I work the best when watching TV. At home I have a nice big TV on the side of my computer which always is on showing a movie or just a random TV-channel. Obviously at work I cannot do the same and need to solve this in another way. Luckily Compro came to the rescue and let me test one of their latest external TV-Tuners, the Compro VideoMate Action Ultra tuner.

San Diego brings SSE3 support to Athlon 64 FX for the first time, along with support for mismatched DIMM sizes in its memory controller, more efficient use of memory compared to Clawhammer and more performance from its data prefetcher, which pulls data out of system memory into the processor's caches, in advance of it being needed.

Babies make the best and the worst subjects to photograph. In this photo guide we'll show you what it takes to get that perfect baby shot. After all, Babies are babies for short a period of time; you can never have too many photographs.

This is part 4 of InsaneTek's 1 year anniversary contest. The prize is an AMD Athlon 64 Socket 939 Winchester. This contest is available to everyone in the world. Shipping is cheap so here's your chance. The contest will only last for 1 week so hurry and get in!

Given that users are likely to purchase either of these chipsets for general Windows based performance, the feature sets are much more important. While the Radeon Xpress 200 does offer an impressive 2D/3D graphics engine, it also supports eight USB 2.0 ports, DDR memory, up to seven PCI Slots, four Serial ATA RAID ports, 8-Channel Audio and PCI Express.

So you've seen all those great big long articles on the G70 with all their complex explanations and flashy graphs. Well, we're going to simplify all of that so that maybe us normal folks can understand why we need to put our hard earned cash down on the latest offering from nVidia.

Cold Winter, Sierra’s latest first person shooter, delivers a solid single-player campaign with an immense replay value. Instead of focusing on complex objectives and time-consuming puzzles, you can simply expect a straightforward action packed game right from the beginning. Filled with loads of gore and profane language, this title is sure to satisfy anyone’s desire for destruction.

With the 120mm fan removed, you can see the top of the densely packed aluminum fins. Something that makes the design of the Big Typhoon unique is that it is large enough to be designed as two heatsinks in one! The aluminum fins are actually arranged into two separate groups, which allows for maximum heat dispersal from the six heatpipes.

This guide is going to skim over the PCI Express video cards that are currently available using ATI graphics processing units. We will take a look at nVidia-based cards in a future article, we already have more than enough to handle. If you are buying a video card right now chances are you are investing in PCI Express; AGP is not dead but with the advantages of the 775 and 939 platforms the focus has definitely shifted to PCI Express. This means you can score some good deals on AGP equipment, but you won't find them here.

Since the introduction of double layer writing, we have seen quite a few drives hit the market from a majority of manufacturers over that past 12 months. However, 16x appears to be the threshold and a majority of manufacturers have been quite hesitant to release new models to consumers. They are simply left with having to improve on their double layer writing and re-writable performance. One drive that truly showed a high level of interest was the NEC ND-3500A. NEC was one of the first manufacturers to release a double layer writer and continue to leap ahead the competition by releasing one of the first writers to support high speed double layer writing to the new DVD-R DL format. With its impressive and truly next gen features, the new NEC ND-3540A is about as good as they come in terms of features. Let's take a thorough look at their latest offering and see what improvements, if any, have been made.

With the Intel 945P Express chipset starting to make its rounds, we grabbed an ECS PF5 Extreme for a spin. With features like quad-monitor display and PCI Express based Gigabit LAN and SATA II controllers, ECS looks serious to get in the limelight.

EPoX, with its EP-9NPA+ SLI, has taken onboard the chipset's attributes and added in discrete SATA (PCI-Express, which is nice) and FireWire400. What's also appealing is the voltage manipulation available in BIOS. Enthusiasts will be happy to see 3v+ DDR and up to 1.85v available for the CPU. The chipset, BIOS, and features implementation combine to make the 9NPA+ SLI a reasonably attractive proposition. Priced at around £105, the 9NPA+ SLI matches other manufacturers' similarly priced efforts in both features and performance, making it worthy of consideration if you want a fast, stable board that should overclock to 300MHz HTT and beyond.

"The proverbial stuff begins to hit the fan as the girls flee the sinister plans of the British Library and the rapidly collapsing Dokusensha (both figuratively and literally) as ROD the TV Volume 4 Turning Point starts almost a whole new story."

"True, some cases are really very very cleverly designed and a pleasure to build a system into, [...] Whereas a processor took hundreds, if not thousands, of engineers with countless diplomas ages to develop, has thousands of patents implemented and needs clean room assembly by skilled workers with high wages, and millions worth of machinery to produce."

"There are many entries in the Gamer/Professional Mouse pad segment out there. Today we will look at an entry by Xraypad, theThunder 8. Gamer pads range from $15-$75, but sometimes I wonder if it is really worth spending that amount of money on a mouse pad. After all, it's just a mouse pad right? A square or rectangular piece ofplastic or cloth that your mouse sits on, what's the big deal? Well the Thunder 8 is available for $20 most places online and can easily sell for a lot more, I was extremely surprised at the quality/cost ratio with this pad. When I got this pad and checked the price online I was shocked, I honestly thought it was one of those $75 pads. Today we are going to take a closer look at it, and you will see what I mean."

"Talk about a HUGE LAN Party! We are in Louisville, Kentucky for MillionMan LAN 4! There are around 1700 people here, and some nice looking cases. Some well known modders are here including Mashie, Gruntman, and Sky. Take a look at the pictures for all the crazy cases, gaming and more!"

"The ASUS P5ND2-SLI Deluxe is another addition to the growing nForce4 SLI Intel Edition motherboards supporting 1066MHz FSB and the Pentium Processor Extreme Edition. Why do we think this is the board you want for gaming? Find out inside."

"...the best thing about this is the installation process. Since the radiator has an integrated pump and also used as the reservoir, it takes about half the time you need to install a typical water cooling kit. Not many water cooling kit out in the market looks as cool as the Aqua Box and with the provided UV blacklight, I’d say that you’re about to become a UV freak. Overall, the Aqua Box is a pretty decent water cooling kit that stands out from the rest thanks to its UV reactive components, UV blacklight and stylish looking radiator. If you’re looking for a silent solution with a bling, the Aqua Box should fit the bill."

"The growing popularity of socket 939 means that more coolers are being made for the K8 platform than ever before. The focus has shifted away from sockets 478 and A and now all the new products are moving to the newer processors, just as the computer industry has always worked. In addition to making new products for the new platforms, many old, yet proven, products are being adapted to fit the new requirements. One such item is the Arctic Cooling Silencer 64 Ultra CPU cooler. This product is very similar to a number of coolers produced by Arctic Cooling in the past, many of which were quite successful. One of the first of this style was the 4ProL, which we reviewed a long time ago on our s478 test bed. Though a number of changes were made the products are strikingly similar."

"Utilizing a single heatpipe, will Prime Cooler's PC-VGAHP 1 be able to provide the VPU temperatures overclockers are looking to achieve? In this review, we'll be taking a look at this rare offering from the folks at Prime Cooler."

"ASUS put together a fine package in the P5WD2 Premium. Performance was solid and the board was problem free out of the box which is something we don't see enough of these days. We were quite happy with pushing our 3.73 Extreme Edition past 4.5GHz, and although we've had mildly better success with other boards, we'll still take a free ~700MHz boost anyday."

Go back just a few short years and the appearances of pretty much all computers were slight variations of the same theme. Boring beige boxes dominated the industry, and people looking to express their individuality with the style of their computer had to take matters into their own hands. The term "modding" may not even be a real word (I know MS Word's spell checker is upset with my use of it), but it is appropriate for loosely describing the broad field of modifying a computer system to give it a personalized style. This tip will proceed by looking at some of the basic items, tools, and accessories used in modding.

Seagate has decided to get in on the action with products catering for users with portable storage needs. Over the past few years we’ve seen the influx of portable storage devices such as pen drives which many of couldn’t do without in our day to day lives. Who doesn’t want 1 and 0’s in their pocket for convenience? Read on as we take a close look at both products and then put them through their paces and see just how they perform.

Who would have thought that a mediocre piece of hardware like the iPod could ever win the hearts and minds of the mass population and change the way we listen to music forever? Well it did, and now we check out some iPod neccessities that every iPodder should own.

Ever since NVIDIA has introduced its 7800 GTX graphics adapter, one of the many questions that users have been asking is if NVIDIA would ever launch an AGP version of the aforementioned card.

Although the Geforce 7800GTX from Nvidia saw its official release mere days ago, it doesn't spell the end of the former generation, in fact it is arguably at this time that the former generation sees increased attention due to (usual) appropriate pricing adjustments. The 6800Ultra represents the paramount of Nvidia's now former generation, and it was really the first highend Nvidia GPU to gain some performance ground back from ATi ever since the release of the 9700Pro. Well, today we double the pleasure and throw two ASUS Geforce 6800Ultra PCI-E videocards together in all their SLI glory. Is there an advantage in doubling the cost of your graphic upgrade, or is one enough?

Smithfield (current stepping A0) is based on the Prescott 1M core with E0 stepping. This core is known for high overclocking potential. On the other hand, knowing that Smithfield consumes at least 15% more power and runs hotter than the already hot Prescott, we did not expect much when we started overclocking. The reality was a pleasant surprise.

One of the unique characteristics of this particular kit is the addition of OCZ technologies EVP® and ULN. OCZ EVP® (Extended Voltage Protection) is a feature that allows performance enthusiasts to use a VDIMM of 3.0V ± 5% without invalidating their OCZ Lifetime Warranty. ULN (Ultra Low Noise) technology uses various printed circuit board (PCB) techniques to reduce the amount of electrical noise that is present in all high-speed ICs which results in faster and more stable memory.

Memory is arguably the most important and most scrutinized component in all high end computers. While computer enthusiasts search for low latency and high quality components, one type of chip comes to mind... Winbond BH5. BH5 memory is known by enthusiasts and gamers for its excellent performance and competitive pricing, which brings us to some of OCZ’s memory modules... The 1024MB EL DDR PC-3200 Dual Channel Gold kit, which utilizes the Winbond BH5 chip.

Today we are doing a review on the Swiftech's H20-120™ Series Liquid Cooling Kit (Revision 3a) plus it's not only just a review it's also this authors first attempt at building a water cooling system from scratch. We're going to show you the case we (A.) Modified (B.) Butchered (C.) attempted to use for our project. Some come on along and see how well I did I'm sure one of us will be surprised.

Ever since its recent release, the Lian Li PC-V1000 has been a very popular case. Let’s say you are looking for a nice home for your new dual processor rig and you don’t think that the PC-V1000 is big enough, while the PC-V2000 is too big. Isn’t there a nice in-between you may ask, well you’re in luck. The Lian Li PC-V1200 fills that nice in-between ground. Without further ado, let’s find out what this case is all about.

" The loose timings are really hurting the Nitro modules. I would expect at least a 5,000 point gain across the board with tighter timings."

In our previous article we were investigating the architectural features of the GeForce 7800 GTX, a new graphics card from NVIDIA. And now it’s time to see how the creation of the Californian GPU-maker performs in actual games.

Today at XtremeResources, my longtime friend, overclocking Guru and 3D bencher extraordinaire OPPAINTER has posted up some incredible results with nVidia's recently introduced and released 7800GTX videocards. He has broken records in all 3 Futuremark 3DMark benches including : 48,046 in 3DMark 2001 as well as scoring 34,891 in 3DMark 2003 and 16,086 in 3DMark 2005. The power of these new generation GPU's has hardly been touched as these record breaking runs were done with the cards o­n straight watercooling.

"The first thing we did was set the memory to run at a full 1 GHz and it had absolutely no problems running at that frequency. Playing nicely, we then raised the memory speed in 4 MHz intervals and 1.01, 1.02 and 1.10 GHz fell by the wayside. The maximum speed we got the memory to was 1.11 GHz, very good for an ATi Radeon X800 XL class videocard!"

Thinking of the Xtreme Ti in strict DTR terms, the overall impression is favourable. You can zip around Windows XP, thanks, in main part, to Rock's use of 2 60GB 7,200RPM laptop drives that are pre-configured in RAID0. Browsing around in 2D mode, the machine felt faster than Dell's Inspiron XPS Gen 2, which shipped with a single 100GB 4,200RPM drive. The screen is a hit-and-miss affair. You'll either love the high-contrast 17-inch (1680x1050) screen or immediately dislike just how reflective the X-Glass-equipped panel is. Rock's got most of the performance bases covered, too, with a fast Mobility Radeon X800 (now XT) card providing decent framerates at the laptop's native resolution. There's also plenty of memory and the optical drive is decent enough.

