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News Archive: October 2002

October 2002

Abit AT7-MAX2 Motherboard (Socket 462) Video Review #232 @ 3dGameMan
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, October 31, 2002 at 6:48 PM EST

"The Abit AT7-MAX2 Motherboard is an overclockers dream and there's more onboard stuff than you can imagine (Firewire, USB2, LAN, Audio, RAID, etc). If you are in the market for a new AMD based motherboard that is simply over the top then you can be assured that this motherboard will satisfy completely! Watch the Video to find out more..."

Check it out at: 3dGameMan

SyncMaster 152B LCD reviewed @ dansdata
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, October 31, 2002 at 6:46 PM EST

Samsung's SyncMaster 152B is a rather good 15 inch LCD screen. Quality panel, fast pixel response time, built in speakers, non-ridiculous price. There's more to think about if you're contemplating buying an LCD instead of a CRT, though, and I ramble on at my usual great length about it all in my review of the 152B.

Check it out at: dansdata

Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds Review @ OcPrices
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, October 31, 2002 at 6:44 PM EST

"Most of the time when popular movies come out you usually get a load of crappy merchandise along with it. Sometimes (but less often than in the first case) you do get stuff that isn’t that bad, and you put on a brave face to your mates and the world whilst trying to tell yourself it was worth the money after all. And on rare occasions you get a classic game from it...

Where does this game fall?"

Check it out at: OcPrices

Next Cool WaterCUBE GT3 waterblock review @ Alltechbox
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, October 31, 2002 at 6:38 PM EST

"The block's dimensions are 50 x 50 x 20 mm, connections excluded, and it weighs 274g with water and 260g without. The base is entirely made of copper, its size is 50 x 50 x 10 mm; the face in contact with processor is well polished and without any scratches that could compromise the heat exchange."

Check it out at: Alltechbox

AMDs Athlon XP 2400+ Processor @ GamePC
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, October 31, 2002 at 6:36 PM EST

Today at GamePC, we've given a good once-over to the latest AMD processor to hit the streets, the Athlon XP 2400+. Based on the new "Thoroughbred-B" core, the XP 2400+ clocks in at 2.0 GHz and has all the usual Athlon XP goodies like a 266 MHz FSB and 384k of on-die cache. We test the chip against the fastest that Intel has to offer, and oh, what's this? No multiplier lock? Could this be a move by AMD to push back into the enthusiast market?

Check it out at: GamePC

MTB Exclusive: Nikao Union Mid-Tower Case Review @ MODTHEBOX
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, October 31, 2002 at 6:34 PM EST

"In true Nikao tradition, the Union Mid-Tower Case screams individuality and style. The case is accented by a character-rich front bezel. One immediately notices the frosted acrylic panel with an oval pattern embedded in it. Chrome power and reset buttons sit nestled in a small black oval in the centre of the pane. The sides of the bezel have a 1 inch section of grooved plastic running the length of the face. The drive covers offset the vertical frame with a single horizontal raised line at each base. The design is almost reminiscent of 1930’s Chicago architecture."

Check it out at: MODTHEBOX

koolcases Obsession Case Review @ ExtensionTech
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, October 31, 2002 at 6:31 PM EST

“While a lot of you like digging out your dremels, and grinding away to do a cool window in your PC, there are people that do not have the skills, or want to do something like that. Even though PC Case Modding has been around for years. Overclocking, cooling, lighting, we all want it. But can the regular Joe have a pre-modded case, and not spend an arm and a leg for it, or spend hours tweaking their box, so they can seem cool? The answer is yes. You can now buy readily available Cases, that are coming straight from the manufacturers now a days, that won't cost you an arm and a leg. Enter this one in particular, The "Obsession" Case from koolcases.com.”

Check it out at: ExtensionTech

Kinnarps Plus [8] Office Chair review @ Designtechnica
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, October 31, 2002 at 6:28 PM EST

Kinnarps, a company based in Sweden has been known for designing some of the best office products in the world. The Plus[8] has a very European design and despite its thin look it is one incredibly strong chair.

Check it out at: Designtechnica

Antec Plus 1080AMG File Server Case Review @ pcstats
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, October 31, 2002 at 6:25 PM EST

"Computer cases used to be the last thing on everyone's shopping list, and then something changed - case modding brought about a resurgence in design and case style. Now it's possible to buy pre-modded cases and even all aluminum cases filled with blinking lights. In this situation, the case is designed to look professional, and be exceptionally functional. The Antec 1080AMG is an updated model of an old standby - the SX1030B and the face lift is well worth it. The new Antec Plus 1080AMG as it is formally called, comes with a coat of metallic grey paint, and features a hexagonal side blowhole and USB/Firewire ports up front. Add to that a few other minor refinements and you'll be left wondering why you ever decided to go for a bland "white box."

Check it out at: pcstats

ASUS P4S8X Mainboard Review @ lostcircuits
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, October 30, 2002 at 6:58 PM EST

The SIS 648 reference boards blew away everything else in terms of performance that was previously out there and moreover brought a wealth of features to the table. Most importantly, AGP 8X, IEEE 1394 firewire and 1 GB/sec interconnect between the two discreet components, that is the SIS 648 and the new SIS 963 SouthBridge as well as semi-official support for DDR400 were promising not only connectivity but also the interconnect to digest the data flowing throughout the system pipes at any time. Production boards have not been able to follow up and create the same enthusiasm, issues with the AGP 8X interface, some problems with the IDE controller and overall some flakiness have overshadowed the new boards. BIOS revisions have come and partially remedied the problems and more BIOS revisions have partially remedied more problems and what is the price in performance that had to be paid at the end of the day? Moreover, did the "budget cuts" really help?

Check it out at: lostcircuits

The Abit Siluro GeForce4 Ti4200 64MB OTES Reviewed @ Hothardware
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, October 30, 2002 at 6:56 PM EST

Today we'll be taking a look at the Siluro GeForce4 Ti4200 OTES, a high-performance, value minded graphics card from Abit.  Capitalizing on the reputation of the GeForce4 Ti4200 being a great overclocker, Abit has taken the popular card and given it some tweaks of their own.  The end result is a midrange video card that offers high-end performance without the high-end price tag.  Abit also introduced an innovative new cooling design like nothing we've ever seen before, the Outside Thermal Exhaust System or OTES. Coupling a unique heat pipe design with a 7200 RPM fan, OTES looks to keep the temperatures of the Siluro GeForce4 Ti4200 relatively low at stock and overclocked speeds.  Click the link below for the full story!

Check it out at: Hothardware

Unreal Tournament 2003 Mapping - Part 2 @ DeviantPC
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, October 30, 2002 at 6:51 PM EST

"So, to be able to see our water we have to add another actor to our room. The actor in question is the FluidSurfaceInfo actor. Open up your actor browser window by clicking on the actor button , expand the Info section by clicking the + sign and then select FluidSurfaceInfo actor."

Check it out at: DeviantPC

Performance Plus 660AMG case review @ envynews
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, October 30, 2002 at 6:50 PM EST

“Antec was made famous with its Performance tower cases and again roughly a year later with their Performance Plus tower cases and then the Performance II series. It's evident that they're doing well since the quality of their cases, features found in them, and numbers of case accessories have sky-rocketed. Not too long after the release of the Performance Plus series, Antec released the 'AMG' line of cases based on the Plus series. Sporting sexy metallic gray paint schemes, the AMG series is for the true power-user.”

Check it out at: envynews

ExoticPC Romeo DX Case Review @ PimpRig
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, October 30, 2002 at 6:48 PM EST

"I am very impressed with the case, it is incredibly well thought out. What catches the eye first is the beautiful red metallic front bezel, which happens to be removable. The red color goes well with the rest of the case. A very cool feature is the bezels are swappable for other colors and since the color of the rest of the case is silver, which goes with any other color, you can literally change the theme of the case instantly."

Check it out at: PimpRig

Iwill P4ES i845E Motherboard Review @ pcstats
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, October 30, 2002 at 6:46 PM EST

"There were some back-room discussions last year at Comdex about the different PCB colours popping up, and where the future would be. While this doesn't relate to Iwill specifically, the possibility of a translucent PCB was not totally out of the question according to some mainboard manufacturers. Whether or not this turned out to be a feasible PCB finish remains unknown, but I know there are many people who would really be very happy if  such a board took shape. Personally, we've always been just a little more preoccupied with the performance of the board over how it looks, but a little eye-candy never did any harm either. With high bandwidth USB devices gaining popularity Iwill has taken the liberty of adding an internal USB port which is a pretty unique addition, and a good place to stick a Bluetooth module I might think."

