Nvidia Quadro FX 2000 And FX 1000
Crow @DarkCrow.co.kr sends word that their Nvidia Quadro FX 2000 and FX 1000 review is up. They used cards from Leadtek and ELSA lucky sods and for good measures they threw in ATI's FireGL X1 256MB for a comparison.
Testing was done using the following benchmarks: SPECVieperf7.0, 3DS Max r5, Maya 4.5 , 3DMark03, 3DMark2001SE , Quake3 Arena.
Testing was done using the following benchmarks: SPECVieperf7.0, 3DS Max r5, Maya 4.5 , 3DMark03, 3DMark2001SE , Quake3 Arena.
PC Toys Mouse MAXX Yellow Flame Mouse Pad
OCIA checks out the PC Toys Mouse MAXX Yellow Flame Mouse Pad in their latest review. Here's a byte.
Many people would be satisfied with a simple optical mouse upgrade; but why stop there? Look at the surface in which your mouse comes in contact with. Odds are it is a cheap $2 cloth mouse pad or something similar. I mean, that's almost like purchasing a $2,000 sound system for your ride but neglecting to get yourself some good speakers. Or perhaps it's like purchasing a new 2003 Escalade and getting the 14" rim option. You just don't do it! The same applies for your mouse setup. If you are going to upgrade to an optical mouse, you might as well go all out and get a high quality mouse pad.
Many people would be satisfied with a simple optical mouse upgrade; but why stop there? Look at the surface in which your mouse comes in contact with. Odds are it is a cheap $2 cloth mouse pad or something similar. I mean, that's almost like purchasing a $2,000 sound system for your ride but neglecting to get yourself some good speakers. Or perhaps it's like purchasing a new 2003 Escalade and getting the 14" rim option. You just don't do it! The same applies for your mouse setup. If you are going to upgrade to an optical mouse, you might as well go all out and get a high quality mouse pad.
Gigabyte SINXP1394 SiS655 Motherboard
Gigabyte SINXP1394 Motherboard: When SiS first began jumping into the Pentium 4 chipset race, some folks turned their heads the other way. But they have made a huge impact in this market niche and continue to do so today. Join TweakTown's Cameron "Sov" Johnson as he takes a look at the Gigabyte SINXP1394 Motherboard based on the new SiS655 chipset. With such buzz words as Dual Channel DDR support and onboard Firewire, things are looking to get interesting!
PURE Digital SonicXplosion DVD
Julio @ TechSpot.com sends word that their PURE Digital SonicXplosion DVD review is up!
The SonicXplosion DVD touts itself as being the ?world?s first complete home cinema sound card?, a fairly bold claim. On a basic level the SonicXplosion DVD is a repackaged TerraTec SiXPack 5.1 bundled with WinDVD 4. This is by no means a bad thing as the SonicFury was a repackaged Santa Cruz ? highly regarded by many.
The SonicXplosion DVD touts itself as being the ?world?s first complete home cinema sound card?, a fairly bold claim. On a basic level the SonicXplosion DVD is a repackaged TerraTec SiXPack 5.1 bundled with WinDVD 4. This is by no means a bad thing as the SonicFury was a repackaged Santa Cruz ? highly regarded by many.
FIC AU11 nForce 2
Just got word from Doobey Dooo @ VR-Zone that their the review of the FIC AU11 has been poated, the nForce 2 solution from FIC! Here's a snip.
We were not able to unlock the multiplier of the CPU with the AU11's BIOS, however we did manage to crank up the front side bus up to 187mhz and achieved an overclock of 274mhz, giving us a total clock speed of 2349mhz. The board would load windows all the way up to 190mhz, but at 187mhz the AU11 ran flawlessly and therefore we decided to benchmark at the sweet spot of 187mhz
We were not able to unlock the multiplier of the CPU with the AU11's BIOS, however we did manage to crank up the front side bus up to 187mhz and achieved an overclock of 274mhz, giving us a total clock speed of 2349mhz. The board would load windows all the way up to 190mhz, but at 187mhz the AU11 ran flawlessly and therefore we decided to benchmark at the sweet spot of 187mhz
Sapphire Radeon 9700 Atlantis Pro Ultimate Edition
We've been seeing the Radeon 9700 Pro boards for a while, but when someone comes up saying they have one called "Ultimate Edition", it makes you ask why. TweakTown's Mike "Darthtanion" Wright takes a look at the Sapphire Radeon 9700 Atlantis Pro "Ultimate Edition" and find out for yourself if it lives up to the name. Looking at upgrade paths in this review let's see if this graphics board has what it takes to earn your hard-earned dollars!
