God Bless America.

News Archive: September 2002

September 2002

Cooler Master ATC-710 SX1 Server Case Review @ MODTHEBOX
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, September 30, 2002 at 9:42 PM EST

"The ATC-710 SX1 is a well built case, weighing close to 13kg lbs with dimensions measuring 205 mm (W) x 522 mm (H) x 455 mm (D). The case does not ship with a PSU which is a bit of a disappointment, but most users are very selective in their PSU requirements and can purchase this option separately. The eye candy for this particular model is the inclusion of a highly refined aluminum front bezel. The front bezel is accented with sleek indented curves which gives the case an overall futuristic type appearance. The top and side panels are constructed of zinc coated steel and have been painted a variation of dark charcoal grey."

Check it out at: MODTHEBOX

Vantec Copper Round IDE Cables @ Viper Lair
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, September 30, 2002 at 9:40 PM EST

"Let's get a couple of myths out of the way about rounded cables. To begin with, they do not improve access speeds to your hard drive, or do anything for performance, in fact, poorly designed rounded cables can be detrimental. Secondly, they do not do much for case cooling if you're neat about cable management. Well, I guess I kind of contradicted myself there, as they will help if your cables are dangling all over the place, blocking airflow, but all it'd take is some tie wraps and some creative routing and you'll be fine."

Check it out at: Viper Lair

Case-Mods.Com UV Accessories Review @ VH
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, September 30, 2002 at 9:39 PM EST

"When I first saw this "PSU mod cover" thingy hit the market, I dismissed it as a candy cane mod. I really didn't think it had any serious authenticity in the mod market. However, I just had to get one up close and take a real good look at it. Well, my initial thoughts were confirmed. I think they could be much better designed. First, it really urks me that the acrylic covers don't even reach all the way down the sides of the stock PSU, nor is there an kinda connection from the new covers sides to the psu itself. It just kinda hangs there. Not good. You know how you grab your stock PSU, it feels like a brick, nice an solid? Well, once you install an acrylic cover like this, your PSU will now feel like a toy and very weak. Again, the sides of the acrylic cover ARE NOT CONNECTED......they flop in the wind....heh."

Check it out at: Virtual-Hideout

First page of Wannabe Geeks Guide on building a computer *Series* @ Geekshelter
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, September 30, 2002 at 9:37 PM EST

Geekshelter has started a new series. This one is about building a first time computer with a guy. We will follow up on him as he builds his first computer. He will hold back nothing and will tell you all his mistakes. He starts off talking about the case. Here is a quote from him:
"Hello, my name is Moe (Wannabe Geek) and I'll be taking you along with me on my first journey into the world of building a super gaming pc. I decided that my current system is just getting too old and no longer is capable of handling the requirements of todays demanding games."

Check it out at: Geekshelter

Zalman CPU Cooler CNPS6000-Cu Review @ Geekshelter
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, September 30, 2002 at 9:35 PM EST

"Zalman has done it again making the new CNPS (computer noise prevention system) CPU coolers. Zalman has made many CPU coolers with many technological features. The one I am reviewing is the Zalman CNPS6000. It is one of their latest CPU cooloers and it is a great improvement in their line of coolers. As soon as I opened the package I was amazed to see the most creative cpu cooler I have ever seen. I just knew that this thing will work for me, and it will add another great part in my PC."

Check it out at: Geekshelter

Asus V8440 Geforce 4 Ti4400 Review @ MonkeyReview
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, September 30, 2002 at 9:30 PM EST

Well I think most of you know that I am happy with this card, yet I am not thrown back by the features or perhaps the lack of, but again, I knew what I was buying and can’t hold it against the card. I would have liked to see Video In, but you need to go with the V8440 Deluxe in order to get that feature. All in All it’s a good performing card without the overly high price, that’s where the good part lies. Asus did a good job on this guy and aside from the lack of video in and newer games it’s a great purchase and a good showing from Asus.

Check it out at: MonkeyReview

Ahanix Iceberg Watercooler Review @ OcPrices
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, September 30, 2002 at 9:26 PM EST

"Effective cooling and acceptable noise levels seems to be an increasingly mutually exclusive requirement in these days of super-fast, super-hot CPUs. Watercoolers promise the best of both worlds, but they are tricky to put together if you build one yourself. There are now however, a number of kits available that make life much easier. Today we are looking at the Ahanix Iceberg Watercooler provided by the nice guys at FancyCase.com. This is quite literally the simplest watercooling kit I've handled to date. Ahanix provides you with the all the tools and accessories needed to assemble the watercooler without a hitch for both AMD (Socket A) and Intel (Socket 370/478) CPUs . Before we analyse this cooler in detail lets take a look at the manufacturers specifications."

Check it out at: OcPrices

Let's Tidy Up Your Power Supply Wiring (Article) @ SystemCooling
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, September 30, 2002 at 9:24 PM EST

"There are many different methods of tidying up your power supply wiring, but the most outstanding way to me is using expandable loom material. It can be a bit labor intensive, but the results are well worth it. The first time I saw this material on a PS was on the motherboard harness of an Enermax power supply. Expandable loom is available in many colors and some links will be provided where to find it at the end of the article."

Check it out at: SystemCooling

Lycoris Linux review @ ASE Labs
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, September 30, 2002 at 9:20 PM EST

What is Lycoris Linux? Take the power of Linux and the ease of use of Windows, and you almost have Lycoris. This review will show you every step of the install and boy does the OS look like XP.

Check it out at: ASE Labs

Nexland PRO 400 ISB SOHO Review @ AusPCWorld
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, September 30, 2002 at 9:19 PM EST

Today we will be looking at the Nexland PRO 400 ISB SOHO (Small office, Home office) broadband Internet router. Nexland is known for providing high quality networking products in the past, so lets see what the SOHO has to offer.

Check it out at: AusPCWorld

Dual colored cold cathode review @ OCModShop
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, September 29, 2002 at 3:05 PM EST

Cold cathodes are the best source for case lighting I believe and we have all seen the standard one colored ones. For a long time if you wanted to have 2 colors in your case you would have to buy two different cold cathodes and have them both running, this is not the case anymore. Xoxide sent over a dual colored cold cathode which is made by Sunbeam Technology.At this time the dual colored cold cathode is only available in blue and red combinations but I am sure in the future more will be offered. When I first saw these I wanted one because not often does a new innovative product come into the market like this one.

Check it out at: OCModShop

Zalman CNPS6500B-AICu CPU Cooler Review @ MODTHEBOX
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, September 29, 2002 at 3:03 PM EST

"The eye catching feature to Zalman coolers is the unique styling of the heatsink itself. The fins are arranged in a wedge pattern, which lends to the “flower” moniker. To get more heat dispersion through surface area, Zalman has perforated each fin with five slits. Copper has been known to conduct heat better than aluminum therefore the fins positioned in the center are made from pure copper. The copper fins sit directly above the processor in order to conduct more heat off the core. The rest of the pedals are made from pure aluminum and are held together with hex head bolts and acorn nuts. Each fin of the cooler has been stamped with the Zalman logo."

Check it out at: MODTHEBOX

Samsung YP-700H 128MB MP3 Player Review @ OnePC
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, September 29, 2002 at 3:01 PM EST

"Ever wondered what the Swiss army knife of MP3 players would be like? Check out Samsung’s YP-700H: loaded with 128MB of memory, SmartMedia card expansion, voice recording, an FM tuner and dual power sources, this thing’s loaded!"

Check it out at: OnePC

Kazan USB 2.0 Drive Enclosure Review @ envynews
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, September 29, 2002 at 3:00 PM EST

Today, we take a look at Lava Computer’s Kazan USB 2.0 3.5" hard drive enclosure. Lava Inc makes quite a few USB 2.0 and FireWire products; the Kazan drive enclosure is perhaps their most visible product on store shelves. It’s a product that can be found at numerous parts and system resellers since it offers both a compact size and relatively affordable solution to mounting a hard disk externally to your system.

However, this ain't a bed of roses - don't let USB 2.0 nomenclature fool you...

Check it out at: envynews

ViewSonic VG700 17-inch TFT Display Review @ pcstats
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, September 29, 2002 at 2:57 PM EST

"The Viewsonic VG700 should be of great interest to anyone looking for an LCD display on a budget. With its' 17" screen size, the unit retails for a competitive $700USD. CRT displays of equivalent size will always be less expensive than their LCD counterparts, but there is just something so nice about working on an LCD that makes the switch worth every penny. Displays like the VG700 tend to be easier on the eyes after an extend period of time writing, or doing other types of work on the web or in office applications."

