Tech News

Cooler Master Contest – One Week Left @ InsaneTek

Posted on November 9, 2005 9:45 AM by Rob Williams

A week has quickly passed by and that means our current Cooler Master contest is nearing its end. Hurry and get in on the action
before it is too late. You have less than one week left! There are some great prizes to be won.

Check out the full details at InsaneTek.

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Icemat 2nd Edition Mouse Pad Review

Posted on November 9, 2005 9:42 AM by Rob Williams

The originally Icemat was hailed the world over my gamers and enthusiasts for its sleek looks, gaming prowess, and the all important part of aiding the experienced gamer in making fragging those noobs just that bit easier. Today I have with me the newer, sleeker and sexier looking Icemat 2nd Edition, let’s see how it does when put through its paces.

If you have the desk space for it, this seems to be a solid mousepad. Of course, how many times could you brag to your friends that your mousepad is made of glass? Head over to Pro-Clockers for the full review.

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Hardware Roundup for Nov. 9

Posted on November 9, 2005 9:41 AM by Rob Williams

It’s been a busy week so far, reviews everywhere! Computer cases that resemble pleasure toys are not usually too common. However, Future Looks takes a look at the ASUS Vento 3600… and I really have no idea what was on ASUS’ minds when they threw that together. If you like spy pics, take a look at Overclockers Online today, as they show two gorgeous new HTPC cases from Silverstone.

2GB is all the rage now, and your decision should really revolve around which make to buy. techPowerUp! is taking a look at some very fast Mushkin Redline, which should satisfy your craving with a nice DDR500 clock. Of course, if you are Intel, then DDR2 may be more for you. Techniz takes a look at a nice Patriot kit, which is extremely fast but only 1GB.

If you are still on the lookout for a new GPU, you may want to consider the new 6800 GS which is being reviewed at X-Bit. This is an amazing card, and I highly recommend it to anyone on a budget. Of course, if you are willing to slap over double that amount, you can get a brand spanking new 7800GT, which Xtreme Computing reviews today.

    Cooling
  • Aerocool HT-102 CPU Cooler – Mad Shrimps
  • Ajigo MF043044 Athlon64 Heatsink – Frosty Tech
  • LS Cable LSHS L500 & X500 CPU Coolers – PimpRig
    Memory & Storage
  • Mushkin Redline XP4000 2GB – techPowerUp!
  • Patriot Memory 1GB DC DDR2 PC6400 – Techniz
  • Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 HDD – GameBiz
    Motherboards & CPU’s
  • Biostar GeForce 6100-M9 TForce Motherboard – Tweak Town
  • Foxconn WinFast 6150K8MA-8EKRS – T-Break
  • Gigabyte K8N51GMF-9 Motherboard – Legion Hardware
    Etcetera
  • Buying Guide: Chic Laptop Bags For Fall – Design Technica
  • Func sUrface 1030 Archetype Competition Mouse Surface – Tech-Mods
  • Matrox DualHead2Go Notebook Multi-display Breakout Box – PC Stats
  • Samsung SyncMaster 204T 20″ Silver LCD Monitor – Bonafide

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Comparison overview with 25 AMD Socket A Motherboard

Posted on November 8, 2005 10:30 AM by Rob Williams

After the current AMD Athlon 64 Review overview there’s a final summary
of all AMD Socket A Motherboards which were tested so far on ocinside.de
There will surely still appear some Socket A Motherboard on the market,
but probably no new boards for exciting Reviews.
So there’s now the final summary with links to all AMD SocketA Motherboard Reviews
and links to numerous VCore solder tutorials.

If you are insane and want to build a Socket A system, then you will want to check out the full list of many motherboards OC Inside.

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TeamGroup Xtreem PC4800 1GB Dual Channel Kit Review

Posted on November 8, 2005 10:26 AM by Rob Williams

TeamGroup is not well known here in the States, but they do have reputation overseas. Their Samsung TCCD based Xtreem PC4800 is an
excellent introduction to the company’s potential.

