God Bless America.

News Archive: May 2002

May 2002

External USB 2.0 drive enclosure Review @ Extreme Overclocking
posted by BaBylon5 on Friday, May 31, 2002 at 10:26 PM EST

Extreme Overclocking has up a new review, this time it is on an external USB 2.0 drive enclosure. This enclosure can accommodate 3.5" or 5.25" devices, meaning anything from a hard drive to a CD-RW to a DVD drive will work. Lots of good benchmarks were taken to compare internal IDE speeds to USB 2.0 and even USB 1.1.

Check it out at: Extreme Overclocking

XFX GEFORCE4 Ti 4200 64MB Video Card in Video Review #170: @ 3dGameMan
posted by BaBylon5 on Friday, May 31, 2002 at 10:13 PM EST

"The XFX GEFORCE4 Ti 4200 64MB Video Card is the baby of the Geforce4 Ti series cards, however, this baby is affordable, fast and stable! A definite bang-for-the-buck product with 3D gaming goodness that will keep you playing hour after hour." ~3dGameMan.com

Check it out at: 3dGameMan

UFO: Aftermath Screenshots @ hardCOREware GAMES
posted by BaBylon5 on Friday, May 31, 2002 at 10:11 PM EST

While we may not have been able to make it out to E3 this year, we were there in spirit. Virgin Interactive has hooked us up with some of the first screenshots of UFO: Aftermath, the follow-up to the awesome X-COM series!

All but one of the shots are high res, and they all look great. This game is really shaping up; it has a nice dark, post-apocalyptic feel to it.

When you're done with these, you can check out our UFO Aftermath interview from a while back...

Check it out at: hardCOREware

PC2700 DDR RAM @ Cas 2 shoot-out @ OcPrices
posted by BaBylon5 on Friday, May 31, 2002 at 10:07 PM EST

"With the incarnation of 333MHz chipsets from VIA (KT333) and ALi (as seen in the Iwill XP333), as well as a multitude of PC2700 - compatible Pentium 4 boards, a number of memory manufacturers have seen fit to release PC2700, or 333MHz DDR memory. Early revisions were questionable at best, with a number of review sites having to result to high voltage just to hit the rated speed. Now that the standard has been approved by JEDEC, and has had time to mature a little, I figured a round up was now in order."

Check it out at: OcPrices

IBM 1GB Microdrive review @ Envy News
posted by BaBylon5 on Friday, May 31, 2002 at 10:05 PM EST

What’s the fastest Flash memory type available? Is it IBM’s Microdrive, SanDisk’s Ultra, Secure Digital Flash, or another brand we haven’t yet tested? In this comparative review, we pit the 1GB IBM Microdrive against six other brands of Flash memory using real-world tests. Here’s a snip:

“About once a month, we review a large Flash memory module. This time around, we were able to obtain a sample of IBM’s 1GB Microdrive – a Type II CompactFlash card that houses the smallest hard drive. In order to illustrate how the drive rates and performs, we’ve pitted the Microdrive against six other Flash memory modules from various companies.”

Check it out at: Envy News

The $295 extension cord! @ dansdata
posted by BaBylon5 on Friday, May 31, 2002 at 10:00 PM EST

Years ago, I put up a Web page about a gadget called the EMPower Modulator, which is a pretty darn amusing object. It's meant to make you healthier, and make appliances work better, and violate some basic physical laws. And all you have to do is plug it in.

The people that make the Modulator, for some reason, wouldn't let me have one to pull apart. But now, thanks to a kindly reader, I've got one. And I've pulled it apart. And it's pretty funny. Even before I make reference to the theft of penises.

This thing is, so far as any valid technology seems likely to be able to demonstrate, a 1.4 metre extension cord that costs 295 Australian dollars.

Read all about it, and check out the pretty pictures, here:

Check it out at: dansdata

TaiSol CGK760092 Heatsink Review @ Mikhailtech
posted by BaBylon5 on Friday, May 31, 2002 at 11:57 AM EST

Today we take a look at TaiSol's CGK760092, a relatively "old" hybrid heatsink but still a top performer, and a very quiet one at that. Here's a quote:

Still present is the 11-fin low profile Delta fan (non-Black Label screamer type), screwed into an adapter which in turn is attached to a few fins. No chrome grill is present, yet there is a thermal pad pre-applied *sigh*. It's not a very heavy cooler and still has a rough finish. Now, about extrusion and forging. Extruded heatsinks are the most typical ones. This is basically a solid block that's ... well ... extruded (pushed through some kind of opening) to make the desired shape. Alpha, Swiftech, Thermaltake, Coolermaster, etc: all of them use extrusion. This makes the whole thing very shiny and neat looking, something the CGK760092 is definitely not. Why? Because it's forged: liquid aluminum alloy poured into a mold. Very few manufacturers do this sort of thing (I personally don't know one but don't want to say there aren't any) but it does have its advantage: greater density, which results in better heat dissipation.

Check it out at: Mikhailtech

Negative bulk discount! Article @ dansdata
posted by BaBylon5 on Friday, May 31, 2002 at 11:52 AM EST

OptusNet Cable here in Australia have now officially announced their new Internet access plans and pricing, via e-mail to their subscribers. The new prices are (even) higher than was previously reported. They're also peculiar, in that the more expensive plans, which let you download more megabytes per month before throttling your connection, actually cost MORE per un-throttled megabyte. And not just a little bit more. By my calculations, the top two new plans are overpriced by factors of 1.71 and 2.16, respectively. With broadband providers all over the world now re-jigging their pricing schemes, joy like this could be coming soon to an ISP near you. Even if you're on the other side of the world from me.

Check it out at: dansdata

LiUtilities WinTasks Professional 4 Review @ MODTHEBOX
posted by BaBylon5 on Friday, May 31, 2002 at 11:49 AM EST

"The power of this utility is the ability to manage almost any process running on your system. A process is any program running in system memory. The operating system controls when different processes have access to system resources by assigning them priority levels. If two processes want access to the CPU, for example, the process with the higher priority level will run first. With this knowledge, it is possible to configure your system to optimize a given task by increasing the priority of the processes associated with it. As well, if you are developing code, you can monitor your applications and check for memory leaks. Finally, knowing exactly what processes are running on your system will help you to tighten down your security, denying Trojans or stealth viruses from launching themselves."

Check it out at: MODTHEBOX

ThermalTake Geforce4 Ti Copper Cooler review @ OverclockersClub
posted by BaBylon5 on Friday, May 31, 2002 at 11:46 AM EST

"ThermalTake (TT) has a new chipset cooler out, called the GeForce 4 "Highest Performance cooler" and it's designed for the Nvidia Geforce4 Ti series video cards. Along with the cooler, you get memory heatsinks to keep your memory cooler. The TT GeForce 4 "Highest Performance cooler" is suppose to keep your Geforce4 video card cooler than the stock cooling that was found on your card when you bought it. The Geforce4 video cards doesn't come stock with memory heatsinks, or atleast I know that my MSI Geforce 4 ti 4600 card didn't. With that being said, one would think if you did install these memory heatsinks, along with the GeForce 4 "Highest Performance cooler" that we have here, you would be able to overclock your video card more than you could before installing this cooler and memory heatsinks. Do they really help cool and allow you to overclock more, or are they just something pretty to put on your card? Well, read on and we'll see!"

Check it out at: OverclockersClub

Visiontek Xtasy Ti4200 128MB @ GamePC
posted by BaBylon5 on Friday, May 31, 2002 at 11:41 AM EST

Today at GamePC, we've taken a look at one of the first graphics cards to hit the market to utilize nVidia GeForce4 Ti4200 graphics processor, the Visiontek's XTasy Ti4200. Sporting 128MB of memory alongside a very nice looking Blue Orb GPU cooler, Visiontek once again has released a crowd-pleaser. We test this card against other members of the GeForce3 and 4 families, alongside ATI's Radeon 8500 products.

Check it out at: GamePC

Epox 8K3A+ KT333CE Motherboard Review @ pcstats
posted by BaBylon5 on Friday, May 31, 2002 at 11:40 AM EST

"Even though Epox was one of the first mainboard manufacturers to produce a motherboard based on the VIA KT266A chipset the 8KHA+ remains one of the finest boards out there, and one which continues to enjoy a fiercely loyal following. When Epox announced the release of the KT333-based 8K3A+ many wondered if they would be able to reproduce the successes they had enjoyed in the past.
Like the 8KHA+, Epox has set their sights directly on the enthusiast market. To satisfy such demanding markets (after all we want bleeding edge, not cutting edge) Epox included a few features which managed to eclipse the hardware."

Check it out at: pcstats

LaCie 40Gb Pocket Drive review @ Designtechnica
posted by BaBylon5 on Friday, May 31, 2002 at 11:37 AM EST

What do you get when you put both FireWire and USB 2.0 interfaces onto a pocket sized 40 GB hard drive? You get complete compatibility and portability. Forget all of these 5 ½” external hard drives, the LaCie Pocket Drive is one of the best and most versatile portable drives currently available. What separates the LaCie PocketDrive from the rest isn’t the size of the drive, but the inclusion of both FireWire and USB connectors. This was the only drive of this size that we found with both FireWire and USB compatibility.