Check it out at: pcstats

Antec Performance Plus 1080 AMG Case Review @ Tweaknews
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, September 29, 2002 at 2:56 PM EST

"It looks sleek. Has just the right colour. Is roomy. Keeps cool. Is silent. I will show that the case can do all of that and much more. How's that for an introduction? Sounds like a sales pitch but kinda is. When I first spoke to Antec about doing a review on this case I pointed out that a lot of people said I coudn't keep my SCSI drives cool and that no case was able fit all of my junk. I disagreed and so did Antec Inc."

Check it out at: Tweaknews

SanDisk Ultra 256mb CompactFlash Review @ envynews
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, September 29, 2002 at 2:54 PM EST

“About a year ago, we set out to review all the best CompactFlash and Flash memory on the market. We sought out products that excelled at both digital camera write performance and portable storage solutions. Since digital cameras write compressed image data to flash memory, we established the fact that the flash memory in question had to have a high write speed with both theoretical and real-world benchmarks. As with portable storage solution options, both write and read speeds are important. In this review, we pit SanDisk's Ultra 256MB CF card against other makes with USB 1.1, FireWire, and real-world camera tests. It's our most comprehensive Flash memory review yet!”

Check it out at: envynews

ATI and FIC Radeon 9700 Video Card Video Review #218 (Part 2): @ 3dGameMan
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, September 29, 2002 at 2:51 PM EST

"The Radeon 9700 is currently the latest and fastest 3D gaming Video Card on the planet. Supporting bleeding edge technologies like 8X AGP and DirectX 9 it will last some time before your next video upgrade. Also, driver support from ATI is now excellent. If you need a blazing 3D gaming card, then drop what you are doing and get one! Watch the Video to find out more..."

Check it out at: 3dGameMan

Chieftech/Chenming Aluminum Dragon Case @ OCIA
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, September 29, 2002 at 2:48 PM EST

"When we opened the box it was nice to see the case was packaged quite well. It arrived with no scratches or dents. The large side window was covered with a protective film and the edges were covered with a plastic filmy tape like substance that when removed left no residue. I was impressed. For a relatively inexpensive case it was surprisingly well packaged. I immediately was impressed with the color. The front plastic bezel had a slightly different shade of green than the green anodized body but  it still looked good."

Check it out at: OCIA

Unreal Tournament 2003 Demo Review @ OCAddictions
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, September 29, 2002 at 2:47 PM EST

"The first thing that springs to mind is what a difficult task Epic and Digital Extremes had producing this demo. Hampered by legions of fans on 56K connections, Epic made the decision to limit the download size to 100MB. Now that's a hefty chunk of data to be sure but by the standards of today's games it really isn't a lot. Some things had to be sacrificed in order to make it under the 100MB bar. High resolution textures were probably first onto the chopping block, followed by extra player models and a Domination 2 map.

The end result is a Demo that is not representative of the retail game since so much has been left to the imagination. The final game features 35 Levels, a plethora of character models, superb high resolution textures and that all important extra play mode."

Check it out at: OCAddictions

Thermaltake 360W PSU review @ OCModShop
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, September 29, 2002 at 2:46 PM EST

Thermaltake, well known for their line of Orb CPU heatsinks and chipset coolers such as the infamous blue orb, have recently ventured out into other markets, namely the power supply market. The power supply market is flooded with companies, but only a few really stand out as top performers for enthusiasts, such as Antec and Sparkle. In this review we'll find out if Thermaltake performs with the best of them or suffers from problems that plague most cheap PSUs.

Check it out at: OCModShop

Dell Inspiron 8200 P4-M 2GHz @ HardwareZone
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, September 29, 2002 at 2:44 PM EST

The Mobile Intel Pentium 4 Processor – M have arrived. In this article, we take a look and dissect the Inspiron 8200 notebook from Dell. The Inspiron 8200 is a desktop-replacement and is our first notebook featured with the new 2.0GHz Mobile Intel Pentium 4 processor.

Check it out at: HardwareZone

Cooler Master ATC-410 Aluminum Case Review @ Icrontic
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, September 29, 2002 at 2:42 PM EST

"One of the best characteristics of the ATC-410 is that it can be converted into a rackmount-style server case. The conversion is simple - after removing the 5.25" cage all you need to do is lay the case on its side and put the cage back in so that the bays are parallel to the floor. You have the option of closing and locking the front bezel door too if it suits your needs."

Check it out at: Icrontic

Spire SkiveStream Review @ Icrontic
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, September 29, 2002 at 2:41 PM EST

"Unfortunately, aluminium is no longer sufficient to yield high levels of performance when applied to CPU cooling. As such, many heatsinks now feature copper cores - as the Skivestream does. Having used a number of coolers recently with a copper core, I have to say that the Skivestream's core is impressive. It is much larger than most, and more than ample to cover the core of the processor. No doubt the larger core will improve thermal performance somewhat."

Check it out at: Icrontic

MSI KT4 Ultra-FISR KT400 Motherboard Review @ pcstats
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, September 26, 2002 at 9:13 PM EST

"Before we get into that, you should know that the KT4 Ultra-FISR is based on the brand new the VIA KT400 chipset. The KT400 chipset supports AthlonXP processors at FSB's of 100MHz, 133MHz, and the tantalizing 166MHz. Now even with on board IEEE1394 and bluetooth support, it is really those two small Serial ATA 150 connectors which manage to draw our undivided attention. Serial ATA is the new spec for connecting devices like hard drives, and marks the end of a long history with IDE. As you will see, Serial ATA cables are really tiny and operate on a point-to-point topology (the drives are not yet available so we can't offer any benchmarks at this time unfortunately). Looking around the cramped PCB on the MSI KT4 Ultra-FISR, we can say it's easily the most equipped motherboard we've ever tested!"

Check it out at: pcstats

IOSS Cooling After Review @ DeviantPC
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, September 26, 2002 at 9:11 PM EST

"Enter IOSS with a completely different angle, and if you thought about what they have to say we would all probably scratch our heads and think, "oh yes, never thought of it like that before". The Cooling After kit actually helps cool your critical components after you turn your system off."

Check it out at: DeviantPC

Mafia Review @ OcPrices
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, September 26, 2002 at 9:09 PM EST

"Only a few months ago Grand Theft Auto 3 blew us away with its violence, its humour and it’s well crafted, utterly believable game world. It was only a matter of time before someone else decided to take a pop at Rockstar’s majestic Crime-Simulator and Mafia appears to be the first real contender to the throne. But can it hold it’s own against the savage monster that is GTA3?

Set in a world of vintage cars, Canadian whisky, Tommy Guns and Goodfellas, Mafia takes us through the life of Tommy Angelo and his meteoric rise through the deadly Salieri crime family. As he journeys through the underworld he becomes embroiled in a contest of strength between two deadly rivals where life is cheap and anyone is for sale (Just like in my life. No really.)"

Check it out at: OcPrices

Ultimate HOTAS: CH Fighterstick and Pro Throttle USB Review @ OcPrices
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, September 26, 2002 at 9:08 PM EST

"The gameport F-16 Combat stick and Pro Throttle I have, which are I can’t even remember how many years old, work as well as the day I took them out of the box. The price of entry may be a bit high, but put simply, these sticks are built to last. Unfortunately however, Microsoft took the ability to program through the keyboard port out of the NT based operating systems, which includes 2000 and XP. When I made the switch, my beloved Combat stick and Pro Throttle couldn’t come with me. I asked the very nice people at CH for some new USB models, and they sent me their current top of the line setup, the USB Fighterstick and Pro Throttle, which is what we’ll be looking at today."

Check it out at: OcPrices

Three Drive 48x CD-RW Shootout @ GamePC
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, September 26, 2002 at 9:07 PM EST

Today at GamePC, we've taken a look at three hot new 48x speed optical burners which have just hit the market. In our shootout, we look at drives from Plextor, Lite-On and MSI in the categories that really matter to most of us. How fast can I burn a full CD? How fast can I rip this entire CD to mp3? How well will this drive handle a CD-R disc compared to a pressed media disc? We go over all these categories and more in our shootout.

Check it out at: GamePC

Introducing Sky Hawk's Jupiter Aluminum Case (Review) @ SystemCooling
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, September 26, 2002 at 9:06 PM EST

"Sky Hawk USA is well known for economically priced Aluminum Computer Cases designed with the average and/or new computer enthusiast in mind. At the same time, many of its cases have caught the eye of both Overclockers and Modders; the Jupiter is bound to cause a stir in the industry! In today's world, it's not only important that a case be functional and cooling friendly, it needs to look good, and look good the Sky Hawk Jupiter does. From the specially designed shipping carton (to reduce possible transport damage) to the elegant, stylish and innovative case itself, anyone would be proud to own one of these beauties."