Roxio Easy CD & DVD Creator 6
PC mag.com have posted their review of Roxio's Easy CD & DVD Creator 6! Here's a snip.
The CD-burning module is better than ever, and though none of the new applications match up to the standalone category leaders, the whole exceeds the sum of the parts. During setup, you choose which components to install, and Roxio customizes the familiar Project Selector, now called Home, accordingly. At the top is Disc Copier, improved to incorporate raw-mode capture, useful for copying games and mixed audio/data CDs. We copied Quake III Arena (known for several copy-protection schemes), which burned perfectly.
The CD-burning module is better than ever, and though none of the new applications match up to the standalone category leaders, the whole exceeds the sum of the parts. During setup, you choose which components to install, and Roxio customizes the familiar Project Selector, now called Home, accordingly. At the top is Disc Copier, improved to incorporate raw-mode capture, useful for copying games and mixed audio/data CDs. We copied Quake III Arena (known for several copy-protection schemes), which burned perfectly.
Deltatronic Fanless Heatpipe Kit Test
Rainer send me words that he has published an article about the Deltatronic Fanless Heatpipe Kit .
Here's a snip:...Straight after switching on the powersupply made very loud high frequeny noises. In addition to that, the IBM HD (7200rpm) also created loud noises. Deltatronic offered me an exchange of the PSU. The CPU temperature (P4 3,06Ghz) went up to 77°C within 2 mins! ... Read the complete article over here.
Here's a snip:...Straight after switching on the powersupply made very loud high frequeny noises. In addition to that, the IBM HD (7200rpm) also created loud noises. Deltatronic offered me an exchange of the PSU. The CPU temperature (P4 3,06Ghz) went up to 77°C within 2 mins! ... Read the complete article over here.
First Batch Of Gameboy Advance SP
The guy's @ lik-sang.com have posted the first review of Nintendo's Gameboy Advance SP! Looks very cool.
The first surprise is the size of the box. I have to admit our first thought was: 'Damn supplier, they delivered the power supply for GBA SP instead of the console itself!'. When you open the box you realize the compact design of the new GBA is not just press talk, it's really much smaller and comfortable than the first Gameboy Advance. And it looks stylish :)
Of course, after a couple of minutes, the design does not really interest you anymore, so you need to play a game on the unit, see what the fuss is about the front light, see how long the Li-ion battery can last and how does the unit fit in your hands.
The first surprise is the size of the box. I have to admit our first thought was: 'Damn supplier, they delivered the power supply for GBA SP instead of the console itself!'. When you open the box you realize the compact design of the new GBA is not just press talk, it's really much smaller and comfortable than the first Gameboy Advance. And it looks stylish :)
Of course, after a couple of minutes, the design does not really interest you anymore, so you need to play a game on the unit, see what the fuss is about the front light, see how long the Li-ion battery can last and how does the unit fit in your hands.
ABIT IT7 Max2 Rev 2.0
ABIT to the MAX - IT7 Max2 Rev 2.0: ABIT have had a very strong tradition of producing high quality motherboards with features right in the line of what enthusiasts want. Today TweakTown's Cameron "Sov" Johnson takes a look at their latest Intel based solution, the IT7 Max2 Rev 2.0 based on the i845PE with Hyper-Threading support for the Intel Pentium 4 platform. With future-proofing features for upcoming processors, does it have what it takes to be your next board? Read on and find out!
KT400 Mobo Roundup
The Overclocker Café has just posted up a small round up of five of the more popular KT400 based mainboards. These are the ABIT KD7-G, the AOpen AK77-8X Max, the ASUS A7V8X, the EPoX 8K9A, and the Tyan Trinity S2495. A much more diverse field when you begin to look at the whole package than you might expect. Here is a snip. One point I do want to make that actually was an afterthought, that was extremely surprising, was the gameport issue. If you go and drop $100 plus on a board with onboard audio you would think a gameport would be somewhere wouldn't you? Not so. Out of the five boards, each had onboard sound but only two had gameports. These were the EPoX and the ASUS boards. Click on Read More... for a link to read the review and see a screenshot.