Check it out at: Designtechnica

Antec SX600 Mid Tower Case Review @ VibrantLogic
posted by BaBylon5 on Friday, May 31, 2002 at 11:34 AM EST

Today we take a look at the Antec SX600. The 600 is a midtower case, cases of this size typically are cramped and don't have good airflow. Let's see if the SX600 breaks out of the midtower mold.

Check it out at: VibrantLogic

Shuttle's SS50 Pentium 4 Mini Bare Bones Cube - Review @ HotHadware
posted by BaBylon5 on Thursday, May 30, 2002 at 11:24 PM EST

Good evening folks!  Our in house Bouncer and "Peace Keeper",  Marco "BigWop" Chiappetta, has unleashes his wit and wisdom upon us with his showcase, benchmarks and opinions on Shuttles new Pentium 4 based Mini Bare Bones System, the SS50!

That's right kids, 2.2GHz of Pentium 4 horsepower packed into an 8"X7"X11" aluminum shoe box! 

Check it out at: HotHadware

Overclockers Nightmare! @ insideproject
posted by BaBylon5 on Thursday, May 30, 2002 at 11:23 PM EST

Capacitors tend to explode or shoot in the air under high temperatures, which requires gloves. Because fire was used with a blow torch, gloves should also be recommended incase of fire coming back on hands. Fumes can be extremely hazardous if inhaled for long periods of times, which means a mask of some sort is recommended. Of course, I found the gas and capacitor parts out the hard way...damn I have a headache off smelling that good ole' burning of silicon and plastic! Also, Handle stuff with something OTHER than your hands. It's a blow torch ya stupid ass...it makes things hot...Don't wanna burn yourself now do ya?

Check it out at: insideproject

Super Flower 201S Aluminum Tower Reviewed @ Hardware Pub
posted by BaBylon5 on Thursday, May 30, 2002 at 11:20 PM EST

"With so many great features that come included with this case it is hard not to like a case like this. With 3 windows, 4 fans, front multimedia and USB ports and tons of thumbscrews this case is priced very well. Although a power supply is not included and would have been nice if it was. This case allows you to access any part of your computer in a breeze and you won't even have to worry about sharp edges."

Check it out at: Hardware Pub

NoiseControl Silverado Heatsink Review @ frostytech
posted by BaBylon5 on Thursday, May 30, 2002 at 11:19 PM EST

"You see, the idea behind the Noisecontrol Silverado is that the silver base spreads the heat more evenly over the aluminum extrusion which is cooled by twin squirrel cage fans. The two fans come with an assortment of different connectors which lower the voltage to the motor, and thus limit their speed. Users looking for a high-performance heatsink will find the Silverado is not quite up to expectations. Users looking for a good performance heatsink with low-noise properties (and lower frequency motor noises) will appreciate the Silverado and what it can do for them."

Check it out at: frostytech

Crucial PC2700 DDR RAM Review @ insideproject
posted by BaBylon5 on Thursday, May 30, 2002 at 11:17 PM EST

"The PC2700 was tested in our AthlonMP 2000+ system with Epox 8K3A+ motherboard. First impressions were great, memory was running 166MHz (333MHz DDR) with all fastest settings possible, including CAS latency of 2. But that's about it using default voltage, I couldn't get clockspeeds over 170MHz any higher would result in crashes."

Check it out at: insideproject

Comparison review of trhe Asus V8460 Ultra Ti4600 @ Active-Hardware
posted by BaBylon5 on Thursday, May 30, 2002 at 11:15 PM EST

The Ti4600 currently stands at the pinnacle of Nvidia's graphics card products, and Asus - a manufacturer long known for its diverse offerings - has always been quick to adopt the latest and greatest technologies to come from that company. As a direct result of this arrangement, we have before us today the Asus V8460, a direct decendant of the Nvidia Ti4600 reference board.

Check it out at: Active-Hardware

ATI Remote Wonder in Video Review #169: @ 3dGameMan
posted by BaBylon5 on Thursday, May 30, 2002 at 11:12 PM EST

"The ATI Remote Wonder breaks new ground being the first retail remote PC controller that makes remotely controlling your PC a snap. One of the best applications for this type of product is for presentation reasons, however, it certainly makes controlling DVD/VCD movies, TV, and even launching programs from your PC very simple." ~3dGameMan.com

Check it out at: 3dGameMan

MSI G4Ti4600-VTD GeForce 4 Ti4600 Review @ pcstats
posted by BaBylon5 on Thursday, May 30, 2002 at 11:10 PM EST

"Based on nVidia's GF4Ti4600 chip we already know that the G4Ti4600-VTD is going to be damn fast, but how does MSI separate itself from the rest? The MSI's claim to fame has always been their value, and for as little as $500 CDN ($325 US) you can pick up a MSI G4Ti4600-VTD and all the GeForce 4 Ti4600 goodness it comes with. As with many other manufacturer's, MSI has chosen to use nVidia's reference design. This doesn't really personalize the card by any degree, but on the same token the design is well used, and undoubtedly well tested. Using this design also saves the manufacturer, MSI, a lot of time and money on R&D development."

Check it out at: pcstats

TRENDnet 4-Port KVM Desktop Switch @ VibrantLogic
posted by BaBylon5 on Thursday, May 30, 2002 at 2:31 PM EST

It has gotten to the point where even the average geek has more than one machine for his own personal use. Having multiple monitors, keyboards, and mice on your desk can leave you extremely cramped. A desktop KVM (Keyboard, Video, and Mouse) switch is the most logical solution to this problem. Check out the TK-400!

Check it out at: VibrantLogic

TritonLabs Afterburner GBA Light Kit @ GideonTech
posted by BaBylon5 on Thursday, May 30, 2002 at 1:20 PM EST

GideonTech.com took a look at a mod for the console hardware side of things. If you ever played on a Gameboy Advanced, you may notice that the LCD is not backlit and is extrememly dark. This Afterburner kit provides an answer by letting you mod a light 'inside' the unit to light up the LCD, a god send to GBA fans.

Check it out at: GideonTech

The DIY UPS! Review @ dansdata
posted by BaBylon5 on Thursday, May 30, 2002 at 1:18 PM EST

It's possible to assemble your own Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS), using a separate battery, charger and inverter. I did it. The result isn't elegant, and it isn't cheap, and it probably isn't something that most people would want. But it's got a few large advantages over normal off-the-shelf one-box computer UPSes.

Check it out at: dansdata

Maxtor D740X-6L ATA133 80GB (fluid) Review @ hardware-test
posted by BaBylon5 on Thursday, May 30, 2002 at 1:15 PM EST

"The results are high once again to no ones big surprise. The graph on the left shows a 10GB NTFS partition. The graph on the right shows a 10GB FAT32 partition.
Just to compare: SiSoft Sandra has an ATA100 drive that scores 24000, whereas this drive scores a xxxxxxx"

Check it out at: hardware-test

Shuttle SS40G review @ PC PowerZone
posted by BaBylon5 on Thursday, May 30, 2002 at 1:12 PM EST

"... we were very keen to get our hands on the AMD-powered version, the SS40G which features a very unique custom heatpipe cooling solution. The SS50 was good but as standard was very noisy and it took a bit of work to get it running quiet with good operating temperatures. So before long, we took delivery of a shiny new SS40G from Shuttle, now titled the XPC mini computer (XPC stands for 'Next Generation PC'). This version has attracted much more interest than the SS50 which is Intel P4 based, the AMD version appealing more to the enthusiast community. The newer SS40G has also had a face-lift too, with much-improved asthetics."

Check it out at: PC PowerZone

LiUtilities' WinTasks 4 Professional Review @ Tech-Dreams
posted by BaBylon5 on Thursday, May 30, 2002 at 1:09 PM EST

"A few weeks ago, I was emailed by Johan Malmberg from LiUtilities in Sweden, and he asked me if I would like to review a new software product release entitled WinTasks 4 Professional. Naturally, I was curious to see what type of software program this was, so I visited LiUtilities website to gather some information. Looking at LiUtilities description of the product, I would say that WinTasks 4 appeared to be a feature-packed Windows 2000's task manager. I agreed to review the product, and, some weeks later, I received it direct from Sweden."

Check it out at: Tech-Dreams

Mini-Flash! CF Reader USB2 @ Envy News
posted by BaBylon5 on Thursday, May 30, 2002 at 1:07 PM EST

“Those of you who own digital cameras are already aware of the fact that you can transfer your photos directly from the memory card inside the camera to your PC. The process, while effective, takes time and wastes battery life. This is why it’s a good idea to purchase a separate device that reads CF cards and will allow you to copy pictures to your PC for editing and sharing.”

Check it out at: Envy News

Data Integrity: Rounded Cables and CD Burning @ iamnotageek
posted by BaBylon5 on Thursday, May 30, 2002 at 1:04 PM EST

Ever wondered about the data integrity of rounded cables and if any data loss is occuring. Steve has looked into this by testing the cables with CD burners.

Check it out at: iamnotageek

Vantec IceBerq Copper Chipset Cooler Review @ ipkonfig
posted by BaBylon5 on Thursday, May 30, 2002 at 1:01 PM EST

In today's market offers and uses many different ideas for cooling small chips, from high-speed GPUs to standard motherboard south bridges. This kit has everything you might need--even style!

