HyTek Computer - News Archive: May 2001

Sante Fe Midtower @ eliteHW
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, August 31, 2002 at 1:01 PM EST

"Before we continue on into the review, I would like to point out a couple of things. First off, Kool Cases has the absolute BEST service I have yet to encounter with any company. I emailed them and within a few hours I had a reply. We exchanged emails several times, and all of them were prompt and detailed. Then, to top it off, Ed (the owner), even offered to drive the case to me! Nonetheless, I was impressed, and I must say that from now on, I will be ordering my customers cases from him, and him only! WOW! I wish all companies were so well based upon customer satisfaction…"

Nikao Cube Tower Review @ Monkeyreview
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, August 31, 2002 at 12:58 PM EST

Okay Nikao, you guys impressed me this time around. Although I had never heard of the company before the review, I can now safely say that if these guys continue the way they have thus far, we can expect some great things in the future. After looking at their site, I noticed all the towers are steel based. I think if they decide to go with aluminum we’ll see them popping up more and more in the den of modders. If you’re looking for a tower with some nice features to work with, and you have the time to do a few mods, this will be the guy for you.

Corsair 256meg XMS3200 DDR Memory Review @ 3dXtreme
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, August 31, 2002 at 12:56 PM EST

"Overall if you are looking to upgrade or if you are looking to purchase memory now I would definitly suggest spending a bit more and purchasing pc3200 like Corsair's XMS3200. Not only will it be usable on the kt400 motherboard but the heatspreaders keep it running cool and you should be able to overclock a bit further making pc3200 a very good investement choice."

GeIL PC3500 DDR Memory Review @ OCAddiction
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, August 31, 2002 at 12:54 PM EST

"Also, one of the largest barriers I have encountered wasn't maxing out my processor speed, it was not being able to run my memory faster. Typically there have been two reasons for this: one, the memory simply wouldn't run any faster; or two, the motherboard couldn't push the memory higher. To solve the first problem, GeIL has released 256 megabyte and 512 megabyte sticks of PC3500 RAM. PC3500 RAM is rated to run on a 216.666 megahertz memory bus or 433 megahertz DDR. That's over 100 megahertz higher than any JEDEC certified RAM!"

Hercules XPS 510 5.1 Surround Sound Speaker System @ Tweaknews
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, August 31, 2002 at 12:44 PM EST

"I would have to say that I am quite picky about the sound and clarity of my music. I love having strong bass kicks complimented with the clash of a treble tweet. Deep, crisp sound is what I am after, nothing less. Does the XPS 510 system have what it takes to please me, well read on my friend....."

Epox 8K5A3+ Motherboard (Socket 462) Video Review #207 @ 3dGameMan
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, August 31, 2002 at 12:42 PM EST

"The 8K5A3+ is yet again another quality product from Epox with great stability and performance. This board is full featured with RAID (HTP 374), onboard audio, NIC, USB2, etc. and it also has great overclocking skills!"

Zalman CNPS6000-Cu Socket A & Socket 370 cooler Review @ Active-Hardware
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, August 31, 2002 at 12:39 PM EST

The first thing that you will note when you put your hands on the CNPS6000-cu, is its weight. The heatsink alone weights 462g (exceeding in 162g the specification from AMD, and 282g the specification from Intel). This situation has a good side and a bad (or at least, dangerous) side. With more metal to dissipate the heat from the CPU, you will lower its temperature, but by being so heavy, you will have to be extra-extra careful when you move your computer.

Epox 4BEAV With Bluetooth @ Techware Labs
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, August 31, 2002 at 12:33 PM EST

"Technology is always evolving. EPoX, a long time maker of motherboards also has ventures into the communications sector. Today, they release their first motherboard that implements Bluetooth wireless technology: the EP-4BEAV, or "beaver" as EPoX likes to call it. The 4BEAV is based on the Intel 845D, but is optimized to support Intel's latest 533 MHz FSB Pentium 4s. The complementing Bluetooth header revolutionizes the personal connectivity market by providing freedom from wired connections; enabling links between mobile computers, mobile phones, portable handheld devices, and connectivity to the Internet."

Lux Design Rheobus v2.0 Kit Review @ VH
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, August 31, 2002 at 12:32 PM EST

"For the overclocker and case modder, fan noise is nothing new. This is the price that must be paid when one wants to obtain maximum cooling for their computer hardware. To overcome this, the fanbus/baybus was invented, to not only centralize fan wiring within the inside of a PC, but also to lower noise by allowing fans to be turned off when extra cooling was not needed. One probably doesn't need a >100CFM fan running while just listening to MP3s, and the noise from such a fan would probably detract from the musical experience. Soon, rheostats began to be used for fan control, as they were able to provide a variable resistor in the circuit that effectively was able to control fan speed, so instead of just being have on/off control, one could regulate the fan's speed with a reasonable degree of accuracy. The downside was that rheostats had a maximum wattage as the resistance generated heat, and higher-wattage rheostats could get very expensive, so the number of fans that could be controlled by each rheostat was limited. Soon, those with a thoughtful mind came up with the idea of using voltage regulators to control fan speed, as with a proper heatsink mounted to it, these could support a higher load."

Jaton 3DForce Xabre400-64Q Review @ 3dXtreme
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, August 31, 2002 at 12:29 PM EST

"After using this card for a few days, I must say that I am very happy with it. I did not experience the same problems I did when I reviewed the SiS 315 graphics card late last year. SiS is showing that they want to have a piece of the video graphics market and have brought a great performing chipset to the market. As for Jaton, they have made a top notch board that has no flaws in workmanship, overall a great quality video card."

Cooler Master ATC-101-SX2 case review @ OCModShop
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, August 31, 2002 at 12:27 PM EST

There is no question about it, I love this case and there are many reasons to love it. This is an awesome case because not only is it made out of aluminum and looks really cool but it has so many great features. I cant say how nice it is to finally review a case which has a removable motherboard tray because I love these things. This case has front USB, it comes with 3 good fans and all of the cutouts are really good. I also love that Cooler Master spent the few extra bucks so that thumbscrews would be provided because they make everything so much easier and faster. There are a lot of spaces for hard drives and there are no sharp edges on any part of the case which is really nice because when you are installing those hard drives you won't have to bleed on them. I also really like the blue LEDs on the case they compliment it so well and are so much better than the normal colors. The only negative aspect to this case is the high price tag on it, if you want to pick this case up its going to cost you about $300 but let me tell you it is worth every penny if you are looking for a really good case.

Shattered Web Appliqués Review @ Mikhailtech
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, August 31, 2002 at 12:17 PM EST

After you're through rubbing (theoretically from the center outwards, but it doesn't really matter) it's time to peel the backing piece off. At first I was a bit frightened since the backing is incredibly sticky itself. Apparently, the image uses superglue or something of that nature, since I don't see how something can be stickier than that. An interesting note: the backing isn't a flat adhesive. Instead, it has a small circle/grid pattern (too miniscule to tell the difference), allowing for water and air to be trapped in-between those gaps. In other words, it helps get those bubbles out. And it also smells really bad.

3D Stereo Review - Elsa vs. eDimensional @ Icrontic
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, August 31, 2002 at 12:04 PM EST

Today I will be reviewing the Elsa Wireless Revelators and the eDimensional E-D Wireless Glasses. Both glasses are based on Stereo Vision, which has been around for a long time. The basic idea behind stereo vision is to mimic what you see in real space, but on a two dimensional surface. Many people have gone into great detail on how this works, so I will save you the bandwidth and just get to how the glasses work.

First though, I am going to give you an example of how they look. Yeas, that is right, I am going to SHOW you what it looks like to see in stereo…

Spire 5E32B3 CPU Cooler Review @ MODTHEBOX
posted by Babylon5 on Friday, August 30, 2002 at 7:15 AM EST

"The heatsink is an all aluminium design, with 18 cast fins that slowly peak at the middle to incorporate the bulk of the design. The two outer fins act as a partial shroud and mounting mechanism for the fan. While the inner fins are polished smooth for maximum thermal transfer, the outer fins have a grooved outer edge to increate overall surface area. A canal runs down the center of the heat sink to accommodate a standard single clip used to secure it to the socket."