Check it out at: pcstats

Creative Audigy Player Review @ ICEHardware
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, October 30, 2002 at 6:45 PM EST

"In this review I'll be looking specifically at the Audigy Player, this is the cheapest package available and fetures the Audigy card itself with minimal extras. This base card is however common among the more expensive bundles too although they vary in the peripherals they contain (more on this later)"

Check it out at: ICEHardware

Koolcase's Panther case review @ OCModShop
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, October 30, 2002 at 6:44 PM EST

"As you could already guess I love this case because of all the features that it has and the great price. For only $39 you get a full tower that has a removable motherboard tray and tons of other features. I love the removable motherboard tray because it's a great feature to have, but this one is even better because it doesn’t need screws. I also really like that the case has drive rails which makes installation of CDROM and hard drives very simple and fast. "

Check it out at: OCModShop

Lamps Electronics CCFL Roundup @ GideonTech
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, October 30, 2002 at 6:42 PM EST

GideonTech whips out a new CCFL review, this time we round up 8 various sized ones from Lamps Electronics. Aside from cubed acrylic protective tubing and a hard plastic boxed inverter, there is also a 3 color CCFL version. Do we like CCFLs? You bet, we have 30 total so far and it just keeps getting better and better!

Check it out at: GideonTech

ATI Reference 9000Pro 64mb card Review @ BurnOutPC
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, October 30, 2002 at 6:41 PM EST

"Today I'm looking at the Ati Radeon 9000Pro. This is ATI's challenge to the budget computer market.  The card that has the latest technology onboard, and packed with enough power to play UT2003 at 1024x768 everything high, without any problems. This card has been around for a couple of weeks now and has already made quite an impact...."

Check it out at: BurnOutPC

Swiftech MCX462-U P4 HSF Review @ ReviewNation
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, October 29, 2002 at 6:15 PM EST

"First thing I noticed about this heat sink is that it is made in the USA unlike most of the others I have reviewed. And the second thing I saw was there was no clip on this heat sink to attach it to the motherboard Ziff Tabs. Swifteh was founded in 1994 by Gabriel and is an industry leader in active coolers. They make a lot of different heat sinks including some for Pentium 4's and also for AMD Xp's. They also sell water cooling kits for you hard core over clocker's out there. But in this review we are going to be running the MCX462-U through our usual tests to see how well it cools the Pentium 4 CPU. Shall we have a closer look at it and then get to the results..."

Check it out at: ReviewNation

Logitech Cordless Presenter Review @ tweak3d
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, October 29, 2002 at 6:11 PM EST

Today, we look at the Logitech Cordless Presenter, a Bluetooth powered mouse/presenting device. Will Bluetooth stand the test of time, and are the products based on this technology worth the price of admission? After spending some time with this mouse/presenter, I'm confident I know the answer. Now without further ado, let's take a look at the cordless presenter.

Check it out at: tweak3d

Sony MZN1 Mini Disc Player Review @ KEP Technologies
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, October 29, 2002 at 6:08 PM EST

“As technology further enhances the items used by the everyday person, different recording mediums are being introduced upon society. Whether it is a PDA, or a new digital camera, these new items bring forth a new sense of power and ease. One of the first new music recording mediums was the MP3 Player. Due to the booming amount of users on such program such as KAZAA and Gnutella, companies found the need to produce such an item that would store compact files while...”

Check it out at: KEP Technologies

Abit Siluro Geforce4 Ti4200 OTES Video Card Video Review #231 @ 3dGameMan
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, October 29, 2002 at 6:06 PM EST

"The Abit Siluro Geforce4 Ti4200 OTES Video Card is an eye catcher with an incredibly designed cooler. This amazing cooler on the core performs very well allowing a high overclock, however, it is loud. Also, since it is based on the nVidia Geforce4 series Video Cards it is very stable and compatible. Watch the Video to find out more..."

Check it out at: 3dGameMan

Iwill P4GS mainboard Review @ Active-Hardware
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, October 29, 2002 at 6:04 PM EST

The Iwill P4GS supports both DDR333 memory, and ATA133 drives (via its integrated RAID controller), as well as numerous other features. These include not only a six-channel Realtek ALC 650 sound-card, but also a 10/100Base-T Ethernet network card based on the RTL 8100B microchip. The P4GS also comes complete with a two-channel RAID 0+1 card that supports SATA (Serial ATA) drives. Finally, thanks to the "G" in the i845G chipset, the P4GS can also boast of an integrated graphics card.

Check it out at: Active-Hardware

Intel Pentium 4 2.4B GHz Processor Review @ pcstats
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, October 29, 2002 at 6:02 PM EST

"Not everyone can afford top of the line processors like the Intel Pentium 4 2.8 GHz, but processors like the P4 2.4B are now clearly one of the best "value" Pentium 4's out there. Offering a good mix of price and performance, we'll be taking a look at whether this processor is "the one" to get.With a street price of around $330 CDN ($184 US) the P4 2.4B is not inexpensive, but when you compare that to the price of higher end P4's, $330 is actually quite a bargain."

Check it out at: pcstats

Thermalright SLK-800 heatsink review @ OcPrices
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, October 29, 2002 at 6:00 PM EST

"Thermalright entered the Athlon cooling scene with a bang. Their SK-6 was one of the best, if not THE best 60mm cooler for the Athlon available, thoroughly trouncing the aluminum contenders of the day such as Globalwin’s FOP-38. Flash forward to today, and their products are still some of the best on the market. They have no trouble keeping up with long time heavyweights Alpha and Swiftech in the cooling department. Thermalright’s latest and greatest for the Athlon is the SLK-800, an all copper follow up to their excellent aluminum/copper hybrid AX-7, which Ben reviewed. The SLK-800 is the subject of today’s review."

Check it out at: OcPrices

Logitech Elite Duo Review @ Nexus
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, October 29, 2002 at 5:59 PM EST

“On the far left you see the “iNav” scroll wheel. There are many benefits of an added scroll wheel. For example, daily tasks of typing and mousing cause for large amounts of switching from mouse to keyboard. This simply allows you to do other tasks with your left hand. Scrolling, selecting, and similar functions are made much more efficient with iNav. The real question however, is whether or not it gets used. I have had this keyboard combo for a little less than a year, and the answer is…”

Check it out at: Nexus

Creative MegaWorks 510D 5.1 System review @ TechSpot
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, October 29, 2002 at 5:57 PM EST

"The MegaWorks 510D features a rather almighty subwoofer, offering 150 Watts RMS of power & weighs in at about 20 pounds. Far from being just a powerful Subwoofer it offers several distinctive features that separate it from other multimedia systems. The most distinctive feature being that it uses a non-ported (Or acoustic suspension enclosure to be more accurate) down-firing one. The main benefits of this are that it eliminates port noise altogether (obviously) & provides a better transient response as compared to ported systems. Conversely using a ported design would improve bass efficiency for much lower frequencies."

Check it out at: TechSpot

The State of PC-1066 RDRAM @ GamePC
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, October 29, 2002 at 5:55 PM EST

Today at GamePC, we've done a nice little write-up about PC-1066 RDRAM memory technology for the Intel Pentium 4 platform. How it's evolved, how it works, and where it's going. We've taken a look at how yields have improved on RDRAM chips over the years, and noted a few tips on how to avoid getting ripped off by remarked PC-1066 chips. Also looked at are some of the major issues still facing RDRAM technology and what's stopping it from mainstream acceptance.

Check it out at: GamePC

EPoX EP-4SDA5+ motherboard review @ envynews
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, October 29, 2002 at 5:54 PM EST

“Hot on the heels of EPoX's latest release, we have a review of their SiS648 chipset board for the Pentium 4 platform. Despite its low cost, this board packs great features including RAID and AGP 8x. Tested with PC2100, 2700, and 3200 DDR RAM, the results are quite surprising. What better way to present you this board than by publishing benchmarks with a 'Pre-release Beta' of SiSoftware's Sandra 2003 Pro benchmark suite!”

Check it out at: envynews

Vantec Copper X CCK-7025 CPU Cooler Review @ MODTHEBOX
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, October 29, 2002 at 5:52 PM EST

"The Vantec Copper X CCK-7025 CPU Cooler is comprised of a solid copper with 43 interlocking fins bonded to the base. Copper has been a popular choice by manufacturers for heatsink construction because of its the thermal properties and minimal production costs. The CCK-7025 was completed using "Bonded Fin" Technology where heat transfer is encumbered and the bonding interface does not interfere with the intended performance."