Let's just say this is not your ordinary chipset cooling kit….

Not only is the overall appearance very sharp looking, but the quality of workmanship is fantastic. The base is dazzling; I have never seen such a shine in my years of working with every sort of heatsink.

Check it out at: ipkonfig

Xtreme System Cooling Package Review @ MODTHEBOX
posted by BaBylon5 on Wednesday, May 29, 2002 at 10:23 PM EST

"The jewel of the Xtreme Cooling Package is the Card Cooler XT component. This is a newer model of the highly acclaimed Card Cooler which featured two 80mm fans. This Card Cooler XT features two 120mm Sunon fans that are mounted on two 18 mm anodized aluminum brackets. These brackets are to be mounted onto the AGP slot screw and extend all the way down to the the seventh PCI slot. The configurations of the fans are large enough to cover all PCI/AGP slots, CPU, VIA chipset memory and ensures that most of the motherboard and all that are attached to it directly will get some of the air that is pushed by these two fans. With the two fans spinning at 2400 RPM pushing 138 CFM, it should keep the insides nice and cool."

Check it out at: MODTHEBOX

hardCOREware Weekly CPU Pricelist Updated - 05.29.02
posted by BaBylon5 on Wednesday, May 29, 2002 at 10:20 PM EST

This week marks some Pentium 4 price drops that are nothing short of amazing! Everything above 2.2 GHz went down by at LEAST $100. How about a $200 for the 2.53B! WOW!

Also, Crucial's discount coupons are still in effect, so go pick you up some DDR on the cheap!

Check it out at: hardCOREware

Vantec Removable HDD Rack Review @ pcstats
posted by BaBylon5 on Wednesday, May 29, 2002 at 10:18 PM EST

"I've had varrying amounts of luck with removable hard drive racks; some worked, some created bad bits, and others just sat there grinning back at me as I brought down the hammer. I guess you could say it goes like this; cheap hard drive rack work most of the time but break easily, mid-level hard drive racks work well but cost too much for what they do, and brand name hard drive racks just don't exist. Or that was the case until Vantec entered into the market with their EZ-Swap removable (but not hot swapable) IDE hard drive racks.  The frame and caddy system is pretty much identical, but these little guys (MRK103F without the LCD display, and MRK102FD with the LCD) offer a few perks.
The best of which are the LCD display, thermal sensor, and fan alarm. The MRK102FD will set off a rather annoying, and rather loud beep if ever the rear 40mm cooling fan stops, or jams. A small thermal diode at the back of the caddy also takes temperature measurements and displays that information along with a few other things on the back lit green LCD panel."

Check it out at: pcstats

Unitech's Optimus Radeon 8500 128MB - Reviewed @ HotHardware
posted by BaBylon5 on Wednesday, May 29, 2002 at 10:16 PM EST

ATI is more than just a formidable adversary, though.  For every market NVIDIA has chosen to dabble in, ATI has retaliated with a solution of its own – gaming consoles, chipsets, mobile graphics, workstation graphics, and of course, gaming cards.  In an attempt to compete more aggressively with NVIDIA, ATI has begun selling GPU’s to third-party manufacturers responsible for distributing and marketing “Powered by ATI” products. Unitech’s Optimus 8500 eXP Special Edition is the second RADEON 8500 card to land in our labs from a source other than ATI, and it’s clear that Unitech has done their homework on what it takes to enhance an already beefy graphics board.

Check it out at: HotHardware

PL-P4 Upgrade Solution article @ PowerLeap
posted by BaBylon5 on Wednesday, May 29, 2002 at 10:13 PM EST

PowerLeap Announces Adapter to use the New Intel Celeron and Pentium 4 CPUs in Legacy Pentium 4 systems

Upgrade Socket 423-based P4 to New Intel socket 478 1.8GHz Celeron and beyond

Technology Editors

MILLSTONE NJ (BUSINESS WIRE) - May 29, 2002 - Today PowerLeap is pleased to announce the release of the PL-P4 upgrade solution for existing socket 423 Pentium 4 systems to use Intel's latest 1.8GHz Celeron as well as other socket 478 CPUs (currently up to 2.4GHz).  PowerLeap believes this product to be timely as the supply of 423-pin Pentium 4 CPUs continues to dwindle and important since there are many manufacturers and distributors with socket 423 motherboards still in inventory.

"This product has appeal to system builders and solution providers that have older socket 423 motherboards and systems in stock.  It will also provide options for businesses and consumers with older P4 systems in the coming year," comments Channel Sales Manager, Craig Cheetham.
 
PowerLeap is expected to begin shipping the PL-P4 adapter on June 17 following its official introduction at the Computex show in Taipei, Taiwan (June 3-7).  The retail price will be around $35 (US).  Optional bundling of the adapter with the Celeron 1.8GHz and Pentium 4 2.0GHz are likely. 

Founded in 1996, PowerLeap is the leader in the CPU upgrade industry - supplying approximately 80% of the worldwide market.  PowerLeap products are sold direct to consumers and businesses, as well as through resellers, distributors, and OEM customers in 40 countries under the PowerLeap brand as well as other major brand names.  PowerLeap has a full line of CPU upgrades for 486, Pentium, Pentium II, Celeron, Pentium III, and Pentium 4-based systems - including the popular PL-iP3/T which upgrades PII and PIII slot-1 systems to 1.4GHz.
Intel, Celeron, and Pentium are registered trademarks or trademarks of Intel Corp.

Check it out at: PowerLeap

Crucial DDR 2700 Memory in Video Review #168: @ 3dGameMan
posted by BaBylon5 on Wednesday, May 29, 2002 at 10:09 PM EST

"Crucial's DDR 2700 Memory while very stable at maximum Front Side Bus of 176MHz (352MHz DDR) is not going to win any prices in the extreme overclocking community. However, it does exceed its recommended 166MHz (333MHz DDR) specification and is affordable." ~3dGameMan.com

Check it out at: 3dGameMan

ATI All in Wonder Radeon 8500 128 MB Edition @ pcstats
posted by BaBylon5 on Wednesday, May 29, 2002 at 10:06 PM EST

"A really awesome feature the TV software can do is blend the television feed into the background of the monitor - allowing you to work and watch TV at the same time. This is very handy when you're working and your favorite TV show is on, but to be realistic I couldn't get much work done like this. I had to really try and exercise a little more self control since I found myself more often then not just watching the background rather then working. Another cool feature the AIW video card sports is the "TV Listings option." All you have to do is enter your Postal Code (Zip Code in the US) and it will automatically download the next seven days worth of TV so you can plan your viewing schedule. My god if this card was in my computer when I was in university I never would have gotten out!!"

Check it out at: pcstats

FrozenCPU Blizzard 360 ULTRA QUIET! Case Review @ VH!
posted by BaBylon5 on Wednesday, May 29, 2002 at 10:04 PM EST

"Today I'm gonna be giving you a look at the next installment of the hugely popular "Blizzard" series of cases from Frozencpu.com . This new revision is called the Bliizard 360 "ultra quiet". Now, If you're familiar with the blizzard cases, you may be thinking that "blizzard 360" and "ultra quiet" couldn't possibly be in the same title. I assure you, in this particular case, the name holds true. But don't let the name fool you into thinking that this is a weak performer. It's only quiet if you set it to the slow settings by means of the included dual-voltage baybus. Once you crank up the three 120mm Panaflo H1A's, you could rename this beast to the " Blizzard 360 Ultra OMFG$#!$" :o) Read on for all the juice ...mwuahhaha"

Check it out at: Virtual-Hideout

Global WIN YCC-61F1-B Server Case Review @ SystemCooling
posted by BaBylon5 on Wednesday, May 29, 2002 at 10:02 PM EST

We showed you earlier in the week our choice of case for our P4 test system, now we'll show you our choice for our AMD AthlonXP test system!! I fell in love with the Silver version of this case a few months back and when Dave of www.computernerd.com told me he had a Black version of this unique aluminum case, I immediately jumped on the chance of looking at it for a second time.

Check it out at: SystemCooling

Ultimate Case Mod: Part 1 @ PC Paradox
posted by BaBylon5 on Wednesday, May 29, 2002 at 8:19 AM EST

So I've been looking at this for quite a while now and I'm thinking to myself "What the heck should I do with this thing?" I had seen blue and black and silver versions of the same case but they didn't look to "cool" if you know what I mean, and I got quite bored over spring break so I decided, what the hell, why not mod the hell out of it!

Check it out at: PC Paradox

Vantec's EZ-Swap Removable Hard Drive Rack Review @ Tech-Dreams
posted by BaBylon5 on Wednesday, May 29, 2002 at 8:17 AM EST

"Just as disk space requirements for business applications, games, and other personal files grow, the need for a safe and secure method to transfer these files increases. Originally, 5.25" floppy disks that could hold 1.2 megabytes of data were sufficient. Since then, we have seen these floppy disks evolve into 3.5" diskettes that could hold 1.44 megabytes, and, finally, into Zip disks, which could hold 100 megabytes of data. With the advent of recordable CDs, people have been able to safely and securely transfer 650 and 700 megabytes of data. But what happens if you need move a few gigabytes of data? You could take the time to burn all the CDs you need, but some applications can't be broken up so nicely. While tape drives can hold several gigabytes, their file structure makes them ideal for backing up data rather than moving data that can be readily accessed by another machine. Recordable DVDs are another great media for transferring several gigabytes of data, but, at this time, the vast majority of people are unable to utilize recordable DVDs since they are prohibitively expensive. ..."

