July 2005

The E core revision of the AMD Athlon 64 processors features an enhanced integrated memory controller. In our today’s article we will discuss what has been improved compared with the previous controller version, namely, how the new Athlon 64 CPUs work with four memory modules and what benefits the DDR500 SDRAM support has brought these processors. Find out all the exciting details now!

"Thermaltake ups the ante once again with a kick ass new power supply that provides the latest ATX power standards, incorporated with a new modular cable design with integrated LED display controller. To compliment the power supply unit, Thermaltake throws in a speed controllable fan for extra cooling power, plenty of connectors and cable sets. Continuing a legacy from the PurePower series Thermaltake offers the latests in active PFC power supply units, the PurePower ATX 12V 2.0 TWV 500W."

The ASUS P5P800 is a great entry into the Intel LGA775 Platform. Unfortunately, due to its utilization of only a three phase power cirucit, it suffers bad VCore drop under load, which can cause crashing and instability. We present an easy solder mod which changes how the board controls voltage under load, resulting in more stability and higher overclocks.

Installation of a new motherboard can be a real pain in the butt. If your new motherboard uses any other chipset then the old one, chances are you may experience the BSOD (blue screen of death) in Windows 2000/XP.

"Want your laser printer, laser fax, or copier to work and look like new again? This article will provides all the information you need to bring your laser printer, laser fax machine, or copier back to tip-top condition in 7 easy steps."

Signal Hill, CA - Saturday July 30th, 2005 - Swiftech™ today announced the release of the new Quiet Power line of heat exchangers for Personal Computers. The MCR120 and MCR220 "QP" series heat exchangers have been engineered to meet today's PC industry highest thermal loads, quality standards, and low noise requirements at competitive prices .

“The name "Quiet Power" is a reference to earlier work we did in 2002 with our liquid cooled barebones. It also perfectly reflects our focus during the months of research and development that we spent optimizing the thermal performance and acoustic noise characteristics of these radiators with low to medium output fans" said Gabriel Rouchon, Swiftech’s Chairman. Mr. Rouchon goes on to state "Mass production enables us to offer these products at extremely competitive prices while maintaining our high quality standards, and when you add the Patent Pending self-purging headers to the package, these are serious contenders to the crown of best PC radiators on the planet!

Samsung speeds into the LCD race with their latest 4ms monitor. The 730BF is an excellent 17-inch panel that just gobbles up the frame rates with its RTA accelerated Gray-to-Gray timing and comes with great color control, all in an elegant eye-pleasing package.

"When it comes to memory card readers/writers, there are numerous 7-in-1 and 9-in-1 models on the market that make memory card data transfer very convenient. Today though we will be checking out a 21-in-1 card reader/writer! Even while packing in support for 21 digital card formats, the Link Depot USB 2.0 card reader is one of the smallest to ever enter our labs."

"The High Power 480w ATX12V Power Supply comes bundled with a very good selection of adapters, cables and the wattage display itself. In the picture on the right you can see all the cables are neatly sleeved in a rainbow of colours, presumably in order to at least partially mesh with every colour scheme. Each Molex is of the quick-disconnect variety, a feature I definitely approve of."

“Gone are the days where a SMP system requires you to buy two (usually identical) processors, each with their own cooling requirements. Dual Core eliminates this by simply living up to its name - one processor has two physical cores rather than one, and while at the present time a X2 processor from AMD does indeed seem to cost twice as much as a standard Athlon64 of similar single core power, in due time the fact Dual Core eliminates the need to use two sets of pin configurations and other processor material will drive SMP system costs down even further. If there ever was a time where SMP systems would develop into a standard in the PC world, this is it, providing both AMD and Intel continue to drive these products.”

"Today, John Guzman is sharing his point-of-view regarding
mental v. physical labor. Is mental labor, such as IT and programming
work, more demanding than physical factory work? Find out John's
opinions in his latest editorial."

"With the help of the 955X chipset, DDR2 is reaching new speed records. Corsair's latest PC2-8000UL runs at extreme speeds with low
latencies. Better hurry and grab some, it's going to disappear fast."

"Basically, there aren’t many memory modules that can achieve such high speed DDR600 (or at least 275MHz) which can be used around the clock without damaging the modules. With such high speeds, the memory bandwidth is increased thus the memory performance is pretty impressive. Overall, these G.SKILL FC modules are recommended to anyone, even for extreme overclockers. Besides that, the price for it is quite attractive with its performance and one more important thing is it doesn’t require high VDIMM to achieve such high speeds. It also cost effective as you will not need a DDR Booster or a VDIMM mod to supply more juice for these modules."

Despite the initial hiccups that occurred during installation,
they were easily solved at a small additional cost. If you're lucky
enough not to need the extra backplate, you've made an excellent
investment for a powerful cooler that's very quiet. I wouldn't say it's
the quietest cooler on the market, but its up there.

These days, there are so many workstation graphics card models that it has become quite impossible to keep up with the different configurations. Therefore, we decided to compile this comprehensive guide to over 70 workstation graphics cards.

We hope this comparison will provide an easy reference for those who are interested in comparing the specifications of the various workstation graphics cards in the market as well as those already obsolescent or obsolete. We will keep this guide updated regularly so do check back for the latest updates!"

"The Chameleon has a bunch of stick on lights that you place inside your computer and you can change the colors with the knobs on your front panel. You connect all your cathode lights/fans to your Lightbus and you can set them to different rhythms, such as blinking on HD pulses, sound pulses, or any of the other selectable pulses. Now for you extreme techies, here are all the deatils..."

"Linspire Five-O is a full-featured Linux operating system which is intended for desktop use, mainly as an alternative to Windows XP. The company, which was formerly known as Lindows, has gotten a lot of press for including their OS with pre-bundled computers. Linspire's goal is to offer a complete OS which is as easy to use as Windows, but with the added performance and cost-effectiveness of Linux. Some long time Linux users have lodged complaints about the interface and the fact that this OS is designed for beginners but it has proven itself to be a great option."

"We've been wanting to do a review of an ATI video card here for quite
some time but video cards have always been hard to come by. One day
several weeks ago, we received an e-mail from a representative from
Connect3D. They wanted to send us a new ATI Radeon X800 for us to review
under Linux. We couldn't turn them down. So here we have the results of
that e-mail. We now take a look at Connect3D's Radeon X800. We'll be
checking out the Radeon X800's features, the ATI unified drivers, and the
performance of this card."

Logisys has recently released a new slew of cases, the Yin Yang series. These cases are acrylic and completely see through, but sport the cool Yin Yang design. Let's take a deeper look at this case!

Recently I have noticed an increase in technical support questions concerning the topic of memory. Often users are confused about memory timings, frequencies, bandwidth or simply what memory to buy. This article will cover all these topics and more, starting with what memory is and why we need it.

"This board has some very interesting things that someone upgrading from their older PIV or Athlon system and wants AGP and PCIe, DDR and DDR2. Overall this is a solid basic board for someone who doesn't overclock much, if at all."

"When it comes to consumer electronics, Philips is one of the top brands in the market. Even though the market is saturated with MP3 players of all kinds, there’s an interesting notion behind Philips’ ShoqBox PSS110 Portable Music System. The idea is that you can store all your music files on the player itself, but instead of listening to it via a pair of earphones, you can entertain yourself with its built-in speakers."

"ECS is really starting to get attention in the enthusiast segment with its latest line of Extreme motherboards. Though they are not exactly "extreme" in terms of overclocking, the affordability factor and stock performance of the board makes it a desirable option for the non-overclockers. Not only is ECS entering the enthusiast market with Intel and AMD platforms, but the company has actually come up with a very intuitive concept of combining both platforms onto a single motherboard."

In the spring of 2005, EliteGroup Computer Systems Ltd. (ECS) released a motherboard concept that allows users to change from an INTEL platform to an AMD platform with a simple hardware change. Will it last, or will be a passing fad? Find out here!

"The bottom of the block is coated with a gel thermal pad. This will help to form into the crevices on the bottom of hard drives and improve thermal conductivity between the copper block and the hard drive itself. Theoretically, it would be possible to replace this with a non-conductive thermal paste like Artic Alumina. However, as we will see during testing, the included thermal pad does a significant job of reducing hard drive temps as is, so Cooler Master have obviously done their homework on this one."

With the very successful GeForce 6 Series and what will probably be an even more successful 7 Series, NVIDIA is clearly back to doing things right. SLI has made the company king again, at least for a little while. SLI combined with the 7800 GTX is a whole new level of 'wow' that we haven't seen before. I think it's getting easier and easier to forget about that 5800 silliness.

By now, you've probably heard it a thousand times, but it deserves repeating. NVIDIA's 7800 GTX launch was not just a typical paper launch. A handful of companies had cards on the virtual shelves of e-tailers the day that the new card was announced. As a matter of fact, we even had a retail board for our preview article. Today, though, it's time to look at retail 7800 GTX offering from Gigabyte, a name I'm sure you all recognize.

A good set of gaming headphones is great way to increase your gaming enjoyment and not disturb the neighbors.
They are also incredibly handy at LAN parties. They allow you to focus on the sound from the game your playing
without the distraction of hearing everyone else's.

Today we take a look at new set of gaming headphones from Steelpad, their Steel Sound 5H USB Gaming Headphones.

"Session Initiation Protocol or SIP refers specifically to a language that various computers can communicate to one another in so that they can complete voice calls. It has become vitally important in recent years as it plays a central role in VoIP or Voice Over Internet Protocol. VoIP Is the rapidly growing technology which has millions of Americans throwing out their local and long-distance telephone bills and replacing them with free calls made over the internet."

Probably the biggest concern with mice, especially if you are a gamer, is how well they track. This is where both the Fireline and Blue Flame seemed to excel. Due to the 800 dpi engine, both mice tracked flawlessly. I used both mice in several first person shooter games such as Counter Strike, Unreal Tournament 2004, and Far Cry, and never once experienced any tracking issues of any kind. Movement was very precise and accurate with both mice.

“Today I have another power supply for review, the 480 Watt Power Watcher by High Power. This one features a display to show real-time power consumption to help you keep track of your wattage, via a 5 ¼' bay device. This sounds like a great idea, how many people have wondered just how much power their system is using? Let's find out if this is such a great idea, and if the supporting power supply is worth it.”

Says the PCworld article; "The dots' minuscule size, covering less than one-thousandth of the page, along with their color combination of yellow on white, makes them invisible to the naked eye, Crean says. One way to determine if your color laser is applying this tracking process is to shine a blue LED light--say, from a keychain laser flashlight--on your page and use a magnifier."

"With processor speeds rising, along with heat output, CPU cooler manufacturers have had to come out with better cooling solutions. Now we see many coolers that incorporate heat pipes along with huge massive surface area. CoolerMaster has done this with their new Hyper 6+, a new revision of their great performing Hyper 6. Will this new revision perform up to par with today’s high powered CPU’s? Let’s find out."

Today we're taking a look at a set of earphones from Shure. These are not just any set of earphones, these are the sound isolating E2c earphones. We all know sound isolating earphones used to always be very pricey and were commonly used by only performing musicians, but not anymore! Shure has these earphones priced under $150 Canadian so they are easily affordable by any serious home users. Read on to see just how well they perform

If you ask an overclocker "Best memory chips ever?" you will most probably get the reply "Winbond BH5". Unfortunately Winbond stopped production some time in 2003 and supply of these chips was running dry pretty fast. Now Winbond is back with their BH5 UTT and OCZ has built the PC-3500 Gold Gamer Extreme modules with it. The modules run at aggressive timings of 2-2-2-5 and offer a lifetime warranty for up to 3.1V memory voltage.

For the real watercooling DIY enthusiast out there, DangerDen is one of the biggest names. While we aren’t here today to settle the debate about who makes the best waterblocks on the market today, it can’t be disputed that if you are looking for parts for a watercooling project one of the first places you will look is to DangerDen. My first real foray into watercooling was with a very basic all in one kit. Browsing through many forums over the past couple years I have become familiar with the DangerDen name. Eventually we finally got in contact with DangerDen to review a couple of their waterblocks after I had put together a system to accommodate them. Here we are now to find out if it’s really worth all the effort in putting together a custom system.

Get ready because "there's going to be television out the wazoo!" This according to Jonathan Klein, the president of CNN - U.S. operations in a USA Today story on the merger of the Internet and television. Major broadcast networks, cable networks, and content providers are gearing up for the 'mother of all media battles' in staking out territory on the new and rising medium called "Internet TV".

ATI PARTNERS have already received the first batch of X800GT cards. It was not that hard to "manufacture" them as these are just plain X800 Standard with eight pipelines. It's just a matter of the BIOS, I guess, and theoretically you might be able to enable all 12 pipeslines on such card, but I am quite sure that ATI will find a way to prevent you doing it.

This year, you can visit our retail store to take advantage of the tax savings, OR order online and either schedule a pickup here at our store during the Tax Free Holiday, or have your order shipped to you FREE FEDEX GROUND* inside the state of Georgia during the Tax Free Holiday. Ordering Tax Free Online is easy! Simply choose the Tax Free method of your choice when you select your shipping method during checkout. BUT, you should consider coming out to our retail store and checking out the special events we have planned...

Today’s LCD monitors are competitively priced, offer outstanding reliability, and look better than ever. The problems that once plagued the LCD industry are now corrected, and the new trend is focused on functionality and great looks. The LG 1980Q 19” LCD monitor we are testing today looks absolutely gorgeous, and offers a plethora of different features that are sure to make your LCD monitor experience a good one.

With features such as auto-pivoting and auto-mirroring, an ultra slim panel, and a fast 8ms response rate, there is no doubt this is a serious contender in the premium sector of LCD monitors.

There's little doubt that ATI's RADEON X850 XT graphics card provides decent performance in the high-end sector. Our benchmarks have illustrated that it performs at around the same kind of pace as a GeForce 6800 Ultra, and around 5% slower than ATI's own X850 XT Platinum Edition. Performance, then, isn't really a concern.

The NEW WaterChill Xtreme12V DC pump/reservoir system with integrated reservoir and USB/Software-based control unit is the first of its kind. Packed with features and design that ensure every consumer with the markets best usability and developed especially for water-cooling this 12V pump system utilizes the ultimate balance between flow, pressure and power consumption (heat dissipation) for maximum performance. I have used the Hydor L30 pump for quiet some time now, I was eager to find out what the new pump has to offer

Back in the old days there was Zalman with their flower like passive coolers which were the ones you purchased when you were sick of the noise from your stock heatsink. Nowadays there are a lot of new types of coolers, heatpipe coolers, passively cooled water-cooling towers, and now there's the Vapochill Micro cooler, (not to be confused with the high end vapochill phase change cooling). Im taking a look at the Ultra silent version with a much quieter fan compared to the other versions.

Today we're looking at the PCI Express version of the XFX GeForce 6600GT. Several months back we looked at the AGP version of this card from them, but now it's time to see what the increased bandwidth and speed of the PCI Express slot will do for this great graphics chip.

"The ever-expanding storage on hard drives has taken a new meaning for performance seekers and video professionals, thanks to G-Tech’s G-Raid 800GB External HDD. The company’s latest hard drive features two drives in a Raid 0 configuration for performance with a Firewire 800 (and Firewire 400 for backwards compatibility) connectivity option."

Mushkin's new Redline memory modules push the limits just like our favorite race cars. The latest attempt to push the boundaries puts Mushkin in a good lead in the memory market with its new Redline 2-2-2 memory modules for the hard-core gamers abroad. Today's memory seems to keep pushing the limits with the game in mind, and that's a good thing with today's games becoming more and more demanding. So with that in mind, memory manufactures are keeping heads above water and making every effort to give all possible to those pushing their systems.