Check it out at: MODTHEBOX

ATI Radeon 9700 Review and new layout launch @ OCAddiction
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, October 29, 2002 at 5:48 PM EST

"It’s DX9 ready, Smoothvision, HyperZ, and TruForm have been improved (you can run AA, and ansio comfortably now) and VideoShader just rocks. It makes streaming video smooth, and actually watchable now. Plus you get the old stand by’s of multi monitor support (I couldn’t go back to using a single monitor now), DVI for LCD’s, and TV out if you wanted to hook it up to your multimedia center. ATI has also introduced HDTV support on the 9700."

Check it out at: OCAddiction

XFX Graphics Geforce 4 Ti4200 Review @ Techware Labs
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, October 29, 2002 at 5:46 PM EST

"XFX Graphics is a relatively new combatant in the fierce competition of the video card manufacturing, however from the performance perspective you never would have known that they were new. The secret to their success? They already have a lot of experience in the game of making top-notch components and cards as the company is a subdivision of Pine Technologies. In this review we are looking at XFX's Geforce 4 Ti4200 64MB, we will be examining all aspects of this card, and whether it is a card worthy of your purchase."

Check it out at: Techware Labs

ThermalRight SK-6+ Cooler Review @ Overclocker Café
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, October 29, 2002 at 5:45 PM EST

In this narrower SLK configuration, the air from the fan, blows through the fins directly onto the mainboard keeping the hot stagnant air from just sitting there keeping the base warm. The thinking behind the more traditional SK ‘squarish’ base is that the additional metal will help pull heat laterally away from the processor helping to evenly distributive the heat along the length of the cooling fin.

Check it out at: Overclocker Café

Bytecc Aluminum Notebook Cooler Review @ hardcoreware
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, October 29, 2002 at 5:43 PM EST

Cooling is quite a trend these days among enthusiasts and companies who market to them.  Some people do it to extend component life, some do it to overclock higher.  Others do it simply to be "cool".

This Aluminum Notebook Cooler looks to fit into one or more of those categories... Which ones? Let's find out!

Check it out at: hardcoreware

Sennheiser HD497 Headphones review @ Review-Shack
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, October 28, 2002 at 7:14 PM EST

"I decided to test these headphones by plugging in the headphones to the sound card of my computer. I listened to many types of music ranging from instrumental music, pop music, all the way to classical music that I'm familiar with. I was very surprised by the clarity of the sound. Throughout all the different songs, I was able to arrive at immediate judgments. First of all, each song sounded different than usual. It was so clear, I was able to hear instruments in the song that I had never heard before in the song. In fact, the instruments sounded much clearer, richer, and they sounded like actual instruments. The voices were clear as usual. One thing I have to comment on is the bass. The bass in general was good. The bass in beats of the music were crisp, but there still could be more bass."

Check it out at: Review-Shack

Iwill P4GS i845G Motherboard Review @ pcstats
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, October 28, 2002 at 7:13 PM EST

"A quick glance at the hardware features shows us that the P4GS is a pretty well rounded motherboard, it has onboard 10/100 LAN, 5.1 audio, IDE Raid, Serial ATA, support for memory stick and secure digital cards. There are five PCI slots should you find the need to upgrade a part of your computer, a 4x AGP (1.5V lock) slot and USB 2.0 comes native thanks to the ICH4 southbridge. As you probably noticed, there are only two DIMM slots which can support 2 GB PC1600/2100 memory (PC2700 unofficial support). The Iwill P4GS is a pretty compact motherboard that uses a rather odd layout.The first thing that stands out is the odd placement of the IDE RAID controller connectors but we'll get to that a little later."

Check it out at: pcstats

Kingston 6-in-1 Media Reader review @ envynews
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, October 28, 2002 at 7:11 PM EST

“Every once in a while, along comes a truly logical product that makes you sit back and think “Now, why didn’t someone come-up with this earlier?”. Kingston isn’t the only company that came up with a multiple-card USB media reader, but they are the first to come out with one that is both compact and relatively inexpensive. As I write this, several other companies have joined-in with similar products that are just as compact and cost-effective, but we have to acknowledge that Kingston was there from the start with their 6-in-1 Media Reader.”

Check it out at: envynews

Kuthec KTI2000 P4 Heatsink Review @ frostytech
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, October 28, 2002 at 7:09 PM EST

"In our search for new heatsinks we often encounter new companies, or in this case a manufacturer whose products we had seen long ago on Akiba. Kuthtec (Kuang Thousand Technology Co. Ltd) are a Taiwanese based company who made some rather eye-catching heatsinks which we will be reviewing shortly here. For the moment, we are going to be concentrating on the Kuthtec KTI-2000, a brand new addition to their line of Pentium 4 heatsinks, and apparently rated at up to 2.8GHz. While the design may seem familiar to those of you who have seen our reviews of certain Dynatron and AVC heatsinks, Kuthtec have brought in a little extra innovation and added some bottom cooling fins and a venting cut to the side. Will this be enough to bring the KTI-2000 out from the OEM class and into the range of performance coolers? For that answer, and many more, read on ;-) "

Check it out at: frostytech

Belkin 32MB Flash Drive review @ envynews
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, October 28, 2002 at 7:08 PM EST

“In our 8th USB Keychain drive review, we examime Belkin's offering - the 32MB F5UO25. Sporting a stylish silver appearance and the best performance scores yet in our labs, this Flash drive is sure to please. We've got three more keychain drives from other brands in our labs - will the Belkin one be able to hold the fort?”

Check it out at: envynews

Shuttle AK37GTR Mainboard Review @ lostcircuits
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, October 28, 2002 at 7:05 PM EST

With the overwhelming success of the XPC small form factor series that has made Shuttle computers #1 amongst the second tier mainboard manufacturers, it is easy to forget that the Taiwanese manufacturer actually makes real ATX mainboards as well. Since the days of the AK31, Shuttle has been on a roll with the VIA KT266(A) and 333 chipsets, making some of the most competitive mainboards in the market. Where everyone else is pushing features to gain additional market share, Shuttle is releasing the AK37GTR with features that are more geared towards the insider but are nonetheless mile-stone breakthroughs in board engineering by fully implementing the ATX 2.03 concept for the first time in a single processor board for the Socket A platform. The result is the capability of driving insane amounts of system memory at high speed without any hiccup. On the downside, the BIOS of the AK37GTR is still far from perfect, especially when a 333 MHz CPU is used, resulting in lack of stability in more demanding applications. What else did we find out? Read on ...

Check it out at: lostcircuits

Philips Sonic Edge 5.1 Review @ Icrontic
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, October 28, 2002 at 7:03 PM EST

"When I first heard that I was going to get a chance to look at Philips’ new sound card, the Sonic Edge 5.1, I was excited. Having heard a lot about some of the features of Philips sound cards, I wanted to see what all the talk was about. With Creative dominating so much of the Sound Card market with their SoundBlaster products; it is great to see the technology that other companies have developed. So lets jump right in and have a look at this brand new card from Philips, the Sonic Edge 5.1"

Check it out at: Icrontic

A technical comparison of NVIDIA's NV30 and ATI's R300 @ Beyond3D
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, October 28, 2002 at 6:56 PM EST

While ATI’s DirectX9 chip has been around for a couple of months now, in the form of the high end Radeon 9700 PRO and soon to push into lower end markets with the expansion of and 9700 and 9500 boards there is still a relative lack of developer information on the capabilities of the chip. Conversely, while NVIDIA’s NV30 chip is not here yet and probably still looking like it will be next year before widespread availability, NVIDIA have published a wealth of information on the capabilities of the architecture to ensure developer interest for when they can get their hands on the new chip.

Check it out at: Beyond3D

MSI's KT4 Ultra (VIA KT400) Reviewed @ HotHardware
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, October 28, 2002 at 6:54 PM EST

One of our tech. writers, JeffB, has just finished reviewing MSI's VIA KT400 based KT4 Ultra motherboard.   The KT4 Ultra is loaded with goodies like Serial ATA, 6-Channel audio and Bluetooth.  This baby has quite a few options for the overclockers out there as well.  If you think any of you're readers are about to put together a killer Athlon rig, they'll want to check this board out...

Check it out at: HotHardware

Midiland PowerStixx Review @ MonkeyReview
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, October 28, 2002 at 6:53 PM EST

Despite all the short comings, MidiLand has a winner set of speakers on their hands. The Powerstixx ‘Beauties and the Beast’ Speaker System are an amazing set of desktop speakers. What you get from the Powerstixx Speaker System is a premium sound that is powerful. I have tested the setup with everything from Mozart to thrash; Rap to Pop it all comes out clean with tons of bass.

