Not a striped PSU, it's a silent PSU

Subject: Systems | February 21, 2006 - 04:30 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Pro-Clockers takes a look at a silent PSU from AeroCool, the Zerodba 620W PSU.  The first time you glance at the title, it may come across as Zebra, but this really is a silent PSU with enough power to handle any dual-VGA setup. 

"This one is for all those that like a PC quiet. Whether you are an owner of a HTPC or a high end

gaming powerhouse, our next product up for review may be what you need.

VR-Zone spills the beans on NV-71

Subject: Graphics Cards | February 21, 2006 - 01:20 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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The specs for the upcoming nVIDIA cards are very impressive, if VR-Zone's scoop is right.  It could even be enough to bump ATI's performance crown off.

Also, if video editing and manipulation is more your thing, check out Ryan's review of the X1900 All-In-Wonder.

"VR-Zone has posted some specs for the upcoming 90nm G71 series already. There will be two models

as we have revealed before; the GeForce 7900 GTX and GeForce 7900 GT.

Watercooling get easier with XSPC

Subject: Cases and Cooling | February 21, 2006 - 12:55 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Techniz reviews the XSPC X20 universal liguid cooling kit.  It is an easy to use all in one basic system, with a pump, CPU block and radiator, aimed at someone who has never changed to watercooling.  I even provides much better cooling than air, so you can see why people make the change from air cooling.

"Love it or hate is water cooling is here to stay, I'm undecided about whether or not I like water

cooling.

Someone has to go first to disprove the rumours

Subject: General Tech | February 21, 2006 - 12:01 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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PC Mechanic has posted a top 4 list of common PC Myths and Misconceptions.  They are quite funny and, believe it or not, quite common.  If you have fallen prey to any of them, take heart, because somebody had to lead the way, and discover if SATA worked or not.  That's life on the bleeding edge, more often than not.

"The internet is a great medium for getting information and help on all sorts of subjects.

NVIDIA Takes the Stage

Subject: Graphics Cards | February 20, 2006 - 02:26 PM | Jonathan Hung
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With ATI generating most of the buzz in recent weeks, NVIDIA has stepped up to deliver some excitement of their own. The biggest news being the demise of the 7800-series cards, and the introduction of 7900-series GTX and GT parts.

The 8 Horsemen of Vista

Subject: General Tech | February 20, 2006 - 11:50 AM | Jonathan Hung
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engadget is reporting 8 flavours of Windows Vista. It appears Microsoft is sticking with their "Home-Professional-Enterprise" product model. I'm curious to see what the feature difference is for the "Vista Home Premium" and the "Vista Business" boxes. I hear "Vista Ultimate" comes with a posse.

"Wow, ok, Bill, since you're reading this and all, we've got to tell you a little something about product branding.

MSI's Platinum Intel board

Subject: Cases and Cooling | February 17, 2006 - 05:45 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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With CrossFire, support for the new Intel chips, DDR2 and SATA2, the MSI 975X Platinum is a good solid board.  Hardware Zone has posted a full review of this well thought out board.

"MSI delivers a new motherboard with native CrossFire capabilities using the Intel 975X Express

chipset.

7.1 THX speakers to go with your 7.1 soundcard

Subject: General Tech | February 17, 2006 - 05:15 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Don't let those extra 2 channels got to waste, pick up a 7.1 speaker system, like Creative Labs GigaWorks S750.  Laptop Gamers has posted a review.

"This THX certified speaker system delivers an unbelievable gaming experience when combined with a

7.1 sound card such as the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS.

Upgrading your watercooling system

Subject: Cases and Cooling | February 17, 2006 - 03:20 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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X-bit Labs has posted the results of an odd project.  They wanted to know if the least expensive Asetek WaterChill can be upgraded peicemeal to perform better, and what the difference between that system, and Asetek's top of the line model will be.

"Asetek has long been acknowledged by PC enthusiasts as the best manufacturer of water coolers.

Tune into the next Half Life 2 for the exciting conclusion

Subject: General Tech | February 17, 2006 - 02:49 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Ars Technica reports on a change of plans for Valve.   Half Life 2 may have several sequels, that appear like TV series, and are downloadable via Steam.  While probably not as long as a normal game, hopefully there will be many of them.