Check it out at: SystemCooling

EPoX 4G4A+ i845G P4 Motherboard Review @ Mikhailtech
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, September 26, 2002 at 9:03 PM EST

But the bright side is that the CPU socket is placed horizontally, so when installing the cooler you won't hit those capacitors near the socket, like on other boards. Not even the Northbridge heatsink will get in the way, although it may seem kinda close to the socket. Notice the small MOFSETs near the socket, 6 in total. They are part of the new 3 phase power regulation that EPoX developed for this board, and these MOFSETs are very small as you can see, because they're from a newer generation. This new power regulation scheme not only saved some space around the socket, but also made it possible for EPoX to power the CPU without the need for that famous P4 12V connector. The northbridge is cooled by a large passive heatsink, which seems to do the job just fine although it heats up quite a bit even when the system bus is not overclocked.

Check it out at: Mikhailtech

Ontrack In-Lab Data Recovery Service review @ Explosive Labs
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, September 26, 2002 at 9:00 PM EST

Most people have encountered, viruses and or software incompatibles that could corrupt their hard drive, at one time or another.  In which case, you are most likely going to find yourself reformatting your hard drive and starting from scratch.  However, there are those unlikely catastrophes that aren't software related, the most common of which is power outage/surge.  Believe it or not, the problem is not the outage or surge itself.  Rather, it is the return of power.  Why?  Well, prompt power fluctuations cause electrical components such as read/write heads to fail.  When they do, the hard drive is still running with failed components, which in turn can corrupt the data stored.  Aside from power related problems, other common problems are caused by abrupt head failure, water, and impacts.

Check it out at: Explosive Labs

Samsung Syncmaster 171p LCD Review @ GideonTech
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, September 26, 2002 at 8:59 PM EST

"What do you think of when you hear the word Porsche? Fast cars, exotic locations and computer monitors.  That was not a typo, F.A. Porsche is the mastermind behind the design of this beautiful monitor. Just like the 911 car models, Porsche design spared nothing in putting together this model."

Check it out at: GideonTech

Samsung Yepp-90S MP3 Player Review @ TechwareLabs
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, September 26, 2002 at 8:58 PM EST

"As this new age of digital audio evolves with technologies like the MP3 being invented consumers now have the opportunity to be able to carry large amounts of music with them on a single sleek device. The portable MP3 player has changed the way we are able to store, listen and carry tons of music with ease. Not to mention how sleek most MP3 players are but some stand above others. One MP3 player that accomplishes this is the Samsung Yepp 90S portable MP3 player. This MP3 player is very compact and stylish and is sure to satisfy the digital audio player enthusiast."

Check it out at: TechwareLabs

Antec True Blue Power Supply Review @ ReviewNation
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, September 25, 2002 at 7:55 PM EST

"Antec is well known in the industry for their high quality computer cases. They also make great power supplies that rival the likes of Enermax, Raidmax and Sparkle. Founded in 1986, and headquartered in Fremont California, Antec has been diversifying its product line to include computer cases, power supplies, rack mount enclosures and their popular LED-lighted fans. Today's review is centered on Antec's 480 Watt true blue power supply..."

Check it out at: ReviewNation

ATI and FIC Radeon 9700 Video Card Video Review #217 (Part 1): @ 3dGameMan
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, September 25, 2002 at 7:54 PM EST

"The Radeon 9700 is currently the latest and fastest 3D gaming Video Card on the planet. Supporting bleeding edge technologies like 8X AGP and DirectX 9 it will last some time before your next video upgrade. Also, driver support from ATI is now excellent. If you need a blazing 3D gaming card, then drop what you are doing and get one! Watch the Video to find out more..."

Check it out at: 3dGameMan

AOpen AX4B 533 Tube Motherboard review @ Active-Hardware
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, September 25, 2002 at 7:50 PM EST

The AX4B 533 Tube, which, as its name indicates, incorporates audio-out capabilities that are tied-in with a good old-fashioned vacuum tube. That's right, a vacuum tube. Surprising as it may seem, this innovation (sic) will come as quite a delight to high-fidelity audio enthusiasts, who swear by the capabilities of the little bundles of glass -- a subject we'll be exploring during our analysis.

Check it out at: Active-Hardware

MyIE2 browser reviewed @ RipNet-UK
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, September 25, 2002 at 7:48 PM EST

RipNet-UK have just posted our latest review, of a little known freeware browser that could well make a big impact - MyIE32 is a lightweight browser that still manages to pack a punch. Built around the IE core it adds an impressive feature set, including tabs, a pop-up killer, proxy features, skinning and groups (and in this case these really are features, as opposed to bugs by another name!)

Check it out at: RipNet-UK

World Exclusive: HWZ reviews the MSI MX440-VTD8X 64MB Review @ HardwareZone
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, September 25, 2002 at 7:47 PM EST

The first card featuring NVIDIA's latest NV18 core which is AGP 8X compliant. Based on the same architecture as the previous GeForce4 MX 440 GPU, there's more to this card than just an increased AGP transfer rate.

Check it out at: HardwareZone

Belkin Nostromo N30 Mouse Review @ BurnOutPC
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, September 25, 2002 at 7:46 PM EST

"The last time that I reviewed a mouse was back when I first started Burnoutpc.com last year, since the various server crashes, HDD failures, we seem to have lost that review. In light of that I asked Belkin to send me their latest gaming mouse on the market today"

Check it out at: BurnOutPC

NEWS:PC Guardian 2000 review @ Alltechbox
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, September 25, 2002 at 7:44 PM EST

"As I've already said system recovery operation takes place during the PC boot: all I had to do was to reboot the PC to have Windows 98SE loaded correctly after I've wrecked it out on purpose."

Check it out at: Alltechbox

Macase Galaxy II KA-280W Case Review @ AusPCWorld
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, September 25, 2002 at 7:43 PM EST

As you know the first item you see when you take a look at a PC is the case. Today we have a look at yet another terrific case from Fortunetec Australia named the Macase Galaxy II KA-280W, featuring front USB, firewire connectors and more.

Check it out at: AusPCWorld

MacPower Digidoc 5 Review @ AusPCWorld
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, September 25, 2002 at 7:41 PM EST

Today we take a look at the MacPower Digidoc 5. This neat device, monitors temperature, turns on your fans when its needed, and looks very cool! Lets see what this neat gadget can do.

Check it out at: AusPCWorld

Vantec 1U CCK-6012 @ Viper Lair
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, September 25, 2002 at 7:40 PM EST

"As expected, the CCK-6012 is badly outperformed by the larger heatsink. At 55C, the processor is far from the danger zone, but still a little warmer than we'd like. In a server environment with controlled ambient temperatures, the heatsink should be good enough. For performance enthusiasts looking into low profile cooling, well, I suppose you can make use of it as well, but I can't think of any power user with a low profile case. I certainly wouldn't replace the heatpipe cooling in the Shuttle boxes with this cooler."

Check it out at: Viper Lair

Performance PC3200 & PC3500 DDR Review @ hardware-test
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, September 25, 2002 at 7:39 PM EST

"With this module I was very surprised positively, since they could be overclocked a great deal. I haven't seen that since we tested Corsair 333MHz, which was able to run at 400MHz. This indicates that this Performance RAM could go even higher. I am very confident that you should be able to reach 500MHz at CAS2.5 with this RAM. ."

Check it out at: hardware-test

Computuning MODRainbow Kit Review @ MODTHEBOX
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, September 25, 2002 at 7:38 PM EST

"The Mini Printed Circuit Board (PCB) drives the whole unit and is composed of seven LEDs, fourteen resistors and seven dip switches to control the LED brightness. At the end of the circuit board there is a 2-pin connector which connects directly to a standard molex connector. A jumper installed behind the power connector allows you to turn on the unit when the case is powered or you can replace the jumper with the supplied switch to control the entire configuration as you see fit."