"Lately, illuminated keyboards have become very popular with the gaming and mainstream communities. From glow in the dark keys, to LED backlight models to almost everything in between. The popularity of these keyboards are due in part to the over-all look and functionality in low lit or dark rooms such as LAN Parties, late night frag fest - were a dark room sets the mood. Finding the input keys from a new game title or a late night surf session in total darkness has never been easier thanks in part of keyboards like the Pro-Series Illuminated Keyboards. Let's take a look."

If you consider yourself a hardcore gamer and want the power that two videocards bring but are not much into overclocking, then Foxconn has the mobo for you. The WinFast NF4SK8AA-8KRS is a no-frills AMD Athlon64 socket 939, nVidia nForce4 SLI chipset based motherboard with a retail price of approximately $150 CDN ($125 USD). Standard features are limited to a 7.1 channel audio controller and Gigabit LAN but there's plenty of expansion room if you need more, with three PCI slots and a single PCI Express x1 slot. Drive support extends to 4 SATAII and four IDE devices.

"Raidmax has focused on gaming cases with flashy looks. The X1 is their first gaming case that strips away all the hokey pokey and adds some sense of elegance."

Of course when it comes to designing and selling your latest graphics chip there's not a whole lot you can do to make it faster once the final chip design goes into fabrication. As yields improve and production techniques mature you may be able to wind up the frequency a little, and there's always a few tweaks that can be woven into the drivers, but aside from this the other determining factors are locked in with motherboard specifications, or are simply too expensive to implement.

Flexiglow is out with a hot new product called the "Cyber Snipa". The Cyper Snipa is designed exclusively for hard core gamers. The game pad is a keyboard replacement for hot games like Battlefield 2, Doom 3, Half-Life 2, Call of Duty and so on, where the standard keyboard is just to cramped for precision control and long term game play

SIGNAL HILL, CA--(MARKET WIRE)--Jul 26, 2005 -- Rouchon Industries Inc., dba Swiftech(TM) (Other OTC:RCHN.PK - News), the technology leader in advanced thermal management systems, and Scan Computers International Limited, the U.K.'s leading computer hardware retailer and enthusiast PC Company, today announced the formation of a new partnership to market Swiftech(TM) cooling solutions in the United Kingdom. Under the agreement, Scan computers will create an official "Swiftech Shop" on their online store, marketing Swiftech's products right next to other prestigious brands such as AMD®, Intel®, Microsoft®, nVidia® and Sony®. In addition, Swiftech and Scan also agreed to develop state-of-the-art liquid cooling solutions for Scan's 3xs line of high-end computer systems.

"Elan Raja, Scans' Director, and I share the same highest standards with respect to performance, quality, and most importantly a commitment to customer satisfaction and support. This new partnership will assist Swiftech in realizing incredible exposure and sales in the European market," said Gabriel Rouchon, Swiftech's Chairman and CTA. Mr. Rouchon went on to add, "Swiftech's advanced liquid cooling solutions are ideally suited for Scan's 3XS high-end systems as they provide extreme cooling performance, rock-solid reliability and whisper-quiet operations."

Mr. Elan Raja III, Director of Scan Computers, states, "The industry is rapidly changing... applied innovation to an increasingly aware market is the way forward. Swiftech's knowledge and passion towards its products has 'blown me away.' They have brought silent cooling, with the ability to maximize performance, one step closer to the 'cooling holy grail.' Mr. Raja continues, "Rarely do you find a 'gem' company with a strong service background. Our aim is to further expose the Swiftech brand in the U.K. and deliver the customer service experience as we have received from the staff at Swiftech... Great Products, Great Service, Continuous Innovation... What more could you ask for?"

Leadtek's WinFast PX6600 GT TDH Extreme comes with a reputation as one of the fastest GeForce 6600 GT in the market. Boasting overclocked speeds much higher than the competition, this is a card to set pulses racing. Read on to find out if it's just another pretender or a home run.

After looking at a few motherboards manufacturer’s websites, it became apparent that the location of the Northbridge chip may be problematic for this cooler, for both AMD and Intel platforms. This is not definitive though, as I did not look at every motherboard on the market today, only some of the more popular ones. Before purchasing this product check your motherboard for compatibility and any installation restriction problems that may arise.

Water coolers aren't just for the elite computer enthusiasts anymore. There are several all-in-one kits available that make it easy for a novice to enter the world of water-cooling. Evercool has one of these all-in-one kits; the Water Cooler WC-202, that includes a CPU cooling block, video card cooling block, an external radiator, and an internal drive bay unit that includes the pump, reservoir, cooling fan, and radiator

Another day, another mega zoom digicam with a 12x optical zoom and built-in optical image stabilization. This one is far from plain vanilla, however, since the PowerShot S2 IS is the replacement for the popular, year-old S1 IS. Since this is the consumer electronics business, for the same initial asking price ($499) you get higher resolution (5 megapixels instead of 3MP), a more powerful zoom (12x versus 10x), a larger LCD screen, and more importantly, the improved DIGIC II processor that speeds up all the operations (so the camera is very responsive with a minimum amount of shutter lag). And it takes very accurate images, something Canon is well known for.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Space shuttle Discovery launched into orbit Tuesday, opening a new chapter in space history more than two years after the Columbia tragedy grounded NASA's shuttle fleet.

"Our long wait may be over," launch director Mike Leinbach told the astronauts just before liftoff, "so on behalf of the many millions of people who believe so deeply in what we do, good luck, Godspeed, and have a little fun up there."

The reference Geforce 7800GTX core is clocked at 430 MHz and the memory is clocked 1200 MHz. The Gainward 7800GTX Golden Sample core is clocked at 480 MHz for the core and the memory is clocked at 1300 MHz. Yep you read it right; this is the fastest air-cooled Geforce 7800GTX card clocked at 480/1300. Memory bandwidth reaches 41.6GB/second. And the best part is that you are under warranty from Gainward at that speed.

ECS' PF5 Extreme has its fair share of good and bad points. Let's take the good first. The company's Scalable D.G.E. technology offers up a possible quad-display setup that's run off two PCI-Express cards. No, it's not SLI or CrossFire, so don't expect true dual-card 3D performance, but it's handy for those that need the screen real estate and a step up from mixing onboard graphics displays (i945G) and discrete cards'. The layout and feature-set for a £90 board are both good, too.

" There are accessories for every part of your computer today; computers get more and more complex with each passing day. Some of them are not necessary at all for functionality, some are vital for some people though. Today we will have a look o­n two accessories that are meant for the most vital part of your system, for those that value their data that is, the hard disk drives. Blacknoise was good enough to send along two products that are meant for hard disk drives; the X-Swing, which reduces noise and protects the drives from shock damage and the DriveGuard HD, a hard disk drive cooler. Let us see how useful they can be in your everyday system."

Thermaltake Technology Co. Ltd. is founded in 1999. The American branch of the company is established at the same time. After 5 years they are still going strong making and designing eye-catching hardware. As hardware gets more and more powerful the cooling solutions change just as fast. Air-cooling works great but is pretty noisy in some cases. Switching to water cooling will take care of the noise but how do they perform? Today I’m looking at the Liquid Cooling System aka "Rocket" from Thermaltake

Overall, you shouldn't expect amazing results with an X700 chipset powered video card. The performance for a hard-core gamer would be mediocre as newer chipsets and technologies have increased the expectations of what a video card should do. With SLI, and Crossfire in the works, this card looks basic. That said, I feel this card is quite capable of running any game with very high detail up to and including 1280x1024. Let’s face it, you will not be able to play games at 1600x1200 and AA turned on with any card in the $150 price range

Where, of course, the BFG Tech board does make a major differentiation is in the clock speeds of the core and memory with the default configuration for the 7800 GTX residing at a shader core of 430MHz and a memory at 600MHz, however as the "OC" implies, this BFG board is increased to have a shader core of 460MHz and the memory speed at 650MHz

"Now, this overclock is with the stock Intel HSF included with the socket 775 CPU. I started upping the FSB in small increments, waiting for a “BSOD” or some strange behaviors in performance. I was very surprised but the only system changes I noticed were increases in temps. I used the program AiBooster provided with my ASUS board to overclock. I verified all overclocked speeds with CPU-z. As you can see below, my system was able to reach 4.0Ghz with no problems."

EDISON, N.J., July 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Vonage Marketing, a subsidiary of Vonage Holdings Corp., the leader in broadband telephony, is giving ordinary home telephones a designer appeal with "Pimp That Phone" -- a contest derived from the wildly popular technology craze called case modding. Case modding -- the art of decking out the CPU of your personal computer to give it a personal touch -- is now moving to the telephone through the use of electric colors, dazzling jewels, and a heavy dose of imagination to make them truly one of a kind.

The possibilities seem to be endless... I never knew the power of a PLED screen, and the ability of Matrix Orbital’s MX610 to monitor any information your computer can obtain is overwhelming. In addition, the accessories proved to be very useful; such as the LED indicator, internal USB cable and the temperature probes. These features are coupled with a bright easy to read screen that can be seen from any angle.

"Among the Honda or Accura line of cars we can find the Integra Type-R, a High Performance car tuned to give you the utmost output. So it makes sense that UK based High Performance Group (Hiper) would use the Type-R label to indicate their top of the line PSU. The goal of the Hiper Group is to try and bridge the gap between affordable and enthusiast (read expensive) components such as power supplies, modding accessories and media centre chassis’."

This month we're pleased to give our video card yet another slight boost. Unfortunately a 256-bit 9800PRO or a vanilla GeForce 6600 (non-GT) is still out of reach, but we were able to squeeze in a 256MB, 256-bit 9600XT. This particular model uses a 500MHz/600MHz core/memory configuration. This card is more than capable of playing every new release on medium settings at the very least.

BenQ has been keeping quiet lately, but they've just dropped a bomb shell with their latest FP72V. It may not boast the fastest response time, but comes loaded with features and style. If you ever need an entertainment monitor, you'll need the FP72V.

"Today, PCStats will be checking out the econo line Foxconn WinFast NF4K8AC-8EKRS socket 939 Athlon64 motherboard. This motherboard is based on the vanilla nForce4 chipset and it seems like the only difference between this and the Ultra version is Serial ATA II (this version supports standard SATA). Other onboard features include a PCI Express x16 and two PCI Express x1 slots, an integrated 7.1 channel audio codec, Gigabit LAN and IEEE 1394a firewire."

"Swiftech has teamed up with the well-known Australian engineer Stew Forster (aka Cathar) to commercialize one the most innovative and exquisitely executed waterblocks on the market today. The Storm is based on a scalable, direct jet impingement design that has resulted in the most advanced waterblock ever produced by Swiftech. And the team didn’t forget about aesthetics either – the Storm is one good-looking piece of hardware!"

"Let's face it; the first thing you notice about a computer case is its appearance. The problem with evaluating a product's appearance is that appearance is very subjective. What one person may find attractive, another may not. So here's my impression of the X-Cruiser. Aesthetically, Aspire has done a great job with the X-Cruiser. While I'm not a big fan of cases with doors, I really like this case. It has a good paint job, comes in several colors, the window is well executed and I find the external door's retro-deco styling very appealing. Aspire has clearly spent a lot of time and effort to make what is essentially a “stock” steel case into something special..."

"Kingston's latest and greatest HyperX memory was released a few months back. Their DDR2-6000 was the fastest then and still offers great performance and overclocking headroom. But there is a steep price to pay."

SAITEK makes some pretty cool gaming products, and are well known for some kick ass joysticks. Last time we checked out one of their wireless joysticks. This time we get to check out a wired version, but with some force feedback action. Is force feedback really all that? Lets find out!

It's not easy to be a hardcore gamer. It's hard. Wouldn't it be easier if you had a job in the videogames business? Think about it: working for a software company, being able to play games during office hours, with people who share your passion. Free games, industry parties, lots of fun and good money.

Well, think again; working in the PC Games business is nothing like that. Chances are you'll end up dealing with people who just care about the financial success of the company, with marketing executives who don't give a damn whether the game is good or not because "We'll put two-million bucks behind it and it'll sell like donuts", with programmers who cannot understand why an arcade-style racing game cannot have the intricacies of a complex simulator. Still, you'll get some free games plus a decent salary. Still interested? Good

CaseModGod.com and NZXT are giving away a Nemesis Elite case! The Nemesis Elite is the ultimate armor for your hardware. Stop by Casemodgod.com for all the details.

"Enter the Athlon 64. With the high bus speeds possible on the A64 systems, GeIL has once again become a viable alternative for all computer enthusiasts, not just Intel. Today we will be taking a look at the Geil Ultra Platinum PC4400 2x256 Dual Channel Kit. These modules come as a matched pair and offer speeds up to 275 Mhz (DDR550) at CAS3-4-4-8-2T timings. Can it hold its own against the more traditional low-latency modules typically used in AMD systems? Let's find out..."

"Originally for this review I was going to go with a two-barb configuration on the CPU block, but then decided: hey... I am a wild man, so why not step outside the proverbial box and go a little crazy? So after I downed half a beer for some courage (oh the hangover! I will never down half a beer again) I proceeded to use the triple barb configuration. A nice detail on these blocks is the chrome plated housings and Posi-Seal type barbs included with them. After the initial setup I went ahead and let the water cooing system run outside for a little over 24 hours. It was my lucky day, not a single leak, and the entire system was then installed into the test rig and onto the motherboard."

“Today I finally get to review an item I’ve been trying to pin down for a long time now. Thanks to Geeks.com, I finally have an Asour VPC-1000B multimedia hub sitting on my review bench. So what is a multimedia hub? In a nutshell, this device acts almost exactly like your car stereo does. Unlike your car stereo however, this little box fits into a 5.25” spot, can read DVDs, and also doesn’t need the computer to be powered on. Interested? Read On!”

Illuminated keyboards are a great invention. They provide soft gentle light in the dark for your eyes. Therefore, it makes sense that Sunbeam Tech, a leader in computer lighting and modding, would produce its own line of illuminating keyboards. Today, we look at the Pro-Series Lite Up Keyboard, EL-K8-078K

As water cooling moves out of the garage and into the mainstream, we are seeing more and more major manufacturers embrace the water culture. With the AquaStar AS-3000, Kingwin brings its latest water solution to the masses. Is this the kit you have been looking for?

We often don't consider how fragile our computer data really is. Do you keep sensitive information on your computer that you would be upset if you lost it? Not sure? Consider this. If I told you that I was going to format your hard drive right now and you will lose all of the information on your computer, would you be ready? Or would you need to get a few files first... If you are in the second group, chances are you don't have a proper data backup solution in place to help you handle disasters.

We are testing a new liquid cooling system from Gigabyte represents a complete kit including everything necessary for immediate use. This CPU cooling solution turned out very is simple and reliable, quiet and highly efficient. Read more in our review.

"Adding additional cooling fans in your system is always great since you want to keep all your hardware components cool. Do the extra system fans help though?"

It's the season for upgrades, and you're not sure what to get? Heck, it's always time to upgrade in the land of computers. Well, today we're checkin' out ECS's Extreme KN1! Quite possibly the best value in an nForce4 Ultra board on the planet!

"LCD's are highly sensitive and any amount of pressure, touching or handling may damage it. As such, dead pixels aren't an uncommon thing. Apparently, some degree of dead pixels is to be expected. Still if you have a lot of them, it would be classified as a defective screen. So, how do you determine if you have dead pixels?"

MESQUITE, TX - JULY 22, 2005 - QuakeCon, the largest four-day gaming event in North America, announced that Intel Corporation, the world's largest chip maker, has joined the increasing roster of blue-chip companies as a title sponsor of the 10th Annual event. More than 6,000 gamers from around the world are expected to descend on the Gaylord Resort and Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas August 11-14, to frag, party, meet their online buddies in person and check out the latest hardware and software from industry leaders.

