Content and news by Rob Williams

Our friends in Taiwan got us another secret goodie. This 26-page presentation from NVIDIA talks about their new nForce4 variants, called GeForce 6150 and GeForce 6100. Both have integrated VGA. The new high-end dual PCI-Express x16 part is also briefly mentioned.

Check out the full article at techPowerUp!

Well, sometimes a product comes along that makes me wonder how I ever lived without it, and why I never thought of inventing it! What I have today for review is one of those such products. If you are like me, you have had to replace a few discs over time. I’ve bought some music cds three times now, because they got scratched from misuse, ya know I’m in the car, take the cd out, toss on seat, cd falls off seat onto floor gets scratched, this happens enough times, the cd doesn’t work anymore. Well I have for review a product called D-Skins, and they claim to virtually eliminate damage to cds and dvds.

Check out the full review at Think Computers.

By now, everyone has heard about TCCD-based memory at one point or another, if you’re into the overclocking side of things. TCCD’s main advantage over BH-5 style memory is, it can run extremely high clockspeeds at nominal voltage, with speeds over 300MHz on less than 3 volts on the modules. The only drawback to TCCD is that it requires looser timings to achieve those speeds. While BH-5 does 250MHz-275MHz running 2-2-2 for timings, TCCD can do 275MHz-310MHz, but anywhere from 2.5-3-3 to 3-4-4…so there’s tons of areas to tweak to optimize the memory’s performance, and make it even more confusing to the first time overclocker. Regardless, TCCD-based memory will keep you busy.

Check out the full review over at EclipseOC!

The reviews I have read on the Mighty Mouse focus on the negative: only two-button functionality with Windows, no satisfying click from the side buttons, a short cord, and the like. All of these criticisms are accurate—the Mighty Mouse does have its weak points. Still, what these other reviews have not stressed enough is how sexy the Mighty Mouse is!

If you want the most hyped up mouse in a while, check out the review here.

Raidmax continues to impress by offering unique, high quality items at a reasonable price. The Raidmax X1 case is no different… The X1 isn’t as flashy as some of the recent “gaming” cases, but does retain enough of the “gaming” case feel with the front LCD, hidden drive bays, and a beautiful side panel.

Check out the full review at Big Bruin.

While we have a lot of praise to bestow upon the MSI NX7800GTX-VT2D256E, there isn’t much we can say that we haven’t already done so for the 7800 GTX in general. It’s fast, occupies one slot, and with it, you can really crank up the image quality settings without sacrificing performance. Another thing we liked about the MSI card is it’s a great overclocker, which is an achievement in itself given how close to the ceiling the hardware is already running at.

Head over to Viper Lair for the full review!

Our top prize this month is the new Centurion 531! We’re also giving
away 2 power supplies and 2 CPU coolers! Get in on the action, the contest
ends Sept 30th!

Check out the full contest rules and details at Overclockers Online!

Steganos have just released a new version of their award winning Internet Anonym program, which brings us to version 8! We are taking a look at the basics, and also what’s new. Has much changed? Let’s check it out.

DFI has always taken a unique approach in terms of improving the aesthetic
appeal of this product by tailoring it specifically for case modders and the
gaming community. The UT NF4 SLI-DR sports a black coloured 4 layer PCB that
measures approximately 30.5cm (12.05″) x 24cm (9.45″). The appearance of
motherboard has been accented with yellow and orange UV reactant connectors
and PCI-E/PCI slots. Based upon the NVIDIA nForce4 chipset, the DFI LAN
Party UT NF4 SLI-DR Motherboard supports all flavours of Socket 939 AMD
processors including AMD Athlon 64 FX, Athlon 64 and Sempron.

Head on over to Mod The Box.

We recently got our hands on one of the new X800 GTO2 cards from Sapphire. These limited-edition cards use an R480 core from ATI, which is limited to run at 12 pipelines. We were surprised that these $200 cards can be easily modded to run at 16 pipelines. During testing, our sample could be overclocked to run at X850 XT PE speeds completely stable – $300 saved.

