God Bless America.

News Archive: March 2003

August 2003

Abit IC7 i875 Motherboard Review @ OcPrices
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, August 30, 2003 at 9:00 PM EST

"Abit were one of the first out of the blocks with an 875 based motherboard with their IC7 motherboard, and along with the Asus P4C800, quickly established itself as the enthusiast board of choice for the majority of performance users. We have had the board for quite some time, giving us plenty of opportunity to give it a thorough evaluation."

Check it out at: OcPrices

Justcom Pro JC104P 4-Port KVM Switch @ pcstats
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, August 30, 2003 at 8:57 PM EST

"For the computer technician a KVM (Keyboard, Video, Mouse) switch is an invaluable tool as it allows one to use multiple computers with just one keyboard, mouse and monitor. Since I'm the go-to guy whenever there's a busted computer among my circle of friends/family I often have three or four machines sitting in a queue just waiting to be looked at. With a KVM, I can do a complete system reinstall one machine, monitor stability testing software on another and perhaps configure a system which is about to be released. With a KVM I can greatly increase my efficiency, after all what else can I do if I'm reinstalling on one machine and only have one keyboard, mouse and monitor? It would greatly decrease the turn around time and I could get the systems that are given to me to work on out faster."

Check it out at: pcstats

ATI Radeon Tweak Guide v1.5 @ TechSpot
posted by Babylon5 on Friday, August 29, 2003 at 10:35 PM EST

Configure your system for best compatibility & performance! We take you through basic troubleshooting steps and general tweaks, onto more specific Direct3D & OpenGL settings, a complete performance comparison testing the various Antialiasing and Anisotropic settings plus image quality shots to give you the real picture behind the settings.

Check it out at: TechSpot

Dual CCFL Fan Review Grill @ GruntvillE
posted by Babylon5 on Friday, August 29, 2003 at 10:30 PM EST

"You can bet that almost every modder has a few clear LED fans to light up their mod. One problem with the clear LED fans is that there is not much flexibility. There aren't many LED fans out that push mad CFM's compared to a Vantec Tornado or TT Smart Fan 2. This becomes a problem. Function vs. Style, a choice often made by modders. Lamps Electronics has the product to end this miserable decision. The Cold Cathode Fan Light is a CCFL that will attach to any 80mm fan of YOUR choice!"

Check it out at: GruntvillE

Lian Li PC-37A Mini-ATX Case Review @ Overclocker Cafe
posted by Babylon5 on Friday, August 29, 2003 at 10:29 PM EST

Lian Li has produced a case that is a mini-tower but thinks it's a mid-tower.  Not many mini-tower cases have five 5.25" bays while being able to sport a full sized mainboard.  Did I mention this thing weighs 4kg??  Check out the Overclocker Cafe' for their review on the new Lian Li PC-37A Mini-ATX Aluminum Case.  Here's a snip of the review.

Removing the left side panel was simple given that most every removable piece on the PC-37A is fastened by a thumbscrew.  Looking inside, lots of space greets you.  Lian Li has always been known for being roomy. We're talking like Embassy Suites roomy over a normal mini-ATX which would be better compared to a Motel 6.

Check it out at: Overclocker Cafe'

Zalman ZM80C VGA Heatpipe Cooler @ OCAddiction
posted by Babylon5 on Friday, August 29, 2003 at 10:23 PM EST

There are a total of five points on this unit that need a layer of thermal grease to be applied for it to function properly.  Remember, this is a "Heatpipe" cooler.  That means that you not only need good connectivity between the heat sink bases and the larger heat sinks, but also both sides of the unit to have good connectivity to the actual heat pipe.

Check it out at: OCAddiction

Kingston HyperX 512MB DDR PC3500 @ Viper Lair
posted by Babylon5 on Friday, August 29, 2003 at 10:13 PM EST

"My complaints are minor. For one, it only overclocked a mere 8MHz over stock at default timings. I suppose since the ram is already running pretty fast, this is to be expected. Another complaint is the timings. 2-4-4-8 timings won't help you win any speed records, but that's what adjustments in the BIOS is for."

Check it out at: Viper Lair

Gigabyte GA-7VT600 1394 VIA KT600 Motherboard Review @ pcstats
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, August 28, 2003 at 7:33 PM EST

"In the summer of 2002, nVIDIA launched the nForce2, and usurped VIA's position as AMD market leader and for the first time in a long time VIA had to play catchup. Playing catchup is something VIA is not very good at. Neither the KT400, or KT400A was a match for the competition put up by nVidia. VIA regrouped and released the KT600 chipset to counter to the eleven month old nForce2. Would VIA be able to regain the top spot in the AMD world? We'll find out today as we test the Gigabyte GA-7VT600 1394 motherboard, which obviously, uses the VIA KT600 Northbridge."

Check it out at: pcstats

PREVIEW: ABIT IC7 MAX3 (875P) Motherboard Review @ Extreme Overclocking
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, August 28, 2003 at 7:31 PM EST

Extreme Overclocking has just posted up some preview pics of the new ABIT IC7 MAX3 board featuring ABIT's patented OTES technology.

Check it out at: Extreme Overclocking

Intel Inside Everything?? Article @ Bytesector
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, August 28, 2003 at 7:28 PM EST

In the business world, Bill Gates is arguably the most well known figure – famous for his grand company; Microsoft. Anyone who is familiar with Microsoft should be able relate the name with the well known monopoly that has several computer users around the world troubled by its unrivalled dominance of the software market. However several people around the world remain ignorant of the existence of another computer-industry giant that has a direct impact on all of us. This giant is the king of the microprocessor industry – the much revered Intel Corporation...

Check it out at: Bytesector

Hitachi CML152 15" LCD Monitor @ Techware Labs
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, August 28, 2003 at 7:25 PM EST

"As of late, LCD panels have becoming more and more popular as they become more affordable.  For the general user the space-saving dimensions of a LCD flat panel combined with their reduction of eyestrain outweigh the losses in picture quality.

Today, we're taking a look at the Hitachi CML152, Hitachi's least expensive model in their entire LCD display line.  This LCD panel is designed for and marketed towards those that are in the market for a basic, inexpensive LCD monitor."

Check it out at: Techware Labs

PowerVR Interview @ Beyond3D
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, August 28, 2003 at 7:24 PM EST

A few weeks back we visited PowerVR to catch up on MBX and learn a little more about its prospects and where it was being aimed at. Today Beyond3D has an interview with PowerVR's John Metcalfe, and we also ask about a few more details on their high end desktop PC PowerVR Series 5 chip...

"From MBX Lite to the full MBX specification, where do you see the range of devices they might be applicable to?

MBX Lite will initially be going into premium phones, but actually we expect that to move down a segment fairly quickly. With MBX bear in mind that the licensee can control the clock speed. So, dependant on that, at the high end you will get dedicated handheld gaming, set top boxes with 3D graphics capabilities and in-car systems for entertainment and navigation."

Check it out at: Beyond3D

Enermax X Window CS-5688BFS Pearl White Case Review @ OCIA
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, August 28, 2003 at 7:21 PM EST

"The enclosed power supply is adequate but I had to add molex y splitters to connect all my devices. I added a single Hard Drive, A CDRW and a DVD. The case also has 5 fans which includes the blue 4 LED fan included with the case. I would like to have seen more connectors buy it was easily worked around. I placed a MSI KT4A Ultra FISR with an XP2500 processor into the case. I use it at my place of employment as a development box and I haven't had any problems. The box is not overclocked since I use it for code development and that environment stresses stability instead of speed."

Check it out at: OCIA

Teac DV-W50D DVD±R/RW Combo Drive - Reviewed at HotHardware
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, August 28, 2003 at 7:16 PM EST

Jeff B is turnin' and burnin' tonight with Teac's latest foray into the combination DVDR/RW drive market.  Boasting 4X DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW, 16X CD-R, 10X CD-RW, 12X DVD Read and 32X CD Read speeds, along with a $190 blue light special price tag, this drive has a lot of capability for not a lot of coin.  However, does it have the speed you need?

Check it out at: HotHardware

Zalman 80C-HP Heatpipe VGA Cooler w/ optional fan Video Review #342 @ 3dGameMan
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, August 28, 2003 at 7:15 PM EST

"The Zalman 80C-HP Heatpipe VGA Cooler w/ optional fan makes one fantastic VGA cooling product. It fits just about every Video Card & is relatively easy to install. With the massive heatsink on the front & back coupled with the heatpipe & 80mm fan it will definitely keep even the fastest Video Cards cool. Watch the Video to find out more..."