As the "Official CPU" of QuakeCon, Intel will be providing Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor Extreme Edition based tournament systems and dual Intel® Xeon(tm) processor based servers to host all of the tournament and BYOC (Bring Your Own Computer) games; as many as 3,200 hardcore gamers are expected to bring their own rigs for 96 hours of marathon gaming madness. The latest in Intel technology will also be on display in their massive 2,400 square foot booth in the exhibitor area.

GigaByte is set to release their very first PC enclosure, and we've got one here for you to take a sneak peak at. What makes it so special? I'm not about to throw in any spoilers here, but I will say that GigaByte has definitely spent some time finding out what we want. We as in gamers, enthusiast, and users of alternate cooling methods

"Working with the Neo4 was a very enjoyable experience with tons of options in the BIOS that allow a multitude of tweaking, in some ways almost too much. I found that this board was pretty picky in some regards (referring specifically to BIOS settings), and it required a significant amount of tweaking at times in order to reach overclocks that I desired with the utmost amount of stability, but after finding out the appropriate settings performed very solidly."

"When the name Thermalright is heard, the company which produces some of the best CPU coolers since a time that now seems ages ago comes into mind. Thermalright built their reputation by focusing o­n building CPU coolers and CPU coolers o­nly. Many people claim that they are the top CPU heat-sink manufacturer o­n the planet. I am not sure about that, but today I have two coolers designed and built by them which many people love and will love, the XP-90 and the XP-90C, which are very sought after within the overclockering crowd. Let us see if they are worthy of the reputation Thermalright has built over the years."

The AN8-SLI Premium board is based on the popular nVidia nForce 4-SLI chipset. I think most people know that Asus is among the world biggest supplier of motherboards, shipping 40 million in 2004. That’s a very impressive figure. Asus builds their motherboards with top quality parts and they tend to be very overclocker friendly.

"This all-black dual-fan PSU pumps out a maximum output (peak) of 580Watts, which should be quite sufficient for SLI and just about anything else you can throw at it. The power supply uses two discrete +12V rails to separate motherboard and videocard power flow. The Ace Power 580U also features a large array of connectors, including dual 6-pin connections for powering a set of SLI videocards. Obviously, the HEC Ace Power 580UB is designed with the possibility of an SLI system in mind, and would be quite suitable for that role."

“Well if you haven't been living under a rock, you have heard of and seen pictures of the new Concept Keyboard: The Optimus by Artemy Lebedev Studios. It uses OLED technology to produce a keyboard that is just simply amazing. Each and every key is its own LCD display, all of the keys themselves are fully programmable to allow the user to set the keys up to any configuration they wish. I'd like to thank Art for taking the time to answer a few questions for me about this cool technology. It's not a lot of questions, but some that I felt needed answered, and what I felt most people would like to know. I didn't want to take up to much of his time by asking 100 questions, I'm sure I could have asked lots more!!!”

"Though the manufacturer is best known for their Steelmat mouse pads, their sound division has become an instant hit with consumers. Though this is a bit surprising, bit the intense competition in the sound equipment marketplace, Steel has been able to successfully transfer their understanding of a person's gaming environment from the mouse pad to this headset. The USB version of the Steel Sound 5H headset is the same products as the standard edition, though it has a few extras. Instead of writing the whole review over, this article is going to be an overview of the differences between the two versions. "

Intel's dual-core 'Smithfield' processors are here and we have extensive benchmarks to show its performance. Find out why we think the Pentium D is the better choice and that the Pentium XE 840 is a disappointment.

If you have ever used map and compass, you will understand a little about how the GPS works. In order to find your position on a map, you need to have three points of reference. The intersecting line from the reference points is where you are. Map and compass work uses triangulation (bearings), GPS uses trilateration (distances) to calculate location. Satellites orbiting the earth emit unique signals that can be received by a GPS. The GPS software interprets the signal, identifying the satellite that it came from, where it was located, and the time that it took for the signal to reach the system. Once the receiver has both time and distance it begins to determine position.

“Today I am reviewing the PC-767 Lian Li all aluminum PC case. This case is very attractive with its two tone aluminum exterior, but when it comes to the pc cases, looks aren't everything.“

"For starters, stability is by far the most important aspect of any component as central to a computer system as a motherboard, and the KN1 has that box checked. There was no point during my two-day testing of the KN1 in which I experienced stability problems. All of the on-board components just worked, and at no point did I have to participate in quirk discovery/utilization (as is common with many other motherboards). Coupled together with its near-complete domination of our benchmark charts, and it is obvious that this motherboard is one to be reckoned with."

The power supply has historically been one of the most overlooked pieces of any high end PC. Over the last year, PC power has come to the fore front as high end consumers suddenly found the latest hardware both hungry for power and requiring a wide variety of new cables. With so many good power supplies on the market, it takes something more to stand out from the crowd. High Power may have what you are looking for in their Power Watcher line of power supplies.

The Gold line from OCZ now targets gamers who require plug-n-play low latency memory. The memory is rated with low voltage and runs
timings of 2-2-2-5. It also overclocks quite well after giving it some juice.

At this year's Computex in Taiwan, ECS announced the big brother of the successful KN1 Extreme Motherboard - the ECS KN1 SLI Extreme. It is based on NVIDIA's nForce4 SLI chipset and aims at delivering an affordable SLI motherboard, while still having features like Dual Ethernet and IEEE1394. During all our testing the KN1 SLI showed excellent performance, but can it deliver the overclocking the enthusiasts want?

NVIDIA today released new ForceWare 77.76 beta drivers which support some new features. Firstly this driver adds bridgeless SLI modes for the GeForce 6600 and GeForce 6600 LE cards. The second major improvement is SLI Antialiasing (SLI AA).

Welcome to the newest in the latest line of astounding quality unique articles – with ultra performance boost and Extreme HyperboleTM technology which will change your digital life, your way, all ways for the next generation of industry-leading capability – the Kn9PQY73962-2n V.2 GTX UltraMAX edition – a remarkable innovation with royal performance!

If you need high data rates and really don't need the hassle of downtime thanks to a dead hard drive, RAID is your answer. If you want efficient usage of disk space, you're going to need an add-in card for a decent solution. If you want to combine all that with low CPU usage and ease of use, then the XFX Revo 64 is the card for you.

What lies ahead are two of the most extreme gaming systems based on Intel and AMD platforms. The 2005 Editor's Choice Gaming Rigs are big, fast and will help you frag the hell out of all that dare stand in your way. Read on at your own risk; definitely not for the weak hearted.

Competent and functional are appropriate descriptors for many of GeCube's graphics cards. Together with a competitive price tag, this has earned GeCube its fair share of fans. GeCube has aimed big with its unique hybrid cooler for its latest offering, but is it as quiet and cool as it is touted?

As the savior for all those consumers with buyer remorse that invested in a AGP based computer, you still have options that will have you gaming right along with even the best of what most PCI Express cards have to offer. If you do not have enough money to upgrade your whole system to the newest hardware, you can easily just upgrade to this AGP card and buy yourself the time to make your computer last and still have an excellent gaming experience.

The Zalman ZM-RSA Headphone Amplifier is definitely the PERFECT companion for the Zalman ZM-RS6F Theatre 6 headphones. If you want your very own cinematic/console gaming experience and have about USD$70 (Amplifier) + USD$45 (Theatre 6) to spare, I'll definitely recommend you to go get the combo, because it really adds a new private dimension to gaming and cinema especially you don't have top of the line 5.1 channel surround sound BOSE speakers to complete your Home Theatre experience, this comes pretty damn close.

When a Linux LiveCD distribution is needed for a thumb drive, we generally turn to SLAX due to its exceptional reliability and variety of packages while keeping to a diminutive size. Earlier this morning SLAX 5.0.6 has finally been released. Continue on to visually see all of the improvements made in this version of SLAX. Some of the updates include KDE 3.4.1 and the Linux 2.6.12.2 kernel.

The Chieftec BIG Tower taken from the BRAVO Series is already available with an integrated innovatek High End Water Cooling System with a DUAL Radiator. Only the remaining hardware components must be installed. Because of the integrated HPPS Plus 12V Pump you do not need any additional connection to the outside of the PC. The system is directly connected to the power supply in the PC and is ready for usage almost at once.

The completely closed HDM Dampening Boxes cool and decouple each Hard Drive reliable and effective and lower the temperatures and noise levels to a perfect level. The two-parts Aluminium Decouplig System (consist of an internal and an external frame) ensure highest effectiveness. The Hard Drive is to be mounted in the Aluminium internal frame and is thereby optimally cooled and decoupled. An additional dampening with foamed material (which would just suffocate and heat the Hard Drive) is not necessary any more.

During Computex 2005 in Taiwan we noticed a very funky looking computer case from Gigabyte. The Taiwanese company has since released their futuristic-looking and all aluminum body "3D Aurora" enthusiast computer case into the market and we've taken a closer look at the product. If you're on the market for a new and quality computer case with a lot of classy features, read on and learn more about the Gigabyte 3D Aurora.

More than just an update in write capabilities, the new BenQ DW1640 actually features a different OPU (Optical Pickup Unit) from its predecessors. That said, would the DW1640 uphold BenQ's newfound reputation in great drive performance and quality writing? Let's find out.

The first thing you will notice when unpacking the Eclipse case is how light it is. Because the Eclipse comes with no power supply and is constructed of aluminum, it weighs in at only 13.5 pounds. Along with its compact size, this makes it a very good candidate for a LAN party rig.

Just like MP3 players are the latest buzz in the consumer electronics industry, cordless keyboard and mice are the latest talk in the peripherals market. Logitech, a company known for its innovation and a solid product line, at least most of the time, has come through with yet another mouse that may interest you.

Everyone has seen an Xbox and a PS2 in action and we are all waiting to see which of the two next generation consoles for the two systems will have the edge when it comes to graphics. We have all seen the screenshots of the games on the two systems but what about actual gameplay graphics. Despite the hot debate, when you look at the numbers the two systems use a different but equally effective method of delivering graphics processing power. The XBOX uses a custom ATI processor with 48 graphics pipelines and the PS2 has a custom NVIDA graphics processor with an estimated 24 pipelines. The numbers are misleading because the PS2 piplines are more powerful than the XBOX pipelines. In the end the two different graphics processors will deliver about the same amount of power, we can expect to see impressive results from both sides.

There’s no doubt that Apple’s iPod product line has been garnering a lot of attention ever since the first iPod was launched back in 2002. Since then, Apple has managed to push its iPod line to a point where it’s more like a cultural accessory in addition to the traditional consumer electronics device. In fact, Apple’s iPod is the world’s most popular portable audio player with as much as 80 percent of the market share.

The overall style of the case is fairly pleasing to the eye, with a large aluminum bezel on the case's front door. The aluminum doubles as the handle to open the door, since it just out over the left side about half an inch. The rest of the front is made of white plastic. The white panels of the case feature a fairly standard white painted over steel finish.

Something that has almost become a "must have" in the audio scene these days is surround sound. It's definitely not a bad thing though, it's ability to put you right in the center of action has added a whole new level to watching movies. However, there are literally tons of options available on the market when it comes to choosing a good surround sound home theatre system. Today we are looking at one system from Samsung which is loaded with many useful features on both the receiver and the 5.1 set of speakers.

"We already know how the European version of this PSU stacks up, the Type-R 480 received an Approved Gear Award and the Type-R 580 received the esteemed Pimp Gear Award. But it isn't always just the equipment that you have to look at, the company's ability to communicate and provide support are equally important. I've already seen Hiper's staff in action when there was a hiccup during testing on a previous PSU review, and they immediately went way beyond what one would expect to ensure that their equipment didn't didn't have a design flaw. Turned out it didn't, and after seeing Hiper's response I have a lot of confidence in their technical support staff."

"The installation went well, with no Significant issues to be noted. One nice thing about this card is the lack of a power source; No extra molex is needed to run this particular card. This minimizes messy wires for that neat freak. Now some may think this card is large, and depending on your motherboard layout you may have space issues. The card comes very close to the heat-sink fan on my Asus P5WD2-Premium. It may be close, but it did not pose a problem."

It's the season for upgrades, and you're not sure what to get? Heck, it's always time to upgrade in the land of computers! So the question is, "Don't want to spend too much money?" Well, have come on in and see if you're getting great bang for your buck!

"Although we've only recently begun examining SunbeamTech
products we've known of their long product legacy for quite some time.
One of the areas that SunbeamTech specializes in is the market for
controller/multi-function panels. In this review, we'll be checking out
the SunbeamTech Chromatic Windmill."

The 200GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 SATA NCQ drives earn praise for several reasons. The results from the various tests show that this generation of drives provides a performance boost over the previous generation, whether the system is capable of implementing NCQ or not. The availability of NCQ just makes the drives even more appealing for those with a system (or controller) capable of taking advantage of this new technology. The drives are worth considering by those without NCQ support, as the solid performance on their present system will only be enhanced by a future upgrade to NCQ, and the additional cost for this feature is minimal.

"Although EVGA could be a bit more innovating, the company has managed to impress us with competitive performance and comparatively lower prices than other manufacturers. Therefore, we’ve had no problems recommending EVGA to those of you with strict budget guidelines. After evaluating its 6800 PCIe graphics adapter late last week, today we’ll take a look at EVGA’s 6600GT. Though we don’t hope to see a significant increase in performance at stock speeds, we do have a keen interest in the card’s overall value in terms of its retail cost."

"Not a very long time ago, most people thought they would have to compromise by choosing cooling performance or silence. one of the first and best known companies that tore down this myth was Zalman. Zalman has always striven to provide excellent cooling performance but at the lowest noise level and some of their products became famous for being able to achieve excellent performance with very low noise levels. They also became famous also for the massive size of their cooling solutions. Bacata from France was kind enough to send me a popular Zalman CPU cooler, the CNPS7700-AlCu, so we can take a look at today’s offerings by Zalman."

"Newer formats have come and gone, but why is vinyl the format with eternal life?

Anyone getting into vinyl is stumbling into a civil war that’s raged in the audio press for the past 20 years. There are two kinds of audio critic. Representing the mainstream is Sound & Vision, formerly Stereo Review, whose editors have always maintained that the CD improved over the LP thanks to its compactness, durability, and lack of surface noise. Without the CD, we would never have arrived at the iPod."

So you came into some extra money and decided it's time to get a new digicam? Before you head for the store or online shop, read our guide first. We'll tell you the things you need to know before you buy that digital camera.

"This week, we got the BenQ FP91V+ monitor to review, and what a beauty.
It has a super bright 450 cd/m 2 TFT screen, with 400:1 contrast,
displaying 16.2 million colours, and all the bells and whistles to provide
a superior image. It boasts a 19” screen, analog and digital connections,
6ms (gray-to-gray) timing, built-in speakers, and two very important
built-in enhancements. Read on to see what we thought."

"Is a data backup solution part of your computer plans? Do you have a way to protect yourself if something goes wrong with your computer or data? Computers are a useful part of our lives but we don't always protect ourselves from their loss be it fire, theft or hardware failure."

For a long time, if one wanted good mobility and performance, the Intel Centrino platform was the only way out. Now with AMD's Turion 64 Mobile Technology, you can have an equivalent alternative and it's 64-bit computing ready. Find out why the MSI S270 got our nod in this full review.

"Gigabyte continues to amaze us with their cooling advancements. The 3D Galaxy performs quite well, is easy to install, and
adds a nice touch of blue inside your windowed case."

