Tech News

Performance Fan Comparison on XP-90 @ MikhailTech

Posted on March 21, 2005 2:58 PM by Rob Williams

“Make no mistake about it, this is the ultimate 92mm fan you can get. Rated at an astounding 126.48CFM, it also sounds like it. Very few people will be able to tolerate having one of these in the same room, let alone in their main rig. The TFB9012GHE has “isolated server environment” written all over it. The TFB series also uses an improved hub from the previous FFB generation. The front side has a fixed frame to optimize airflow. It comes pre-wired with a 4-pin molex connector and a separate 3-pin tachometer plug. Because it requires 16.2watts of power and takes about 5 seconds to get to full speed, if you plan on using a rheostat to control it make sure you let it start up at full speed and then decrease the RPMs, otherwise it might not spin up in the first place. As for the noise level – it’s painful. It’s loud, high pitched, and the air pressure generated when seated on a heatsink doesn’t help. My ears were literally hurting after the testing was complete.”

Check it out at MikhailTech.

The SiS 756 PCI Express Chipset For Athlon 64 @ Tom’s Hardware

Posted on March 21, 2005 11:27 AM by Rob Williams

“After a delay of a few months, Taiwanese manufacturer SiS has advanced to the starting gate with a PCI Express chipset for the Athlon 64. Athlon chipsets differ only slightly in terms of performance, as the memory controller is already integrated into the processor. The number of functions, however, keeps increasing. In view of tough competition from NVIDIA and VIA, SiS must consistently put together an appealing package that will win over manufacturers and customers alike.”

Usually SiS is not the first chip maker to come to mind when looking to get a new Mobo. Definitely not a bad chip though, as you can see in the review at Tom’s Hardware.

Pentium M on your Socket 478 platform @ Legit Reviews

Posted on March 21, 2005 11:25 AM by Rob Williams

“Last week ASUS quietly released a press release on the CT-479 motherboard adapter. While the CT-479 is not yet available on the market, and there is no set retail price, ASUS has set the enthusiast and corporate communities abuzz with this socket adapter that allows Intel’s 479 pin CPUs to be used on current socket 478 boards..”

This is a very cool gadget. Check out the article at Legit Reviews.

Thermaltake VA7000 @ Hardcoreware

Posted on March 21, 2005 11:24 AM by Rob Williams

“Cases are interesting things to review because people either hate or love the exterior whereas the insides are all pretty similiar (just how many different ways can you think of to mount a power supply?). Especially now, more than ever, the market is competitive as ever and in order to succeed, manufacturers must use every single bit of innovation to give themselves a lead.”

Check out the full review at Hardcoreware.

“Virus writers looking for money”

Posted on March 21, 2005 11:18 AM by Rob Williams

“Identity theft features were found in 54 percent of the top 50 malicious codes detected between July and December last year, the security company said in a report released on Monday. That marks an increase on the 36 percent found during the same period in 2003.”

Very scary thought. One of the best reasons to make sure your Anti-Virus software is always up to date. Check out the posting at News.com.

Ask Jeeves Bought for $2 billion

Posted on March 21, 2005 11:16 AM by Rob Williams

That’s.. a lot of change.

“InterActiveCorp has agreed to a $1.85 billion buyout of Ask Jeeves, a search engine that has long been overshadowed by Google and Yahoo.”

I personally didn’t even realize that Ask Jeeves is the 4th ranked Search Engine in the world. Very impressive amount of cash there though. Check it out at News.com.

ATI Radeon X800 XL Roundup @ Bit-Tech

Posted on March 21, 2005 11:08 AM by Rob Williams

“In the market for a high-end video card? Thinking about a 6800 GT? You might want to think again. The ATI Radeon X800 XL is on our test bench today, with cards from Club3D, Sapphire and MSI. We test them against the 6800 GT in real-world gaming scenarios, and find that the XL is one heck of a card. Find out the full details.”

Three great cards are going head to head.. definately a great review. You may be surprised at the winner. Check it out at Bit-Tech.

