ModFrenzy

News From Our Affiliates

USB Basketball Fidget @ DragonSteelMods

"It's been a while since we've reviewed any kind of toys, and what I have today might be considered a toy or not. It's an interesting little gadget from USBGeek called the USB Basketball Fidget and essentially what it is is a small basketball shaped button on a base that attaches via USB to your computer. There's software included with the fidget and once installed you've got a cool little mini game right on your desktop to help you waste a bit of time and have fun, it's an easy game to play, you just tap the button to stop the ball from leaving your desktop as it bounces around your screen. There's not much to it, and there doesn't really need to be, it's just something to have fun with and waste a bit of time... "

More information can be found here

Mobile 9800 GT is Really Re-Branded 8800 GTX @ TechwareLabs

From our eagle eyed friends at Killer Notebooks comes a news bulletin about the release of 9800 GT mobile video cards. It seems these cards are nothing more than 8800 GTX's re-branded as 9800 GT's which come with a price premium. As proof we were given several shots of the notebook and internal lable.

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Travagans Green & Mini speakers @ techPowerUp

Travagan's Green is a small headphone and speaker amp. It has an integrated DAC and can be hooked up to your PC via a USB cable. Besides the Green we also received a pair of 2" mini speakers. The set looks stylish, its main objective is to provide you with a good listening experience both with mini speakers and headphones.

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Gigabyte EP45 DS4R Motherboard Review @ motherboards.org

Beyond a few small snags the Gigabyte EP45 has some very nice features and is widely available online. Gigabyte has released a full slate of P45 motherboards including the EP45-DQ6, the EP45-DS4, the EP45-DS5 and more. Across the board performance was ok, and as expected from a P45 chipset motherboard, with performance equal mostly within the separate run parameters of other motherboards in this caliber. The Gigabyte EP45-DS4R is a good solid motherboard just not anything too over the top or really that far apart from other P45 boards we have seen...

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TomTom GO 930 Review @ Rbmods

If we look back in time just a few years ago we see that the GPS was still quite basic with simple instructions and graphics on how to drive. These days the GPS holds high end graphics, FM transmitters, music players, Bluetooth and video playing functions just to mention a few so we can really see that they have gone forward. Today we are going to look at the TomTom GO 930 which is one of the latest badboys from TomTom. With a pricetag of 500$ this unit better perform extremely well so lets take a look.

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Patriot Viper 2GB DDR3-2000MHz Memory Review @ Virtual-Hideout

�The crucial link in the chain for getting the best performance from the Patriot Viper PC3-16000 2GB Memory Kit is whether or not your motherboard and processor can handle Front Side Bus increases. If your Nvidia or Intel chipset based motherboard can't give you something upwards of at least 1600 MHz FSB, then you won't really be tapping in to the bulk of the memory's potential. Nvidia 790i users can at least expect great things from the BIOS memory and CPU Bus Link option. A quick change to a memory setting or two and you're running at 2000 MHz. But, again, you'll get much better results if you at least tap in to your processor's 1600 MHz FSB potential.�

More information can be found here

NVISION 08: Day 0 @ Techgage

We're in sunny San Jose where NVIDIA's mega-event, NVISION 08, will soon be in full effect. The event is bringing gamers and developers from all over the world to create what NVIDIA hopes to be the first true visual computing convention. We stepped behind the scenes before the official opening to see how things are being set up.

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Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 Toxic 512MB Video Card Review @ ThinkComputers.org

�Today I will be looking at one of Sapphire's latest video cards, the Radeon HD 4850 Toxic, a 512MB DDR3 factory overclocked version of the HD 4850. This card comes complete with ramsinks, the first I have had on a video card that I didn't install myself, and a Zalman heatpipe cooler. Will the HD 4850 impress me as much at the HD 3850 did? How will it fare against the cards I plan to compare it to? Read on to see!"

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Tuniq Potency 550W @ OCC

"The 80 PLUS certification requires the Tuniq Potency to run at greater than or equal to 80% efficiency at 20%, 50%, and 100% of rated power output. While the specification has been met at 20% and 50%, the power supply failed to hit the 80% mark at 100% load for both 110VAC and 240VAC input. The power supply did, however, meet the ATX12V minimum required efficiency, and I have therefore given the power supply an overall pass in this section."

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BFG Tech LS-680 Power Supply @ OCIA.net

"BFG Tech is one of those companies you expect quality products from, no matter what you�re buying. While most famous for their graphics cards, they make a range of products, including motherboards, accessories, and power supplies. BFG has a few lines of power supplies, from modular to energy efficient, and has recently started advertising their 550W and 680W LS power supplies. A few weeks ago, our very own Zahn had a look at the 550W version and was generally impressed with the quality and performance versus the price. Today, I�m going to have a look at the 680W version to see if it�s true to their slogan, �efficiency and performance meets affordability.""

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TweakTown 10,000th news post giveaway! @ TweakTown

"It�s hard to believe that late last week we broke 10,000 news posts here at TweakTown. We are actually probably quite a bit higher than that as some of the very old and original news posts were not converted over to a new site design many years ago. We hit up our friends at MSI, GIGABYTE and Kingston and got some goodies for you to celebrate our 10,000th news post. Hang on, shouldn�t we be getting the free stuff and not you guys? Oh well!"

More information can be found here

Lucid HYDRA Engine Multi-GPU Technology @ Techgage

One of the more exciting third-party demonstrations we saw at Intel's 2008 Developer Forum was by a little-known company called Lucid, who promises highly-efficient multi-GPU performance scaling via their unique "Hydra Engine" technology. We take a look at Hydra Engine, and what it means for ATI's Crossfire and NVIDIA's SLI.

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ASUS GeForce GTX 280 TOP Graphics Card @ TweakTown

"It was only going to be a matter of time �till ASUS strapped some mean clocks onto the GTX 280 and put it under its TOP naming scheme. Well, that day has come and it�s time to see what happens when the GTX 280 gets, for the most part, an unnecessary but much loved speed bump. The tumbling GTX 280 prices over the past few weeks make the card more and more affordable for people wanting to get a top gaming experience. While we all know that for the most part the new AMD HD 4870 X2 is the faster single card on the market, NVIDIA still hold the crown of the fastest single cored card."

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World's slimmest USB Bluetooth Dongle Reviewed @ DragonSteelMods

"Today for review I've got a very small solution to that problem from our friends at USBFever, it's called the World's Slimmest USB Bluetooth Dongle, and while I'm not sure if it's the World's Slimmest it is very, very small, about the size of a quarter, so it will fit anywhere and you won't have some ugly big USB Dongle sticking out of your computer to enable BT functionality. So continue on for a quick look at a great option to enable BT on your computers... "

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Super Micro C2SEA G45 @ Phoronix

"Back in June we had looked at the Super Micro C2SBX+ motherboard, which was a workstation motherboard oriented around the Intel X48 Chipset. This was our first time reviewing a Super Micro product at Phoronix, but from the success of the C2SBX+ we decided to look at another one of their motherboards. This time around we have our hands on the Super Micro C2SEA, which is a desktop motherboard that uses the Intel G45 Chipset and provides integrated GMA X4500 HD graphics."

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Antec TruePower Quattro 850W @ TechwareLabs

The Antec TruePower Quattro 850W comes complete with racing stripes and our testing of this electrified monster shows these stripes may be well earned. So buckle up, insert key, and lets turn on this engine to see how she performs. Read our review, sit back and enjoy the ride.

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XtracPads Hammer @ BurnOutPC.com

"The XtracPads Hammer is another new mouse pad from the XtracPads series. It's a harder surface and it offers the hexagonal pattern for increased sensitivity for better mouse tracking. It also offers a much bigger surface than any hard surface from Xtracpads before and it's much thinner as well. Making it almost a part of your desk."

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Everything You Need to Know About The QuickPath Interconnect (QPI) @ Hardware Secrets

"Since the beginning of times Intel CPUs use an external bus called Front Side Bus or simply FSB that is shared between memory and I/O requests. The next generation of Intel CPUs will have an embedded memory controller and thus will provide two external busses: a memory bus for connecting the CPU to the memory and an I/O bus to connect the CPU to the external world. This bus is a new bus called QuickPath Interconnect (QPI) and in this tutorial we will be explaining how it works."

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OCZ Elixir Gaming Keyboard Review @ Hardware Secrets

"Known for its memory chips, OCZ is gradually entering the gaming market niche with products like the Equalizer mouse (which we already tested). Now they've released their first gaming keyboard, the Elixir, part of their Alchemy gaming oriented line. At first glance, it resembles the Razer Tarantula keyboard (which we haven't tested yet but know from Razer's catalog). Let's see how well OCZ fared following Razer's lead."

