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Reviews Around The Web
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Choose Web Reviews from this Maker:
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Thursday, July 17, 2008
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DDR3 is finally coming to a price where many mainstream system builders will be willing to pay. Manufacturers must provide mainstream DDR3 solutions to fill in the gap between the high end (and inexpensive) DDR2 and the very expensive, high speed DDR3 modules. While the HyperX line from Kingston may not be the mainstream product, the KHX12800D3K2/2G kit is described as the mainstream overclocking kit. It is far cheaper than speedier kits but lacks the tight timings as well. This could be the kit that kicks off DDR3.
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Enter the Tagan Black Pearl WCR. The "WCR" moniker is an acronym for "Water Cooling Ready", so it is designed for enthusiasts who need the flexibility to run unconventional cooling solutions. But can the PSU Dudes pull off a quality enclosure? Go ahead and take a load off as we delve into this very issue. After all, when it comes to spending our hard-earned dollars, it is important to see if we are getting what we really need.
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Wednesday, July 16, 2008
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Today I will be looking at a DDR2 4GB kit marketed towards gamers, the A-DATA Gaming Series DDR2-800 5-5-5-12. A-DATA probably isn't your first choice for high-performance memory, but in a mere 7 years, they have become the second largest vendor of memory modules in the world. Will the Gaming Series memory impress? Read on to see.
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You'd think we would have looked at all 9600GT cards on the market, but I can guarantee there are more out there. The particular one we're looking at today comes from ASUS and carries with it a silent cooler. We've seen GIGABYTE offer the 9600GT in silent form, sporting both 512MB and 1GB of GDDR3. MSI also has a card where the fan only spins when the card needs it. During our testing, however, the fan never actually spun. Silent cards are becoming quite the rage and everyone wants good performance without any noise. In the past, the design used to be reserved for low-end cards, but these days we seem to be able to get a good performing card that outputs not a single dB. In the highly competitive market that is the 9600GT, we will today see if ASUS are able to do anything that helps them stand out from the pack and if it's a card worth looking at.
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Cheaper and faster than the GeForce 9800 GTX, does the '+' version have what it takes to dethrone AMD's Radeon HD 4850 an 4870? We tell you.
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After publishing the first quarterly comparison article of the series, our methodology was adjusted to include test results with both reference and performance cooling fans. A follow-up article comparing the Vendetta 2 vs TRUE vs HDT-S1283 was later published using the new methods, and the results more accurately illustrated the performance an overclocking enthusiast might receive compared to someone who buys the product and uses it in the stock form.
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The Sprint Instinct from Samsung is one of the hottest new phones on the market, thanks to its slim profile, vibrating touchscreen, and standard headphone jack. It also has features that are now standard fare on midrange phones, like GPS, a Web browser, and a microSD slot. The Instinct's lack of built-in WiFi means prospective iPhone buyers probably won't be swayed, and its live TV streaming pales in comparison to that of the LG Voyager. But Samsung has clearly been listening to consumer complaints about the competition (and its own Glyde) and has made a reliable, satisfying handset with a stellar accessory bundle.
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You have probably seen our preview of Gigabyte's high-end P45 motherboard. Most of all, you know of its impressively large heatsink and full copper liquid cooling block. Now, you won't have to wait anymore for the performance numbers. Read on for the full review.
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Today we are taking a look at a cool gaming device from Novint, named Falcon. This new device will be gamebreaking if the features and hype about it are correct. It is a "mouse" for gaming but it allows you to do so much more with a force feedback function and a free movement. It's hard to explain further without pictures so lets take a closer look.
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Contact coolers, where the heatpipes are in direct contact with the processor's heat spreader are becoming more and more popular, and today's heatsink review is a prime example of this new approach to heatsink design. Previous direct contact coolers we've reviewed, like the OCZ Vendetta, have produced impressive performance for their size and cost, so can the Core-Contact Freezer continue the trend when the technology is implemented on larger heatsinks? In some regards, the Core-Contact surprisingly doesn't use the same Tuniq branding even though people currently associate the Tuniq name with admirable heatsinks like the Tower 120. Is Sunbeam confident enough that the Core Contact can win people over without this association? It's time to find out.
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TekNmotion Pulsar SX is the name of a brand new headset aimed at gamers. The Pulsar SX features a USB sound card, vibration feature, and blue lights. This headset has a lot of unique features and costs a mere $59.99 which is cheap considering the integrated USB sound card.
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Great design and ease of use have made Apple's iPod is the most popular digital music player in the world. The nano is the smallest iPod with a screen. With the release of this 3rd generation, newly designed iPod nano, Apple has created a wonderful addition to its iPod lineup. As with most other Apple products, the nano shows Apple to be a master of packaging and design. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, this nano is beautifully packaged in a clear, simplistic plastic case that showcases the nano without any clutter. The packaging is reminiscent of a jewelry box as it showcases the nano as a prized possession.
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If you're spending your hard earned cash on the new DDR3 standard, then you expect nothing short of stable, dependable performance whether you're using a 32-bit or 64-bit system. The memory must be reliable if you just play games or if your system is a serious number crunching SETI beast. The Patriot Viper 4GB PC3-12800 Dual Channel Memory Kit thoroughly tested here offered nothing short of those expectations. The memory is fully backward compatible with your 1066 MHz and 1333 MHz Core 2 series Intel processors. The extra performance gained from the memory's timings at lower 6-6-6-18 setting should be a pleasant bonus which also equates to plenty of bandwidth.
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With the need for a steady and stable supply of power to fuel the most power hungry of PCs nowadays, we are starting to see an increasing number of power supplies with high wattages that claim stability and silence as well. One such product is the Tuniq Miniplant, which boasts an impressive 950W of power and was for a time the highest wattage PSU in the 80+ category of standard PS2 sized units. Today I will be taking this one for a spin to see just how efficient and quiet it really is.
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Western Digital is well known to system builders and end users for providing excellent storage solutions matched with a good warranty and support. I only recommend two hard drive manufactures to people, Western Digital is one of them (the other being Seagate). The latest and greatest things in terms of technology have moved out of the computer case and into portable storage. The My Passport Studio comes in at 250GB and this one is preformatted for Mac. Don't let that scare you, though.
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