Tech News

Steelpad Steel Sound 5H Professional Gaming Headset Review

Posted on October 14, 2005 8:56 AM by Rob Williams

Steelpad, a subsidiary of Soft Trading is known to produce some of the highest quality gaming goods available. As Icemat, another one of Soft Trading divisions released their headset, the Icemat Siberia, gamers from everywhere couldn’t get enough of it. With it’s success, Steelpad decided that it should follow in the footsteps of Icemat and capitalize on immense popularity that Soft Trading has developed, and design a new, more improved headset under the Steelpad name.

Head on over to Extensive Mods for the full look.

Foxconn WinFast 6150K8MA-8EKRS Motherboard Review

Posted on October 14, 2005 8:56 AM by Rob Williams

Foxconn is one of the first manufacturers to release an GeForce 6100-series motherboard, and the 6150K8MA-8EKRS specifically uses the best of class nVidia GeForce 6150 iteration and nVidia nForce 430 Southbridge. The Foxconn 6150K8MA-8EKRS mini-ATX motherboard which supports all Socket 939 AMD Athlon64 X2/FX processors on the market, as well as up to 4GB of PC3200 DDR RAM. In terms of goodies, the motherboard incorporates onboard analog video, a 7.1-channel Azalia audio codec, a single Gigabit LAN port and IEEE 1394a.

Check out the full review at PC Stats.

PC Power & Cooling Turbo-Cool 850 SSI Review

Posted on October 14, 2005 8:54 AM by Rob Williams

On removing the top we see a very unique design. It’s laid out in such a way you can see each stage of the design as you look from left to right. I personally have never seen a PSU built like this, not even the Turbo-Cool 510 SLI. In design terms it’s exceptional and from talking with PC Power & Cooling I started to understand why it looks so different inside, for this is the first power supply to market with proprietary rails.

Check out the full review over at Pure Overclock.

AMD Opens New 300mm Fab 36 In Dresden, Germany

Posted on October 14, 2005 8:50 AM by Rob Williams

DRESDEN, Germany — October 14, 2005 –At a ceremony attended by top German government officials and leaders from across the semiconductor industry, AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced the grand opening of its 300 millimeter (mm) Fab 36 in Dresden, Germany.

“The on-schedule, on-plan opening of Fab 36 is the latest achievement in AMD’s growing track record of flawless execution on our manufacturing strategies and goals,” said Hector Ruiz, chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer of AMD. “In AMD Fab 30, using our patented Automated Precision Manufacturing (APM) capabilities, we have had tremendous success in rapidly transitioning to new technology generations and quickly achieving mature yields. Fab 36 is designed to continue this rock-solid consistency, ensuring we can effectively and efficiently meet the growing demand for AMD 64-bit solutions worldwide.”

We’ve been waiting months for this moment, so now we can relax. This will double the output of AMD CPU’s over the next three years, so there should be no shortages.

Read: Full Press Release

Mashie Design Visual Audio Review

Posted on October 13, 2005 2:22 PM by Rob Williams

World-famous case modder Mashie has created this unique case modding accessory. It is a stereo 7-channel real-time spectrum analyzer which shows beautiful patterns on 112 LEDs. It goes into two 5.25″ drive bays and does not require any additional software because it comes with its own microprocessor on-board.

Check out the full review over at techPowerUp!

OCZ EB DDR PC-4000 2x1024MB Platinum Edition Dual Channel Kit Review

Posted on October 13, 2005 2:13 PM by Rob Williams

The OCZ EB PC-4000 is another great product worthy of the Editor’s Choice Award. If you haven’t yet moved up to 2GBs of memory, consider this product for any system – its fast, stable and pushes the boundaries of what is possible with two 1GB sticks of memory.

Check out the full review over at 3D Xtreme.

ATI boosts Doom 3 AA performance

Posted on October 13, 2005 2:11 PM by Rob Williams

The fix will shortly be rolled into CATALYST 5.11 according to ATI sources and a beta drop of that driver will be made available for testing in due course, before the final WHQL driver from Terry Makedon’s CATALYST team is made available for public download in November.

Head on over to Hexus for the full article.

Thermaltake’s Big Typhoon Review

Posted on October 13, 2005 2:05 PM by Rob Williams

With the ability to keep your system incredibly chilly at low noise levels, there’s not much left to desire after working with Thermaltake’s Big Typhoon. That being said, there are a few points and issues that need to be discussed before any examination of this heatsink can be considered complete. First and foremost, the mammoth size of the heatsink is both blessing and curse – once this heatsink is installed on the motherboard, it will be VERY difficult to remove it while the motherboard is within the case, along with plugging anything in that would fall under its dominion.

Check out the full review at GamePyre.