Further letters! @ dansdata
posted by Babylon5 on Friday, August 30, 2002 at 7:11 AM EST

This one covers a disc error that's probably nothing of the sort, the gear you need to overclock your PC, the trials and tribulations of wasting time on more than one screen at once, how to bludgeon Win2000's startup into shape, what the heck monitor degaussing is actually all about, and why a hard drive with several heads can't be a one-box RAID array.

AGP Aperture Size Examined @ Tweak3D
posted by Babylon5 on Friday, August 30, 2002 at 7:10 AM EST

I just posted an article I co-wrote on AGP Aperture Size. It's not super technical or 5000 words, but it does explain what this often misunderstood setting is really all about. We explained how it works, tested some settings out, and offered recommendations on how to configure it for performance and compatibility using current video cards.

Slipstreaming Office XP Service Pack 2 @ ViperLair
posted by Babylon5 on Friday, August 30, 2002 at 7:07 AM EST

Well, wouldn't you know it? Within a week of updating the guide, Microsoft went ahead and released Service Pack 2. If you've already been through this guide before, and would like instructions on installing SP2, read on.

"If you have not installed SP1, no need to worry as SP2 contains ALL previous fixes and service packs. You will have to download the Administrative Update, which weighs in at a hefty 50MB. If you've already slipstreamed SP1, don't worry, you can slipstream SP2 into the SP1 installation."

Uncharted Territory : VIA KT400 with DDR-400 Memory @ GamePC
posted by Babylon5 on Friday, August 30, 2002 at 7:06 AM EST

Today at GamePC, we've put together an interesting look at the first VIA KT400 motherboard platform to hit the market, Gigabyte's GA-7VAXP. Despite VIA dropping DDR-400 memory support from their official KT400 chipset specification, Gigabyte has certified this board to be functional with this new high speed DDR memory. We've done some tests against other popular Athlon XP platforms, and found some interesting results across the board.

Sunbeam CC Kits Review @ VH!
posted by Babylon5 on Friday, August 30, 2002 at 7:04 AM EST

"I've seen alot of cold cathode kits in my time and the Sunbeam Tech kits are on the very top of the list that I've seen up to this point. They've done their homework on what makes a great kit, and when you do your homework, it pays off in a big way. This kits not perfect, but it's damn close. I think one of the best features about it is the striped acrylic casing. It just does so much for the overall look of the kit and also to hide the bulb and wire inside. I'd have to say it's the most professional looking kit I've yet to review. It came very neatly boxed with a good bit or wire between the inverter and the molex for it to install fine for just about anyone. The great thing is, I think this is just the beginning of what we're gonna see from Sunbeam Tech down the road."

Intel P4 2.8 Review @ The Tech Zone
posted by Babylon5 on Friday, August 30, 2002 at 7:03 AM EST

AMD introduces the XP2600+, Intel strikes back with the new P4 2.8Ghz processor and restore Intel's spot as the fastest CPU maker. The Tech Zone takes the new 2,800Mhz processor for a spin around the lab and tries to overclock it to 3+Ghz as well.

Hip Top by Danger products Review @ Designtechnica
posted by Babylon5 on Friday, August 30, 2002 at 7:02 AM EST

"It's a PDA. Address book, calendar, notepad, to-do list, address book, camera yeah. AOL Instant messenger, web browser, and email is where this gets interesting. Using the GSM/GRPS network, you can check the news, chat with friends, and send email."

The Akasa Ak-824 Heatsink (Review) @ SystemCooling
posted by Babylon5 on Friday, August 30, 2002 at 12:56 AM EST

"With the knowledge that I would soon come into possession of this little beauty, I did what all good cooling nuts do; I went surfing for a review. Easy enough, you say? Well...yes and no. I did find one, Akasa, only one, in English. Babblefished, of course. They had a very nice picture, which I used here since I don't have a digital camera (thank you dark-tweaker), but the text, for me, was lacking. Also, the link to the MBM results wasn't working. So, all I was left with was something about 47 degrees. I think? What to do? Write my own, of course. I want to state from the outset that this is in no way a professional review/guide, as if you couldn't tell. It is my own observations from the perspective of a virtual beginner to the world of cooling. It is meant for someone who is interested in making some changes to their cooling system but hesitant to fry that Athlon."

Chyang Fun CF-S868 Thunderbolt Small Form Factor PC @ HotHardware
posted by Babylon5 on Friday, August 30, 2002 at 12:52 AM EST

Our boy Marco "BigWop" Chiappetta checks in tonight and poses the age old question, "does size really matter"? It certainly does if you're thinking about LAN Gaming, portability or office space. The Chyang Fun CF-S868 Thunderbolt Small Form Factor PC is on our bench tonight and it's packing an AGP slot to boot.

Mitsumi ECM-S6102 Black Optical Mouse Review @ Mikhailtech
posted by Babylon5 on Friday, August 30, 2002 at 12:48 AM EST

The first thing that jumped out at me was that sorry excuse for a wheel. Turns out this is one of those three-button mice, where the "wheel" is a button you hold up to scroll up, down to scroll down, and depress to activate/deactivate the Windows scroll feature. To me, this is the worst "feature" of the mouse. While it isn't widely used in games (although sniper zooming, inventory scrolling and up/down looking come to mind), it is a valuable thing to have. And of course it really got to me where I spend most of my computer time: Mikhailtech. I for one like to have the ability to scroll fast or scroll slow, without having to press any buttons or hold down that dinky stub and wait for it to accelerate to a slightly faster than crawling pace.

TweakMonster BGA Ramsink Review @ OCAddiction
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, August 28, 2002 at 9:06 PM EST

"They come in those plastic and cardboard packages like batteries. As you can see, these are GENUINE Tweakmonster Ramsinks, not "wanna be" immitations that we've seen floating around the net. A set of 8 is needed to do one video card, and they come in packages of 4, so when you purchase them, expect 2 packages. No form of thermal pad or frag tape is included with purchase. Make no mistake, these are designed for the hardcore overclocker and crazy modders out there who are expected to have some form of thermal adhesive at hand."

Bitspower 12" Triple Colour Cold Cathode Kit Review @ MODTHEBOX
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, August 28, 2002 at 9:04 PM EST

"The opposite end of the 12v inverter includes a red wire (12v) and black wire (ground), which is connected to a two position momentary switch. The momentary switch can be mounted in the front or rear of a case or conveniently installed into a 3.5" or 5.25" drive bay. In our first review of the 12" Green Cold Cathode Kit, MTB noted that the connections for the 12v (red) and ground (black) were soldered directly to the switch and covered with black heat shrink tubing. I imagined that this issue would be addressed in the latest cold cathode kit model but this still remains a major flaw for this product."

ATI RADEON 9000 Pro 64MB Video Card Video Review #206 @ 3dGameMan
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, August 28, 2002 at 9:02 PM EST

"The ATI Radeon 9000 Pro Video Card makes it affordable for anyone to own a 3D great gaming card with that standard ATI 2D quality. Considering the fact that this is a true budget card it's performs surprisingly well and is almost on par with the Radeon 8500/Ti4200 Video Card."

Cool Neon Clear Blacklight Paint Review @ Monster-Hardware
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, August 28, 2002 at 9:00 PM EST

"The top is a very nice color of blue which you can’t see in the photo, and the bottom is a very bright neon green. The picture just doesn’t do the paint job justice. I tried again and managed to capture the detail a little better but still the blue didn’t show up. Before I touched it up you could not read the small print. Now it’s easily readable."

Chaintech 7AJA2E motherboard review @ Ripnet-UK
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, August 28, 2002 at 8:58 PM EST

Although most of us would like one of the latest mega-fast CPUs at the heart of our systems, unfortunately economics tends to get in the way - and to be realistic something like a 1GHz processor is going to up to the majority of day-to-day tasks that we can throw at it.

And that's where something like the Chaintech 7AJA comes into its own. Some tweakability, capable of handling a powerful CPU and up to 1.5GB of RAM (!), just as importantly it's a very stable board.