Check it out at: 3dGameMan

Zalman 400W Power Supply Review at Blynk
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, August 28, 2003 at 7:13 PM EST

You call yourself a modder? You have nice blue LED fans, a blue motherboard, blue video card, blue UV reactive cables, a sweet window cutout.. and a big ugly silver power supply. Not a lot of people mod their power supply, maybe a UV reactive acrylic cover, but who really anodizes it to match their case? Anodizing is quite pricy, and spray paint just doesn't look all that great. Don't forget all the power you need to run all those little gadgets! Today we'll be looking at a ZM400A, a black 400W power supply from Zalman. They say its silent, very silent, but also deadly.

Check it out at: Blynk

BIOS Optimization Guide Rev. 8.0 Interim Release 1 Posted @ Adrian's Rojak Pot
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, August 27, 2003 at 8:59 PM EST

Here is a partial list of new or updated BIOS options :-

     - AGP Always Compensate
     - AGP Aperture Size
     - AGP ISA Aliasing
     - Athlon 4 SSED Instruction
     - Auto Detect DIMM/PCI Clk
     - Auto Turn Off PCI Clock Pin
     - Byte Merge
     - Clock Throttle
     - Compatible FPU OPCODE
     - CPU Fast String
     - CPU Hyper-Threading
     - CPU Thermal-Throttling

Quote - "Ever peeked into the BIOS and got your brains scrambled with all the mumbo-jumbo? Maybe it's time to check out the most comprehensive guide on BIOS options!"

Check it out at: Adrian's Rojak Pot

ATI Radeon 9100 IGP 'RS300' Chipset Preview @ pcstats
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, August 27, 2003 at 8:55 PM EST

ATI is a multi-faceted company with its hands in several different markets. But most recently, ATI has involved itself with core logic design. That is, ATI now offers chipsets to compliment both Intel's Pentium 4 and AMD's Athlon XP processors. While its first generation was somewhat uninspiring, the new 'RS300' Radeon 9100 IGP promises to offer something more - at least to prospective Pentium 4 owners. After recently extending its cross licensing agreement with Intel though, the 9100 IGP has acquired an important capability necessary to compete with Intel's own 865G integrated chipset. Mainly, the 9100 IGP now supports the full range of Pentium 4 processors, from the low-end 400MHz parts to the pricier 800MHz variants.

Check it out at: pcstats

Corsair 1GB Twin X XMS4000 Memory Review @ OcPrices
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, August 27, 2003 at 8:52 PM EST

"DDR500 is the latest standard of memory from Corsair, and today we take a look at the 1GB kit of their TwinX XMS4000 matched pair memory, designed for 1:1 use in an overclocked intel system."

Check it out at: OcPrices

Beginners Guides: Assembling Your Own PC @ pcstats
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, August 27, 2003 at 8:49 PM EST

"Assembling your own PC is not hard. I just want to clear that up from the start, since I'm often surprised when somebody praises me for my computer 'expertise' because I can, for example, install memory in their systems. Installing memory is an exercise roughly comparable in difficulty to cleaning the lint out of a dryer and putting the filter back in the right way. Modern computer systems are designed to be easy to fit together, and they are. The majority of components are keyed so they will only fit a certain way, for one thing, and everything is standardized. This is not to say that it is foolproof, but perhaps fool resistant would be true. The thing is, the majority of non-techie people that I know have this almost superstitious awe of computers which requires them to make pilgrimages to the local computer store every time they want something added, upgraded, or replaced in their machine. I have to admit that charging $65 for the 10 minutes of labour required (computer must be left for service overnight of course) is somewhat thrilling.... though really not necessary if you know a few basic things about what lies under the hood so to speak."

Check it out at: pcstats

Silverstonetek HTPC Case SST-LC01 @ ASE Labs
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, August 27, 2003 at 8:47 PM EST

" HTPC cases are pretty new in the field. It wasn't too long ago that a PC was a PC and nothing more. This notion of digital convergence is something that Microsoft, Apple and others try to push on to people to get them to buy more computers. With the advent of Windows XP, specifically Media Center Edition, the PC is on the way to replace every set top box you own. Say goodbye to standalone DVD, CD, PVRs and more. The all in one HTPC is here. "

Check it out at: ASE Labs

Virus removal guide at RipNet-UK
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, August 27, 2003 at 8:45 PM EST

In the mood to do something public-spirited? If so, RipNet-UK has just posted a brief guide to removing the Lovesan virus from your PC. Bearing in mind the current proliferation of viruses this guide contains some very useful info!

Check it out at: RipNet-UK

Netgear 54Mbps Wireless PC Card @ Bytesector
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, August 27, 2003 at 8:43 PM EST

Netgear has been actively expanding their support for wireless networking in their long line of networking products. The WG511 Wireless PC Card network card is one more example of how they feel users should have the best possible experience while using a wireless network. The WG511 supports the 802.11g wireless standard and, although not the fastest available on the consumer market, it is definitely a much needed step up from the 802.11b wireless standard. With the claim that this card is “up to 5X FASTER that 802.11b-only products” I felt confident that this card is going to surprise me.

Check it out at: Bytesector

Abit IC7-G Max II Advance Canterwood Motherboard Review @ Tweaknews
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, August 27, 2003 at 8:41 PM EST

"I can sum up this product in one quote, "Problem-free overclocker.". The IC7-G has been nothing but an absolute delight to use, tweak and overclock. With performance numbers that rank up in the top of the class, the IC7-G contains a solution for every other problem I have faced on other manufacturer's canterwoods."

Check it out at: Tweaknews

GeIL Golden Dragon PC3700 DDR RAM Review @ Extreme Overclocking
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, August 27, 2003 at 8:37 PM EST

GeIL has been around in the US for almost a year now supplying some of the fastest memory in the market. As new chipsets come out the company always seems to produce even faster memory before most of the other manufacturers do. In the past we have had great luck overclocking memory from GeIL. The modules have generally held up well under high voltages and extreme speeds. For awhile, they produced some of the fastest memory we have ever tested.

Check it out at: Extreme Overclocking

AMS e-Cube EG65 SFF review @ OCAddiction
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, August 27, 2003 at 8:35 PM EST

AMS busts out with their latest SFF sporting the Intel Springdale chipset. Can the e-Cube follow in the footsteps of the excellent AMS gBOX Blue and bring even more innovation to the table? Let's see what OCA said.

"What benchmarks can't show is the "feel" of the machine.  This e-cube "felt" like a full size PC with all of the horsepower and functionability you can ask for.  Even it's on board graphics solution was better than I expected.  Certainly if you are a gamer you'll want to add your own card to the AGP slot, but for everyday email checkers and the occasional gamer kinda guy, the Intel Extreme Graphics 2 delivers more than we can rightly ask for from an on board graphics solution."

Check it out at: OCAddiction

ABIT FX5900 Siluro OTES Review @ Hardware-Test
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, August 27, 2003 at 8:33 PM EST

I have the honour of taking a few rounds with the new and exciting FX5900 card from ABIT, besides sporting the FX5900 this card also has the new exciting OTES cooling system which shouldn’t make more than 25 db of noise.

Check it out at: Hardware-Test

Soltek SL-75FRN2-L mainboard Review @ Hardware-Test
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, August 27, 2003 at 8:31 PM EST

Soltek is one of the larger hardware manufacturers, and even though they have both graphic cards and barebone PC´s in their portfolio, the are usually assosciated with motherboards. Although Soltek is a manufacturer aiming at the low-budget market, they are respected for not leaning back on quality. Soltek does make the same as everybody else on the market – they just do it cheaper!

Check it out at: Hardware-Test

Chieftec BX Series Case Review @ VH
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, August 27, 2003 at 8:29 PM EST

"Chieftec needs no introduction when in comes to cases. They've been making cases since 1990 and have been one of the leaders in the market. Their cases are known for their build and quality and have been used by numerous vendors for their own PC line. They are also well known amongst the PC enthusiasts, especially the case modding crowd, with the Scorpio, Dragon and Matrix Series of cases. With the popularity of their case lines, it's no surprise that you sometimes see "Clones" or "Copycats" that looks the same as their cases. Anyway, it's been a while since Chieftec released a new version and they did just that a few months ago. I've been looking at it trying to see the kind of improvements they did to the previous series and now it has landed in Singapore and VH got first dibs on it! :O)"

Check it out at: Virtual-Hideout

Chaintech 7NJS Ultra Zenith Review @ GruntvillE
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, August 27, 2003 at 8:24 PM EST

GruntvillE has posted its first motherboard review. Chaintech sent us out their top-o-the-line AMD board and we put it to the tests. Here's a quote:

"The first thing you notice when the board arrives is the sheer size of the box. It's HUGE! I don't mean, "That's a big box" huge, I mean "Crap, I hope I ordered just one!" huge. What on earth would they need all that room for? Well, they've actually stuffed the box with more goodies than a decent Halloween haul. We're talking rounded cables, remotes, screwdrivers, card readers, optic cables, faceplates. everything! It's like an early Christmas when you open this thing; alright enough with the holiday references. My point is Chaintech really does try to provide everything you could possibly need to troubleshoot, monitor and enjoy your new motherboard."