Thermaltake Shark Full Tower Case Review @ 3DXtreme

Posted on March 21, 2005 10:57 AM by Rob Williams

“There is no doubt that this is a very nice case. We moved from the Silverstone Temjin TJ-05 case which, while very nice itself, was just too heavy to move around. Moving to a lighter case was no doubt a big relief. The design makes this case very attractive with the Shark outline in the door and the mimicked gills. Lighting up the front with an LED and the back with an LED fan adds just that little touch that really brings out the look of the case.”

Check out the review at 3D Xtreme.

After cable recall, X-Box’s still frying

Posted on March 21, 2005 10:49 AM by Rob Williams

“After several reports of consoles catching fire, Microsoft urged 14 million console owners to send in their old power leads for a replacement. But hardware experts point out that the power cable was never at root of the problem: it simply made the existing problem worse. The meltdown, and subsequent fire risk was actually caused by wear and tear on the power supply used in early models of the Xbox. The replacement cable featured a trip, which cut down the risk of your house catching fire, but left unfortunate gamers with a fried console. The cord has an interrupter switch that acts like a conventional fuse, tripping power to the unit.”

Ahh geez, how nice. Check out the read at the Register. It links to an online petition to try to get MS to address the problem, rather than cover it up.

R520, “Fudo” is Longhorn WGF 1.0 Compliant

Posted on March 21, 2005 10:47 AM by Rob Williams

“It turns out that R520 won’t just have Shader Model 3.0 it will eventually have support for upcoming Longhorn WGF 1.0 specification. WGF does not stand for Which Graphic Freak, it’s an abbreviation of Windows Graphic Foundation. This is what Microsoft has decided to call Direct3D in the future.”

Very interesting. When these cards equiped with the R520 come out, it will give devs a chance to get ahead and start toying with them. Still a while away, but check out the article at The Inquirer.

3.33GHz Xeon MP chip to cost $3,700

Posted on March 21, 2005 10:45 AM by Rob Williams

Holy snapper.

“These chips are intended for high end workstations and come with high end prices to match. Its premier processor is the $3,700 Xeon at 3.33GHz, which includes 1MB of level two cache, and 8MB of level three cache.”

3.33GHz = $3,700
3.00GHz = $2,000

Check it out at the The Inquirer.

NeenerNeener: Kwip’s

Posted on March 21, 2005 10:41 AM by Rob Williams

Guildie: “Having fun yet, Kwip?” Kwip: “Dude, I’m naked, 40% vitae, and surrounded by demons.” Guildie: “So no?” Kwip: “So YES! This is the BEST!” Kwip’s guildmates do the equivalent of baby-sitting a “special needs” child… Check it out here!

Vantec UV Reactive Gear @ Viperlair

Posted on March 21, 2005 10:27 AM by Rob Williams

“To be perfectly honest, the fact that the EZ-Grip Molex connectors look good under UV light should be secondary to the fact that they do exactly what they say on the tin; they make removing your Molex plugs very easy and quick. I like that we get a tool included to remove your old plugs as it makes the entire process quicker all round.”

Check it out at Viper Lair.

E-mail, Browser, and Calendar… on a Stick @ PCXL.ca

Posted on March 21, 2005 10:22 AM by Rob Williams

“Do you want the convenience of taking your bookmarks/favourites with you to any computer? How about having your e-mail and maybe even a calendar available? Today you will learn just how easy it is to take your browser, e-mail, and calendar applications to work, school, or wherever else your busy life may take you.”

Great stuff! Another hardcore Mozilla user.. yay! We are taking over. Check it out at PCXL.

Corsair Xpert TwinXP1024-3200XL 1GB DC Kit @ InsaneTek

Posted on March 21, 2005 10:17 AM by Rob Williams

“Who was the first to make low latency memory? Corsair. Who was the first to use heatspreaders for memory? Corsair. Who was the first to have pretty LED’s for memory? Corsair. If I was wrong about any of the information, please correct me. But if I’m right, then Corsair is the first to provide enthusiasts with flashy looks. Corsair is always on the lookout for the newest thing. They discovered the great potential in the Samsung TCCD chips and allowed enthusiasts the joy of running extremely low latencies.”

Check out this review at InsaneTek.

OCZ Gold PC4000 VX 1GB DC Kit @ InsaneTek

Posted on March 21, 2005 10:13 AM by Rob Williams

“With Winbond BH5 gone, the OCZ Gold VX takes over the combination of ultra low latencies and high megahertz. See how it compares to the highly acclaimed TCCD.”