If you are looking for the most powerful Athlon 64 notebook of the moment then have a look to the latest Clevo D900K. With a socket 939 motherboard inside the D900K will accept all breed of AMD Athlon 64 processors, including Athlon 64 FX and Athlon 64 X2 dual core. On the graphic side, the D900K combines he highest quality 17" Mega Wide Glossy Display with a powerful upgradeable video cards via 256MB NVIDIA Mobile PCI Express Video. The Clevo D900K is bundled with two optical drive plus two hard disks, and can accept up to 4 of them! On the I/O front the Clevo D900K is blessed too: Gigabit LAN, 802.11a/b/g, 56K V90/92 modem, 2x IEEE1394, S-Video In &Out, CATV, and 10-in-1 card reader. The beast is expected to hit the shelves in August and, in the meantime, you can offer yourself a genuine drooling session at AMDboard.com where the complete specs have been exposed for the very first time!

When looking at these consoles from the perspective of pure processor power, the PS3 looks like the victor. The PS3 also dominates in the area of backwards compatibility, and its ability to read the next generation of Blue-ray discs. But as we’ve seen in the past, it’s not the power of the system that determines its success. Microsoft’s XBOX is arguably more powerful than the PS2, yet Sony controls the most market share of the console industry mainly due to its backwards compatibility, game selection, and reputation from the PS1. Sony will be going into this next generation of gaming with a very strong product, yet competition from the 360 could be an issue seeing as how Microsoft’s own is likely to be released at least four months prior to the PS3. The competition, as they say, is really heating up.

Ever had problems opening or running applications even when your system has a LOT of free memory? Isn't it puzzling to get "Out Of Memory" errors when you evidently have a lot of free memory??

What you are actually facing is a lack of desktop heap! Today, we will show you just how to fix this annoying problem once and for all!

"It has just been released, a new version of NVIDIA BIOS Editor (NiBiTor) software. This tool allows users to tune and edit the NVIDIA GeForce BIOS. This to gain some extra performance and stability on the NVIDIA GeForce graphics cards."

The NGO ATI Optimized Driver is a tweaked version of the ATI Catalyst driver. The main purpose is to satisfy the users with a better performance and better image quality. The Driver has support for all Radeon cards.

Cooler Master has been extremely busy this year bringing out new or revised versions of older cases. They have so many new ones, it’s getting hard for me to keep up with what’s just come out and what’s due out shortly. But as always, they have something to fit just about everyone’s wants and or needs. Today we’re going to be looking at a new version of their popular Centurion line-up, the Centurion 530.

The main thing wrong today with trying to find a webhost for most individuals and businesses is the shear number of them. Their prices range from free to hundreds of dollars per month. When you go out on the web today and do a search for hosting you will find page upon page of hosts. Some are well established companies with solid reputations and business plans that make sense. Yet some are beyond belief that anyone would host with a company that offers you a 100mb website for $.99. Yes I said that right $.99.

More Power supplies! Today I have 2 Power Supplies (psu) from HEC Group (High-Quality Evolution Commitment). These psus are some of the big boys on the block coming in at 550watts and 580watts. We decided to do this as a combined review so our readers wouldn't have to re-read the same thing again in a second HEC review. I had to do some research on the internet to find some more info on this brand of psu, because I never heard of them, what I found is interesting; the reviews I read were excellent. HEC received top scores in all categories, I also found that they are pretty big in Europe and not that well known here, could be why I never heard of them. Well anyway I have the WINPower 550watt and the AcePower 580watt psu's for review. They are essentially the same with some cosmetic differences and wattages of course.

BF2, by now you have heard of it and probably played it quite a bit, the demo if not the actual game. And I am sure you have read all the reviews of the game, so this isn't a review of the game just more of a rant about how this was handled and the new trend it seems that we (the consumer) are now paying to become Beta Testers.

In this review, I will take a look at two devices that attempt to raise your gaming experience to the next level: the Raptor-Gaming M2 Gaming Mouse and MyStify Claw Game Controller. The M2 mouse's main appeal is an astonishing 2400 DPI optical sensor while the MyStify Claw offers a substantially more ergonomic alternative to the keyboard. Does either device deserve a spot under your gaming palms? Read on and find out.

The DFI LanParty series is legendary among overclockers. We haven't seen any other board offer that many overclocking features. For example, being able to your run your memory at voltages of more than 3.3V is pretty unique. A well thought out components layout and little on-board switches make overclockers happy.

When we first evaluated EVGA’s 6800 PCIe graphics adapter, one of the things we noted was their lack of engineering efforts to make the graphics adapters something above NVIDIA’s specified design. There just wasn’t anything exclusive about EVGA’s product line, but that’s about to change, thanks to EVGA’s already implemented heatsink and fan combo on its 7800GTX. Moreover, EVGA is taking it a step further by working on its ACS cooling design that could define new standards in graphics card cooling, assuming it performs well.

Back in January of this year, motherboard makers said Intel sales were fairly modest. Right after Intel’s DDR2 and PCIe chipsets were introduced, motherboard sales for Intel microprocessors were on a continuous downhill. However, at CES, manufacturers said they had hopes for the sales to pick up, as DDR2 and PCIe matured with prices expected to drop to reasonable altitudes.

Samsung has added another MP3 player to its already YP-T7 series that appears to be rather successful in the market. Overall, the player is a solid option in terms of features, specifications, price and value. It’s a great competitor to Apple’s iPod Shuffle that’s nothing in comparison to what Samsung is offering.

"The MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum motherboard is any overclocker’s dream motherboard. It offers rock solid stability even when running at 250HTT around the clock! And having the ability to do up to 355HTT steadily, we take our hats off to this champ. Being the best nForce 3 based motherboard we have tested up to date, the K8N Neo2 Platinum is the “baddest” and meanest socket 939 motherboard out in the market. With this motherboard, users need not to upgrade to a PCI-E graphics card because it supports AGP 8X at its fullest. Priced at only USD129 / RM490, the K8N Neo2 Platinum is not a very affordable motherboard considering that it is based on the older nForce3 chipset. So if you are planning to upgrade to AMD 64 platform without having to buy a new graphics card or a 24pin power supply, the K8N Neo2 Platinum should definitely be in your buy list."

"A stock/reference GeForce 7800 GTX is set to run at 430 MHz core/1200 MHz. With BFG’s GeForce 7800 GTX OC, the core runs at a much-improved 460 MHz, and the memory at a whopping 1300 MHz! Those are increases of 30 MHz and 100 MHz, respectively. Now, I know what you’re thinking – there must be some kind of price premium on this video card, since it is clocked considerably higher than the NVIDIA reference design, right? Not quite. The second perk in this whole deal is that this card is available for the same 7800 GTX MSRP retail price of $599."

With Firefox growing in popularity, it's amazing that many people still do not know what Extensions are. We'll explain what they are and how they are beneficial to your browsing experience. We also have our top 10 list to get you started.

"The Turbo-Cool 510 Express/SLI's main selling point is its suitability for SLI videocard systems. This starts with the pair of 12V six-pin video card power connectors on the unit and ends with the fact that the power supply is one of only four officially recommended by nVidia for use with SLI videocard computer systems. While the 510W sustained of the Turbo-Cool 510 Express/SLI might appear to be pedestrian, it can handle up to 650W at peak, and that is drastically even more than enough for an overclocked SLI desktop PC."

"With everyone using Samsung TCCD, Gigaram follows and pairs it with a non Brainpower PCB. Does it overclock as well as the
excellent BP/TCCD combo? You'll be a little surprised."

" At a glance, the Linksys WRT54G Wireless-G Broadband Router appears to be a simple wireless broadband router. But is it really just that?

Today, we take a close look at the Linksys WRT54G and find out if that's true! "

You need to evaluate what you require in a graphics card. On the one hand, XFX's GeForce 6800 Ultra 512MB makes a compelling case as a cheap, relatively-speaking, workstation-class card, capable of running exotic displays. On the other though, and this affects the majority of potential buyers who tend to be gamers, you'd be better off opting for a single GeForce 7800 GTX or a couple of GeForce 6800 GTs in SLI formation. £470, then, will be either a snip or prohibitively expensive, depending upon your intended need.

"With a greater number of computer users constructing elaborate
wireless and wired networks in their home's or small offices, a
centralized SOHO server usually takes center stage in the network.
Although there are countless numbers of services the server could offer,
most often in these home/small office type situations its to offer a
network repository for files and programs and to stream audio and/or
video across the network from an HTPC. In this article, we'll be looking
at some different products to effectively lower the noise level of any
computer system but mainly in the way of HTPCs/servers."

"The amazing thing with these modules is that we can even run it at these overclocked speed (270MHz) at the most extreme latencies of CAS 1.5-2-2-5 rock solid. This is the first time we have had DDR running at this incredible timings at these speeds."

"What is Ulti-mat Ltd? Ulti-mat Ltd., is the latest developer out of Helsinki Finland that is developing and marketing the next evolution in mouse surfaces. Utilizing DuPont Teflon, the Ulti-mat gives you one of sciences most well known and heavily used polymer resin compounds in the world and puts that technology to use by offering one of the most friction free pads available."

"I was slightly taken back at the sheer size and weight of this unit, as it
reminds me of a single 120mm water cooling radiator, and weighing in at 795g,
(without the fan) it is one of the more heavier CPU cooler solutions currently
on the market today. All that aside, it is a well constructed piece, with an
all copper base, and 6 copper heat pipes rising up into the aluminum heat
fins. Cooler Master has a long standing history of being a company that
produces top quality products, and the Hyper 6+ is no different."

The Linksys WRT54GC is an ultra portable compact Wireless-G broadband router that is ideal for turning a hotel room into a wired and wireless hotspot. The WRT54GC is really three devices in one. First, there's the Wireless Access Point, which lets you connect both Wireless-G and Wireless-B devices to the network. There's also a built-in 4-port full-duplex 10/100 Switch to connect your wired-Ethernet devices. Connect four PCs directly, or attach more hubs and switches to create as big a network as you need. Finally, the Router function ties it all together and lets your whole network share a high-speed cable or DSL Internet connection. The fact that Linksys can put what is basically a full blown wireless broadband router into a housing that's the same size as the Linksys PAP2 VoIP Phone Adapter is simply amazing. The WRT54GC measures 3.86" high by 3.86" wide by 0.98" deep and weighs just 4.97 oz.

"Byron Johnstone, our new writer from South Africa, is a complete overclocking nut and he loves taking all manors of computer products to the extreme. In his first article he has his way with an AMD Athlon FX-57 processor with Phase Change cooling. He shows us what the newest and quickest CPU from AMD can achieve at -12 degrees Celsius with the Prometeia Mach II!"

"Func F-Series Competition Mousing sUrfaces are single-sided, large
format mouse pads constructed of high quality polycarbonate with exceptional
and consistent tracking qualities. The Func F-Series mousing surface
incorporates a specially selected, low profile, textured synthetic rubber that
exhibits exceptional traction characteristics on a desktop."

The overall size no doubt plays a significant role in the Tuniq Tower's performance, but I think it may actually be too big. It overhangs the CPU socket on all sides, and there are a number of things that could interfere with this beast. On the test system, it only had a problem with the chipset cooler, but that is problem enough. I can foresee issues on other boards where it may be too close to the memory, power supply, chipset, OTES type cooling, or maybe even the video card.

"Overall the CaseBuy AI-01 series case is a good-value-entry case where it offers extra features that cannot be found on most normal value ATX cases. The mesh of the case looks good but if you live in a dusty area, you might end up clean the case frequently. If you are looking for a nice looking case but with a limited budget, you should have a look at the CaseBuy AI-01 series case. By the way for Malaysian, you can get the CaseBuy AI-01-BK-DE under the AVF brand logo (model AC0502M-BB) for RM229 which includes a AVF power supply."

"Quality portable headphones in today's age have a lot more importance compared to just a few years back. We did not have iPods, MP3 players, portable DVD players, portable gaming machines, state of the art and cutting edge multimedia laptops etc... Good reproduction is not just a need for audio only players but video players as well. The supplied earphones with most gadgets are just not good enough and after-market, higher quality headphones become almost mandatory if one wants to enjoy full potential of the equipment purchased. The impact of good quality sound when it comes to these kinds of gadgets certainly cannot be underestimated."

The MX512 is certainly a great accessory for your system. It has
features that DIY models or models included with your case don't have.
If you have a pretty penny to spend, say after getting your tax return,
the MX512 will look great in a tower. For those who don't have two bay
drives to spare, Matrix Orbital offers a 2*20 character LCD that fits
into a single 5.25" bay. You can find this in their latest MX6 series.
For those who still favour the DIY models, Matrix Orbital has several
barebone LCDs that you can purchase. As you can see, the options are
endless and everyone is sure to find something they like with Matrix
Orbital.

NVIDIA's GeForce 7800 GTX is the talk of the graphics world now with its exceptional performance. MSI is the next vendor to send us its version, the NX7800GTX-VT2D256E. Read on to find out how its Dynamic Overclocking Technology-enhanced GeForce 7800 GTX fared in our labs.

"Networking computers together continues to be a daunting subject for the computer novice, so we've seen many different approaches to the subject. The book, Home Networking Simplified, aims for a middle of the road approach, neither oversimplifying the subject or being too technical and dry. The technical details behind home networking are covered as well as the procedures involved and the steps needed to secure a network and protect sensitive eyes from the dangers of the Internet. This 393-page, full colour soft cover book falls into the lower-priced category of computer guidebooks, which certainly makes it an easy addition to your tech library."

"To reiterate my earlier point- Sunbeam is not much of an innovator. What they do excel at is at delivering inexpensive products that offer a lot of bang-for-your-buck and most of the features consumers are looking for. Their Trio enclosure has everything you would expect from a midtower case under $80 (except for an intake fan) and even throws in a power supply... Considering the price of the Trio it is hard to say too much is wrong about it."

HTPC's are becoming more popular, and components designed for the specific purpose of usage in a home theater are increasing. Because of this increase in demand for HTPC's we are also seeing a return of "desktop" style cases in the form of HTPC cases. Amongst the myriad of companies offering "HTPC" cases is Thermaltake. Thermaltake has just recently entered two products into the HTPC market, the Mystic and the Tenor. The latter is the one we will be examining today.

PDP Systems with its introduction of Patriot Memory +XBLK line takes dead aim at the DDR enthusiasts. They bring to market tight timings and flexible VDimm requirements to allow you to stretch the usability of a PC3200 Module to that of a PC4200 Module. A well done introduction into the market space, giving us yet another vendor for serious consideration when choosing our memory.

The change to the Microtune 2121 does the ATI All-In-Wonder Radeon X800 XL for PCI Express a lot of favours in Europe, technically, with a knock-on effect of increased feature set. The 400MHz X800 XL and AIW features, on PCI Express, should make it a massive seller in the UK and Europe when it appears later in the summer.

Yet another MP3 player from yet another company, but this time it’s something vibrant that will undoubtedly get your senses back in action. We have all heard of iRiver, the makers of some of the most professional and sleek looking portable audio players with usually great audio quality. Let us start by mentioning that iRiver’s focus with the T10 series is fashion, fashion and more fashion. It’s not that its other products aren’t fashionable, which they are. But this time around, iRiver went with a sportier design in addition to eye-catching colors for the hi-tech appeal.

Rio, although not as popular as some of the other MP3 player manufacturers, does produce rather well designed and quality competent products. Not too long ago, we evaluated the company’s Rio Carbon model, which was the plain gray variant of what we are about to take a look at today. Soon after Rio introduced the regular Rio Carbon MP3 player, it went ahead and announced a special Pearl Edition, which doesn’t propose additional features except the color scheme.

NVIDIA really took everyone by surprise when its 7800 GTX was in stock at various retailers on the launch date. After what NVIDIA and ATI had done with their last generation GPUs, no one really thought that NVIDIA could pull off something of this magnitude. Making sure that its board partners are ready with their products on the announcement day requires immense efforts in organizing everything. Needless to say, NVIDIA has really gotten into the "good books" of numerous enthusiasts and the rest of the industry with what it accomplished.