CPU Cooler Snap Judgement Guide! @ dansdata
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, August 28, 2002 at 8:57 PM EST

In the course of reviewing a hojillion zillion CPU coolers, I've learned some stuff about what makes a good one. Well, I _think_ I've learned some stuff, anyway. I have written down what I think I've learned, and titled it The CPU Cooler Snap Judgement Guide.

Samsung SPL4225 42" Display Review @ iamnotageek
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, August 28, 2002 at 8:55 PM EST

“Although the SPL4225 is listed as a Plasma TV on the Samsung Canada website, it really isn't, it is a display. The reason I say it is not a TV, even thought it is meant to watch television on, is because it does not have a TV tuner in it. You can not just hook up your cable or antenna and start watching. You have to hook up a cable box to watch TV. This actually makes sense, because with a "Display" like this you aren't going to want to use basic cable, your going to want to hook up a digital cable or satellite box.”

Updated/Improved 3D Dictionary @ Tweak3D
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, August 28, 2002 at 8:51 PM EST

I have spent several days updating Tweak3D's big 3D Dictionary. This is the first update to the dictionary since January 2000, so it's a big one. The dictionary screams "Hey newbies!", but it's also handy for others trying to figure out what some marketing buzzwords mean, or just refresh their memory on some older terms.

I added around 50 definitions to the dictionary this week, and re-worded/updated another 50 or so.

Kingston EPOC Memory Technology INTERVIEW @ Mikhailtech
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, August 27, 2002 at 7:57 PM EST

4. Are there any performance benefits in terms of stability, reliability and speed?

(Comparing the Kingston EPOC technology to stacked-chip module designs): EPOC technology ensures better thermal performance by keeping the rows of memory chips independently connected to the PCB and without chip layer interconnects. The air channel that separates the two rows of chips aids in cooling the memory chips; the memory chip rows and their independent bonding to the PCB also conducts heat away from each chip through the leads (TSOP) or the solder balls (MicroBGA) and into the PCB. The improved thermals result in better stability and reliability. In terms of electrical performance, the EPOC DIMMs meet the electrical interface timings specified by the memory controller's manufacturer. Shorter leads, reduced signal length and lower capacitance loading have also indicated improved performance.

Nexland ISB Pro800 @ OCIA
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, August 27, 2002 at 7:50 PM EST

"So how did the Nexland ISB Pro800 take to the ALL NIGHT Halo Action? It loved it! It was born for LANing! HALO didn't lag once, not a person in the room mentioned a lag during the mayhem. I used an 8 port 100Mbps Full Duplex switch before with the Xbox's and every now and then the game would lag and take a couple of seconds to resync. The ISB also didn't get too hot, it was warm but nothing worth worrying about."

ThermalTake Volcano 9 Review @ X-Treme PC TECH
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, August 27, 2002 at 7:49 PM EST

"Well after reviewing the ThermalTake Volcano 7+ I was wondering how ThermalTake could possible top the V7+. Well after seeing on ThermalTake's website that they released the Volcano 9 I knew I had to check it out. Well after contacting our good pal Weller he said sure and sent out the V9 and I got it the next day, thats some quick service! Now on to the main reason your reading this.... the review!"

CPU Upgrade: Do you really need it? @ ViperLair
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, August 27, 2002 at 7:48 PM EST

"I'll admit, when I saw the benchmarks, I wanted the chips, but in truth, economics are a factor. Contrary to popular belief, not all webmasters get everything for free. Yessir, I'm a commoner, just like most people, and if I want something, it's going to come out of my pocket. Don't get me wrong, if I could, I'd buy every new thing that gets released everyday, but when you got a family to care for and bills to pay, I could probably do without the $500 "Butt Massager Chair"."

Enermax CSX305ILS Case Review @ OCModShop
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, August 27, 2002 at 7:47 PM EST

Enermax is probably best known for their power supplies but lately they have been expanding into other areas of computers. They have started selling some really cool cases and are moving more to the case modding section of cases rather than the plain old boring beige boxes. This case comes in either black or aluminum silver, it is made out of 0.77mm Japanese SGCC steel, has 7 expansion slots, and comes with a P4 Power Up 350W power supply. It comes with a lot of really nice features which include front access USB 2.0 & mic and headphones input, 5" sound sensitive blue neon light, Enermax logo side window, power button illuminate (Blue), light blue acrylic front cover over aluminum layer.

EPoX EVAP Tablet PC Device Review @ Hardware Extreme
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, August 27, 2002 at 7:44 PM EST

"The EVAP, (Electronic Virtual Access Portal TM), is a tablet PC that has been targeted for use in settings where normal computers or tablets will not be able to function. The EVAP is designed to withstand limited amounts of shock, water resistance, unintentional roughness and other environmental hazards during its use for all emergency and hospital uses."

"EVAP is built up on a tablet PC design, but it has a huge infrastructure behind the tablet to run this product efficiently. This tablet PC serves as a clipboard because it is similar in size to current clipboards and also lightweight. The EVAP incorporates a large touch screen to clearly display the Graphical User Interface; and unlike most hand-held PDA devices, emergency personnel will not frustrate by tapping on an ultra small screen during nerve-racking emergencies."

Sigma REALmagic X-card review @ TechSpot
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, August 27, 2002 at 7:42 PM EST

Many years ago when Sigma released the Hollywood Plus, it was considered a great piece of hardware, allowing everyone to play VCDs/DVDs & MPEG1/2 on just about any system that could run Windows, however since then, we have all moved on.

The REALmagic X-card from Sigma Designs is their latest attempt to show us all why a hardware decoder is still the best choice; whether it's DVD, VCD, DivX or even audio output via S/PDIF, the X-card is supposed to put all that in your fingertips. Read on to find out more.

My SoundStudio review @ PC PowerZone
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, August 27, 2002 at 7:40 PM EST

Computers are nowadays becoming more of an entertainment tool then just for work, study and games. Ever since Mp3 made a hit, more and more people have started using their PC's for listening to music and now for watching movies. Today we have the review of Stomp MySoundStudio. My Sound Studio is an audio file editor which lets you edit your music by adding filters to remove noise, customize volume levels and trim silence etc.

PRISM case review @ PC PowerZone
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, August 27, 2002 at 7:24 PM EST

On each side panel we have a huge grey plastic protrusion. This is the cover for the ventilation holes and has High Function Ventilation system written around it. The practicalities if this are obvious - on the panel itself is the holes for fitting an 80mm exhaust fan and the cover looks designed to facilitate the outflow of air.

Shattered Web Appliqués Review @ AusPCWorld
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, August 27, 2002 at 7:23 PM EST

We have all seen them, and thought “Wow! That looks really nice” but not known where to purchase or get one? Shattered Web are an American based company, they specify in appliqués for mostly computer surfaces. They offer an online store and they ship to almost everywhere in the world within no time at all. Today we take a look at three appliqués from Shattered Web the Punisher, Alien & Runner

World's First Abit IT7-MAX2 Motherboard Review @ The Tech Zone
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, August 27, 2002 at 7:21 PM EST

Look! It's the return of the PS/2 connectors! Those who refused to buy an IT7-MAX because they would have to get a new mouse and keyboard can rest easy because your old legacy keyboard and mouse will work with the IT7-MAX2. The same can not be said of a parallel printer however. In addition to the PS/2 ports the IT7-MAX2 has connections for 10 USB 2.0 ports, 3 Firewire ports, six channel sound and 10/100 NIC. Makes you wonder if you'll be putting anything in those four PCI slots.

Compex DSR2216 16-Port Switch Review @ techwarelabs
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, August 27, 2002 at 7:20 PM EST

"With networks springing up everywhere from homes to schools to workplaces and everywhere in between, affordable, scalable, and cutting-edge networking technology is no longer being sought by only large corporations. While most homes don't still don't have a need for much more than a router, a small hub or two, and possibly a print server, it's not at all uncommon for small offices, home offices (SOHO), or branches of large corporations to require a networking solution meeting certain criteria. Room for growth, a fair amount of ports, good performance, and some level of configuration are common demands for a network and its components."