Check it out at: MODTHEBOX

Hitachi CML190SXWB 19-inch TFT Display Review @ pcstats
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, September 25, 2002 at 7:32 PM EST

"Boasting a roomy screen size of 19" and a resolution of 1280x1024 pixels, it seems like a waste to use anything but the DVI port, but for the late bloomers the 15-pin analog connection is a welcome sight I suppose. The display features a 500:1 contrast ratio, brightness of 250 nits and wide viewing angles of 170 degrees horizontal/vertical. Overall, I'd have to say we are very satisfied with this latest display from Hitachi. The previous LCD monitor we reviewed from this manufacturer fell below the line of what we believe they are capable of producing, so it was reassuring to see that CML190SXWB set the trend straight once more."

Check it out at: pcstats

Zalman NPS6500A-CU HSF Review @ OCAddiction
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, September 25, 2002 at 7:25 PM EST

"The CNPS6500 comes in a couple of flavors.  There are two variations with heatsink material—the aluminum copper hybrid or the pure copper.  Then there are two variations in mounting system—through the motherboard holes via screws or with the use of the socket 478 heatsink bracket that comes with all motherboards.  We were fortunate enough to receive the CNPS6500A-Cu.  The “A” denotes the mounting system, which in this case, was mounted through the motherboard holes.  The “B” would mean that the heatsink mounts through the use of the socket 478 heatsink bracket.  The “Cu” denotes that the heatsink is all copper while the “AlCu” denotes the aluminum copper hybrid."

Check it out at: OCAddiction

Switched baybus review at RipNet-UK
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, September 24, 2002 at 7:41 PM EST

"How long does your PC spend working at 100% load, and hence generating all the heat that those fans are there to displace? If the answer to that question is 'not much' then you may well be putting up with earache for no reason. Ideally we want to be able to have the fans running at max when the system is working hard and pumping out heat energy, and then rein them back to a lower setting (or even off) when the work-rate is decreased..."

Also worth a mention that the baybus has 20% off right now, and so is retailing for just $15.99US.

Check it out at: RipNet-UK

Matsonic MS9068E socket 478 mainboard Review @ Active-Hardware
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, September 24, 2002 at 7:40 PM EST

The Matsonic MS-9068E is the latest motherboard from the German manufacturer that many Europeans know and respect. It is a Micro ATX form-factor board that comes with a complete collection of integrated components. Like many other boards in its category, the MS-9068E includes a variety of legacy ports -- PS/2, serial, parallel -- as well as support for USB 1.1 and USB 2.0.

Check it out at: Active-Hardware

Coolermaster TLF-R82 Blue Neon Led Review @ AusPCWorld
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, September 24, 2002 at 7:38 PM EST

Your just not cool if you don't have a coloured neon fan in your PC. As most companies these days have released coloured neon fans such as Antec's Tri-lite we find other manufacturers of fans also doing same. But with a difference. Today we take a look at Coolermaster's TLF-R82 Blue Neon Led fan. Why is it different you ask? Lets have a look.

Check it out at: AusPCWorld

Antec True Blue 480W Power Supply Review @ AusPCWorld
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, September 24, 2002 at 7:37 PM EST

Neons, Neons, Neons. We all love coloured Neons, we have seen coloured case fans, LED's, cold cathode's and more. And many of us have even thought about modding a power supply. But why do it yourself? When Antec has released its 480W True Power True Blue Power supply featuring two bright blue LED's and also being super quiet and able to power all those devices in your PC with ease.

Check it out at: AusPCWorld

Upping the Ante : Intel’s 2.6 and 2.8 GHz Xeon Processors @ GamePC
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, September 24, 2002 at 7:36 PM EST

Today at GamePC, we've taken a good long look at the latest members of Intel's Xeon processor family, clocking in at 2.6 and 2.8 GHz. We test these new chips against AMD's Athlon MP and Intel's own Pentium 4 family to see how they stack up in a variety of workstation-class applications. We also run some tests with and without Intel's Hyperthreading technology to see what performance impact this new feature has.

Check it out at: GamePC

Everglide Optical Mouse Pads Review @ Voided Warranty
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, September 24, 2002 at 7:35 PM EST

"Today we are reviewing Everglide's awesome line of mousing surfaces. I know what you are thinking; this is just another mouse pad! Right? To my surprise the answer to this question is no!"

Check it out at: Voided Warranty

ASUS A7V8X Motherboard Review @ lostcircuits
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, September 24, 2002 at 7:33 PM EST

VIA's release of the KT400 chipset for the AMD platform at QuakeCon somewhat started off on the wrong foot. In addition, the name KT400 is really a misnomer in that there is only rather limited support for DDR400. On the surface, this paints a rather odd picture of the new chipset. Under the hood, however, is much more than meets the eye. Dedicated support for 333 MHz FSB, AGP X8 and VLink X8 for a 533 MB/sec interconnect between North and SouthBridge are just the barebones. Hand the potential of the chipset over to ASUS and let them work their magic and you'll get the A7V8X, one of the hottest boards that ever roamed the Socket A platform. What is it that got us going on that board and where are the shortcomings?

Check it out at: lostcircuits

SC.com's Modified Cooling Machine - Conclusion @ ipkonfig
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, September 24, 2002 at 7:31 PM EST

"In "Part 1" of this article, we showed you the physical modifications we asked Andrew Smith of www.designcomp.com to perform on the Lian-Li PC-68 Aluminum Mid-Tower Case. In "Part 2" we'll populate the PC-68 with the hottest stock system we can put together at this time, based on the AMD AthlonXP 2100+ CPU. What we alluded to in Part 1, but didn't really come out and say, was that what we really wanted to accomplish were both quiet and performance along with good looks; only you will be able to tell us if we succeeded!"

Check it out at: ipkonfig

Vantec 470W Stealth Powersupply Review @ frostytech
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, September 24, 2002 at 7:29 PM EST

"It's pretty rare these days to look at a powersupply and be impressed with its appearance. Now granted, what's on the inside of a powersupply is ten times as important has how the equipment looks, but with case modding and highly detailed systems out there it seems like a shame to install just another well made, grey , powersupply. As consumers, we should have the option of going for something with the power, and class, to make a full aluminum case - all aluminum! Vantec must have heard the call, because they have recently released the black anodized aluminum VAN-470A powersupply. With 470 watts of power, an armful of connectors, and some low-noise features the unit seems to have an impressive rap sheet. Add to that three fans with wire grills, and a mesh wrapped set of 24-pin ATX power cables and you have something pretty interesting in your computer."

Check it out at: frostytech

Lian-Li PC-7323B Server Case Review @ ThinkComputers
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, September 24, 2002 at 7:27 PM EST

"As time goes by and the industry changes, we can only expect constant designs changes of computer cases. My search for the ultimate computer case still continues to this day. The case that I have before me today was provided to ThinkComputers from Lian-Li. Many people know how well known Lian-Li is for there fantastic aluminum computer cases. They have everything some small desktop case's to server cases, and if it has the Lian-Li name on it you can be guaranteed quality. The case that I have for review today is the PC-7323B... "

Check it out at: ThinkComputers

Corsair XMS PC3200 DDR400 Memory Review @ pcstats
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, September 24, 2002 at 7:26 PM EST

"When one wants premium quality memory, there are only a few names that come to mind first; Mushkin, Crucial and Corsair. A few other companies also consistently delight overclockers, but their availability is not always a sure thing (OCZ, Xtreme DDR and GeIL). Today we're going to be reviewing a 256MB stick of Corsair XMS3200 CAS2 DDR400 to see if it is as good as everyone says it is. So why do overclockers & enthusiasts hold Corsair in such high regard? Well, Corsair has been around since 1994 and they've been producing and delivering some of the best overclocking memory from our experience. They're always among the first manufacturers to deliver new speeds of overclocking memory. They released their XMS2400 right after JEDEC approved the PC2100 standard!"

Check it out at: pcstats

The Abit SR7-8X with the SiS 648 Chipset Reviewed @ Hot Hardware
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, September 23, 2002 at 7:10 PM EST

Today we have a review of the latest offering from Abit that incorporates the SiS 648 chipset, the SR7-8X motherboard.  This is an economical motherboard that shows major promise with both features and performance.  It would seem that SiS has been hard at work trying to develop a cost effective product that would hit a homerun with both OEMs and users alike.  The combination of the 648 Northbridge and 963 Southbridge brings a long list of features such as USB 2.0, AGP 8X, ATA133 and a host of other features that help it stand out from the crowd.  Click a link and see how the SR7-8X performed when we put it to work!

Check it out at: Hot Hardware

HighPoint RocketRAID 1520 Serial ATA Controller Video Review #216 Review @ 3dGameMan
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, September 23, 2002 at 7:06 PM EST

"The HighPoint RocketRAID 1520 Controller supports the latest Serial ATA Hard Drives, all major Operating Systems and RAID 0, 1 and JBOD. This product includes two RocketHead 100 converters just in case you do not have Serial ATA Hard Drives. As with all Highpoint controllers, driver support is excellent and performance is great as well. Watch the Video to find out more..."