Mp3 Players, seems like a lot of companies are making them now in some form or another. MSI, maker of fine motherboards and graphics cards, is another company getting into this as well. MSI makes fine products, they get great reviews for all their products I have seen. I myself own an MSI 6600GT video card, and I have to say it is awesome. So, of course when I was offered the chance to review a product from MSI, I jumped right on it. I have owned Philips mp3 Players in the past, when the technology was still rather new, and I was very curious to see just how far it has come.

The MM Gear EDS (Extended Dual Stereo) 200F Headphone is unique among headphones in that it uses four speaker drivers to generate high quality sound. As a matter of fact, it's the world's first two way headphone system. Unlike other headphones, which make do with one driver, the MM Gear EDS-200F offers separate woofer and tweeter for enhanced and extended sound reproduction.

Rather than just give up on the whole CPU wind guide idea, SkyHawk has developed a Patent Rotary Adjustable Cooling Pipe system. This Rotary Adjustable Cooling Pipe system is available in their mid tower cases such as the BAX-B5602 case.

Computer cases have come along way since the beige box. Todays cases come in a variety of styles and features range from the mild to the wild. Today we take a look at a new computer case that's meets somewhere in the middle, Raidmax's X1 Gaming Case.

“Not that long ago, Most gaming mice seemed to have hit a wall at 800 dpi. Manufacturers appeared think that this was just fine for the purpose, and no more work was needed. That was about when the Boomslang showed up, complete with two models – at 1000 and 2000 dpi respectively. Although not optical, these are still hot mice to own. Razer has since upped the ante, with the Viper and Diamondback series optical mice, which boast 1000 and 1600 dpi resolution respectively. Logitech, never the slacker, has also stepped up with the MX518 which has 1600 dpi resolution as well. Today we’ll be looking at the Raptor-Gaming M2, a mouse capable of up to 2400 dpi. Is this the new king of dpi wars? Read on!”

"Six more molexes are available on standard power supply cables, with two floppy connectors for those of you that still use a FDD. The cables are wound to help increase aesthetics in part I suppose and also to possibly help with EMI, but this will be my first (and possibly only) complaint about the Powerstream. Why not just use mesh sleeving on all of the cables?"

"OCZs PC4800 Dual-Channel Platinum Limited Edition kit of two 512MB sticks of DDR are aimed directly at the performance user, but these puppies aren't cheap. Still with speeds of up to 300MHz with 2.5-4-4-10 memory timings (at 2.85V) the timings are pretty quick, but not quite at the level of 2-2-5. Still, DDR600 is definitely an impressive feat and tight timings are not as important to the AMD Athlon64 as they are to Intel Pentium 4 systems. "

"We are starting to do a little summer cleaning and we are going to be giving away some of our old review products! Every now and then we will feature a weekly give away of a cool product that is lying around the XYZ offices so be sure to keep an eye out! This week's prize: OCLabs PlexyBlock B3 Waterblock!"

Coolmax has just introduced a line of power supplies that I have a
feeling will be very well excepted in lieu of fact the during our testing
using an AMD64 with 2GB of memory on board we were able to see four of test
points only show a total of 0.01 volt difference between high and low
voltage during our stress testing of the power supply. The model number is
the CXI-500B rated at 500 watt; Coolmax is offering this model in 6
different versions to suit your particular need.

“Today I am reviewing the Trinity case by NZXT. NZXT is a new company, only founded in 2004, so this is the first time I've seen one of their cases. From what I've seen so far of their products, it looks like they might have a bright future.“

"Summer has come, the birds are singing, the leaves are green, and we have a new graphics chipset from nVidia to write about. The GeForce 7800GTX chipset has a simple purpose; to catapult nVidia back onto the 'fastest, most expensive videocard' throne. Obviously, it and its inevitable series of ultra-extreme-pro-express offshoots will make up the high-end of nVidia's next wave come christmas time, but for now it's a lone gunfighter with sights set squarely on ATI's X850XT PE videocard. nVidia has stated that the 7800GTX GPU should make any modern game smoothly playable at 1600x1200 with 4XAA when partnered with a current high-end processor. This is not the most ambitious goal in the world, since today's top level videocards can more or less accomplish the same feat."

"With all of the different processors available today from both AMD and
Intel, it can be a tough decision to choose even a high-end CPU from the
choices available. After all, with both single-core and dual-core CPUs
available today, what constitutes the top processor may be different for
the gamer versus the software developer. That's where this article comes
in. We aim to show you where three of the top processors from both Intel
and AMD line-up and hopefully help show you some clear results on who has
the top processors. After we check out performance, we'll take a look at
cost and some other factors and come up with some conclusions."

"Today we've got a quick review of Mushkin's new 1GB Dual Channel PC3200 "Redline" DDR memory. Designed for enthusiasts with motherboards with the ability to use a VDIMM of 2.7 volts and beyond, the memory has aggressive SPD timings of 2-3-2-6 and offers solid overclocking performance for the AMD Athlon 64 platform. Read on and take a look at the new memory from Mushkin!"

"Today we'll be taking a look at the one of the three current boards in the Extreme series, the KN1 Extreme . Based upon the nForce4 Ultra chipset, this board supports Socket 939 processors from the AMD Athlon 64 family. Just a look at the features and extras, even the boards' purple PCB seems to show a promising start, especially when this motherboard can be found selling for a mere $104 online. One begins to wonder if this isn't too good to be true, after all, this is a board that's supposed to be competing against other enthusiast grade boards from ASUS and ABIT which sell for $150 and up."

" Recently, Jason went for Seagate's 2005 Technology Briefing in KL. They covered topics like FDE (Full Disk Encryption), CompactFlash hard disks, Perpendicular Recording technology and Seagate's range of new storage products! Check out Jason's report on the tech brief! "

The OCZ ModStream 520w is an ideal product for those building the latest and greatest gaming system. It has proven to be more than capable of delivering an SLI GeForce 7800 GTX system with more than enough juice. The power supply also worked flawlessly in the AMD Athlon64 3800+ system, which was also coupled with the extremely powerful Radeon X850XT PE graphics card.

Is bigger always better? Well it's fairly hard to answer this question with one sentence, but delving into the problem might give us some clues and ideas. I'm sure a lot of you've been waiting for a video card that will finally sport half-a-gig of RAM. Some will ask, do we really need 512MB's of memory on a video card? We sure will, maybe not this year, but it will definitely boost performance in applications that use very high resolution textures with additional FSAA turned on. I don't want to rant on this topic as it's not the right place and time, let's just see what we can squeeze out of this beast.

In the world of fast performance memory, Crucial sometimes get's overlooked. We are taking a look at their PC4000 Ballistix, which we hope will prove overclocker friendly, as were the PC3200's. Let's check them out!

"After NVIDIA introduced its 7800GTX graphics adapter to the world, perhaps one of the first things that crossed everyone’s minds was the unveiling of NVIDIA’s midrange and low-end cards that would make GeForce 7 series a viable option, economically. Speculations have been floating around for quite a while regarding the specifications and other information surrounding the upcoming 7800GT part."

"The iPod craze has gone out of control not only with digital accessories to support Apple’s world class MP3 player, but also on the PC side of things. For the past weeks, we have taken a look at products that are exclusive to the iPod, and the rest are mimicked and marketed for the iPod to increase sales. Thus far, we have seen companies introduce not only specialized cases for the portable audio player, but also headphones and speaker sets."

"Sunbeam continues to pump out accessories to add flavor to your personal computing. This time they show us a flashy LED
keyboard and LED mouse."

“Do personal funds make sense in today's rough and tumble market? Are you willing to give up control and pay out hefty fees on mutual funds?Joe Ashbrook Nickell weighs the pros and cons of mutual and personal funds, and in doing so reviews two online personal fund services.”

The XPS Gen 2 breaks much new ground for Dell - unlike many of their other products, the XPS actually looks good! The first thing you'll notice about the XPS are those neon lights on the front, back and top of the notebook. Do they do anything special? No. Do they look cool? You bet! It's decoration more than anything else but it does show that Dell is starting to understand that gaming notebooks is just as much about show as it is about go.

"Aperion Audio is a relatively young, successful audio company (founded in 1998) that sells direct only. With an online direct or mail order company like this, it is very important to build customer confidence on the products the company offers. Aperion seems to go all out in this regard by offering a 30-day home trial, free shipping both ways (in case you need to return the products) and a 10-year warranty on its products.

However, those things alone cannot guarantee success. The quality of the company’s products is what usually leads to success in the audio world. Therefore, I was quite excited for the opportunity to get acquainted with a set of Aperion’s products. For this review, Aperion shipped the Intimus 422/S-8 compact home theater speaker system (which includes the S-8 subwoofer) and an additional subwoofer, the Intimus S-10, for comparison. "

With the TRIO removed from the packaging, the first thing that caught my eye were the three analog meters on the lower left front corner. These measure sound, temperature, and fan speed.... Turning the system on, all the lights activate and the front analog meters light up with blue LEDs. The case looks incredible all lit up! I was pleasantly surprised at how the analog meters looked.

Every computer has a Power Supply Unit, which means every computer
is prone to have a rats nest of wires dangling in it. Sleeving your PSU
wires is not only aiding in the looks of your computers innards. It also
improves the airflow in the case. Today we are going to take a look at
Ultras UV Sleeving kit.

"Until genuine changes are made to support SIP VoIP QoS there does not appear to be a convincing or compelling reason today for users to choose anything other than P2P VoIP services such as Skype to render Internet "best effort" home phone services."

The Hyper 6+ faired well against the NT02, but its 100mm fan
placed higher up in the heatsink frame couldn't keep the system temps
the NT02 had to offer. While performance may be the most important
factor for CPU coolers, we can't neglect simplicity. If its hard to
install, users won't buy it. The Hyper 6+ was not the easiest cooler to
install. It was more difficult to install and it would most certainly be
nice if future revisions could simplify the install procedure.

These days MP3 players are nothing new, they are as common as “Walkmans” were in the 80’s and portable CD players in the 90’s. With Apple’s IPod dominating the HDD type MP3 player market, deciding on a flash drive player can prove be a harder choice to make. In today’s review we will be taking a look at a brand new flash drive MP3 player from a new company called Eratech, also know as Beat Sounds. This new Beat Sounds player is called the EMP-ZII Plus. It’s packed with features and sports an egg like shape that will not only keep you jamming to your favourite tunes while on the go but also act as unique a fashion accessory.

It started off with a couple ATI Radeon X700 graphics cards and then everyone wanted to get in on the act. Today we've got an absolute monster of a roundup for you comparing 11 Radeon X700 cards from 8 different companies including ATI, GeCube, PowerColor, HIS, MSI, Sapphire, Gigabyte and ASUS. Read on as we take a close look at all the cards, their packages and most importantly how they perform against each other!

Seasonic doesn't need great reputation to help them stand out in the power supply market. Their products are top notch and provide excellent performance. The S12 500W is more than proof to show what they're capable of.

With ATI's next generation parts delayed, their newest lineup now is the RADEON X800 XL 512MB variants. PowerColor was the next vendor to send us their card for review and it's decked with all the top features like VIVO, dual DVI and their new SCS2 cooling unit. Read on for our impressions.

Computer power supplies, there are SO many to choose from, in fact my next 4 reviews (including this one) are of power supplies! All the manufacturers claim theirs is the best, but which is really the best? They all are supposed to do so many things, and they all have lots of abbreviations on them, what does it all mean to you and me? Just what is PFC or OTP,OPP,OVP?, and do you need it? Do you really need dual 12v rails? (Maybe I should write an article explaining all this stuff.) Anyway, Seasonic has been around for 20 years now, and they seem to be one of the highly regarded suppliers of quality power supplies. The name Seasonic is synonymous with quality power supplies, today I have the honor of reviewing one of their newest offerings, the S12 series 380Watt power supply.

Of all the computer cases we've examined here at Phoronix, one of the best cases we've seen when it came to innovation was the Sytrin Nextherm ICS-8200. However, today up on the testing bench we have the latest chassis from NZXT. The NZXT Trinity features SECC steel construction, a thermal display meter, custom NZXT fan grill, and several tool-less features. Just how well does the NZXT Trinity compare to the swarm of other chassis' on the market? Read the review to find out.

There's never been a better time to buy system RAM than right now. £130 buys you a 1GB DDR1 dual-channel pack that gives superlative performance when paired up with a S939 CPU, preferably a fast one. The performance advantage over regular memory, usually specified with 2.5-3-3-7 timings, can be close to 10%, so investing in some high-quality RAM makes decent sense.

DreamWare Computers has created a new service, DreamRadio! DreamRadio, hosted by Keats, is a feature that allows you to click, listen and hear all of the best sides of rock, techno, and just about anything! It will even keep you informed about site news and other important things, so come by and have a listen. Please scroll down to under our latest reviews on the main page to find a link to this new feature!

Ever since Fedora's inception, it's had a reputation of being the BETA grounds for Red Hat's development team. Although this is partially the case, it continues to be an incredibly stable and exceptional distribution for Linux users. However, one of the widely criticized packages in past Fedora releases has been Red Hat's Up2date due to its slow and limited service compared to yum or apt. With the release of FedoraCore4 (Stentz) came a new version of Up2date. In this article, we're sharing some useful configuration tips for this revised version of Red Hat Up2date.

Even though it only seems like a little while ago the 6800Ultra was being introduced, it is time again to meet Nvidia's latest 3D king, the Geforce 7800GTX. While in recent years Nvidia have had stiff competition from ATi in the high end sector, as it stands right now, they have beaten ATi to the punch with the Geforce 7800GTX GPU, leaving ATi to react for the first time in quite a while. Today, we check out not one, but two 7800GTX reference boards in both normal and SLI mode to see just how much performance this new 3D beast can deliver.

The AirCruiser G Desktop Router proves to be a reliable and powerful product from Gigabyte. They have demonstrated ingenuity in producing a product which is capable of delivering a full fledged Wireless Solution conforming to 802.11g standards with adequate security options and running at a good rate of 54 mbps while freeing up a power point and saves desktop space by eliminating the footprint users normally need for a Wireless Router.

On the 910MP's base Samsung has the phrase "Digital Versatility" engraved. At first this seems pretentious and unnecessary, but after using the display for some time this phrase actually sums up the 910MP nicely. The fact that this display can seamlessly go from being an LCD television to a top notch display makes it a well-designed and desirable product.

Yet again I believe we meet that fork in the road, one way leads to eye candy, the other way goes to performance. The screws and fans are an absolute visionary orgasm, but their low performance in terms of moving air, and covering their screws in a colored finish (even the silver skull and Vikings are prone to the grinding) make these products the enemies of performance enthusiasts.

Apple’s iPod has been garnering a lot of attention ever since it launched. Not only has it become a cultural accessory, but it also appears to be a great business model for numerous companies. You can also say that Apple’s iPod has literally shaken the entire consumer electronics industry and helped create a completely new product line that solely focuses around the iPod. In fact Logitech has dedicated a product line that caters only to the iPod. What we have today is Logitech’s latest edition to its iPod exclusive line of products – Logitech Wireless Headphones.

Team ARP proudly announces the official launch of The PDP Gigabyte Memory Giveaway Contest!

Want to get a gigabyte of XBL-grade Patriot DDR memory for free?? Just try your gaming skills at the PDP Gigabyte Memory Giveaway Contest!

What if you had an operating system that ran completely from a CD? That’s right, just one CD. And this CD also contained very useful programs for word-processing, data recovery and system repair utilities, image-editing and internet connectivity, along with excellent audio and video players? What if all you had to do was to boot from this CD and voila, in a few minutes your new OS had taken over your PC. Taken over? Nothing to worry about, as removing the OS from your computer was to be as easy as removing the CD. Welcome to the world of Knoppix.