More information can be found here

Auras Fridge (JES-988) VGA Cooler Review @ Technic3D

"The Auras Fridge VGA Heatsink arrived Technic3D. Auras Fridge supports also VGA cards from NVIDIA Geforce 8800GT and 9600GT series. The VGA coolers comes with place for two 120mm Fans. See you in the following Review the Fridge on a 9600 GT compared with Arctic Cooling, Xigmatek Battle-Axe Cooler, Thermalright, GFXChilla and the Zerotherm Hurricane HC92 Cu."

More information can be found here

Dazzle DVD Recorder Review @ [OC]ModShop

Ladies and gents, I give you the Pinnacle Dazzle DVD Recorder. Now you can take all those old crappy movies of you making a mess with your birthday cake as a kid and put them on a DVD for no one but you to enjoy. You could probably even include special features, like your Dad finishing off a bottle of whiskey before beating you that night to congratulate you on becoming a man. Okay, maybe that was a little over the top. But really, I didn't grow up with you and I have to assume that you had your values beaten into you.

More information can be found here

Glacialtech Igloo 5058 Light E Heatsink Review @ Frostytech.com

"A funny thing has happened to CPUs, their not as hot as they used to be. In some cases, Intel Core 2 Duo processors are pushing out as little as 65W, while some Celeron chips output just 35W of heat! It's quite a change from the long standing belief that newer processors will always output more heat. Glacialtech's Igloo 5058 Light E heatsink stands a squat 55mm tall and comes with a fixed speed 80mm fan that rotates at a quiet 2600RPM. Weighing in at a feather 263grams, the Igloo 5058 is compatible with Intel socket 775 CPUs outputting 95W heat or less."

More information can be found here

QPAD|UC Gaming Surface @ techPowerUp

QPAD|UC is the name of a brand new cloth based mouse pad from QPAD. The mat is available in four different sizes and the shape is similar to that of the hard QPAD mats. It is QPAD's first attempt at making a soft cloth based mat, see how this giant performed in the review.

More information can be found here

Samsung SyncMaster 2263UW 22-inch Widescreen LCD Monitor Review @ ThinkComputers.org

�Samsung has always been pretty impressive with its LCD panels, both in terms of computer monitors and high-definition televisions. The spec sheets on these Samsung LCDs are always at the top of the class, but sometimes having an impressive spec sheet isn't good enough. These days, you need to be more than just a good LCD, it seems, and that's why so LCD monitors now come equipped with all sorts of secondary functions. Recognizing that you need to have these extra features to compete in the home computer market, Samsung has created a family of LCD monitors that do more than just show you a pretty pictu re. The Samsung SyncMaster 2263UW is one such unit. It has been designed largely as an all-in-one solution, helping you save some of that precious real estate on your shrinking desk."

More information can be found here

NVISION 08 Day 1: Jen-Hsun Huang's Keynote @ HotHardware.com

A few months ago, NVIDIA first told us about their plans to organize a massive event called NVISION that focused on all things in the visual computing field. NVIDIA planned to take over a number of major venues in downtown San Jose, including the convention center and a number of adjacent hotels, and invite experts and celebrities from the high-performance computing, gaming, video, movies, and graphics fields, to participate. An ambitious plan to say the least.

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NZXT Guardian 921 @ OCC

"The three fans equipping it perform well. They could have been spinning a bit faster, but noise would have increased. They are incredibly quiet at their speed, and they still beat a faster fan setup like in the Thermaltake Xaser VI VH9000BWS. But there is also a small problem having a third fan on the side. This one leaves little room for larger heatsinks such as my Xigmatek HDT-S1283 CPU cooler. I have to force a bit to get the panel closed, therefore pushing on the motherboard. However, if you plan on watercooling, you won't have any problems. The Guardian 921 even allows you to pass tubing to an external radiator by two holes at the back, especially made for that purpose. Moreover, a great feature which adds to both watercooling and air cooling setups, is the temperature reader with three probes. You can stay aware of any temperatures, simply by looking at the LCD in front of the case."

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Gigabyte EP45-Extreme Motherboard Review @ HardwareLogic

"Its always refreshing when a manufacturer brings something different to the table and tries to raise the bar of the current gold standard. With each new model, motherboard makers have been doing their best to one up each other as onboard reset / power / clear CMOS buttons, fault displays, LEDs and integrated water cooling have all found their place among high end mobos. Gigabyte has another trick up its sleeve with their new EP45-Extreme motherboard that features 1600 FSB, Crossfire support, holds up to 16GB of DDR2-1200 and the most radical chipset cooling ever made. Leave it up to HardwareLogic to find out if this "Extreme" motherboard can live up to its name."

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Western Digital VelociRaptor 10,000RPM Hard Disk in RAID 0 @ TweakTown

"When Western Digital launched their first 10,000 RPM consumer desktop drive, enthusiasts quickly took note. Now in its fourth generation, the Western Digital Raptor Series is still unchallenged and dominates the enthusiast and performance user markets. 10,000 and even 15,000 RPM hard drives started long before the Raptor Series but have been exclusively built for workstation and server environments utilizing SCSI and its successor, SAS connectivity. SATA and later SATA II bridged the gap between consumer ATA and SCSI standards and arguably the biggest performance gains came from Native Command Queuing, but the Raptor Series did not utilize this technology, not until now."

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Logitech MX 1100 Cordless Laser Mouse @ I4U

"Today we are looking at the Logitech MX 1100 Cordless Mouse. This mouse has some features you don't commonly see outside of gaming mice. The MX 1100 is the first non-gaming mouse I have seen with a switch for adjusting sensitivity. The adjustment is towards the front of the mouse, right next to the left main mouse button. The scroll wheel can be pressed for middle mouse button click. This was something several previous Logitech mice using the free-wheel scroll wheel lacked."

More information can be found here

OCZ Alchemy Series Elixir Keyboard Review @ Virtual-Hideout

�Overall, the OCZ Elixir is a solid keyboard at a very good price. ($30 retail) The minor layout issues we had were just that - minor nitpicks. We're very picky about our keyboards. Compared with most keyboards, $30 is about average - though the Elixir is anything but average, with the plethora of additional functionality provided. True, it may not have the same level of features as the Logitech G15, but it's also far cheaper. For those that don't feel like paying too much for a keyboard, the OCZ Elixir is a solid buy.�

More information can be found here

Vantec Aeroflow FX 120 CPU Cooler @ Pro-Clockers

Vantec's new coolers are named after their best selling cooler to date the Aeroflow 2. The new Aeroflow FX 92 and Aeroflow FX 120 are based on the ever popular tower design which all the top coolers share. Even with the similarities of these coolers they also had their differences. Whether it is size, number of heat pipes, number of fins or the number of fans it supports they all have characteristics that make them stand out from one another. The Aeroflow models boast the vastly becoming popular Heat-pipe Direct Touch Technology and a sweet white cooling fan. But is this enough for Vantec to become a real player in the air cooling market? We will put it up against the several other coolers to see where it ranks.

More information can be found here

FSP Everest 80Plus 700 Power Supply @ Pro-Clockers

The first of the units we will be taking a close look at is the Everest 80Plus 700. With FSP's newest lines of power supplies their main goal is not only providing a lot of power but providing efficiency. With the world in this whole 'Green' thing and people wanting to save as much power and money this new unit maybe right up your alley. Especially, if you are in the need of a power supply that can power a dual Nvidia GPU gaming rig. Nvidia has certified the Everest Plus80 as SLI compatible.

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Swann Security BlueAlert Security Kit Reviewed @ DragonSteelMods

"I've got quite a bit of experience in CCTV security systems, I've installed systems that costs upwards of $40,000 so I know a bit about working with them and what's good and what isn't. What I've worked with is professional quality equipment, but with society being ever security conscience there are kits and systems that are aimed at the regular person, they aim to do what professional systems can do but at a fraction of the price. These kits offer peace of mind and can act as a deterrent against crime, but are they any good? Swann Security has sent me over their BlueAlert Security Kit for review, it includes a DVR that records to a standard SD card, and one wireless camera with infrared capabilities built in. The BlueAlert DVR is a tiny box, about the thickness of a DVD box, and half as wide so it can be discreetly placed wherever you need it. Is it any good? Well if I compare it to professional kits costing 100 times more then I can say no, but for what it is and what it costs it's well worth the security and peace of mind that you can get from owning it. "

More information can be found here

Lenovo's ThinkPad X200 Ultraportable Notebook,Centrino 2 @ HotHardware.com

Today we�ve got a detailed look at Lenovo�s new ThinkPad X200. Though it may appear that the X200 is an offshoot of Lenovo�s ThinkPad X300, the ThinkPad X200 is actually more of a successor and direct descendant of their ThinkPad X61 line. This is clearly evident both in the X200's design and its specifications. Lenovo�s X300 tries to be as compact and feature-rich as possible, sacrificing raw computing power to present a fully featured notebook in an amazingly compact frame. However, the X200, just like the X61 before it, takes the opposite approach, sacrificing some size and features to preserve compute power. Built on Intel's new Centrino 2 platform, the ThinkPad X200 is well equipped with the latest technologies and powered by a standard-voltage Core 2 Duo Mobile Penryn processor. Stop on by for a look�

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ASUS M3A78-T AMD Motherboard @ TechwareLabs

Looking for high end performance on a low end budget? We take a look at the new 790GX chipset from AMD which promises features that allow your system to grow with you if you find yourself in need of more agressive performance over time. Is the 790GX worth considering for your next rig? Find out what Matt had to say about this board from Asus.

