Quad core and Crossfire from ABS

Subject: Systems | November 10, 2006 - 03:35 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged:

ABS, one of [H]ard|OCP's favorite vendors has designed a very powerful gaming system.  The performance is something to behold, both gaming and encoding, but as it was a pre-release system, there were a few troubles.

Squeeze a full ATX board into 90mm

Subject: Systems | November 7, 2006 - 04:46 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged:

The Thermaltake Mozart Sx Slim HTPC case uses some innovative ideas to let you fit a full ATX board, and even a normal 1 slot PCIe video card in a tiny area.  hardCOREware has posted a full review of this well made HTPC case.

The Hypersonic Boom is caused by the money flying out of your wallet.

Subject: Systems | November 2, 2006 - 03:35 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged:

[H]ard|OCP reviews the Hypersonic Sonic Boom OCX, a hard core gaming system.  The bad new is the price tag, at $3400.00, but the good news is that it gets you a Core 2 Duo E6600 (2.4GHz), 2GB of Mushkin RAM and a GeForce 7950 GX2 SLI graphics card.  As [H] finds by the end of their experience, you do get your money's worth if you can afford it.

Pre-HP Voodoo Small Form Factor

Subject: Systems | October 20, 2006 - 02:55 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged:

[H]ard|OCP published a review of the Voodoo Hexx, just before HP purchased Voodoo, so their review may not be representative of the experience one will have with HP.  That said, this $3000 SFF gaming machine has the stats to perform on paper, but [H] found the real machine a little lacking.

Faster than a speeding HTPC, more powerful than a normal SFF

Subject: Systems | October 19, 2006 - 05:57 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged:

It's the Shuttle SD37P2 SFF XPC, built for Core 2 Duo and Crossfire.  [H]ard|OCP was given one to try out and they found that while it's performance certainly stood out amongst other SFF systems, there were some irregularities with the power that caused some concerns.

VIA and UK System Partners Launch World's First Carbon Free Personal Computers

Subject: Systems | October 11, 2006 - 11:51 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged:

IA joins with leading UK-based system providers Evesham and
Tranquil to launch computers ideal for organizations looking to reduce
their Carbon Footprint

London, England, October
11, 2006 - VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator and developer of
silicon chip technologies and PC platform solutions, today announced
with partners Evesham Technology and Tranquil PC the world's first
Carbon Free Computers based on the ultra energy-efficient VIA C7®

AMD INTRODUCES MORE CHOICE TO THE AMD LIVE!(TM) PC DIGITAL MEDIA SOLUTION

Subject: Systems | October 11, 2006 - 11:31 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged:

SUNNYVALE, CALIF. — October 11, 2006 — AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced the availability of new AMD LIVE!™ PCs from Alienware and Dell, expanding the selection of popular, easy-to-use PCs designed to help simplify today's digital lifestyle. The AMD LIVE!

[H] takes another shot at the Falcon

Subject: Systems | October 5, 2006 - 03:53 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged:

Falcon Northwest's FragBox II is undergoing close scrutiny at [H]ard|OCP.  They discovered some issues the first time the reviewed a system from them, and this system had some too.  Of course, if they didn't run into any problems, how can they find out how well the Tech Support team performs.

Small Form Factor, not just for HTPCs anymore

Subject: Systems | October 4, 2006 - 05:42 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged:

Ars Technica has published a guide to Small Form Factor PCs.  While the main usage for that footprint still lies in home built HTPCs, it has matured to the point where it can make an attractive and powerful system.  Now that most of the major features come built into the motherboard, and you can buy smaller video cards that are every bit as powerful as the larger versions, you really can consider SFFs for gaming and other computer tasks.

Origen AE X11, an underdog in the HTPC market

Subject: Systems | September 27, 2006 - 05:53 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged:

HEXUS heard tell of a company called OrigenAE, who had an HTPC case just waiting to be reviewed.  Seeing as how it is a company almost no one has heard of, and that the case seemed to be designed for higher end HTPC systems, they jumped at the chance to review it.  Drop by to find out if this company should be more popular, or if it remain languishing in obscurity.

You can't always teach old tech support new tricks

Subject: Systems | September 26, 2006 - 03:24 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged:

Dell's XPS 410 is a solid performing system, [H]ard|OCP was quite happy with the performance of the sytem when gaming or using it for other multimedia applications.  However, several issues with the system had them dealing with Tech Support, whose performance was far from stellar.

Sailin' a Core 2 Duo with tha help of Gateway

Subject: Systems | September 19, 2006 - 01:55 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged:

Our mates at [H]ard|OCP be doing a review of the Gateway FX510XG system o' gaming.  She be rigged out for a hard sail into whatever realms o' tha imagination you might be venturing towards.

"Gateway couples an Intel Core 2 Duo with one of ATI's most powerful graphics processors. Could this be a match made in heaven?"

Here are some more Systems articles from around the web:

HTPC or LAN party box ... you decide

Subject: Systems | September 14, 2006 - 11:59 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged:

Is a 5.5lb SFF case designed to fit dual video cards, 4 drives, a full power supply, and 4 fans designed for HTPC use, or as a mobile box to take on the road?  Either way SPCR takes a long look at the QMicra from PC Design Lab, to figure out what niche this case best fits in.

New Dell Dimension PCs Featuring NVIDIA nForce and GeForce technologies

Subject: Systems | September 13, 2006 - 05:44 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged:

Quickly go from work-mode to play-mode with a Dell™ Dimension™ desktop powered by NVIDIA. Whether you are crunching numbers, watching a Hollywood blockbuster, or taking on the enemy in your favorite game, the new Dell™ Dimension™ can deliver the performance and features you need with the flexibility you desire.

The new Dell™ Dimension™ E521 and C521 feature the NVIDIA® GeForce® 6150 LE graphics processing unit (GPU), which is designed to deliver:

Antec's home for overclocked HTPC systems

Subject: Systems | September 5, 2006 - 05:32 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged:

The Antec Fusion seems aptly named, a mix of HTPC style, with some serious cooling.  It is very easy to set up with the colour coded instructions and the quiet power supply and 120mm fans don't make that much noise.  Take a look and see if you are as impressed as Overclockers Online.

Overclock your way to savings

Subject: Systems | September 5, 2006 - 03:47 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged:

With a bit of tweaking, and a good cooling system, [H] will show you how to put together a budget system with the performance of an Intel Extreme Edition or an AMD FX processor.   Make sure you read it.

You can also get a second opinion from Ryan, he has just updated the Hardware Leaderboard, and for the first time ever, 3 of the 4 systems are Intel.

Complete Core 2 Duo system for those on a budget

Subject: Systems | August 30, 2006 - 05:54 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged:

AnandTech reviews the PC Club Enpower Sabre Extreme, a Core 2 Duo system with 1Gb of RAM, a 19' LCD, a 250Gb hard drive, a 7900 GT and more.  At $1,400 it won't empty your wallet as badly as some other new systems will, so take a look to see if it's what you want.

Viiv versus AMD Live, just your standard battle for dominance

Subject: Systems | August 29, 2006 - 03:20 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged:

HTPC's are quickly becoming a common thing, so Intel and AMD have decided to each offer their own standards.  They take 2 very different approaches, Intel's is to only allow pre-made machines to carry the Viiv label, while AMD has made a list of approved components, so you can choose between buying a complete system, or building your own.  TweakTown has gathered a lot of information on this battle to rule the Digital Home.