For several months now I've been trying to decide which new technologies I will choose for my next PC upgrade. It's a common problem for many people out there given how many major tech developments there have been in recent times, including Dual Core CPUs, PCI-E, SATA-II, SLI, Crossfire, and Windows x64 to name a few. I wanted the best I could afford, and I wanted to future-proof my system as much as possible. Finally, I just wanted a system which worked straight off the bat, without all those terrible incompatibility issues, bottlenecks and hardware glitches we keep hearing about from various setups. The results are in my Hardware Confusion article, and might help you make a better choice if you're looking to upgrade as well.

Thermaltake presented some nice cool looking hardware at the Cebit 2005 this year. Today I have to opportunity to play with the Muse 5,25 Inch Enclosure. This enclosure can be used for 5,25 Inch DVD/CD/CDRW but can be fitted with 3.5 Inch HDD as well. The data is portable making use of a USB2.0 connection but a separate power supply is needed. Never the less making it a multipurpose enclosure to take and share you backup with whom and where ever you are.

The Optorite Laser Mouse is available in two models - ML100 and ML101. What's the difference between the two? The ML100 (the model we tested) is red and the ML101 is blue! Why a color change requires a new model number is something only the elite marketing people at Optorite can answer. Both mice offer 1600 dpi laser tracking engines and a total of six programmable mouse buttons. Because of the precision required at 1600 dpi, the Optorite Laser is corded and not wireless.

A few weeks ago, we had the opportunity to evaluate two of Samsung’s portable audio players that competed against Apple’s iPod Shuffle rather well. Without repeating the same flaws in the iPod Shuffle, all we want to say is that the lack of screen in Shuffle’s case proves to be beneficial to its competition. And knowing that Samsung integrates bright screens in its MP3 players, let’s just say that it gives Samsung an edge over Shuffle for sure.

Forget Sony, Apple, Rio and the rest of the standard MP3 player manufacturers, it’s time to welcome yet another contender in the portable audio player market: SanDisk. When you generally talk about SanDisk, there’s hardly a mention of their MP3 players, but they may have just the thing you might be looking for.

With the cover off, the case looks rather open. There is a decent amount of room to work in, for such a small space. I figured that with no cover the case would also be a little flimsy depending on how you picked it up. They did a good job of placing support bars as this wasn't an issue.

3D Accelerated has published an article about the Zboard WOW limited edition keyset. This new keyset is built for the existing Zboard and adds functionality to the current line.

Summer usually brings many kinds of pleasures, but it also brings something really unpleasant for computer enthusiasts; heat. Therefore, due to the suddenly rising temperatures, especially in warmer countries, system cooling becomes inadequate and thermally controlled silent coolers become noisy since they spin faster due to the heat. Of course there are those that would like to improve their cooling, for peace of mind. There is a product specifically designed to cover as many of these cases as possible; the Cool Scraper SX1. Made in Germany by Noiseblocker, it is designed to keep the lowest possible temperatures while maintaining the lowest possible noise levels during the hot months of the year.

"Although a fairly young company, Silverstone has rapidly gained the respect and admiration of computer enthusiasts worldwide since it’s founding in 2003. Well known for their quality construction, design and appearance, SilverStone’s enclosures are definitely first class, and the LC11 of their Lascala series is no exception. The LC11 is available in both a silver (LC11) and black (LC11B) version. SilverStone recently gave me the pleasure of looking at one of their LC11B HTPC enclosures, and I now bring my impressions of this beautiful case to you."

ABIT rekindles some of the old magic with their latest AL8 motherboard based on Intel's 945P Express chipset. The AL8 scores with a feature set that takes full advantage of the PCI Express architecture and turns out to be a good number cruncher.

While trying to think up ways to keep your computer cool, hard drives are sometimes overlooked entirely, but it shouldn't be. We are taking a look at the SilverStone FP53 HDD cooler. Let's take a look to see if it makes any substantial difference to the temps!

"Today, we are proud to present a pictorial review of the latest Intel motherboard from ABIT - the ABIT AW8-MAX i955X motherboard!

Come and check out the bells and whistles of this fascinating new motherboard!"

"The TV Wonder Elite encompasses everything an everyday consumer would need in a computer based TV solution. It is packed full of useful media viewing and recording options, has complete hardware based encoding and decoding, comes with its own RF remote control, is extremely simple to install and setup and is a good value for the money."

One of our master modding memebers has been working on a special mod project to recreate a life-size R2-D2 PC from scratch for the past month.He is working at a really fast pace so updates have been coming regularly. Check out the project log to see how the mod is coming!

The Albatron K8SLI is a budget oriented Socket939 motherboard based on NVIDIA's nForce4 SLI chipset. While it has been designed with cost in mind, performance has not been left out. Innovative features like second BIOS on an external add-in card and automatic SLI switch make this board easy to use. Overclocking possibilites are good as well, we managed to reach a maximum FSB of 390 MHz.

"Considering that this is Gigabyte's first shot at water cooling system, the Gigabyte 3D Galaxy Liquid Cooling System has proven to be a high performance water cooling system that was build based on quality. Besides its decent performance, the many interesting plus the innovative protection features are definitely a bonus with the Gigabyte 3D Galaxy Liquid Cooling System."

"If you are a home user with access to a fast internet connection or a small business thinking about implementing VoIP to save costs, it is worth trialling some of the freeware PC>PC/Landline software using a simple headset to test the quality and usability of the technology. VoIP is undergoing rapid adoption by large companies and telecom's networks and still has some work to be done to make it accessible to all. However, if you are willing to trial the system for a few weeks you may be able to stay ahead of the pack and reduce your calling costs. PC based IP Telephony is the cheapest and easiest way to get started before moving onto a hardware based system."

"While there were a couple of tests that the X800XL clearly dominated, the 6800 GT performed very well in every test. As stated above, the image quality is superb, with no problems noticed at all. There is also the benefit of having shader 3.0 available, which ATI does not currently have."

Corsair has now gone even further ahead of time with the new XMS TWIN2X1024A 8000UL memory modules. That’s right PC8000 or DDR2 1GHz (1000MHz) is Corsairs latest and greatest achievement on the DDR2 front. These new modules not only have the ability to operate at 1000MHz, but they also do it with reasonably good DDR2 timings of CAS5-4-4-9.

The fan assembly is made out of a translucent blue plastic that slips onto the heat sink and is secured by four screws at the top. This is a convenient way to attach a fan as it allows you to quickly remove the fan to clean the ever-building collection of dust between the fins. The 92mm blue plastic fan has silver chrome colored blades, but no LEDs. A LED fan would make the blue plastic housing glow, which would be a really cool and unique effect.

The business world is littered with monopolies trying to block new competitors through any means possible, and one effective strategy is getting the government to intervene. This is why satellite TV couldn't carry local channels for years. It's why Southwest Airlines can't fly out of certain airports. It's why MCI had troubles using microwave repeaters to compete with AT&T. And it's also why XM radio can't do local weather or sports. In each instance, the incumbent had to get a law passed or a government body to impose regulations devised to slow or stop new competitors.

For VOIP, certain telephone companies went to the FCC and pushed them to demand that certain net calling companies provide e911 to their customers. They knew that this would add costs to their business - and perhaps even be unfeasible - since precisely determining the location for a computer on the Internet can be impossible.

“Whether you are a neat freak always looking for gadgets to tidy things up, or else a complete mess looking for help to become more organized, the Cableyoyo is a great starting point.”

“Well we all know that the thermal transfer goo that comes with the stock heatsinks, and even the after market heatsinks is junk. That's why Arctic Silver is around, to offer an exceptional replacement for that stuff. Now, Arctic Silver has introduced a way to clean that goo off as well, with ArctiClean. Today for review I have Arctic Silver 5 (AS5), Ceramique and the ArctiClean system.”

"The SoundDock is Bose’s attempt to impress iPod owners who are looking for a convenient docking solution without sacrificing style and sound. Among casual consumers, Bose represents assured quality without the need to know the technical tidbits behind the scenes. In a way, it’s the perfect match for the iPod: simplicity over customizing. To audiophiles, Bose is an overpriced alternative with comparatively mediocre sound. If you are an audiophile, chances are you use MP3s solely for the portability and convenience factors. But for those reasons, even audiophiles may want to give the SoundDock a try.

Since the iPod comfortably sits on the lion’s share of the hard drive based MP3 player market, manufacturers have been scrambling to offer the best custom add-ons for the popular audio player. While most compact audio shelf systems offer a sound input connector, the lure of custom, matching iPod-specific speakers and headphones has created a sub-industry between the iPod and traditional audio markets. Bose brings a familiar consumer name to the playing field with the SoundDock."

The Overclocker Cafe' has a HIS Radeon X700 Pro IceQ Turbo (PCI-E) card up for grabs. Between now and Sunday July 17th folks can enter up to once a day for a chance to take home a very solid performing video card for free! All you need to do to enter is answer a question that changes daily (keeps everything honest and the automatic e-mails out) correctly. Every day someone enters gives them another lot in the basket to increase their chance of winning.

" To the left of the woodgrain center, we have the VFD (Vacuum Fluorescent Display) and four USB ports. The VFD is used to display various system information in conjunction with the included iMON software. More on that in a bit. The front USB ports would be perfect for flash drives, gamepads and digital camera wires."

"Things are getting interesting in the video card market once again, mainly because of the ATIs new 'Crossfire' dual-videocard feature. In the mean time, ATI still holds quite an edge in the (single) high-end videocard arena with its range of X800/X850 graphics cards. Today, PCstats will take a look at one of MSI's latest ATI-based cards, the PCI-Express based RX800XL-VT2D256E. Catchy name. The MSI RX800XL-VT2D256E uses the ATI Radeon X800XL core and is backed by 256MB of speedy Samsung GDDR 3 2ns memory. The most notable feature of the card is its dual-DVI connectors, but it also sports a full complement of multimedia abilities including VIVO, and HDTV-out as well as a nice software bundle."

“the 478 Intel Chip did not blow away either 64 Bit AMD CPU's but it did compete and when you consider the price difference between the three setup's you can see very clearly that the Albatron is a very wise choice if you are trying to save but at the same time be competitive...”

To enter, simply us with your name, address, country and daytime
telephone number. At the end of the contest, you will need to confirm
the information you provided in order to claim your prize.

The YP-T7Z has certainly been a convenient MP3 player. The
compact size is a definite plus for those who already carry a number of
things in their pockets. The backlit color LCD makes it very easy to
read at any time of the day. The ability to do a number of things with
one device is certainly better than having one device for each product.

"The Samsung Duo Cam is one of those fantastic 2-in-1 deals that offer the
best of both worlds in one package. This combo device offers a 900x
variable digital zoom miniDV camcorder plus a 3x optical zoom digital
camera supporting a 5.25 megapixel CCD in a reasonably compact body to
boot. In the past, Samsung has suffered making dual type products such as
TV and Monitor combos where one technology has disappointed while the
other clearly prevailed, but with this Duo Cam, Samsung has achieved a
st..."

Here's another Athlon 64 SFF that's the talk of town currently. While not the best performer around, it managed decently. Most importantly, it's built around Shuttle's G5 chassis and draped with all their other hallmark features (plus those from the ATI Radeon Xpress 200), you'll find a lot going for it.

"After putting ECT's awsome little Prometeia Mach II GT though its subzero paces, there's no way we can overlook a round of phase-change overclocking... so after hooking everything up, I pressed the power button and watched the temperatures drop. A few moments later the Prometeia Mach II GT powered on the rest of the computer, and I immediately loaded the BIOS and found that the processor was running at a chilly -27C."

"The last time we were engaged to look at an Acer product was
when reviewing two Acer AL1715b 17" LCD displays. Today, Acer is
floating around Phoronix again as we take a look at another recent
offering, the AL1714CB-8. This 17" LCD is very similar to that of the
AL1715b except it offers a blazing fast 8ms response and other
competitive features for the budget consumer."

"Want to get a free gigabyte of XBL-grade Patriot DDR memory for free?? Just try your gaming skills at the PDP Gigabyte Memory Giveaway Contest!"

"I want to make sure equipment for my productions arrive in one piece and this thing had Fort Knox written all over it. Best packaging of a product I've seen yet. Unfurled this frame, turned on the power and, voila, crystal clear screen to see all of my "work" instantaneously."

Hi, we just found out a unique combination of flash storage and printer in HP's new PhotoSmart 475 Compact Printer. Until now, these portable printers usually come with USB, Bluetooth and an impressive array of memory slots. The PhotoSmart 475 has bundled 1.5GB flash memory so that you can temporarily store your pictures on the printer to free up the camera storage. The stored photos can also be transferred to USB CD & DVD drives and flash drives as well.

"Sunbeam is back with another computer accessory to add to your collection. The new Chromatic Windmill provides both fan
controls and temperature sensors."

“In the mid 1980s, every futurist worth his or her propeller beanie was talking about smart houses, computer-controlled dwellings that could anticipate your every need for lighting, music, heat, security, etc. Gareth Branwyn reports on the state of home automation technology.”

The Raidmax X-1 expands Raidmax's standard line of features one step further with the bezel mounted LCD function display. The display does a excellent job at giving the end user information without breaking up the lines of the X-1. The tool free drive system and ability to utilize a variety of front intake fan sizes bring out the broad appeal of the Raidmax X-1 that much more. Style wise, taste rests in the eyes of the beholder. For me, some of the touches were a bit much but that is only my subjective opinion.

I recently tested Gizmo while flying to Europe on a plane that had WiFi capability. Passengers around me were stunned that the calls were possible. Several downloaded Gizmo and began using the beta from the airplane and marveled at the audio quality.

"The LG LRY517 Super-Multi DVD recorder not only raises the bar for stand-alone DVD recorders, but with the integrated VCR and memory card slots, it runs away with it. Whether you are transferring old family movie tapes to DVDs, copying new digital camcorder recordings to DVD, recording your favorite TV programs, or displaying photos or DviX movies from a memory card or CD, the LRY517 will be the tool of choice. "

"To round off the feature list, Samsung has also included an integrated FM
Tuner module. The FM Tuner module connects directly to an external antenna
wire that can be placed anywhere. Next to the FM Tuner module is an
external RGB connector which attaches out the back of the monitor when the
unit is not angled down. At the bottom of the Samsung SyncMaster 930MP
TFT-LCD Monitor are two sets of integrated speakers located on the left
and right hand sides. The speakers are powered by an internal stereo
amplifier and provide a decent level of sound which is perfect for
standard applications and everyday use."

"Corsair is providing us great support by not only sending us samples for reviews but also sponsoring this latest contest.
Up for grabs is the Corsair XMS PC3200XL 1GB Kit. The contest will run for 2 weeks and will end on July 20th, 2005. If you're in
need of some good memory, be sure to hurry up and join!"

G. Skill has come through with a high quality, high performance DDR product. With stock speeds of 300MHz guaranteed you can’t really go wrong here. The graphs in the testing portion of the review show that the stock settings perform as well as other overclocked TCCD modules. The ability to run with 1T timings provided a nice boost, but is by no means guaranteed.

"World Tour Soccer is a bad portable soccer game for the PSP; that’s
pretty much what this review will strive to tell you. When it comes down
to it, almost all of the PSP sports titles released with the launch of the
portable console have way too many problems. It almost always seems like
they rushed the first batch of games in order to have something for gamers
to do after they get their hands on the PSP."

Some people say bigger is better, and when it comes to heat sinks Thermaltake seems to think so.
Today we take a look at Thermaltakes's Big Typhoon heat sink. This monster of a heat sink/fan combo
boasts a quiet 120mm fan rated 16dBA and six heatpipes. To top it off the Big Typhoon will fit
Intel P4 LGA 775, AMD K7, and K8 processors.