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News From Our Affiliates

Thermaltake VI-ON Hard Drive Enclosure Giveaway! @ ThinkComputers.org

�ThinkComputers has teamed once again with Thermaltake to bring you another great contest! It is that time of the year, everyone is going back to school and summer is over. We have decided to make this contest a little more interesting, but before we get into that let's get into the prizes. Thermaltake will be providing 3 of their new VI-ON 3.5" External Hard Drive enclosures! Each retail for $49.99."

More information can be found here

IcyDock MB453SPF-B SATA Multi-Bay Backplane Module Review @ PCSTATS.com

"A multi-bay backplane module is a box the size of a couple optical drives stacked on top of one another that stores a handful of serial ATA hard drives in compact, individually hot swappable drive caddy's. When internal hard drive space in a computer case is full, or if quick access to hard drives is called for, this box will allow you to add up to three SATA hard drives in the space normally occupied by two 5.25" optical drives. IcyDock call this module the MB453SPF-B."

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Fragapalooza 2008 - Canada's Largest Gaming Event @ Futurelooks

Well it's been a week since Fragapalooza closed its doors, and I've finally managed to recover from it all. Now some of you may be unfamiliar with the name Fragapalooza, so I'm here to educate you. Fragpalooza is the largest gaming event in Canada. In four days this huge event crams in a convention centre sized BYOC area, gaming tournaments, random draws and prizes, and more caffeine then is healthy for human consumption. I've been a regular attendee since 2003 and the last time Futurelooks attended was at Fragapalooza 2005. I thought that it was time that I brought the event back to the Futurelooks audience.

More information can be found here

IDF 08 SF: Intel Reveals More About Nehalem @ Techgage

Intel opened up about their Nehalem architecture at this summer's IDF, and while we are unable to talk about performance data, what we can talk about is of great interest. Read on as we take a brief look at Turbo Mode, HyperThreading, CPU and Memory overclocking, the triple-channel memory controller and much more.

More information can be found here

Thermaltake Armor+ MX VH8000BWS Mid Tower ATX Case Review @ Bigbruin.com

Good things come in slightly smaller packages... Smaller than a full tower case, that is! A few weeks ago the Thermaltake Armor+ VH6000BWS full tower chassis was reviewed at Bigbruin.com, and the overall impression was quite positive. This time around we have the mid tower version, the Armor+ MX VH8000BWS, another solid case that houses all of the features of its larger kin, as well as some additional ones.

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GIGABYTE shows us its X58 Extreme mobo in Taipei @ TweakTown

"Intel has just loosened the restrictions on what can be said and posted about the X58 Express supporting Socket 1366 Nehalem Core i7 chipset this week. And that is great for us as it allows us to report some juice bits of information to you, from here in Taipei. We visited the GIGABYTE HQ this afternoon and they had a single X58 board to show us. It is a dummy sample right now which doesn�t work (dammit � no benchmarks!) and is labeled GA-X58-Extreme but it will actually turn out to be the GA-X58-DS4, which is a cut down and cheaper version."

More information can be found here

Uwe Boll On Far Cry and US Election @ [OC]ModShop

Recently I had the chance to speak with Director Uwe Boll about his upcoming movie Far Cry which is based on the 3d Shooter from Ubisoft and Crytek. I want to thank Uwe and Bill for taking the time to make this interview happen and for answering my questions. GVK: What is the Background and setting of the film? UB: In FAR CRY we could really follow the game story this time. Jack Carver an ex elite soldier rents now boats out and the journalist Valerie charters his boat to check out the island of Dr. Krieger (Udo Kier) who is doing gene-experiments to form new soldiers.

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ASUS GeForce EN9600GT Matrix Graphics Card @ TweakTown

"Just when we thought we would no longer receive any more 9600 GTs because we figured we�d reviewed just about every single one on the market, ASUS has decided to run around and release a new one. The particular card we�re looking at today is part of the Republic of Gamers collection, which is something we tend to see more in the motherboard department. It makes a lot of sense, though, that ASUS are going to expand this popular naming scheme out to more than just motherboards. This new card comes to us as the EN9600GT Matrix. Matrix is also something we haven�t heard of from ASUS before, so it will be interesting to see if they�re going to start creating some new lines."

More information can be found here

Danger Den Tower-26 Case Review @ HardwareLogic.com

"Today HardwareLogic will cover the newest enclosure from Danger Den, the Tower-26 acrylic case. Those considering the Tower-26 had better make sure their components are up to snuff, because if they're not, they'll be on display for all world to see. And mock. To keep it simple, the Tower-26 looks to be a fantastic option for those wanting to showcase the great deal of time and money they've spent assembling the finest in hardware."

More information can be found here

NVIDIA nForce 700a, GeForce 8000 Chipsets @ Digit-Life

"The idea to integrate a graphics core into all chipsets looks quite natural for NVIDIA, which strategical task has always been to promote its own graphics solutions in its chipsets. On the other hand, users start to pay attention to performance of these graphics cores even when they wouldn't have cared in other cases."

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CoolerMaster GeminII S CPU + Board Cooler @ TechwareLabs

Michael Bosse takes a look at the CoolerMaster GeminII S which serves as both a CPU cooler and a board component cooler. We test this heatsink against the stock cooler and bring you the results. Is the GeminII S worth your cash and is the performance up to par to handle the heat of an Opteron 1214? Read our review to find out.

More information can be found here

AMD Catalyst 8.8 Driver, Exciting New Features @ Phoronix

"AMD had delivered same-day Linux support when launching the Radeon HD 4800 series this summer. This was a first for AMD when launching a major product revision that there was same-day support considering for the R500 and R600 (and earlier) generations it had taken months for any level of support on Linux. This was great to see and the Radeon HD 4850/4870 performance was terrific thanks to their new OpenGL driver introduced last September. Today AMD has announced another Catalyst driver release for Linux and this is arguably the most significant driver update since last October's release when AIGLX support was added. Catalyst 8.8 delivers CrossFire support on Linux, OverDrive overclocking support, adaptive anti-aliasing support, and other improvements."

More information can be found here

ATI Radeon CrossFire On Linux @ Phoronix

"Back in June we had exclusively shared that CrossFire would be coming to Linux as part of their Radeon HD 4800 series strategy. CrossFire (or CrossFire X as it's now known) allows the graphics rendering workload to be split between multiple Radeon GPUs to deliver faster performance. Meanwhile, NVIDIA's multi-GPU technology known as SLI (Scalable Link Interface) has been supported on Linux since 2005. While AMD is still working to address some issues with their ATI Linux driver, they have been working hard on new features like CrossFire. How does this feature work though on Linux and does it deliver similar performance gains to their Windows driver? Today we have a full rundown on ATI CrossFire for Linux along with benchmarks from the ATI Radeon HD 4850 and Radeon HD 4870."

More information can be found here

AMD OverDrive On Linux @ Phoronix

"When it comes to ATI hardware, one of the features we have been after for the longest time on Linux has been any overclocking support. Windows users have ATI's OverDrive at their disposal along with an arsenal of third-party utilities such as ATI Tool. NVIDIA also has various utilities for overclocking their graphics cards on Windows, but they also provide support for overclocking on Linux. Today though with the release of the Catalyst 8.8 Linux driver there is finally ATI OverDrive 5 support on Linux."

More information can be found here

Noctua NH-C12P reviewed @ BurnOutPC.com

"Sporting 6 heat pipes and the award-winning, psycho-acoustically optimized NF-P12 120mm fan, the NH-C12P achieves excellent performance and outstanding quietness. The down-facing c-type design doesn't only allow for optimal motherboard and case compatibility, but also provides additional cooling for motherboard components through two Airflow-Gaps. Outfitted with the professional SecuFirm� mounting system and Noctua's much acclaimed NT-H1 thermal compound, the NH-C12P is a premium-class silent cooler through and through."

More information can be found here

Intel Core2Duo comparison: E8200 � E8600 @ Hardwareoverclock Austria

Hardwareoverclock Austria has posted another processor comparison. In this article they find out the performance from all Core2Duo E8000 processors, from E8200 up to E8600.