NVIDIA has unveiled its brand-new graphics processor and proclaimed it to be the fastest in the industry. Today we take a look at what the company has to offer in terms of acrhitecture, efficiency and power consumption.

"The move to the DDR2 memory subsystem seems to be picking up momentum lately as there are numerous memory manufactures offering higher speed grade modules compared to several months ago. Intel is the first to utlize DDR2 and AMD continues to stay with DDR and may move up to DDR2 in the future. Today, we will examine and test the PC2-5600 modules from Patriot on the nVidia C19 platform with Patriot's XBLK PC2-5600+ 1GB dual channel kit and see how it does."

NVIDIA's G70 GPU architecture has finally materialized today in the form of their new flagship and heir to the performance crown with the GeForce 7800 GTX. Find out all the tech details, its performance, our views and if you should look forward to splurge on one, if not, two of these.

"TEC cooling has a few drawbacks compared to a regular HSF setup, the main one being that it's cooling is usually so efficient that temperatures will drop to below ambient, which means that you will need to insulate against condensation. This kind of setup also usually requires a separate power supply and more often than not, watercooling to cool the hot side of the TEC. But take the middle ground of a low power TEC coupled with a HSF combo, and while the temperatures won't drop below ambient, they should get down lower than a HSF combo alone."

"The use of watercooling to cool your system is becoming increasingly popular. Evercool joins the watercooling crowd and provides a setup with TWO compact radiators."

The computer market is flooded with after market computer cases. A lot of design copying happens also, so it's refreshing to find a particular case with new design ideas. One such case is from Casebuytech is their A.I. 01 series of mesh cases.

Many of you are thinking “what can a budget VGA card possibly do for me?” Aside from it pricing out at a very reasonable $69 as opposed to something north of three or four hundred clams, the 6200A is a passively cooled product. You home theater guys are already all over this. Here in the days of HTPCs, having a single slot, silent video card solution being paired with say a Hauppauge TV-PVR card to run a media center is very desirable.

All-in, a solid improvement to an excellent architecture. NVIDIA balance ALU increases with ROP considerations to create a formidable pixel pusher that currently has no equal. 7800 GTX boards can be bought from today for a UK retail price of £369. That's only some £70 more than a 6800 Ultra (15%), for a rough 40% increase in performance, should your wallet be up to the task.

The latest ATI Radeon X800 XL boasts 512MB of memory, yet fails to provide a significant improvement over cards with less RAM.

The Intel chipset roadmap may always move forward, but there are a lot of detours along the way. Mainstream motherboards naturally take a side street to their Performance class big brothers, but this time there is an express lane. Sure, Intel's current hot rod the i955X can blow the doors off its main stream cousin. However, the i945 is certainly more than just a compact class stripped down version with no thrills. With support for Dual Core processor and CPU's with a 1066 Front Side Bus, the GA-8I945P Pro has a price tag that won't force you to look at the used boards section.

“In this day and age of mobile and digital audio, it would only make sense to have the ability to listen to your music whenever you want and wherever you want. The car should be no exception and this time we get to take a look at one of those devices that gives you that ability to do just that.”

"High-definition television: Why bother? Surely HDTV is a plaything for the rich and self-indulgent, some cryptic form of digital television designed for Freemasons, just one more ridiculously overhyped and overpriced technology aimed at parting care-worn folk from their hard-earned cash. Right?

Wrong. The analog television standard we’ve been using since just after World War II is ludicrously obsolete. It was designed for round-cornered five-inch pictures that were mere portholes compared to the big screens that today’s home theater buffs demand. Trying to build a home theater system around 1948-vintage technology is like riding a horse in the slow lane."

"The s939 processors are intended to be AMD’s mid to high level processor platform as well as to bring together the s754 and s940 series processors. However, the new processor socket will not replace the 754 or 940 sockets. The 940 will continue in the server and workstation environment supporting the Opetron processor. The s754 will be home to AMD’s new value line, a cut down version, 32 bit only version of their s754 64 bit processors."

Sunbeam Tech is known for their computer modding supplies and accessories. Recently, they have entered the computer hardware arena. How so, you ask? Sunbeam Tech has released their new active PFC power supply line called the Nuuo. Today we look at the 550 Watt model.

To go along with our Socket 754 processor, we chose the cheapest compatible nForce3 250 motherboard we could find. NVIDIA's nForce3 250 chipset is the best Socket 754 solution out there, so our choice was simple. Biostar is known for their reliable motherboards and the NF325-A7 features 2x DIMM slots for up to 2GB of memory, 8x/4x AGP, 2x IDE channels, 2x SATA channels with RAID (0 and 1 configurations), 8x USB2.0 ports (4 in the rear), 5x PCI slots, integrated LAN, and Realtek ALC655 6-channel audio. All in all a very feature-rich board.

Hi, we just got words from LaCie about its new FA Porsche-designed biometric USB hard drive. The SAFE Mobile Hard Drive has built-in fingerprint authentication. While similar hard drives are pretty common, none of them supports Mac like LaCie does. The 5400-rpm 2.5" boxy, silverish bus-powered drive starts at $149.99 for 40GB, and $199.99 for 80GB.

“Logitech has proved themselves with the MX line of computer mice. With their innovations in wireless mouse technology, and with the great performance of the MX 700, Logitech has set the bar high, but hopefully not too high. Meet the MX 1000, Logitech's new laser mouse which claims to make the typical optical mice “obsolete.” Is it worth the hype or will it turn out to be a waste of money?”

"Overall, my experience with this product has been excellent. This aesthetically pleasing product was problem free, easy to install using a standard video connection and is packed full of features that will have your DVD player future-proofed if you decide to upgrade your TV to a high definition display sometime in the upcoming years. But with the advantages of this product, there are some hang ups."

Following our article on the ASUS Extreme N6600GT, we now look at another GeForce 6600 GT offering but from a different vendor - Gigabyte's GV-NX66T128D. Read on to find out what we felt about it.

"To celebrate the release of their two new digital cameras Samsung had a small event at their posh NYC pad. Held on the third floor of the Time Warner Center, this two-hour press event was thrown to celebrate the arrival of Samsung's Digimax Pro815 and the Digimax i5. Since the event was held at noon on a Friday it seemed like a great chance to get out of the office, play with some cool new toys, and score a free lunch."

"The Hyper 6 is probably considered Cooler Master's first high performance cooler. To this day, enthusiasts are still using the cooler. Well now, Cooler Master gives you something else to play with, the Hyper 6+."

About 18 months ago, Adobe loaded the bases with its fantastic upgrade from Photoshop 7 to Photoshop CS (8.0). I have to admit that I thought they would pretty much just phone in the next upgrade. They'd done such a good job with the transformation from 7.0 to CS that no one could blame them. But I was wrong. After spending the last month reviewing the BETA version of CS2.0 (Photoshop 9.0 - code named Space Monkey) I have only one thing to say:

Get out the rye bread and mustard grandma because Adobe has done it again. The new version of Photoshop is Grand Salami! I said that Photoshop CS was a must have upgrade. Accordingly, Photoshop CS2.0 is a must, must have upgrade.

FREMONT, CA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 06/21/2005 -- Antec, Inc., the leading manufacturer of computer hardware and accessories for the upgrade and build your own (BYO) markets, has launched P180, its latest Performance One series case for the gaming and high-end computing market.

P180 was designed from the ground up to provide the highest level of cooling, silence and stability to today's high-end PC users. The case features a breakthrough design with dual chambers to isolate the power supply and CPU in separate cooling zones for improved airflow and lowered system noise. Unique sound-deadening three-layer side panels minimize noise in even the loudest high-performance systems.

The innovative chassis accommodates up to Standard ATX motherboards, and features a highly configurable cooling system including three of Antec's 120mm speed-adjustable TriCool fans, an additional front 120mm fan mount and an adjustable VGA air duct with another 120mm fan mount for better cooling to the graphics card. Silicon grommets in all hard drive cages reduce hard drive vibrations, and a double-hinged front door opens to 270 degrees for easy access to internal components.

Eleven drive bays are provided for maximum expandability. There are seven expansion slots, two convenient front-mounted USB 2.0 ports, FireWire and audio connectors for easy multimedia connections. A built-in washable air filter keeps clean air flowing through the case.

"Antec prides itself on its commitment to silence, cooling, and reliability in all of its products," said Scott Richards, Antec worldwide vice president of sales and marketing. "With the P180, our goal was to create a case that addressed the most demanding needs of today's high-power gamers, of quiet computing enthusiasts, and of PC users of every sort in between. The result is a truly revolutionary case worthy of inclusion in a new category we call the Advanced Super Mid Tower."

The P180 is available for an estimated street price of $159 through major retailers, e-tailers and distributors. It is backed by Antec's Quality 3-Year Warranty.

"Measuring in at 64 x 21 x 10mm while having a storage capacity of 1GB, the Transcend JetFlash 110 is one of the smallest flash drives we have yet to see. Although this unit may be small, is it fast? You'll need to read the review to find out for yourself as we pair it against four other top-of-the-line thumb drives for our usual read and write testing."

Take a look at the review of this really interesting and unique case from Thermalrock, a division of Thermaltake. The looks will definitely catch your attention!

The Quake series is undoubtedly one of the most popular in the first-person-shooter (FPS) genre ever. The first iteration of the series is considered by many the father of multiplayer deathmatch also, so it’s no surprise that as we get closer to the estimated release date, more people are speaking about Quake 4 and the game's potential.

During this year's E3, a lot of people waited in line to watch the Quake 4 demo that ended up being a live gameplay session conducted by some of Raven’s designers and programmers. After having a closer look to the game, and a brief chat with one of Activision reps, we bring you our preview of Quake 4, so you can know a bit more of what to expect when the game is released by the end of this year (not official yet).

"The market is packed with MP3 players of all kinds. We have Apple’s iPod with delicate looks and a professional appeal as the top champion, at least when it comes to being a cultural accessory. We then have portable audio players from iRiver and Creative that are trailing the iPod in hopes of taking away from its market share, and from what it appears the trick depicts to be working somewhat. Then we have a few more hard drive players from the likes of Rio and others that are chugging along to justify their existence. That’s just with hard drive players, though. Once you move to the more portable and rugged flash players, the market becomes even more complicated."

Nvidia is putting the finishing touches on a little party for its local fan base this Tuesday in San Francisco, where the company will unveil its newest GeForce 7800 graphics processing chip and related graphics cards.

"Thin, svelte, appropriately wrapped in a black faux leather tuxedo and bow tie in a dazzling smooth chrome case; it appears as if it could mystically appear not just in your pocket but as a fashion statement accessorizing and fitting into anything you wear while performing all of the magical tricks you desire. "

So, all your friends have shiny new Radeon X850s and you are still getting by with your trusty old GeForce 4. Connect 3D has you covered with the next best thing, the Radeon X700 256MB Pro. Designed to compete with the popular GeForce 6600 cards.

“Imagine if you could take your movies, pictures, even your TV Shows with you all in one device? Well folks, you don't have to imagine anymore. Samsung's YH-999 Portable Media Center is more than just a glorified MP3 player. It's an entertainment center in the palm of your hand.”

"Today, PCSTATS will be looking at MSI's nForce4-4X entry, the K8N Neo3-F. This motherboard supports all AMD Athlon64 and Sempron Socket 754 processors and up to 2GB of single-channel DDR memory. As with other nForce 4 chipsets, PCI-Express is integrated and the K8N Neo3-F sports a full PCIe x16 slot for video cards as well as a single x1 slot for peripherals. A standard compliment of four SATA 150 ports and two IDE controllers are present, as well as four built in USB 2.0 ports and two more on the included PCI bracket."

"Like the ThermalRock Circle but a tad too big and heavy for you? Count on ThermalRock to have the answer. The Eclipse is great for LAN parties without sacrificing what's important in a case--the spacious room."