Check it out at: Tech-Dreams

Kingston 64mb SmartMedia Card Review @ Mikhailtech
posted by BaBylon5 on Wednesday, May 29, 2002 at 8:13 AM EST

Today we take a look at Kingston's 64mb SmartMedia card. Quite a handy dandy paper-thin way of storing 360+ high quality pics. And in the blue corner we have CompactFlash. Here's a quote:

A big attraction with Smart Media is its physical dimensions; this thing is four times thinner than CompactFlash which automatically makes it an ideal solution for extremely small devices. On the console level, think of it this way: going from a cartridge (N64) to a CD (Playstation). With 1,000,000 program/erase cycles, SM has over three times the endurance of CF. The operating temperature is slightly less, but no one really uses it in a 60°C environment anyway. But the main point (in my opinion) is power consumption. Although somewhat against the specs, in real life SM can use approximately 5 times less power than CF when reading/writing data and up to 1000 times less when in standby.

Check it out at: Mikhailtech

Antec TruePower 430 Watt Power Supply Review @ TecCentral
posted by BaBylon5 on Tuesday, May 28, 2002 at 10:13 PM EST

Finally it is so far and the company Antec introduces its new TruePower of power packs also to the European market. In the states the new models are already for quite some time available, but the European market had to still wait to date.

Check it out at: TecCentral

How-To Build a Custom Computer @ 3dXtreme
posted by BaBylon5 on Tuesday, May 28, 2002 at 10:09 PM EST

"Ever wanted to build that dream machine but weren't quite sure how? Today I am going to be stepping you through the process of building what I would consider to be a high performance rig with some of the bells and whistles even I haven't installed into my own computer. This computer is a job I did for a friend of mine. He wanted a computer that would perform like something I would use...keep in mind he is an ex-Macintosh user and has been running OEM systems like Compaq and Gateway."

Check it out at: 3dXtreme

Linux Mandrake article @ Ripnet-UK
posted by BaBylon5 on Tuesday, May 28, 2002 at 10:07 PM EST

RipNet-UK has a new article on line, how to install Linux Mandrake 8.2.  "This is our first write-up since my return from Op Enduring Freedom, and the article is about freedom too in a way - freedom as regards software in this case...
I had been considering trying an alternative to Windows for some time, and during the Christmas break last year finally took the plunge and installed Linux Mandrake 8.0, which led to much happy tinkering until my enforced absence to points east.
Now I am by no means an expert with Linux, in fact I'm only one step away from being a complete newbie, but with this article, and the series that will follow it, I aim to show how to install the latest version of Linux Mandrake alongside your existing OS, and hopefully encourage a few people to give one of the Linux distributions a try; I'll be making all the mistakes and recording the learning process as I go!"

Check it out at: Ripnet-UK

Aluminum Mobile Hard Drive Rack Review @ insideproject
posted by BaBylon5 on Tuesday, May 28, 2002 at 1:00 PM EST

"If you duel boot multiple Operating Systems, or you have to transport large amounts of data back and forth between work, then the Kingwin Aluminum Mobile Hard Drive Rack is an excellent solution. Not only will it speed up the process of transport, but it will keep everything much more organized! Also, if you are someone who has been afraid to try alternate operating systems like Linux because you might render something useless, the Mobile Rack can allow you to explorer safely!"

Check it out at: insideproject

SOYO KT333 DRAGON Review @ Hardware-Test
posted by BaBylon5 on Tuesday, May 28, 2002 at 12:57 PM EST

"can only say that I am in love with these Dragon boards. I am very happy with my own KT266 board and this KT333 board is simply delicious. It has everything I like: NIC, 5.1 sound card, plenty of room, extremely good-looking, USB 2.0 and a nice software-bundle."

Check it out at: Hardware-Test

Crucial PC2700 DDR Review @ ViperLair
posted by BaBylon5 on Tuesday, May 28, 2002 at 12:56 PM EST

The KT333 has been out for some time now, but true PC2700 DDR ram has been slower to come by. There are boatloads of overclocked "PC2700" modules out there, but Crucial is one of the few whose ram is certified for these speeds...

"Crucial's ram, in theory, should run more reliably, and produce fewer memory related errors since it's built on a 6 layer PCB process, and is officially JEDEC approved. They're also not a fly by night operation, and have tech support that will actually provide tech support. Remember that, as a lot of "PC2700+" ram probably doesn't fall within specifications."

Check it out at: ViperLair

EL Custom Shop's EL Wire Review @ Tech-Dreams
posted by BaBylon5 on Tuesday, May 28, 2002 at 12:53 PM EST

"With neon in your case, you are all set, right? Well, it all depends. Neon lights can only do so much because its size limits the places it can be installed in your case. Additionally, I have always believed that only the glow was to be seen, not the bulb. So, what do you when you want to backdrop your motherboard with a nice glow? Or what about highlighting that new clear case fan you bought the other day? Or, better yet, what about lighting up the bezel of your new case, especially if it is an Antec or Chieftec model? Tell me, is your neon going to do the job? I seriously doubt it."

Check it out at: Tech-Dreams

Vantec EZ-Swap Removable HD Rack Review @ SystemCooling
posted by BaBylon5 on Tuesday, May 28, 2002 at 12:50 PM EST

SystemCooling.com have a review posted on the Vantec EZ-Swap Removable HD Rack. This HD Rack also supports, not only swapping capabilities, but cooling as well. In all it's a great product for the price and swapping features.

What does a removable hard drive rack have to do with cooling?? Plenty as we'll soon see, but the critical question you should be asking yourself is "How important is my data to me?" In this article we'll try to answer both questions in a manner that will give you the information you need to decide if the "Vantec EZ-Swap Removable Hard Drive Rack" is suitable for your needs, or not.

Check it out at: SystemCooling

ECS iBuddie4 Review @ lostcircuits
posted by BaBylon5 on Tuesday, May 28, 2002 at 12:47 PM EST

ECS throw their version of a fully integrated system at the market, coining the term "Desknote". Behind this new definition is a destop system implanted into a laptop case without battery and further lacking some other typical laptop features. The lack of mobility is compensated for by performance equivalent to most desktop systems. Optional accessories like an external battery and / or a cigarette lighter adapter restore most of the missing laptop features. In addition, the iBuddie-4 brings in a socketed CPU and standard 184 pin DDR memory interface, thus allowing upgrades and flexible system configuration, including a BIOS that allows overclocking up to 200 MHz FSB. How does this power package hold up in real life and where are the weaknesses? You are about to find out....

Check it out at: lostcircuits

ZXMods.com's window kit installment guide @ Geekshelter
posted by BaBylon5 on Monday, May 27, 2002 at 11:30 PM EST

"A window kit can be awesome to show off your hardware, or to bring out the cathode light you bought, it’s a pretty cool modification all and all, and in this guide I will show you how to..."

Check it out at: Geekshelter

Privacy Guide @ Tech Help Center
posted by BaBylon5 on Monday, May 27, 2002 at 11:27 PM EST

"Privacy is an increasingly important issue as more and more websites use personal information for corporate gain. In this article we will discuss why privacy is so important, how websites are using your information and what you can do to ensure that a website is not mishandling your information."

Check it out at: Tech Help Center

Taisol CEP409151A Pentium 4 Heatsink @ frostytech
posted by BaBylon5 on Monday, May 27, 2002 at 11:26 PM EST

"To install the Taisol CEP409151A on your motherboard you first have to remove the old plastic HSRM and install the metal back plate which Taisol ship with the unit. There are some small black plastic retention washers which hold the metal plate in place so the motherboard can go back in smoothly, but in all honesty this really is a complicated way to reinvent the wheel."

Check it out at: frostytech

Introducing the Matrox Parhelia @ pcstats
posted by BaBylon5 on Monday, May 27, 2002 at 11:24 PM EST

"As it stands, everyone is itching to get their hands on an actual Parhelia card to test out all this interesting technology. Evaluating how much the Gigacolor and Fragment anti-aliasing techniques add to the gaming experience will have to wait until then, as will judgments about the Parhelia’s claimed image quality superiority. Based on just the specifications of the Parhelia though, it seems likely that in raw 3D performance it should top the nVidia Geforce4 Ti. The question then is if Matrox will be content to rest as they did with their Millennium line. When the Parhelia comes out, it will be a unique card, offering not just improved performance, but features not found on competing manufacturer’s cards."