Check it out at: MonkeyReview

Swiftech MCX-462+ review @ phlux
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, October 28, 2002 at 6:51 PM EST

"The fan mounting mechanism is an interesting one. Instead of using long screws, it uses pushpins. This is a really convenient way to mount it, but there is one problem: if you want to use a Delta fan, in particular an 80cfm one, you would have to somehow modify it. I am not one to take defeat so easily, so I went to the bench grinder and scraped off the obstructions of the delta, and mounted it with two pushpins."

Check it out at: phlux

Thermaltake Volcano 9 @ Viper Lair
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, October 27, 2002 at 1:56 PM EST

"Upon first glance, the Volcano 9 appears very much like the Volcano 7. Ok, let's be frank, it is a Volcano 7, except it isn't blue. The Volcano 9 has 23 aluminum fins, just like the Volcano 7, and it has the same copper insert as its older brother. Personally, I think they should have stuck with the same all-copper design as the Volcano 7+."

Check it out at: Viper Lair

Video memory mysteries Article @ dansdata
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, October 27, 2002 at 1:56 PM EST

The other day, someone I know upgraded an old computer. The _cheap_graphics card in the new box had twice as much memory as the whole old_computer_! So what, exactly, is all of that memory _doing_ on modern graphics cards?

Check it out at: dansdata

3R System NEON case Review @ Hardware-Test
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, October 27, 2002 at 1:54 PM EST

Have you heard of this case before ? Neither had we, and we must say that the case has a lot of cons, but then again, it has a hole lot of good sides as well: "I’ve having a hard time judging this case. It has a lot of good sides but it surely also has its bad sides. Its design is good, but I think that the chromium-plated part of the front ruins the otherwise classy look. The neon light is of course to be used alongside with the Plexiglas side cover. Personally I’m not into light and similar stuff inside cases, but I got to admit it looks cool."

Check it out at: Hardware-Test

Connect3D Radeon 9700 PRO Review @ Hardware-Test
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, October 27, 2002 at 1:51 PM EST

The GeForce4 killer card wich everybody's talking about all over the world. There's a new king in town, and our journalist "Greforb" says the same: "I have never seen a card this fast before, which is often the case when you get your hands on something fast. Please notice how little a performance hit there is when shifting from 16bit to 32bit. It’s quite impressive isn’t it? It performs remarkably and I can only recommend that you try it. "

Check it out at: Hardware-Test

TREK 16MB Smart ThumbDrive Review @ OCIA
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, October 27, 2002 at 1:49 PM EST

"After the ThumbDrive is installed a few Found New Hardware windows will come up on the screen and eventually go away. Once those windows go away, your ThumbDrive is ready for use. Since this is a SMART Thumbdrive, you do NOT have to install any drivers to make it work, unless you are using any version of Windows 98. In which case you will need the CD that came with the ThumbDrive to get it to work for the first time. After the drivers are loaded you should not have to load the drivers again. Also note that this ThumbDrive is compatible with Mac OS 8.6, 9.x and 10.x"

Check it out at: OCIA

ABIT IT7-MAX2 Motherboard (Socket 478) Video Review #230 @ 3dGameMan
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, October 27, 2002 at 1:48 PM EST

"The ABIT IT7-MAX2 Motherboard is without a doubt is one of the best motherboards on the planet for the Intel P4 CPU. With onboard HTP374 RAID, 5.1 Audio, 10 USB 2 ports, 2 Firewire ports, LAN port, etc. and is unbelievable at overclocking with stability to boot! Watch the Video to find out more..."

Check it out at: 3dGameMan

CoolMax Aluminum Triple LED Fan PSU Review @ Overclocker Café
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, October 27, 2002 at 1:46 PM EST

The look of it however, mounted in an aluminum case was surprising.  The view from inside the case or through a case window made the two blend together for a very professional look.  Factor this in with the tri-color LED exhaust fan and the CoolMax unit is a nice addition for the obsessive case modder.

Check it out at: Overclocker Café

Setting Up A Water-Cooling System Guide - Part 1 @ VH
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, October 27, 2002 at 1:44 PM EST

"One of the most serious mods for a computer is to overclock it. Forget case windows, flashy lights, and shaved drive faces, overclocking your computer will actually give you a gain in performance. There is one minor drawback of overclocking: heat. The heatsync that comes with a CPU is designed exactly for the temps that the CPU will generate. When you overclock a CPU, it will produce much more heat than normal. Chances are, that a plain old air-cooled heatsync will not have enough cooling power for this much heat. That is why we can turn to water-cooling for help. Ask anyone on the street if you can have water inside with a computer. They will think you are crazy! Water-cooling is a method of cooling a computer's hardware, that may not be as well known, but has great results when done correctly. This guide will help you plan and build a watercooling system for your PC."

Check it out at: Virtual-Hideout

Interview With SiSoftware Founder @ Icrontic
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, October 27, 2002 at 1:41 PM EST

You've been working on SiSoftware Sandra for a while now. Is there still a lot left to be done?

Definitely there is loads more to be done. To start with, technology doesn't spot and the advances definitely aren't slowing down. The other main challenge at the moment is to continue the current project to complete the port or Sandra to Linux, CE and OS X. Moving forward we intend to provide the product in other languages - currently we plan to support German, French and Spanish.

Check it out at: Icrontic

Vantec Nexus Multi-Function Panel (Review) @ ipKonfig
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, October 27, 2002 at 1:39 PM EST

"Fan controllability has become an extra device for fighting noise control. If you look around the web you'll find many different types of controlling devices, all quite easy to use and operate--but all have one common drawback: most models require adjustments from within the case. Nexus has built a unique device that allows you to make changes from outside the case, straight from a drive bay. While it only controls one fan, the CPU fan, it does have some bonus features of value to pretty much anyone."

Check it out at: ipKonfig

Vantec CCK-6012 1U Heatsink Review @ OCIA
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, October 27, 2002 at 1:37 PM EST

"You have heard me mention a few times already about the small size of this heatsink. For comparison, I snapped a few shots of the Vantec cooler alongside a Swiftech MCX462."

Check it out at: OCIA

Lian Li PC-6089A Aluminum Case Review @ MODTHEBOX
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, October 27, 2002 at 1:35 PM EST

"Residing behind the acrylic door is a total of 4 x 5.25" bays, which should be sufficient to accommodate the majority of user configurations. All 4-drive bays are constructed out of brushed aluminum and tightly snap into place; Lian Li recommends removal of the bays to be conducted with the use of a screwdriver pressed into either side whilst pushing forward. Occupying either side of the 5.25" bays are frosted blue plastic strips, a series of LEDs are used to provide illumination upon powering via the bypass 4-pin molex connector."

Check it out at: MODTHEBOX

Antec Clear LED Fans Review @ Geekshelter
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, October 27, 2002 at 1:33 PM EST

"In the package I got came two clear LED Fans. One was all blue which I liked but the other one was a red, green, and blue mix. This just pissed me off because I thought it would make my case look like crap (well more so at least). But then I put it in and I must say wow. I was dead wrong actually. The lights do the opposite by blending almost perfectly and not just with its own LEDs but also the blue LEDs on the other fan."

Check it out at: Geekshelter

KingMAX PC3200 DDR400 Memory Review @ pcstats
posted by Babylon5 on Friday, October 25, 2002 at 5:58 PM EST

"To test out the overclockability of the Kingmax DDR400 I plugged the memory module into the first DIMM slot of the Epox 8K5A2+ and booted into WindowsXP with everything at stock speed. The BIOS was set to use the most aggressive memory timings. Unfortunately, while running the first round of 3DMark tests the system would crash back to desktop. Things weren't getting off to a good start. In fact, I had to increase the voltage to 2.7V to get the the memory to run stable just at stock speeds!"

Check it out at: pcstats

Crucial DDR PC2100 SODIMM Review @ Explosive Labs
posted by Babylon5 on Friday, October 25, 2002 at 5:57 PM EST

The surprising amount of people that have laptops nowadays can be seen by visiting any large university.  This has all lead to a higher demand for laptop memory.  We have all heard the benefits of increasing physical memory.  In all but a few rare cases, the only option for laptop users to increase performance, other than buying a whole new laptop, is increasing memory.  Laptop users don't have the same luxury of upgrading individual components like desktop users.

Check it out at: Explosive Labs

AVC 112C81 Copper-Core Heatsink Review @ frostytech
posted by Babylon5 on Friday, October 25, 2002 at 5:55 PM EST

"With the core of the silicon chip in direct contact with the 30mm diameter copper core insert, heat energy can be transferred from the microprocessor and spread out to a larger surface area before being picked up by the aluminum extrusion. In that sense, the copper core enlarges the working section of the extrusion, and that can help make the heatsink more efficient. This cooling technology is also useful as the core size of today's chips continues to shrink. A heatsink cannot cool a small 180mm (squared) patch as efficiently as it can a much larger sized heat source. With sizes that small, issues of lateral heat flow within the base of the heatsink come into play, and that can hamper things."