Check it out at: 3dGameMan

Palit Daytona Geforce 4 Ti 4200 Graphics Card Review @ 3dXtreme
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, September 23, 2002 at 7:03 PM EST

"Today 3dxtreme takes a look at the Palit Daytona Geforce 4 Ti 4200 graphics card. This card is based on the best selling Geforce 4 GPU chipset by nVidia. Although nVidia has a few higher performing video cards on the market, the Ti 4200 is the most popular due to it's incredible price to performance ratio. The Ti4200 delivers the consumer nVidia's latest technology and speed at a price that is very affordable for users on a budget. In addition to the value of the Ti4200 series, this card has all the features of the flagship GeForce 4, including Dual Vertex Shaders and Advanced Pixel Shaders to support future games. Let's take a look at the company that makes this card and the performance it delivers."

Check it out at: 3dXtreme

Asus P4T533 Motherboard Review @ insideproject
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, September 23, 2002 at 7:00 PM EST

"The P4T533 offers some of the features that are expected of current motherboards. It includes 4 USB 2.0 (and two USB 1.1) ports, onboard IDE RAID, and 6 channel onboard sound, as well as legacy connections (parallel, serial, PS/2, etc). However, it lacks some of the cutting-edge features that competitor’s boards have. These missing features include onboard Ethernet and ICH4 (the P4T533 uses ICH2) (which in and of itself includes USB 2.0 and Ethernet). "

Check it out at: insideproject

Corsair PC3200 (DDR400MHz) CAS2 Review @ hardware-test
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, September 23, 2002 at 6:57 PM EST

"I wasn’t able to overclock the RAM any higher then 440MHz. This is due to a lot of things, since I personally think it can go just a little faster. It started to get some errors when the processor has to go up to 3GHz."

Check it out at: hardware-test

PCMods Power Down Protector Review @ GideonTech
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, September 23, 2002 at 6:55 PM EST

GideonTech takes a look at the Power Down Protector from PCMods. It keeps fans on even after system power down preventing damage to equipment. We took it for a spin and ripped it apart to see what makes it tick.

Check it out at: GideonTech

Plextor PleXCombo 8/8/24-8U Review @ HotHardware
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, September 23, 2002 at 6:54 PM EST

Our man on the west coast, Chris Angelini, has reviewed Plextor's newest USB 2.0 external drive, the Plextor PleXCombo 8/8/24-8U.  This drive combines the quality of a Plextor burner, with the ability to read DVDs.  If you think any of your readers are in the market for a quality external drive, they may find this product interesting.

Check it out at: HotHardware

Lian Li PC-7323 Review @ Overclocker Café
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, September 23, 2002 at 6:51 PM EST

“While Dean has always been a fan of the mid-tower cases, I like the full towers. Mainly, because there is more room to work with inside the case.  So, when the people at Lian-Li contacted us to review their new line of server cases, I jumped at the chance. Little did I know that I would have to build an addition onto my house to put it in.“

Check it out at: Overclocker Café

Act-Labs USB PC Light Gun Review @ Voided Warranty
posted by Babylon5 on Monday, September 23, 2002 at 6:49 PM EST

"At this point I am starting to think that there is no way a product would ever be designed to act this way. That's when I decided to email tech support. I emailed them from two different email addresses, none of which were from the VoidedWarranty.com domain."

Check it out at: Voided Warranty

Titan TTC-D5TB(TC) review @ phlux
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, September 22, 2002 at 10:24 PM EST

"Not only does the fan look good but its also Thermal Regulated. This is a very big selling point for the heatsink and a very useful feature as when your pc is idle and not doing anything you don’t need all your fans on full blast creating a lot of noise. The thermal probe slows the fan down when the CPU is cool and then speeds it up again when the CPU starts to produce more heat."

Check it out at: phlux

Lian-Li PC-6085B case Review @ M:6 Hardware
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, September 22, 2002 at 10:23 PM EST

"The inside we see 5 Vertical HDD bays (3.5”), 3 Horizontal floppy bays (3.5”) and 4 Horizontal CD-ROM bays (5.25”). The edges are all smoothed, with the sharpest edge (which I tested wasn’t very sharp at all) has a plastic cover to prevent any possible cuts. Centrally you can see the power connector for the purge fan (80mm). You can see the rear 80mm exhaust fan. On the bottom are the Front USB leads and HDD LED/Power LED/Power On-Off/Reset/Speaker pins which are detachable, allowing you to remove the mother board without having to take these pins off (saves a lot of time putting them back on)."

Check it out at: M:6 Hardware

TwinMOS 512mb PC3200 DDR400 Memory Review @ Mikhailtech
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, September 22, 2002 at 10:21 PM EST

PC3200 modules have got to have a very good PCB in order to achieve such high speeds, 200MHz DDR, so the TwinMOS PC3200 RAM makes no exception. The PCB is designed with 6 layers instead of the usual 4 layers that other manufacturers use for their lower clocked models. The extra 2 PCB layers ensure the signal traces are cleaner and the memory will perform as it should. The DIMM I got did not come in a retail box, but in an antistatic bag.

Check it out at: Mikhailtech

Stomp Inc. My Sound Studio Review @ winhq
posted by Babylon5 on Sunday, September 22, 2002 at 10:17 PM EST

"The interface of My Sound Studio is superb and aesthetically pleasing. Despite the cool GUI, it's hard to use this program without some assistance. It took me a while to learn how to get around the program and use the various features. My Sound Studio isn't exactly the easiest program..."

Check it out at: winhq

DION USB Memory Drive Review @ ICEHardware
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, September 21, 2002 at 5:57 PM EST

"How annoying is it when you need to transfer files that wont fit on a floppy but are relatively small and you have to waste a CD-R on them. I find this very annoying, thats why I am a great fan of this product, it allows you to transfer files quickly and easily, and is small too."

Check it out at: ICEHardware

Setting up an Apache Web Server Article @ Monster Hardware
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, September 21, 2002 at 5:56 PM EST

"A webserver can be a great solution as an interface to content or resources sitting on a LAN for any sized network: a networked home up to a corporate sized company. You can use widely available html editors to whip up the web pages in no time and and direct users to content. From personal experience a well organized web interface requires zero training to your users, which is always a major plus. As you will see setting up restrictions access rights for the various users is a breeze. Regarding access from the outside into your intranet, one has to be very cautious and take security issues well into consideration before doing so."

Check it out at: Monster Hardware

Ahanix Iceberg 1 Water Cooling Kit Review @ MODTHEBOX
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, September 21, 2002 at 5:55 PM EST

"The water block is composed of 95% aluminium and 5% copper alloy. Its dimensions are 69 (W) x 12 (H) x 62 (D) mm. While Pentium 4 users should not be concerned with the size of the unit due to the design of the Socket 478 retention mechanism, the overall width and depth of the unit provide a small profile which should handle even the most cramped of socket installations. The unit has two 3/8 fittings, positioned at opposite ends of the block. Since the unit is completely sealed, it was impossible to inspect the internal configuration of the water block. A cross section of the block, however, can be seen on Ahanix web page. The product shot shows dozens of small channels running the length of the block. The overall performance of the block will be limited by this design, since coolant is run across the processor, picking up heat before it reaches the center of the core, where the most heat is generated."

Check it out at: MODTHEBOX

Monitor buying guide @ RipNet-UK
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, September 21, 2002 at 5:53 PM EST

"Your eyes are very important, and a small cheap 15" monitor will strain your eyes after a long stint in front of the screen. Good quality monitors are becoming easier to get hold of without spending large amounts of cash, TFT's are still too new and a little out of the general reach of Joe public..."

Check it out at: RipNet-UK

BlueTake BlueTooth Kit Review @ BurnOutPC
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, September 21, 2002 at 5:52 PM EST

"The ability to connect multiple devices wirelessly was, in the past, very expensive. Your only choice was 802.11b wireless networking. Even a small network of 3 computers could cost you (on the cheap side) 300USD. I do not care who you are, 300 bucks is a lot of cash. What has been on the table for the last year or so is a standard that would allow a user to connect multiple devices together, without the hassle of wiring, and do so with out spending a fortune. This is what we are looking at today. BlueTake's Solution for Bluetooth networking. BT007 and BT009 Bluetooth devices."