Check it out at: pcstats

Prolink Geforce4 Lineup from MX440 to TI4600 Review @ techseekers
posted by BaBylon5 on Monday, May 27, 2002 at 11:22 PM EST

"Today we are going to look at the range of nVidia Graphics processors and compare them to each other. Specifically the Geforce4 Mx440,MX460,Ti4400,and the Ti4600. We also will compare it to the Standard Geforce3. To help with this Geforce4 comparison we kept to the same manufacturer, Prolink. Although a lesser known manufacturer than say MSI or Visiontek , it doesn't stop them from producing good cards. They akin themselves to likes of Leadtek and Sparkle and are priced accordingly. "

Check it out at: techseekers

Asus A7V333 Mainboard Review @ Active-Hardware
posted by BaBylon5 on Monday, May 27, 2002 at 11:21 PM EST

The roundup of VIA KT333-based motherboards continues today with our review of the Asus A7V333. The first thing most users will notice about the A7V333, is that it stays true to the Asus tradition of offering a full range of Overclocking features. As is usually the case with Asus boards, these features can be accessed either through the plethora of PCB jumpers and Dip-switches, or through the more sophisticated and familiar BIOS system. As for features, well, the A7V333 comes with plenty of those as well: a RAID 0-1 controller, a six-channel sound-card, an IEEE-1394 "Firewire" controller, and USB 2.0 ports, to name but a few.

Check it out at: Active-Hardware

Leadtek WinFast A250 Ultra TD Review @ Tweak3D
posted by BaBylon5 on Monday, May 27, 2002 at 3:33 PM EST

Leadtek has been around making nVidia GPU based graphics cards for a very long time. They have created some of the best performing cards available. They also make their cards for people on a lower budget by not including every feature under the sun. Their cards are usually of the lowest priced available. So if you’re a gamer on a budget, Leadtek would be a great company for you to purchase a video card from.

Check it out at: Tweak3D

CompuCase 6919B case review @ X-Treme PC TECH
posted by BaBylon5 on Monday, May 27, 2002 at 3:29 PM EST

"Today I have a case that some people call an "Antec Killer". I can see why. Well first of all it looks a bit like an Antec (I guess), but wait till you see the inside! The inside looks almost EXACTLY the same as my Antec SX1030B! There are even a few features that the Antec SX models don't have. Before I go on I would like to thank the owner of So-TrickCoputers, Robert H., for hooking us up with this case and a few more items (reviews are on their way). Also, one thing, Robert was real nice to even drop the stuff off @ MY HOUSE since he was nearby. Thanks dude! Now onto the review..."

Check it out at: X-Treme PC TECH

Vantec EZ Swap Removable Hard Drive Racks in Video Review #167: @ 3dGameMan
posted by BaBylon5 on Monday, May 27, 2002 at 3:24 PM EST

"The Vantec EZ Swap Removable Hard Drive Racks make swapping Hard Drives as simple as changing a light bulb. These racks are great for backup applications, transporting data or even for security reasons and they are affordable." ~3dGameMan.com

Check it out at: 3dGameMan

Stomp Inc. RecordNow MAX 4.0 Review @ WinHQ
posted by BaBylon5 on Monday, May 27, 2002 at 3:21 PM EST

"Recording has been the latest craze ever since the average person could afford a decent CD-RW drive. Media such as Divx, MP3s, and *ahem* software has been available through many P2P sharing apps. Having a burner isn't the only requirement, software also plays a role. You can use some crappy stuff that comes included, or use a better solution such as the one I am reviewing today."

Check it out at: WinHQ

Triplex XabrePRO Video Card reviewed @ dansdata
posted by BaBylon5 on Monday, May 27, 2002 at 3:19 PM EST

I've checked out Triplex's shiny silver XabrePRO graphics card, which is now on Australian retail shelves. It's weird. Not just because it's silver, in typical Triplex fashion. No - it's also got weird drivers. Not really BAD drivers. Just... weird. And it makes a weird NOISE. Seriously.

Check it out at: dansdata

PC Tachometer video review @ GeekExtreme
posted by BaBylon5 on Monday, May 27, 2002 at 3:16 PM EST

We've completed another review, but this time, it's with a slight twist. This review is a video review. We have a low-bandwidth and a high-bandwidth version available.

What are we reviewing? Well, Xoxide Modifications was kind enough to send us one of their PC Tachometers. The PC Tachometer is a standard car tachometer, modified to hook up to your computer and show CPU usage. Did the PC Tachometer take off, or did it just revv things up a bit? Read...err, watch our review to find out.

Check it out at: GeekExtreme

E3 Expo Coverage @ Envy
posted by BaBylon5 on Monday, May 27, 2002 at 3:13 PM EST

"Returning for a second year is Envy's E3 reporter, Eric T. Cheng. This year, Eric brought back a stupendous amount of photos from the Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3 2002. Attending on behalf of Piranha Games, Eric is a Modeler and Texture Artist there and has done considerable work on the 'Die Hard: Nakatomi Plaza' title.”

Check it out at: Envy

Trek USA Thumbdrive SMART Review @ MODTHEBOX
posted by BaBylon5 on Monday, May 27, 2002 at 3:06 PM EST

"A key feature to this unit is the ultra portable design. The unit is 64 millimetres long, 18mm wide and 8 mm high. Rightly called a Thumbdrive, the unit is only slightly bigger than my thumb. And weighing in at 12 grams means it's not much heavier than a standard AAA battery. The Thumbdrive's USB connector is protected by a smoked, transparent cap. Side clips on the cap secure it snugly to the drive and keep the USB connector protected when not in use. The cap has a clip on the front with two small catches on the underside. You can clip the drive inside a briefcase divider, a shirt pocket, or a keychain for convenience."

Check it out at: MODTHEBOX

Nexland WaveBase Wireless Router Review @ OnePC
posted by BaBylon5 on Monday, May 27, 2002 at 3:03 PM EST

"In the market for an office-level broadband router with 802.11b wireless networking support? If so, check out the featured-loaded--and expensive--WaveBase wireless router from Nexland, designed for small to medium sized networks."

Check it out at: OnePC

Koolcases Panther PC Case Review @ Icrontic
posted by BaBylon5 on Monday, May 27, 2002 at 3:02 PM EST

I was given free run of the Koolcases site and told to pick any case I wanted to. I had a pretty strict criteria. Most may have made a B-line to the Lian Li but I wanted to look over a case that hasn't been reviewed. It had to have many of the features I've grown to love and not be outrageously expensive. My first Koolcases choice was the Panther; a black 21 inch tower that most certainly ranks in the top five of the cases I've reviewed.

Check it out at: Icrontic

E3 2002 Expo Wrap-Up @ HotHardware
posted by BaBylon5 on Monday, May 27, 2002 at 2:59 PM EST

Our resident left coast Home Biscuit, Chris Angelini, clocks in tonight with a little coverage of this year's E3 Expo in Los Angeles, CA!

Even though Chris missed his call to duty and left out the candid photos of the various "Booth Babes", he's still got some interesting insight as to what's on the horizon in the hardware scene that will be powering all those cool new next gen game engines!

Check it out at: HotHardware

Chilli Professional III 1/4" mATX Case Review @ Mikhailtech
posted by BaBylon5 on Monday, May 27, 2002 at 2:57 PM EST

Today we take a look at the Chilli Professional III. $190 for a 1/4" thick anodized aluminum micro-ATX case which looks really cool but has some issues. Worth it? Hmm...Here's a quote:

The first thing that surprised me was the weight; this thing is very very heavy. I bet two or three similarly sized Lian Li cases would weight less. This is, of course, because (as the name implies), most of the case is made of T6061 aluminum alloy. You would think this means it's light, but then you remember something: it's 1/4" thick! That by itself puts the Chilli Professional into its own class. So on we go to first impressions. Being a mini tower you can't expect much in the way of expandability, yet Chilli did outfit their Pro III with a pair of 5.25" bays and two complementing 3.5" bays. What's odd is that their ATX version only has a single 5.25" drive slot; this is probably due to increased motherboard size compatibility issues.

Check it out at: Mikhailtech

Xoxide Sound Activated Cold Cathode Review @ 3dXtreme
posted by BaBylon5 on Sunday, May 26, 2002 at 10:42 PM EST

"Recently I was contacted by Xoxide.com about reviewing some of their products on 3dXtreme. This is the first product review that we are performing, the Sound Activated Cold Cathode in Blue. Not only is this the first Xoxide product review, but it's the first time that I've been able to work with a Cold Cathode light...."

Check it out at: 3dXtreme

Intel Pentium 4 Northwood 533MHz FSB 2,53 Ghz Review @ Hardware-Test
posted by BaBylon5 on Sunday, May 26, 2002 at 10:40 PM EST

"All in all there is nothing left but to drool… It is a fast little thing this Pentium 4 2.53GHz but I would like to see how it performs on a PC1066 platform. The real question is if the 2.53GHz version is worth the money. But we don't know what it is going to cost yet. Why not just buy a 1.8GHz and overclock it? It could easily reach 2.934GHz…I can say this much: if I was offered this CPU I would say"

Check it out at: Hardware-Test

Hercules FDX 8500LE Review @ techseekers
posted by BaBylon5 on Sunday, May 26, 2002 at 10:37 PM EST

I have always been a fan of the new Hercules. You could be sure you had a Hercules graphics card if the card you were holding was blue. The current range are no different (except one or two). In the past The Hercules Range consisted of the nVidia chipset family and the PowerVR Kyro and Kyro II family, but now all of Hercules Graphics cards are ATI based.