Check it out at: GruntvillE

Morex 3677 Mini-ITX case reviewed @ Ohls-Place
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, August 26, 2003 at 7:44 PM EST

Did you ever look at computer case as a piece of art?  Well I never did either but I can see where the Morex 3677 Mini-ITX case could very easily be considered one by certain people.  Since this is going to be the trusted enclosure we use for Part II of the Nehemiah Project, come on along an look over what we have to play with.

Check it out at: Ohls-Place

nVIDIA Reference GeForceFX 5900 Ultra Review @ pcstats
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, August 26, 2003 at 7:43 PM EST

"For the longest time, manufacturers used nVIDIA's reference because it saved them time with PCB layout. Why money redesigning something that is already works and is already validated? This time around though, it seems like many manufacturers are reworking the stock FX 5900 Ultra's PCB by using the FX5900 non Ultra layout! Please remember that the only difference between the FX 5900 Ultra and non Ultra is a relatively insignificant 50 MHz core speed. Because the GeForceFX 5900 Ultra is extremely complex, nVIDIA took it upon themselves to manufacture all first generation GeForceFX 5900 Ultra videocards. This is why all cards look identical aside from a few stickers. This was done as because one of nVIDIA's teir one manufacturing partners had some serious quality issues with their GeForce 4 line of videocards. When manufacturers are ready and able to take over from nVIDIA, nVIDIA will stop supplying the videocards."

Check it out at: pcstats

Zalman XM-RS6F 5.1 Surround Headphones Review @ HardwareZoom
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, August 26, 2003 at 7:41 PM EST

"The Zalman ZM-RS6F headphones are specifically designed for this purpose - a 5.1 (5 speakers + 1 subwoofer) 6-channel full range theatre system that can be put on your head - for your ears only. Featuring real surround sound field close to a complete multi-channel speaker system, and enhanced spatial and realistic effects, the RS6F has almost every feature of a six-speaker setup, according to Zalman."

Check it out at: HardwareZoom

XViD Ripping Guide @ Short-Media
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, August 26, 2003 at 7:39 PM EST

DiVX tends to produce blocky video at bitrates whereas XViD does not. After all this ragging, you'd think DiVX is the worst thing ever, but it really isn't. DiVX is a quick-and-dirty solution to produce acceptably small downloads with reasonable viewing quality. XViD is a codec designed exactly for what we're doing here: making high quality video in MPEG4 format a reality.

Check it out at: Short-Media

Spire WhisperRock IV Review at 3dXtreme
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, August 26, 2003 at 7:37 PM EST

"Overall the Spire WhisperRock IV performed very well with minimal fuss to install it. The Spire WhisperRock IV would be great to use for a system build requiring a quick and quiet application or to improve cooling performance over a stock AMD cooler..."

Check it out at: 3dXtreme

Albatron GeForce FX 5900PV 128MB @ Beyond3D
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, August 26, 2003 at 7:33 PM EST

"What we can probably surmise from this is that the 45.23 drivers are buggy or are having problems with the DX9 HLSL compiler but their Cg compiler is right on the money in so far as rendering quality/fidelity is concerned in Tomb Raider AOD. From a performance perspective, there are some differences between the two compilers when using the GeForceFX 5900PV + 45.23 drivers but this only applies when Anti-Aliasing is used. Later in this review, this game will be benchmarked using both compilers."

Check it out at: Beyond3D

PowerGlow 420 watt PSU Review @ ExtensionTech
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, August 26, 2003 at 7:32 PM EST

"An important part of any PC is the power supply, or PSU. Stable power is required for all of your devices. Most of the PSUs on the market, whether they are built for power, low noise, etc, have boring black fans in them. This PowerGlow 420 watt PSU has pre-modded LED fans in it. One of them is even temperature controlled to help cut down on some noise. But what do I think of this PSU? Continue on to see..."

Check it out at: ExtensionTech

NetGear 802.11G Wireless Router @ Bytesector
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, August 26, 2003 at 7:27 PM EST

The WGR614 is a wireless router that supports the latest 802.11g wireless technology. Some of its key features are an auto-sensing 10/100 Mbps WAN/LAN connection, true firewall advanced security with SPI (Stateful Packet Inspection) and NAT (Network Address Translation) - a simple, interactive installation, and backwards compatibility with 802.11b for wireless flexibility.

Check it out at: Bytesector

PowerColor 9200SE reviewed @ Ohls-Place
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, August 26, 2003 at 7:25 PM EST

“In the market for video card for a HTPC or one that doesn't need have to cost you one month's rent? Or perhaps a video card that can handle some 3D games but would best be served playing back your new copy of Lord of the Rings II? Then come on along and check out the PowerColor 9200SE, it might surprise you.”

Check it out at: Ohls-Place

OCZ EL DDR PC4000 Gold Dual Channel Kit @ Viper Lair
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, August 26, 2003 at 7:24 PM EST

"This is yet another strong showing on the part of OCZ. The OCZ EL DDR PC4000 Gold Dual Channel Kit certainly ranks right up there as one of the fastest memory kits we've had the opportunity to test. It performs well, overclocks like mad, and has some sweet looking heatspreaders as well."

Check it out at: Viper Lair

asetek WaterChil Water Cooling Kit - Reviewed at HotHardware
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, August 26, 2003 at 7:23 PM EST

Our good buddy and resident "Left Coaster" Chris Angelini, checks in tonight with his experiences and thoughts on asetek's (yes they are fancy and don't capitalize their name) spiffy new WaterChill Water Cooling Kit.  He's took a mid range P4 to new heights and lived to tell about it.  Well OK, so he almost lost a limb in the process but hey, for you folks we go the distance!

Check it out at: HotHardware

160.0GB Samsung SP1614N HDD Review @ MBReview
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, August 26, 2003 at 7:21 PM EST

Today MBReview has taken a walk away from the world of motherboards to bring you a review of the latest line of Samsung hard drives, the SP1614N. This drive is capable of offering some nice performance, especially when you take into consideration the pricing of the unit. Did we mention that it's also incredibly quiet, sporting fluid bearing motor technology, among many other noise reducing features? If you're in the market for a new hard drive that won't break the bank, but still offers some nice performance, you'll want to take a look at this review!

"The Samsung SP1614N has impressed me with the performance we have seen today. In the past, we've seen only mediocre performance coming out of Samsung's hard drive products, but if the SP1614N is any indication as to the direction Samsung is headed in, we could be seeing some impressive products coming in the near future and beyond. The best part about this is that, although there will likely be faster products on the market, the budget user will still be able to get the performance they want without having to worry about shelling out a large amount of money."

Check it out at: MBReview

Vantec Nexus NXP-301 & Spectrum CCFLs Review @ Envy News
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, August 25, 2003 at 5:32 PM EST

Essentially a 5.25-inch rheobus fan controller bay in silver with green backlit knobs, with a CCFL brightness controller and acoustic audio controller... A quote from the review:

"Vantec is a name which is becoming synonymous with Rheobus fan controller and fan products. We have all seen a barrage of Vantec product reviews including here on Envy News, and today we present you with one of their crown jewels - the NXP-301. This 5.25-inch bay product is more than just a fan controller. It also includes a sound-control component for the two bundled cold-cathode florescent lamps (CCFL), allowing you to control fan speeds, CCFL brightness, and CCFL audio-response. Also included in this review are Vantec's Spectrum Cold cathode lamp kits."

Check it out at: Envy News

Vantec Nexus NXP-205-SL Review @ Envy News
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, August 25, 2003 at 5:30 PM EST

Essentially a 3.5-inch rheobus in silver with blue backlit knobs... A quote from the review:

"Tired of the screaming of fans in your case, but you do not have any spare 5.25-inch bays free for a rheobus fan controller? Vantec introduces the Nexus NXP-205 - available in silver or black - which slides into a 3.5-inch case bay and performs the duty of a 5.25-inch just as well if not better. With their trademark blue dial glow, the NXP-205 can even handle their ultra-loud and power-eating Vantec Tornado fan which most of the larger controllers can not even touch!"