Lian-Li Front Bezel Face Plates (Review) @ SystemCooling
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, August 27, 2002 at 7:18 PM EST

"Over the years, we've answered tons of questions dealing with creating an above average cooling environment to properly control the ever-increasing heat from newer CPUs, memory, hard drives, and video cards, plus assorted devices.

We decided to commission Andrew Smith of www.designcomp.com to modify a Lian-Li PC-86 aluminum case to our specifications, based on all we've learned about system cooling and airflow over the past few years.

In Part 1 of our study we'll show you the physical modifications made to the Lian-Li PC-86 and answer many questions along the way, the first being why we choose the Lian-Li aluminum case over say, a Cooler Master ATC-201 that is well-known for its cooling ability and a favorite of yours truly. The answer is simply that only the Lian-Li case allows room for two vertical exhaust fans on the rear panel of the case."

Cooler Master ATC-710-SX2 Case Review @ Mikhailtech
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, August 27, 2002 at 7:15 PM EST

Since the front panel is silver colored, thus making the case an ATC-710-SX2, I thought the rest of the case would match, but I was wrong, the case is dark gray. This silver/dark gray combination looks very cool, like a combination between the SX2 and GX2 and I am curious how the GX2 is. Unfortunately, unlike all other Cooler Master cases, the ATC-710 is not entirely made out of aluminum. This is a big surprise for most enthusiasts, because after being used to Cooler Master's great tradition of releasing the best aluminum cases, the ATC-710 is a bit disappointing.

Apycom Software's Menu Applets Review @ GeekExtreme
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, August 27, 2002 at 7:11 PM EST

"Apycom Software's Menu Applets is our focus today. They were kind enough to send along all 8 applets for us to tinker with. Each and every one of them is fully customizable, so you're not locked into a specific look, allowing you to bend and twist them to work with your site."

MagicCard (recovery system technology) Video Review #205 @ 3dGameMan
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, August 27, 2002 at 7:08 PM EST

"The MagicCard is one product that can save both time and money whether you are a company or an individual. Restoring computer systems back to their initial working configuration within minute's is a godsend!"

LM 317 Based 4-way BayBus @ ReviewNation
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, August 27, 2002 at 7:06 PM EST

"This How-To describes how to make a 4-Way fan controller which will control the speed of 4 individual case fans, and have a LED indicate their speed by its brightness...."

Zalman Heatsinks Put To The Test @ ReviewSource
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, August 27, 2002 at 7:04 PM EST

When you think about a heatsink you think of a standard cube shape with a basic 60MM fan attached to it, right? Well, the designers and Zalman took a new look at cooling, and developed this new design! The fan hovers right above the heatsink, let's see how it performs!

More toys! @ dansdata
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, August 26, 2002 at 10:02 PM EST

An awful lot of people, today, seem to have been putting up reviews of the 2.8GHz P4. Me, I've been reviewing a gun that "Flings Bugs With Super Catapult Action", plus a couple of other fine low-cost goofing-off devices. The question of who's having the most fun at work at the moment is one that I'll leave to the reader.

Stomp Inc MySoundStudio Review @ Monster-Hardware
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, August 26, 2002 at 10:00 PM EST

"When you first open MSS, you see one window and two controls: the multi-track window, the Controller and the Mixer Control. All three entities can be moved about the screen or removed from the screen. The capability to move, remove or minimize the Mixer is a good thing because I felt it kept getting in my way and I often found myself shuffling it about the screen, or minimizing it. This is what these guys look like (this first display is the multi-track window):"

7volt fan modding article @ phlux
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, August 26, 2002 at 9:58 PM EST

"The way it works is a switch changes where the electricity for the fan goes once it has passed through the fan itself, It can switch between going down the 0 volts route, or the 5 volts route. If the 12v goes down 0v the voltage over the fan is 12v, however when it goes down the 5v line the 12v has 5v 'pushing' against it which brings it down to the required 7v. It is like taking 5 from 12, its just simple maths."

4-way Gamer Fuel Shoot-out @ Envy News
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, August 26, 2002 at 9:57 PM EST

“It is 2:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning. You have been up all night, fragging away in a Quake3 clan match. Your early morning schedule wore you out and you never had time to take a nap. The server is resetting between games, and you are starting to get a little sleepy-eyed. Milk is not going to do one bit of good and regular Coke or Pepsi are too run of the mill. The last thing that will keep you awake and at the top of your game is some pansy sports drink. What do you reach for?

MSI KT3 Ultra2-BR Review @ MBReview
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, August 26, 2002 at 9:51 PM EST

"Micro-Star International, better known as simply MSI, is a manufacturer whom has become known for several things. MSI is best known for producing high quality, high performance, cost effective, and incredibly stable motherboards. They are also known for their use of bright red PCB’s for their line of mainboards. Another item that makes MSI stick out from the crowd is their inclusion of “PC2PC Bluetooth” in their mainboard packages. If you remember a while back, Bluetooth was, and still somewhat is one of the most hyped items in the computer industry. As of now, MSI is the only motherboard manufacturer to bring Bluetooth technology to their line of products; however other mainboard manufacturers such as EPoX have also begun to announce motherboards with Bluetooth support. Today, we’ll be taking a look at MSI’s latest KT333 solution for AMD based systems, which offers Bluetooth support among many other features."

Samsung Syncmaster 151v 15" LCD Review @ GideonTech
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, August 26, 2002 at 9:50 PM EST

"The back of the unit allows for minimal adjustment. With LCD monitors, some people like having the ability to rotate the screen 90 degrees. Then through the use of pivoting software, this allowed them to view legal documents and other items vertically. This unit does not have that, which I don't particularly mind since it was built around the idea of value."

Lian-Li PC7 aluminium case review @ Ripnet-UK
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, August 26, 2002 at 9:47 PM EST

"Over the last two years aluminium computer cases have moved from being the preserve of the hardcore enthusiast to becoming, if not quite mainstream, then certainly very widespread. This market growth has led to a number of companies producing their own take on what is the best, but one firm in particular has been consistently synonymous with high quality products - and that name is of course Lian-Li. They produce everything from high-end server housings down to 'budget' home PC cases. Today we're taking a look at the PC 7, which is firmly biased toward the budget end of the scale. This is almost identical to the Lian-Li PC 60...."

3 in 1 USB SD + MMC MobileDrive Review @ AusPCWorld
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, August 26, 2002 at 9:46 PM EST

We have all seen USB Mobile Drives, the ones that appear to be key-like, with the ability to hold up to 256mb. They are a quick and easy way to transfer data from one machine to another without the use of floppy disks or burning a CD as long as your machine supports USB which most do. Today we have a look at the 3 in 1 MobileDrive from MultieMedia, this not only has the ability of being a USB storage device, but also supports mobile mail and to be able to read SD/MMC cards out of the box!

Tyan Trinity i845E S2099GNNR Motherboard Review @ AusPCWorld
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, August 26, 2002 at 9:44 PM EST

If you think of Tyan you think of high quality dual processor motherboards mainly designed for the server market but they have been designing not only dual processor boards but single CPU boards as well packed with loads of features. Today we look at the S2099GNNR Socket 478 Motherboard from Tyan, a motherboard not only with onboard video, and RAID but also one of the world's first motherboards to feature Gigabit Ethernet integrated onto the same board!

Intel Pentium 4 2.80 Review @ hardcoreware
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, August 26, 2002 at 9:42 PM EST

I hope AMD enjoyed their week on top, because Intel is shoving their ass right out of the way once again with an equally impressive speed bump in the Pentium 4 2.80 GHz.

While they haven't quite reached the benchmark speed of 3 GHz just yet (and we know they can at will), you'll see that the 2.80 doesn't fail to impress.