Check it out at: techseekers

Samsung Spinpoint 80GB HD Review @ GideonTech
posted by BaBylon5 on Sunday, May 26, 2002 at 7:47 AM EST

"In the P40 line of hard drives Samsung has incorporated Acoustic Management through the use of their NoiseGuard™Acoustic Noise Suppression Technology and their SilentSeek™ Technology to bring their 7200 RPM hard drives down to 5400 RPM noise levels."

Check it out at: GideonTech

Northward Graphics Vinyl Image Kit Review @ Mikhailtech
posted by BaBylon5 on Saturday, May 25, 2002 at 10:53 PM EST

We usually don't do much in the way of modding but today we venture just a tad bit. Introducing Northward Graphic's self-applied vinyl image kit, aka fancy case sticker. Here's a quote:

In the instructions it states that you should have some masking tape and a utility knife handy. Being the bold pioneer that I am (and for lack of proper ingredients) I settled for some super scissors and Scotch tape. A bit wax paper is also a good idea for reasons I shall explain. You should also make sure the side of your case is clean, perhaps wipe it with a rag and water. An option is available to mix a weak soap solution (warm water, large drop of liquid soap, half a mug-full) for application to the surface. This will allow more time to accurately place your graphic and help get rid of bubbles.

Check it out at: Mikhailtech

ABIT KX7-333R Motherboard Review @ PC PowerZone
posted by BaBylon5 on Saturday, May 25, 2002 at 3:14 PM EST

“Abit have released two motherboards using the VIA KT333 chipset. The Abit AT7 has been in the spotlight recently as it revolutionarily does away with legacy devices such as PS2 mouse and keyboard ports. For those of us that aren't quite ready to say goodbye to legacy devices just yet, there is the Abit KX7-333R which I'm reviewing here today.”

Check it out at: PC PowerZone

Epox 4G4M+ motherboard review at PC PowerZone
posted by BaBylon5 on Saturday, May 25, 2002 at 3:11 PM EST

“The board is based on the Intel 845G chipset which includes GMCH (FW82845G), ICH4(FW82801DB) and FWH three chips. The Intel 845G chipset is the next generation desktop chipset designed for Intel's FC-PGA2 Socket 4787 package architecture and supports the 4X capability of the AGP 2.0 Interface specification. A new chipset component interconnect, the hub interface, is designed into the Intel 845G chipset to provide more efficient communication between chipset components.”

Check it out at: PC PowerZone

AVGS Cybercool case review @ UH
posted by BaBylon5 on Saturday, May 25, 2002 at 3:09 PM EST

"If you have ever been on the market for a new case, your be aware of there being an absolute HUGE choice! A common choice is a Lian-Li case, but these can cost money. Well, now we see a case with all the looks, but none of the price"

Check it out at: Unique Hardware

Thermalright SLK-600 review @ phlux.co.uk
posted by BaBylon5 on Saturday, May 25, 2002 at 3:04 PM EST

"I counted 32 copper fins that stretch right the way across the heatsink, with only a 'tunnel' in the middle for the clip to pass down. The fins are soldered onto the all-copper base, which I had some worries about, since this method can product higher temperatures, however, you'll have to wait til later in this review to find out.

I mentioned the clip having a little 'tunnel' the go through. In my opinion this is a very good feature, since it stops stupid people (like me for instance) from putting the clip on the wrong way round, and applying pressure to off to the side of the CPU core (erk!). A 3 pronged type of clip is used by Thermalright in this heatsink, which offers many advantages."

Check it out at: phlux.co.uk

Athlon Xp CPU Unlocking Kit Review @ 3dXtreme
posted by BaBylon5 on Saturday, May 25, 2002 at 3:02 PM EST

"After 10 minutes with the kit my 1700+ was quickly transformed into a 1900+ without complications. For those who want to push the front side bus as high as possible, this kit will be an invaluable resource."

Check it out at: 3dXtreme

Case-Mod Hdd Cooler Review @ BurnoutPC
posted by BaBylon5 on Saturday, May 25, 2002 at 3:00 PM EST

"Hard drives get faster and faster, thus it needs cooling. You can go for water-cooling (you can buy Innovatek HDD coolers, or the Koolance hdd coolers) or you can also just go the cost-effective way via fans. Today I’m looking at one of Case-Mod's HDD coolers. Let's take a closer look at what we got here."

Check it out at: BurnoutPC

ZXMods CyberCooler 80mm Clear Case Fan @ Tech-Dreams
posted by BaBylon5 on Saturday, May 25, 2002 at 2:54 PM EST

"Fans are an everyday necessity for case modders and overclockers. The more fans
you have running, the cooler your system runs. Not only will your vital
components get a breath of cool air, but your system's overall performance will
be enhanced. Sadly, most fans are typically black, with nothing fancy about
them. Some fans have more blades, others have more of a curvature in them than
others, and that is about all. We can not do to make them look pretty: paint
them or add LEDs to the blades for a lighting effect. Manufacturers have heard
our cries and started producing more appealing fans, which brings me to the fan
I am going to be looking at today: the Cyber Cooler Clear 80mm case fan supplied
by ZXMods."

Check it out at: Tech-Dreams

LoVermeCases Mid Tower Clear Case Review @ VH
posted by BaBylon5 on Saturday, May 25, 2002 at 2:52 PM EST

"One thing that disappointed me on this case was the lack of a reset button and the lack of LEDs (such as power and hard drive activity). The only button provided was the power button and there were no LEDs whatsoever. Another thing I really have to say I was disappointed with is the lack of instructions regarding what screws to use and how to install components. It took me a while to figure out how to properly install my hard drives using the supplied hardware. The below pic shows how this is done. Since all the bays are full size bays (5 1/4"), you need to use standoffs when mounting things such as your floppy drive or hard drives."

Check it out at: Virtual-Hideout

Leadtek WinFast A250 Ultra TD GeForce 4 Ti-4600 @ Hardware Pub
posted by BaBylon5 on Saturday, May 25, 2002 at 2:50 PM EST

"Leadtek has long been a manufacturer of quality video cards. While it has recently expanded into TV tuners and motherboards, video cards have remained Leadtek's focus. Leadtek has long favored the overclocker, with very large active heatsinks on their GeForce 2 models and up. It's no surprise, then, that the A250 Ultra TD should stand out as much as it does to those of the overclocking community."

Check it out at: Hardware Pub

Samsung Yepp YP-30S Review
posted by 1gigkid on Friday, May 24, 2002 at 10:55 PM EST

Some of you may be thinking "What is a Yepp YP-30S". Well IANAG has posted a nice review on the Yepp MP3 player. If you are an MP3 nut and can't get enough of them (you know who you are) I recommend you read it.

Here's a snip:

"First off, this MP3 player is very clean and nice looking.  The casing is made of aluminum and the face plate has a thick glass or heavy plastic plating.  It comes with a pendant strap as well as a separate wrist strap.  It also comes with a 'pager case' for keeping it on your belt.  To top it off, Samsung claims that the YP-SH30 is the 'Smallest and Lightest design in the world'."

Check it out at: iamnotageek

Soyo KT333 Dragon ultra Review @ Active-Hardware
posted by BaBylon5 on Friday, May 24, 2002 at 12:05 PM EST

The Soyo KT333 Dragon Ultra Black Edition comes with built-in support for both ATA133 drives, and DDR333 memory. The good vibes don't stop because the KT333 Dragon Ultra has also been gifted with an integrated 10/100Base-T Ethernet controller, a six-channel C-Media 5.1 sound-chip, a RAID 0-1 controller, and USB 2.0 ports; a tough line-up to beat, to be sure.

Check it out at: Active-Hardware

Thermaltake Hardcano 5 Review @ ViperLair
posted by BaBylon5 on Friday, May 24, 2002 at 12:03 PM EST

With the modern hard drive spinning in excess of 7200rpm, it'll need some cooling to prevent warped platters. Thermaltake has expanded their product line to include hard drive cooling, plus it does a couple other tricks.

"The temperature probe and LED are quite useful, and if you're a statistics freak, you'll love the ability to monitor the temperature of everything you have (albeit, one at a time). The brushed aluminum looks very swank, and you'll undoubtably impress your techie friends with it."

Check it out at: ViperLair

NVIDIA Ti4200 reference card review @ PC PowerZone
posted by BaBylon5 on Friday, May 24, 2002 at 12:00 PM EST

“…many people have been put off because of the high price (£300+) which made the Ti4600 more of an elite, hardcore gamers card (with lots of disposable income!).  So those people who could class themselves as your average gamer, or even a casual gamer, have been left wanting a card based on the latest technology but without the hefty price tag of the Ti4600.“

Check it out at: PC PowerZone

Visiontek Xtasy GeForce4 MX440 review @ TechSpot
posted by BaBylon5 on Friday, May 24, 2002 at 11:58 AM EST

The GeForce4 MX GPU is probably one of the most controversial chips NVIDIA has released so far, while its name clearly indicates that forms part of NVIDIA’s next-generation GPU line, in reality MX chips only share part of the complete feature set of GeForce4 Titanium chips, hence the considerably lower price tag.