"AeroCool has brought to market a short list power supply with the Turbine Power 550. It is an efficient solution that can drive most anything you have to throw at it. There is ample power, connectors and separation of 12V rails to alleviate headaches on high end water coolers and the like. Their design plays nice with your customizations, no matter the level, without taking over as the centerpiece of your hard work."

Among the "extremely good" cases I've looked at are the genuinely tidy WaveMaster from Cooler Master which lacked the 120mm fans, the equally slick Shark and Tsunami from Thermaltake which were near-contenders but for the front doors, and one or two others I've had a chance too fondle and dismiss for various reasons.

While Nvidia has never denied that SLI’s speedup is application and usage dependent, we were impressed with ATI architects’ willingness to look for ways to make the 2nd GPU useful when applications, user demands, and/or host systems make it difficult for AFR or Scissor mode to produce a solid performance increase. As a result, CrossFire architects added support for two additional modes that SLI' have. (or at least not yet): Supertile and Super AA modes.

With so many companies now offering performance memory, it makes it harder to choose which one to buy. We are taking a look at Crucial's offering, the Ballistix PC3200. Is their memory with a purchase?

"Established in 1994, Mushkin Enhanced Memory Systems has always delivered a quality product. But to me this product seemed like that exotic car that you knew would be a solid performer but for some reason or another you always passed on it. Call it bad marketing or being lost in the crowed filled with an ever-increasing number of memory suppliers. Mushkin for the last year seems to have reorganized itself and is hitting the computer enthusiast market with force and they no longer seem to be the exotic you can’t decide on. So to help make your decision even easier in today’s review we’ll taking a look at one of Mushkin’s latest offering, the DDR High Performance Memory 2GB (2x1GB) HP3200 2-3-2 Dual Pack kit."

"Gigabyte is making a lot of noise at the moment with their new range of wireless networking equipment. Their new range has just made it into Australia and we've taken a look at their new goods. They sent us a wireless desktop router, wireless access point capable of A/B/G standards and a Gigabit Ethernet Adapter which uses the PCI Express bus for optimal speeds. We’re feeling all networky, so read on and learn more about the new products from Gigabyte."

"Has Google finally embraced RSS with their new XML powered Sitemaps program? Well, sort of, but it seems more like a hug than a strong impassioned embrace! "

With the rise of the nForce 4 chipset as the dominant form factor for the Athlon 64 family, we are seeing several new motherboard manufacturers break out of the pack. Soltek has been on the scene less that 10 years and have already made their mark with the SL-KT8Pro family. The SL-N4Pro-939 continues the tradition of offering full feature cards with window friendly looks. We put their latest to the test here at Club OC.

With NVIDIA's G70 on the horizon, the good news for the budgeters is that prices of former mid-range cards like the GeForce 6600 GT are likely to fall in future. Hence now would be as good a time as any, to find out if the ASUS Extreme N6600GT has what it takes for a good GeForce 6600 GT product.

“It's taken awhile to come up with a decision on this unit. I have reviewed a number of MP3 players so far but now it was time to get something for myself. I needed a lot of room for storage, good sound quality and the ability to record through a line in source. Will the mediaGear do the trick?”

Unfortunately, I was disappointed with Apple's actual announcement on Monday, which revealed not a bold strategy embracing the openness movement but confirmation that Apple is still a company locked in the time warp of the go-it-alone '70s. Apple agreed to switch from processors made by IBM to special processors made from Intel over the next two years - that's it. This is only slightly more significant than Apple choosing to change the hard disk or memory supplier it puts into its computers.

"As MP3 players continue to become one of the most common digital accessories, consumer electronics companies will persistently develop newer models with added features to make their products stand out. Although Apple’s iPod and other hard drive players are the popular players of all time, flash storage is getting just as much attention. While hard drive players allow you to store your entire music library and listen to it for days on end, they are not all that rugged. If you like to listen to music while exercising, Apple’s iPod or such players may not be to your liking due to their delicateness. No need to worry though, flash based players are targeted at the budget oriented users who doesn’t mind switching songs once they have listened to them enough time. Furthermore, flash MP3 players are solid enough to take on morning jogs and even to gyms for a quick workout."

" The I/O ports and power / reset buttons are located on the top of the case, at the front. This is excellent for people who put their computer on the ground, but not so good for people like me who have their system sitting on a desk."

Overall the Sunbeam Chromatic Windmill is a nice function panel which supports many features such as fan control, temperature display, overheat alarm and more. With the price of 40USD, the price is still acceptable because most of such function panels are around the same price. However, remember do not use the Chromatic Windmill to control high powered fans, as you might spoil it.

The Imation 16x DVD writer had some pretty good highlights like its short depth drive design, fast and precise DVD decryption and DAE, good media compatibility and write quality, but was unfortunately not without its downsides. Read on to see our views of the drive and if it warrants your attention.

"The premise behind the Trio name and design is the inclusion of three Analog style gauges which provide information on Volume level, Fan Speed and Temperature. While the Analog style gauges provide a retro look and feel, the design of the Trio is more modernized and futuristic. The Sunbeam Trio Case measures approximately 430mm (H) x 200mm (W) x 440mm (D) and is light weight at 7.8kg. The case supports mATX and Full ATX motherboard formats and is packaged with a generic 450W PSU. The eye candy for Sunbeam Trio Mid-Tower Case besides the Analog gauges is the inclusion of a pre-modified side panel window, show car paint finish and matching mesh material used on the front bezel for ventilation."

Spring time is usually a slow time for the computer industry, but Unlike many major companies, Seagate has been hard at work developing new products. One of their new product lines are the push button backup external hard drives. Seagate has sent over their best external drive, the huge 400gb External USB Hard Disk Drive. Talk about major backup space!

"If you've never heard of Mushkin's infamous Black Level II BH5, you should be ashamed of yourself and quit this computer hobby. Well Mushkin is back with blazing fast Winbond UTT BH5 but with a pretty red heatspreader."

An Ennyah graphics card is not something that we get in our labs that often so the Ennyah PCX6600 is indeed a rare guest. Read on as we interrogate it to find whether it is up to the mark.

"While it still does seem strange to most PC users and is an unheard of cooling method for most non-enthusiast users, water-cooling is becoming more mainstream. A few years back it was only a hardcore cooling method but nowadays there are many companies that release water-cooling products on the market. Some are very well known names and very well established companies in the PC components market, others are not so well known yet. Today we will check the work of 1A-Cooling, a German company which designs, builds and distributes their products mostly by themselves. Let us see what kind of fish they are in the water-cooling ocean."

"If you have ever visited a Linux support forum, the very first thing you will notice are the massive number of threads with questions similar to, "What Linux distribution should I use?" or "What is the best distribution for me?" Since these questions are asked by those who are unfamiliar with the open-source operating system and are possibly curious about it, do you ever wonder why that’s the scenario? It’s indeed very simple."

“The socially inept are getting a new lease on life, albeit a virtual one. The Internet, once the domain of hackers, crackers, and the like, has, for a while now, been attracting the "other" type. Social butterflies can hang up their cocktail dresses, because the new cocktail room is now the Internet.”

The C-Systems CSP-MAG is a next generation brushless DC pump that replaces the original CSP-750. The new CSP-MAG pump incorporates a seal-less design with jeweled bearings for high reliability and long operating life. The CSP-MAG is very compact and operates on 12 VDC just like the original CSP-750."

An H - Lock framed window is beautiful. This is a very time intensive project to get right but with the stunning results this mod is well worth all the effort. With this How-to we hope that we can help make this mod a little easier for you.

"Economical videocards of today allow users to experience all the same DirectX 9 eye candy that higher end models offer. This is quite a change from the past when both ATi and nVIDIA removed important features out of their low-end graphics processors in an attempt to cut costs. Times have changed for the better, and hopefully this will bring the world of full-fledged PC gaming to more consumers."

"NZXT takes the chassis of the Nemesis and slaps on a more stylish and sleek front panel. It's not as crazy looking as the Nemesis but it's still one great gaming case."

"A question that has been going back and forth now for a while is whether or not SCSI is dead for workstations. Has the advancements in SATA and the main-stream acceptance of 10K RPM Western Digital Raptor, made SCSI too expensive for what you need in a workstation? It's time we take a look at this under Linux and draw our own conclusions. We'll show you what we've found out about the Western Digital Raptor WD740GD as well as how it compares to the three latest Ultra320 SCSI drives: the Seagate Cheetah 10K.7, Seagate Cheetah 15K.3, and Seagate Cheetah 15K.4. In this review
we'll cover the technology of the drives, acoustics, heat, size, and
performance."

The task of setting up a home network has never been easier. With wireless routers and the many wizards built within Windows XP, a home network can be installed and setup within minutes. Gigabyte has a new wireless network product designed for everyone. Easy to use and very rich in features, the AirCruiser G Desktop Router puts 54Mps, literally, inside your PC. Whether its setting up a multimedia PC, or just making a low budget wireless Access Point, the AirCruiser deserves serious consideration.

"Overall, the Maxtor DiamondMax 10 300GB SATA II hard drive offers excellent performance and reliability. Although we did not have a pair of hard drives to test the RAID performance, I’m guessing that the 16MB buffer would boost the overall RAID performance. Given that you are planning to buy a newer motherboard with SATA II support, you should probably look out for DiamondMax 10. Although the price for a retail hard drive is about USD186 / RM700, you can always opt for OEM versions which come in a much cheaper price. Backed with a 3 years warranty and supporting various enhanced features such as the NCQ, you can never go wrong with Maxtor!"

" Single-core solutions are not going the way of the dodo just yet -- Intel still has two major updates headed towards the way of the single-core Pentium 4, and I'm sure that a refresh of the FX is in order for AMD at some near point in time. First of all, Intel plans to introduce two more 3.6 and 3.8 GHz models of the Pentium 4, but with an added kick: Vanderpool. Vanderpool is Intel's on-chip virtualization technology, which will allow you to run multiple operating systems at the same time on the same hardware. These parts will come with a model number of 662 and 672, respectively."

Upgrade your old Apple Power Mac G4 system with Sonnet's Encore/ST G4 processor upgrade kit. It's one of the best ways to keep your investment running like new. Is it worth the investment? Find out as we explore the Macintosh upgrading scene.

Codenamed Avalanche, the technology is similar to existing peer-to-peer file swapping systems, including the most famous - BitTorrent - that divide large files into many smaller pieces that are shared by all users and reassembled on your hard drive to create a copy of the original.

The Intel 955X chipset has proven to be a superior overclocker once again, with the ASUS P5WD2 Premium. Reaching a 300MHz FSB with a 14x clock multiplier, the total clock frequency was 4.2GHz. Combined with a DDR2 frequency of 1GHz the system produced a healthy bandwidth of almost 8GB/s. Although the memory settings were backed well off to just CAS5-5-5-18 at 1GHz the memory was still able to produce big bandwidths.

The chosen combination of Pentium M 770 and GeForce 6800 Go Ultra 256MB make for, without doubt, the fastest gaming laptop ever to grace HEXUS Labs, and I keep repeating this, ad nauseum, but it's just so damn quiet. The screen's pretty sharp, the keyboard's above average, and the chassis looks pretty cool. With the £2099 asking price and gamers in mind, I'd urge Dell to pre-configure a model with a 7,200RPM hard drive for faster loading and, perhaps, look into a better base warranty. Other than that, though, I'm struggling to find bad points about it without resorting to nitpicking.

"Toshiba held their annual line show this year in sunny New Mexico at the luxurious Hyatt Tamayo in the exclusive Rio Rancho section of Albuquerque on May 19th. As always, Toshiba put on a terrific show with the theme this year being advanced technology. Since the location for the line show was New Mexico, Area 51 was invoked as the ideal location for keeping advanced technology secrets. Toshiba married the advanced technology concept with their integrated marketing message that “Image is Everything.” And, for Toshiba, it certainly is!"

“There are plenty of cube-shaped bare bone systems out on the market these days. However, most of them force you to use their board built specific to the case so your options are limited when it comes time to upgrade. ANTEC provides a highly upgradeable alternative.”

In order to optimize PC performance, the KN1 Extreme includes NVIDIA nTune, enabling KN1 Extreme to operate at speeds up to FSB 2GHz. And KN1 Extreme has added a second 802.11g LAN connector to make this motherboard ideal for Internet connection sharing over a home network. KN1 Extreme supports four SATA2 ports through the NVIDIA nForce4 single chip as well as two standard SATA ports through the SiS180 controller.