The Vantec Stealth 420W Aluminum PSU (Review) @ ipKonfig
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, August 26, 2002 at 9:39 PM EST

"Vantec's latest efforts in the power supply arena have brought a lot of attention to power-consumption questions. And let's face it; these days it's very important to use the right tools with today's processors. Overclocking inspired a lot of controversial statements about the amount of amperage available from various power supplies. I've seen a lot of discussions of performance, and I've seen many reviews in the past emphasizing the importance of having a "good" power supply, and they're all correct in that recommendation. My last PSU review, the Enermax Whisper 350W, showed a unit with much promise, but if you actually READ the review, then you'll also see that I was concerned about the amps available on the +5V and +12V lines, the most critical. Now, let's see what Vantec has to offer."

TDK VeloCD 40/12/48 Review @ The Tech Zone
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, August 26, 2002 at 9:36 PM EST

True to the TDK heritage of digital audio excellence, the 40/12/48 veloCD burner has bit-perfect 48x digital audio extraction. Ripping audio with a typical CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive is often slow and inaccurate, and the process often contaminates files with audible clicks and pops. The veloCD 40/12/48 delivers a clean, pop-free rip every time. With 48x ripping and 40x writing, the veloCD burner is so fast it may be the only drive you need.

Intel Pentium 4 2.66 and 2.8 GHz @ GamePC
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, August 26, 2002 at 9:35 PM EST

Today at GamePC, we've given a through look at Intel's brand new 2.66 and 2.8 GHz Pentium 4 "Northwood" processors. With AMD accelerating their clock speeds, it's become quite clear that Intel has no intention of slowing down and letting AMD catch up. These two new chips allow Intel once again to hold the performance crown for consumer-level CPU's. We benchmark these new chips in a variety of scenarios against previous generation Pentium 4's and AMD's Athlon XP.

Pentium4 2.8GHz Review @ lostcircuits
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, August 26, 2002 at 9:34 PM EST

After the surprise launch of AMD's Athlon XP 2400 / 2600 last week, Intel counters with some new definitions in destop processor speed grades. Quantispeed or not, at 2.8GHz, the latest P4 is already dead serious but what happens if this beast is overclocked another roughly 10%? More than we can say in a single sentence, that's for sure.

UT2003 Preview @ OCAddiction
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, August 26, 2002 at 9:32 PM EST

"Of course the real star of any Unreal game is always going to be the remarkable UT engine. Unlike other engine developers, Epicdo not release the engine as a set of static versions but as a continuously evolving design. The engine today is simply a newer version of the engine that powered Unreal. The last Unreal Tournament patch left the engine at build 436. UT2003 should see the final version number in the 800s. Originally conceived with a strong emphasis on software rendering and 3dfx's Glide, current builds are optimised for Direct3D which in todays API market is the only sensible decision. With a reasonable gaming system in excess of about 700MHz with a Geforce 2 or higher video card we should see very playable framerates. With the top end systems that OC Addicts are rightly famed for the game should look simply amazing. To quote the official FAQ "it is likely that the minimum processor required will be a Pentium PIII 500 or equivalent."

Cold Cathode Review @ Techware Labs
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, August 26, 2002 at 9:29 PM EST

"With the increasing popularity of LAN parties, from the neighborhood get-together to the world-wide convention of Quake-Con, it's hard to stand out from the crowd, even with a sleek black case that used to do the trick. A Cold Cathode can really help to give a case a defining look that can definately draw some positive attention. The Cold Cathode is a perfect accent to any case, but especially those with windows."

Intel 2.8GHz Pentium 4 Review @ HotHardware
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, August 26, 2002 at 9:28 PM EST

Even though AMD officially launched their new Athlon XP 2600+ part last week, they are virtually impossible to get a hold of at this point in time. This "paper launch", as some of the media has coined it, seemed to be only a strategic marketing tactic, rather than officially opening the production volume flood gates for their new processor. Was it effective? Only time will tell. However, although you can't actually find an Athlon 2600+ on the net for sale just yet, you most certainly already can find a 2.8GHz Pentium 4.

2.8Ghz Intel Pentium 4 processor Review @ Active-Hardware
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, August 26, 2002 at 9:25 PM EST

"Less than one week after the release of the AMD Athlon XP 2600+, and its performance victories over the 533MHz FSB 2.53GHz Intel Pentium 4, Intel has released a new chip: the 533MHz FSB 2.8GHz Pentium 4. Will this new CPU be enough to allow Intel to win back it's lost crown?"

Xoxide X300 Super Mid-Tower Case Review @ ReviewNation
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, August 25, 2002 at 8:40 PM EST

"Flawless. That's the only word I can think of to describe X300 Super-Mid Tower. It is doubtlessly the best looking case I've ever owned, and one of the best I've ever seen. Not just is it a feast for the eyes, however, as it is a well-built, friendly case, with ample cooling. I say "friendly" because the case seems to have been designed by folks who've actually worked inside a computer, unlike many I've struggled with. Every touch, from its shimmering face, to the smooth and shiny steel chassis, to the glowing, jewel-like power button, just reeks of quality…"

Atlas Mod Case review @ Envy News
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, August 25, 2002 at 8:38 PM EST

“There’s a common misconception in this world, and it’s one where expensive items represent good quality, and items of high quality must in fact be expensive. Well, ‘smart shoppers’ will tell you otherwise – a good deal can be found if you perform a token amount of research and make an informed purchasing decision. With our next review, Pro Magic has a variety of Case models that combine both low cost and high quality features.”

GearGrip LCD Shield Harness Review @ X-Treme PC TECH
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, August 25, 2002 at 8:36 PM EST

"Well the other day I was surfing the web inbetween working on reviews and other things. Well, I decieded to see what CaseAce has been upto. When I went to their site I saw the GearGrip - LCD Shield Harness. I was thinking thats just what I need since I travel with my PC (he he he) and like to go to LANs. I talked to the guys @ CaseAce and they agree to send me one. So don't stop reading now its just getting good. =^)"

Lian Li PC-6087A Aluminum Case Review/Comparison @ Mikhailtech
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, August 25, 2002 at 8:35 PM EST

The rear of both cases is identical. Everything is secured using thumbscrews which earns much cool points in my book. From the top down we have the removable PSU cover followed by the slide-out motherboard tray. On the left is a somewhat thin I/O panel that has enough holes to fit most motherboards. To the right is the 80mm exhaust fan behind a pretty restrictive fan grill cutout. Much like they pioneered the aluminum case market, Lian Li should promote the use of screw-on chrome grills on all their cases; they look nice, are removable (for cleaning, replacement, etc) and don't block so much airflow. Furthermore, shifting it up slightly (or making the case just a tad bit taller) in future revisions would allow for the use of a secondary exhaust fan, which would be quite helpful. The case comes with seven PCI tabs already in place; these too are held stationary by thumbscrews. Finally, there are three sets of holes to the right for venting; initially I thought of strapping some 40mm fans in there but the holes don't line up. One thing I should point out is how easy it is to stain polished (vs. brushed) aluminum. Notice the nasty grimy stuff on the right? Those are fingerprints and they're very difficult to remove. These are not visible on the brushed side, but in places where things are mirror smooth (and especially on the extra PCI tabs), they show up fairly well. I guess you could say it looks "rugged" ;p

Kingwin Mobile HDD Rack Review @ ReviewSource
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, August 25, 2002 at 8:31 PM EST

"Ever wanted to take your HDD out of you PC and move it to another? Kingwin has done it again, with their amazing aluminum IDE hard drive rack! Kingwin makes some of the best products in the business. They leave no exception to the all aluminum hard drive rack."

RecordNow Max 4.0 (Review) @ ipKonfig
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, August 25, 2002 at 8:29 PM EST

"Stomp Inc. has introduced recording software that does more than record onto a CD. RecordNow Max is one of Stomp Inc.'s finest pieces of software. Its features stand tall against Roxio's latest and greatest, and offer a few extra goodies compared to its rival.

When Steve, of Stomp Inc., asked me if I'd be interested in testing its newest version of RecordNow Max 4.0 I couldn't pass up the offer. Truly, RecordNow Max has a lot to offer the end-user, even those not comfortable recording CDs. The goal, of course, is to keep burning a CD from being hard or complicated, without sacrificing stability."