Check it out at: TechSpot

Intel Pentium 4 2.4GHz Reviewed @ OnePC
posted by BaBylon5 on Friday, May 24, 2002 at 11:55 AM EST

"When the Pentium 4 first came out, enthusiasts scoffed at its performance and RDRAM-only platform--among other things. Now, after modifications to the core and the introduction of alternative chipsets, it's finally picking up steam."

Check it out at: OnePC

Updated Hardware Guide @ VibrantLogic
posted by BaBylon5 on Thursday, May 23, 2002 at 11:15 PM EST

Want to know what the best products are? Look no further than The VibrantLogic Hardware Guide.  If you were going to build the ultimate system today, here is a comprehensive guide to what components are the best performaning, highest quality, and decently priced.

Check it out at: VibrantLogic

Thermalright SLK-600 (Review/Article) @ SystemCooling
posted by BaBylon5 on Thursday, May 23, 2002 at 10:30 PM EST

The SLK-600 was to be the first in a new line of heatsinks using 60 mm fans and aimed to replace its ageing brother the SK-6. Well, that time has come and the production version of the SLK-600 is finding its way to the world's resellers.

Check it out at: SystemCooling

Maxtor DiamondMax Plus D740X 60gb HDD Review @ Mikhailtech
posted by BaBylon5 on Thursday, May 23, 2002 at 10:27 PM EST

DQT (Drive Quiet Technology) - now, this is a biggie. A hard drive can be a noisy fellow in a silent room and surely one spinning at 7200rpm can’t be an exception. But since after IMB labs started talking about FDB (Fluid Dynamic Bearing), noise has been in the target of manufacturer’s research teams. This technology is meant to reduce the overall noise emitted by a drive, both in idle and search mode. Basically what Maxtor did is they removed the ball bearing for the rotating platters and used some very viscous fluid instead. This eliminates points of contact and friction, reducing the noise. One more advantage is that at the same time they removed some moving pasts, subject to consumption and failure.

Check it out at: Mikhailtech

Coolerguys modified Chenming case Review @ BurnoutPC
posted by BaBylon5 on Thursday, May 23, 2002 at 10:25 PM EST

"Today I'm looking at a case already reviewed here 2 times, this is the third time. What case? the Chenming Mid tower case modified by our good friends over at Coolerguys.com"

Check it out at: BurnoutPC

Soyo SY-P4S DRANGON Ultra Review @ iamnotageek
posted by BaBylon5 on Thursday, May 23, 2002 at 10:23 PM EST

The Soyo SY-P4S DRANGON Ultra is feature rich P4 Socket 478 board. It uses the SiS 645 chipset and has official support for PC2700 or DDR333, whichever you prefer to call it. It also comes with USB 2.0.

Check it out at: iamnotageek

Hercules Gamesurround Fortissimo II Review @ OcPrices
posted by BaBylon5 on Thursday, May 23, 2002 at 10:21 PM EST

"Windows XP and my Soundblaster Live! didnt get along very well. The soundblaster would come home drunk at 3am and wake Windows up, and then the two of them would get in a huge fight and throw potted plants at each other. I finally got sick of them fighting (and having to replace plants) so I kicked soundblaster out and was in search of a new roommate. I settled on the middle child in the Hercules soundcard line up, the Gamesurround Fortissimo 2. It's the midrange card between the entry level Gamesurround Muse XL and high-end Game Theater XP."

Check it out at: OcPrices

SuperFlower 500watt Powersupply Review @ BurnoutPC
posted by BaBylon5 on Thursday, May 23, 2002 at 10:20 PM EST

"The first Powersupply i've reviewed was the Enermax 350 Whisper psu provided by Coolerguys.com. I liked it alot, it was silent and it worked as it should work, but one problem. It did not had enough power for powering up a few peltiers, a few cold cathodes, and the motherboard etc etc. So i was looking for a better powersupply to use. Today i'm looking at the SuperFlower 500 Watt Triple fan cooled powersupply provided by OC-shop.com, let's take a closer look at what we got here."

Check it out at: BurnoutPC

Exclusive First Look at Abit's Siluro GF4 Ti 4200! @ HotHardware
posted by BaBylon5 on Thursday, May 23, 2002 at 10:18 PM EST

The good folks at Abit were kind enough to supply us with one of their new Siluro GeForce 4 Ti 4200 boards recently. Our man Rob got the review posted and ready for you all in record time! If you have any readers that are the kind of people who look for top-notch performance without spending an insane amount of money, they'll definitely be interested in this one. Click the link below to check out HotHardware's exclusive first look at this killer new product!

Check it out at: HotHardware

Thermoelectric GeForce 4 Cooling Project: Frosty's GF4TEC Active Heatsink @ frostytech
posted by BaBylon5 on Thursday, May 23, 2002 at 10:15 PM EST

"After a few weeks of spare time in the work room Frosty's GF4TEC Active Heatsink has been finished, and tested on a live MSI GF4 Ti4600. In any case, the FrostyTech GF4TEC is built from an Alpha P125 heatsink, a thermoelectric cooler (from the venerable Swiftech MC1000), a 38mm thick high-speed 7000RPM Delta fan and a copper base plate. On there own these parts were taking up storage room in the FrostyTech Labs, but together they will be combined to be one hell of a nVidia GeForce 4 Ti4600 GPU active cooler. This heatsink is going to do more than cool off the GeForce 4 GPU, it is going to cool it below ambient temperatures!"

Check it out at: frostytech

Two more water blocks @ dansdata
posted by BaBylon5 on Thursday, May 23, 2002 at 10:14 PM EST

I've checked out two more hefty copper CPU cooling water blocks in my giant CPU cooler comparison. One LiquidCC Surge, from New Zealand and made for Socket A; one XCC P4-CX2, from Finland and made for Socket 478.

Check it out at: dansdata

Fan shroud construction guide @ phlux.co.uk
posted by BaBylon5 on Thursday, May 23, 2002 at 10:12 PM EST

"I designed the shroud to stand off of from the heater core nearly 1” to give the passing air a chance to swirl. All fans big or small have a dead spot directly in their center. If you were to place the fan directly to the shroud two problems are going to arise. First the core is not going to be cooled in this dead zone and second, you're going to restrict air that you are trying to push or pull through the heater core. In my system I am using the push/pull format. The front fan is pushing air across the core while the rear fan is pulling air across the core. This gives a true CFM airflow. Both fans used are Panaflow 120mm 86 CFM."

Check it out at: phlux.co.uk

Noise Control Hard Drive Cage Review @ Digital-Explosion
posted by BaBylon5 on Thursday, May 23, 2002 at 9:39 AM EST

"To cut down on the noise of your hard drives Noise control have come up with a way to hold your drive suspended so that no vibration is carried through your case. Check out what we thought of this little gizmo at Digital-Explosion"

Check it out at: Digital-Explosion

Weekly CPU Pricelist Updated - 05.23.02 @ hardCOREware
posted by BaBylon5 on Thursday, May 23, 2002 at 9:37 AM EST

Wow, ALL the AthlonXP's went down in price, as well as all the Northwood P4's!
And RAM is at its lowest price this year, with the use of Crucial's coupon promo they have going...
What a great week!

Check it out at: hardCOREware

PC Athlon XP Unlocking Kit @ hardwarepub
posted by BaBylon5 on Thursday, May 23, 2002 at 9:33 AM EST

"With the release of the  Athlon XP processors by AMD a new problem for overclockers had awaken. Unlike the "older" Athlon Thunderbird processors where the L1 bridges could simply be connected with a few pencil strokes the XP processors have a "valley" in between each L1 bridge. Now as always there is a solution to this problem which makes it very simple and quite easy for enthusiasts to have the freedom of an unlocked multiplier. Unlike other methods which were mostly permanent the HighSpeed PC XP Unlocking Kit makes it simple with a well put together kit which is easily removable."

Check it out at: hardwarepub

Compucase CI-6919 Super Midi Tower Case Review @ Tek Sector
posted by BaBylon5 on Thursday, May 23, 2002 at 9:31 AM EST

"Compucase refers to the 6919 as an ATX Super Midi Tower, which is basically identical to an entry-level server case. While the design of the 6919 somewhat resembles that of the very popular Antec/Chieftec cases, you'll soon find out that there are some very distinguishable features implemented into the 6919 that aren't so common in these other brands of PC chassis."

Check it out at: Tek Sector

Sky Hawk Aluminum mini-Server Case Review @ systemcooling
posted by BaBylon5 on Wednesday, May 22, 2002 at 10:00 PM EST

"I've reviewed a number of Sky Hawk Aluminum Cases over the past few years and they have continually improved the quality, workmanship, styling, and cooling of their products. The MSR6611EP SL (F) is no exception!! I requested this particular model with the Sky Hawk SH-300A8H ATX 300w power supply because it's the exact same configuration that was submitted to Intel for testing and we were looking for an approved case and power supply for our own P4 test rig."

Check it out at: systemcooling

GlobalWin YCC-61F1-B Case Review @ BurnoutPC
posted by BaBylon5 on Wednesday, May 22, 2002 at 9:56 PM EST

"What we are going to look at today is classified as a full tower, and Globalwin cryptically names it YCC-61F1-B. The YCC-61F1-B is basically a YCC-61F1 but black instead of silver. Both are very beautiful cases, and very light."