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XFX GTX 280 Review @ XSReviews

"With all the recent fuss over ATI's 4870 X2 card, it's no wonder the green camp are bristling a little. However, all is not lost if you are an nVidia fan boy, they do have one hell of a hefty card that's supposed to be hot on the heels of ATI's top dog. Perhaps with some overclocking we could coax enough performance out of it to take back the crown? Today I'm testing out XFX's GTX 280 card, and it's a monster. "

More information can be found here

Lian-Li V1100 Black Case Review @ motherboards.org

Lian Li cases are the best designed in the business and this is one of them. The V1100 Black has five 5.25" drive bays, but more importantly, has the ability to install six HDDs. There are a total of four 120mm fans on the case, offering total cooling solution for any user with the caveat that tall CPU coolers will preclude the optimal use of the fans. Otherwise the case has the features, and looks to be well worth the price online. Quality cases are important for the hardware enthusiast as it determines what can be installed in the computer. This is a very stylish piece of equipment and it is very functional as well as being attractive to the eye. Its priced in the mid $200.00 range and is available online and at a few retail outlets.

More information can be found here

Nikon Coolpix S600 Camera Review @ Hardware Secrets

"Nikon boasts their Coolpix S600 as the camera with the world's fastest start-up time and the world's most compact design. We set out to check out these claims as well as to test the capabilities of this small point-and-shoot camera. We will look at the S600 from the view-point of the everyday photographer."

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Introduction to Wireless USB (WUSB) @ Hardware Secrets

"Wireless USB (WUSB) products are finally arriving at the market and in this article you will learn more about this technology and see some usage examples."

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Foxconn A7DA-S AMD 790GX Motherboard @ TrustedReviews

Foxconn has used the new AMD 790GX chipset in a workmanlike motherboard that will successfully overclock a Black Edition Phenom processor.

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J&W RS780UVD-AM2+ mATX Motherboard @ OCIA.net

"J&W Technology is a name I was not familiar with, however they have been around since 1994 and currently sell 450,000 units monthly. Until just recently they have not had any distributors outside of Europe, Asia and Australia, however recently a few of their products have popped up on North American e-tailer sites like Geeks.com. Today I have for review their JW-RS780UVD-AM2+ motherboard. This is a micro ATX board utilizing the AMD 780G chipset, features the latest HT 3.0 and PCIe 2.0, support for DDR2-1066 memory, onboard Radeon 3200 DX10 graphics with 64Mb SidePort memory, and HDMI and HDCP ready."

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In Win Metal Suit - GunDam Case @ TechwareLabs

*Stomp*. *Stomp*. Footsteps are heard outside, is it Godzilla? NO, it's the In Win GunDam case!! Today, Artiom shells out his tech knowledge to see if he can bring the infamous Metal Suit GunDam case down to our level.

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Son Of Rambow DVD Review @ Ascully.com

"I had no idea what to expect from this "little" movie. I was very happily surprised! Surprised and pleased and entertained, all the way through...."

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OCZ DDR2 PC2-9200 Flex II modules @ Neoseeker

"The massive heatsinks that double as water coolers add significant heft, and you can pretty much forget about mounting four of these modules on a motherboard - on the other hand, there is sufficient heat sink area that it is doubtfull that actually water cooling the modules will have any significant benefit."

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ATI Catalyst 8.8 Analysis - XP & Vista @ TweakTown

"With the drivers coming in nice and early this month, I�ve been able to get stuck into the testing to see what the latest driver incarnation from AMD offer us. As usual, before we get stuck into the actual results let�s see what kind of promises AMD have made for us this time around. With new cards out and the year coming to an end extremely fast, it�s time to ramp up the performance numbers so we can all sit back and enjoy a high FPS Christmas with all those new games coming out."

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QNAP TS-109 II Pro Turbo Nas Review @ DragonSteelMods

"A little bit ago I took a look at the Thecus N3200 NAS box and it was a nice choice overall, but today for review I've got the TS-109 Pro II Turbo NAS from QNAP that personally I like much better than the Thecus. One of the main reasons is that it only uses one drive, the other reason is because of the features and abilities of the TS-109 Pro II, this box is small but packed to the brim with numerous features that anyone will love and use. This box even has a 500Mhz CPU with 256MB of DDR2 ram built in to make sure the system runs smoothly and does what you want when you want it to. "

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IDF Day 2: Anand Chandrasekher Mobility Keynote @ HotHardware.com

Day two of IDF kicked off with a cheesy, classic Star Trek opening-credits rip-off that concluded with the statement: "The Internet, to boldly go where it has never gone before--in your pocket." Then it was Senior Vice President and General Manager of Intel's Ultra Mobility Group, Anand Chandrasekher's turn to present his keynote on the state of today's and tomorrow's MIDs (Mobile Internet Devices). We've got the full scoop from the keynote posted right here...

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More Details on Overclocking Nehalem @ Techgage

We've published a follow-up look on benchmarking/overclocking Nehalem, based on what new details surfaced at a briefing today.

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Palit GTX 260 @ OCC

"After seeing the headroom still left on EVGA's GTX 260 FTW card, I was expecting big things from the Palit GTX 260. Initially I was slightly disappointed that I could not match the overclocking ability of the EVGA card, but when you sit back and think, you realize that this is not a factory overclocked card. As such, it is binned a little lower, and costs a little bit less as well. What I did get from the card was 128MHz on the GTX 260 core, 112MHz on the memory, and 276MHz on the Shader clocks. As a percentage, the increases equal out to an 18% jump in the GPU core speed, 10% on the memory, and almost 20% on the Shader clocks. All of these increases are pretty substantial, and provide a serious performance boost when the CPU does not bottleneck the system's performance."

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August GiveAway @ Motherboards.org

Hello everyone, another month means another great month for a free giveaway. This month our friends at XFX sponsor a nice little giveaway featuring a 9800 GT VGA card and a 750A SLI motherboard, thanks XFX. All you have to do to enter is sign up at the link below. I wish everyone luck and remember if you do not enter, you cannot win. Take a chance, roll the dice and live a little, you deserve it so enter below.

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Back to School 2008: Techie Toys for Campus Ballers @ Futurelooks

Well, not everyone is on a budget. Some people are born with a silver spoon in their mouths (or Daddy's Credit Card). Others happened to win the lottery. Whatever the case, there is a group of students with more money than they know what to do with. That's where this back to school buyer's guide comes into play. Got money to blow? Ballin' like Lil Wayne? Let me show you where you can spend that cash.

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Asus Advanced Overclocking Championship Coverage @ Overclock3D.Net

With 4870X2's, QX9770's and hefty amounts of LN2, ASUS attempt to break some records with the help of the worlds best overclockers.

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Win an OCZ 32GB Solid State Drive With Overclock3D @ Overclock3D.Net

It's the last day of the competition and your very last chance to get your hands on an OCZ 32GB SSD Drive. Get your entries in now!

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BFG ES800 Power Supply Review @ Virtual-Hideout

�BFG has a great power suppy here - not only does it look good, but it does it with performing style. For the duration of the testing, and the subsequent gaming session afterwards, performance remained solid while silence was in full effect. I found no issues with any of the cabling, or the installation of the unit - that was the fault of the unit. Overall, I would have to say that if you're in the market for a PSU at this price point ($219), BFG's ES800 is an excellent choice. While it's lack of support for Tri-SLI is definitely disappointing, it's ability to take a system with two 4870x2 or 9800GX2 cards is admirable.�

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OCZ DDR3 PC3-16000 Flex II Water Cooled Memory Review @ Madshrimps

Today we take a look at OCZ latest addition to the Flex series : the Flex II DDR3 kit. As a matter of fact, this is our first DDR3 review in the house - better late than never I suppose - so have a look what DDR3 water cooled at 2Ghz can bring to your doorstep.

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Buying an HDTV: What You Need to Know @ TheTechLounge

"Walk into your local electronics emporium and look at the wall of screens. It's a beautiful sight. All of the displays look so wonderful, but where do you start? What do you need to know to find your perfect high-def match? Purchasing your first HDTV can be a daunting task if you aren't armed with the proper information when you enter the carnivorous den of your local electronics superstore. There are a couple of areas I'd like to focus on in this guide. The first thing to consider is the type of TV, and which is best suited to your viewing environment. This consists of the physical space the TV will occupy and any devices you plan to use with it will weigh heavily on your decision. Also important are the features and specifications that a new TV can offer. Buzzwords like 1080p, contrast ratio, HDMI, and 120Hz will be thrown at you as soon as you strike up a dialogue with a salesperson (or as they stalk you up and down the aisles). With a little preparation, you can be an informed consumer with the power to overcome jargon-filled sales pitches and, in the end, make the right decision for you."