Check it out at: BurnOutPC

Zalman ZM300A-APF PSU Review @ OCAddiction
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, September 21, 2002 at 5:50 PM EST

"Getting stats on a PSU isn’t as easy as firing up Motherboard Monitor, or your proprietary monitoring software that came with your motherboard. There are many different variables that come into play. What sensor is being used on the motherboard, the length of the motherboard traces, the length of the PSU ATX, and power cabling. I am including shots of MBM 5.1.9.1 (since that’s what I use for everyday monitoring) but for true voltage performance I will be stating measurements taken with a Beckman Industrial Digital MultiMeter."

Check it out at: OCAddiction

Window Appliqué From ShatteredWeb Reviewed @ Voided Warranty
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, September 21, 2002 at 5:46 PM EST

"I spoke with the owner and he told me that the application tape will slide with the appliqué. Some of the tape stays on the white backing, so you have to use the credit card to smooth it down again."

Check it out at: Voided Warranty

AOpen AX4G Pro mainboard Review @ Overclocker Café
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, September 21, 2002 at 5:44 PM EST

“The strength of the AOpen AX4G Pro lies in its broad based appeal and pricing.  At the time of this writing, the board can be had for around $110.  That is an extremely attractive deal for business.  A mainboard, sound, video, and NIC for just over 100 clams will definitely get the attention of many a company purchasing officer.  For the gamer, the performance is there at a significantly lower price than many of the other P4 boards around.  Adding in your own VGA card removes the only detractor of running this board as a stand alone mainboard solution.”

Check it out at: Overclocker Café

Xtreme DDR PC3200 Review @ pimprig
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, September 21, 2002 at 5:43 PM EST

"Xtreme DDR is a relatively new RAM manufacturer in the world of DDR RAM. With a name like Xtreme DDR it's hard to not be curious about whether or not their claims of being "Gamers Memory" is justifiable. After exchanging some emails with the guys over at Xtreme DDR they were rather proud to point out that their PC3200 memory was approved for the new Abit AT7 Max2 motherboard."

Check it out at: pimprig

Albatron GeForce4 Ti4200P-Turbo 128MB Review @ pcstats
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, September 21, 2002 at 5:41 PM EST

"Even though the GeForce4 Ti line of videocards are no longer the fastest on the market, the GeForce4 Ti4200 is still easily the best value GPU around. To start things off, the Albatron GF4 Ti4200P Turbo uses the same 8-layer PCB design as GeForce4 Ti4400/Ti4600 videocards. It has a very impressive and well designed GPU heatsink (which we'll get into later), some flashy memory sinks, TV-Output (using the Phillips 7104E) and finally a DVI output. It seems that Albatron has taken a liking to the blue PCB's, and I for one say they look pretty awesome! The Albatron GeForce4 Ti4200P-Turbo is a tad pricer then the average Ti4200 at $270 CDN ($185 US) but that's to be expected. After all, the 8-layer PCB is more expensive to produce and it also uses higher quality 3.3ns BGA DDR RAM of which there is 128MB in this version."

Check it out at: pcstats

Design Comp CM 42-RDDCi all acrylic Computer Case Kit Video Review #215 @ 3dGameMan
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, September 21, 2002 at 5:38 PM EST

"The Design Comp CM 42-RDDCi all acrylic Computer Case Kit is very easy to assemble and made from very high quality parts which fit together extremely well. You will be hard pressed to find a case as functional and awesome looking as this product. Watch the Video to find out more..."

Check it out at: 3dGameMan

Corsair 256MB XMS PC3200 DDR @ Viper Lair
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, September 21, 2002 at 5:35 PM EST

"What can we see of the XMS memory?  It seems that Corsair has a very nice stick of RAM here, as it easily hits 200MHz at standard SPD settings, and even goes higher when the voltage is turned up.  At turbo settings this memory reaches a very nice 186MHz at standard settings, at 3v it easily reaches 200MHz and even goes higher reaching into the 210+ range at 2-2-2 1T."

Check it out at: Viper Lair

Yet more letters! @ dansdata
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, September 21, 2002 at 5:34 PM EST

This one features rudeness about computer fan "turbo timers", reasons for intermittent game-jerkiness, another reason to dislike brand name computers, USB networking options, drive partition twiddling, a whole bunch of free RAM, and The Domain That Is Not Alive, Yet Not Dead.

Check it out at: dansdata

Project: [RICE:CASE] @ M:6
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, September 21, 2002 at 5:32 PM EST

"Ever heard riced cars? How about riced computer? Yes, you heard it right.. I'm ricing my case!!! For those who don't know what rice is (not the type of food:) ) check www.riceboypage.com for more information. If you're too lazy to click the link, heres the snip:"

Check it out at: M:6

Thermalright SLK-800 heatsink review @ OCModShop
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, September 21, 2002 at 5:29 PM EST

I am thoroughly impressed with this heatsink and can say that it is the best that I have ever tested. Thermalright has again produced a high quality heatsink which can perform really well. This heatsink has a lot to offer especially because it can hold a 60mm, 70mm, and regular 80mm fan, not to mention the huge 80mm fans. The clips that hold the fan on are excellent and are very easy to use, I really like how you can quickly changes fans and don't have to use screws. The heatsink is protected with a plastic bag and the base has a plastic strip to keep it from getting scratched and the finish on the bottom is great. The only thing I do not like about this heatsink is the clip part of it. I really like that it uses all 6 tabs but like I said before the part for your screwdriver is horrible and will not make it easy for you to install this without it slipping off. I really think that Thermaltake should have fixed this problem because it was evident in the AX-7.

Check it out at: OCModShop

Leadtek GeForce 4 Ti4600 Video Card (Review) @ ipKonfig
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, September 21, 2002 at 5:26 PM EST

"Leadtek has been around for quite some time, but not until recently has it broken into the retail market and really started making its own little niche.

In past times most passed its products off as low end OEM, though there were in fact many performance cards. Now Leadtek enters a new era with a new attitude, based on a full line of retail Geforce 4-based cards. Today we will be looking at the Geforce 4 Ti4600, the current graphics leader."

Check it out at: ipKonfig

MSI 645E Max Motherbaord Review @ ReviewNation
posted by Babylon5 on Saturday, September 21, 2002 at 5:21 PM EST

"For many of the readers frequenting Review Nation, the lack of Intel/Pentium 4 products had been troubling. Well that is all going to end now. MSI has been in the business of hardware for a long time. They are quite good at it, and they know how to best utilize your computer's resources. But, I suppose the largest part of why MSI has gained so much popularity as of late, is due largely to the small price put on products of extremely high quality. It's a bargain, it works and it lasts. This seems to be the motto of MSI, and it rightfully should be. But is this motherboard for you? Well it's a socket 478, Pentium 4 ready, brilliantly red piece of hardware. Its features are simply awe inspiring considering its price. Not to mention the ability to utilize DDR RAM instead of RDRAM, this is a welcome change for Pentium 4 users. And of course the board also comes with your standard motherboard fare..."

Check it out at: ReviewNation

CoolerGuys Custom Chenming ATX-601AE @ OCIA
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, September 19, 2002 at 7:20 PM EST

"Chenming classifies this case as an Entry Server case when you go to their website. I would have to agree with that classification 100%. The locking features and ample drive bays, amongst other things, make for a great entry level server case. First, I will list the specifications and features of the case as they are directly from the Chenming website. Next, I will list the Customizations that have been added by CoolerGuys.com"

Check it out at: OCIA

Netscape 7 reviewed at RipNet-UK
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, September 19, 2002 at 7:19 PM EST

"The NS7 browser is an MDI (Multiple Document Interface) application using tabs, making it easy to have multiple websites open in a single window. You can set a "groupmark" to open a group of tabs at once, making it easy to create a group of all your favourite hardware sites - including RipNet-UK of course! and open them with one click! The tabbed interface works well..."

Check it out at: RipNet-UK

CoolerMaster Aluminum MousePad Reviewed @ BurnOutPc
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, September 19, 2002 at 7:18 PM EST

"With a company that needs no introduction here at Burnoutpc.com, Coolermaster is enjoying their 10th anniversary, and to celebrate they are releasing a collector item that will surely peek your interest."

Check it out at: BurnOutPc

ClearPC acrylic case review @ phlux
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, September 19, 2002 at 7:17 PM EST

"Well that’s enough looking at it, its time to get a system in their and see how it looks. It’s best to install the HDD’s and CD drives first and then replace the drive cage. The acrylic spacers are used on the screws to stop you from over tightening the screws for your HDD’s and therefore damaging the case. Its simple but it works."