Granted, this is a 1GB kit in a coming 2GB world, but the performance is amazing, especially for a name we haven’t likely seen before. InsaneTek sucessfully overclocked the modules to DDR630 speeds, which is extremely impressive, especially at 2.8v. Check out the full look over at InsaneTek.

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Overclockers Online Giveaway

Posted on November 8, 2005 10:24 AM by Rob Williams

With nine prizes to win, including a motherboard, a video card, 2GB
of memory and a SFF barebone system, this is definitely the contest to join!
Entering takes no more than 30 second so there’s no reason to wait!

If you like free stuff, and who doesn’t, head over and get your name in over at Overclockers Online. They have 9 killer prizes to win, including two cases and some Corsair memory. Check out all the details Overclockers Online.

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Dell 2405FPW Widescreen LCD Display Review

Posted on November 8, 2005 10:17 AM by Rob Williams

The monitor rocks, pure and simple. It’s not perfect by any means, but then what current LCD display is right now? It’s close enough to perfection for me, though, and that’s all I can really say subjectively. A really nice piece of kit to complement any modern PC with a DVI port. Gamers should love it, and it’s an 8bpc panel with a provided sRGB profile for Windows and Mac, so Photoshop addicts should get along with it just nicely too.

If you are willing to slap over $1,000US on a monitor, you are going to get one that will give you a sore jaw, because it will never stop dropping. This is one of the more gorgeous LCD’s out there, and supports 1920×1200. It’s 12ms could be a tad better, but what more can you ask for really? Check out the full review over at Hexus.

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Hardware Roundup for Nov. 8

Posted on November 8, 2005 10:16 AM by Rob Williams

It’s an incredibly busy day, so get your reading glasses. Both Overclockers Online and Tech-Mods are taking a look at the Corsair PC3500 LL Pro modules, which we reviewed last month, and still continue to impress. But if you are a diehard Micron fan, you may want to check out the Ballistix PC4000 reviews at Legit Reviews.

If you are buying motherboards aside from the popular, you may want to read techPowerUps review of the ASRock 939Dual-SATA2 motherboard. It lacks options for overclockers, but turns out to be an extremely stable board. Immersive headphones are all over the place, but not too many are like the eDimensional ones. One thing is for sure.. they look very comfortable. You can check out that review at Techware Labs.

    Video Cards
  • Gigabyte 6600GT Silent Pipe II – GamePyre
  • Radeon X800XL and GeForce 6800GT Compared – Tech-Hounds
    Press Releases
  • ATI Gets the Green Flag in the New NASCAR® PC by Cisnet – Read PR
  • Intellisync to Provide Wireless Push Email for the Novell GroupWise Collaboration Platform – Read PR
  • New EMC Solutions, Services and Software Support Help Customers Implement Microsoft – Read PR

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GeForce 6800GS Releases Today!

Posted on November 7, 2005 10:27 AM by Rob Williams

It’s somewhat of an oddity to see a brand new 6* series card being released, after the 7* series have been out since late June. The 6800GS looks to be a direct competitor with the X1600XT, and has specifications a fair bit under a regular 6800GT.

As you can see, NVIDIA is doing two rather important things with the new 6800 GS. Firstly they made sure that the core frequency is clocked a good 20-25% faster over the standard 6800. Next to that they have armed the GS with more and faster high-end gDDR3 memory which now runs at a 500 MHz clock frequency (that’s effectively 1000 MHz). Can you smell the performance increase already ? Interestingly enough this product might swing towards and over GT performance here and there due to the high framebuffer bandwidth and the higher than GT core frequency, but we’ll have to check that out in our benchmark sessions where we’ll put performance to the test.

Is this card going to be worth throwing in your next build, or your mothers computer? Check out the full review at Guru3D and Hard|OCP and Tech Report and AnandTech!

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BitTorrent Seeder Gets Three Month Sentence

Posted on November 7, 2005 10:22 AM by Rob Williams

Two weeks ago, Hong Kong resident Chan Nai-ming gained the distinction of being the first individual convicted for seeding three movies onto the Internet via BitTorrent. It was also the first time criminal charges, as opposed to civil charges, were brought up against an individual.