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ASUS Silent Knight II CPU Cooler @ Digit-Life

"We've reviewed quite a few Mid-End coolers from ASUS, which almost always had decent technical properties. But the company also has a thoroughly developed High-End series. And the first such product to be reviewed now is Silent Knight II -- a promising premium cooler that offers an interesting combination of advanced design and attractive exterior."

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News From Our Affiliates

OCZ SOE Urban Elite Edition DDR3-1600 2GB Dual Channel Memory Kit Review @ ThinkComputers.org

�It's been a couple of years since I reviewed my first kit of memory, a pair of green camouflage OCZ Special Ops Edition (SOE) DDR modules near the end of the DDR era. Here I am, around 20 memory reviews later, with my next pair of camo OCZ modules, their Special Ops Edition Urban Elite Edition DDR3-1600 (PC3-12800) 8-8-8 2GB kit. As the original Spec Ops, the Urban Elite is basically marketed towards gamers for a simple choice in building their gaming rig, just choose the camouflage memory. Will the Urban Elite live up to the expectations we have for OCZ memory? We'll find out in the following pages.

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Foxconn GeForce 9500 GT G96 Video Card @ Benchmark Reviews

Not everyone can afford the bleeding edge of graphics hardware, and not everyone needs it. NVIDIA has already made headlines with their high-end GeForce GTX 280 video card, which offers high performance at a premium price. Most enthusiasts have seen so much coverage for the high-level graphic products that it might feel like nothing exists for the lower consumer segment. Benchmark Reviews hasn't forgotten about the entry-level enthusiast, which is why we test the Foxconn GeForce 9500 GT 256MB PCI Express video card 9500GT-256FR3 against the bigger names in this review.

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OCZ Technology 4GB PC2-6400 Fatal1ty Edition Memory @ OCIA.net

"This month OCZ Technology celebrates their 8th anniversary manufacturing high performance memory products for the computer enthusiast market. They're also the latest manufacturer to jump on the Fatal1ty bandwagon, releasing both DDR2 and DDR3 modules under the world famous PC gamer's banner, in PC2-6400, 8500 and PC3-10666 speeds. OCZ sent us over a pair of their new Fatal1ty modules for review, the 2x2Gb PC2-6400 Dual Channel kit, and claim "these high-performance memory kits were co-developed with the expertise of the world�s 12-time champion to meet the needs of fellow gamers."

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Thecus N5200B PRO Five Bay NAS Network Attached Storage System Review @ Tweaknews.net

"Safe, accessible mega-storage is what Thecus delivers with the N5200PRO, and they deliver it in spades! It even looks good doing it. With support for up to five terabyte drives and multiple RAID setups, this little jewel has what it takes to satisfy most any home/small business user."

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Thermaltake Xaser VI MX Mid Case @ Pro-Clockers

Thermaltake may have the largest selection of cases available right now. They have been the type of company to not rest or settle with their current collection of cases in their catalog. This is great for the builder that wants to be able to select from a long list of cases without seeing a repeat of the same case. What I mean is some companies take one case and keep recycling the same design over and over. All this being external. Yes, Thermaltake will make one case and make it in a small and a larger size. Nothing wrong with that.

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GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 280 Graphics Card @ TweakTown

"The other day we looked at the GTX 260 from GIGABYTE. Today we�re going to be looking at the slightly more expensive GTX 280 version from them. Since launch, we haven�t really seen any companies do much with the GTX 280. While a few have come overclocked, we have found that they�ve all stuck to the reference cooling option. Today we�re going to be looking at the GTX 280 from GIGABYTE which follows the reference design down to a tee. The good news is that the price is also extremely competitive and for the most part the overclocks a lot of companies offer can be achieved by using a program like Rivatuner on your stock card."

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Spire Blue-Star 1000 (SP678S0) CPU Cooler Review @ Technic3D

"The Spire Blue-Star 1000 (SP678SO) CPU Heatsink arrived Technic3D. The CPU Cooler with 90mm Fan, H.D.T. technology, 4x 8mm Copper heat pipes and easy installation. See you in the following Review the Blue-Star 1000 compared with Standard Boxed Cooling and more."

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Tuniq 3 Case @ BurnOutPC.com

"Sunbeamtech has left a clear presence in the hardware industry by developing a huge line of products and since a year or so they created a whole new premium series to offer cases and coolers. What we are looking at today is their Tuniq 3 casing which offers their patented 3D Core-Fan Bracket, tool free drive installation and two cold cathodes underneath the bottom to finish it off."

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Gigabyte EP45-DS3L & EP45T-DS3R @ Phoronix

"Intel's P45 Chipset was released this summer along with the P43, G43, and G45 Chipsets as the mainstream Eaglelake alternative to Intel's current flagship X48 Chipset. Though over the older X48 motherboards, the P45 has the advantages of using Intel's newer ICH10 / ICH10R Southbridge and support for up to 16GB of DDR2/DDR3 memory, which is double that of what's supported by the X48. Today we are looking at two Intel P45 motherboards compliments of Gigabyte with their EP45-DS3L and EP45T-DS3R. The EP45-DS3L and EP45T-DS3R are just two of Gigabyte's motherboards bearing the P45 Chipset but in total they have eight different motherboards using this version of the Eaglelake Chipset."

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Flip Video Mino Review @ ASE Labs

" Since ASE Labs is getting more and more into producing videos, it is time to start reviewing digital video cameras. The first such device is absolutely perfect for the Youtube crowd and has been making the rounds on the internet. The Flip Video Mino from Pure Digital promises web videos made with ease and they aren't kidding. "

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AMD ATI All In Wonder HD, A Legend Returns @ HotHardware

When ATI was acquired by AMD a few years ago, one product that seemed to fall off of the new corporate radar was ATI's All-In-Wonder line of Graphics/TV-Tuner hybrid cards. This was an area of the market where ATI had exclusivity, yet we haven't seen a new All-In-Wonder offering since May 2006. Rest assured however, ATI has not abandoned the All-In-Wonder, they've simply been working on the next iteration of the Graphic/TV-Tuner stalwart, with their latest offering coming in the form of the ATI All-In-Wonder HD.

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Aerocool Modern V Display @ TechwareLabs

Looking to add an attention grabber to the front of your case? Jack checks out the Aerocool Modern V which promises flash and functionality at the same time. Does it come through on each of these fronts? Read his evalutaion before purchasing.

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Thermal Paste Roundup August 2008 @ APH Networks

It has been over a year since we've reviewed thermal paste. With the previous presented to us being Arctic Cooling's excellent MX-2 thermal compound in July 2007 and reviewed August 2007 -- it was, no doubt, excellent thermal paste; and were able to achieve a score of 8.1/10 on our Number Ratings. Thermal paste may seem so insignificant -- it can be easily overlooked to an extent that many people simply buy what they've heard of the most, and not necessarily what is the best. Thermal paste may 'seem' to be all the same with each other; but each is actually quite unique with different companies making different formulas for synthetic compounds or metal compounds. But all serves the same purpose to allowing better transfer between the cooled device and the cooler; filling microscopic valleys in surfaces that has microscopic imperfections to maximize heat transfer efficiency at its source. Today, we will be looking into several different brands of claimed 'high performance' thermal paste and see which one performs the best. Our four-way competition today includes the 'classic' Arctic Silver 5, our previous winner Arctic Cooling MX-2, the price competitive Tuniq TX-2, and the NT-H1 paste from silent PC enthusiasts' favorite company Noctua.

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LukWerks WiLife Security System @ TechwareLabs

Interested in getting a fully featured security system but don't want to pay over $300 for it? If so, then WiLife's Digital Video Security System might be worth a look. One of the featured items at CES earlier this year, was the WiLife Security System. WiLife, a sub company of Logitech, now offers wireless security for your entire home. Featuring three different types of cameras each for different instances, these include your standard indoor camera, weather-proof outdoor camera, and even a spy camera found in an alarm clock. Now I'm sure most of you guys just got some wild ideas of what to do with that spy camera, I know I thought of a few. Read on to see how the WiLife truly performs.

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ASUS Republic Of Gamers Maximus Formula II Review @ motherboards.org

From a performance point of view, the ASUS Maximus II Formula is simply head and shoulders above the other P45 motherboards I've tested in the important categories of Sysmark (overall system score) and 3DMark (Graphics scores). From a Features point of view, the 8 SATA ports, CrossfireX compatibility and the ability to overclock the CPU to a higher clock speed automatically (CPU LevelUp) are features that a gamer will use. The inclusion of a full version of Kapersky Antivirus and 3DMark06 are added bonuses that make this motherboard worthy of a ROG sticker and my recommendation. P45 chipsets have hit the market in full force with ICH10R and a slew of improvements due to the smaller process scale of 65nm. As we move further into 2008 and into 2009 we’ll see a whole new platform, but for the mainstream enthusiast gamer this board is as good as it gets.