Launch of PlanetPrices.com
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, August 25, 2002 at 8:25 PM EST

Today marks the official launch of PlanetPrices.com, a computer hardware price comparison site focusing on overclocking and case modding equipment. The site features extensive search functionality, the option of viewing prices in various currencies and holds prices from retailers in – currently - 7 different countries (Australia, Germany, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, The United Kingdom and the United States). Sites such as PCMods, CPUtopia, Crucial, Memman, Chillblast, CoolCaseMods, The Overclocking Store, Komplett and many more – currently 34 sites - list their prices and more are to follow shortly.

MySoundStudio from Stomp Inc. Review @ GeekExtreme
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, August 25, 2002 at 8:23 PM EST

"If you're in the market for a good, mid-level editing program with many advanced capabilities and features, then this program is for you. I find that the more I use it, the more I like the way it functions, and the speed with which it performs."

Bantam BA350 128MB MP3 Player Review @ OnePC
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, August 25, 2002 at 8:20 PM EST

"Interested in sticking a part of your digital music collection right in your pocket? The tiny Bantam BA350 MP3 player should do the trick. Find out if this player with 128MB of built-in memory and expandable storage capabilities can deliver."

P3 - P7030 Camera Detector (Review) @ ipKonfig
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, August 25, 2002 at 8:19 PM EST

"Privacy has become a scarce commodity around the world, violated in many different ways, especially against us innocent types. Just turn our heads and we're faced with a camera somewhere, not knowing who or what is behind its eye. Though security cameras have been put in place to protect the innocent, we often hear of innocents being violated in some way by the very technology put in place to spot bad guys. Spy-Cams, in particular have been used in a wide range of twisted ways. It seems they're meant to do more harm than good, and there's no shortage of sick or freaky potential users."

Crystal Clear Blue LED Fans Review @ Mikhailtech
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, August 25, 2002 at 8:17 PM EST

The fan itself is a ball bearing model, which means extended life when compared to its sleeve bearing brethren. It is very quiet to my ear, much quieter than my Antec Blue LED fans which surprised me greatly. The two LEDs are mounted in the hub of the fan. The light from the LEDs is focused forward of the fan and each LED is very bright. The only negative of this is that the fan focuses almost no light to the rear.

After Dark BLACK ICEMAT Mousepad Review @ X-Treme PC TECH
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, August 25, 2002 at 8:14 PM EST

"Are you tired of cloth mousepads? Are you tired of your mousepad moving when you are doing some intense gaming? Does your mousepad look ugly? Well today I have a fairly new mousepad to review. It is the On Ice After Dark BLACK ICEMAT. Today I will show you why I think this is such a cool mousepad. So just read on."

Altec Lansing 251 speaker system review @ phlux
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, August 25, 2002 at 8:13 PM EST

"The 251 speakers from Altec Lansing are their budget 5.1 surround model, costing £90, that is also aimed at people who want to use them for watching films and listening to music. Even though they're considered a budget setup, the specifications are very impressive."

Vantec 80mm Tornado Fan Review @ MODTHEBOX
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, August 25, 2002 at 8:10 PM EST

"What immediately grabs your attention with this fan is its sheer size. At 80mm x 80mm x 38mm, it is 50% thicker than most 80mm fans. The extra space allows for larger fan blades and a dual fin technology similar to that seen on some Delta fans. Powering up the unit in your hand, the Tornado pushes so much air, it almost seems to have a gyroscopic effect to it. This fan is rightly called a Tornado, since it produces a whopping 55 decibels of noise."

Leadtek WinFast A250 Ultra TD Geforce 4 Ti4600 128MB review @ Explosive Labs
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, August 24, 2002 at 10:32 AM EST

"This A250 Ultra TD MyVIVO is Leadtek's second revision of this particular model. Leadtek has added VIVO capabilities to this card, not seen in its initial release. Only dubbing the A250 Ultra TD with an added "MyVIVO." You will notice then that instead of the typical S-Video out jack, the A250 Ultra TD MyVIVO comes with a VIVO jack. You need to use the blue adapter, included in the software bundle, in order to use the VIVO capabilities.

PNY Verto GeForce 4 Ti4600 Review @ ViperLair
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, August 24, 2002 at 10:29 AM EST

"A rather unspectacular box encases the Verto Ti4600. I'm not too sure about the box image. It doesn't really scream "POWER!!!!" to me, but rather, it just plain creeps me out. I think the designers have been watching too many Star Trek: The Next Generation reruns."

Lian-Li Front Bezel Face Plates (Review) @ SystemCooling
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, August 24, 2002 at 10:28 AM EST

If you're sick of Beige drives that don't match one another even when manufactured by the same company, then read on!! Do you have a Black or Silver aluminum case and your Beige drives just look plain yucky installed, then read on!!

You could disassemble your Beige drives and paint them the color you'd like, but that would take time and what about if you messed up, read on!!

Tt CoolMod Fan Review @ Overclockercafe
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, August 24, 2002 at 10:25 AM EST

“When I first saw this, I thought it was another neon strap on. Oh no, this most certainly is different. In fact, this is the first mod I have seen like this. Usually, the wild new idea like this comes from Joe User at 2am with a twelve pack of empty beer cans under the table, not a manufacturer.”

Copper Mesh Rounded Cables Review @ Mikhailtech
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, August 24, 2002 at 10:22 AM EST

There are actually two types of plastic coatings found here (aside from the PVC on the individual wires which is standard). The first is the triangular cover. This may be pretty thick but it's also quite flexible, much like the covers on most "normal" rounded cables. The translucent plastic that covers the mesh, however, is a lot more rigid and that's not cool. I can understand why thickness might be a good idea (if some copper wires come loose they might puncture a thin cover) but it shouldn't have such a negative effect. On a slightly better note, there's a double-sided foil coat in-between the mesh and the actual wires; this serves the purpose of preventing interference and "increasing performance by 15%" (Sidewinder doesn't make such claims but other places with similar models do). Back to bad, much to my dismay the tips of the copper braids weren't soldered or glued together or anything of the sort. This could pose one of many problems, ranging from internal wire puncture (resulting in data loss and other negative side effects) to de-braiding of the cable. These scenarios aren't very likely to happen but the possibility is there nonetheless.

Thermaltake Silver Braided Round IDE Cable Review @ 3dXtreme
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, August 24, 2002 at 10:18 AM EST

"One thing that I really liked was the longer length of the cables compared to my old ones. I was able to easily flex them into position and tuck them away to allow for a cleaner looking case. All in all I would recommend these cable to case modders of any skill level."

EverGlide Optical MousePad Showcase @ OCIA
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, August 24, 2002 at 10:16 AM EST

"Over the past 15 years, I have seen many game systems come and go. From the NES to the PlayStation, I have owned nearly every one. All of these systems had at least two game pad ports, if not more. Let's take Street Fighter II on SNES for example. This was a great game in single player mode, but what really made it fun was the 2 player vs. mode. This is where you get to showcase who has the skills to win. Key word in that last sentence being "skills", as that is what it took to win. Both players were playing the game on the same console with the same type of game pad. Skip forward to present day computer gaming. Oftentimes if you system specs are lacking, you will come up on the losing end of the battle. So let's say you dish out a grand or so on a new rig, complete with the latest video card. Chances are you won't lose near as much (unless you really suck). So once again you go out and purchase yourself an optical mouse for those FPS games we all love. Again, a little bit of an improvement, but you are still not quite there just yet. If you are looking for that extra edge in your favorite FPS, I urge you to read on as we check out some MousePads from EverGlide's line of Optical MousePads."

Blue Chenming 21" ATX Server Case Review @ ThinkComputers
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, August 24, 2002 at 10:13 AM EST

"Installing the parts into this case is a breeze. There is plenty of room in the case to maneuver around. I had no trouble installing my motherboard at all. You can install your HD and floppy into the cages even before putting them in the case. Pop them in and you’re ready to go. Same with the mounting of the plates for your 5.25” drives. Attach the plates to your device; slide in, once you hear a click it's locked in."