"The Half-Life franchise is moving to an episodic release schedule according to comments from

Valve's Doug Lombardi. Lombardi has revealed that Half-Life 2: Aftermath has been renamed to

Half-Life 2: Episode One.

Media player flaw already exploitable

Subject: General Tech | February 17, 2006 - 02:37 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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The media player flaw that Microsoft patched on Tuesday already has 2 proof of concept attacks according to CNet.  That makes it very likely that exploits are already roaming around in the wild.  Patch 'em if you got 'em.

"The "proof-of-concept" exploits that take advantage of a flaw in the media player were posted on

the Web over the past couple of days.

New hardware leaderboard, the dream system gets even better

Subject: Systems | February 16, 2006 - 06:50 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Check it out!

'Starting at the top, the biggest difference we see is a move from an nForce4-based SLI system to an ATI Xpress 200 CrossFire-based system sporting the new X1900 XTX GPU and the X1900 CrossFire cards.  While this did increase the price of the graphics on the system, the fact was that even IF the NVIDIA 7800 GTX 512s had been in stock, they just aren't as fast as ATI's R580 core.  Plus...they weren't in stock.  :)'

Crucial pours on the speed

Subject: Memory | February 16, 2006 - 05:40 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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While AMD enthusuasts await the day they can use DDR2, memory makers are continuing to improve the speed, since Intel chipsets do support it.  Neoseeker reviews Crucial's Ballistix PC2-6400 (800Mhz), a perfect example of how tight timings (4-4-4-10) can push performance to almost equal the performance of PC2-8000 (1000Mhz).

"The Crucial PC2-6400 got the second highest score here -- it was only 4.2% slower than the

Corsair PC2-8000, even though the PC2-8000 was running at a 25% faster memory clock

Keep it going ... and going ... and going ...

Subject: Mobile | February 16, 2006 - 04:06 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Laptop Lifestyle reveals every trick they know to extend the battery life of your laptop.  Don't get caught with a dead laptop again, go check it out.

"You've got a five-hour flight from Los Angeles to New York City, and one battery in your laptop.

You've got work to do, DVDs to watch, and games to play. How are you going to get that battery to

last?

X1900XTX Shootout

Subject: Cases and Cooling | February 16, 2006 - 03:14 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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AnandTech has grabbed a representative sample of XT and XTX cards in a big graphics shootout.  Now that ATI has regained the performance throne, it's time to see which card can out do the rest.

"The X1900 took a long time in coming, but now that it's here, it's taken its place squarely on

the top in graphics card performance.

WolfKing Warrior attacks, WASD trembles

Subject: General Tech | February 16, 2006 - 01:08 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Can the WolfKing's Warrior, a very round keyboard-like device, with 52 keys and a few extra buttons, add something to your FPS experience?  ExtremeTech has a review of this odd device, and they even seem to like it.  Maybe you can finally abandon your normal keyboard while gaming.

"That was until we came across the Wolf Claw Type II keyboard from a small company in Singapore

last summer. To a normal keyboard, the Wolf Claw added a dedicated WASD-friendly gaming area to

the left.

Will MIT be the one to finally provide us with flying cars

Subject: General Tech | February 16, 2006 - 12:05 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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CNet reports on an MIT project that might soon provide us with a commercially available flying SUV.  The folding wings they propose are not terribly new, the technology has been fully tested on fighter jets.  Even better they are hoping to get a vehicle that get 30 miles a gallon in the air, and about 30-40 miles per gallon on the ground.  It will carry just over 400 pounds, and hit 120 miles per hour in the air.

"Terrafugia, a start-

Give your air cooling some style

Subject: Cases and Cooling | February 15, 2006 - 06:29 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Think Computer has posted a review of AC Ryan's new BlackFire fans.  They are very bright and colourful, and have LEDs, on seperate power leads, so adding the fans to a fan controller won't necessarily mean that the LEDs dim when you slow the fan down.  They could well be one of the easiest ways to get into modding your box.

'If you know modding, chances are you know AC Ryan. They make a lot of cool modder related

supplies, but it's not all just for modders.