"Yep, Apple continues to be the headlines winner all over the media outlets, and this time Dell is sharing the spotlight with the Macintosh maker. Yesterday, Dell’s Founder and Chairman Michael Dell e-mailed Fortune magazine (after being requested to comment on the situation) stating, "If Apple decides to open the Mac OS to others, we would be happy to offer it to our customers." That’s a fairly bold statement coming from Dell considering that this declaration could possibly have a negative impact on the company’s relationship with Microsoft."

Equipped with the NVIDIA nForce4 SLI chipset, the ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe is armed to provide hard-core gamers with great performance and a rich selection of features. While you won't go wrong with this one, there are some things that you might want to take note.

AMD has won contracts from Net App over Intel and IBM has begun selling Blade Servers using AMD 64 Bit Opteron Processors. The competition is heating up.

"And carefully insert the other side of the clip on the three tabs on the tall side of the cpu base. Since the clip does not work by a "spring action", this may take a little time. After properly positioning the clip, tighten the screw. This retaining clip is really not any more difficult to install than the standard ones with a spring action."

Until recently we thought that heatspreaders are not necessary for DDR2 modules, because DDR 2 runs cooler than DDR1 due to its lower voltage. DDR2 modules in previous tests became just lukewarm. We had to change our opinion after running OCZ PC2-6400 at 2.3 volt. After a while these modules become quite hot and a quality heat spreader is therefore useful.

"The prospect of overclocking a computer system can be intimidating for a computer newcomer, to say the least. The idea is simple enough; make the computer's processor run faster than its stock speed to gain more performance without paying for it. The execution of this idea though, can be anything but simple."

"After we have gone through the details and performance that the Akasa PaxPower 460W power supply has to offer, we should know that it is a decent quality power supply. It comes with many great features such as the active PFC, nickel black coating and sleeving. As for the price factor, I think that the PaxPower 460W is slightly over priced for its class as the Antec TPII 480W that we reviewed previously was retailed cheaper. The Akasa PaxPower 460W should serve you very well if you're looking for a reliable 24-pin power supply. Unless you are going to GeForce 6800U SLi or maybe the CorsFire setup, then you should probably stay tuned for their 600W+ version."

"Logitech, a well known leader in the realm of computer devices, has expanded their already large line of wireless notebook mice to include the high-class V500. The V500 comes packed full of new features like an expandable chassis, a touch-sensitive solid state scrolling panel, and 2.4 GHz wireless technology. Coupled with a smooth look and compact body this mouse looks to mean business. Possibly considered the corvette of notebook mice, the V500 is certainly priced to fit this label. With a MSRP of $70USD (actual price online is around the $50 mark) it's certainly not for the light hearted."

'USB Flash drive technology is becoming more popular with each passing day. Flash disks are progressing because of their high speed and ease of use, they are similar to small hard disk drives that fit into your pocket and you can simply and quickly utilize by placing them into an USB slot. They are also getting smaller while their capacity increases and far easier to use, since they do not require any special driver when using a newer operation system. Revoltec has recently released a distinct USB flash drive, the File Carrier, which was given attention o­n aesthetics, since it comes in 3 colors and features a nice design. I was lucky enough to be sent a 512MB File Carrier drive, a red version, so let us see if it can perform as well as it looks! '

The Samsung SyncMaster 915N isn't necessarily marketed as a gaming and power user monitor. However many of it's features will be a blessing for gamers and power users on a budget. The first and most obvious being the 19" of screen real estate, which runs at a native resolution of 1280 x 1024. Top that off with an 8ms pixel response and a 700:1 contrast ratio, and I'm sure many users will find something to like.

“I have the pleasure of introducing you to a fine keyboard from TypeMatrix. Nowadays, keyboards come in many different sizes, shapes and colors. This is a truly unique and innovative device that you might find helpful if you type a lot or suffer from an injury. Today, we have the TypeMatrix EZ-reach 2030 (QWERTY) Keyboard for review.”

If you are looking to upgrade your video card, there are so many options available. We are going to take a look at one of BFG Tech's top PCI-E cards, the 6800 GT OC. How did it make out in our tests? Is the card worth it, with the next gen on the way?

IF YOU'RE HOPING to get the most out of the latest game in the very successful Battlefield series, Battlefield 2, you might need a new graphics card, but you probably won't need a new PC - according to tests conducted by The INQUIRER.

"After Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo unveiled their next generation of gaming consoles, people wondered whether the supposedly digital hubs of the future would be
doomful to the PCs. You can’t blame them for making such an assumption after all the thrilling features and performance Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo discussed at E3 this year. Anyone slightly knowledgeable about the architecture that the console makers talked about would know that upcoming gaming consoles are undoubtedly powerful, but for obvious reasons neither PC gaming nor PCs in general are doomed."

"Mushkin Enhanced Memory Systems is a name familiar to most enthusiasts, one that holds great reputation for performance and quality. Today I will be reviewing the Mushkin XP4000 Redline memory kit. The Extreme Performance series (XP) is designed for hardcore PC enthusiasts, featuring tight timings of 2-2-2 and extreme overclocking potential. The XP4000’s main rival is the OCZ PC-4000 VX, which features many of the same qualities and performance specifications; hence I will be putting them head to head. So, read on to find out which to see how Mushkin’s XP4000 modules held up."

This high-end flatbed scanner is also available from Computer Geeks for just $120 US. The ScanJet 5500C is extremely fast and at the same time is capable of producing high quality scans. The scanners list of features is excellent and its overall usability is superb.

“Technology enabled clothing isn't a new thing. ScottEVest and many other imitators have come up with pockets, straps, and zippers, to accomodate all of our geek gear. But instead of stuffing things into our pockets, why not just weave it right into our pockets? Check out this article and see what could come to be!”

We would like to offer you a review of the wireless router from ASUS. Highly functional device with rich set of accessories and extensive setup options and support of advanced modern wireless protocols with their speed-boost extensions is worth every penny you pay for it. Read more in our detailed review!

Hard-core game enthusiasts descending on San Francisco next week will get first crack at buying Nvidia's long-awaited GeForce 7800 graphics cards.

Our second installment of CommunicAsia 2005 had the booths of Samsung, Sony Ericsson and Kyocera covered. Samsung in particular, was exceptionally aggressive with a very long list of new models launched to an eager crowd.

"Videocard overclocking can hold many benefits for the gamer or benchmarking enthusiast. As with processors and system memory, the faster the videocard's graphics processor and video memory can process information, the better. Smoother frame rates and higher benchmarks might be just around the corner."

"Repetitive strain injury can cause serious problems, which are more difficult to cure than to prevent in the first place. There are various types of RSI affecting different parts of the body, Carpal tunnel syndrome, Bursitis, and Rotator cuff syndrome are some typical examples, but there are many more. If you spend a long time sat at a desk or on a computer it is highly recommended that you take into consideration the potential problems of RSI, and take steps to prevent or combat it. If after reading this you think you could be suffering from symptoms of RSI, see your Doctor."

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) sued four small software retailers in California and Virginia on Wednesday for selling pirated software.
Microsoft, the world's largest software maker, said it had received complaints from consumers and businesses who had purchased software from CEO Microsystems Inc. and Wiston Group Inc. in California. In Virginia, Microsoft sued #9 Software Inc., East Outlet LLC and Super Supplier LLC.

"I don't know why I was so excited at the thought of having an LCD screen to tinker with, perhaps it is all the eye candy possibilities that go along with high resolution LCD screens. My mind just ran amok waiting for the LCD to arrive. I think the mailman was starting to get worried, with the way I would wait by the door jumping up and down everyday."

If you want a small modern home PC with the functionality of a desktop system then you should definitely check out our review of a few solutions from Biostar. We can’t think of a home application this machine wouldn’t be able to handle: starting with the latest games and finishing with the role of a home information-and-entertainment center.

You’ll want to find a good spot on your dash near your stereo for the jack. Just pick up an RCA red and white audio to minijack (1/8” whatever you wanna call it). Then get a minijack extender so you now have a female minijack port to plug your iPod/Minidisc/Monkey into. Finally, get some kind of washer/bolt mechanism to lock the minijack into place. Superglue works if you’re dead broke too.

"Flash devices and readers are becoming extremely popular as consumer electronics demand more storage space. What better brand to trust than a leading memory supplier?"

“So you thought we were done with Thermaltake's Big Typhoon, eh? We go back and dig a little deeper, peeling back those layers, to see just how good it really is with some extra special torture tests.”

"Have you ever thought what it would be like to sit down in front of any computer, boot it up and have your favorite applications and files immediately at your fingertips? The reality of this dream up to this point has been mostly unrealized – you can perhaps piecemeal using someone else’s Microsoft Office and your Excel and Word files, for example, but that flies in the face of true on-the-go personalization.

All things considered, the Sunbeam Trio brings a lot to the table. Its sharp looks combining the stereo screen, outstanding paint job and analog gauge cluster give the Trio a distinctive look unmatched elsewhere. The quality of the construction was very good and rests solidly on the simplicity of the chassis' design. Our list of pros is long but well earned.

"Corsair XMS ram in general should be on your very short list for any enthusiast application. After working with this XPERT RAM in particular it's hard to want to use anything else. Corsair once again delivers some of the highest quality sticks of RAM in the industry."

"There’s no doubt that Logitech is one of the pioneers when it comes to peripherals such as keyboards, mice, joysticks and other key components for personal computers. It’s almost as if the company has perfected the art of designing peripherals that are nearly faultless in every way. Though Logitech’s components carry a hefty price tag, in many cases the product is worth the value. Whenever it appears to be the end of innovation with peripherals, Logitech always have something unique entering the market. Whether the feature is practical or not is not the question, but continuous motivation on Logitech’s part to deliver something new with almost every product is exceptional."

TechSpot's guide will take you through all available options in Foobar, which should ease the way for those of you wanting to give it a try. It also gives a detailed explanation on the more advanced options and recommendations after using several different consumer-level PC soundcards.

3DMark was run through on both cards at default settings and then at 1280x1024 with 4x Antialiasing and 16x Anisotropic Filtering with all quality settings in the device driver set to maximum. We also ran the EN6800GT through overclocked to ULTRA speeds.

"I think it's safe to say that ATi actually has a leg up on the competition when it comes to graphics integration. Intel and VIA have been producing decent performing budget chipsets but the two company's integrated graphics options are still lousy on the 3D front. ATi traditionally has excellent 2D/3D image quality and as we've seen so far, it's integrated Radeon IGP is a solid performer good enough for the casual gamer. "

"When it comes to the three products' silencing abilities, not much can be said for the Xilencer. Rather than silencing the drive, it actually amplified its vibrational and operating noise, just as I had suspected. The two large metal covers, making direct contact with the drive, act as amplifiers. Padding is a must if there is to be a reduction in noise for such a small enclosure. The SilenX Luxurae and Cooler Master CoolDrive, on the other hand, do what they are intended to do. When placed in either enclosure, the WD Raptor was noticeably less audible. Any audible noise I may have heard was during hardcore thrashing, and even then it was very muffled. On the other hand, when placed in the A.C. Ryan Xilencer, the WD Raptor's thrashing sounded more metallic than usual, undoubtedly due to the lack of padding as previously discussed."

"On the right side of the case you'll find two USB ports, firewire, and the audio ports. Also included are controls for volume (top) and the fan (bottom). Adjusting the lower fan knob will increase the power to the fan you have plugged into the analog fan speed gauge. So instead of just a gauge, you have a fan controller."

"Cableorganizer.com, the leader in cable management solutions, recently announced the unveiling of its Project Nighthawk, the latest custom computer masterpiece created by renowned modder Paul Capello. Perfect for flight simulators and any other demanding role-playing games, Project Nighthawk gives players a new dimension of excitement."

"The Sony DRU-800A is the first DVD writer in our labs supporting both DVD+/- R Dual Layer (DL) media. This mean the 800A has some longevity in the grand scheme of things. DVD-R DL media is most likely not available at the time of this review, but expect prices to be around the same mark they were when DVD+R DL hit the scene; roughly $10 dollars per disc. With a street price of around $120 dollars, The Sony DRU-800A comes with two faceplates and a software package by Nero. "

"The craving for high-definition everything has become more and more prevalent. It's about time that Panasonic stepped into the market with a high definition DVD player. We have seen HD DVD players from Samsung, Toshiba, and NeuNeo but Panasonic has been very quiet in this domain; that is, until now. This year, the Bytesector team got a chance to see some of Panasonic's latest and greatest CE products at their 2005 Canadian showcase, and that's where we first stole a glimpse of a 1080i HD player .."