Wow, this is amazing. I almost feel like picking up the card just to give this a go. This has to be one of the best BIOS flashes ever. Check out the full how-to at techPowerUp!

Tired of dreary, dark cases? Then get a CCFL to brighten it up? Heck, while you are at it, why not get two at one go?? Today, Max_87 takes a look at the Sunbeam Dual CCFL Kit. How does it compare with the Cooler Master CCFL? Let’s find out!

Check out the full review at Rojak Pot!

Superfetch adds the memory on the USB key to the system’s virtual memory, which in turn is used to preload applications and data which the user accesses frequently.

The USB option offers the ability to upgrade the system’s memory even if there are no physical memory slots, allowing laptop users to increase system speed, according to Alchin.

Interesting.. this could be a great thing for notebook users if the performance increase is actually noticable. Check out the post at AnandTech.

Tokyo—Fueling global anticipation for the arrival of its powerful new video game and entertainment system, Microsoft® today announced that Xbox 360â„¢ will arrive on store shelves Tuesday, November 22 in North America, Friday, December 2 in Europe, and Saturday, December 10 in Japan. The announcement, made on the eve of Tokyo Game Show 2005, marked the first time that a game console will be launched in three territories in the same time frame. In preparation for what is expected to be massive worldwide demand for the new system, Microsoft also announced that Xbox 360 manufacturing is under way, with state-of-the-art facilities producing millions of units ultimately bound for frenzied gamers’ homes from Osaka, Japan, to Oxford, England, and Orlando, Fla.

Finally, a precise date! Check out the full PR here!

When OCZ launched the Powerstream series of 420, 470, and 520W PSUs late last year, they really took the market and the overclocking community by storm. OCZ then followed up with a new 600W model, which is on the bench today. What’s new, and how much more power is there? Read on.

Check out the review at MaXit Mag.

Until now, almost all the 7800GTX cards that we’ve looked at have been standard nVidia reference design- down to the cooling used on the card. However, the ASUS 7800GTX TOP that we’re looking at today is different. While the PCB layout is still identical to the reference card, ASUS uses different cooling and clock speeds on their model making it stand out amongst the other 7800GTX cards available today.

Check out the review at T-Break.

Our latest competition is, frankly, insane. We’re giving everyone the chance to win an R520 based card and a shiny new Sapphire motherboard.

All you have to do is participate in the HEXUS Readers Survey, helping us find out what you think of HEXUS and the industry as a whole. One lucky participant will then win this fantastic prize!

If you want a chance to win a fantastic combo, head over to the survey at Hexus!

ABIT has engineered the AL8 for Intel Socket775 to be a good compromise between features, performance and price. Apart from the standard features, the motherboard has Gigabit Ethernet, an extra SATA controller, 8 Channel Audio and ABIT’s uGuru. We also found out why other reviewers could not overclock past 220 FSB and describe how to fix it. Our best result was 4568 MHz @ 326 FSB.

Check out the review at techPowerUp!

We are disappointed. But if you need an additional 120mm radiator and fan assembly to add to your existing water cooler system then the Thermaltake AquaBay M2 is ideal for small bore tube systems as it is a complete easy to use and install kit.

Head over to A1 Electronics for the review.

Out of the eight cards that we’ve tested, we find MSI 7800GTX to be the best all around choice, with the 2nd highest overclock, an excellent game & accessories bundle, plus a full 3 years warranty to cover your investment.

Good to know that MSI still produces excellent cards even with better known ones out there. Good stuff! Check out the full round up at Overclockers New Zealand!

WESTERN DIGITAL’S RAPTOR hard drives are perfect examples of how enterprise-class hardware can become popular among PC enthusiasts. The drives are targeted at servers, workstations, and network attached storage devices, but that hasn’t stopped droves of enthusiasts from popping them into desktop systems and gaming rigs that would look rather out of place in an enterprise environment.

Check out the full look at Tech Report.