Content and news by Rob Williams

DDR 2 SDRAM prices are set to rise during the second half of the month, driven up by high demand and tight supply, market watcher DRAMeXchange said today.

Blame Samsung, at least in part, the organisation said, citing the chip giant’s “inadequate” bit supply, which pushed 512Mb DDR 2 chip spot prices up five per cent to $4.64.

If you are looking for DDR2, it looks like you may want to purchase it as soon as possible to avoid a huge price hike. Read about it at the The Register.

Johansen doesn’t appear worried by the Hollywood types to his North; indeed, on his blog he has issued a provocative statement about AACS, the next-generation content protection system that will be found both in Blu-ray and HD DVD.

This guy has some guts… he is already making known that he will crack the AACS in the same manner he cracked CSS. He’s going to be lucky to evade the law if he keeps speaking up like this. Check out the full posting at Ars Technica.

We have been running an ATITool logo contest in December. Over 300 designs have been submitted, from which 16 made it through the semi-finals.
The winner of this community vote receives a DDR1 or DDR2 memory kit from Mushkin. From all voters one user will be randomly selected to receive a surprise hardware prize.

Some of these designs are incredible… I had a very difficult time trying to pick my favorite. Check it out over at techPowerUp!.

For the first interview of the month we bring you one of co-founders of Corsair Memory — John Beekley. We have known John for nearly five years now and recently interviewed him to get his perspectives on Corsair and the memory industry in general. John Speaks about everything from Corsair’s updated website to FB-DIMM’s and DDR3 memory!

This is a great interview if you love Corsair. Many of the comments he makes, I can agree with wholeheartedly. It’s too bad that they are swaying away from making a memory water cooling.. that would be nice! Check out the full interview at Legit Reviews.

For a Tuesday, there are a lot more reviews than usual! If you have ever imagined your computer to have a vertical CD-Rom drive, then the ThermalTake Eclipse might be for you. DV Hardware has reviewed that case today and for the most part they love it, especially due to the unique features it has. If you will never own a Ferrari, but want hardware just as fast, then the Ferrari 20″ LCD monitor is worth a look. Bit-Tech takes this one for a spin, but concludes that it’s far too expensive compared to a Dell. Of course, if you have money to burn and love the Ferrari name, then it’s a wicked monitor to own.

Cases & Enclosures
• Cooler Master Stacker 830 Case – PimpRig
• Silverstone TJ05 – Motherboards.org
• Techsolo TT-15 Case – Technic 3D
• ThermalTake Eclipse DV VC6000 – DV Hardware
• Titan G3T Notebook Cooling – A1 Electronics

Cooling
• Thermalright HR-01 – Legion Hardware
• Thermalright V1-Ultra GPU Cooler – Red & Blackness
• Zalman VF700-Cu LED – Pure Overclock

Memory & Storage
• Crucial Ballistix Tracer – AMD Gamer

Motherboards & CPU’s
• Gigabyte GA-8I955X Royal – Bjorn 3D
• MSI RD480 – Pro-Clockers
• nForce4 XE and nForce4 Ultra Preview – Technic 3D
• NVIDIA nForce4 SLI XE and nForce4 Ultra Technology Report – Rojak Pot

Peripherals & Power Supplies
• Antec Neo HE 550W PSU – Driver Heaven

Video Cards & Monitor
• Acer Ferrari F20 widescreen LCD – Bit-Tech
• XFX GeForce 6800 GS – NV News

Etcetera & Contests
• 2006 CES Hype List – Think Computers
• BF2 and NFS:MW dynamic shadow rendering issues with ATi RADEON series – NGOHQ
• Cooler Master Contest – Overclockers Online
• “Mixed Feeling on two of CES’ Biggest Products” – XYZ Computing
• Polywell MiniBox 939NP Media Center PC – Viper Lair
• SDI iHome iH5 iPod Alarm Clock – Design Technica
• The Quest for Lagfree Gaming 2 – Tech-Hounds
• Weekly Forum Contest – XYZ Computing

This weekend marks the beginning of a three-month-long test run on the use of e-Passports at San Francisco Airport. E-Passports contain a radio frequency identification (RFID) chip inside the binding which can be used to store personal data and biometric information for retrieval by customs personnel equipped with RFID readers. As is often the case, increased technological tracking carries with it a supply of controversy.