"Why the need for such a guide? on several web logs there are a lot of people who upgraded their S754 platform to the new S939 with PCI Express. This is because the FX processor is not the only CPU utilizing the socket 939 platform. Most of these people want high HTT speeds to overclock their processor and memory so they buy Samsung TCCD or low latency memory like Winbond BH5/UTT. Recently G.Skill PC4400/4800 became the most talked about memory on the market together with OCZ PC4800 based on Samsung TCCD. This memory requires a high HTT speed for ultimate performance, so the system must be overclocked."

"Ever since the industry was shocked by Apple’s announcement to partner with Intel for the x86 architecture, people have been talking about the potential threat that might pose to Linux in terms of overall growth. For one reason or another, many believe that Linux would have a difficult time thriving as the desktop operating system with the new partnership."

“The first impression one gets from the PSP (once you've ravenously clawed your way through the packaging) is just how sleek the system is. From a purely aesthetic standpoint, the PSP is one seriously sexy piece of cutting-edge tech.”

“Sansa e100 Series MP3 players provide high-quality digital music playback with sophisticated navigation and expandable memory at an affordable price. You can add up to 2GB of additional storage space with the SD slot for more MP3, WMA (including secure WMA content), and Audible audio file formats.”

Notebooks haven't changed much in size the past few years, Toshiba now ships a notebook that's about half the size of a regular notebook, but offers more than half the performance and just about all of the features.

Turn an Xbox into an all-in-one entertainment system.
Simply put, something to stick under the TV that can play DVDs, mp3s, surf the net, be a games console and many more things

" Logitech puts out some great peripherals. I look at my desk and I see that I have speakers, a mouse, a keyboard , and a joystick from Logitech. The MX line of mice from Logitech is simply the best ever made. I took a long hard look at the MX700 when it came out and it is, quite arguably, the best mouse ever. Now, Logitech aims to dethrone its own mouse with the new MX1000. "

"With two U.S.B 2.0 ports, one IEEE1394 Firewire port, 2 Serial ATA ports, one audio/video RCA type connector, analog headphone, MIC, and line in/out ports, this product can do it all. Installation is fairly simple, and requires one 5.25" bay, and around a half an hour. If you are not comfortable with doing this, any computer store can do this for you, for a modest fee."

Cooler Master’s Annual Case Mod Competition for 2005 has begun! This year, the prizes are beyond your expectation, ranging from our soon to be released Stacker 830 to a complete set of Aquagate Liquid Cooling System, and many more!! There will be 3 stages of elimination process, and all the enthusiasts and modders from Northern America can enter into the rivalry to determine who is the top winner! It’s time to expand your imagination and see who is the last one standing!

" Zalman's Resorator has already deserved its tracks. The original blue, passive cooltower which went sold quiet well. Since the capacity of the Resorator has still sufficient reserves to keep the current keep CPU's cold has made Zalman decide to modify the coolingtower to meet the demands of the current hardware junkie."

There is nothing that will point out the weak points in your system quicker than buying a phase change unit, but nothing is as fun either. Extreme Cooling Technologies represents a new company, and they picked up the Mach II GT and renovated it with a few new tricks to give the Vapochill a real run for its money

The new EN6800GT Dual is ASUS' answer to Gigabyte's 3D1. Based on the NVIDIA GeForce 6800GT GPU, this beast is currently the fastest dual GPU card there is.

“Today I am reviewing the latest offering from AMD, the Athlon64 X2 Dual Core 4200+. This is one of the first dual core CPUs being offered to the home market. Dual Core CPUs will become the future of computing, what is dual core, and how does it improve the performance of the CPU you ask? Well read on to find out.“

MCT has a very distinct aroma, almost identical to that of antifreeze coolant used in cars. Not only do they have similar smells but they also resemble each other very closely as far as looks; that very distinct green color.

"DFI is a well-established brand in the motherboard industry, a name known by every computer enthusiast for their high quality and high performance motherboards. The LANParty motherboard series was designed to suit the needs of gamers, overclockers and enthusiasts alike, to provide outstanding performance, while looking every bit as sharp as it runs. Each time DFI releases a motherboard, they design it to meet the user’s highest expectations. The DFI LANParty nForce4 SLI-DR motherboard is no exception, with a host of features that make it a very welcome motherboard for AMD users. I found very little wrong with this motherboard and was impressed with its overall abilities and the end user control. Let’s take a look at it in more detail."

The bridged card opens up the X800 XL for a well-established market that covers a plethora of chipsets, and the Rialto bridge doesn't appear to hurt performance at all. GeCube's eschewed the reference design by using an in-house cooling system, although it's not as elegant as the company's Uni-Wise implementation. Going with a custom cooler has added extra noise over and above the reference card's, so GeCube loses a few marks here. The card, too, is a larger-than-normal affair, making installation into small form-factor PCs needlessly difficult. The saving grace, as far as design is concerned, is the inclusion of ATI's no-frills Rage Theater ASIC, giving rise to basic VIVO functionality. The bundle makes a point of reiterating the card's HDTV and VIVO compatibility, but, other than that, it's strictly average.

"Having used the Razer Viper for a long time now the first thing I noticed when grabbing hold of the Diamondback is that it feels a little bigger. This isn't a bad thing as one of my complaints with the viper was it's size."

"This article shows you how to access files remotely through Remote Desktop and VPN among other tips."

“As each of the three shader ALU arrays is a separate array there is no dependency between one another so what programs are being executed on them at any one point in time is completely independent - at a snapshot in time they could, potentially, all be vertex processing, all be pixel processing or there can be a mixture of both vertex processing and pixel processing occurring on the three different 16 ALU arrays.”

"Summer is around the corner and is threatening our hardware with intense heat. Sytrin takes cases to the next level by providing innovative airconditioning cooling but at a high cost."

In an age of "over plastic" and wildly designed cases a classic looking case may grab your attention as never before. The RAIDMAX X1 case maintains the appearance of a mild-mannered case while including all the right features to turn heads... without feeling overly pre-mod.

"This is part 2 of InsaneTek's 1 year anniversary contest. The prize is a modded Thermaltake Kandalf case featured in our Ultimate Gaming Rig article. The contest will only run for 1 week and will end June 19th, 2005. Hurry and enter yourself for a chance to win a spiffy case!"

"The matter of choosing between the operating system (OS) running the web server hosting your web site as old as the web hosting business. The OS controls all the functions of the web server hosting your site, so it comes naturally to pay special attention when choosing one over another. But what are really the options you have?"

“The brainchild of Abit Computer, ACON5 is a global computer gaming event that pits the best players from around the world. Competitors competed to represent their country in the ACON5 world finals in China. We have the results.”

One of the best software advancements of 2005 has to be Mozilla's Firefox. Firefox has gained a lot of notice this year; therefore, it is rapidly gaining share on Microsoft's Internet Explorer. It's not only security that fuels Firefox's gain, but also the ability to customize the browser to your liking and extensions that streamline your browser experience. This article looks at Themes, Extensions, active bookmarks, and changing the browser's interface with Cascading Style Sheets.

“So all you've been seeing are those fancy-schmancy articles with their X800 or X850 video cards with Athlon 64s or Pentium 4s? Well boo on that because we're looking at what happens when pairing ATi's newly released Catalyst 5.6 drivers with the Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB!”

Compro just informed us they are bringing USB TV Stick to the market. Measuring at just 9 x 2.6 x 1.1 cm, the U880 is really just the size of a large USB flash drive, like the original DiskOnKey. Dubbed as VideoMate U880, the midget-sized TV tuner offers USB bus-powered at the expense of stereo audio and hardware encoding.

Many of you have no doubt discovered all the wonders of MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) and other emulators out there, but you may have yet to realize that there are far better alternatives than that Microsoft SideWinder gamepad and that crusty keyboard of yours for controlling the games you play. XGAMING currently offers a solo and dual joystick, called the X-Arcade Solo and X-Arcade Two-Player, respectively.

Albatron has built a competitively priced motherboard, which is based on Intel's high-end i925XE chipset. It comes completely passive cooled, only the CPU fan is producing noise, making it a good Media PC motherboard.

The Venice core offers a slight performance increase over its predecessors and although this is impressive in itself, I was more interested in the overclocking abilities of this new core. This stepping consumes less power and produces less heat, and this no doubt played a huge roll in the overclocking success of the Venice core. Utilizing just basic air-cooling and a Gigabyte nForce4 Ultra motherboard, this 2.0GHz AMD processor soared to an unbelievable 2.7GHz!

"Anybody that reads the reviews here at Systemcooling knows that we like Thermalright heatsinks, and over the last few years, they have reigned almost exclusively as king of the hill in CPU cooling power. Unlike many other cooling companies though, Thermalright has stuck pretty much to cooling only CPU's. That fact has been a matter of some lament, as there are many of us who wish we had the power of Thermalright to cool other areas of our system, especially video cards. Well, we don't have to wait any more. Today, we're taking an exclusive look at Thermalright's entry into the GPU cooling world, the V1. Cut from same cloth as their newest heatsinks, the XP series, the V1 could be just what the video-cooling geeks dream of - an XP-90 for their GPU."

“When it comes to looking for a new PC monitor, there is never a shortage of choices out there, however only recently has the PC gamer had to seriously consider the LCD in their research for the right choice. With CRT's taking up more and more desk space, this advancement could not have come any sooner. Today, we check out the BenQ FP71E+ 17" LCD, an LCD which is directly touted by BenQ as gamer friendly. Does it live up to this status, or fall on its flatscreen face?”

I've put together all the tweaks and tips I could find to help you run the Battlefield 2 Multiplayer Demo as smoothly as possible into my brief Battlefield 2 Tweak Guide. This guide has 2 pages of the known tweaks for BF2, and should help overcome many of the difficulties people have been experiencing with this game - check it out. The complete BF2 Tweak Guide will be here shortly after the full version of Battlefield 2 is released in late June

"The first thing anyone will notice about this keyboard is the fact that it lacks any sort of printed characters on the keys. The designer of this product wanted to make a keyboard exclusively for computer elites. These people ostensibly have the standard 104-key layout memorized to the point that character inscriptions are only holding them back. The included flyer points out that if there are no keys to look at when you are typing you will look down less and soon be able to type more rapidly. In addition to faster typing, having a blank keyboard on your desk should definitely garner you some well-earned respect."

"The Mushkin Redline HP3200 modules were astonishing because of its super overclocking ability where it can do 250MHz at 1.5-2-2 timing with 3.5VDIMM, which is on par with the Redline XP4000 series. The Mushkin 1GB Redline HP3200 only costs about USD157, which is USD30 cheaper than the Redline XP3500 (USD89) and USD60 cheaper than the Redline XP4000 (USD213). If you have limited budget, you can get the Mushkin Redline HP3200 and overclock it to DDR500 or more if you are lucky. Besides that for those don’t have DFI nF4 series motherboard, the Redline HP3200 will serve you well because it does not need high VDIMM to achieve lower latencies."

I'm glad to announce that from today I am able to review products for the AMD platform as well. But seeing the AMD hardware needed a case to house in I came across the ASUS Vento3600. Which goes around for aprox. €140,-. Would my AMD3500+ feel secure enough in its new environment? Enough said lets take a look at the ASUS Vento3600 Blue Edition.

NVIDIA's nForce4 chipset is the high-end platform for the Athlon 64 currently. With its support for PCI Express and SATA RAID, this is a much-desired chipset for the enthusiast market. And now for the first time, it is also available in small form factor via the Shuttle XPC SN25P.

All computer related parts and components are evolving very fast during the last decade. The computer case is not left out from this rapid evolution. The simple beige cases that you probably still see o­n older systems are becoming extinct. Cases have come a long way, so today there seems to be a case catering not o­nly to a group of people but individual styles as well. o­ne portion of the market is the gaming case, which are supposed to be not too big and light, in order to be carried easily to LAN parties for example, but also to be very good looking in order to draw attention to it. The functionality of the case is a major concern too. Let us see how much effort NZXT put into this case while designing and manufacturing it.