Geil 1GB PC3200 Dual DDR Kit
Just got word that Gary "GlitterKill" Mullins @ Pimprig.com has posted his Geil 1GB PC3200 Dual DDR Kit review! Here's a snip.
Geil thought it would be nice if someone offered a high performance matched pair of RAM specifically for those Dual Channel DDR boards out there. Not a bad idea... this way you know you have a set of RAM sticks that are identical. Geil went a step further and made them a FAST matched pair. The kit I will be looking at is their PC3200 Dual Channel DDR Kit. The stats this RAM puts up makes it attractive even if it was a single stick. This kit has two 512MB PC3200 RAM sticks for a total of 1GB RAM. Timings are CAS 2 6-3-3 1T Running @ DDR400Mhz... Niiiiiice.
Geil thought it would be nice if someone offered a high performance matched pair of RAM specifically for those Dual Channel DDR boards out there. Not a bad idea... this way you know you have a set of RAM sticks that are identical. Geil went a step further and made them a FAST matched pair. The kit I will be looking at is their PC3200 Dual Channel DDR Kit. The stats this RAM puts up makes it attractive even if it was a single stick. This kit has two 512MB PC3200 RAM sticks for a total of 1GB RAM. Timings are CAS 2 6-3-3 1T Running @ DDR400Mhz... Niiiiiice.
Socket 478 Heatsink Shootout
OCIA has posted their Socket 478 heatsink shootout. Here's a snip:
What happens when you lock some of the more reputable names in P4 heatsinks in a room? Well it's much like a pack of wild animals. You have a few content with their place in the middle ranks, you have 1 or 2 that just flat out get their butt whooped, and you have a couple competing for the role of Alpha Male (no pun intended I swear, well ok, pun intended ).
What happens when you lock some of the more reputable names in P4 heatsinks in a room? Well it's much like a pack of wild animals. You have a few content with their place in the middle ranks, you have 1 or 2 that just flat out get their butt whooped, and you have a couple competing for the role of Alpha Male (no pun intended I swear, well ok, pun intended ).
Zalman ZM80A-HP VGA Heatpipe
Zalman ZM80A-HP VGA Heatpipe: We've been hearing about these Zalman Heatpipe coolers for the video cards lately, so it is time to see what they are all about. In a nutshell, they are claiming to be able to give sufficient cooling for performance video boards without the use of a fan. TweakTown's Mike "Darthtanion" Wright takes a look at both the installation and performance of the Zalman ZM80A-HP VGA Heatpipe and finds out the final answer if this contraption can really work.
Gigabyte SINXP1394 - SiS 655 Based Motherboard
Anandtech has taken Gigabyte's latest motherboard offering for spin. This one is based on SiS' latest core logic chipset the 655. It offers dual channel DDR support, AGP 8x, RAID, onboard LAN, Serial ATA, USB 2.0, FireWire and even more goodies. Here is a snip that will make you go hmmm: One of the most anticipated aspects of SiS 655 motherboards has been their support for multiple memory frequencies. While there isn?t a single Granite Bay motherboard on the market that supports more than dual DDR266 operation, all SiS 655 boards will support at least dual DDR333 operation. Interestingly enough, Gigabyte decided to go all out and provide an option in the SINXP1394 BIOS for up to dual DDR540. Obviously you won?t be hitting anywhere near DDR540, but there is an option for dual DDR400, which can be run quite successfully on the SINXP1394.
APC Back-UPS ES 725 Broadband @ GeekExtreme
After collecting an obscene amount of data and asking a whole lot of questions about certain things, GeekExtreme has posted it's review of the APC Back-UPS ES 725 Broadband. Read More for a snip.
Prosilence 350 Watt Fanless PSU English
Rainer over @ Teschke.de send me a word that he has now finished his english review about the Prosilence 350 Watt Fanless PSU.
So, you want to read the pure english version and not the google-english version, click here.
You will find the german version here.
So, you want to read the pure english version and not the google-english version, click here.
You will find the german version here.
Antec Hard Drive Cooling System HDCS
Antec Hard Drive Cooling System HDCS: Every time you turn around these days, hard drives are getting faster and faster. At speeds of 7200 RPM common and higher speeds peeking around the corner, cooling of these vital components is becoming more important than ever. Come join TweakTown's Mike "Darthtanion" Wright as he takes a look at the Hard Drive Cooling System (HDCS) from Antec. Since we already know that cooling the drives is essential, it is time to see if this device can carry the load!