"Today we take a look at Gigabyte's K8T890-9 motherboard designed for Socket 939 AMD Athlon 64’s. It includes support for the latest Athlon 64 x2 processors and is based on VIA’s K8T890 chipset. We compare the K8T890-9 motherboard against an nVidia nForce 4 based motherboard to help work out where VIA's latest AMD64 chipset stands."

"A Plasma HDTV or a LCD Television - Is this your dilemma? This is a rather difficult and complicated comparison between two technologies that process the image in a totally different manner. This article highlights the pros and cons of plasma versus LCD as applicable to a television display. It also presents a set of guidelines to help you determine where either of these two flat panel display technologies fit best."

“Printers are certainly not our main focus here at ExtremeMHz. However, based on my personal experiences with ink-jet printers over that past several years, I feel it is time to not only review one, but educate the public a bit on the wide range of options in order for many to make a wise investment decision on them. I have personally used HP printers for some time now, primarily for their reliability and above average print quality. However, I have quickly found that print quality is certainly not all that is to take into consideration when on the market for a new inkjet. You also need to seriously focus on recurring cost of operation. That is where the Canon Pixma IP4000 comes in. With its fast print speeds, 5 ink tank design, dual paper path and extremely modest price tag, the Canon IP4000 should be on your short list if its time for a replacement...printer or cartridges.”

"The pump is actually manufactured by Laing Thermotech and is sold under the Danger Den name. The pump is similar to the previous Danger Den D4, but touts better performance and quieter operation. The pump is powered by a single 4-pin Molex connection, with a wire long enough to reach nearly anywhere inside your case. Perhaps the best feature of the pump is the adjustable flow rheostat, seen below."

"Zennzzo, our resident phase-change expert, has written up a really quick intro guide to brazing and the process involved. This is the same process he uses to build his custom phase change coolers. "

"This board is extremely overclocking friendly.

Even using fairly aggressive memory timings, our P4-560 immediately ran at
default voltage settings at a multiplier of 14 with a 1066Mhz FSB - running
the CPU at 3.73Ghz.

The memory bandwidth showed an impressive 30% gain in moving from a 3.6Ghz
CPU clock with 800Mhz FSB to a 3.73Mhz CPU clock with a 1066Mhz FSB. Given
that the processor was only overclocked by 3.6%, and the bus by 33.3%, it is
safe to say that the vast majority of the increased performance for Sandra
was due to the higher bus bandwidth. "

Flashed with the latest firmware, the already impressive Pioneer DVR-A09XLA is now even more media friendly than it was before. Quality writes and "Over Specification" writing are two areas that left the greatest impression. Find out if this might be your next optical drive purchase.

"This is a character study, not the telling of a story with a beginning, middle, and end. We are watching a few moments in the life of this up and coming writer while she struggles with feeling bad, being depressed, losing her ability to write, succumbing to therapy and resolving painful things with her mother."

"Speakers can run you all amounts of cash. From as little as $20,
well into the thousands. The goal is to get the best sounding, hardest
hitting system for the least amount of money possible. Isn't that true
with everything though? Anyways, ZVOX has created the 315 Sound Console; a
2.1 box that aims to fill the room you're in with sound, creating the
illusion of surround sound. It can also connect to any audio source with a
headphone jack or RCA plugs, promotes ease-of-use/setup, and while it
might be more expensive than most 2.1 systems if it can achieve surround
sound from our MP3 players and TV, as well as with the PC, this DVD-player
width box might have conventional pre-5.1 sets beat. See what the 315 has
in store for your ears in this review."

"PCSTATS is testing the MSI RX850XT-TD256E videocard, which does not feature CrossFire. Based on the Radeon X850 XT, this PCI Express card is backed by 256MB of GDDR3 memory and supports VIVO, TV/S-Video output and component output. The ATi X850 series of GPUs are the current 3D performance leaders and the XT is the second fastest available GPU in the line. As usual for MSI Computer, the software package is among the best on the market and includes full versions of XIII, Uru and Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow. Other software includes FarStone's VirtualDrive and RestoreIT! software as well as CyberLink's DVD Solution software."

One thing that is common among people that collect songs on their
computer or movies is that at some point they will evidentially run out of
drive space using the drive that came installed on their computer. Hitachi
has now made it possible for this point to be reached a lot farther down the
road thanks to their 500 GB hard drive. The Hitachi 7K500 is not only one
of the largest drives available to the public it is also one of the fastest
thanks to the SATA 2 technology with speeds up to 3.0Gb/s.

In a nutshell, podcasting is simply online audio content that’s delivered via webfeed. Think of it as radio on demand. However, it gives you far more options in terms of content and program style than radio. While the field of radio has generally settled into few established types of programs, podcasting reflects more of the variety that is available on CDs.

“When we think of Optorite, most people out there think of CD ROM's, CD Writers, and DVD Drives. The truth is, Optorite has been slowly diversifying their product mix. We take a look at one of their first new products in the mix: A Laser Mouse.”

"The ASUS WL-HDD is NAS (Network Attached Storage) and AP (Access Point) all in one, at an affordable price. The device supports 2.5 inch hard drives and 802.11g Wireless Networking. It is designed to allow you to add file sharing storage to your network with ease and provide Wireless Networking to a wired network. Like what you have heard so far? Read on and learn more!"

"The Toshiba Gigabeat is available in four versions, each differentiated by color and storage. The 10-gigabyte version ($279) comes in silver, aqua blue or black acrylic. The MEG-F20 ($329), which we tested, doubles capacity to 20 gigs, and comes in silver or black brushed aluminum finishes. The high capacity versions, which come in a different variant of brushed aluminum, pack 40GB ($399) and 60GB ($449), respectively.

The 40GB and 60GB versions should store all the music you ever hope to own in the efficient Windows Media format. It is also compatible with Windows PlaysForSure titles and Napster To Go playback, although in our early tests that compatibility was still working its way through. The Gigabeat also downloads and plays WAV and MP3 files and is a JPEG/BMP photo viewer to boot."

Are you one of those people who doesn't want to spend hundreds of
dollars on a case just for looks. But you still want both worlds, you still
want the computer case to look better than a plain grey box. If this is
your mind set, I suggest you check out CMI Computer's cs807b Mid Tower
computer case.

Today more then ever a good mouse is a must, especially when some people make their living gaming and spend the majority of their online time playing. Today we will have a look at the Razer Diamondback Plasma L.E and its features.

If you want your PC to look pimp, but can't find any great looking fans, Ultra may have your answer. We are taking a look at their Glossy Fans, which promises quiet cooling, and superior looks.

Hard drives are one piece of hardware in your computer that is difficult to silence without creating extra amounts of heat. But in the battle to create quieter computers SilenX has come out with something they claim won't only silence your drive well but will help to keep it running cooler at the same time. This is the SilenX Luxurae Hard Drive Silencing Solution.

With memory technology evolving slowly in the past, many wouldn't have expected the incoming of DDR2-1000 memory so soon, especially low latency versions. Well, Corsair went all out and it became the first vendor to debut DDR2-1000 that operates at 5-4-4-9 memory timings. Find out how they fared in our review.

Using Supertiling, the default mode for Crossfire under Direct3D, shows that 6800 Ultra SLI is faster. However that's just in 3DMark05, not a modern game title, and that's using a beta driver that might not be there in terms of the performance that ATI have today, internally. It'll be interesting to see where performance is when Crossfire is launched using an official driver, along with NVIDIA hardware running any new driver that NVIDIA may or may not have planned for their hardware.

"What was old is new again. Serial data links, once reserved for only the slowest exterior connections and least-demanding peripherals, have proven to be the future of computer design. Up until just recently though, one of the most essential parts of any computer has remained stubbornly parallel in its implementation; computer memory, or RAM as it also called. FB-DIMM memory (short for Fully-Buffered Dual Inline Memory Module) is a variant of standard DDR2 memory designed for server applications where both large amounts of memory and memory co-ordination and accuracy at high speeds are essential."

"Ask any professional gamer, what's the best competition mouse available right now and most of them will tell you to check out the Diamondback's. Razer has built a reputation in the professional realms by offering some of the most precise and highly accurate optical mouse's available. Continuing a legacy that started with the world famous Diamondback series, Razer has released a commemorative mouse based on the original Diamondback, namely the Razer Diamondback Plasma Limited Edition."

"After a long journey from Taiwan, ThermalRock’s Eclipse case finally
arrived and we couldn’t wait to tear open the box and test it out.
ThermalRock, a division of Thermaltake, seems to be focus on innovation
and creativity, which are qualities you will notice in the design of their
products, especially the Eclipse. Straight out of the box, the case is
fairly light, which can be attributed to its 100% aluminum build. Although
it is stocked with all the standards like drive bays, fans, etc., the
Eclipse exhibits a unique vibe that is undeniable. One of the main draws
to this case is that unlike most high-end cases, this one probably won’t
require you to break the bank, but we’ll find out if lower cost means
lower quality."

"Today Mike takes a look at a new enclosure from NZXT called "Trinity". The folks at NZXT are looking for something that still appeals to those who want an interesting look, but also has a more docile overall appearance. This doesn't mean that the case is automatically a dud, only that it doesn't glare at you with a robotic or alien face."

"As most of you are aware, AMD's Athlon 64 flagship single core
is currently the San Diego, in fact the Athlon 64 FX-57 is based upon
the San Diego. The key difference between the San Diego and its Venice
counterpart is the amount of L2 Cache. But just how well do these two
cores compare clock-for-clock? In this review will be running two of
these CPUs at 2.0, 2.2, and 2.6GHz to see the performance difference
between the two AMD cores."

"Fun, cool, private, advanced, high-tech, mobile, futuristic and state-of-the-art. These are just a few words to describe this hip and, what I call, cortex stimulating theater injectors. It's the Matrix without the pain. "

With the tumbling prices in this market segment, the one thing that made it stand out - the card reader - was ultimately not executed well enough to make the DV-100B a huge success. On the other hand, the DiVX playback and other capabilities of this player mean that it’s a recommended overall package that can be found well below RRP already.

The performance of the Golden Orb II was average to say the least, even for a low-volume solution ... Being a universal cooler the Thermaltake Golden Orb II can be installed on a variety of platforms and is designed to cool a large range of processors. While the coolers list of compatible platforms is quite good, I strongly recommend the use of the cooler with low end AMD and Intel processors.

"The Winbond UTT chip based G.Skill Extreme PC3200 2-2-2-5 1GB Kit lived up to our expectations. With the right motherboard, these modules wil produce the best performance any PC3200 can offer. Its high overclockability at ultra low latencies will complement the high HTTs the nf4 chipsets can afford."

"GeIL is the first to market their overclocking memory at CAS 1.5. The interesting part is that it features Samsung TCCD
IC's. Is it a marketing gimmick? It certainly grabbed your attention right?"

"I have gathered up a few Socket 939-compatible heatsinks, and today
I'll be reviewing ASUS' Star Ice Universal CPU Cooler. The Star Ice is
compatible with socket 478 and 775 (LGA775) Pentium 4 platforms as well
as socket A, 754 and 939 Athlon XP/64 (K7/K8) platforms. This is a
massive cooler with a jet engine-inspired design - let's just hope it's
not as loud as it looks. My CPU is getting chills from just looking at
this cooler, so let's take her for a spin shall we?"

While the original game was sometimes too easy on players as characters actually played too well on their own, Gas Powered Games (GPG) has changed this around several ways, which helps make the game more challenging. In the first game, it was possible to give orders to individual characters, but only party orders can be given in Dungeon Siege II. For example, if the "rampage" order is given, every party member is forced to follow the order. In the same line of changes we have that players now have to click more than once on an enemy to continue attacking it. This will force people to actually play the game, instead of kind of sit back and let the game play itself. So while we can understand such a measure, we don't necessarily agree with it.

"In the not-so-distant future TV as we know it, will cease to exist. This is going to have huge ramifications on the whole of human society, or at least the so-called 'wealthy' countries that sit in front of the 'magic-story-box' religiously everyday. I say 'so-called' because we obviously measure wealth in terms of material gain and not internal peace or gratitude for life. When television first appeared, like the telephone, TV was an incredible addition to our collective reality. However, we are in the 'Information Age' and this means that the ways we do things as a species are changing faster than you can say, "Humans humorously hunt for humble hints at how to have more happiness."

“Headphones have never been known to pump out head thumping bass. Sure there have been designs that shake your head by rattling with some cheesy motor system, but what if you just stuck that darned subwoofer to your head? Here's the end result.”

"The Tagan TG480-U22 is a power supply that should be added to your very short list. It isn't a monster power house, it has no flashing lights and fans on all sides, and it doesn't have modular cabling. It does support multiple form factors including ATX12V for Dual 12v Rails (switchable), is very very quiet, tidy, an excellent performer and won't break the bank."

nVidia has recently released the new 7800GTX. This new top of the line video card delivers great performance but unfortunately not everyone can afford one. Most users today still dont even have a PCIe slot. We searched for an AGP card that can deliver the goods and doesnt hurt the pockets. Thats when the ASUS Geforce 6600GT entered the picture. ASUSs products are known worldwide for their high quality and performance. In this article you will discover how to benefit from their performance without breaking the bank.

Much like the PowerColor Bravo X700, this HIS X700 iCooler was
good, but not breathtaking. Power and performance simply can't come from
an X700, no matter who you buy it from. What we have here is a card
that's perfect if you're the occasional gamer, someone who loves their
dual LCD displays or a home theater enthusiast who just needs their HTPC
projected on to a HDTV.

SilverStone's second attempt at CPU cooling is going on the right track with style and design. The performance still needs
a little help though, especially with the fan running on silent mode."

"In the high-end videocard market, the Radeon X800 XL VPU offers great value. Perhaps that's why these cards are selling out everywhere. Today PCStats will be checking out this high-end value king in the form of the ATi Radeon X800 XL PCI Express videocard. Backed by 256MB of GDDR3 memory, a 512MB version is available also, but the extra memory does little in terms of real world performance. Like all other videocards currently on the market, the Radeon X800 XL supports S-Video/Composite TV-out as well as component output for HDTV owners."

DFI knows that hardcore gamers are interested in a motherboard with huge overclockability and modding potential. We are taking a look at the UT Ultra-D NF4, which promises just that.

"Today's subject will be power; namely, Vantec's newest offering to the PSU arena... the ION2. With newer power supplies becoming more efficient, Vantec has modernized their primary PSU and brought it up to current standards. We'll be taking a look at the numbers later on, but we'll also look into some of the other features offered besides just power levels."

Cowon is yet another manufacturer that has been working on MP3 players for quite sometime. Similar to Samsung and others, Cowon’s goal is to introduce a product that comes in direct competition against Apple’s iPod. As if the market isn’t saturated enough with iPod competitors, here’s another company with a prospective player to sooth your senses. Welcome the iAudio X5...

Today's subject will be power; namely, Vantec's newest offering to the PSU arena... the ION2. With newer power supplies becoming more efficient, Vantec has modernized their primary PSU and brought it up to current standards. We'll be taking a look at the numbers later on, but we'll also look into some of the other features offered besides just power levels.

Samsung has an entire product line devoted to MP3 players of all sorts. Logically, they offer flash as well as hard drive players to cater to various markets. The thing about Samsung players is that they really don’t differ from one model to another. It appears to be that Samsung has managed to succeed (we use that term loosely) with a design and other than a few changes here and there, the basic design is the same. Although the segment of innovation can be observed throughout its players, the uniqueness of each product is missing.

Leadtek’s midrange product line, which consists of 6600 and 6600GT graphics adapters, is puzzling to say the least. For instance, there are seven variants of 6600 and 6600GT cards from Leadtek. A positive aspect to this would be the fact that you can purchase what you want at a specified budget, but from a different angle, Leadtek has unnecessarily extended its product line just for diversification purposes. You must be really careful when purchasing products from Leadtek, as you can end up paying for a different model than you initially opted for.