They state that this shouldn’t intimidate casual torrent users, because Chan was ‘more’ than your average user, except I completely fail to see how so. He created the torrent and uploaded it.. isn’t that what everyone else who publishes torrents do? So maybe people who originally provide the content could get charged, opposed to those who simply download and seed? Check out the full story at Slyck.

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Linux worm targets PHP flaw

Posted on November 7, 2005 10:17 AM by Rob Williams

Virus writers have created a Linux worm which uses a recently discovered vulnerability in XML-RPC for PHP, a popular open source component used in many applications, to attack vulnerable systems.

XML-RPC for PHP features in many web application including PostNuke, Drupal, b2evolution, Xoops, WordPress, PHPGroupWare and TikiWiki. Most of these applications have been updated to address the security flaw.

If you use any of the listed programs, you should definitely be updating now. There may be other programs affected as well, so don’t take the risk with your site. Check out the full posting at The Register.

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Sony Being Sued Over Rootkits

Posted on November 7, 2005 9:58 AM by Rob Williams

SONY IS FINALLY GOING to HAVE to answer the tough questions, it is being sued. According to the press release here, and the complaint here, the Italian group ALCEI is suing Sony over the rootkitting DRM infection. Since I don’t speak Italian(1), I will have to take the word of readers that they are doing things right.

Whoever this group is, I really hope that they win. Sony has no business doing what they are doing, and I will never buy another Sony disc until this is completely taken care of. Check out the quick posting over at The Inquirer.

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Antec Smart Power 500watt Power Supply Review

Posted on November 7, 2005 9:53 AM by Rob Williams

Antec power supplies are one that doesn’t need much of an introduction. They have been favorites of alot of people that want the most out of their computer power supply. Antec was nice enough to let us examine one of the new Smart Power 500 watt power supplies. The Smart Power series of power unit may not have the industrial strength of the NeoHE series or the extreme quietness of the Phantom line but it does have the quality of both of the two power supplies mentioned.

Antec PSU’s may not be the flashiest ones on the market, but they are some of the most stable. Head on over to the great review at Pro-Clockers to see how this model stacks up.

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Hardware Roundup for Nov. 7

Posted on November 7, 2005 9:49 AM by Rob Williams

Top O’ the week to ya! There is a ton going on today, as is with most Mondays. If you are sick and tired of seeing others overclock their computers higher than yours, maybe it’s your cooling. For the brave, ByteSector is taking a look at a great Phase Change setup, which will no doubt help your clocks. Of course, if you don’t use a desktop, then maybe laptop cooling is your thing. Spire actually has a laptop cooler, and you can see how that performs at XYZ.

Design Technica is taking a look at a kick ass set of Logitech speakers, if 2.1 is your bag. Did they like them as much as we did? Even though DVD writers are nothing new, they can always get better and more stable. Techniz takes a look at one of my favorite models, the LiteOn SHW-1635S, which has interchangable faceplates to look good in your beige or black rig. Too much reading today, one coffees not enough :(

    Peripherals
  • LiteOn SHW-1635S DVD Writer – Techniz
  • Logitech G5 Laser Mouse – Ars Technica
  • Sunbeam Chromatic Windmill & Theta TB 101 Fan Controller – Mod The Box

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Firefox features planned! For versions 2.0 and 3.0?

Posted on November 6, 2005 1:53 PM by Rob Williams

No doubt with huge projects, it only makes sense to have a clear and concise roadmap, and stick to it. Over at the Mozilla Wiki, there is a huge list of some of the features being planned for these future versions.

Nothing catches my eye right off, except for the Download Resuming. It would be nice to not have to resort to using a 3rd party program. It is disheartening to see that many features will not be available for quite some time, but are already being taken care of with small extensions. It’s good to see what’s coming though, so take a gander at the list here.

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Is the Xbox 360 really a Dreamcast 2.0?