Executives confirmed that the company plans to enhance its Opteron enterprise processor line to four cores in 2007, adding focused optimizations to manage power and improve throughput.

"It appears as though DDR2 memory is becoming more and more mainstream. It also appears OCZ, with its EB Platinum Edition, is serious about staking the claim of performance in this arena. With CL timings that you would be hard pressed to match, especially at PC2-5400 speeds, looks like the stake is driven deep."

www.hardwarezone.com® took a tour of Elitegroup Computer System's motherboard fabrication factories in China. Here we witnessed the heart of ECS' manufacturing operations and learned that 'Progress' is their most important product.

"SilverStone has been focusing a lot on HTPC cases and their Lascala LC13 is a great choice. The style is sleek and will blend into a home theatre setup without a problem."

"With the price of USD22, the Vantec Internal Card Reader isn’t expensive at all, considering that most of the card readers are price about the same. Besides that, the Vantec Internal Card Reader supports many types of memory cards, which are more popular among the others. It is also easy to install and user friendly. If you are thinking of getting an internal card reader, you may consider this product from Vantec."

The alliance between Nokia and Intel, the No. 1 maker of computer chips, is aimed at refining WiMax for mobile devices such as laptop computers, mobile handsets and network base-stations.

" I think it's pretty obvious from the photo's that this kit is one of the most stylish peripherals that you can get.
Installation is straightforward and for anyone who has migrated to SATA or has upgraded their old IDE to a larger capacity - this is a fantastic kit. In fact if I hadn't had a stash of drives lying about I would have probably gone out and bought a new one just to show this kit off to my friends. "

"The Mushkin 2GB HP3200 Dual Pack is really a 2-in-1 combo. You get great gaming perfromance at very tight timings coupled with huge amounts of RAM for applications that need it. A definite winner wherever you look at it."

LOS ANGELES - Microsoft Corp. was near a deal Friday to sell the rights to make a movie based on hit video game series “Halo” after a recent round of Hollywood talks in which a high asking price and demands for creative input drew the ire of some parties, sources said.

"Although Altec Lansing was never a strong competitor to Logitech and other dedicated speaker manufacturers in terms of innovation, the company has managed to stay afloat due to affordability of the products it produced. However, Altec Lansing seemed to have changed its presence recently. The company is surely not the affordable manufacturer it once was, but it is moving rapidly towards becoming one of the innovative consumer electronics companies in the industry. It has proven that with the surge of specialized speaker units made specifically for Apple’s iPod. As a new edition to its previous inMotion series of products, Altec Lansing has added unique capabilities to the latest inMotion iM7."

Seagate unveiled 10 new products today, signalling to the industry that they mean business. In an aggressive move to dominate all storage market segments, Seagate has once again proven that they are still the technology leader.

"Overall, the animation is pretty good, although the detailing and forms of the characters are a little sloppy at times. After you get past that, the character design is decent, each character has their own unique, although somewhat cliche quirks that they bring to the table, right down to the kind hearted but sexually perverted monster companion...."

"Thermaltake's passive Sonic Tower was not only great because it was fanless, it's one of the best coolers available today in terms of performance. Can the Schooner do the same for GPU cooling? Perhaps."

The ECS RX480-A is a new entry-level board from ECS that is based on the lesser known ATI RADEON EXPRESS 200P chipset for the Socket 939 Athlon 64s. We take it for a spin and find its huge overclocking potential a surprise feature that will definitely entice budget overclockers.

"I should take a moment to mention the whole premise behind the OCZ ModStream power supply design which is the inclusion of modular cables. The cables are all terminated inside the power supply and left mounted with basic male plugs. It is up to the end user to pick and choose the Molex lines they want to plug in. The ModStream comes with a healthy selection of modular and UV sleeved cables. You get a dual SATA, a PCI-e video card connector, two dual Molex connectors, one single Molex and one floppy drive connector."

In this review, we will be testing two of their CPU coolers, the KestrelKing V (SP792B12-U) and the KestrelKing VI (SP779B3-1). Both coolers support the AMD64, Opteron and Sempron platforms (K8).

I am a modder...It is a sickness, I realize that now, the need to try and make a mod better and better; adding more and more; modding it til it bleeds... Project Lament: HELLRAISER Cenobite is finished and I am better now. I wanted to prove to myself I could make a professional quality horror themed mod, it turned out better than I could have hoped and I think I nailed it. Don't take my word for it though check out the entire six page worklog.

There are just tons of different RAM out there, each not compatible with one another or the CPU or motherbaord that you have. These guides are meant to clarify what each type of memory looks like (with the help of Corsair ), the differences between each type, the basics of what all those numbers mean, and how to choose the right memory for you!

“As a former top web hosting salesman, I have decided to come forward and shed some light on the industry. The rapidly growing world of web hosting, domain names, and basic web design is still a mystery to many interested people.”

"Once the steel ring is attached to the camera mobile phone, the AmacroX Super Wide Camera Phone Lens can be offered into place and it will be held securely by the magnetic ring built into it. The process of taking photographs using the camera mobile phone does not change and the user should proceed to take a photograph how they normally would, according the camera mobile phone manufacturer instructions..."

The Albatron K8SLI featured a number of interesting board design methods. However unfortunately I found there were more negative aspects of the design to speak of. Although the board did save space by not requiring an SLI card selector, I felt the whole SLI setup was flawed. First and foremost the dual PCIe 16x slots were placed far too close together which has been a common flaw found on most nForce4 SLI motherboards.

"The majority of what has just transpired happens deep inside an automated machine. So I did not actually get to see all of this process. But if they would have let me crawl inside the machine to watch I would have. I don’t think my skin would have liked the acid bath."

HEXUS managed to get down and dirty with a Crossfire based rig today. The solution was running on a complete reference design, which was built by Sapphire - an ATi AIB and Motherboard partner.

“If you don't mind having to work a little on the install and you want by far one of the best performing coolers we have reviewed, then please take a look at this cooler. I can't stress enough how well this cooler performs with minimal sound.”

“External Hard Drives are usually much more expensive than their counterparts, and even if you do opt for one from a drive manufacturer, they tend to not focus on overall aesthetics and usually are quite unappealing in design. Chances are, a majority of PC users have an extra internal drive lying around that can be put to good use. That's where external exclosures can be an inexpensive solution to portable storage. The new Vantec NexStar 3 touches on overall design as well as function. With its sleek, low-profile styling, this hot-swappable enclosure will appeal to users looking for style, quality and overall functionality.”

"With the recent announcement of the Crossfire platform, the graphic industry spotlight has been shifted towards ATI. While we anxiously wait to get our hands on a Crossfire based card we give their All-in-Wonder series flagship card a whirl. The X800 XT All-in-Wonder is the latest and greatest multimedia graphic processor from ATI. The X800 XT is a big step up from the previous flagship AIW, the Radeon 9800 Pro, boasting more power and multimedia features such as FM-on-Demand and EazyLook."

Possibility of Apple to transit its computers to Intel’s microprocessors have been widely discussed for years, but the actual announcement was still rather unexpected in the industry. With the transition to Intel, Apple gets a number of new opportunities, but faces some stiff challenges as well. Could the shift be a major strategy change for Apple? X-bit labs today explores this along with analysts from Jon Peddie Research and Insight 64

Microsoft was ordered last March to sell a version of Windows XP without its media player software, as part of the Commission's ruling that the software maker abused its "near-monopoly" in Europe to harm competition. By effectively forcing PC makers to include Windows Media Player with every computer they sold, Microsoft gained an unfair advantage over rivals such as RealNetworks and Apple Computer, the Commission said. The Commission is the E.U.'s executive body.

“Today I have a new 12 in 1 Flash Card Reader from Crucial Technology. When you hear the name Crucial, you think of high quality memory. Since flash cards are a type of memory in itself, it was only natural that a company like Crucial would start making flash cards and readers. Let us find out if their card readers can meet the Crucial standards that we have all come to know.”

"Gigabyte's cooler doesn't just end with the Rocket cooler. While the G-Power cooler may look like Thermalright heatsinks, it differs and benefits in its own special way."

Since Windows XP Pro 64-Bit was released, there has been a lot of speculation of whether it would help current gaming or anything else in general. We put both versions of the OS through a round of benchmarks to see if the 64-Bit does indeed offer any advantage.

"At 3.2V, the OCZ PC4000 Gold Dual Channel VX seemed very happy and the system was stable all the way up to 260 MHz. Anything higher caused more stability problems. It seems like the memory was starting to top out, since the voltage had to be increased substantially to squeeze out a few more MHz. In the end, the memory hit a high of 268 MHz while running using 2-2-2-5 memory timings with a voltage of 3.5V . Increasing the voltage higher actually lowered the memory's maximum overclock."

Today we are going to take a closer look at the low-cost solution for implementing a RAID 0, RAID 1 or RAID 10 storage system with up to four high performance Serial ATA disk drives. The controller supports Serial ATA II, Extensions to SATA 1.0 specification and features including Native Command Queuing and Disk Activity LED headers. In addition the controller also supports Tagged Command Queuing with drives that can take advantage of this capability. Read the review for more details.

"Mushkin Redline XP4000 is most definitely very high speed, high quality double data rate memory. When combined in a dual channel kit, with the usage of a high powered DFI LANParty motherboard such as the DFI SLI-DR this memory will scream to heights previously unfathomable. What I found truly remarkable about the Mushkin Redline XP4000 DDR 1GB memory kit, was the ability to not o­nly reach very high front side bus speeds, but at incredibly tight timings as well. With rated timings of 2-2-2-6 at 500MHz DDR - the memory is already very fast. As evidenced by my benchmark testing, this memory will attain even higher scaling - as you can see by the results posted running DDR550 at CAS-TRCD-TRP-TRAS memory timings of 1.5-2-2-5."

"Apple’s recent collaboration with Intel to use its microprocessors surged a great deal of interest throughout the industry. Though there are several arguments spanning the market currently, one thing is certain – Apple has stated it will not let users install Mac OS X on non-proprietary hardware, even though the CPU will fully comply with x86 architecture. The only apparent way for Apple to achieve that is by using some form of protection technology, however, that may ultimately turn out to be a fatal strategy."

The VRD-VC20 is Sony’s 2nd generation stand-alone DVD recorder. The VRD-VC20 adds a DV (1394) digital video input and dual layer writing capability to the previous generation VRD-VC10. The VRD-VC20, like similar products, is directed at the consumer who has amassed a library of analog video recordings and would like to convert them directly to a DVD – without connecting to a PC. Unlike a combination VCR / DVD recorder, the VRD-VC20 contains no tape drive and is therefore very compact. When not performing as a stand-alone DVD recorder, the VRD-VC20 connects to a PC for general DVD recorder duty

"If you are any of those then this kit is awesome. The tight timings and overclocking headroom make this kit an excellent choice. Having 2GB of ram gives you some nice options when it comes to system performance and usability. You can totally eliminate any virtual memory in the system, and you also have the ability to make a good sized high speed ram drive. Try running an app out of a ram drive and you will never want to use your hard drive again."

If you're a serious gamer any extra edge in performance and ease of game play is greatly welcome. Well today we take a look at the newest mouse pad from Qpad their Gamer LowSense Mouse pad. This over sized mouse pad could give you that added extra edge you're looking for

"Next up is the X-1's front bezel door. Many cases have front bezel doors that take up the top half of the front bezel but on the X-1, the door takes up the entire front bezel. This is not a good or bad thing use wise. As far as looks go, I'd say this is a plus. The drive bays are completely hidden and the door is seamlessly attached to the case. On the right side of the door, there appears to be some tall ventilation slots, but these are merely solid ridges in the door. Another thing I should add is the left side of the door is made out of metal, not look-alike plastic."

"To start with, the PQI mPack P800 supports a pleasingly large array of formats. For video, MPEG 1,2 and 4 (and DivX) are covered, along with XviD, WMV and ASF. An equally wide range of audio formats including OGG, AC3, AAC, WMA and WAV files are supported in addition to the traditional MP3. To top it off, the mPack P800 even supports a range of picture formats beyond the expected JPEGs. GIF and BMP pics can be viewed, and even RAW images, something that should make photography enthusiasts smile."