This is going to be quite an interesting test. Even with additional protections put in place, it still doesn’t seem like the most secure way to do things. Either way, I am guessing these three months will tell us everything we need to know about them. Check out the full posting over at Ars Technica for more info.

One of the “opportunities” that awaits resellers in 2006 is the release of Microsoft Office 12 (O12); that’s if Microsoft’s timescales don’t go haywire (so no promises). Is there anything to get excited about or this going to be just another expensive upgrade with all the menu options moved around and plenty of new features you won’t know about and if you did wouldn’t use anyway?

I personally can’t wait for upgraded graphs, so we can replace those 9 year old ones we are using now! Check out the full article at Channel Register.

The Mozilla Foundation has set a March launch date for a version of its Firefox Web browser that will run on Apple Computer’s Intel version of Mac OS X.

“We are targeting the official release of Firefox for Intel Mac OS X in late March with the Firefox 1.5.0.2 update,” said Mozilla software engineer Josh Aas told.

This is great news for those who just purchased the new systems. There is an unapproved version that you can download if you are desperate, but it may be safer to wait until final launch. Source: News.com.

Developer Infinity Ward obviously doesn’t believe in small things, but rather aims towards grand scale of epic proportions. The first Call of Duty did this for the most part with some of the most immense battles and a scale and level of intensity never before witnessed on a PC.

Check it out at Guru 3D.

Happy Monday guys and gals! There are many reviews to sort through today, which is a good problem to have. techFEAR has taken the ASUS P5ND2-SLI board for a test drive over a 30 day period and are reporting all the findings to you. Overall it seems to be a feature packed board, but stability issues hurt. When it comes to buying a power supply, many people choose a ‘no-name’ brand just to save money. This is certainly not a wise choice, because if something goes wrong with it, then things can also go deathly wrong with the rest of your comp. For a modestly sized PSU, Overclockers Online takes the Antec NeoHE 430 for a run. It’s a superb PSU with 3 +12v rails and modular cables!

Cases & Enclosures
• An Introduction to Cooler Master’s BTX Form Factor Cases – BTX Form Factor
• Chieftec BH02 Black with 400W PPU – TweakPC

Cooling
• Thermaltake Bigwater 735 Water cooling kit – Xtreme Computing
• Zalman FS-V7 – hardCOREware

Memory & Storage
• Corsair 2GB XMS-3500LLPRO Memory Kit – Rojak Pot
• Seagate Momentus 5400.3 – 2.5″ Perpendicular Recording Launch – Big Bruin

Motherboards & CPU’s
• ASUS P5ND2-SLI Deluxe 30-day Test Drive – techFEAR

Peripherals & Power Supplies
• Antec NeoHE 430 Watt – Overclockers Online
• Logisys Black Remote Multifunction Panel – Pro-Clockers

Video Cards & Monitor
• ATI Radeon X1600 XT and X1300 PRO – Beyond3D
• HP LP2065 LCD Monitor – Design Technica
• Inno3D GeForce 6800GS SLI – PC Modding Malaysia

Etcetera & Contests
• Announcing the ARP-Intel Survey Contest winner – Rojak Pot
• BenQ DW1655 16x DVD+-RW Double Layer – Extreme MHz
• CES 2006 – Asus, Dell, and Pioneer – XYZ Computing
• Computer Power User (CPU) magazine giveaway – Case Mod God
• CoolerMaster & OCIA.net January Giveaway – OCIA
• How To Boot from USB – HDD Saver
• MESH Titan X1800 FIRE system – Hexus

This interactive Intel product ID guidance was programmed to the fast and easy identification
of the current Intel Pentium 4, mobile Pentium 4, Celeron D, Celeron M, Centrino, Extreme Edition
and Xeon processors and will show on the basis the processor number immediately the
exact values e.g. frequency, L2 Cache, etc.