Check it out at: Envy News

Antec LANBoy @ Nexus Hardware
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, August 25, 2003 at 5:28 PM EST

“Antec has been catering to the enthusiast for a long time. Many of their products have been a huge hit, including their “True” series of power supplies (True Control included), and their SX1040B case is likely the most widely replicated case anywhere. Today we have an Antec case that caters to an entirely different genre of computer enthusiasts: LAN-goers. To fit this sect of computer enthusiasts, Antec has created the LANBoy aluminum case.”

Check it out at: Nexus Hardware

The Audiophile's Cornucopia Part II @ lostcircuits
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, August 25, 2003 at 5:26 PM EST

A short while ago we compared the AOpen AX4GE Tube with the Terratec Aureon 5.1 Sky, looking at the various issues of advanced audio performance that anybody foraying into this area should be concerned with. That is, we rather focused on recording capabilities and positional effects in both gaming and DVD playback. Needless to say that we did not neglect the actual sound quality either.

In part 2 of this Audiophile Cornucopia, we round up another few of the current high end sound solutions, that is the Terratec Aureon 7.1 Space, the Hercules GameTheater XP along with the Creative Labs Audigy 2 and compare it to the most advanced on-board audio solution featuring nVidia's MCP-T with its integrated Audio Processing Unit to bring Digital Dolby to the table. Each of the contenders has its own fortés, each has its weaknesses and once again, the potential user needs to do his or her homework first to find where the needs and the preferences are. Those need to be balanced against the price point as well.

Check it out at: lostcircuits

Reconfigurable Computing - The Future Of Computing @ Adrian's Rojak Pot
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, August 25, 2003 at 5:24 PM EST

"Imagine a processor that dynamically adapts itself to changing requirements. Such a processor would be able to reconfigure itself into a DSP or GPU as and when such functions are needed. Imagine the implications! This is what one of our new writers, David Du will be touching on in his exciting debut article called Reconfigurable Computing - The Future Of Computing!"

Check it out at: Adrian's Rojak Pot

Soltek SL-KT600-R reviewed @ Ohls-Place
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, August 25, 2003 at 5:20 PM EST

Today we are going to take a look at Soltek's offering to the budget minded computer user that wants to have a motherboard that can support the latest AMD processors, offers 400 MHz FSB and is able to handle SATA/RAID.  So come on along as we check out the Soltek SL-KT600-R.

Check it out at: Ohls-Place

Minolta Dimage F300 Digital still camera @ Bytesector
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, August 25, 2003 at 5:19 PM EST

We all need a camera for home, office, or travel use. Thanks to the innovations of digital still cameras we can now easily take pictures and modify them to our imagination’s concept. After using Minolta digital still cameras, we can proudly say that these cameras are superb in quality and results. If they lack anything at all, it is their speed and battery life. In this review we will thoroughly examine the F300 camera and draw a comparison between the F300 and F200 models.

Check it out at: Bytesector

Chenming 301KE Mid Tower Computer Case Review @ Tech-Dreams
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, August 25, 2003 at 5:18 PM EST

I don't have to tell you that a case is important, by now everyone who cares enough about computers to read this article already knows that. Nonetheless, not everyone who cares enough to read about cases knows what they are looking for, or how to identify if a case is good for them. What users need to be checking out is what they are going to be using the computer that will be in the case for. Gamers who LAN a lot will want something that's sturdy, light enough to move easily, and will cool well enough to keep their high performance equipment running smoothly. People who need a lot of storage, or don't need portability, need a case that can protect their equipment and keep it cool.

Check it out at: Tech-Dreams

Tyan Tachyon G9600Pro review @ OCAddiction
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, August 25, 2003 at 5:16 PM EST

OCAddiction takes a look at the Tachyon G9600Pro video card by Tyan. ATi's top end and mid-range cards continue to impress but we're curious to see if Tyan can continue their recent tradition of high quality video cards. Lets' see what OCA says about the Tachyon G9600Pro.

"The most interesting software included here is by far the Tyan Graphics Monitor. A tweakers dream, the Graphics Monitor let's you monitor your VPU temperature as well as adjust the fan speed RPM's manually, or initiate automatic temperature control. A very nice feature for a mid-range video card and easily one of the features of the G9600Pro that set this card a notch above the rest."

Check it out at: OCAddiction

XTrac Zoom Mouse Pad Review @ Extreme Overclocking
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, August 25, 2003 at 5:14 PM EST

Mousing surfaces can be a big deal to the extreme gamer, especially in first person games where accuracy and precision is important. There are many types of mouse pads out there. Some are made of plastic, aluminum, and even glass. There are many different aspects that make a mouse pad good besides controlling the mouse. Durability, size, and maintenance are all factors that should be taken into consideration when buying a pad.

Check it out at: Extreme Overclocking

Cooler Master Cool Drive 3 @ GruntvillE
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, August 25, 2003 at 5:13 PM EST

If you're looking for a way to cool those drives and add a little pizzazz to your 5.25" dive bays or just looking to gain some room for that pump by removing the 3.5" bays, Cooler Master has a nice option. Here's a quote:

"The CoolDrive 3 is an attractive unit. The top of the unit has CoolDrive 3 written across it. The CoolDrive 3's casing is aluminum with edges that are similar to the grooves of a heatsink. Most users will install the CoolDrive 3 and never see the top of the unit again. I think it would look really great to have a PC case with a window mod where the CoolDrive 3 would be visible in the top bay."

Check it out at: GruntvillE

Chaintech GeForce FX 5600 Ultra Review @ Overclocker Café
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, August 25, 2003 at 5:11 PM EST

The Overclocker Café has posted up their review of the Chaintech FX-71 GeForce FX 5600 Ultra VGA card.  The FX-71 is anything but another 5600 Ultra clone.  With its gold shroud that serves as an air channel to its blue LEDs on the card itself.  We won’t even tell you what the second one does that surprised us.  Here’s a snip of the review.

The first one we notice is the big honkin' GPU sink. It looks like a passive heatsink, but in fact is not. This is part of Chaintech Gas-Turbine cooling system. Looking in front of the sink, we see a fan with a clear plastic shroud around it. The fan is designed to blow air across the sink and through the grooves to help push the heat away from the GPU.

Check it out at: Overclocker Café

Chaintech Apogee A-FX71 Geforce FX5600 Ultra Ver2 Review @ MonkeyReview
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, August 25, 2003 at 5:09 PM EST

The results are enough to speak for themselves. I'm impressed with the overall performance and look of the Chaintech A-FX71 FX5600 Ultra v2. There is little doubt in my mind that the A-FX71 would look stellar in almost any environment that would allow it to be shown off. As mentioned at the start of this review, the card is a little more expensive than many of the budget cards available. The upshot is that you're getting a fair amount for your money; a lucrative bundle combined with a high performing and good looking card.

Check it out at: MonkeyReview

SteelPad 4S - Gaming Mousepad @ KEPTech
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, August 25, 2003 at 5:07 PM EST

The gaming community is growing at a very fast pace. In the case of online gaming, there is competition - very strong competition. With online First Person Shooter games, all the players want the best rig to run their game smoothly; the best sound system to strategically locate the enemies, and the best mouse to quickly and accurately target them. If you have ever played any first person shooter games, you'll know that the mouse is almost as important as the computer.

As the gaming community grows, more and more gamers demand better accuracy with their pointing devices. The general trend was going from ball mice to optical mice; however, some were starting to take the demand of accuracy from their mouse pads.

Check it out at: KEPTech

Altec Lansing 5100 5.1 Audio Speaker System @ Computer Critics
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, August 24, 2003 at 10:12 PM EST

Computers are fast becoming the average home's media center and consumers are demanding better quality sound. Our critics put Altec Lansing's 5.1 Stereo System to the test.  Does it sound as good as it looks?

Check it out at: Computer Critics

Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 SATA in RAID setup @ MetkuMods
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, August 24, 2003 at 6:43 PM EST

"It is surprise how little hard disk performance has been growing on last few years, although hard disk capacity has been increasing at very rapid speed. On last autumn Serial ATA was introduced and today it is replacing old and slow Parallel ATA. Little by little Serial ATA controllers has been found their ways to new motherboards and I suppose it is good time to check how Serial ATA is working and how well these new Serial ATA hard drives perform."

Check it out at: MetkuMods

Enermax 3.5" Bay Device @ Modasylum
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, August 24, 2003 at 6:39 PM EST

"I have here in front of me today one of Enermax's newer fan controllers out on the market, and one that had me drooling over it since it came out. The new Enermax fan controllers have all the features you want and need. Not only do they control the speed of your fans through voltage adjustments, but you also get rpm readouts -and- temperature readouts for each channel!"