Check it out at: BurnoutPC

Lian Li PC-63A Server Case in Video Review #166: @ 3dGameMan
posted by BaBylon5 on Wednesday, May 22, 2002 at 9:54 PM EST

"The Lian Li PC-63A Server Case may look smaller then many server cases, however, it's especially great for file servers and/or anyone interested in a RAID setup with lots of Hard Drives. Quality is always top priority with Lian Li and this case is no exception." ~3dGameMan.com

Check it out at: 3dGameMan

MSI 850 Pro5 Pentium 4 Motherboard Review pcstats
posted by BaBylon5 on Wednesday, May 22, 2002 at 9:48 PM EST

"While most Pentium 4 motherboards for sale right now use DDR RAM, if you want the most performance your only real alternative is an RDRAM based board. Why is that you ask? Simple, RDRAM is the only type of memory that can currently satisfy a Pentium 4's memory bandwidth needs.The MSI 850 Pro5 uses the i850 chipset and has support for Socket478 Pentium 4's running on a 100 MHz FSB. There are four RIMM slots which supports up to 2 G worth of PC800 RDRAM with MSI's trademark fourth RIMM perpendicular to the rest."

Check it out at: pcstats

Triplex Ti4600 reviewed @ dansdata
posted by BaBylon5 on Wednesday, May 22, 2002 at 9:43 PM EST

It's silver. It comes in a little briefcase with a window in one side. Fortunately, Triplex's Millennium Silver Ti4600 is also a perfectly good and quite keenly priced top-end GeForce4 card. What's with the silver? What kind of RAM does it have? Is the little briefcase good for ANYTHING? All is revealed, in my review:

Check it out at: dansdata

Azzo Cold Cathode Review @ X-Treme PC TECH
posted by BaBylon5 on Wednesday, May 22, 2002 at 9:38 PM EST

"Cold Cathodes are a great way to make your case look good. They light up your case extremely well and they are cold which is excellent for OC'ers. Cold Cathodes have been around for a while now and they are still very much popular. I am pretty sure Cold Cathodes are filled with a certain gas that lights up when electricity is applied to it. And if you want a different color they use a different gas. And the gasses they use are not flammable so don't worry about your computer going in flames. And if I am wrong about the whole gas in a tube thing please tell me. I am 75% sure about this."

Check it out at: X-Treme PC TECH

In-depth Review : Intel 845G Chipset @ BlueSmoke
posted by BaBylon5 on Wednesday, May 22, 2002 at 1:56 PM EST

Just last week, Intel introduced the first Celeron based on the 0.18-micron process "Willamette" core. As evidenced by previous trends, the launch of a budget processor always seems to be followed up with an embedded graphics solution. This time around, Intel has launched the 845G chipset, featuring their new integrated graphics core in 3 years. What new features does the 845G bring to the table? How does it perform compared to the older 845? BlueSmoke takes a detailed peek under the hood.

Check it out at: BlueSmoke

LI Utilities WinTask4 Professional Review @ M:6
posted by BaBylon5 on Wednesday, May 22, 2002 at 1:53 PM EST

"Every power user knows that Microsoft loves to keep programs or system processes running in the background of any Windows session. These system processes not only eat up system resources thus making your computer slower but they also make your system unstable.."

Check it out at: M:6

Vantec Copper ICEBERQ Review @ Icrontic
posted by BaBylon5 on Wednesday, May 22, 2002 at 1:52 PM EST

Vantec recently released their new copper video card cooler, the ICEBERQ, which is one of the better looking GPU coolers I've seen in quite some time. Today at Icrontic we'll be comparing it to a stock orb cooling fan to see if it offers more than just killer good looks. Here's a blurb and link to the review,

"Due to the close proximity of the RAM chips on my Ti200 card I was forced to push back the heat sink in order get the ICEBERQ to fit properly. At first, I thought I would be able to remove a few of the aluminum fins but I found that the clip would still rest on top of the heat sink. The only way around this was to remove the heat sink, attach the cooler, and then put the heat sink back on. The downside is that the memory chips are now not fully covered by the heat sink, which you can see above. For anyone looking to get the ICEBERQ I would recommend you first look at your video card and see how close the RAM chips are to the right pin hole."

Check it out at: Icrontic

Dual Athlon Goodness With MSI's K7D Master @ HotHardware
posted by BaBylon5 on Wednesday, May 22, 2002 at 1:34 PM EST

Tonight on Hot Hardware we've reviewed something we're sure all of your "hard core" readers have been dying to see. We tested MSI's AMD 760 MPX based K7D Master with a pair of Athlon MP 2000+ CPUs, and even managed to do a little overclocking. On paper this is one heck of a powerful system, but how well did it fare in our benchmarking tests? Well, you're just going to have to read the review to find out!

Check it out at: HotHardware

Titan TTC-CF80A System Bracket Fan Review @ Mikhailtech
posted by BaBylon5 on Tuesday, May 21, 2002 at 10:29 PM EST

As you may have noticed, the design of the CF80A is different than your regular card cooler. Most card coolers would hang over all your cards, cooling them adequately. This model, however, is installed over a smaller number of cards, 1-3 at most. The result is that fewer cards are cooled more efficiently. This is great for people who are overclocking their video cards to the max limit...Let’s say you’ve got some RAM Sinks on your memory chips. If you use the CF80A, you’ll have scores of CFMs moving over them which will greatly improve your overclock, assuming that thermal issues are blocking you from reaching higher speeds. Also, with this unit you cool both the card’s front and back sides. This is very nice, considering that video cards get hot at some spots from the back, such as behind the GPU.

Check it out at: Mikhailtech

BlueTake USB Dongle (BT007) Review @ bytesector
posted by BaBylon5 on Tuesday, May 21, 2002 at 10:26 PM EST

Bluetooth’s advantages are vast, but some of its specifications seem to enforce the technology everywhere, these advantages include true peer-to-peer connections, meaning that there will never be a server or a hub to connect to all the devices, rather, connections from one device to the other, straight without the middleman!

Check it out at: bytesector

Zalman CNPS6500A-AlCu Flower Review @ Digital-Explosion
posted by BaBylon5 on Tuesday, May 21, 2002 at 10:22 PM EST

"Zalman are really pushing their CNPS (Computer Noise Prevention System). But is all hype or does it have a toll on performance of the Heatsink? Well lets find out?I wanted to do something different compared to your standard ‘Sales pitch’ I wanted to ensure that the review not only gave people the facts a figures but an idea of possible uses for the technology to improve their systems."

Check it out at: Digital-Explosion

Proper way of hosting a LAN Party @ Geekshelter
posted by BaBylon5 on Tuesday, May 21, 2002 at 10:19 PM EST

"Lan parties consist of many things. You need computers, soda, and junk food! I find that the easiest way to have fun. You will also need network cards in your computers, hub (most likely over 20 ports if you want to have REAL fun!), and lan wires.

Next you need the location. It could be in someones backyard, but what kind of geeks like the outside? Most LANs are at houses, but some are in big rented out places. Most teenagers don't have money to afford that so we all just chill at someone's house. I prefer a cold place becuase when you pack 20 computers into someones 50sq ft living room it gets really hot. But that is just me. It is a good idea to have some fans in the room also."

Check it out at: Geekshelter

Stomp's BackUp My Pc Review @ 3dXtreme
posted by BaBylon5 on Tuesday, May 21, 2002 at 10:16 PM EST

"This is the second Stomp, inc. review for 3dXtreme. This review will take a look at an application called Backup My PC. It's a pretty straight forward data backup and restoration application. Backup My PC does a good job providing the services advertised while making it customizable to users at all levels. Data loss can be catastrophic to users and businesses alike."

Check it out at: 3dXtreme

FireWire vs. USB; Apple and Intel Play Hardball @ Pcstats
posted by BaBylon5 on Tuesday, May 21, 2002 at 10:13 PM EST

"So what happened to Firewire? Three things. First, Apple, who owns the patents for FireWire, killed its Golden Goose by demanding a license fee of several dollars for each PC, which Intel and most computer makers found to be economically untenable. This opened the door for USB. Intel gave the USB technology to their OEM partners royalty-free (as they do today), and IEEE 1394-FireWire-was quietly dropped from the PC 98 specification. Apple backed off their high-priced position, down to today's 25¢-per-PC license fee, but the damage was done"

Check it out at: Pcstats

Kingwin KF-102 Review @ subzerotech
posted by BaBylon5 on Tuesday, May 21, 2002 at 10:11 PM EST

What is a mobile rack? I asked myself that same question when Kingwin offered me to review these then I did some research. Well mobile racks is the thing I have been looking for with my complex setup at home.

Check it out at: subzerotech

Stomp Inc.'s Backup MyPC software Review @ Hardware Pub
posted by BaBylon5 on Tuesday, May 21, 2002 at 10:06 PM EST

While backing up data is a task commonly overlooked, this critical step in maintaining a stable system is essential. Stomp Inc.'s software title Backup MyPC offers versatile backup and restore options with both wizards and a straightforward user interface. Several impressive features combine to produce a good utility for maintaining a current, fast, data back