Neverwinter Nights Review @ OcPrices
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, August 24, 2002 at 10:11 AM EST

"Perhaps one of the most touted games in recent months, Neverwinter Nights is the latest offering from Bioware, the original creators of the Baldurs Gate series. To a hell of a lot of gamers this means a hell of a lot. It also utilizes the brand new Dungeons and Dragons 3rd edition rules. This, also means a hell of a lot to a hell of a lot of gamers. To me it means jack (Jack’s a very nice bloke but not someone you’d call a friend).

What I do care about is the games much touted character development system which supposedly allows the player to create any character their mind can concoct. But how much 'freedom' does this allow the RPG fan and how far have Bioware pushed the boundaries of the RPG genre?"

PCMods Power Down Protector Review @ MODTHEBOX
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, August 24, 2002 at 10:09 AM EST

"The Power Down Protector received for review is dark aqua in color and constructed out of anodized aluminum that sports the PCMods logo, product name and houses the brains of the unit, the PCB. The top of the unit features labels printed in black that correspond the necessary headers underneath. Along the side of the unit there is a chart which illustrates the Timer Length Settings for the fans along with the proper jumper orientations for either 1, 3, 5, or 10 minutes of running time. The back of the Power Down Protector features two holes that are filled with what appears to be push tacks that clip into designated holes on the PCB. The Power Down Protector features a total 8 headers, 6 of these are 3-pin compliant and are used for the fan In1, In2 and Wake On LAN, each having their own In and Out header."

Vantec Cables @ eliteHW
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, August 24, 2002 at 10:07 AM EST

"Rounded cables have suddenly become a very typical computer enthusiast product. Rounded cables help to improve case aesthetics as well as improve airflow. However, with this sudden surge of popularity, it can be difficult to differentiate the quality products from the sub-par products. Today I will be looking at Vantec’s silver cable products. I have been lucky enough to review a selection of Vantec’s products before (Specifically the Stealth and Tornado line of fans) Vantec has yet to disappoint, so hopefully the trend will continue."

Maelstrom Rheobus review @ phlux
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, August 24, 2002 at 10:05 AM EST

"As you can see here, I have used this nifty fanbus to find a nice balance between cooling and noise. I have brought my sanity level up quite a bit. I can adjust the fan to whaver speed I want. I've also noticed that I can hear myself type, and my music sounds much more clear. I can also talk on the phone in the same room. Everything is quiet, and still cool."

Everglide Gaming Mat review @ Ripnet-UK
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, August 24, 2002 at 10:03 AM EST

"It doesn't seem all that long ago that when it came to mouse mats, (or mousing surfaces as they must now be known!) your choice was pretty much limited to what sort of tacky design you wanted to have printed on the cheap cloth cover. The situation is more than a little different today, with a number of manufacturers turning out high quality gaming mats in a wide variety of different materials and designs. Today I'm trying out the latest from Everglide, one of the market leaders in this field.

Everglide's new baby is the Gaming Mat, which has a patented surface and comes in a choice of five eye-catching, and in my opinion very smart, designs. The surface feels just slightly 'pebbled' to the touch..."

Lian Li PC-6089A Aluminum PC Case Video Review #204 @ 3dGameMan
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, August 24, 2002 at 10:01 AM EST

"This case is almost identical to the Lian Li PC-6087A, however, it has a different colored side window, front door and door latching system. Adding this door and a window to their new line of cases keeps Lian Li in the 'coolest hi-quality cases on the planet' category."

Antec Performance Plus1080AMG Case Review @ VH
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, August 24, 2002 at 9:57 AM EST

"The Antec Performance PLUS 1080AMG is another step in Antec's stairway to success. In my opinion, if you liked the SX1030B, you'll love the 1080AMG unless you absolutely NEED jet black. The metallic grey of this case is excellent. And will look very good with black drives. I'll be doing the black drives in this case as soon as I can, along with some mods to it. I don't wanna do something quick this time, so my masterpiece is in the development stages (as all good mods take time to mature..hehe) This style of case has been reviewed so many times I don't see a need to do a pros & cons list. I don't feel like listing "heavy" as a con...heh."

RecordNow Max 4.0 (Review) @ ipKonfig
posted by Babylon5 on Friday, August 23, 2002 at 5:49 AM EST

AOpen AX4G Pro Motherboard Review @ OCModShop
posted by Babylon5 on Friday, August 23, 2002 at 5:46 AM EST

This was my first experience overclocking with a Pentium 4, I had heard that these 1.6a chips were able to do really well and should be able to hit at least 2.5Ghz or so. I played around in the BIOS for a while with all of the memory settings and the Vcore which was the only voltage I was allowed to change. After testing this motherboard for a while the highest overclock I was able to get out of it was 1.92Ghz (16x120). I probably would have been able to get a higher overclock if I would have been able to drop the multiplier which I could not because these CPUs are locked and I did not have the wire or the guts to unlock it. I also needed to be able to give this RAM some more voltage because I feel that that was really holding it back. AOpen motherboards are not known for being the best overclockers but they do bring some other things to the table which other companies do not.

Nexland ISB SOHO Router Review @ OCAddiction
posted by Babylon5 on Friday, August 23, 2002 at 5:43 AM EST

"A great device, that had some surprisingly advanced features presented in a simple way (but always read the manual first). Technically it’s hard to fault, with only very minor quibbles. I had some professional firewall people look the device over, and they were both surprised and delighted at the features they found. The set-up was so simple that the only improvement I could see was if the ISB SOHO unpacked itself and jump onto the table."

80mm Spiderman Fan Grill Review @ ReviewNation
posted by Babylon5 on Friday, August 23, 2002 at 5:41 AM EST

"I am sure that all of you are familiar with Spiderman and the Marvel brand of comics, as well as their action-figures. But you probably weren't aware of fan grills licensed from Marvel! Marvel has licensed these fan grills and they are made by a company called PcToys.

Today, we will take a look at one of the three types of fan grills offered; the Spiderman grill. The other varieties are the Punisher and Wolverine, which also hold many of the same characteristics as the Spiderman one."

Nexland Pro400 Internet Sharing Box Review @ Mikhailtech
posted by Babylon5 on Friday, August 23, 2002 at 5:40 AM EST

Each port has LEDs which indicate a 100BaseT, a 10BaseT and/or a duplex connection (200mb). The speed depends on the type of ethernet card installed in your system; most recent (a few years old at most) PCI cards are 100BaseTX with duplex, in which case the 100 light will be on or flashing and the duplex light will be on. The latter flashes when there's either heavy traffic and/or packet collision. Then there's another more interesting feature. This is the first router I've seen (although I've only seen a few total) that has dip switches. What are they for? Well, you can use them to disable the DHCP server, reset the unit, activate the Serial Console Interface and configure the ISB for firmware upgrades. This comes in very handy if you input an incorrect setting or forget your password which prevents you from accessing the unit. Think of it as a multi-functional "CMOS clearing" jumper. But alas, that's not all. You can also back up your configuration settings to external media (like a floppy or a CD) should something happen to the unit. Then if anything gets screwed up, all you do is flip up a couple switches, load the settings and you're back in business. The manual details the entire procedure in terms even I can understand.

Chenming Windowed Aluminum Case (Review) @ SystemCooling
posted by Babylon5 on Friday, August 23, 2002 at 5:36 AM EST

"Most computer enthusiasts are very familiar with the Chenming family of computer enclosures that are sold under many names including Chenming, Chieftech and Antec to name but a few. This chassis has been recognized as one of the most cooling friendly to ever hit the marketplace. There may be minor differences, but the chassis itself had not changed in better than a year, that is, until now."

Cooler Master ATC 410 SX1 Aluminum Server Case Review @ MODTHEBOX
posted by Babylon5 on Friday, August 23, 2002 at 5:35 AM EST

"The front bezel is accented with a Matrix style grill pattern which extends from the top to the bottom of the case. The overall look of the ATC-410 SX1 is highly refined and futuristic in appearance. The top panel of the case is completely removable by unscrewing four thumbscrews in each corner. A series of mounting screw holes are centered down the middle of the top panel for mounting drive rails if one should decide to convert this case from a stand alone server to rack mount server."