The best booth of Computex goes to IWILL. They showed off an amazing dual Opteron Small Form Factor PC with dual NVIDA video cards in SLI mode. However, what put IWILL over the top was the full fledge open bar they set up. Inside the booth were hot babes serving cold drinks. And they were even offering ice cream floats! Needless to say, the IWILL booth was one of the busiest of Computex.

SANTA ANA, Calif.--A jury in U.S. federal court found that Microsoft infringed on a Guatemalan inventor's 1994 patent on technology linking the company's Access and Excel programs, and ordered the world's largest software maker to pay $8.9 million in damages.

Microsoft CEO Stave Ballmer introduces new versions of Windows Server Update Service and Microsoft Update to make it easier for customers to find and download security patches and software updates.

AMD announces a new E6 stepping for Mobile Sempron socket 754 62W and low-power AMD Sempron mobile (25W). The E6 stepping is pin-to-pin compatible with the D revision. With this revision, the processor ID is now changing from 10FC0h to 20FC2h and requires a BIOS update to be properly recognized. AMDboard.com has the news and the latest Mobile AMD Sempron OPN

Allthough outside of Europe Club-3D might not be such a big name, but here in europe they are really getting to be noticed bigtime. Today i have been givin the chance to see what the Club-3D ATI X850XT is capable off and to test it with a ATI Silencer 4 from Artic Cooling. Both stock cooler and the Silencer take up two slots so which of them will perform better?.

Ever wondered what an ultimate SFF would look like? Here in Part 8 of our Computex coverage, we take a good look at what Shuttle and NVIDIA's suite had in store as well as other notable sightings around the many halls.

"TITAN isn't always fast with product releases but when they do have something new, it's always pretty promising. Continuing the line of girls, the external watercooling kit named Bianca is released."

"When Intel launched the i945 chipset and the Pentium D 820 dual-core CPU, they also released their newest 600 series single-core processor, the Pentium 4 670. This processor runs at a blazing fast 3.8GHz and sports all of the features of its predecessors. While many people think that a dual-core processor will own any of its single core cousins, that may not necessarily be the case. Let’s take a look at this processor and then see how it performs when compared to Intel’s latest dual-core chips."

"It’s a known fact that Intel has failed to deliver a viable desktop solution since it launched its Prescott microprocessor. In addition to delivering a poor and expensive solution, the abundance of technologies with its 915/925 chipsets left the platform at an almost destructive state with memory and motherboard manufacturers frustrated at the lack of sub-par sales."

" A Central Processing Unit is one of the major components of a computer. The CPU controls logic flow and other control type operations. There are many different things inside a modern CPU. How it works is what we are after today. "

Completely silent and fragtastic gaming? Oh yeah, baby, and it comes in the form of Gigabyte's Silent-Pipe Radeon X800 XL. By now, we all know that the X800 XL offers a lot of bang for the buck, and if you read my last couple of X800 XL reviews, you would know that ATI's stock cooler on the X800 XL is quite noisy. While some companies are releasing 'quiet' or 'nearly silent' X800 XL solutions, Gigabyte completely eliminated the noise problem by extending its Silent-Pipe technology to this excellent VPU.

“This past holiday season, one of the biggest things on peoples lists were digital cameras. Many people are just starting to really experiment with their new toys, now that the weather has gotten nicer. We've put together some tips every camera user should know about handling their flash storage cards.”

With so many cases on the market today, smart shoppers are looking for a way to stretch their dollar without having to give up quality and style. Dynapower USA brings us the Black Widow Case combining custom looks with a solid features list.

Eventually technology wins through, and today I want to look at a CPU which by its very existence marks a completely new era in personal computing. In life, when you can't get your work done in the time allotted you get an assistant in, and AMDs new Athlon X2 follows that premise precisely with what is essentially two CPUs in a single package each handling a share of the processing burden.

“Good heatsinks are a little hard to come by these days as CPUs get hotter and hotter. We either get good performers at high noise levels or "ok" performers at low noise levels. Today, we look at ThermalTake's Big Typhoon, which promises to help cool your CPU well but at a low noise level.”

Samsung has sent us their Digimax V700 one of two new additions to Samsung’s V-Series. Samsung unveiled the V700 at PMA 2005 in February. Initially priced at a very low $409.99, the V700 is available in 3 stylish colors: noble wine, indigo blue, and milk silver (otherwise known as red, blue, and silver).

EARLIER THIS year - in fact shortly after a big Intel sales gig on Valentine's Day, we reported in the INQ on the cheers that met new marketing boss Eric Kim when he mentioned Dell in less than glowing terms.

"BenQ makes another addition to the popular flash-based mp3 player market with the Joybee 130. BenQ is known for introducing innovative products into the market, and the Joybee is no exception. As well as being a full featured mp3 player, the Joybee has a few tricks of it's own that make it very unique."

“A couple of months ago we took a look at the Ezonics 5.1 headphone set. Although it impressed us a great deal, there was still one thing missing – a microphone. Today, thanks to Xoxide and OK Gear, we’re going to take a look at the latter’s 5.1 USB headset. This type of headset is pretty nice because you don’t even need a soundcard to use them! Featuring a removable Microphone boom and on/off switch right on the headset, it attempts to cover the void left by Ezonics.”

"Those of us aware of AMD’s tremendous potential as a chipmaker have to be disappointed by Apple’s recent news that it has chosen Intel as the sole chip provider for its Macintosh computers. In addition to the Apple news, AMD continues to strike out many of the world’s largest PC OEMs, such as Dell. If the Apple news is true, this would come as a yet another financial hit to AMD and its strategies. Unfortunately for AMD, it is trapped in a vicious circle of supply and demand."

I4U reviews the PoGo! Radio YourWay LX portable mp3 player, radio and time-shift recorder. The main difference of the PoGo! YourWay LX to other MP3 players are the programmable radio recording functionality and funny enough AM reception

"I am pleased at the performance of this board, for an Athlon 64 owner looking for an AGP solution, it doesn't come better than this. The amount of peripherals Asus have bundled with the board is incredible: I have all 8 USB ports being used, the WiFi card works a treat, and the SATA raid configuration is extremely fast."

"Unfortunately, due to some conflicts in our schedule we were unable to attend the XGI Technology booth during Computex Taipei 2005. However, thanks to the generosity of the folks over at XGI we have some pictures of their items that were on display. Items include the XGI Volari 8300 and even some motherboards!"

"One of Seasonic's latest products is the S12 PSU, which is capable of delivering 430 watts of continuous power to today’s hungry computer systems. Seasonic makes a lot of claims about their PSU, so we’ll take a closer look and see what happens when we thrash it out a bit. With multiple hard drives and numerous optical and other peripherals being the norm, power is at a premium."

Albatron has worked hard to deliver a motherboard capable of performing the tasks that all enthusiasts want while maintaining a reasonable price tag that many can afford. The K8SLI is bundled with some very nice features, but some additional accessories would be nice. The ABS was a real nice touch, in case you're one of those people who happen to corrupt their BIOS occasionally. The jumperless SLI switching will be very handy for those using the full capabilities of the motherboard. The space saving, smaller layout has both advantages and disadvantages that won't be much concern to many end users.

The initial nForce4 "Intel Edition" motherboard reviews confirmed that the chipset was performing up to scratch, competing very well with the new Intel 955X chipset. However, it is now clear once again that the AMD Athlon64 series of processors are far better for gaming, when compared to the Pentium 4 processors. The Doom 3 and Far Cry games in particular demonstrated the awesome power of the Athlon64 processors.

"There is only one word to describe what this case looks like in person..."Elegant". This case has a look to it that is like no other case I have seen. Instead of having a run of the mill window or some cheesy cut out with a window. AeroCool decided to be different. "Well Dante, what do you mean by different?" what I mean is that they used mesh."

The release of Shuttle's XPC SB81P saw the debut of their 'P' series of chassis. Featuring an unconventional airflow and cooling system, Shuttle attempts to maintain their edge over the competition with this Intel 915G (LGA775) based barebones system.

The Matrix Orbital MX620 is a wonderful mod to add to your system. You no longer need to have your desktop cluttered with programs telling you that you have mail, what the weather will be like tomorrow and all your system temps. The MX620 can display all this and more!

Wacom is a renowned name in PC pen tablets for the digital artist, and are the leaders in PC tablet technology. Their tablets have been used by professionals world wide and are marked for their excellence in all their hardware. As an artist I was extremely thrilled and excited to get the opportunity to review the Intuos3 tablet, for I know Wacom is a trusted name in PC tablet technology and comes highly recommended.

"We were fortunate enough to attend Computex this year and we bring you many product highlights from various companies."

"Four score and seven year ago, Wipeout hath become popular, and now back and better than ever, we have the PSP release of WipEout Pure. A once-fading racing line Sony released is now upon us in full force. WipEout Pure brings all the basic greats from the original WipEout series, and a big ol’ fistful of new-aged tactics and fun. Back at the launch of the original PlayStation, Psygnosis released the original Wipeout. It was one of those games that really grabbed your attention, because the graphics were simply that good. Wipeout was, in my personal opinion, the only contender for best futuristic racing game going up against the F-Zero series."

"For people who spend a lot of time on their computer and who are looking to maximize productivity, there are few better upgrades than to go from one monitor to two... To simplify the process of moving to dual monitors companies like DoubleSight have come along and offered two LCD panels in one neat package. With a single purchase you can get yourself two matching LCD panels and a base which is designed to handle the adjustments that are peculiar to display duality. This review will be taking a look at the DS-1900, dual 19" LCD Monitor."

"While the ATI Radeon X700 chipset is a bit slower in performance than Nvidia's 6600GT counterpart, PowerColor does include a nice heatpipe cooler to make silent enthusiasts happy."

In Part 6 of our Computex 2005 coverage, we target the smallest and most controversial PC in the world. We also have various graphic, motherboard and C.E. updates from PowerColor, Triplex, Palit, Galaxy, AOpen, ECS, XFX X-Micro and Zynet.

"With new heatsinks coming on the market every day, it is not always easy to make a choise. The more coolers we review, the more info our readers get. That is why today we are reviewing the Thermaltake Beetle cooler with heapipe-technology. "

"While there is still one day left of Computex 2005, today marked our last day on the show floor. After an action packed week of meetings, press conferences and parties (like the famous and completely wild Wednesday night at Carnegies, as pictured above), we spent our last time on the show floor taking photos of the beautiful women who are paid to work walk the show floor and draw attention to particular companies – and who we might add do a pretty fine job of the task."

eWeek has a report that quotes Open Source Initiative acting president Michael Tiemann as saying "Microsoft reached out to me as president of the OSI and they basically said they wanted to begin a productive conversation, and we agreed to take that at face value." Later the report quotes Tiemann speculating on the the purpose of the invitation.

"The new Mushkin High Performance series offers high capacity, high performance and affordable prices. If you are looking for new memory modules with the best price-performance ratio, the Mushkin HP series is definitely something to consider.

Today, Chai puts the Mushkin 2GB HP3200 dual-channel memory kit under close scrutiny to see what this new large-capacity memory kit is capable of doing. Let's see how these Infineon-based modules perform in our tests! "

"SilenX Luxurae HDSS might not be the ideal hard drive cooler, but it is definitely a noise killer! When a hard drives get old it tends generate more noise especially under high usage. So with the Luxurae HDSS, it will reduce the noise thus bringing peace to your ears. For those are seeking for silent PC, you should take a look a the HDDS provided if you don’t mind to fork out 40USD for it."

Late Friday, CNET News reported that Apple Computer Inc. will switch to using processors (specific processor model(s) not mentioned) from Intel and that Apple CEO Steve Jobs plans to announce on during his WWDC keynote presentation this Monday.

"In addition to OpenGL 2.0 and additional Xinerama support, the CoolBits feature has finally been added to NVIDIA's Linux Display Drivers. For those unfamiliar, CoolBits is an overclocking utility for NVIDIA based cards. Support for CoolBits has been built into the Windows NVIDIA drivers for quite some time, only requiring a small registry tweak in order to enable the control window. However, CoolBits has finally made its way to Linux! In this short guide we'll share with you how to enable CoolBits in the latest NVIDIA 1.0-7664 drivers along with our successes and failures we experienced using this new feature on a few of our machines."