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ATI RADEON HD 4870 X2 2x1024 MB @ Digit-Life

"First of all, it was planned to oppose GeForce GTX 280 with CrossFire configurations based on two separate HD 4850 or HD 4870 cards. Then the company presented a dual-GPU solution on a single PCB, the RADEON HD 4870 X2. We've already published its preview with several tests. Now it's time for a sterling article with theoretical data, synthetic tests, and an expanded set of games."

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Gigabyte M912 Possibly in the USA? and Other Details @ TechwareLabs

We have heard from an anonymous source that the M912 Gigabyte netbook will sport some features not to be found in any other netbooks at this time. We have also heard that it may indeed be coming to the USA though we do not have confirmation nor an available date as of yet. Stay tuned as we will bring you the update first when the information becomes available. For the full details of what the M912 will be packing when it hits the US check out our scoop.

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Asus EAH 4850 TOP Videocard Review @ Rbmods

The 4850 videocards seem to be the best bang for the buck cards on the market right now. Asus has released a TOP version which is a factory overclocked card and it also has a big Glacier cooler on it to keep the noise down. We are going to compare it vs some other high performing cards today and see if this TOP card really adds some top performance to it.

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NCAA Football 09 Review @ [OC]ModShop

With Fall on the horizon, it will soon be time for collegiates all over the nation to gear up for fierce gridiron combat. In NCAA Football 09 by EA Sports, fans can get into the action in style. Playing on my Playstation 3 with the Dual Shock 3 control, I was easily able to setup and start the game. I chose to play the all new mascot play to start which allowed me to play as Harry the Husky the beloved mascot of my alma matter The University of Washington.

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R700: ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 @ TrustedReviews

ATI's tactic of using multiple graphics chips on a single card to get the top performance may set our alarm bells ringing when it comes to compatibility issues. However, we experienced no problems and the price and performance of this card is undeniably great.

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99 Windows Vista Performance Tips and Tweaks @ PCSTATS.com

"Welcome to PCSTATS massive 99 Windows Vista performance tips and tweaks guide! This incredible collection of Tech Tips is all about making your computer perform to its full potential with Windows Vista. Knowing Microsoft, chances are good that there's a tip or two in this 31-page long Guide that will make a world of difference for your PC. Take control of Windows Vista with help from PCSTATS. We've got 99 ways to squeeze out better performance, enhance boot times, free up hard drive space and trim away Vista's fat."

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ATP EarthDrive @ OCC

"The ATP EarthDrive uses a manufacturing process called "System in Packaging" that, according to ATP Electronics' website, "encapsulates all exposed components and points of failure." This means that the drive should be very durable and waterproof. I'm sure you all want to know if this SIP process works, so I dunked the EarthDrive in water for about an hour. After I let the drive dry off (so I don't burn up my own USB ports), I plugged it into my laptop, and it came right up with no problems. Now, you no longer have to worry about ruining your flash drive if it goes through the washer - but you probably shouldn't put it through the wash, just to be on the safe side."

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ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 2GB Video Card Review @ ThinkComputers.org

�Today I will be looking at ATI's most recent release, the Radeon HD 4870 X2. I can't quite imagine the performance capacity of a pair of HD 4850s, so I really have no idea what to expect from twin 4870s, complete with two full gigs of DDR5 memory. This will be my first ATI-branded Radeon card, which will make things even more interesting. Will the 4870 X2 offer the ultimate 3D graphics experience? Read on to see!"

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July Contest Winners Announced @ motherboards.org

Hello everyone, another month has passed and another giveaway has ended. The winners have been announced and to see if you are one of the lucky ones click on the link below. Special thanks to Palit for their kind donation of this months prize items, thanks Darren!!

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Kingston HyperX PC3-14400 2GB Memory Kit Review @ HardwareLogic

"Listen up folks, the DDR3 era is upon us. Both Intel and AMD have adopted the newer standard, and with Intel's Core i7 (the chip formerly known as Nehalem) peeking around the corner, there's just no looking back. Despite the temptation posed by dirt-cheap DDR2 modules, any build from the ground up should be focused on DDR3, save for those on an extremely tight budget. Newer processors are finally starting to benefit from the added benefit, and each new chipset release finds new ways of optimizing memory performance, making those DDR2 modules seem ancient by comparison."

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Super Talent PICO-C Gold 8GB USB Flash Drive Review @ Futurelooks

There are two things that immediately struck me about this particular USB flash drive from the folks at Super Talent. First, this thing is bloody tiny. It's not appropriate to call it a thumb drive at all because this USB drive is actually quite a bit smaller than the average adult thumb. It's more appropriate to call it a USB stick or something. Pinky perhaps? When the drive can be almost completely occluded by a quarter, you know that it's ridiculously small.

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TRENDnet 300Mbps Dual Band Wireless N Gigabit Router @ TweakTown

"How do you decide which router to buy in this day and age? Is there one product that has it all? You�ll be hard pressed to find a product with all the bells and whistles, but we may have one here today that comes close to the mark. Today we get up close and personal with TRENDnet�s very latest router, the 300Mbps Dual Band Wireless N Gigabit Router sporting model number TEW-672GR. Specifically, we are looking at version 1.0R, which is the shipping version you�ll find in the stores when buying."

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Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 X2 Video Card 100251SR @ Benchmark Reviews

Technology doesn't play favorites, and when it reaches an apex there is an indifference towards who develops it. ATI has learned this lesson the hard way, having watched from the sidelines for so long that most have forgotten that AMD could be a leader in technology. The Radeon HD 4870 X2 is the latest evolution in graphics cards, and ATI has delivered something bigger than we've ever seen before. Benchmark Reviews is fortunate to test the Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 X2 Dual-RV770 GPU video card 100251SR against a collection of todays hottest video cards available.

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Thermaltake DuOrb Heatpipe CPU Cooler Review @ Bigbruin.com

Installing the Thermaltake DuOrb heatpipe CPU cooler on a motherboard with an open layout should be very simple thanks to the well thought out mounting hardware that will hold the cooler in place and will keep it from sliding around. As seen in the review, there could be issues installing the DuOrb on some motherboards.

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ECS P45T-A Intel P45 Express Motherboard Review @ PCSTATS.com

"Built with the Intel P45 Express and Intel ICH10R chipsets, the ECS P45T-A motherboard supports all Socket 775 Intel processors running with a Front Side Bus of 800/1066/1333 MHz. That includes the new generation of 45nm 'Yorkfield' and 'Wolfdale' Core 2 Duo processors. Gamers who plan on running a pair of CrossfireX enabled videocards in tandem (say, a pair of Radeon HD4850's for example), will find two PCI Express 2.0 compliant PCIe x16 slots at their disposal."

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Evercool Zodiac Aluminum Notebook Cooler @ [OC]ModShop

Do you own a laptop? Of course you do. Who doesn't? Here's another question for you, how many of you have scars or third-degree burns on your legs and crotches from your portable PC? Ever wish there was something out there that would let you get your work done without burning out your 3.5 floppy? Well, the geek fairy may have answered your prayers. Except for the 3.5 thing. Some issues you just have to deal with on your own. Evercool presents the Zodiac NP-301. This solid aluminum cooling pad for laptops can take the heat, and put it somewhere other than your pants. It features two extremely quiet fans that draw heat away from your PC and disperses it, keeping your laptop stable and cool. This saves your legs as well as your PC from an untimely death.

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ASUS HD 4870 X2 (EAH4870X2) 2GB PCI-E @ Overclock3D.Net

Today we take a look at AMD's latest and greatest GPU and place it head-to-head with an NVIDIA GTX280.

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ASUS Radeon HD 4870 TOP 512MB Graphics Card @ TweakTown

"What�s so great about the TOP line-up from ASUS is that they don�t get a card and just add an extra 10MHz to the core and 20MHz to the memory, the TOP line-up of cards are really well overclocked cards that stand out from the competition. That latest card to carry the TOP name comes from the AMD team; the HD 4870 has quickly become a hot product for so many people thanks to the aggressive performance and even more aggressive price tag. Today we�ll be checking out how the ASUS overclocked version goes against a stock clocked offering and see if it�s worth paying the premium that the TOP cards carry to get the larger out of the box clocks."

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Icy Dock 3.5 Inch Screwless External Enclosure Review @ ASE Labs

" It seemed like some time ago that external storage was the oddball for people. Times have certainly changed now that internal hard drives are so large that backing up to optical media is really an impossibility. More and more external drive enclosures are coming out to provide the need, but they aren't created equal. Icy Dock's 3.5" External Screwless Hard Drive Enclosure (MB664US-1S) aims to fit the external storage needs of everyone in a convenient to use package. I believe they have achieved that. "

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Sunbeamtech Core Contact Freezer @ techPowerUp

Sunbeam's Core Contact Freezer is a cost effective CPU cooler for AMD and Intel CPUs. Its eight heatpipes make direct contact with the processor for optimum cooling. Also included in the package is a fan controller which allows you to optimize the acoustics to your usage scenario.