Thermaltake Volcano 9 w/ CoolMod Review @ hardcoreware
posted by Babylon5 on Friday, August 23, 2002 at 5:33 AM EST

The Volcano 9 also has quite a few tricks up its sleeve. Its fan speed adjust according to actual CPU temp this time, or you can take control of it manually. Leave your CPU idling at a whisper quiet speed, and crank it up when it's time to start fragging!

XoXide Crystal Blue Led Fans Review @ BurnoutPC
posted by Babylon5 on Friday, August 23, 2002 at 5:31 AM EST

"Fans, even the name sounds boring, especially for a review item. Well what we have up on the BOPC workbench is not your ordinary 80mm fans. Crystal Led fans, are becoming quite the rage among modders and check it out – we got our hands on a few!"

Creative Audigy Installation on Windows XP Pro without tears or a hammer!!! @ Ripnet-UK
posted by Babylon5 on Friday, August 23, 2002 at 5:29 AM EST

"You know when an offer is too good to miss? Well that situation hit me recently, I had the opportunity to purchase a Creative Audigy sound card and the Inspire 5.1 speaker set. The previous owner had given up trying to install the card as their system refused to accept the card or the drivers. I offered to assist them but they were adamant that enough was enough.

Home we go with large box (quite heavy) containing said equipment. Unpack the box carefully, look with pleasure at gold connectors on card and speakers...."

Hitachi CML181SXW-B vs. NEC 1920NX Comparison @ GamePC
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, August 22, 2002 at 9:39 AM EST

Today at GamePC, we've whipped up a comparison of two new large screen LCD monitors on the market, Hitachi's CML181SXW-B 18.1" and NEC's 1920NX 19". Both LCD monitors boast feature sets geared toward power users, like 1280 x 1024 resolution support, DVI-D ports, and dual monitor input connectivity. We try out these screens in a variety of gaming and application tests, to see which one is worth your hard earned cash. Lots of high resolution images of the monitors included as well!

Inpax's Thermaltake Mini-Copper Orb Review @ Tech-Dreams
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, August 22, 2002 at 9:37 AM EST

"As I said numerous times in past reviews, cooling is one of the biggest issues in your computer system. It affects performance, as well as the life span of your CPU, graphics card, or system in general. Picking the right heatsink and fan for your CPU is no easy task, since there are dozens of coolers to choose from, and everyone has a different view on which one cools down your chip the best. Once again, Tech-Dreams brings you another heatsink and fan review as we take a good look at Thermal Take's Mini Copper Orb for Socket 462/A CPU's from Inpax, Inc."

Geforce 4 Ti 4600 Modding Article @ Monster-Hardware
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, August 22, 2002 at 9:35 AM EST

"Why are we discussing this "dusty" videocard? In the world of fast paced product cycles a card is obsolete months after release but unless driven to cyber excesses by the silicon gods (as I am) then the Ti4600 should suit your needs for a looong time to come. The Ti4600 has been reviewed to death inside and out, benched and re-benched... in all its various incarnations and permutations. What we are going to do here is take a new Asus Deluxe Ti4600 and, after a short run to determine functionality, mod the living hell out of it to see what we can wring from its silicon."

Internal/External Multi Adapter Panel @ VoidedWarranty
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, August 22, 2002 at 9:34 AM EST

"Here's what the unit looks like when installed in your PC. This product is great for people tired of reaching in the back of their computer just to plug in a digital camera, an MP3 player, microphone, speakers, keyboard etc... What I really like about this product, unlike similar panels, the cable is all in one! No more back aches! =D"

C3 Clear Acrylic Case Review @ GideonTech
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, August 22, 2002 at 9:32 AM EST

GideonTech is back again with a case review, this time from a new company called C3. They specialize pretty much only in acrylic cases and here's their first offering to the public:

XFX Graphics review @ OCModShop
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, August 22, 2002 at 9:31 AM EST

XFX Graphics, which is a division of Pine, has sent us one of their GeForce 3 Ti500 model video cards. Although the new Nvidia flagship is now the Geforce 4, the Geforce3 series is still a major player in desktop graphics. And now since the GeForce 4s are out, you can get great deals on GeForce 3s, which are still amazing video cards.

Lian Li PC-6087A Aluminum PC Case Video Review #203 @ 3dGameMan
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, August 22, 2002 at 9:27 AM EST

"With a see through window and colored front door it's a much more current look for Lian Li. The appearance might have changed; however, you can expect the same quality and performance with this product."

Xoxide LL-61 Warrior Case Review @ VH
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, August 22, 2002 at 9:24 AM EST

"Xoxide is making quite a name for themselves in the market for pre-modified cases. With an extensive lineup of modified cases, from those for the price-conscious, to those for the people who want a kickass case that has been made even better, they have appealed to a wide range of the computer-saavy population, as most anyone could find a case at Xoxide that they liked. And, by looking at their ResellerRatings grades, it seems that they are not only making good products, but also dealing with customers very well. I last looked at Xoxide's Z-60 ClearStorm, and found it to be a well-cooled and good looking case for the mid-level user, as it included a well-placed window but wasn't pricey. Well, today I'll be looking at the upper-end of Xoxide's case lineup; is the LL-61 Warrior worth your hard earned cash?"

Sennheiser HD-570 Headphones Reviewed @ Icrontic
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, August 22, 2002 at 9:23 AM EST

Sennheiser is based in Germany and specializes in high-end audio equipment, including headphones, microphones, and aviation headsets. Sennheiser has an enormous line of headphones to choose from, nearly thirty all together, including wireless and in-ear headphones.

Coolermaster Alloy Mouse Pad Review @ Icrontic
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, August 22, 2002 at 9:21 AM EST

"One very important characteristic to note is that it is quite smaller than a standard mouse pad. I was disappointed by this because it meant I had to reposition my mouse frequently to keep it from getting close to the edges of the pad. It was even more aggravating when I was playing Quake III because I had to pick up my mouse and put it back in the center constantly."

GIGA-BYTE MAYA II GV-R9700 PRO Graphics Accelerator Info @ AusPCWorld
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, August 22, 2002 at 9:19 AM EST

"The GV-R9700 PRO is the first available graphics accelerator to fully support the AGP 8X standard. The AGP bus provides the crucial high-bandwidth link between the graphics card and the rest of the PC. It carries a variety of different types of data, including 3D models, textures, shaders, drawing commands, and video streams. The GV-R9700 PRO is also the first graphics processor that can render up to eight pixels simultaneously with full floating point precision. This is accomplished by eight parallel 128-bit floating-point rendering pipelines, each with its own independent texture unit and pixel shader engine. The texture unit of each rendering pipeline can sample up to 16 textures in a single rendering pass. These textures can be one-, two-, or three-dimensional, with bilinear, tri-linear, or anisotropic filtering applied depending on the desired quality level."

Abit Max Series MediaXP Bay Review @ pcstats
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, August 22, 2002 at 9:16 AM EST

"The MAX line of motherboards are what they call "legacy free" motherboards which means they have no serial, parallel or PS/2 ports. Instead, the motherboard uses USB and firewire ports to communicate with peripherials. As forward thinking as this is, we still need to bend behind the case to get at the jacks. Going behind the computer can be a real hassle, so Abit came up with a "multimedia" bay for the Abit MAX AT7 and IT7 series mainboards that brings the most accessed ports up to the front, in easy grasp of everyone."

LIUtilities Wintasks 4 Professional Review @ Extreme Overclocking
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, August 21, 2002 at 7:53 AM EST

Wintasks 4 Professional is essentially a beefed up version of the Windows Task Manager. It has some nice advanced features and is perfect for someone who wants to have complete control over what the operating system does.

Cooler Master ATC-600 Aluminum Case @ ViperLair
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, August 21, 2002 at 7:45 AM EST

"The risks taken run the gamut: a desktop design in a world that prefers towers; an internal configuration that does not take the industry standard ATX form-factor, but opts instead for the OEM slice of the pie, the Micro-ATX form-factor; design that bucks the trends of the very demographic it appeals to, the desktop-

August 2002