Check it out at: frostytech

DIY Subwoofer Article @ Monster Hardware
posted by Babylon5 on Friday, October 25, 2002 at 5:53 PM EST

"Once I had the materials gathered and the design work done, I was able to complete the entire project in less than four hours! I can’t stress how easy this was to make and am stunned by the output of the subwoofer for such a simple project. Please understand that a standard cheap subwoofer system advertised for computers at $29 simply isn’t in the same league as a professional larger system like this. Most computer "subwoofers" have 4" or 5" drivers that are physically not capable of producing an adequate low frequency response. You WILL be pleased with the difference"

Check it out at: Monster Hardware

ECS AIO A950 P4 Barebones Review @ DeviantPC
posted by Babylon5 on Friday, October 25, 2002 at 5:52 PM EST

"A primary selling point of the A950 is ease of installation. It does work straight out of the box; like a laptop all that is needed is the power cable plugging in, and the mouse and keyboard connections and basically that's it. No hassle, no troubleshooting it works from the word go."

Check it out at: DeviantPC

Exclusive Tt Spark 7 HSF Review @ Overclocker Café
posted by Babylon5 on Friday, October 25, 2002 at 5:51 PM EST

Thermaltake has fallen in love with their Smart Fan II.  Truth be told, we have too.  The Smart Fan II is extremely versatile in that it allows three ways to control the speed (air volume and noise level) so you can adjust things to your needs at hand.  The Smart Fan II on the Spark 7 is the slightly smaller brother of the original unit.  It is a 70mm jobber as opposed to the 80mm ones you see around.  Being 13% smaller restricts its raw performance somewhat.

Check it out at: Overclocker Café

Xoxide 6 Port Baybus Review @ nexushardware
posted by Babylon5 on Friday, October 25, 2002 at 5:50 PM EST

"Roaring cases and loud fans are quite popular these days. Obviously, the cooling benefit can be enormous, but for some (like myself) the payoff is not worth it. Instead, I like to walk the fine line between great cooling and silence. Several products have been floating around the industry claiming fan control or noise reduction. Nonetheless, all these products have their faults, and I have switched back to a more simplistic method of fan control. Today I will be looking at the Xoxide 6 port baybus unit."

Check it out at: nexushardware

Vapochilled Pentium 4 At 3.3GHz - Asetek Vapochill Review @ HotHardware
posted by Babylon5 on Friday, October 25, 2002 at 5:47 PM EST

We've posted some fun and frolic that we had with a 2.8GHz Pentium 4 and the new Asetek Vapochill Cooling System!  Can you say sub zero cooling and 3.3GHz?  We knew that you could.  Stop on by and check this thing out.  It screams...

Check it out at: HotHardware

Samsung Spinpoint 120GB HD Review @ GideonTech
posted by Babylon5 on Friday, October 25, 2002 at 5:46 PM EST

"The SV1204H is the largest capacity model of Samsungs newest line of value hard-drives the V60 series.   The V60 series of hard drives are limited to 5400 rpm spindle speed, but utilizes a micro-processor that has a Dual DSP (Digital Signal Processor) function and improves data processing capacity drastically, through parallel processing of HDD data and Servo signal.  The V60 series of hard-drive also incorperates Samsungs NoiseGuard™Acoustic Noise Suppression Technology and their SilentSeek™ Technology to silence their hard drives."

Check it out at: GideonTech

Vantec CCK-6012 1U Heatsink Review @ OCIA
posted by Babylon5 on Friday, October 25, 2002 at 5:44 PM EST

"You have heard me mention a few times already about the small size of this heatsink. For comparison, I snapped a few shots of the Vantec cooler alongside a Swiftech MCX462."

Check it out at: OCIA

3DMark2001SE Tweak Guide - Part 2 @ pcstats
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, October 24, 2002 at 6:58 PM EST

"As you can see, 3DMark2001 SE seems to get it's biggest performance boost from overclocking the videocard (1800 point increase), then overclocking the system (1600 point increase) and finally by using aggressive memory timings (500 point increase). Tweaking the OS and using a 3rd party tweaker to tweak the image quality only nets us about another 250 points."

Check it out at: pcstats

ATi's RADEON 9700 & 9500 Previewed @ HotHardware
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, October 24, 2002 at 6:56 PM EST

Expect a ton of ATi related information today, as they have just officially unveiled a new lineup of cards derived from the R300 core, the VPU that powers their flagship RADEON 9700 Pro.  ATi's new lineup is poised to take an even bigger chunk of NVIDIA's market share, with suggested retail prices ranging from $179 to $299.  Click the link below and take a look...

Check it out at: HotHardware

Guide to Windows Online Security @ TechSpot
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, October 24, 2002 at 6:55 PM EST

Making your Windows OS more secure & improving privacy online is an awkward enough process given the sheer number of things that can be done to improve it. This guide will cover many such tips for various applications & such, which should make the system that bit more secure as well less prone to viruses. The guide is mostly aimed at Windows 2000/XP users, though much applies to earlier versions also in addition to other sections covered such as Internet Explorer/Outlook Express, ICQ IM client and general firewall tips, etc

Check it out at: TechSpot

Koolcase's Blue Meany case review @ OCModShop
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, October 24, 2002 at 6:53 PM EST

"The front bezel is held on by three clips on each side of the case which when pressed together will let you take off the front bezel. I tried to remove the front bezel with just my hands for a few minutes but was unable to do so. I then got out some pliers and gave it a go and still was unable to remove the bezel for a good five minutes at least. I don’t much understand the point of not needing tools to take off the bezel if you are not able to. Then again I am a computer nerd and not the strongest guy, but how many of us are?"

Check it out at: OCModShop

Pentium 4 Performance Cooler Shootout @ GamePC
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, October 24, 2002 at 6:51 PM EST

Today at GamePC, we've rounded up some of the best new Pentium 4 coolers on the market for a performance showdown. We tested each cooler with a Pentium 4 2.8 GHz processor running at 3.2 GHz to see which of these coolers are able to handle the load. We also ran each cooler with low-speed fans to see which of the units are relying on their high-speed fans for good temperatures. New units from Zalman, Taisol, Thermalright, Shuttle, and Vantec are tested.

Check it out at: GamePC

Logitech MX700 Cordless Optical Mouse Review @ bitbender
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, October 24, 2002 at 6:50 PM EST

"The contour of the mouse is very well designed. It hugs my palm quite nicely, especially my pinky and thumb, although the forward button and the scroll up button are set a bit high for my thumb and bird finger. The top half of the mouse is in very deep blue, almost black, colored hard rubber, which gives you a comfortable grip, topped with a silver layer of thin but hard plastic, with the Logitech in deep blue smack right in the middle"

Check it out at: bitbender

Antec 480W True Blue PSU Reviewed @ OCAddiction
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, October 24, 2002 at 6:48 PM EST

"With the True series power supplies, you get dedicated output voltages on the critical +5V, +3.3V, and +12V lines. As you load up devices on the 5V line (ex. PCI cards and drives), the draw will not affect the 3.3V (your CPU), and 12V (fans, etc.). This is a welcome addition for overclockers as the voltage to your CPU will not experience any significant drops."

Check it out at: OCAddiction

The MSI 648 Max Mainboard Reviewed @ HotHardware
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, October 24, 2002 at 6:46 PM EST

MSI has long been known for incorporating the latest technology into their motherboards, and we were not disappointed when we saw the 648 Max's feature set.  This board supports 533MHz FSB Pentium 4 CPUs, DDR333 memory (with unofficial DDR400 support), as well as AGP 8x, based on the new AGP 3.0 standard.  For connectivity with other PCs and devices, it supports USB 2.0, 10/100/1000Mbps Ethernet and Bluetooth.

Check it out at: HotHardware

KDS Rad5-C LCD Review @ OCIA
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, October 24, 2002 at 6:43 PM EST

"One thing that I've always liked about LCD screens was that there could be no misunderstanding about the viewable area. You don't have to deal with that 15" screen, 13.8" viewable crap. On LCD screens, the screen size *is* the viewable area. So this 15" monitor we have sitting here has a viewable area that is almost as large as a 17" CRT one. Schweeeet!"

Check it out at: OCIA

Sony VAIO Laptop review @ Tweak3D
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, October 24, 2002 at 6:42 PM EST

Sony has been marketing its VAIO range for a good couple of years. We take a look at the GRX316MP as one of the latest from the Sony notebook range. It is packed with a Pentium 4-M processor and a massive 16.1 inch UXGA LCD screen.