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News From Our Affiliates

Thermaltake Armor+ ESA Full Tower Case Review @ ThinkComputers.org

�Our friends at Thermaltake thought this an excellent idea, and immediately jumped onboard to develop ESA-compatible cases, power supplies, and watercooling systems. I won't go any deeper into ESA at this time, as this case is merely the first installment in a series of ESA reviews, following the Armor+ ESA case will be an ESA-supporting Thermaltake BigWater watercooling system, next a Thermaltake ESA-compatible power supply, and finally a full-blown article on ESA itself. So in this review I will concentrate on the Armor+, and save the ESA-specifics for a later date. Will the case meet the standards t hat we have come to expect from Thermaltake? Read on to find out!�

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GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 260 Graphics Card @ TweakTown

"Like the GTX 280 which has dropped in price over the last few weeks, the GTX 260 has followed suit. Whether you�re a fan of ATI or not, the release of the HD 4800 series and their performance to price ratio has forced NVIDIA to cut margins on the new GTX line-up of cards and give us an extremely powerful card for what now resembles a fair price. To date we�ve only had a look at one GTX 260 which came with a massive out of the box overclock. What this means is it hasn�t really given us the ability to completely come to terms with what the GTX 260 offers in its cheapest form; the stock form."

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ASUS Republic of Gamers Convention: Part 2 @ Techgage

The ASUS RoG Con is done and over with, so we take a look back at what made the weekend so great. Depending on who you ask, the LAN was a great success, with nobody leaving without some sort of swag in their hand. But, there was so much more to it than just that. Will we see another? We sure hope so.

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ASUS P5E64 WS Pro X38 Motherboard @ Benchmark Reviews

As predicted for this year, the dizzying high prices of DDR3 have finally dropped to within reason- even edging into that of DDR2's price point. The reason for such drastic price drops is that chip makers like Micron, Samsung, Hynix, and Qimonda are currently in full swing mass production of DDR3 DRAM - increasing supply and beating demand. This excess in inventory of DDR3 means a steady supply affordable and readily available chips that have helped to spur such rapid market adoption, evident with over fifty different motherboards currently on the market that support this memory standard. Further DDR3 price drops are expected to continue into the fourth quarter and means many will be looking for quality motherboards suitable for high-speed DDR3. That being the case Benchmark Reviews thought it would be of interest to examine one of the more mature DDR3 based motherboard offerings on the market today; the ASUS P5E64 WS Professional Motherboard based on Intel's 3 series X38 Express Chipset with support for unheard of "Quad" graphics.

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Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Professional @ I4U

"Today we are looking at the latest version of Nuance's dictation software called Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10. If you are looking to get your work done faster with less typing, this application is worth a look. I admit I'm not totally ready to give up my keyboard, for some applications -- like the content management systems on our website -- voice commands don't work well. Another issue for some users will be the price -- the professional version I'm testing sells for over $800. However, the standard version sells for only $99 and offers much the same functionality."

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Gigabyte EP45-DS3P (P45) DDR2 Motherboard @ Overclock3D.Net

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The ASUS Treasure Hunt - Win a HD4850 "TOP" Edition GPU @ Overclock3D.Net

Join the ASUS Treasure Hunt and be in with a chance of winning a factory overclocked HD4850 "TOP" graphics card.

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ASUS Rampage Extreme Motherboard @ Overclock3D.Net

Will the X48 based Rampage Extreme be the daddy of all overclocking motherboards?

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ATI HD4870X2 Crysis AA vs DX9/DX10 Performance @ madshrimps.be

We did some data mining through the massive amount of test data that was put online yesterday; it seems the HD4870X2 works really wonderful with Crysis when AA is enabled, if you are running under Vista. The increased level of detail with 4xAA doesn't really reduce performance all that much. While the GTX 280 takes a serious performance hit. Secondly is the fact that the HD4870X2 holds up better going from Windows XP to Windows Vista, and runs the game faster than the GTX 280 when "Very High" detail is used. While under XP with "High" the both are basically tied.

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Maxtor BlackArmor 160GB Encrypted Portable Drive Review @ Bigbruin.com

The BlackArmor 160GB encrypted portable drive provides a unique twist on a rather common item. Portable hard drives are everywhere, and in general are easy ways for people to lose valuable personal or business data. Security is the key feature of this product, and if protecting your portable data is a high priority, Maxtor has made it just about fool proof.

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Final Finatasy IV Revisited @ [OC]ModShop

Since gamers missed out on the real FFII and III (due to attention being given to the Super Nintendo), Square renamed Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy II, and sent it to North America. FFIV remains as the second most remade game (behind FFI) and the first as far as most re-translations go. But enough about present day talk; lets get right to what it was like in 1991.

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Coming Soon: AMD R600 3D Documentation @ Phoronix

"For months we have been telling you that AMD has been preparing to release their R600 series documentation as well as opening up the source-code to two of their internal software projects used for testing new graphics processor designs prior to the availability of the actual hardware. Advanced Micro Devices has yet to release their 3D programming documentation covering the R600 series (or the brand-new RV770) nor the source-code to their two internal projects (TCore and KGrids), but following several postings in our forums over the past couple of weeks and many emails inquiring about the status, today we have a brief update to share."

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Infinxx AP23 Reviewed � Bluetooth for your iPhone/iPod @ DragonSteelMods

" This amazing device plugs into the iPhone/iPod dock connector and allows stereo playback over Bluetooth enabled stereo speakers or headphones. The AP23 does not require charging as it runs off the iPod/iPhones native power, although this may present a problem for the already sketchy battery life found on the iPhone 3G."

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Corsair XMS3 DHX 4GB DDR3-1600 kit @ TechwareLabs

We stick the Corsair XMS3 DHX kit into our test machine today and rev up the speed till the speedometer cracks. Does the Corsair kit survive our test track? If you are thinking of shifting your rig into high gear and need some memory thats right for the job then you need to read our review first.

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Asrock X38 TurboTwins-Wi-Fi Socket 775 Motherboard @ Pro-Clockers

It has been a short while since we have had an Asrock motherboard on our test bench. Today, we are ending that dwelt with the X38TurboTwins-WiFi. We know that the X38 is almost a thing of the past but for some of us it is the best priced way to get 16x across two slots when wanting to run a Crossfire setup. So read along as we take the X38TurboTwin for a ride.

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NZXT Sentry LX Front Panel Display @ Pro-Clockers

When I received the invitation to review the Sentry LX I jumped at the chance. The latest rash of goodies being sent to us from NZXT has been awesome to write about. There was the Core Contact and the Tempest both near the top of their particular category. The Core Contact placed near the top in the air cooling temps. And the NZXT definitely looked up to the claims of being the King of Air Cooling. So why can't the Sentry LX be any different? Why can't it be one of the best looking LCD display panel out? Today, we will be taking a hard look at the unit and see where it stands.

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Metadot Das Keyboard Professional Review @ HardwareLogic

"The only company in the world to market a blank keyboard is back at it again, this time with a pair of planks that have been completely redesigned from the ground up. Can Metadot's Das Keyboard shock the world again?"

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Thermalright TRUE Black 120 heatsink @ Icrontic.com

"Thermalright has undoubtedly created a legendary heatsink with their Ultra Extreme. I am pleased to say that their new TRUE Black 120 is no exception and has thoroughly impressed me. Its performance was second to none on our toasty Q6600 test platform. Not only did it best all sixteen other heatsinks we have tested, it did so by a significant margin."

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MSI's N280GTX-T2D1GOC GeForce GTX 280 @ HotHardware.com

NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 200 series of graphics cards have undergone a significant price reduction since they first debuted. At the time, NVIDIA flexed its GPU muscle with a high-end, single GPU graphics design that their primary competition (AMD) could only compete with by throwing two GPUs at the problem. As such, NVIDIA initially priced their flagship GeForce GTX 280 at a significant premium; $649 upon its introduction on launch day. Would you believe us, if we told you back then, that these cards would be selling for $200 dollars less in only about two months time? Journey on for our view of the GeForce GTX 280 redux and see how MSI's N280GTX-T2D1GOC shapes up in the current high-end 3D graphics landscape.

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Forceware 177.83 WHQL driver comparison @ Hardwareoverclock Austria

Hardwareoverclock Austria has posted a new article. Yesterday nvidia releases the new Forceware drivers 177.83 with PhisX. We tested the driver on our Geforce GTX260 system in a comparison to the last official and Beta drivers 177.41 WHQL and 177.79 Beta.