Check it out at: Modasylum

Cremax Icy Dock MB911-APGF and MB912-AP Mobile Hard Drive Racks Review @ Tech-Dreams
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, August 24, 2003 at 6:38 PM EST

When my hard drive in my rack-mounted router wouldn't allow me to update the OS on it properly, I ended up having to replace it. Believe me, I was much happier to merely take the hard drive out in the rack, instead of having to pull the entire case out of my rack to replace it. While having a 100mbit network is nice, but if you need to transfer 20gigs worth of little files, then having both of the hard drives in a single computer is unbelievably faster. Having those hard drives in a rack makes changing what computers those hard drives are in unbelievably faster also. If you can get it done and have it look good also, then that's even more perks!

Check it out at: Tech-Dreams

Zalman CNPS7000A-Cu review @ OCModShop
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, August 24, 2003 at 6:36 PM EST

"The heatsink itself is huge, about the size of a CD-ROM in circumference. For tight cases where the PSU is right on top of the mobo the 7000A-Cu may not fit. Also, at 773 grams the 7000A-Cu is well over the maximum limits specified by AMD (300g for XP's, 450g for A64's) and Intel (450g). Take care when moving a computer with this beast installed... The base comes lapped to a mirror polish, but if you run your fingernail across it you can feel the ridges of the many fins compressed together to form the base."

Check it out at: OCModShop

Logitech Cordless Comfort Review @ DiscGamer
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, August 24, 2003 at 6:33 PM EST

"Logitech is by far one of the most highly regarded makers of computing peripherals, including keyboards, mice, game controllers, even speakers, you generally can't go wrong with a Logitech product.  For years I have always had some kind of Logitech product behind what I do, whether it be a keyboard, mouse, or a set of speakers, they've always worked and worked good.  So when the nice folks at Logitech sent along the sleek all black Cordless Comfort Duo, I couldn't wait to pull it out of the box and take it for a spin."

Check it out at: DiscGamer

Coolermaster Aero 7+ CPU cooler Review at 3dXtreme
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, August 24, 2003 at 12:06 AM EST

"The quiet noise level, ease of installation, choice of front or rear fan speed control and the superb performance make this a top notch cooler in my book. If you're in need of a new HSF for that high end AMD gaming rig, with the Coolermaster Aero 7+ you wont be disappointed...."

Check it out at: 3dXtreme

"The WallComp" at Blynk
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, August 24, 2003 at 12:04 AM EST

"For a while I had wanted to do something different. I wanted to make a new type of computer case unlike any I have seen, but I didn't even know what to make it with. I thought of working with fiberglass (car-stereo style), real glass, or even modifying a glass desk. Then I found the Soldam Prism (now Prism II). This one desk/case really inspired me. A few seconds after I laid eyes on it, I was already imagining it sideways on my wall. Of course the $750 price tag to get it to my door quickly eliminated that idea. It was time to take drastic measures... it was time to mod"

Check it out at: Blynk

Interview with Modsynergy @ Ohls-Place
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, August 24, 2003 at 12:02 AM EST

“Well we found another victim... I mean webmaster to interview.  This time we put the questions to Michael at Modsynergy to see what exactly he has to say and where he stands.  Come on along and check it out.”

Check it out at: Ohls-Place

ABIT Siluro FX5900 OTES 128MB Video Card Video Review #341 @ 3dGameMan
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, August 23, 2003 at 11:58 PM EST

"This product is currently one of the fastest Video Cards on the planet. It has excellent 3D quality and performance that will support all the current and upcoming games. With its massive heatsink in accordance with the OTES means this card overclocks very well. Also, 2D quality is great and does offer dual display.  Watch the Video to find out more..."

Check it out at: 3dGameMan

Beginners Guides: Firewalls and Internet Security @ pcstats
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, August 23, 2003 at 11:56 PM EST

"When you use the Internet there are dangers around every corner. Viruses, malicious users, Trojan horses, Oh my! If these are just concepts to you, you are either lucky or well protected (or just un-connected). If these names trigger painful flashbacks to when your computer (and possibly your account balance) was rendered inoperable or compromised by one of the above, then join the club. Either way, securing your computer against threats from the Internet is an essential step. If you do not, you will, at some point, regret it. Guaranteed. This article is intended to provide some basic guidelines for securing your computer, and to give the reader a better understanding of how some of these technologies work. It is intended primarily for users of high-speed Internet connections, but most of the article is applicable to dial-up Internet users also.As far as the home or small business user is concerned, Internet security can be broken down into three areas; Anti-virus software, Firewall protection and Recommended practices/Common sense. To deal with the last of these three first, an essential step in securing your computer or network is understanding what actions can compromise you. What you don't know will hurt you, especially in regards to email."

Check it out at: pcstats

Lite-On 52x32x52x CD-RW Review @ Techware Labs
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, August 23, 2003 at 11:55 PM EST

"With 52x burn speeds, it is not the minor speed differences (a few seconds here, a few seconds there) that matter. What matters is that the quality of the burns stays consistently high when writing at such speeds, and quality is that on which the review will focus - so let's see if the Lite-On 52x32x52 drive is up to scratch!"

Check it out at: Techware Labs

ATI TV Wonder VE Remote Control Edition Review @ Tweaknews
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, August 23, 2003 at 11:53 PM EST

"Having a product that is cheap and so easy to install, the ATI TV Wonder Remote Control Edition is by far a great buy. For ~US$75, you can compliment your videocard with a whole multimedia suite that is simple to use and proven to work flawlessly. As I have said before, once you have TV on your computer, you will never be without it again."

Check it out at: Tweaknews

Seasonic Super Silencer 400W PSU @ OCAddiction
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, August 23, 2003 at 11:51 PM EST

OCAddiction takes a look at the Seasonic Super Silencer 400W PSU. Keeping your case well powered is a high priority, as well as keeping it cool and quiet. The Seasonic might be right up your alley if your looking to keep noise levels to a minimum.

"I opened up the power supply to get a closer look at the heatsinks and coils. All the heatsinks are aluminum which saves on weight. They are not the largest radiating elements I have seen in a power supply but their design provides a lot of surface area for heat dispersion. most of the weight of the power supply comes from the copper wrapped coils and large capacitors. If you look really closely at the exhaust fan you will see the rubber insulators that are supposed to provide some level of noise cancellation."

Check it out at: OCAddiction

Sunbeam Rheobus Review @ GruntvillE
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, August 23, 2003 at 11:39 PM EST

"The unit we received had the Silver, drilled aluminum faceplate and was marked to have Blue and Red LEDs. Upon opening the box I was pleasantly surprised. The unit comes with a detailed manual, mounting screws, template for drilling, product catalog and an assortment of wire adapters. It had (2) 3-pin to 4-pin adapters, (1) 3-pin to 3-pin extension and a Y-splitter. Not everything for everyone but certainly enough to get most off to a good start."

Check it out at: GruntvillE

Warcraft III : Frozen Throne Review @ Adrian's Rojak Pot
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, August 23, 2003 at 11:36 PM EST

"After almost a year of waiting, the much-anticipated Warcraft III expansion pack is finally here. Gamers, behold Warcraft III : Frozen Throne!

Check it out at: Adrian's Rojak Pot

OCZ EL DDR PC3700 Premier Dual Channel @ Viper Lair
posted by Babylon5 on Friday, August 22, 2003 at 4:51 PM EST

"As we approached the higher speeds, we had a booting issue, and we've had to increase the memory voltage up to a big 2.9 to maintain stability. At 3-4-8-4, we managed a maximum over clock of 488MHz, but the ram fails the Memtest86 tests. Clocking back down to 16MHz (472 MHz DDR) resolved the problem."

Check it out at: Viper Lair

GeIL PC4000 Platinum Series DDR Memory Review @ pcstats
posted by Babylon5 on Friday, August 22, 2003 at 4:43 PM EST

"Under the tin-plated copper heat spreaders we find that Geil use 3.5ns DRAM (GL3LC32G88TG-35, sorry no tech doc can be found) TSOP-II DRAM. The heat spreaders seemed to work pretty well as the memory got quite hot in our Intel test system when we were overclocking. With our AMD test system we plugged the GeIL PC4000 memory into the DIMM slots and encountered problems right from the get go. It seems like the GeIL PC4000 Platinum Series memory did not like the aggressive settings we were using (2-2-2-5) and would lock up while booting WindowsXP - even if only running at PC3200 DDR memory speeds. Giving the memory more juice did not seem to help as we up'ed the voltage to 2.9V to try and stabilize the system. Lowering the timings to 2-3-3-6 solved all the problems so for this review we ran the memory at 2-3-3-6 instead of our usual 2-2-2-5."

