Crucial recently brought new Ballistix PC2-8000 memory modules to the market,
which are particularly well suitable to overclock a PC or Mac.
It was possible to reach excellence results also with default DDR2 voltage and fast timings in the test,
so the modules are also well applicable on more inexpensive motherboards with less BIOS settings.
The test report shows the performance of the Crucial Ballistix 2 GB DDR2-1000 kit and
offers an overclocking comparison to 5 other memory modules.


Link:
OCInside

You have to wonder what the boys over at AMD did over the New Year?s break - did they fix a few minor issues in the drivers and put their feet up and relax for the rest or did they find some new way to squeeze some extra performance out of those Radeon cards? As we roll into 2007 and a new month we of course have with us a new set of Catalyst drivers for Radeon graphics cards. Coming in the shape of the 7.1 they are the first driver of the year and we hope that there is something a little more exciting than some bug fixes but we?ll find out soon enough." Read on: TweakNews

Madshrimps reports: "Silverstone Technology Ltd. is a relative newcomer to the PC-world having been founded in 2003. As a manufacturer of power supplies, CPU-coolers and enclosures they aggressively sought to compete with the very best in these product categories. Over the last year they have come into their own with the release of the well received Temjin TJ06 aluminum case and Zeus line of PSUs. Silverstone is now a relatively familiar name and we have the flagship of the Zeus series, the ST85ZF."

After taking a look at Bluegears' b-Enspirer part last week, today Elite Bastards turn their thoughts to a comprehensive examination of Auzentech's latest product, the X-Meridian 7.1. It may feature the same C-Media 8788 chip as other boards, but that's more or less where the similarities end...

EliteBastards

HEC (a.k.a. Compucase) is a traditional OEM manufacturer, meaning that their core business is to manufacture power supplies (and cases) to other companies. They decided to enter the retail business but in order to not compete with their customers they decided to launch products with lower specs. According to HEC, their goal is to deliver high-quality power supplies costing less than high-end competitors. We?ve got an AcePower 480 W to see if this is really true. Let?s take an in-depth look on this power supply. More @ HWSecrets

Back by popular demand, the Microsoft® IntelliMouse is being reintroduced. The new IntelliMouse Explorer 3.0 offers legendary tracking, responsiveness and comfort in a design that gamers know and love. The mouse offers basic functionality with few extra bells and whistles. This is a product which is supposed to rival Logitech and their line of G5 gaming mice. Judging from the first tests, this may not be the case.

Hardware Pacers Review Link

Despite all the frequent talk amongst enthusiasts of Creative Labs holding a monopoly in the discrete sound card market, there are an ever-growing number of alternatives out there, and some pretty high quality products at that. Elite Bastards take a look at just one such device, in the form of Bluegears' CMI8788-powered b-Enspirer sound card.

OCIA.net takes a look at the Razer Barracuda AC-1 Gaming Audio Card in their latest review.

I have a tradition that I've had for about 30 years. Any time I get new audio equipment, the first music I listen to on it is Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon". I wore out at least two vinyl records of it, a couple of 8-track tapes, at least one cassette and a couple of CDs, so I can say that I have listened to the entire album once or twice. There are a lot of sounds in it that are easily hidden by poor sound systems, and I feel that it is an excellent test for any sound system. So, I put DSOM in the tray, cranked up the sound, sat back and prepared myself.

Guru of 3D will guide you through the installation process of water-cooling, they'll look at the pro's and con's of this water-cooling madness and obviously fire off a good range of gaming benchmarks at both cards to have a look at performance results for both a single and in SLI setup water-cooled BFG GeForce 8800 GTX. Oh yeah .. and do not forget about SLI overclocking ;)

OCIA.net takes a look at the NZXT Zero Full Tower Aluminum Chassis in their latest review.

The rear of the case offers two 120mm exhaust fans. I was happy to see a free-flowing design with these exhaust ports, rather than the restrictive grill designs that many other case manufacturers use. You can also see that two thumb-screws are used to hold the left side panel in place, allowing you to gain access to the case without the need for a screwdriver.

The Killer NIC card promises lower ping times and higher frame rates in your online games. Can it live up to its own hype?

PC Perspective

MHW has a brief look at a Acer AL1916 19" LCD, if you are flush with Christmas cash this might be a good way to spend some of it.

Like most budget monitors the Acer AL1916 has a fixed base; that means no height adjustments and definitely no swiveling screen. What you will find on the back of the monitor in addition to the power & VGA connector is a DVI connector as well as an included DVI cable (Shock!). The literature I had on the AL1916 before it arrived hadn't mentioned either of these items and I found their inclusion to be a pleasant surprise.

The Andy Samurai Master has an unusual name and a new shape uncommon to fans of Scythe. Honestly, I have no idea where they got the name for. The only thing I will say is this cooler is a combination of West meets East. I guess the Andy is the ?West? and the Samurai is the ?East?. That?s all I can gather from it. The shape is a two tier design linked by six nickel covered copper heat pipes. The size and design of it looks to be able to perform really well. It also shares some features of another Scythe cooler, the Infinity. Does it cool as well as the Infinity? Let us run it through some tests and find out.

Featuring ultra-low 4-4-3-15 timings, the new OCZ Special Ops Edition (SOE) Urban Elite is ultimate balance of speed, reliability, and high capacity, making them an ideal solution for gamers. This new line of limited edition OCZ memory features a distinctive urban camouflage motif heat spreader and a price tag that has an edge over competitors.

MVKTech

Is PCI Express really faster than AGP? That's one of the questions we set out to answer in today's review of the PowerColor X1950 Pro AGP.

Zalman?s debut entry into the mid-tower case arena is targeted squarely at PC gamers with high-quality construction, bold styling, and new features. This is an awesome case that excels in many areas but has a couple rough spots.

PC Perspective

The Cyber Snipa Dog Tags take the simplicity of a USB flash drive and turn it into quite the geek chic multipurpose gadget while still maintaining functionality. Personally, I can't say I'll be wearing these around my neck but I'll definitely be carrying them with me. They are durable, ultra portable, and have lots of handy devices readily available. Highly recommended for both gamers and computer techs!

Tweaknews.net

OCIA.net takes a look at the AeroCool Zero Degree Flexi Case in their latest review.

Viewing the case from the rear, it really looks like an upside-down ATX. This rear plate is interchangeable for either an ATX or BTX motherboard. Each side panel comes with two thumb screws for easy removal. This case gives you the choice of using either two 80mm fans or a single 120mm fan for rear exhaustion, and has a removable plate for mounting the PSU through the rear.

Just when you think the GeForce 7600 market is too saturated with all the models currently available Biostar release a GS with something new. That being an overclocked edition which allows Voltage regulation in the graphics core. Okay, that's guru-ísh geek stuff. So Guru of 3D decided to squeeze in one more GeForce 7600 GS review for this one occasion only ! And gosh .. does that thing overclock ! Let's tweak where no man has gone before shall we ?

Pininfarina my friends, is the the company responsible for designing some of the coolest rides like Ferraris on the face of this planet. So once I was on the Spire website to have a peek at a PSU where should be testing for them I noticed that they were about to release another product... a PC chassis and it's designed by Pininfarina. So I shouted out; "YES!".