Check it out at: phlux

Zalman 300W ZM300A-APF Quiet Power Supply Review @ frostytech
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, September 19, 2002 at 7:16 PM EST

"When was the last time you gave more than a passing thought to your power supply? If it works, good. If it can supply 300 Watts, super. If it makes noise.... you live with it right? The answer to that last question doesn't always have to be no, and in the case of the Zalman ZM300A-APF the answer most certainly is "quiet." From the outside there is no difference between this power supply and any other you can see except for the lack of a 115V-250V selector switch (this power supply has circuitry which doesn't require it). The ATX 2.03 compatible power supply is Pentium 4 compliant and supplies a healthy 300W of juice to the computer."

Check it out at: frostytech

D-Link USB Radio Review @ ICEHardware
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, September 19, 2002 at 7:12 PM EST

"BigPockets have provided us with a small, very light external PC Radio that fits into your USB port. They describe it as "the funkiest product we have seen" and comes with MP3 conversion software so you it is possible to save radio transmissions as MP3 files. Produced by the well known D-Link (often associated with networking equipment) this radio costs a mere £5.99."

Check it out at: ICEHardware

MaXXXpert Miro1 Watercooling Kit Review @ DeviantPC
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, September 19, 2002 at 7:10 PM EST

"One of the main concerns for anyone dabbling in watercooling is of course the quality of the pump used. I am in two minds whether MaXXXpert should have included a pump with their kit. On one side it is supposed to be a one-stop watercooling solution and should in principle supply the user with everything he or she needs to get started. On the other hand the quality of the pump is critical; if MaXXXpert had included a pump would it have been of high quality? Anyway it would have certainly made the kit more expensive."

Check it out at: DeviantPC

Dr.Thermal Ti V86N cooler Review @ BurnOutPC
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, September 19, 2002 at 7:09 PM EST

"Man has rediscovered copper.  Copper is one of the worlds oldest metals, and has been in use since its discovery.  While the beginnings of copper may have been in crude tools, the tools it is used in today are a lot more specialized, and definitely not as crude.  Some CPU’s are using copper within their dies, allowing for speeds faster than aluminum allows for.  And heat sinks using copper are sitting on top of these CPU’s, providing better heat transfer than aluminum as well."

Check it out at: BurnOutPC

Sound Dampening Material Shootout @ Monster Hardware
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, September 19, 2002 at 7:08 PM EST

"That’s right, a 115v 6" diameter Fulmar model 5915PC-12T-B30 fan... 35 watts and 220 cfm of raw air moving power! (grunt-grunt!) It has a metal hub and blades enclosed in a cast aluminum open frame with a grill on the input side. The rating for this fan in regards to sound level is 56db, to which I reply - either the test engineer was smoking crack that day or they definitely used a bad sound meter - it has a particularly nasty whine. With an ambient sound level of less than 60 db in my shop, the fan measured a noise output of about 80 to 84 db depending on the angle of the sound meter."

Check it out at: Monster Hardware

Avoiding electrocution Article @ dansdata
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, September 19, 2002 at 7:07 PM EST

Lots of people don't understand basic electrical theory, and as a result are unreasonably afraid of low voltage. This column explains why you shouldn't be worried.

Check it out at: dansdata

Thermal Compounds: A Definitive Guide @ insideproject
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, September 19, 2002 at 7:05 PM EST

This is the first part of a multi-series of reviews designed to help computer users of all skill levels understand certain functionalities, and to maximize their potential towards building, repairing and/or upgrading their PC. This particular section concerns the thermal conductive properties of some of the most popularly used thermal compounds on the market today, and a few of the lesser known ones as well. This review has literally taken several months to honestly test within a controlled environment (for reasons explained shortly), and yes - certain pieces of hardware were dutifully sacrificed in the process*. This review was meant to be totally comprehensive in scope, so because of a hardware failure after 3.5 months of testing, the entire process had to be completely redone from scratch, in order to preserve its complete unbiased integrity. Please note that no one is or has ever been paid anything for this review - this is a completely honest, unbiased showdown - and simply the rock bottom line.

Check it out at: insideproject

VIA's P4X400 Chipset for Pentium 4 @ GamePC
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, September 19, 2002 at 7:02 PM EST

Today at GamePC, we've finally taken a good solid look at VIA's P4X400 chipset for the Pentium 4. With boards based on the chipset finally hitting the market, we've grabbed a new board from Soyo to see how it holds up against the competition. With DDR-333, AGP 8x, and USB 2.0 functionality, the chipset holds its own on paper, but how will it score in the benchmarks? We test it against DDR and RDRAM chipsets from Intel and SiS.

Check it out at: GamePC

The Shattered Web Coloured Window Appliqués Review @ MODTHEBOX
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, September 19, 2002 at 7:00 PM EST

"The Shattered Web Coloured Appliqués arrived in a small padded white envelope. Inside the review package were three sample designs: The Punisher Logo, Counter Strike Logo and the Mortal Combat Logo. The standard sizes for most of the appliqués offered measure 7 1/2", which is the perfect size for a side panel window. The same appliqués designs can also be reproduced in smaller sizes measuring 3 1/2", which are perfect for cases with top mount windows. To assist with the installation, a one page reference sheet is included as well as a plastic blue squeegee."

Check it out at: MODTHEBOX

Palit Daytona GeForce 4 Ti4200 (Review) @ ipKonfig
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, September 19, 2002 at 6:58 PM EST

"Palit Daytona is a company that too many may either be unheard of, or just a small OEM. Today we are here to find out why this is not the whole story, and what makes the Palit card prime competition against mainstream products like Asus, MSI, and many others.

Palit has broken the mold with its marketing strategy, and instead of trying to lure you into buying its product with a large software and/or hardware bundle, it just gives you what you want and are paying for: a top end graphics card, drivers and a box."

Check it out at: ipKonfig

Stomp Inc's MySoundStudio Review @ Tech-Dreams
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, September 19, 2002 at 6:56 PM EST

"Have you ever wanted to mix your own music? Create audio buttons for your flash website? Or simply edit an mp3 track that overlaps to another song? If you answered yes to any of these questions than you might want to go over to Stomp Inc.'s website and check out there new software, MySoundStudio. Yes, I do know there are many different types of audio editing software available today, but are they easy to use? I've played with a few in my time, and some are truly complicated, so when I installed Stomp Inc.'s audio editing software I was pleased of the fact I did not need a manual to get started using the basics of this program. With that being said, let's get on with the review."

Check it out at: Tech-Dreams

Kingston 512mb SODIMM Review @ Mikhailtech
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, September 19, 2002 at 6:54 PM EST

The stick itself is comprised of eight modules, each one 64mb in size (64x8=512). So why are 1GB DIMMs stacked? And why don't we see 2GB sticks? And what's the density limit per module? Who knows. But at least one reason why we don't have higher capacity DIMMs is the same reason a 512mb SODIMM costs about three times as much. At this stage, it's simply not economical. Back to the sample at hand, mine came with a pre-attached heat spreader, though I doubt its effectiveness.

Check it out at: Mikhailtech

Soyo P4X400 DDR400 Mainboard Review @ Active-Hardware
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, September 19, 2002 at 6:52 PM EST

Ever since the introduction of the "Dragon" series of mobos, Soyo has been taken with the idea of producing boards with a wide variety of features and functionality. The new Platinum Edition P4X400 -- for its part -- comes in a silver finish, and can boast of support for DDR400 memory, ATA133 drivers, a RAID 0+1 controller, a six-channel C-Media 8738 sound-card, and integrated SPDIF connectors.

Check it out at: Active-Hardware

ASUS 8420 Geforce 4 Ti 4200 @ Riva3d
posted by Babylon5 on Thursday, September 19, 2002 at 6:50 PM EST

"The V8420 Deluxe is Asus's latest addition to the Geforce 4 Ti series, and is designed for the mid-range 3D market. Using the latest Geforce 4 Ti4200 GPU from Nvidia, it's the lowest of the Geforce 4 Ti range, but offers incredible value for money and performance at just $210 USD."

Check it out at: Riva3d

Arkua 848X-6B 1U Pentium 4 Heatsink Review @ frostytech
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, September 18, 2002 at 7:43 PM EST

"When was the last time you said to yourself "I need a 1U heatsink for my Pentium 4 server" and came up empty? Well, this week we are examining a few 1U and 2U heatsinks for the socket 478 form factor. These heatsinks are being manufactured with the intention that they will be used to cool down server chips, but in this day and age it seems more likely that these active heatsinks will get mounted into a Small Form Factor PC. In those small aluminum cases, space is at a premium just as it is in servers. The goal in each instance is to optimize the thermal performance of the heatsink."

