The top of the optical drives evolution is the DVD burner combo, which combines the functions of all sorts of optical drives. These units cost quite a bit but will definitely be a very good addition to your system. Need some help on choosing the best solution? Then read Xbit Labs roundup of 10 most popular models including drives from Sony, NEC, Pioneer, Ricoh and Teac.

If you are in the market for the fastest 3D card available, then you may want to look at the Radeon 9800 Pro 256MB. See how it compares to other Radeons and how it performs in many different games. Today Tech-Seekers is investigating the Connect3D model.

I was very pleased with the performance I got from the 9800 Pro 256MB. It was the first time I could turn on all the graphical extras and still keep 6x AntiAliasing and 16x Anisotropic filtering enabled at 1280x1024. Games look so much better when the jaggies are removed, and textures looks so much sharper, especially textured floors and walls.

Zardon informed me that he has now finished their review about the ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 256 MB graphics card. Here's a snip: As the tests show the Radeon 9800 Pro 256mb does provide faster performance than its 128mb counterpart. From an image quality perspective you will see no change in normal use; both cards have very high image quality in 3D and 2D when performing the same tasks. Special included: Differences between common Anti-Aliasing and Anistropic filtering settings are presented in a decent flash animation. Very cool.

AMD Opteron based platforms become more and more popular. Xbit Labs tested a workstation featuring an ASUS SK8N mainboard based on the NVIDIA nForce3 Pro 150 chipset and one AMD Opteron processor working at 1.8GHz. The whole lot of benchmarks in comparison with AMD Athlon XP and Intel Pentium 4 are included.

Just got word from Crow at Darkcrow.co.kr that he's been searching the web high and low for the latest graphics card reviews to have hit the web and grouped them all together on one page! There's 30 reviews in total. Here are some of the list:

From the Twaeknews review: With no competition in sight, ATI's All-in-Wonder 9800pro is nothing less than a dream card for the computer enthusiast. Not only does it handle any game on the market with the quality at maximum, it does so with amazing framerates. Gaming aside, you just have to understand the capabilities of this card for it's price. With a one card solution, you practically turn your computer into a home theater system, a gaming system and a full featured multimedia center.

Hier wieder eine kleine Liste interessanter Hardware Tests in deutscher Sprache vom Wochenende und dieser Woche. Wir listen auch interessante Artikel in den jeweiligen Kategorien. Software: Microsoft´s DirectX 9.0b unter der Lupe @ Hardware-Mag Prozessoren - Kühlkörper: Pentium 4 Northwood-HT 2,4 @ 3,3 GHz Overclocking @ Allround-PC Zwei DDR466 Module im Vergleich: Corsair vs. OCZ @ Computerbase CPU-Kühler Dragonfly 1P28 (Sockel A) @ Caseumbau Motherboards - Arbeitsspeicher: MSI 865 NEO2 FIS2R - Nachtest @ HardTecs4U VIA KT600 und SiS748 gegen nForce2 Ultra 400 @ TecChannel VIA Themenabend - Nachbereitung (21.07.2003) @ Planet3DNow Grafikkarten - PCI Add In Karten: Weitere Hardware: Shuttle XPC SN45G - Nvidia nForce2 Ultra400 @ Hardwareluxx Shuttle XPC SB61G2 - Intel i865G @ Au-Ja! 3RSystems Gehäuse R101 Test @ Overclockerz

What do you get when you take more than 20 pastes, over 3000 hours of lab time, two test systems, and one stubborn reviewer? You get TheCrucible.ca's Ultimate Thermal Paste Round-Up!

TheCrucible.ca has just pasted a report consisting of more than 20 thermal pastes, greases, and phase change materials. There are several new and experimental pastes. The report consists of testing done on AMD and Intel platforms as well as a small amount of sub zero testing.

Gamingin3D sends word they've thrown up their Ideazon zBoard review. Here's a snip:

The Ideazon Zboard is one of the most innovative keyboard deviants ever released. It serves as both a normal keyboard as well as a fully-functional game controller. The problem with other products such as the Nostromo n50 and Microsoft Gamecommander is that they take even more clutter and reduce the space upon the desk. The Zboard solves this problem elegantly and very simply. Instead of adding more alternate controllers, the Zboard can insert it?s own videogame templates upon the keyboard itself. This earns the keyboard the name of ?flippy keyboard thing?.

Just got word from Tweaknews.net that they've 3 new reviews out, so let's get started:

Samsung SyncMaster 153B 15 Inch Black LCD Monitor Review: For a budget monitor, the 153B is no slouch in the feature or performance department. With a release price supposedly going to be in the US$250-$325 range depending on the retailer and availability. Add in the fact that it includes speakers and can be adjusted for longer document viewing and you would have the recipe for a smart, cost effective LCD purchase.