Check it out at: pcstats

Beginners Guides: Hard Drive Data Recovery Article @ pcstats
posted by Babylon5 on Friday, August 22, 2003 at 4:41 PM EST

If you've been using computers for a decent amount of time there is a good chance someone has told you that data stored on a hard drive is not exactly safe. I'm here to assure you that this is indeed true. Never mind the fact that unlike tapes or CDs or other methods of storage, hard drives are mechanical, active devices and are thus subject to comparatively rapid breakdown. No, the real threat to hard drives are the people that use them, by which I mean you and me. Hard drives, being the dynamic storage devices that they are, are extremely easy to erase in any number of amusing and simple to achieve ways...Working as a computer tech during the glory days of Windows 98, you get rather used to using FDISK and other hard drive utilities to prepare and repair customer's drives, which leads to a certain over confidence. That attitude can lead straight to disaster, sort of like giving a 12 year old boy the keys to an ATV."

Check it out at: pcstats

Albatron 5600P Turbo @ Nexus Hardware
posted by Babylon5 on Friday, August 22, 2003 at 4:38 PM EST

"We recently ran Albatrons FX5600EQ through its paces, and were left with a feeling of disappointment. In this review, we will be focusing on the FX5600P Turbo, and seeing how it performs in our battery of tests. Much of the review will be very similar to the previous, as the cards are quite similar. Let’s cover some of the base information first shown in the FX5600EQ review"

Check it out at: Nexus Hardware

Spire CopperStream P4 Cooler Review at 3dXtreme
posted by Babylon5 on Friday, August 22, 2003 at 4:36 PM EST

"Using a single piece copper base with many skived fins creating lots of surface area and a quiet cooler to whisk the heat away. Again, we've seen this design many times before in the AMD market usually sporting a 7000 RPM fan that will deafen most people. Spire is able to deliver this similar design to the Intel crowd without the 700 RPM fan...."

Check it out at: 3dXtreme

Cooler Master Wave Master Aluminum Case Review @ OCAddiction
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, August 21, 2003 at 10:01 PM EST

The OCA Crew gets the chance to checkout Cooler Master's latest case, the Wave Master. Not only does Cooler Master make some of the best aluminum cases to be had, their latest model is a bit more price conscious for those of us that simply can't drop 200$+ on a case. Check it out.

"The entire Wave Master case is made of brushed aluminum, including the front bezel. This isn't some cheap, low budget aluminum either. My first impressions could be described in one word. Wow. What we have here today is truly a fine piece of craftsmanship from Cooler Master. The front bezel has a curvy construction, fitting the name Wave Master."

Check it out at: OCAddiction

DVD to DVD±R: step by step article @ Short-Media
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, August 21, 2003 at 9:58 PM EST

This tutorial is focused on getting retail Digital Video Discs to archive on DVD±R media. Within the tutorial, the necessary instructions, pictures, and programs will be written, posted, and linked to successfully make replicas of your purchased DVDs.

Check it out at: Short-Media

Interview with PirateSoftware @ Ohls-Place
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, August 21, 2003 at 9:56 PM EST

“Aye Matie, today we're going to interview those scoundrels at PirateSoftware to see if they have any good booty to share.”

Check it out at: Ohls-Place

Asus V9950 Ultra Videocard Review @ pcstats
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, August 21, 2003 at 9:54 PM EST

"Asus have been the market leader in just about every facet for as long as I can remember. And while it's true that their manufacturing quality was better than most a few years ago, the same really can't be said now as all teir one manufacturers have outstanding quality. Still the legendary reputation of Asus' quality lives on today, and whenever someone asks for a suggestion on any given peripheral, Asus' name is often thrown into the hat. nVIDIA released the NV35 a.k.a. GeForceFX 5900 Ultra a few months later, but Asus didn't jump on the bandwagon as quickly as they had the first time. One can only assume that this change of heart was because Asus didn't want to sell rebranded nVIDIA/Flextronic FX5900 Ultra's like the rest. A growing trend we've seen in the last little while are that manufacturers are bundling better software with their videocards. While the software bundle with the Asus V9950 Ultra is not as impressive as the one with the MSI nBox FX5900 Ultra, it's still pretty good. Let's take a look at the beauty..."

Check it out at: pcstats

RAIDMAX 400Watt PSU Review @ GruntvillE
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, August 21, 2003 at 9:50 PM EST

"Now being the Gung-Ho kind of guy I am I just plugged everything I had in the case into the PSU with no regard as to exactly how much currant was being drawn by all my equipment. The list of stuff I initially plugged in was 2 40 Gig HD's with SATA Adapters, 1 200 Gig HD, 3 optical drives, a Vantec tornado, an SVC quad UV LED fan, an 8000rpm Delta 60mm, the L.I.S. and a set of Green CCFL's not to mention the Multitude of USB devices that I use. So after hooking everything in the case up, I switched it on and everything seemed to be fine at first but then I tried opening up a simple chat Program and my Comp froze requiring a hard boot. This happened 3 times before I finely decided I might be pushing the PSU a little too hard. So I disconnected the Tornado and set my Processor to stock settings and voltages and turned off the CCFL's and rebooted. Everything started working fine. Whew I thought something was seriously wrong come to find out my computer just plain sucks a lot of Juice."

Check it out at: GruntvillE

Palit Daytona Geforce FX5200 Ultra Videocard Review @ Tweaknews
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, August 21, 2003 at 9:48 PM EST

"For a lower end model, this card was actually a little fun to review. It performed reasonably well as long as you left it at 1024x768 with no antialiasing, and gave a FX5600 a good run for it's money. Add in the fact that the card overclocks extremely well and is packed with fast memory and you have yourself a budget hidden gem for the mainstream market."

Check it out at: Tweaknews

Chaintech FX71 5600 Ultra Video Card (Review) @ ipKonfig
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, August 21, 2003 at 9:45 PM EST

Chaintech has greatly shown what consumers demand by providing more than enough with bundled software and accessories in some of their latest products. Now, they offer a bit more, like their latest Gas Turbine technology cooling system found on the GeForce FX71 5600 Ultra video card, which cools the GPU 30% more than most video cards currently on the market. With that said, let's see how it performs against the Radeon 9800 Pro, a top leader in performance.

NVIDIA's GeForce FX chipset has been, for the most part, well accepted in the gaming community, a fine achievement on NVIDIA's part. Its latest graphics processor introduces newer features for better game play. Using 0.13u process technology, the FX chipset provides significant speed increases. . . . This card in particular is very attractive, in part due to Chaintech's designers. You'll find that most of its products exhibit very nice cosmetic designs. The Chaintech FX71 5600 Ultra video card has a functional purpose behind its sexy looks, too. The enclosed design was designed to produce better cooling for today's demanding graphic processors. By using Gas Turbine Technology (GT), it can average around 10-15°C better cooling than other standard methods. The Gas Turbine technology works in the same way, for the most part, as an airplane engine.

Check it out at: ipKonfig

ZyXEL ZyAIR B-1000 Wireless Access Point Review @ OnePC
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, August 21, 2003 at 9:42 PM EST

It's no secret that wireless networking is incredibly popular these days. While the 802.11a and 802.11g specifications offer greater wireless bandwidth than ever before, 802.11b remains the dominant technology due to widespread compatibility and low prices. Nearly every networking equipment manufacturer has at least one wireless network solution in their product line-up, and in many cases they have multiple products spanning a large range of functionality. In the case of ZyXEL’s ZyAIR B-1000 802.11b wireless access point, the small business, SOHO, and home segments are the ones being targeted.

Check it out at: OnePC

Silicon or Succotash, Memory Conflicts among three 875/865 motherboards @ Madshrimps
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, August 21, 2003 at 9:22 PM EST

Liquid3D has written an extensive editorial on the memory conflicts that keep haunting the Overclockers using motherboards with an I875 or I865 chipset!

Quote:"Claims have been made, Q&C tests performed on initial batches of 875 silicon (NB-MCH) where the NB silicon failed so many criteria, and a budget version had to be released. Intel, in an effort to save thousands of pieces from the dumpster, announced Canterwood's younger brother, Springdale. Has Intel taken sub-par silicon, and made Succotash?"

Check it out at: Madshrimps

Palit Daytona GeForceFX 5200 Ultra review @ OCModShop
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, August 21, 2003 at 9:20 PM EST

"This being my first experience with a GeForceFX video card I am pretty impressed. I was not expecting to be blown away by a GeForceFX 5200 Ultra and I was not. This is a really good low end/budget video card which can still perform up there with a GeForce 4 Ti4200. I really like the purple PCB and the fact that the card has S-Video and a DVI connection which can be absent in a lot of budget cards. I would have liked to see a better software bundle and some more accessories provided with the card but that would have raised the price of the card."