Posted on November 6, 2005 1:09 PM by Rob Williams

Ever since the first details of the Xbox 360 hit the web, gamers have drawn comparisons to Sega’s ill-fated (yet still highly regarded) Dreamcast console. There are the obvious examples – the timing of the launches or the color of the hardware – but then there are a lot of not so obvious ones, too. As part of our Xbox 360 countdown, we’ve put together a list of our favorites.

The Dreamcast goes down as one of my favorite consoles ever, and I still use it from time to time. I took this article seriously, because if I love the 360 half as much as the Dreamcast, then I will be a seriously happy camper. Some are funny, some could have been pulled from anywhere, but it’s a good read overall. Check out the full look at 1UP.

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Dual core shoot-out: Intel versus AMD

Posted on November 6, 2005 12:59 PM by Rob Williams

Intel’s dual core processors can only be used with newer motherboards: specifically, the Pentium D requires the Intel 945 or 955 chipets, while the Pentium EE 840 is restricted to motherboards with the 955 chipset. The situation with AMD’s dual core chips is simpler, as AMD uses the existing Socket 939 architecture. However, not every Socket 939 motherboard is automatically dual-core-compatible, and a BIOS update may be needed before a board correctly recognises the CPU’s two cores.

Whether you are an AMD diehard or an Intel diehard, these numbers cannot be denied. Even though the Pentium D costs less than the equivelent X2, the performance differential may not be worth it. It’s interesting to note that the X2 3800+ ($310~) outperforms the Pentium EE ($1000~) in many tests. Even though X2 CPU’s cost more than their Intel competitors, the AMD motherboards usually cost about $100 less, so it evens itself out. Check out the in-depth comparisons over at ZD Net.

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Seasonic Power Angel Review

Posted on November 6, 2005 12:55 PM by Rob Williams

Were you ever curious about just how much power your computer consumes? Did you ever want to know just how efficient that Active PFC power supply is? Well Seasonic has an indispensable device called the Power Angel. It can be used for any device that consumes electricity, not just computers. The Power Angel can help you determine just which electrical devices in your home or workplace are draining to much electricity and draining your wallet at the same time. In this day, when utility prices are only getting higher, the Power Angel is a great way to figure out how to cut your energy use and cost. It is also a great way to test devices for their efficiency.

We all want the best, cleanest power for our rigs. Seasonic is certainly making a name for themselves lately, and are getting many awards. It’s nice to see top quality power supplies from companies that we don’t hear of everyday (Antec, PCP&C). Apparently, the Power Angel was solid enough to earn itself a perfect score! Check out the full look over at Think Computers.

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Auto Assault OPERATION: OUTPOST Contest Underway

Posted on November 6, 2005 12:49 PM by Rob Williams

The Auto Assault team is pleased to announce that their latest contest, Operation: Outpost, kicked off this week. The contest invites participants to submit names for the PvP Outposts located contested areas of the Central Wastelands. Winning entries will actually be used in the game and winners will receive a fancy, custom-framed, signed certificate to commemorate their contribution to the Auto Assault game world and other fabulous prizes. Read all about it on the Auto Assault website here.

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Hardware Roundup for Nov. 6

Posted on November 6, 2005 12:28 PM by Rob Williams

For those who are not hungover today, there are a lot of reviews flowing around dying to be read. Neoseeker takes a look at the Corsair PC4000 Platinum, which we reviewed last week. They managed to overclock as high as we did, although due to the CPU, it could not be considered stable. If you are interested in setting up a CrossFire rig, then you will want to check out T-Break’s hard look at the DFI RDX200. The Ultra-D is no doubt one of the best overclocking motherboards on the market, so it’s good to see that DFI quickly jumped on the CF bandwagan.

Still resorting to air cooling? You could check out Driverheavens review today, of the unique looking Vapochill Micro. It’s unique, because it’s slanted, which is supposedly so that it will dissipate heat quicker. Of course, with oddball coolers like these, installation is always fun. Also on the cooling front, sgOverclockers is reviewing a Fatal1ty branded CPU cooler, which uses the popular flower design. This particular cooler has one of the best colors I’ve ever seen on a CPU cooler before though.