Check out the full review at InsaneTek.

NGO Updated ATI Drivers

Posted on March 21, 2005 10:10 AM by Rob Williams

NGO has updated once again their tweaked ATI drivers. Here are the updates you can expect to see in the latest release:

• Added ATI Tray tools as the main control panel.
• ATI Control Panel has been removed.
• RefreshForce has been removed.
• ATITool has been removed.
• Re-added The OpenGL Driver Switcher.
• Re-enabled AI and Geometry Instancing.
• Added Automatic Installer and Uninstaller.

If you want to check the drivers out, head over to the official NGOHQ site.

Razotech UFO Mouse @ Phoronix

Posted on March 21, 2005 10:08 AM by Rob Williams

“When Razer Inc was a new start-up firm and they had just released the Boomslang optical mouse to the gaming community, it received numerous accolades from gamers. Razotech, also in their early months of being an established company, recently released their UFO mouse. This mouse isn’t one to be praised for extreme gaming performance, but rather its unique appearance.”

Check it out at Phoronix.

Mobile GPU Comparison Guide Rev. 4.0 Posted @ Rojak Pot

Posted on March 21, 2005 10:04 AM by Rob Williams

“These days, there are so many mobile GPU models that it has become quite impossible to keep up with the different configurations. Therefore, we decided to compile this guide to provide an easy reference for those who are interested in comparing the specifications of the various mobile GPUs in the market as well as those already obsolescent or obsolete.

Currently covering over 40 mobile GPUs, this comprehensive comparison will allow you to easily compare 14 different specifications for each and every GPU! We hope it will prove to be a useful reference. We will keep this guide updated regularly so do check back for the latest updates!”

Check it out at Rojak Pot!

Mushkin PC3200 DDR @ Pro-Clockers

Posted on March 21, 2005 9:57 AM by Rob Williams

“Mushkin is well known as making some to the best memory we enthusiasts
love to use. Their ram overclock very well and is always stable. And i am
sure this PC3200 DDR 222 Black Hi Perf LII V2 will not be any different.”

Check it out at Pro-Clockers.

Icemat Siberia Headset @ ModTheBox

Posted on March 20, 2005 10:50 AM by Rob Williams

“With advent of professional online gaming and Home Theater PC’s, headphones are becoming a common place in the PC environment. With any product, equipment selection is based on upon functionality, sound quality and compatibility. Icemat, the creators of renouned self titled mousing surfaces used worldwide have recently branched out into audio equipment in the form of a brand new gaming headset.”

Check out the review at ModTheBox.

TwinX XMS2-4300C3 DDR2 @ Xtreme Resources

Posted on March 20, 2005 10:37 AM by Rob Williams

“When the company name ‘Corsair’ comes into any computer enthusiast’s thoughts, instantly memories of o­ne of the oldest and most reputable high-performance RAM companies come into his/her mind. Corsair has been around since 1994, creating high quality RAM for every segment of the memory market, making them ancient o­n the field. Recently, they have expanded to other areas in the industry and began shipping USB flash drives and innovative water cooling systems..”

Killer RAM.. check it out at Xtreme Resources.

XPER X-Armor ATX Case @ A True Review

Posted on March 20, 2005 10:35 AM by Rob Williams

“With all the mid-range cases on the market, it’s hard to find one that has great airflow. We all know 120mm fans are the way to go, but they’re reserved for higher priced cases, right? Wrong! Thanks to the folks over at SVC, I present to you: the XPER X-Armor priced for the lower end of a mid-range budget!”

Check out the full review at A True Review!

Albatron 6600gt AGP video card @ R&B

Posted on March 19, 2005 5:14 PM by Rob Williams

“AGP cards are still needed as most of the consumers might not be able to afford to switch motherboard and ram etc for a new rig so they decide to get a decent video card instead. We have Albatrons latest 6600GT card on the test bench tonight and we will compare it to a 6800Ultra and vs a 6600GT PCI-E card to see the speed difference so can the AGP compete with the AGP card? Lets check it out!”

Check out the review at Red and Blackness.

210 graphic cards analysed and dissected

Posted on March 19, 2005 5:10 PM by Rob Williams

Holy crap. Just go here. You may be reading for awhile.

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