Antec P180 Advanced Super Mid Tower Review

Posted on October 13, 2005 10:56 AM by Rob Williams

BMW, Mercedes, Ferrari, etc these are all considered luxury cars. In the computer case industry we have the same luxury products Lian-Li, Cooler Master, Silverstone. Now Antec is not quite up to that point yet. What I consider luxury is something that has quality, and added features that you do not see on other cases. Antec is known for quality, and all the cases we have reviewed were quality. The cases were well made and really had no problems with them, it was just they were lacking the added features. Well today we are going to look at a case that will bring Antec up into the luxury category. So without further ado I present to you the Antec P180 Mid-Tower Case.

Check out the full review at Think Computers.

SilverStone Nitrogon NT02 AMD & Intel heatsink Review

Posted on October 13, 2005 10:51 AM by Rob Williams

At our 70 watts test we can see this new SilverStone Nitrogon NT02 heatsink is doing very well indeed. With only a couple of degrees Celsius separating it from the Thermaltake Beetle but that is somewhat more noisy. Only as we increase the watts or temperature does it.

Check out the full review over at A1 Electronics.

New Podcast and Deconstructing the Video iPod

Posted on October 13, 2005 10:44 AM by Rob Williams

Starting off with Apple news, we got the company’s response to screen breaks, but not scratches. The BIG ANNOUCEMENT??!?!?! I think it’s gonna be the iPod video – listen to find out why!

Check out the full article at Design Technica.

Thermaltake Schooner Fanless VGA Cooler Review

Posted on October 13, 2005 10:39 AM by Rob Williams

Where I can see the Thermaltake Schooner being best implemented is an HTPC environment. Silence is of course a key consideration in an HTPC, but you still need to address cooling. By taking a good part of your graphics card’s heat straight out of the case, the case’s cooling system has less heat load to deal with. This could translate to slower spinning case fans and less noise, with even better temperatures.

Check out the full review over at Big Bruin.

Blue Tango Classic Bluetooth Audio Transceiver

Posted on October 13, 2005 10:31 AM by Rob Williams

Since it was first released, Bluetooth’s main role has been to
provide an effective and universal wireless alternative to much of the
peripheral wires connected to computers. In my opinion, it has been very
successful at that. Lately, Bluetooth has adopted another function –
providing an effective wireless alternative to audio cables. By audio, I do
not mean AM quality Bluetooth cellphone headsets.

Check out the full review over at A True Review.

ATI Display Driver v8.18.6

Posted on October 13, 2005 10:20 AM by Rob Williams

Days after the launch of ATI X1K series, and availability of
CrossFire Technology, ATI has released their monthly 5.10 (October)
update for their Windows CATALYST users and have accompanied the release
with a new build of their Linux drivers. These drivers are dubbed
v8.18.6 and are available in RPM format as well as through ATI’s
relatively new driver installer program that we’ve been accustom to
seeing since their v8.14.13 release.

Check out the full article at Phoronix.

Asus EN6600GT Silencer Videocard Review

Posted on October 12, 2005 6:40 PM by Rob Williams

The Asus EN6600GT Silencer offers users an excellent mix of performance from its GeForce 6600GT core and silent operation thanks to its passive heatpipe cooler. The videocard is based on the GeForce 6600GT core and is backed by 256MB of DDR3 memory. The card sports dual output with a pair of DVI/analog connectors. There is also a DVI to analog converter in the package for dual monitor users.

Check out the full review over at PC Stats.

Logitech G7 laser Cordless Gaming Mouse Review

Posted on October 12, 2005 2:52 PM by Rob Williams

A $100 mouse might make some folks shudder, but this will be the last mouse you will need to buy. I can’t imagine Logitech out doing the G7 but I’m sure they are already working on something that’s faster, better and cheaper. I cannot say enough good things about the Logitech G7, if you are in the market for the last mouse you will ever buy – you’ve just seen it – now go buy it!

Check out the full review over at 3D Xtreme.

Apple Announces Video iPod

Posted on October 12, 2005 2:50 PM by Rob Williams

A video-playing iPod has long been anticipated, but will a QVGA display provide a high enough resolution for movie viewing on the commute to work? In fact, will DRM and copyright issues rear their ugly heads? Perhaps, then, the video capable iPod will give birth to a new wave of video Podcasts (allow us to coin the phrase Vidcast, presuming some witty blogger hasn’t done so already) where iPod users will watch… whatever interests them.

Check out the full look at Hexus.