Check it out at: frostytech

Actiontec 802.11a 54Mbps Wireless Gear Review @ pcstats
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, September 18, 2002 at 7:42 PM EST

"The Actiontec PCMCIA cards which house the 802.11a components are compatible with 32-bit Type II PC Cardbus slots and will fit in just about any notebook on the market today. Below the black plastic part which pops up to a little over twice the height of the rest of the card sits an Atheros AR5000 WLAN chipset which operates at between 5.15 and 5.35GHz. That signal range puts the 802.11a way out of the range of interference created by microwaves, cellular & cordless phones, Bluetooth and even good old 802.11b. The FCC licences 5.25 - 5.35 / 5.65-5.85GHz to high power radar systems which is about the only thing left to possibly cause interference from what we can tell."

Check it out at: pcstats

AOpen AX4B-533 Tube Motherboard (Socket 478) Video Review #214 @ 3dGameMan
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, September 18, 2002 at 7:40 PM EST

"The AOpen AX4B-533 Tube Motherboard has some very interesting features like Vacuum Tube onboard Audio, Dr. Voice II, Watch Dog Timer, USB 2, etc.. There is no question that this is a very high quality product; however, with the current BIOS this motherboard has very little overclocking potential. Watch the Video to find out more..."

Check it out at: 3dGameMan

Plextor Plexwriter 40/12/40U Review @ InsideProject
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, September 18, 2002 at 7:39 PM EST

"As in our earlier Plextor internal 40x review we tried Burn-Proof technology, we tried it this time too. We burnt the same 300mb image file from HDD to CD while copying files over network, multitasking and watching DivX movie! Burn-Proof technology was used, but Plextor managed to burn the cd completely with no errors on the disc."

Check it out at: InsideProject

Tweakmonster Glowing Light Tape Review @ insideproject
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, September 18, 2002 at 7:32 PM EST

The world of PC mods continues to offer new options to the enthusiast looking to do something new to his case. Among the more recent additions is that of light tape. Light tape is essentially an electroluminescent material with a sticky backing. Attached to an inverter, the tape can be given power from a computer's 12 volt power supply and made to glow brightly. It is made in a variety of colors, by a number of manufacturers. Today we'll be looking at the product made by Tweakmonster, sold by Highspeed PC. This is Rev. 2 of the light tape.

Check it out at: insideproject

UV Sensitive Fans, PSU Mod and Rounded Cables Showcase @ OCIA
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, September 18, 2002 at 7:30 PM EST

"As with the case fans and the rounded cables, our newest "mod toy", the PSU replacement cover, has evolved. In the beginning we had your standard color covers. Case-Mod.com has taken this as well as the two above mentioned products and taken them one step further by adding UV sensitivity to each product. In this article we will take a look at each item and show you what type of results you can expect from them."

Check it out at: OCIA

Nexland ISB SOHO @ Viper Lair
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, September 18, 2002 at 7:29 PM EST

"In today's world of increased computer use, households on average now have at least 2 computers. Internet access has almost become a necessity, and broadband is now more popular than ever. Yet how is one to distribute a connection between the computers in one's household? The simple answer is to get a router and use ipmasq to create an internal network."

Check it out at: Viper Lair

DFI AD77 Infinity - KT400 Preview @ hardware-test
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, September 18, 2002 at 7:28 PM EST

"Now let's take a look at the KT400, which is one of the newest chipsets available. The Northbridge is called VT8368. One of the biggest changes is the increase in bandwidth that's between the North- and Southbridge. It has been increased to whopping 533MB/s, which is exactly double of what the KT333CE had. The KT400 also supports AGP8x, which is something that we are going to see more about in the future. "

Check it out at: hardware-test

Corsair 512MB XMS3200 review @ OCModShop
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, September 18, 2002 at 7:27 PM EST

Corsair has once again made an outstanding product and my thoughts of the company is still the same as it was from when I reviewed their XMS2700. They are continuing to make superior products which can outperform almost any other in the market. This is the best stick of RAM that I have come across so far and it is very high quality. I really love the fact that this stick was able to run at 2-2-2 1T @ 200 FSB because that's faster than its specifications. I really need a KT400 motherboard because I want to see how high I can get this stick of RAM on a motherboard that can actually utilize the full potential of it. If a KT333 motherboard can do DDR400 2-2-2 1T a good KT400 motherboard should own. This stick of RAM is going to cost you about $200 which isn't cheap but the quality and performance that you are going to get from it are more than worth the money.

Check it out at: OCModShop

How To Article: DVD to DivX Backup @ bitbender
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, September 18, 2002 at 7:26 PM EST

"In other words, DivX makes your DVD backup look good, damn good, just as MP3 did to CD backups (well, for most people at least). What we're going to do today is backup your precious DVDs, which you bought at your favorite store, so in case your pet (includes, cat, dog, significant other) scratches the dics beyond repair, throws it in the dumpster, or chews it up, you'll still have a backup of your favorite movie - Grease."

Check it out at: bitbender

The Akasa AK-821 Heatsink (Review) @ SystemCooling
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, September 18, 2002 at 7:24 PM EST

"No, it’s not a typo. I’m reviewing another Akasa. Last time I ran a comparison review of the Akasa AK-824 and my MCXC370 paired with the screamin’ Delta 60mm. It was more of an apples and oranges test. This week we pit the brothers against each other in a no-holds-barred cage match. As is my custom, I started my prep work by researching this unit on the net. I searched for costs, specs and previous reviews. I certainly didn’t want to foist a simple regurgitation of an existing work on you where we would both be done a disservice. I hope I bring a fresh look to reviews that are both informative and interesting."

Check it out at: SystemCooling

OCAddiction reviews OCSystems Overclocked P4 System
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, September 18, 2002 at 7:22 PM EST

"Some of the little things other PC assemblers may take some short cuts on OCSystem did not.  The Enermax 465 is a great power supply that regardless of any fans or additional drives you add will perform very well.  The Coolermaster and especially the Swiftech heatsinks are outstanding.  Swiftech has been kicking ass in the heatsink market for awhile now.  The Thermaltake Tiger1 helps keep the Abit IT7-Max's chipset cool and is a nice upgrade over the rather cheap aluminum, passive heatsink Abit put on it.  Also, the Thermaltake GeForce4 Copper Cooler is again the best off the shelf video card cooler on the market and the addition of the RAMsinks make the card look better and give it better stability on those hot summer days.  Additionally, OCSystem will add a 5th fan to the top of the case and give you a choice of several quality fans.  They installed the Blue LED fans in the review unit I used, which look very nice in a dim or dark room."

Check it out at: OCAddiction

PNY Quadro 4 900XGL Profession MCAD Graphics - Review @ HotHardware
posted by Babylon5 on Wednesday, September 18, 2002 at 7:21 PM EST

Tonight we are straying a bit from our typical fray and stepping into the Professional MCAD Graphics scene.  Our in-house CAD-Man John "tool." Fiegener took an all new PNY Quadro 4 900XGL, based on the GeForce 4 Quadro GPU, for a spin tonight.

Check it out at: HotHardware

Highpoint hard disk controller RocketRAID 1520 Review @ Active-Hardware
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, September 17, 2002 at 7:16 PM EST

Serial ATA is an easy-to-implement drive connection standard that, according to manufacturers, is designed to scale from the current speeds of ATA133, all the way to ATA800. This particular article will be dedicated to testing one particular Serial ATA controller -- the two-channel RAID 0+1 Highpoint RocketRAID 1520.

Check it out at: Active-Hardware

RocketRAID 1520 reviewed @ dansdata
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, September 17, 2002 at 7:12 PM EST

You can buy Serial ATA controllers right now. You can't buy Serial ATA drives, though. This situation is not as silly as it sounds, and I explain why in my review of HighPoint's RocketRAID 1520 SATA controller card.

Check it out at: dansdata

Sony SDM-X82 LCD Monitor and IDF 2002 Tech Showcase at GamePC
posted by Babylon5 on Tuesday, September 17, 2002 at 7:11 PM EST

Today at GamePC, we're bringing you two new pieces of content to chew on. First off, we've taken a look at Sony's second-generation 18.1" LCD display, the SDM-X82. The SDM-X82 boasts sleek new styling, 1280x1024 resolution, and dual monitor inputs. Can it satisfy the needs of gamers too? We take it for a test drive.

Check it out at: GamePC

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