Check it out at: OCModShop

Corsair "Ramguy" Presentation, August 2003 @ OcPrices
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, August 20, 2003 at 8:56 PM EST

"Today I was given the happy privilege of attending Corsair Micro's 2003 seminar, an informal chat and discussion between members of the UK press and Corsair's sales personnel and engineers. Such chats always yield some interesting nuggets of information and this one was no exception."

Check it out at: OcPrices

ASUS Pundit Review @ lostcircuits
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, August 20, 2003 at 8:54 PM EST

The currently hottest market segment in personal computing is the small form factor genre. Everybody and their brother appear to run and try to get a slice of Shuttle's XPC pie, albeit with little market presentation so far. ASUS is using a different approach, instead of imitating the chubby little cubes, elegance prevails as the most dominant exterior factor of the Pundit.

Inside the Pundit lurks a somewhat outdated technology in form of the SIS 651 memory and graphics controller in conjunction with the SIS962 South Bridge, a chipset that has been introduced almost two years ago. Performance, though, is not necessarily the biggest selling factor of a book-size SFF, entertainment centers often live and die by the simplicity of installation and AV quality.

Does the Pundit have the wisdom of its namesake to fit into this role? We took it apart, put it back together and captured a few pictures on the way, which, however, are only part of the grand scheme of things. Read on ...

Check it out at: lostcircuits

NVIDIA GeForce FX 5600 Ultra (Rev 2) Preview @ Beyond3D
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, August 20, 2003 at 8:52 PM EST

"As stated earlier, the chip packing has moved from wire bonding to flip chip. So what's the big deal? Wire bonding is exactly as it sounds - the die connections to the board interconnections (pins or "balls") on the bottom of the packaging are tiny little wires. Although this process is generally cheaper than flip chip, there are issues with it. Firstly, if the chip is going to have many I/O signals, it is going to need a lot of interconnects. This means that the wires will have to be narrower in order to pack more in, reducing their strength and increasing their resistance."

Check it out at: Beyond3D

Epox 4PDA2+ V2.0 Review - EXCLUSIVE @ OcPrices
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, August 20, 2003 at 8:50 PM EST

"The brand new second revision of the Epox 4PDA2+ is not an example of a necessary update for stability (like the NF7-S V2.0). There was nothing necessarily wrong with the original 4PDA2+; its only real fault was that there just wasn't enough to distinguish the board from its growing list of competitors. That, and the fact that it followed the 1.6V Vcore rule. I would expect a 1.6V cap from many board makers, but I was really surprised that Epox, a company that had built its reputation on psychotic voltage adjustments, would buckle to the 1.6V limitation. That's where the V2.0 board comes in. The new 4PDA2+ has more Vcore, more features (including a few industry firsts), and more traditional Epox muscle. Competitors beware, Epox has gotten serious, and the gloves are definitely off."

Check it out at: OcPrices

Athenatech A747 Series (A747SS.300) Case Review @ XtReMoDs
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, August 20, 2003 at 8:48 PM EST

"  Once again Athenatech has supplied us with a case to review, this time it is there Silver A747 Series Case. This case sets itself aside from many others with offering some new features that I know I have not seen before and most likely you have not either, but I am not about to just tell you, you have to read the review to find out…   "

Check it out at: XtReMoDs

ABIT Siluro FX5900 OTES Review at OCAddiction
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, August 20, 2003 at 8:47 PM EST

"The top of the video card chain currently ends with the FX5900 which is what we're reviewing for you today. Based on the nVidia FX 5900 chipset this card is being touted as one to have when Doom3 and Half Life 2 hits the shelves.  We plan to put that claim to the test by stacking this card against an ATI Radeon 9800 Pro to see if it can hang."

Check it out at: OCAddiction

Interview with Enscape.net @ Ohls-Place
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, August 20, 2003 at 8:43 PM EST

“Enscape.net may be a new site for some of you, but for those of you that have been around longer than you care to admit, the name Blargged-Hardware should ring a bell, well they one in the same. So take a second and find out why the name "Blargged" went by the wayside.”

Check it out at: Ohls-Place

Highpoint RocketHEAD 100 @ Viper Lair
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, August 20, 2003 at 8:03 PM EST

"It could be that you have some drives lying around that you wouldn't mind adding to your system. Perhaps you'd like to have only one channel in use from your IDE headers. Whatever the case, it would be nice if you could have your cake and eat it too, and use those SATA headers without buying SATA drives."

Check it out at: Viper Lair

Samsung LTM405W Tantus 40" LCD Television Review @ pcstats
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, August 20, 2003 at 8:01 PM EST

"Introduced late last year, the Samsung Tantus LTM405W flatscreen television literally blew the scale off the LCD TV industry and laid claim to the title of 'largest screen size' with ease. The aptly named Tantus measures 40" diagonally, making it currently the largest LCD HDTV compatible television on the market. The next closest LCD TV on the market is 37" across... but who really wants to watch a DVD on something that tiny? Backed by years of experience fabricating the LCD panels for computer monitors, Samsung took the challenge of creating a large LCD television head on and produced not only a 40" display which is big enough to compete directly against plasma display's, but one which is superior to plasma on many levels. As we get ready to push the button and light up the ultra-thin 2.2" thick Samsung LTM405W screen, it's worth noting that the display weighs in at a feathery 52lb. The thin and lightweight Tantus LTM405W just screams to be wall mounted, and an optional steel wall bracket is available for just that purpose. Just in case you want to have a massive TV just like Ozzy!"

Check it out at: pcstats

Antec Modular True 550W Power Supply Video Review #339 @ 3dGameMan
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, August 20, 2003 at 7:59 PM EST

"The Antec Modular True 550W Power Supply is one of these products that we wonder how we got along without it. Having power supply cables meshed and modular is a godsend. Not only does it look super cool, it will increase airflow inside the case and cut down on the mess caused by the many PSU cables. Watch the Video to find out more..."

Check it out at: 3dGameMan

Albatron Geforce FX5600EQ @ Nexus Hardware
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, August 20, 2003 at 7:52 PM EST

"The FX series is the product that evolved from the Geforce 4 lineup. The 5600 sports a .13 Micron Process, DirectX 9 support, is powered by both Cine FX and Intellisample technologies, and is based around the NV31 core. "

Check it out at: Nexus Hardware

Albatron Gigi FX5600EQ 256Meg Videocard Review @ Tweaknews
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, August 19, 2003 at 7:40 PM EST

"Overall, the performance of FX5600EQ from Albatron has been a disappointment. With lackluster gaming and benchmarking performance across the board, I wouldn't recommend this card as a feasible purchase for the hefty pricetag of around US$150. Doing a little research around the net will show you that ATI's 9600pro is cheaper, overclocks much better and pretty well out performs any FX5600 on the market today."

Check it out at: Tweaknews

Cooler Master Aerogate 2 reviewed @ MetkuMods
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, August 19, 2003 at 7:38 PM EST

"All I can say is that the controller does what its supposed to do. Fan RPMs are reported back correctly and the voltage range stated on the specs are the same when checked with a multimeter. If you connect all the sensors and fans to the unit, you'll end up having nine wires coming out from the drive bay towards the case center. Managing all these new wires takes some time and skill but when done properly once, you doesn't need to worry about them again."

Check it out at: MetkuMods

SeaSonic Super Silencer 400W PSU Review @ Envy News
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, August 19, 2003 at 7:36 PM EST

In another effort to quiet your PC, SeaSonic - manufacturers of power-supply units since 1975 - produce a 400W PFC unit which offers clean rails and rather silent operation... A quote from the review: "SeaSonic is pretty forthright with its claims when it comes to this power supply. The box, the manual, and even the power supply itself all boast the list of power and anti-noise features that are built-in to the Super Silencer. In my eyes, that much boasting is a big red signal to take a product to task and make sure it lives up to the hype. Did the Super Silencer 400W PSU live up to the hype? Yes, it did - and it impressed me every step of the way."

Check it out at: Envy News

Cooler Master Centurion Casing review @ HardwareZoom
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, August 19, 2003 at 7:30 PM EST

"The high gloss aluminium finishing is not something you will always see on an entry-level casing. The side panel are black in colour which contrasted nicely with the aluminium colour of the front bezel and the paint used for the side panel was very evenly applied and it seems  very durable too. There are four "legs" pre-installed at the bottom of the casing, however they are rather standard. As you can see from the photo, there are 6 screws on the front bezel, they are not normal screws but hex screws."

Check it out at: HardwareZoom

Interview with Viper Lair's Hubert Wong @ Ohls-Place
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, August 18, 2003 at 7:55 PM EST

“We scored a big coup, when we were able to get Hubert Wong from Viper Lair to do an interview with us.  Hubert lays it on the line for us and gives what may be our best interview so far.”