DFI LAN Party UT nF3 Ultra-D Review

Posted on October 12, 2005 2:48 PM by Rob Williams

Overall the DFI LAN Party UT nF3 Ultra-D is a very powerful socket 939 AGP motherboard. While it may seem to tail the K8N Neo2 Platinum in terms of performance, the potential of the nF3 Ultra-D is unlimited. The overall board layout is superb and the BIOS offer plenty of memory tweaking options that the Neo2 lacks. The nF3 Ultra-D also works up to 3.6V with a DDR Booster as opposed to the Neo2 at just 3.4V with the Booster. Users who are looking into the 300HTT range with 1:1 ratio would love this motherboard as we had no problem exceeding DDR600 at 1T…

For those who want a kick ass motherboard, but don’t want to upgrade their GPU to PCI-E, check out this review at PC Modding Malaysia.

Peter Jackson’s King Kong Demo Review

Posted on October 12, 2005 2:47 PM by Rob Williams

The first part of the demo has you playing the role of Jack Driscoll. You run a bit through the Forest of Skull Island and meet Jimmy. Immediately after a warning a load ROAR is heard and a Tyrannosaurus Rex eats Jimmy. From there it’s a chase, with you controlling Jack to…..

IBM and Novell Announce First Blade Chassis Subscription for Linux

Posted on October 12, 2005 2:44 PM by Rob Williams

ARMONK, N.Y., and WALTHAM, Mass. – Oct. 12, 2005 – IBM and Novell today announced a new single subscription option for the IBM BladeCenter chassis that will provide customers with increased flexibility and choice, making it easy to buy and administer subscriptions to Novell’s SUSE* Linux Enterprise Server based on their individual needs. This single subscription will cover all blades within the BladeCenter chassis, regardless of CPU type or quantity, and aims to help lower the cost and complexity of procuring and licensing Linux for blade server environments.

Read: Full Press Release

Nikon D50, 18-55mm Kit Digital SLR Camera Review

Posted on October 12, 2005 2:42 PM by Rob Williams

I like taking photos, and I’m sure many of you enjoy it as well. Probably most of you have some sort of camera, whether it be digital or film. I’m the kind of person who takes pictures of anything, small or big, weird or normal, everything. Today I will review Nikon’s latest camera which is slotted below the D70 series, the D50. This camera is aimed at the “pro-sumer” market.That is consumers who are seriously into using digital cameras and have moved beyond the entry and intermediate levels but are not going to go for National Geographic professional equipment.

Oh man, I want this camera! Check out the full review at Mod Synergy.

Flatout 2: Summer 2006

Posted on October 12, 2005 2:39 PM by Rob Williams

More Mayhem Destruction and Chaos as FlatOut 2 is announced for 2006 As sales of FlatOut crash through the 600,000 mark and look to top 1,000,000 units, Empire Interactive and Bugbear Entertainment have announced that FlatOut 2 will be released for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC CD-ROM in the 1st half…..

Exclusive Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard Review

Posted on October 12, 2005 2:32 PM by Rob Williams

In my experience as a LAN party goer, there are two kinds of gamers. There are those who liken to smaller, compact keyboards without number pads so they have weight to haul into a LAN and more space for the joystick, and there are the gamers who like a full sized keyboard for their tactile keys, number pad, and familiar design. Logitech has catered to the later group with the G15, and has actually expanded this. The G15 is by far the largest keyboard I have ever used, surpassing even the Microsoft Natural keyboard. It’s a full 21.5″ long and 10.5″ tall with the wrist rest attached, 2″ longer than the Logitech Elite, and 3.5″ longer than your basic OEM keyboard. In order to accommodate the larger footprint, I had to turn my mouse pad sideways so they could both fit on the keyboard tray.

Check out the full first look at Everything USB.

SME Server v7.0 Beta 5

Posted on October 12, 2005 2:30 PM by Rob Williams

SME Server, formerly known as e-Smith, has released its fifth
BETA for the upcoming v7.0 release. Among many improvements to the
language translations and enhanced server controls, there is numerous
installer changes and DNS improvements. SME Server/e-Smith has been at
work since 1999 on creating a reliable distribution for handling small
to medium enterprise server needs and SME Server v7.0 Beta 5 is very
evident of their hard work at hand, and today we have some new snapshots
from their web-interface.

Check out the full review over at Phoronix.

Corsair CM2X512A-5400UL & CM2X1024-6400PRO DDR2 Memory Tested

Posted on October 12, 2005 2:30 PM by Rob Williams

As you all probably know, Corsair is well known manufacturer with it’s primary focus on all kinds of memory. Whether that memory is your low, mid or high-end Corsair does not matter. Today Guru3D will have a look at two of their high-end memory kits. Yes … that memory that just won’t kick into high volume sales … DDR2 memory to be precise, one kit with the lowest timings imaginable for DDR2 memory and the second kit with slightly higher timings, 800 MHz capability yet totaling a exquisite 2 GB.

Check out the dual header at Guru 3D!

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