Check it out at: Tweak3D

Jab-Tech Dual Cathode Kit Review @ ReviewNation
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, October 23, 2002 at 6:34 PM EST

"Case lighting through cold cathodes has been around for quite some time, although when you want more than one cathode in your case you have to spend the money on an extra inverter, not to mention all of the wires everywhere due to having the extra tube and inverter, and lets just face it… It's a mess!!! Jab-tech has supplied us with an easy solution to this, a dual inverter for your CCFL's. The dual inverter pretty much lets you supply power to two cathodes through one inverter, which eliminates wires, mess, and is much cheaper!!!"

Check it out at: ReviewNation

Massive 10 Motherboard i845E/G Roundup @ pcstats
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, October 23, 2002 at 6:32 PM EST

"Every DIY'er knows that finding the "perfect" motherboard can be a pretty difficult task. There are so many different manufacturers to consider, and then the amount of chipsets is pretty diverse. For example, Intel itself has at least eight mainstream Pentium 4 chipsets currently on the market. There are the Intel i850, i845 and the i845D chipsets which all work with 400 MHz FSB Pentium 4's, and then there are the i850E, i845E, i845G, i845PE/PG which work with both 400 and 533 MHz FSB P4's. Tack on SiS's 645, 645DX, 648 and VIA's P4X266, P4X266A, P4X266E, P4X333 and the P4X400, you're bound to have some headaches deciding what to get!"

Check it out at: pcstats

Serial ATA article @ Explosive Labs
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, October 23, 2002 at 6:31 PM EST

In the rapidly moving computer industry, there are rarely the kinds of revolutionary changes like what is about to take place in secondary storage segment.  Soon the hard drives and configuration methods that have existed since the origins of the personal computer will change forever.  The basic IDE technology has been around for nearly twenty years.  When the lifetimes of other computer components like CPUs and video are measured in months, twenty years ago seems like prehistory.

Check it out at: Explosive Labs

Xoxide Dual Voltage 6 Port Baybus (with Blue/Red LED's) Video Review #229 @ 3dGameMan
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, October 23, 2002 at 6:29 PM EST

"The Xoxide Dual Voltage 6 Port Baybus (with Blue/Red LED's) will control up to 6 fans and each fan can be set at a high or low speed or off. Also, installing this unit is very simple with the instructions provided. For those who need many fans to keep their system cool then this is the product for you. Watch the Video to find out more..."

Check it out at: 3dGameMan

ATI Radeon 9700 Pro Review @ Active-Hardware
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, October 23, 2002 at 6:28 PM EST

When the ATI Radeon 9700 Pro hit the market, it's performance blew everyone away -- including nVidia, the longtime ruler of the graphics card marketplace. While ATI has had its own share of victories behind it, the newest, and most shining example of their success is undoubtedly the Radeon 9700 Pro -- the card with enough punch to throw nVidia through the loop.

Check it out at: Active-Hardware

Nexland Pro100 Internet Security Box Review @ insideproject
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, October 23, 2002 at 6:26 PM EST

The convenience of a high speed, 'always on' connection to the internet is one of the greatest recent achievements of the computer age. But as all things come with a price, so does the security of computers connected to the internet. As broadband internet users continue to grow, the need for personal protection from potential outside users is essential. Here is where the Nexland Pro100 ISB comes into play...

Check it out at: insideproject

Thermalright AX-478 Heatsink Review @ frostytech
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, October 23, 2002 at 6:25 PM EST

"What do you get when you cross a die-hard overclocker with the need for an insanely powerfull cooling solution? The Thermalright AX-478. With an 80mm Delta screaming away at 5700 RPM (producing nearly 70dB of noise), the end result is one hell of a loud heatsink boasting top of the line thermal performance for the Pentium 4. Don't forget for a second that tha fan can dice through finger tips like a blender! You can test this for yourself if you don't believe me, but I'd really suggest investing a few bucks into a nice wire grill to cap off the Delta fan used in this review."

Check it out at: frostytech

USB 2.0 External Enclosure @ Viper Lair
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, October 23, 2002 at 6:23 PM EST

"The hard drive, with a preconfigured version of Windows, constantly hung during bootup, followed by a reboot. The CD Rom bootup worked better, and allowed me to reinstall Windows, but performance was painfully slow. Given the lack of USB2.0 support in the initial release of Windows XP (hence, no installation USB2.0 support), this is my guess on why it took so long."

Check it out at: Viper Lair

PCMods.Com Acrylic Case Kit Review @ VH
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, October 23, 2002 at 6:22 PM EST

"Let's face it, acrylic cases aren't anything new. They're also not too common either, which makes them rather special, and the fact that most of them look sweet doesn't hurt either. So, what's so special about this one? Well, heh... it's clear and sweet looking. :p One problem with acrylic is not only the fragility of it itself, but also its surface. So, as you can imagine shipping these things as a whole can be quite a task. That's why PCMods has stepped up and is now offering this acrylic case, or acrylic case kit. If you know about working with acrylic, you'd probably be hesitant to buy anything with acrylic and kit in the title. Don't be afraid though, this isn't a few large sheets of bare acrylic with a few diagrams and measurements. Essentially all you need for this one is a set of good hands, a screw driver, and some free time."

Check it out at: Virtual-Hideout

AMS gMONO Midtower review @ OCModShop
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, October 23, 2002 at 6:21 PM EST

"What I really like about this case, along with the paint job, is the chrome buttons on the front. They really go well with the clear plexiglass and the black finish, so on aesthetics alone this case is a 10. Lets check out some of the more functional features" as always a news posting is appreciated.

Check it out at: OCModShop

Zalman CNPS 6000-Cu Review @ OCIA
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, October 23, 2002 at 6:20 PM EST

"There is nothing more pleasing than sitting next to your high end, top of the line, Billy-Bad-Butt PC. What isn't all that pleasing is the noise that your heatsink's fan gives off trying to keep your overclocked chip from bursting into flames (ok, so maybe it would just get too hot and lock up the system, but you get the point). I have long strived to find that one heatsink fan combo that gives good performance, but is also easy on the ears. If this sounds anything at all like you, than keep reading. If that 7,000 RPM fan in your case doesn't phase you in the least bit, I suggest you stop reading here. Today we will be checking out Zalman's CNPS 6000-Cu HSF combo in an ongoing effort to find a cooler which is easy on the ears yet doesn't lack anything in performance."

Check it out at: OCIA

Computuning 60mm AirGuide Kit Review @ MODTHEBOX
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, October 23, 2002 at 6:18 PM EST

"The AirGuide looks very similar to a 60mm to 80mm fan adapter with one notable exception: the rounded surface which runs from the outside edge to the inside diameter. CoolingFlow, who is another distributor of this product calls this feature the Inlet Venturi Guide. It is this guide which reduces the turbulence from air being pulled into the fan and increases fan performance. Obviously, heatsink fans designed to push air away from the heatsink (unlike most designs which pull down over the heat sink) are not going to benefit from this product being installed. The CoolingFlow website states that the product is made from transparent GPPS (General Purpose Polystyrene). Embedded in the unit on one side are two LEDs connected to a 3-pin power adapter and pass-through. The product is lightweight weighting in at 100 grams."

Check it out at: MODTHEBOX

Akasa Rounded Cables Review @ Tech-Dreams
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, October 23, 2002 at 6:16 PM EST

Tired of looking at those ugly, flat, gray cables through your case window? Tired of performing origami on your cables in order to make them look nice and tidy? Perhaps you are just starting out with a computer modification project and need an easy project to kick things off. Well, no matter what the reason, rounded cables are have become fairly common since they help with the airflow inside your PC case and assist in cleaning up the tangled mess of cables running throughout your machine. Today, we'll be taking a look at two different sets of rounded cables from Akasa.

Check it out at: Tech-Dreams

Worlds Second !! Biostar M7VIK Motherboard review @ BurnOutPC
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, October 23, 2002 at 6:14 PM EST

"With VIA's release of the KT400 chipset the many different motherboard manufactures allowing end-users to see what they have to offer. What would you choose? Fast, and featureless or stable and loaded? I, just like everyone else, like to feel like I spent my money on a product that was right for me. Today we are looking at a motherboard from a company that I am sure you have previously owned a motherboard from."

Check it out at: BurnOutPC

Routers compared! @ dansdata
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, October 22, 2002 at 7:15 PM EST

Nexland's Pro100 broadband router is a solid mid-range contender in the firewall-plus-Internet-sharing market. It's got modem/ISDN failover, it can pass through lots of IPsec tunnels; it's not your ordinary plastic sharer box.