Check it out at: Ohls-Place

Morex Cubid 3688 Mini-ITX Case Review @ BigBruin
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, August 18, 2003 at 7:54 PM EST

"For those looking to house their Mini-ITX system in an ultra-compact, well designed case, the Morex Cubid 3688 is a very attractive choice. The external appearance is clean and uncluttered, and the function does not suffer for the sake of its form. The attention to detail put into the internal layout, as well as the inclusion of items such as the power adaptor, special IDE ribbon, and optical drive adaptor, make installation a snap."

Check it out at: BigBruin

Project Rebirth - Part 1 @ mikhailtech
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, August 18, 2003 at 7:51 PM EST

Today we post part 1 of our Project Rebirth case mod article, beginning with a high quality paint finish and window mod. Here's a quote:

The next step is the cutting of the window, a fairly simply mod in the scheme of things. As you can see, the Antec case handle has been removed. The most difficult part in removing the handle was pushing the tabs on the door back a fraction of an inch in order to allow the handle to slide out. Not having the machinery necessary to flush mount the window with the side of the case, the smallest window molding possible was chosen so that the window could be mounted behind it.

Check it out at: mikhailtech

Toshiba sd-r1312 DVD/CDRW Combo Drive Review @ GideonTech
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, August 18, 2003 at 7:49 PM EST

GideonTech has another optical combo drive up for review today. Clocking in at under $100, it boasts a 32x write, 10x re-write, 40x read and 12x DVD, it's a small case owners dream come true.

Check it out at: GideonTech

X-Super Alien Case Review @ Overclocker Café
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, August 18, 2003 at 7:45 PM EST

The Overclocker Café has the X-Super Alien case up on the bench today. Constructed in what was originally a Chenming style case several notable extras have been added on to make the case really shine.  This least of these extras isn’t the clear UV reactive power supply unit.  Here’s a snip of the review.

One of the coolest parts of the X-SuperAlien is its power supply.  The unit is a 500 watt number that has an emphasis on aesthetics.  The blue anodized aluminum and clear see through base and sides really show off the attention to detail here.  Inside the PSU, the heatsinks are anodized green.  You can also see that the two 80mm fans to keep things cool are blue LED fans like the other ones we've seen in the X-SuperAlien so far.

Check it out at: Overclocker Café

Acousticase from Quiet PC review @ RipNet-UK
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, August 18, 2003 at 7:43 PM EST

Silence is indeed golden. Now that computers are being used increasingly throughout the home people are becoming less and less happy to endure the constant droning emitted by modern high-powered PC's. Consequently a number of innovations have been made to help with noise reduction, probably one of the first to hit the mainstream being variable-speed cooling fans. Now cases are also being produced with peace and quiet featuring highly on their list of design priorities.

Today at RipNet-UK we are pleased to bring you our review of the Acousticase from Quiet PC. Is this case going to be the answer to your headaches?

Check it out at: RipNet-UK

Hercules 3D Prophet 9600 Pro Review - EXCLUSIVE @ OcPrices
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, August 18, 2003 at 7:41 PM EST

"The 3DProphet 9600 Pro is the latest mid-ranged card from the Ferrari of graphics card makers, Hercules. With 128MB DDR memory and a clock speed running at an insane 400Mhz, will the 9600 Pro be able to replace its predocessor as king of the hill in this price bracket?"

Check it out at: OcPrices

Thermal Paste Comparison @ Techware Labs
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, August 18, 2003 at 7:40 PM EST

Techware Labs recently reviewed seven different thermal pastes and tested them under three of the most common setups. Comparisons, results, and overall conclusions are available.  Here is a clip:

"The tested thermal pastes are as follows: Artic Silver 3 Shin Etsu G751, Silicone Paste, Nanotherm Blue II, Nanotherm Silver XTC, Nanotherm PCM+, and Silver Grease. Each of the thermal materials was tested under three different settings: first under the normal use of a heat sink, second with a water system, and third with the use of a peltier/water system."

Check it out at: Techware Labs

Blast Virus Centre w/ KEPTech.NET Blast Remover
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, August 16, 2003 at 11:42 PM EST

We've been busy around here fighting the blackout (so doing nothing but playing with our portable gadgets).  Our New York counterpart however in the dark infected himself with the BLAST virus and came up with a program that will remove it in one quick blow.

The removal program can be found on our main page

Check it out at: KEPTech

Enermax CS-5107 Tower @ Viper Lair
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, August 16, 2003 at 11:36 PM EST

"This case is really great for all users. It provides the good performance and looks that the enthusiast is looking for as well as the average user as it is competitively priced. The exclusion of some features such as thumbscrews was a bit of a downer, but the inclusion of features like the removable motherboard tray and it’s stunningly good looks made up for it."

Check it out at: Viper Lair

Battlefield 1942: Galactic Conquest Mod Review @ OcPrices
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, August 16, 2003 at 11:34 PM EST

"Summer gaming for me has been a bit of a let down. There has been very little released that has caught my eye, and the games I was looking forward to are suffering from countless delays. This issue has forced me, unwillingly of course, to endure sun bathing in my garden and going out to the local pubs instead. Oh, the humanity!

However, all is not lost. I can still spend the remainder of my summer indoors playing computer games after all! You see, as I was desperately searching through websites hunting for any demos or mods I could find I happened to run across one called Galactic Conquest. Galactic Conquest is a free mod for one of my favorite multiplayer games of recent times, Battlefield 1942, but is a total conversion one that is based in the Star Wars universe."

Check it out at: OcPrices

Intel's Internal Chipset Release Schedule Posted @ Adrian's Rojak Pot
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, August 16, 2003 at 11:28 PM EST

"Check out the chipsets that Intel is going to release in the future!

Alderwood, Alviso, Grantsdale, Lakeport. You name it, we got it!"

Check it out at: Adrian's Rojak Pot

Gigabyte SiS648FX P4 Motherboard - @ HotHardware
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, August 16, 2003 at 11:26 PM EST

Rob has served up his impressions for us tonight, of a new SiS648FX Motherboad from Gigabyte.  The SiS648FX Chipset for the Pentium 4, offers support for an 800MHz FSB, AGP8X and Hyperthreading.  However, what it lacks is Dual DDR support.  This board is definitely targeted to the mainstream or value market segment but can it compete with the likes of Springdale?  Go see!

Check it out at: HotHardware

Build a Silent PC: Do's and Don'ts @ BuildSilentPC
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, August 16, 2003 at 11:22 PM EST

Hi guys! Will Smith here, with a brand new article for my site, buildsilentpc.com!

Today I discuss Silent PC techniques and products people should avoid. There are many products out there seemingly geared towards building a silent computer, but not all of them live up to their word, and many may cause more harm than good.

Check it out at: BuildSilentPC

Matrix Orbital MX212 USB Display Review #338@ 3dGameMan
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, August 14, 2003 at 7:07 PM EST

"The Matrix Orbital MX212 USB Display has an overwhelming amount of features. It's USB which means easy installation and available in 5 different LCD and 3 faceplate colors. Also, fans, thermal probes, and more can be directly connected and controlled by this product via included LCDC software. This software is very simple but powerful and truly brings this unit to life. Watch the Video to find out more..."

Check it out at: 3dGameMan

Advance Wars 2 - Black Hole Rising @ Bytesector
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, August 14, 2003 at 7:06 PM EST

Looking almost identical to the original, Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising offers similar gaming experience but with new missions and units to keep those who have completed the original, happy. With the limited changes to the game engine itself, one could basically call this an expansion pack.

Check it out at: Bytesector

Triplex REDai Radeon 9600 PRO Review @ Beyond3D
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, August 14, 2003 at 7:02 PM EST

Launched in March, ATI's spring refresh line has been with us for some months now, and from that line we've started to see some more interesting configurations of the Radeon 9600 PRO. Today we're taking a look at what Triplex have done with the RV350 chip in our review of Triplex's REDai Radeon 9600PRO 128MB.

"Triplex makes much noise of the use of silver PCBs for their Radeon 9600PRO product. They claim that a silver PCB results in less heat and less EMI interference. It is worth noting that Triplex's REDai Radeon 9600PRO has default core and memory frequencies at 420MHz and 680MHz (DDR) respectively, which is above the ATI defaults of 400MHz and 600MHz."

Check it out at: Beyond3D

RANT on shady companies @ overclockercafe
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, August 14, 2003 at 7:01 PM EST

Many of us have run into this type of thing before and I can imagine that your reactions have been similar to mine.  We posted up a disturbing copy of an ICQ chat I had (the marketing individual's name being edited) with a company asking for o