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Welcome to ModFrenzy
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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.
More information can be found here
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.
More information can be found here
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...
More information can be found here
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.
More information can be found here
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.
More information can be found here
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!"
More information can be found here
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."
More information can be found here
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.""
More information can be found here
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.
More information can be found here
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... "
More information can be found here
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."
More information can be found here
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.
More information can be found here
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."
More information can be found here
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."
More information can be found here
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.
More information can be found here
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."
More information can be found here
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."
More information can be found here
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."
More information can be found here
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.
More information can be found here
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…
More information can be found here
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.
More information can be found here
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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."
More information can be found here
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.
More information can be found here
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.
More information can be found here
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."
More information can be found here
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.
More information can be found here
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."
More information can be found here
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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