Because I'm naturally cruel, though, I've thrown the Pro100 into the ring with SnapGear's much more expensive PRO+. The PRO+ can be used as a simple broadband router, but its real aim in life is to make some people who just spent tens of thousands of dollars on "enterprise" networking hardware feel like the world's biggest idiots.

Check it out at: dansdata

Coolink U2P Heatsink Review @ frostytech
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, October 22, 2002 at 7:13 PM EST

"Built with a body of nickel plated 6063-T5 extruded aluminum and a 2mm thick C1100 copper base, the Coolink U2P already seems pretty formidable by description alone. Of course in the search for ultimate cooling, manufactures are always looking for the best combination of heatsink and fan, and in this case all that metal is topped by something very cool, and very big. Sitting above the heatsink fin section is a 38mm thick 80mm 5700RPM fan that screams away at over 50CFM. If Coolink have the equation right, this fan and the copper base of the nickel plated aluminum extrusion should equal one powerful socket A cooling system."

Check it out at: frostytech

Unreal Tournament 2003 Mapping - An Introduction @ DeviantPC
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, October 22, 2002 at 7:12 PM EST

"The Unreal virtual world is known as a subtractive space which means that as we define shapes we'd like to have in the world we have to subtract them from the world itself. Try to imagine the world as one big solid, with each object you subtract removing mass from it. In other words, you're not building rooms you're hollowing them out!"

Check it out at: DeviantPC

Short 3Dlabs Wildcat4 & Wildcat VP560 Preview @ Beyond3D
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, October 22, 2002 at 7:10 PM EST

"Many people may find the idea that boards targeted for workstations could possibly utilise a deferred rendering method quite frankly absurd. I will admit that I had discounted this possibility, however it appears that this is exactly what 3Dlabs are trying to achieve with Wildcat VP560."

Check it out at: Beyond3D

CrystalFontz USB LCD reviewed @ DDR ZONE
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, October 22, 2002 at 7:09 PM EST

“Until now LCD’s have been interfaced with PC’s by either the Parallel or Serial ports. Parallel LCD’s require a significant amount of time and effort to prepare, and it isn’t hard to make a mistake in the process, leading to a painstaking troubleshooting period and the possibility of a damaged or destroyed LCD. Serial LCD’s solve much of this drama by being far more “plug and play” than their parallel counterparts allowing the user to simply plug in a cable, install the software and enjoy the candy. USB on the other hand supplies power, data and true “plug and play” to the LCD.”

Check it out at: DDR ZONE

Leadtek Winfast A250 MYVIVO Review @ Riva 3D
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, October 22, 2002 at 7:07 PM EST

"The A250's Ti4600 engine delivers gamers with great gaming performance, while being able to deliver video editing capability in one pack. Leadtek also provides a great software bundle that should keep you busy for awhile. Leadtek, no less, is a great choice if you are looking for a Ti4600. It seems to be well in the top of its class thus the Winfast A250 will last for a long time in terms of future gaming."

Check it out at: Riva 3D

Epox 8K3A+ vs. FIC AN17 shootout @ TechSpot
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, October 22, 2002 at 7:05 PM EST

Going into the BIOS options, we could clearly notice that Epox has given its customers more control; even with unusual processor voltages of up to 2,2v, this mainboard has been made to reach limits, if you have proper cooling of course ;). A regular heatsink with this voltage will have your CPU fried in no time; water-cooling is the way to go should you intend to increase your V-Core this much.

Check it out at: TechSpot

ATI Radeon 9700 Pro (Review) @ ipKonfig
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, October 22, 2002 at 7:04 PM EST

For starters, 8 parallel rendering pipelines. Now since you asked, we'll explain this a little. First, the 8 parallel rendering pipelines are combined with 4 parallel geometry engines, providing faster 3D gaming performance. Comparing this to the ATI Radeon 8500, which has 4 parallel rendering pipelines, the Radeon 9700 more than doubles its pixel pipeline throughput to 19.4Gb/s. That's quite a bump.

Check it out at: ipKonfig

ThermalRight SK7 HSF Review @ Overclocker Café’
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, October 22, 2002 at 7:02 PM EST

Another benefit of this design is that in using an 80mm fan, the fan hangs over both sides of the sink.  The SLK-800's base is much narrower allowing the fan to keep hot air circulating out from under the base.  The SK7 while employing a more traditional base design achieved the same goal but by the fan's overhang.

Check it out at: Overclocker Café’

Next-Cool WaterCUBE GT3 Waterblock Review @ Tweaknews
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, October 22, 2002 at 6:58 PM EST

"The unit looks good and is watertight. The clamp has a good design and should certainly be looked at by other waterblock manufacturers. With the noisereduction in mind water-cooling isn't half bad if you can stand the stress. "Is my pump still on ? Did I fasten the hoses correctly ?" Making sure you have all the parts is about 75% of your entire project."

Check it out at: Tweaknews

GigRigz "Cyber Athletic Supporter" Review @ PimpRig
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, October 22, 2002 at 6:57 PM EST

"Anyone who's been to a few LAN parties can tell you the hardest part is not finding the LAN, or getting whooped in Counter-Strike, or even drinking warm Coke.  It's always the chore of tearing everything down and then putting it back together again.  Products like CaseAce's GearGrip have been around for awhile to help hardcore LAN gamers with this arduous chore, and it was only a matter of time before similar accessories appeared on the market."

Check it out at: PimpRig

PC3200 DDR Roundup @ OCAddiction
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, October 22, 2002 at 6:53 PM EST

"I should also point out that only PC1600, PC2100, and PC2700 (the ones in bold) are currently certified by JEDEC.  Which is the reason Via and SiS have withdrawn their official support for 400MHz memory at the moment.  If a speed is not certified then compatibility issues can come up between the memory modules SPD and the motherboard's bios or chipset.  Something you should be aware before picking up a few new sticks of RAM.  Also, for those of you new to system building, just because you buy 400MHz memory doesn't mean it will automatically run at those speeds.  You must raise your front side bus, memory bus or change the CPU:Memory Ratio to increase the memory bus to 200MHz.  This will also overclock your processor unless you have an unlocked AMD CPU that you can lower the multiplier.  But of course most of us want to overclock our processor so this isn't a problem."

Check it out at: OCAddiction

AMD Athlon XP 2200+ Thorougbred CPU Review @ Mikhailtech
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, October 22, 2002 at 6:51 PM EST

Since the core is built on 0.13 micron process, the voltage required to run it was lowered from 1.750V for the Palomino to 1.650V for the TBred. This, combined with the thinner traces, should really make the CPU run a lot cooler, but then again the smaller the core the harder it is to dissipate the heat. The OPN (Ordering Part Number) has also changed from the "old" Palomino. For instance, the Athlon XP 2000+ based on Palomino core would have had the following OPN: AX2000MT3C, where AX represents the core, Athlon XP "Palomino", 2000 is the rating and the other digits represent the voltage, FSB, maximum temperature for the core and package type (socket or slot). The OPN for the Athlon XP "Thoroughbred" I tested is: AXDA2200KV3C.

Check it out at: Mikhailtech

Modifying the Cooler Master ATC-710 (Article) @ SystemCooling
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, October 22, 2002 at 6:44 PM EST

When I received this Cooler Master ATC-710 I basically knew what I was getting. I've read about it quite a bit and being an owner of an Antec SX-830 case I knew that this was going to be a very well built case, with lots of room and was going to be user friendly. I thought about modding this case for a few days. I wanted to add to make it a bit more exotic and not loss what I consider a great monolithic looking case. I liked the clean front panels so I decided to leave them alone. But to bring this case more to life I decided to do some cutting, painting and lighting up.

Check it out at: SystemCooling

Gainward 650TV (Ti4200 64MB) & 650XP (Ti4200 128MB) Video Cards Video Review #228 @ 3dGameMan
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, October 21, 2002 at 6:20 PM EST

"Both the Gainward Geforce4 PowerPack Pro 650TV (64MB) and 650XP (128MB) Golden Sample Video Cards are top quality products that perform very well. Whether you choose the 64MB or the 128MB version either will satisfy your 3D game needs and more. Watch the Video to find out more..."

Check it out at: 3dGameMan

The Q&A continues! @ dansdata
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, October 21, 2002 at 6:17 PM EST

I've taken a quick break from writing a network appliance review (which is every bit as thrilling as it sounds) to favour you all with another Dan's Data letters column. I hope you feel special.

Subjects covered this time include case lighting, barbecuing of very expensive video cards, where exactly software keys come from (with bonus 31337 c4rd1ng 1nf0), and motherboards with valves on.