This is a superb guide for identifying your CPU. Check it out at OC Inside.

The first thing I noticed was the weight, and styling of this case. I like
its simple clean lines, with refined touches such as the perforated aluminum
front bezel, optical drive drop down door, aluminum trimmed release handle and
side fan bezel. Another point worth mentioning is the construction quality and
the interior layout design. Its clear to see that some thought went into these
areas by the designers, intent on building a functional, quality case, while
so many other cases fall short in this area.

Check it out at ModTheBox.

It’s…giveaway time! MVKTech has teamed up with HIS to offer our readers and audience a chance at a fast graphics card. Back in August 2005 we reviewed HIS’ Radeon X800 GT IceQ II Turbo graphics card and were very impressed with the performance of this graphics card, now MVKTech is going to share that performance with you! If you want to get your hands on this Turbo version of the Radeon X800 GT, just post in our forum contest thread to win the HIS X800 IceQ II Turbo video card. To learn more about this prize check out our HIS X800 GT IceQ II Turbo Review. Hurry up as this contest will last only 15 days… So enter and win!

Check out the full details at MVKTech.

The world’s smallest Linux server has entered our labs, and
consisting of the package are a mini biometric reader, MMC slot, and USB
interface. Powering the system is a 400MHz PowerPC processor, 64MB of
RAM, and 512MB of flash memory while running up the software side of
things is Debian Linux with the 2.6.10 kernel. The server chewing its
way into our labs is the BlackDog, which was developed by Realm Systems.

Check out the full review at Phoronix.

While Mozilla Firefox 1.5 had made its debut back on November
29 of 2005, Thunderbird wasn’t released until January 12 of this year.
However, packed into Thunderbird, Mozilla’s flagship mail client, is an
array of improvements in a multitude of areas. Now implemented in v1.5
is streamlined and automated updates. improved spam control and
security, enhanced RSS and Podcasting abilities, phising detector,
Kerberos Authentication, and spell check as you type. Mozilla
Thunderbird v1.5 is very much worth the download.

Check it out at Phoronix.

Thermaltake started its core business based on their extensive knowledge of PC thermal management during the era where the area of performance CPU cooling was only exclusive for “overclockers” or PC enthusiasts. With the company’s initial launch of Orb coolers, it created waves of shocks and appraisals throughout the gaming and overclocking communities. Thermaltake quickly became the name gamers turn to when they need high-end and reliable thermal solutions. Today I’m taking a closer look at the Eclipse DV VC6000BWA with black side window panel. The Eclipse DV also features a internal DVD combo drive, which makes this case a real eyecatcher.

Check out the full review at HardwareXL.

We would like to announce the closure of the ARP-Intel Survey Contest and the commencement of the ARP-Seagate Survey Contest!

Up for grabs are TWO 120GB Barracuda 7200.9 hard drives and FIVE of their super-large 5GB Pocket Hard Drives! Come and check it out now!

Check out all the details at the Rojak Pot.

The Dutch developers of Nonux have embarked upon yet another
release. Enhanced in this v2.2 release is the Linux kernel 2.6.14.5,
GNOME 2.12.2, OpenOffice 2.0.1, and vast improvements to the hard disk
installer. This weekend we took Nonux v2.2 for a spin, but if you are
interested in giving it a shot, remember to bring a translator.

Check it out at Phoronix.

techFEAR shows you how to identify phishing, how to protect yourself, and what to do if you fall victim to a scam. Phishing is a serious threat that needs immediate public attention.

Check it out at techFEAR.

Hello, Hello. With all the reviews, follow ups etc. from CES being posted by all the other sites, I decided to wait and do mine a bit later. I wanted to give the show a few days to sink in and allow me to digest what I saw there. I saw quite a few things there that did make an impression on me, in this article I am going to go over these things and give you a few sneak peeks at some products that I actually brought home for review from some of the more generous companies out there…

Check out the full article at Think Computers.