    Memory & Storage
  • Corsair TWINX2048-4000PT – Neoseeker
  • X-Micro Mini DisGo Portable Hard Drive – Techniz
    Motherboards & CPU’s
  • Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe – AnandTech
  • DFI RDX200 Motherboard – T-Break
    Peripherals
  • Icemat Siberia USB Combo Headset – CyberwizardPit
  • G-GSA-4167B DVD±RW Dual Layer Burner – X-Bit Labs
    Video Cards
  • ASUS Extreme N7800GT-2DHTV – X-Bit Labs

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An Interview with Jeryuan Yan (XGI Technology)

Posted on November 5, 2005 3:43 PM by Rob Williams

Earlier today, we had spoken with Jeryuan Yan who is the
Business Development (BD) manager of XGI Technology. In this interview,
we primarily focused on XGI’s Linux advances since the last time we
spoke several months ago, but we also received some exclusive
information in regards to their November 9 hardware product launch in
Beijing and the stance of XGI Technology on Multi-GPU Technology similar
to NVIDIA Scalable Link Interface and ATI CrossFire. In addition, we
received some vital information into some expected driver launches that
will finally support the Linux 2.6 kernel and several other software
advancements.

Check out the full interview over at Phoronix to see what XGI’s been up to.

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Stratics: AGC Coverage

Posted on November 5, 2005 12:03 PM by Rob Williams

Stratics brings you their coverage at the Austin Game Convention by
“Sweetchoch” of LineageII Stratics. More than simply reporting on
LineageII, Sweetchoch brings us coverage on several panels and discussions
he attended, including Smedley key note address and a discussion on IP &
Ownership in MMOs.

Check out their main AGC page here and Smedley’s keynote address here.

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Mindware Studios Cold War

Posted on November 5, 2005 12:01 PM by Rob Williams

Originally anticipated to be released nearly a month ago,
Mindware Studios has finally released a Linux demo of its Cold War game.
Playing this game, it follows the path of a freelance journalist
(Matthew Carter) who is engulfed in a international conspiracy against
the U.S.S.R. and he must escape before being sent to a Serbian prison
camp. Although the story line is fascinating, the Linux demo is a bit
short only including two levels – “Thanks, Mr. Geiger” and “The Halls of
Hell”. The Microsoft Windows build had shipped to retailers last month
but there still is no word on when a full Linux client will be
available. For reference, Dreamcatcher Games isn’t distributing the
Linux client of the game and Mindware Studios themselves are making
available the Linux version.

Check out the full review over at Phoronix.

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Dynatron A22 AMD Socket Heatsink Review

Posted on November 5, 2005 11:59 AM by Rob Williams

A few weeks ago we tested a new product from Dynatron the P22 Intel cooler. Today, we have one for the newer AMD sockets dubbed the A22. With it’s all aluminum construction and 70mm fan will it surprise us like the Intel version. We will see.

Dynatron may not be a name you first think of when you got out to buy a new cooler, but they are marking a mark. Be on the lookout for our review of one of their coolers in the coming weeks! Until then, check out the full review of the A22 at Pro-Clockers.

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Hardware Roundup for Nov. 5

Posted on November 5, 2005 11:28 AM by Rob Williams

The weekends finally here; time to relax! There’s a lot going on today as are most Saturdays, so get your cup of coffee or beer and get ready to read.

If you are looking for an amazing looking case for an awesome price, look no further than the Thermaltake Swing, which InsaneTek takes a look at today. PimpRig is looking at solutions to keep your 775 cool, and for only $30! It is a solid performer, but you may want to splurge on something beefier.

You may as well throw away that 7800GT of yours now, because it’s now obsolete. TweakTown is taking a look at the new ASUS branded 7800GT Dual, which soars past the 7800GTX performance mark, as expected.

    Cooling
  • Evercool Magic Cooler MAG01CA Heatsink – Frosty Tech
  • Spire SP-206 DigiPanel II – Mod The Box
  • Ultra Products Fire Socket 775 CPU Cooler – PimpRig
    Motherboards & CPU’s
  • Abit AN8-SLI – AMDZone

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