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Razer Destructor Mouse Pad Review @ Hardware Secrets

"People invest a lot of money on their gaming setup - fast Internet connection, quick response monitor, high fidelity headset, gaming grade keyboard and mouse - but often overlook a prosaic peripheral: the mouse pad. Sure, top of the line gaming mice will work even on top of your leg but their performance will lack without the proper surface. Razer, a company known for their gaming peripherals like the Piranha headset (that we already tested), released the Destructor, their new gaming grade mouse pad model. He was our trusty brother in arms on the digital battlefields for the last weeks. Let's proceed to our test."

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320 GB Hard Disk Drive Round-Up @ Hardware Secrets

"When buying a hard disk drive most users are only concerned with the drive's capacity. Should you also care about performance? We compared the performance of nine 320 GB SATA-300 hard disk drive models from Seagate, Samsung, Western Digital and Hitachi. Is there a big performance difference among them? Is it worthwhile to pay a little bit more and get a drive with a bigger buffer? If so, which is the fastest 320 GB in the market? Check it out!"

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Asus M3N78 Pro @ TrustedReviews

The Nvidia GeForce 8300 chipset does no more than a reasonable job of supporting AMD?s Phenom and taken in combination with the poor layout of the Asus M3N78 Pro we ended this review glum and unimpressed.

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Smart People DVD & Blu-Ray Disc Review & Podcast @ Ascully.com

"Quaid does an excellent job of being the pompous professor who is seething with some kind of bitterness and disdain for everyone around him. We have all met him in one way or another. Through the movie he holds that odd barely functional personality through mannerisms and the way he walks and talks and facial expressions. It was a pleasure to watch."

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Kingston HyperX 2GB DDR3-1600 RAM kit @ TechwareLabs

Kingston provided two of their HyperX DDR3 1600MHz ram for your enjoyment. Jason Dumbaugh happily popped them into our TechwareLabs test rig and too it for a ride. Find out if the HyperX is as fast as it looks or if we blew out in the curves. If you are looking for some new sticks rated for speed then our review is a must read.

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ECS GeForce 9800 GTX+ Hydra Video Card Review @ Hardware Secrets

"ECS is very popular on the low-end segment, so we were really surprised to see this company launching a good high-end solution. The Hydra kit contains two GeForce 9800 GTX+ running at their default clock configuration and one Thermaltake BigWater 760is water cooler. The video cards come with the cold plates already assembled, so the only work you will have to do is to connect the hoses coming from BigWater to the video cards and fill the water tank with the coolant liquid that comes with the kit. We took an in-depth look on Hydra, check it out."

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Single HD 4870 X2 vs Two HD 4870s on P45 @ TweakTown

"Just the other day, I was talking about how the HD 4870 X2 is a great card for P45 users. When I tested HD 4870 in CrossFire a few months back on both the P45 and X48, we noticed that the x8 / x8 configuration present on the P45 actually gave us a bit of a hit in performance. So, what we�re going to do today is chuck a pair of Sapphire HD 4870s into a P45 board and do a bunch of tests. We�re then going to pull those two cards out and stick in a single HD 4870 X2. We will run the same tests and proceed to compare. Since we�ve already looked at the cards themselves, we�re just going to get stuck straight into the benchmarking side of things. Let�s begin by taking a quick look at our testbed we�re using today, before getting stuck straight into the benchmarks."

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OCZ Alchemy Elixir Gaming Keyboard @ I4U

"One common truth for many gamers is that their budgets are tight. Gamers are always on the lookout for good, low cost gaming peripherals that actually work. Today we are looking at just such a device from OCZ called the Alchemy Elixir Gaming Keyboard. One thing I have found on every gaming keyboard that I have ever owned is that after using it 8 to 10 hours a day five days a week simply typing -- not even counting gaming -- the keys start to wear after a while. To remedy this OCZ actually includes extra key tops to replace the most commonly used keys -- including the WASD keys used for movement, the spacebar, the shift key, and the arrow keys. Extra keys are a feature I have yet to see much more expensive gaming keyboards on the market offer."

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ATP ToughDrive @ OCC

"This is a very standard USB drive, without many special features that would make me recommend it over any other drive to one of my friends. The one added feature that makes this drive appealing is that it is intended to take some abuse. The SIP (System in Packaging) design makes the ATP ToughDrive waterproof, shock proof, and dust proof; pretty hefty claims in this day and age, but the testing backed that up. The clip used to attach the ToughDrive to your belt loop, back pack, or key ring appears fairly stout, and should make this drive a little easier to keep around. I know that I have lost more than my fair share of drives due to poor clips or attachment methods."

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Mtron Pro 7500 32GB SATA-II SSD MSP-SATA7525 @ Benchmark Reviews

Solid State Drives have become a subject of keen familiarity for Benchmark Reviews over the past year. After testing more than a dozen SSDs, I have watched the industry opinion of these cutting-edge products sway from luxury item to performance hardware necessity. While it cannot be denied that SSDs are still a pricey gadget best suited for the affluent enthusiast, there have been so many new developments that now cost is sharply on the decline while performance is continually rising. With prices being much more affordable, and performance having surpassed the best HDD products long ago, it all boils down to a good price-to-performance ratio. In this article Benchmark Reviews tests the premium MSP-SATA7525 SATA-II SSD from Mtron, a company that has become the grandfather of Solid State Drives. We dispel the myths associates with SSD products, and prove that Intel's ICH10 controller is still not ready for Solid State Drive performance.

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OCZ Alchemy Elixir Gaming Keyboard @ Techgage

OCZ prepares to take on the world of gaming keyboards with their new Alchemy Elixir, part of the company's Alchemy lineup of gaming peripherals. How does it stack up to the competition from established gaming peripheral companies like Razer, Logitech, and Creative?

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XIGMATEK HDT-SD964 CPU Cooler @ TweakTown

"With a trio of heatpipe direct touch CPU cooler reviews under our belts, I can definitively say that the tech is quickly catching on and spreading like wildfire. I am standing strong behind my statement from the last review of a H.D.T. cooler that I think this is the direction most CPU heatsinks will go in the future; much like the way nearly all CPU coolers use heatpipes nowadays. Today we are going to take a look at the HDT-SD964 from XIGMATEK. Unlike all of the Heatpipe Direct Touch (H.D.T.) coolers we have looked at thus far, this cooler does not use a 120mm fan. The HDT-SD964 uses a 92mm fan and is a little shorter than the others. This will allow the cooler to be placed in smaller enclosures like 4U server chassis� and equal sized media center cases."

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Merconnet MP3 Player / FM Modulator Review @ Tweaknews.net

"Realistically, for US$30, could you really expect more from one single product. For a small tidy sum of money, you finally will be able to play your favorite tracks in your car instead of having to spend hundreds installing a new MP3 capable deck."

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Zerotherm Zen FZ120 CPU Cooler Review @ [OC]ModShop

ZEROtherm has introduced the Zen FZ120 to help me chill out. Okay, I'm lying. It was really created to make sure the inside of your PC case looks like something designed by NASA. Seriously, it looks like this thing is some kind of nuclear core for a space engine. It's nothing special to look at. Six heatpipes buried in a standard-looking radiator style heatsink with a copper base. What makes it so scary looking? Its monstrous size probably wouldn't fit in most mini ATX cases. Optimized for Core 2 Quad/Duo processors, it was made to take the heat. And kick its tookus.

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ECS GeForce 9600 GT Graphics Card @ TweakTown

"I�ve seen more 9600 GT cards than I would like to honestly admit. The bottom line is, though, that the card does offer some excellent value for money and if you don�t have the budget to buy new high-end cards like the HD 4870 or GTX 280 and GTX 260, the 9600 GT still remains a very good option. Today we�re going to take the time to check out the latest 9600 GT incarnation from ECS and see what it has to offer over the competition. In a time where bundles and overclocks separate brands, we see if the latest version from ECS can stand out."

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Xirex 4mm Thick Water Block Tested for Geforce 8800 GT @ Madshrimps

NVIDIA had quite a success with their 8800 video card series; especially their 8800 GT based on the G92 core made its way into many PC configurations. Sadly the single slot reference cooler was not very quiet under load and high temperatures prevent any overclocking fun. Xirex launched their Stealth Full Cover water block which aims to bring excellent performance even with low noise water cooling configurations, let's put it to the test!

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PQI Turbo 4GB DDR3-1600 kit - Immortality Edition @ TechwareLabs

Continuing our DDR3 performance testing week we install a 4GB kit of PQI DDR3 Immortality Edition into our test rig. Is the PQI kit truely immortal surviving our overclock and how well does it perform? Follow our DDR3 lineup week and be sure to check out our previous two reviews as well as our upcoming coverage all this week.

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