Last two-three years we have been overwhelmed with new modding products. Some of these things like fan controllers were things that the real modders first made themself, and later manufacturers started to offer these things. Other things like Cold Cathodes are also very useful to light up your case. But also we have seen some products which are not really useful, and only cool to use for a few times. And I feel the product we are going to review today is one of those.

RipNet-UK has a brand new review online for your weekend enjoyment! Case modding remains big business and companies are always looking for new add-ons to try and tempt you with. Today RipNet-UK takes a look at the XView from ThermalTake, a customisable 5.25" drive bay unit which is backlit with an EL (electro-luminescent) sheet, allowing you to display any image you like - the only limit is your imagination.

ATI has always impressed us with their home entertainment based products. Today we'll see if they continue doing so at Viper Lair with their latest review.

As for this TV tuner card in comparison with the TV wonder USB edition, we can see a slight improvement. Since you'll be using a monitor don't expect a crystal clear image in full screen mode, but it'll still turn out pretty good. In windows mode the quality is perfect, which even surprised me! You can constantly work with the application and it won't lag, only when you have an application minimized and you maximize it that you're going to see interference in your TV windows screen.

If you do computer repair or just need a KVM for testing purposes, then I would say this is the KVM for you. I mean this is the cheapest KVM I have seen yet! It functioned as it should have, and gave me no problems. It?s very small in size, and it would fit most anywhere.

Techseekers.net has looked at the new KT600 chipset from VIA in the guise of a Gigabyte board: the GA-7VT600-L. They compare it to the Epox 8RDA3+, ABIT NF7-S, Gigabyte GA-7NNXP and the Intel IC7-G. They also compare it to the KT400 chipset to see what performance improvements have been made. To overclock the board to 200MHz FSB with a 166MHz Processor, a modification had to be made to the board. Interesting read.

Hier eine kleine Liste interessanter Hardware Tests in deutscher Sprache. Wir listen auch interessante Artikel in den jeweiligen Kategorien Prozessoren - Kühlkörper: AthlonXP Barton 2500+ "AQXEA" @ PVR-World Motherboards - Arbeitsspeicher: ABIT IC7-G [Intel i875P] & IS7-G [Intel i865PE] @ HardTecs4U VIA PT800 Chipsatz Vorschau @ HardTecs4U Vorschau auf den ATI Radeon 9100 IGP @ Hardware Mag Grafikkarten - PCI Add In Karten: Radeon 9500 non-Pro am Limit: Kühlung verbessern und Spannung anheben @ TheGoom AOpen Aeolus GeForce FX 5900 Ultra 256MB @ Planet3DNow! GeForce FX Round-up: Die Karten von 5200 bis 5800 Ultra @ Hardwareluxx Connect3D Radeon 9600 Pro @ inHardware 10 Highend Grafikkarten - Sapphire 9800 Pro Ultimate Edition inklusive! @ Chip Weitere Hardware: Nintendo Game Boy Player @ 4Players NEC 1701 TFT Monitor - 16MS - 17'' @ Computerbase Chieftec MG-01BDU Gehäuse @ HardTecs4U

Julio Franco sends word that their DVD Burner round-up is out! Here's a snip.

Gone are the days of storage floppies and zip drives? CD-RW drives do an excellent job in making cheap backups and just about every new computer is equipped with one. As computers and software evolve, so will media. DVD burner drives are already optional equipment on many computers, and will probably become a standard within the next year. Are you ready for a DVD burner? We sure are.

VR-Zone has taken a look at the Waterchill GPU and chipset waterblocks from Asetek! Here's a snip:

The blocks have essentially the same principles behind the CPU waterblock we reviewed previously. They both sport a low flow resistance design to keep the flow rates up. The interior of both the GPU and Chipset blocks are identical, with the exterior only differing due to the mounting for the different standards. As for their GPU block, it is one of the most versatile blocks in the market. It's able to be attached to graphics cards as far back as the Geforce2.

Just got word from Crow at Darkcrow.co.kr that he's been searching the web high and low for the latest graphics card reviews to have hit the web and grouped them all together on one page! There's 30 reviews in total. Here are some of the list:

With modern advancements in graphics, we are getting ever closer to the day when we can have realism that is near true and speeds that never cause a flicker. TweakTown's Cameron "Sov" Johnson takes a look at the next level of graphics adapters as he delves into the Gigabyte version of the Radeon 9800 Pro. It isn't just another pretty card!