Taming the heat of a P4, Asus style

Subject: Cases and Cooling | November 1, 2005 - 03:13 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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It's a big, bad, powerful cooler, but it only fits on P4 systems (LGA 775).  Motherboards.org reviews the Asus VR Cooler, which tames the heat of the Prescott, even overclocked.

"For our closing remarks, I'd have to think that our comments on the performance will more than

suffice - wow. At a great price with great performance, there's almost nothing not to love about

this heatsink, apart from the disappointing lack of cross platform mounting.

All you wanted to know about HTPC ....

Subject: Systems | November 1, 2005 - 02:37 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Big Bruin finishes off the HTPC guide they started today, with the second part.  You know all about the audio and video, this guide covers the rest of the components and issues you could have. 

"In the first of a two-part series of Tech Tips on getting started with a Home Theater PC, or

HTPC, we looked at the two most basic features to be considered: audio and video.

Intel Launches Next Wave Of Multi-Core Server Platforms

Subject: General Tech | November 1, 2005 - 12:57 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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SANTA CLARA, Calif., Nov. 1, 2005 — Originally planned for early 2006, Intel Corporation's first dual-core, hyper-threaded processors for servers with four or more processors started shipping today. The processors deliver record levels of performance² and are optimal for multi-threaded applications such as database, supply chain management and financial services software.

'With a current installed base of over 30 million, Intel Xeon processor-based servers are the proven platform of choice,' said Kirk Skaugen, general manager of Intel's Server Platforms Group.

ABS unleashes some Mayhem into the laptop market

Subject: Mobile | November 1, 2005 - 12:16 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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[H]ard|OCP plays with the ABS Mayhem G4 Gaming Laptop.   They take you through everything from buying the system over the web, to initial use, to contacting tech support. 

"The chassis was truly impressive. I'm not a laptop man, but this system has made me think twice

about them. The widescreen, high-resolution display is beautiful and the chassis has shown that it

can put up with a lot of gaming and stay comfortable. The internal build quality was also smart.

Double the Cache, Double your fun

Subject: Storage | November 1, 2005 - 11:58 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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The Tech Zone reviews Western Digital's new Caviar SE16 400 GB HDD.  Unlike many of the 400GB HDD's coming out, WD's Caviar sports a 16MB cache, giving you some impressive performance.  As well, it is a quiet drive, as you would expect from WD's higher end drives.

"400GB hard drives seem to be somewhat of a median at the moment, they are not overly expensive

for the amount of storage you receive.

Beware! Poison .bats ahead!

Subject: General Tech | November 1, 2005 - 11:49 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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CNet reports on a vunerablility affecting many popular Anti-Virus programs.  They describe a "magic bit" that could be added to a .bat file, that will make your scanner completely ignore the file instead of scanning it.

"By adding some data to a file, an attacker could trick virus scanners into letting a malicious

executable file pass through, security researcher Andrey Bayora wrote in an advisory last week.

The Phantom Always Knocks Twice

Subject: Systems | October 31, 2005 - 06:59 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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2 reviews, one powerful powersupply.  Start with Club Overclockers look at the Antec Phantom 500 ATX Power Supply, and once you've digested it fully, read our own Robotech's take on it.  After that, you should know everything there is to know about this made for SLI PSU.

Got SLI?

When 1600 DPI just isn't enough

Subject: General Tech | October 31, 2005 - 06:46 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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... you get the Razer Copperhead 2000 DPI Laser Mouse.  Big Bruin gives you the full run down on all it's bells and whistles.

"Razer has packed a lot of features into a mouse with great looks.

2 Gigs big, 1T fast

Subject: Memory | October 31, 2005 - 06:38 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Corsair's newest, their TWINX2048-4000PT Platinum Series gets a workout at Think Computers.  They are impressed by the timings, and the speeds they could get when manipulating the the timings.

'Hot off the heels of the last Corsair review, we have another Corsair review for you. Corsair has

done it again, they are leading the pack in memory technology advancements, by releasing yet

another quality high performance memory product.

MP3 Player Madness - Just which one do I want?

Subject: General Tech | October 31, 2005 - 02:31 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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R&B Mods offers some advice to those who are finding the MP3 Player market a little confusing.  With the dozens of main brands, each having dozens of models, finding the right player to put under the tree might not be as easy as you first though.

"I have worked at an Mp3 company before, (not to mention any names) and I have somewhat of an idea

of what to look for when it comes to an mp3 player. I worked as support crew which gives me an

idea what people are looking for in general.

Secret Decoder Ring for your A64

Subject: Processors | October 31, 2005 - 02:18 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Overclocked Inside wants to make sure you know everything you can about your A64 processor.  To that end, they've set up an interactive translator, where you enter your model number (ex.

Happy Halloween!

Subject: Editorial | October 31, 2005 - 12:21 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: blog

When a golf ball meets a case fan

Subject: Cases and Cooling | October 31, 2005 - 12:07 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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MVKTech has review up of Sharkoon's Silent Eagles.  Not only will it go well with that Golf themed PC you're working on, but an 80mm fan that moves 22.7CFM at 17.8 dB(A) is not something you have to yell over to be heard.

"Sharkoon came up with a new silent solution when it comes to fans, namely the Silent Eagle range.

The Silent Eagle comes in 2 different versions, the Eagle 1000 and Eagle 2000 where the number

stands for the rotation speed of the propeller.

The Guru Delivers - nVHardPage SE version 3.2

Subject: Graphics Cards | October 31, 2005 - 11:54 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Guru of 3D's nVHardPage SE lets you tweak settings on your video card, through an easy to use software program, and they've updated it to version 3.2.  If you use it, update it ... if you've never tried it, maybe you should give it a try and see if you can breed a bit more life into your old nVidia card.

"Do you seek an easy way to en/disable overclocking options or vsync your ForceWare drivers

without the burden of importing registry entries or the need to go in that registry yourself ?

Happy Halloween

Subject: Cases and Cooling | October 31, 2005 - 11:41 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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So what if it will be obsolete within a week, get your Pumpkin PC today!!!

"Just in time for Halloween, the staff at the computer store at the University of Arkansas have

created a seasonally appropriate PC."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

• Intel's new bus is a lot

like the old one @ The Inquirer

High Speed, Low Latency, Easy Overclocking

Subject: Memory | October 28, 2005 - 07:04 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Having a high FSB isn't the only way for memory to excel. Overclockers Online looks at OCZ's PC4000 2GB EB Platinum Edition.  This set of dual channel RAM is set to very low latency right out of the box.  Either leave it alone, and enjoy the performance, or find your own overclocked sweet spot with this kit.

"Gone are the days when the best performance is provided by 1GB kits of memory.

When there's something strange ... with your temperatures ...

Subject: Cases and Cooling | October 28, 2005 - 06:58 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Who you gunna call?  Heat Buster!!!  Well, maybe not ... but Maximium CPU does have a review of the PCI cooler with more today.  Not only does it provide cooling to whatever component is closest to where you place it, it also has an exhaust to remove more hot air from the case.

'The Heat Buster from PowerColor is a PCI slot cooler, with a little more to offer. It has the

standard exhaust fan, as well as a second, adjustable fan to help facilitate air movement in your

case.

PSU Review For You

Subject: Systems | October 28, 2005 - 06:36 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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3DXtreme has a 3 way comparision of PSU's - SinTek 500w SLI, Enermax Liberty 500w and Silverstone Strider 600w.  See what they liked, and what they though could have been done better

"A stable source of power is the heart of every working PC. Overclockers can appreciate a stable

and sufficient Power Supply as this could be the 'make it or break it' component within their PC.