At 32 inches long, with his massive head and swishing tail, this interactive dinosaur is a futuristic version of a prehistoric beast. Combining dynamic realistic motion with lifelike behavior, Roboraptor comes alive with advanced artificial intelligence, extraordinary features and complex functions sure to engage young and old minds everywhere.

T.sonic 610 player can play WAV, MP3, and WMA files. It has a spectacular LCD screen and design. It is compact and portable beyond belief. It arrives with various types of straps to make the MP3 player even more comfortable to carry around. Not only can it play MP3 files, it can be used to listen to any local FM radio station. Furthermore, it can record sound with the microphone on the top left corner of the LCD screen.

It is ironic that laptops these days are not recommended for use on a lap; those who try may certainly get a burn or an "unpleasant feeling". Cooler Master promises to solve that problem with the NotePal and also help with another thing or two. Come and see what we found!

MSI's Diamond edition GeForce 6600 GT is not only overloaded with high-end features not usually found in this range of cards. It also boasts of having an unique voltage modification that will enhance overclocking performance. Find out if the MSI NX6600GT Diamond lives up to its hype.

Much like the original, the Tech Station 2 is available either as a kit or pre-assembled. Opting for the latter will run you an extra $15 and up to two more days of processing. Personally, I would recommend anyone who purchases this kit to put it together on their own. It does take a bit of time, some sweat, and (as I later found out) a powered screwdriver, but the resulting satisfaction is worth the effort. It's just like putting together a DIY acrylic case. Overall it measures 14" x 13" (version 1 measures 14" x 8") and stands about 8" tall (with roughly 7" of clearance between the two shelves). It's available in black (shown above), white, red, green, blue, and yellow.

With a panel removed we see one of the case's key features which is 1/2 inch wave foam applied to the interior surface of the case. Nexus Canada reports that this material has similar properties to Nexus Damptek Foam Dampening material. It can withstand extreme temperatures, and is flame-resistant.The foam coats the inner flat surfaces of the case. The Nexus chassis is made of steel, and the outer shell is made of plastic. The plastic does not have any acoustic dampening properties, and is completely aesthetic

Gaming headsets are all the rage these days, integrating good drivers for excellent audio reproduction with a microphone for team discussions during heated battles.

Today, we take a close look at the Icemat Siberia Multi Headset, with its unique design and cool blend of white and black. Let's see if this is the gaming headset for you!

Scythe is a Japanese company, which specializes in fan-less and low-noise solutions. I had never even heard of them, until last year when i got to play with a Scythe NCU-2000 which performed really well considering it's without a fan. A few weeks back a came in to contact with Scythe again and they presented some new products. Among them was the SCNJ-1000 "Ninja" Heatpipe CPU Cooler, which was a pleasure to play with.

A successful product or movie cannot go long without a sequel. Sporting a similar design but much larger body size, the Tt Golden Orb II looks to make an effort to continue the Orb's name here in 2005. The question that remains, like the sequels to all movies, is will this be a worthwhile product or a flop? Read on and let's take a look at the latest Thermaltake cooler, the Golden Orb II.

It used to be that fans were used just for utilitarian purposes. Nowadays, however, it's becoming increasingly popular for fans to be used for lighting up your computer and decorating computer cases as well. Computer accessory manufacturers now offer hundreds of choices for computer case fans. Today we have a new revision of the AC Ryan Blackfire4 80mm and 120mm fans for review.

Today, we take a look at the Everglide Ricochet 2.52 mouse mat. Everglide are a well known and by most gamers, are a respected company. Their Ricochet 2.52, even just upon first impressions, looks as if it will be very popular with everyone who uses it. But ... onto the real review.

Thermaltake is quickly expanding their watercooling accessories with a water level indicator (reservoir) and a water temperature indicator. The temperature indicator seems to be a good investment.

Well, we are still standing after 4 years... Better than still standing as a matter of fact! Thriving! First, let me say hello and thank you for making PimpRig.com what it is today. Our visitors and members are what make us who we are. I won't gush any sentiments or attempt to wax philosophical about the journey leading up to today. I have done that before and it has been done ad nauseum in the PimpRig Forums. No, instead I will cut to the chase...

Today i took the Spire "DiamondCool" for a test run in my girlfriends computer, she's constantly bugging me to make here system quieter because she is getting annoyed with the standard Intel stock cooler which sounds like a airplane taking of when ever she want's to play a game. Well Spire offered to let me test their new "DiamondCool" cpu cooler for the socket 775. Guess what, she's not bugging me any more ;-)

Ultra Products is most notably known by computer enthusiasts for their X-Connect power supply series, which were some of the first modular PSUs on the consumer market. Today however, we'll be checking out one of Ultra Products newer endeavors, and that is the CPU cooling market. In this review, we have the Ultra Products Copper Core CPU Cooling Fan for LGA775 processors.

Sunbeam Tech cut its teeth on making accessories for computers at least up till the time they introduced their line of computer cases, but now they have added another category to their arsenal. Sunbeam Tech's first power supply aptly named Nuuo for "New" is following the current trend of companies by using a modular cable system on their supply. So come on along as we check out the Sunbeam Tech Nuuo and see if it offers anything new or just the same old thing.

It was not very long ago that the term "3D" did not exist. I still remember some of the first "3D" games that first came to exist for the SNES and other consoles. The explosion of 3D games in PCs came to be with the release of the early Voodoo 3dfx acceleration cards and the race began from then o­n. Now there are hundreds of video cards and numerous manufacturers producing video cards. It seems that there is a video card for every need. I have such a special card o­n my hands today, the PowerColor X700 Bravo Edition, a card designed to deliver optimum visual quality featuring Dual DVI and HDTV outputs, good 3D performance while remaining completely silent. You can guess which portion of the market it is aimed at; HTPC systems and people obsessed with silence. Let us see how well it manages to compete in the video card arena.

Disney has been making kids game titles for a long time, and have always capitalized on their superior branding. This game is no exception and is built around the characters from the hit animated movie MONSTERS INC. Lets find out what young Adam Wong thinks of the game.

Will Microsoft's Incorporation of RSS into its next Windows version (code-name Longhorn) due out in 2006, finally give RSS the respect it deserves? What does it really mean for RSS? More importantly, what will it mean to You as a Computer and Internet User?

It's slim, tiny, lightweight, and pocket-sized with a 5.1 megapixel CCD. This little wonder is none other than Nikon's Coolpix S1 digital camera, host to a 2.5" LCD display, state-of-the-art Zoom-Nikkor ED lens with 3x optical zoom, and a clean user-friendly design. Packaged with a mini docking station and PictBridge support, this camera is very convenient and easily accessible, making it a perfect gift for any novice photographer. This camera is a pleasure to use, but doesn't offer the best in...

On the 910MP's base Samsung has the phrase "Digital Versatility" engraved. At first this seems pretentious and unnecessary, but after using the display for some time this phrase actually sums up the 910MP nicely. The fact that this display can seamlessly go from being an LCD television to a top notch display makes it a well-designed and desirable product.

Are you the type of person who always wants to keep your PC in top running condition? Of course you are. Iolo promises to help, with their award winning System Mechanic 5. Does it have what it takes to pass our tests?

The Corporate & Channel Computing Expo is a small gathering of technology-based companies which lasted from June 28-30. It is conveniently (for me) located at the Javits Center in New York City so even though it mainly featured enterprise level hardware and services I figured I would stop by and see if I could dig up anything interesting. Some of the more interesting companies attending were Google, CMS Products, SilverStone, Pepper Pads, and NEC. In addition to the hardware their was lots of software, conferences, and keynote speakers.

Easily one of the most gorgeous looking hardware, the Samsung Q30 is the spokesperson for ultra light and ultra portable notebook PC that not only looks great but is a practical and competent mobile workhorse as well.

There were reports about MSI's K8N Diamond and K8N SLI Platinum motherboards being incompatible with the new GeForce 7800 GTX graphics card. We do not think there was an issue in the first place and we have the details here.

OCZ is known as a memory manufacturer who produces high-end enthusiast memory. The recently released Titanium Line is more focused on stability of operation, than for overclockers. It features OCZ's Lifetime PowerSwap Warranty which is a unique feature to the Titanium Series. If your memory breaks at any time, you call up OCZ and they will send out a replacement via Fedex on the same day. Once you got your system up and running you ship the defective memory back to them within two weeks.

Overall, the Prime Cooler PC-VGAHP 1 performs quite well and it is noiseless! The major concern of the Prime Cooler PC-VGAHP 1 is the hard installation process. However, if you take few minutes to read the user’s manual then it should not be really hard for you to install it correctly. However, it is not an ideal VGA cooler for high temperature graphic cards and for overclockers. If you’re looking for a noiseless and good performance VGA cooler for your graphic card, you should really consider the Prime Cooler PC-VGAHP 1.

OCZ has memory that's not made for overclocking?! For the first time, OCZ designed memory modules that are dedicated to
servers and high end mission critical systems.

The kit boxwave gave me is the ideal choice if you really want to protect your psp from scratches and shocks from dropping it on your table or something. Although I don't believe it would survive bigger drops though. The Flexiskin fits perfect, it works great and it looks great too. The extra wrist strap is handy if you don't have one already and the screen protector really works great, overall a really nice kit and it's really a nice addition to your psp.

Getting a sneak peak at a new, unreleased SKU in the midst of production completion, especially one like the Chameleon where it's more than just performance that defines it, is a rare privilege. The chance to see something take shape and not only that, but to offer suggestions and opinions that might even shape the final product Scan bring to market, was a treat. I hope you can appreciate the work that goes into production of products like that.

Interested in trying out the increasingly popular VoIP technology? A VoIP beginner named Rene, jumps in with both feet and shares with us the good, the bad, and the ugly of his trek from sales to installation.

Dollar for dollar, you still just can't beat the value and features compressed into this one computer peripheral. It's a TV, it's a top notch gaming card, it's an FM Radio, it's a personal video recorder, well, I guess it is pretty darn well everything. You buy it, you install it and instantly your drab and boring computer has an amazing amount of potential and power needed to turn it into an excellent gamer or a home theater system.

I've never really had an interest in artificial intelligence until recently when I started studying the very basics at university. The only AI Science Fiction that's ever actually interested me was 'Blade Runner' and its novel, 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?' written by Philip K. Dick. The subtext of the story deals with AI becoming self-aware but still unaware of its true nature, a concept that interested me greatly. Real AI is quite fascinating and in many ways entirely different to what I expected.

Once Apple had established itself as one of the world’s top brand with hard drive MP3 players, the company had to delve into other markets. Knowing that flash players are still more popular and account for significant sales of all portable audio players sold, Apple decided to introduce its very own flash player, thoughtfully named the iPod Shuffle.

The microprocessor industry has received a nice shake since AMD’s announcement of filing an antitrust complaint against Intel due to its monopoly in the market. Whether all of AMD’s claims in its 48-page complaint are valid is up to the court to decide and Intel to counter argue, but at least some of what AMD states is 110 percent correct.

Our contest will run for two weeks and is open to residents of North America. To enter, simply email us with your name, address, country and daytime telephone number. At the end of the contest, you will need to confirm the information you provided in order to claim your prize.

With the Kingston DataTraveler, it is a very simple and basic device that does exactly what it is suppose to do. Those looking for a long term investment will particularly like the high endurance factor the DataTraveler has to offer.

If USB drives weren't so popular, companies wouldn't keep releasing bigger and bigger ones. I am glad they keep getting bigger and more popular. In addition to growing in capacity, USB flash drives are becoming more and more affordable. You can easily get a 1GB drive for less than $70. I remember just a while back when they were triple that.

Today, drives larger than 1GB are quite common. Some companies even have 4GB drives! For most people though, 1GB is more than enough for carrying around school or work documents. A couple of current trends in the USB drive market are making the drives physically smaller and making them easier to use (mostly by coming up with alternatives to the caps you see on most flash drives). Many people must have lost their drive caps in order for several companies to have developed solutions to this problem. One such company is Transcend, which released its JetFlash 110 series recently.

Everyone likes free stuff!! The Overclocker Cafe' is having a one week contest to award one winner drawn at random a ThermalRight XP-120 heatsink. The only string attached is that a question that changes daily needs to be answered correctly. (This keeps the spam entries to a minimum.) Folks may enter up to once a day between now and Thursday July 7th.

In a multithreaded environment, the CPU demonstrated some excellent performance, besting the 3.73 Extreme Edition which has a 266FSB and over 500MHz clock speed advantage. Image and video editing are really the 840's forté as we've seen results that are truly amazing. We didn't publish the results, but DVD Shrink was remarkably quicker with the Extreme Edition 840, taking half the time the 3.73 XE did to shrink Revolutions, and this was during our multitasking tests.

Although many of the hard-core modding community would rather not have it happen, sometimes one of their innovations is good enough to go to mass market. I don’t really understand their reasoning along these lines, as I shudder to think what today would be like if the light bulb, electricity, and telephone hadn’t gone to the public. Even Matthew Schooley and Johan Vaaler’s early patented work with the simple paper clip is the subject of major mass production today, and for a simple piece of bent wire, it has done very well. I have seen some wild remote starts from the modding community for some years now, even one including a capacitive touch switch! Today’s review item, the Remote Multifunction Panel from our friends over at Logisys computer, clearly draws some inspiration from this early work. This particular unit has Dual Analog temperature displays, front USB/Firewire, and some limited fan control. Let’s check it out!

SilverStone Technology, Inc. is based in Taiwan with a sales office in California. They specialize in designing low acoustic and high performance PC and HTPC enclosures, power supplies and other accessories for the PC enthusiast market. SilverStone has recently added two new power supplies to their Zeus high output line, including the ST65ZF we have up for review today.

This document makes claims regarding the benefits of the ABIT Fatal1ty X800 XL 512MB's unique copper VPU cooler, its 'vGuru XTurbo mode' which in conjunction with an external switch seems to allow dynamic changes to its BIOS Clock settings and on the fly voltage increases (!) plus statements as to the performance increases through overclocking.

Back in August/September 2004 we saw some products uncharacteristic of Thermalright, namely the XP-120, XP-90, and SI-97. They actually used some aluminum, as opposed to pure copper. This "light 'n easy" line-up lived up to the performance level we expect from Thermalright, while remaining nice and light. Could this be the end of the heavy solid copper heatsinks we came to know and love? Nope! Enter the Thermalright XP-90C...690 grams of pure copper goodness. As you may expect from the name, the XP-90C is identical to the XP-90, minus the fact that it is pure copper. So, how does this heavy-weight compare to the great performing XP-90? Is it worth the extra cost and increased weight? Read the full review for answers to these questions and more!

Going shopping for the fastest graphics card you can lay your hands on? Since that title now befits the GeForce 7800 GTX graphics cards, Leadtek's version might just fit your needs. Though the card may be standard, its bundle is certainly hard to beat. Check out what else we had to say.

I tested the asetek WaterChill KT12AT-L30 a few weeks back and now i have the chance to give the asetek Antarctica CPU waterblock a try. I expanded the testlab with a AMD system as well so that i can cover all AMD products as well as Intel. Installing the Antarctica is a breeze, testing it left me amazed. One thing to note though, at time of testting we had a heatwave (35 degrees celcius outside) here in The Netherlands wich in which i had to test the Antarctica in ambient (room) tempertures of about 29 degrees, trust me the Antarctica clearly lives up to its name ;-)

The system hit another snag at 244 MHz, this time we had to give the memory a big voltage increase, all the way up to 3.2V. That did not just fix the problem it also allowed the memory to crack the 250 MHz barrier, with 2-2-2-5 memory timings, which is not bad at all! With 3.2V the memory went as high as 257 MHz before I started to experience stability issues again; the fix was simple though, I just raised the voltage further.