"PCstats knows overclocking. You know overclocking. Everybody knows overclocking. The PC runs faster and hotter, provides more performance, and yadda yadda yadda. Overclocking has become so routine in the hardware world that every processor, motherboard, memory module and videocard needs to be overclocked as part of its review. We never know if the people actually buying the hardware care about its overclocking potential, but as computer journalists and enthusiasts, we know we have to test it out. This got us thinking though; what about under-clocking? Most modern processors and motherboards can just as easily run under a rated speed as it can run over... but is there a point to this? Well possibly."

If you've already got a decent S939 motherboard on your hands it would be almost criminal not to try an Athlon 64 3000+ E3-stepping CPU. Sure, it's not hugely fast at default speeds, but I'd be amazed if 2.5GHz wasn't a given and 3GHz on the cards with better cooling. There's just something rather naughty but nice about 50% overclocks with near-default voltage. For once, you can have your cake and eat it! Yum.

"The single thumb screw releases the side panel -- these fit quite nicely, not as difficult to take off or put back on the case as some other similar methods. The acrylic window is fastened in place with plastic pop rivets."

"What's up for day 4 at Computex Taipei 2005? Well today we primarily have coverage of the latest products from Foxconn, MSI, AOpen, DFI, Powercolor/Tul, Triplex, Vantec, XGE, and Apacer."

I am reporting about the most interesting products and technologies demonstrated at Computex Taipei. Fresh news from the show floor, funny incidents, new names in the hardware industry and more in a series of article I am going to be offering you these days.

"We take a look at the first Nvidia C19 board we can get our hands on and really like the performance so far. Gigabyte's features are always top notch and the price is quite decent. There's a bit of overclocking but nothing extreme."

"If you want to save money you can buy value memory which usually does not come with heatspreaders but they are generally not needed as you would not buy value memory if you are planning on overclocking. The other option is to buy a higher end memory which is capable of running at higher voltages and of sustained overclocking. Kool Solutions has started to offer their Chill Vent Memory Cooling Fan (CVMF) in order to cope with heating memory conditions. They may seem unnecessary at first but with new motherboard capable of a VDIMM of 3.5V and systems heating up like never before conventional, passive memory cooling is not always doing the job."

WASHINGTON - Microsoft acknowledged Thursday that hackers booby-trapped its popular MSN Web site in South Korea to try to steal passwords from visitors. The company said it was unclear how many Internet users might have been victimized.

“Power supplies come in many shapes and sizes. Not many anymore stand out from the pack except for a select few. It seems that every company that makes anything computer related has joined in and decided to make a power supply, Vantec is not any different in that respect, except their power supplies are some of the ones that do stand out from the rest. Today I have the new Vantec 460Watt ION2 Power Supply for review. I would like to thank Vantec for the chance to review it. Let's find out what makes this power supply different from the others out there.”

"One of the highlights of the SilverStone Temjin SST-TJ05S-W Case is a centralized integrated thermal controller. SilverStone has included an add-on device which occupies a portion of the front bezel making the unit accessible even when the front aluminum swing away door is closed. The integrated thermal controller is capable of monitoring a total of 3 fans (HDD, SYS and CPU), each adjustable by a Mode button. A LCD display provides up to the minute temperature readings in both Celsius and Fahrenheit ranging from 0 ºC ~ 100 ºC (32 ºF ~ 212 ºF)."

“In this day and age of 5.1 speakers and surround sound, is there still a place for a set of top end 2.1 speakers that can rock your world? Of course there is! For the music lovers everywhere, 2.1 is where it’s at, and we check out Logitech's top drawer offering to see if they are up to task.”

“ This month's modder of the month is a man with an eye for design and an aspiration to become a professional case modder. He worked at an architectural models workshop which has benefited him in his modding ventures. He recommends modding only after thorough planning and preparation. To see some of his work and to learn more about him, please read on. “

"The HIS X850XT IceQ II Turbo did well today in our tests, and provides enough performance for AGP motherboard owners to perhaps convince you that it may not be necessary to upgrade to a PCIe board if you're only interested in a single card upgrade."

If you remember the PF88, it's the Pentium 4 board that could be morphed into Socket 939 Athlon 64 using an add-in card. ECS are showing off the Pentium-M (Socket 479) and AMD Socket 754 add-in cards, here at Computex

Gigabyte’s i945P motherboard is known as the "8I945P Pro" and is a member of the highly esteemed "iDNA" family ... easily the most impressive aspect of the Gigabyte 8I945P Pro is the vast amount of high-end features the board offers for just $150 US.

" When Intel released the BTX standard in 2003, ATX was going stronger then ever. We are now at a point of where ATX is hitting a limit on thermal design. Ducting can only do so much for us. It is time to move on to a new and better standard. Enter BTX... "

"Reviewers have been trying to provide benchmarks that can adequately solve this question for you. We have never seen a product launch with so much confusion around it. From our standpoint dual-core isnt new; its just an old product (SMP) that has been reborn in new skin that makes it more affordable to the end user. The same performance questions about dual processor system over a single processor remain. Until more applications are written to take advantage of multi-processor machines, multi-tasking will be the key factor."

CDRInfo presents the results of a prolonged test, which examined the reliability of DVD±RW media, after numerous cycles of writing and rewriting

Futurelooks is enjoying over 60 new shots never before seen! Somebody was hiding the good ones!

“The use of booth babes is nothing new. However, Computex uses booth babes for more than just decoration. Unlike other trade shows where the girls just stand around and look good, the babes are Computex can be divided into four working groups.”

"As the above image attests, it’s been a hectic week for us here at Computex ’05. From the plethora of company parties with unlimited bar tabs, to our meetings that begin at 9am each morning, we haven’t had much sleep. But the show must go on, and today, while being fairly uneventful compared to the past few days, was quite interesting. Again, home theatre products are huge at this year’s show, and most vendors we visited today had some sort of SFF PC on display. In the morning we visited a number of booths – Iwill, Foxconn, FIC, SiS and Scythe - and in the afternoon we visited ASUS’ Taiwan headquarters for a short tour."

The fact that XML was going to play an important role in Office 12 was already known, but the degree to which it will be incorporated is only now becoming clear. More details about the next iteration of the popular software are expected next week,

Cube was one of the first 3D first person shooters that
offered an intelligent game play complete with its own engine, using SDL and OpenGL while complying with open-source standards. Although the graphics aren't the best in the current Cube Engine version (2004), it continues to be a very popular game for open-source gamers who enjoy the most out of first person shooters. On May 31, 2005 a new GNU game has finally made its way out for public release after nearly four years in development, this game is Nexuiz

There's little doubt that DDR memory has got some life left in it. Though not quite capable of reaching the heights of the fastest DDR2 available, DDR is still quite popular and widely used especially on the AMD platforms. Today we look at a matched set of DDR modules rated for 550 MHz operation at 2.5-4-4-8 timings in the form of Corsair's XMS TWINX1024-4400C25PT.

The fourth part of our Computex Taipei 2005 coverage will concentrate on new innovations and products by A-Data, BenQ, Cooler Master, EPoX and NU. We also visited VIA to have a look at the exciting things they are doing with PCI Express.

Continuing our Computex updates, part 5 focuses on new products from Fujitsu, Toshiba, Promise Technologies, HighPoint Technologies, Transcend, PQI, Infineon and Kingston.

“Tyan used Computex to launch their new 8-Way Opteron server system. That's right, EIGHT processors (16 if you go dual core)! The system consists of two parts; the Tyan Thunder K8 QW (S4881) and the Tyan Transport VX50 (B4881).”

“The ePCs are based on digital entertainment platforms which can fit ideally in different users environments,” said Bernie Tsai, president of AOpen. “AOpen Media Center Server 400/410 is an ideal choice for the main living room, while AOpen XC REC6 is a model for the sitting room,” Tsai elaborated. The various models of ePCs form AOpen’s digital home entertainment solutions and are used in different scenarios. For example, the AOpen Media Center Server 400/410 is designed to look like your more traditional amplifier. You can store up to seven hard drives in this case as well as multiple TV tuners.

Forget about chopping a few extra windows in your case and take your bloo LEDs ... but Extreme PC Garage does feature heavily on a garage and modding stock items ...

I will start by saying that I am by no stretch of the imagination an avid gamer, but I love deathmatching and when I want to play a game I expect it to work properly. Of all the games I have installed and played I have never encountered anything requiring as many updates and patches as Half-Life 2, and of those I have had to patch to fix none have been more problematic than HL2.ost game patches fix problems with the software, but Valve has seemingly attempted to make the game more and more unplayable with each fix they roll out

Going heavy on the bare brick work with tasteful power tool adornments, XFX have stood out once again with a stand designed to look anything but chic. While all the other vendors strive to present slick stands and reps, the XFX crew are lounging around, swigging Heineken whilst ogling pin-ups of Carmen Electra and Brooke Burke.

'If you are looking for a mid-range card with passive cooling system, Tul is one of the companies that offer such solution on X700 based cards. With good performance in its class and okay bundle, PowerColor Bravo X700 is an interesting product to consider. The Silent Cooling System has proven to be a worthy addition, the passive solution performed marvelously and ran very cool.'

In short, the i945G (or i945P) is a reasonable proposition for all but the die-hard enthusiast who needs the ability to run two graphics cards in tandem. I hope that motherboard manufacturers quickly release versions equipped with the ICH7R southbridge. You'll then be able to purchase it with, say, a Pentium D 820. Perfect for huge and varied storage potential, decent sound, and the loveliness that a dual-core CPU brings.

Computex Taipei 2005 is here again as we begin our coverage of the latest products the top labels have to offer. In the first part of our coverage, we take a look at products from AOpen, Chaintech, DFI, ECS, FIC, Foxconn, MSI, Shuttle and Sparkle.

"Ah yes, another very tiring, but very exciting day at Computex Taipei 2005. First up today, we have the Tyan 8-Way server launch followed by some more Abit coverage along with plenty of information regarding ATI's Crossfire. Want to find out more? Read on."

"Dual-core processors work pretty much as you'd expect them to. At their most basic, both Intel and AMD have taken two mostly (or in the case of Intel, fully) functional processor cores and joined them together in a single processor die. Each core functions and processes data independently, and the two are co-coordinated by the operating system software. In this article, PCSTATS is going to focus on both company's versions of this technology, how it works, and the kind of performance boost you can expect from it. Currently only certain of AMD's Opteron server-class processors are available with dual cores, but very shortly AMD will release the Athlon 64 X2 line of dual-core desktop processors. Intel has taken the opposite approach, already releasing the 'Pentium Extreme Edition 840' desktop dual-core chip, while its 'Pentium D' and dual-Xeons lines are not far behind."

MILPITAS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 1, 2005--AXIOM Design Automation, formerly @HDL Inc., today announced the release of a complete SystemVerilog verification environment optimized for the AMD Opteron(TM) processor family. MPSim(TM) is currently the only simulation product offering native integrated testbench, assertion based verification, coverage and debugging capabilities that leverages multi-processor hardware to deliver up to 6x faster verification performance.

AOpen Inc. is showing off at the Computex trade show in Taipei a small desktop PC that closely resembles Apple’s Mac mini except for the use of Microsoft Corp.’s Windows operating system and Intel’s Pentium M processor.

Aiming to please photography enthusiasts, Microsoft is enhancing current and upcoming versions of its Windows operating system to allow users to more easily work with RAW image files, which take information directly from the camera's image sensor to better preserve color and detail.

Advanced Micro Devices is becoming more clear about its ambitious goals: To parlay its success in new chip technology over the past two years into market share growth and become the provider of half of all computer microprocessors within the next decade.

"Overall, we were very impressed with the packaging and the distinctiveness of SimpleTech Nitro PC4000 modules. To be frank, even after reviewing memory modules with LED lights and mirror heatspreaders, I find that the Nitro with blood-red PCB and gold coloured heatspreaders sets it apart from the rest. And needing only 2.6V to do 250MHz is simply amazing. Not everyone out there can afford or have a super overclock-able motherboard such as the DFI LAN Party NF4 series. Being able to run DDR500 with just 2.6V ensures that the modules will have longevity and run much cooler than those running at 3.0V and above."

When you're buying hardware, software, and services, you want the top combination of power, features, reliability, and value. That's what you'll find in these World Class Award winners--starting with the Product of the Year.