Check it out at: dansdata

Intel Pentium 4 2.8 GHz Processor Review @ pcstats
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, October 21, 2002 at 6:16 PM EST

"The Intel Pentium 4 processor has come a long way in the last two years. These days, if you want a top of the line system, it's going to have a Pentium 4 inside. Yes, AMD's AthlonXP 2700+ and 2800+ processors are just as powerful, its just that they're almost impossible to find for retail sale while the P4 2.8 GHz has been easily available since its' introduction. Ever since the Northwood core was been introduced, Intel has been in front in terms of performance, and perhaps more importantly, availability. What makes the Intel Northwood P4 so attractive is that Intel has doubled the size of the L2 cache. With 512KB of L2 cache the performance penalty for having a long CPU pipeline has been dramatically reduced. To top things off, Northwood Pentium 4's are great overclockers. Many 1.6A and 1.8A P4's have no problem hitting 2.4 GHz+ with retail cooling!"

Check it out at: pcstats

Titan MT1AB5 Heatsink Review @ frostytech
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, October 21, 2002 at 6:14 PM EST

"As anyone can plainly see, the Titan MT1AB5 is blessed with a lot of fins, but the effective use of airflow paths is what will really make the grade. In this respect, Titan seem to have learned from old deficiencies. While both fans on the heatsink appear identical at first glance, that is not the case. The first fan is used to pull air into the heatsink and push it out through the fins. The second fan has a reversed impeller so that it pulls air from within the fins and expels it outwards into the surrounding environment. So basically, one fan pulls in, the other pushes out."

Check it out at: frostytech

XOXIDE X300 Pre-modded Case Review @ Monster Hardware
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, October 21, 2002 at 6:13 PM EST

"The first thing I noticed when I opened the case was the amount of fans included! This case has four 5.25" bays and six 3.5" bays. The internal four bays are cooled by a massive 120mm intake fan! Also there are dual 80mm exhaust fans at the rear of the case, plus an 80mm exhaust at the top of the case. Now default, this case only comes with the fan on the side panel- a crystal clear plastic fan. Cool effect when the light is on and glows through that too! If you don't have a ton of extra fans laying around, I highly recommend the 27.99$ fan upgrade with this case- The cooling power is superb!"

Check it out at: Monster Hardware

Shuttle XPC SS51G @ Viper Lair
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, October 21, 2002 at 6:12 PM EST

"Given it's small size, and robust features, the usefullness of the SS51 is almost limitless. It can be a great LAN rig (with the proper video card), a corporate PC, a router, fileserver, or even a TiVO. Really, even when it's served it's purpose as a performance gaming PC, it can do almost anything else you want with it."

Check it out at: Viper Lair

Radeon 9500 Sneak Preview @ hardcoreware
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, October 21, 2002 at 6:11 PM EST

This morning I came across an interesting document, dated 3 days from now.  It is a future press release from GigaByte, announcing their newest graphics card based on the highly anticipated Radeon 9500 core.

I have compiled the details I could gather from the press "un"release, and have a sneak preview for you.  We have clock speeds and a box shot to check out:

Check it out at: hardcoreware

Creative’s Sound Blaster Audigy2 Platinum @ GamePC
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, October 21, 2002 at 6:09 PM EST

Today over at GamePC, we've given a good once over to Creative's newly released Audigy2 Platinum audio card. Sporting new features like THX certification, Dolby Digital 6.1 compliance, DVD audio support, and true 24-bit audio playback and recording, it appears on paper that Creative has everything a gamer could want or need. We take a look at the new Platinum variant of this card and run performance tests versus Creative's older audio cards and some of the fiercest competition in the audio market.

Check it out at: GamePC

Akasa PAX.mate Acoustic Absorption Mats Review @ Tech-Dreams
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, October 21, 2002 at 6:07 PM EST

"In the battle against heat, computer enthusiasts, overclockers, and modders seek out new weapons. Most of the time, these weapons are some pretty powerful fans that can move a lot of air. Unfortunately, the downside to all this power is in the amount of noise produced. But what exactly is noise? Noise is totally subjective and means something different for each person. Some people might be able to tolerate and even sleep with 60mm Delta fans screaming in their ears, but not me."

Check it out at: Tech-Dreams

Swiftech MCX462+ Heatsink Review @ Tech-Dreams
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, October 21, 2002 at 6:06 PM EST

"If you ever roamed or idled on IRC at irc.enterthegame.com in channels #virtual-hideout, or #tech-dreams, than you probably heard the bragging Sn1per and me managed to scream out everyday about Swiftech's MCXC370 heatsink. Owning one myself I hold it near and dear to my heart until Thermalright's SLK lineup popped up and I reviewed one of them, I switched only because of the temperature drop I noticed, and honestly I was shocked, the Swiftech unit I had and held dear to my heart was beaten, now I knew the MCX462+ would beat it especially with a 80mm fan (compared to the MCXC370 with a 60mm fan) but I got tired of switching heatsinks all the time so I stuck with the SLK-600 for the time being. Which brings me to this review, a review I am anxiously waiting to finish. The Swiftech MCX462+ is the newest kid on Swiftech's block (no pun intended) and I'm hoping it impresses me as much as the MCXC370 did. Let's waste no more time and begin shall we?!?!"

Check it out at: Tech-Dreams

Compad Speed-Pad + Speed-Fix Spray Review @ MODTHEBOX
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, October 21, 2002 at 6:03 PM EST

"The Compad website does not detail the composition of the mousing surface but the construction is similar to the Ratpadz Gaming Surface and is polymer based. This makes for a very durable product that will last a lifetime of service, and should take most punishment for longer extended periods of gameplay. The Speed-Pad measures 24 cm x 30 cm and is slightly larger than the Ratpadz, meaning that you'll need some extra desktop space to use this product. The lower outer edges are a few millimeters wider, which could be the difference between virtual life or death as you sweep your hand from side to side, but for other applications, it doesn’t matter."

Check it out at: MODTHEBOX

Altec Lansing 251 5.1 Surround Speakers Review @ OnePC
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, October 21, 2002 at 6:02 PM EST

"At less than a hundred dollars, Altec Lansing’s 251 5.1-channel speaker system enables a surround sound experience for your PC at a ridiculously low cost; however, will sound quality be sacrificed? Find out inside..."

Check it out at: OnePC

Cobalt3 PyramidII Fan Silencer Review @ GideonTech
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, October 21, 2002 at 6:01 PM EST

"From the product description, this device basically aids in silencing your noisy fans when the system does not need it.  For example, if you are heavily using the system, more than likely CPU temperatures will rise which will also raise case temperatures.  This rise in turn causes the sensor on the Pyramid to kick in and start the process of pumping more juice to the fan. As soon as case temperatures drop, the sensor sees the change in temperature and starts limited the amount of voltage, causing whatever fan that's attached to slow down.  This minimizes noise when it is not needed without much human intervention."

Check it out at: GideonTech

Iwill MPX2 Motherboard Review @ lostcircuits
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, October 21, 2002 at 5:57 PM EST

Multiprocessor platforms are the pets of the inaugurated advanced PC user as well as an ever-growing nitch market for entry-level professional work stations and servers. After the delayed launch of the AMD MPX platform as open-source playground for all mainboard manuafacturers, we have seen the oldtimers like Tyan MSI and ASUS as AMD channel partners grabbing a substantial piece of the multi-Athlon pie. Other manufacturers like Gigabyte and EPoX are trying to penetrate this market as well. One company originating in the server market is Iwill and, after a few forays into the desktop market, Iwill appears to throw in their entire weight to come out with a rather unusual MPX mainboard, underdoggie-style. The shipping box is about the only thing that qualifies as flash and dance, the rest is like phlogiston, very hard to find but once you get it ....

Check it out at: lostcircuits

Seagate Barracuda ATA V 120GB Review @ Explosive Labs
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, October 21, 2002 at 5:53 PM EST

Seagate has typically marketed toward the "well rounded" features niche, trying to cover all of the ground.  They have tried to offer an equal balance of durability, performance, and value.  So far, they have done well.  The durability, performance, and value offer has caught the eye of industrial system designers.  The majority of those that I know choose Seagate for that reason.  This is only reinforced, as Seagate has figures that show they sell more ATA and SCSI/FC drives than anyone else.

Check it out at: Explosive Labs

Soltek SL-75DRV5 Motherboard Review @ VoidedWarranty
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, October 21, 2002 at 5:52 PM EST

"This board uses the VIA KT333 chipset. One thing that I like about this board is the lack of onboard crap that most other boar