ECS' s939 Budget SLI Board

Subject: Motherboards | September 23, 2005 - 12:38 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Just because the ECS' Nforce 4 board, the KN1 SLI is touted as a discount board, doesn't mean they skimped on the layout of the board, or the package it comes with.  Read the full review at InsaneTek.

"The KN1 SLI Extreme is the latest AMD flagship motherboard from ECS. The motherboard performs well and has great overclocking potential.

2 Gigs Or Not 2 Gigs, That's The RAM Question

Subject: Memory | September 23, 2005 - 11:59 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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If you play Battlefield2 or Half-Life2 regularly, the chances are good you have at least 1 Gb of DDR in your system, and are still annoyed by the occasional lag.  Well, to save you from spending your own money to test the effects of another gig of RAM, Club OC did some tests on a 2GB Gold Edition kit from OCZ, see what effect it had, and the overclock they managed.

"For the past year I've always recommended 1gb of good DDR or DDR2. No more, no less.

Quick, Easy & Cheap Upgrades

Subject: Cases and Cooling | September 22, 2005 - 07:25 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Futurelooks has posted a very simple and easy to understand guide on inexpensive upgrades that can keep your computer running.  If you are wondering where to start when upgrading an older PC, give it a read!

"The cruel reality of the personal tech revolution is that to keep up with the virtual Joneses, you have to upgrade your hardware and software about every two years. Nowadays, no one wants to spend several grand on a new system.

Always Practice Safe SMS

Subject: General Tech | September 22, 2005 - 05:56 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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The recent reports of bluetooth enabled cars being infected with viruses may have turned out to be mostly false, but it has been discovered that your SmartPhone could infect your PC.  CNET has the full story.

"A Trojan virus that attempts to spread from smart phones to users' PCs was discovered Wednesday, marking one of the first cases of virus "cross-sharing" between the two devices, according to security firm F-Secure."

Here is some more Tech News from around t

Aerocool Does Impressions Of Other Cases & More

Subject: Cases and Cooling | September 22, 2005 - 03:39 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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3DXtreme reviews 2 of Aerocools latest cases, the Masstige which resembles a slightly scaled down CM Stacker, and the AeroEngine II, that bears a striking resemblance to a light weight ThermalTake Armor.  Check out the review to see how they compare to the originals. 

"Today 3DXtreme is proud to present our latest review of the AeroCool Masstige and AeroEngine II Cases. We've been privileged to review some of AeroCool's newest hardware and they've never failed to impress us.

The Power Of Two A64 4000+'s In One Chip & More

Subject: Processors | September 22, 2005 - 01:20 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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The Athlon64 X2 4800+ processor that PCStats got to test is based on the 'ACBWE' stepping.  It's dual core, runs at 2.4Ghz, with 128KB of L1 and 1MB of L2 cache.  Both cores share a single 128 bit DDR memory controller and it's defaulted to run at 1.3 V.  Read the full review to see just how much more powerful than the competition AMD's newest offering really is.

"If you want the best processor on the market there is little doubt t

Powerful Graphics At An Attractive Price & More

Subject: Graphics Cards | September 22, 2005 - 12:22 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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The PowerColor Radeon X800GT that 3DVelocity reviewed has 256 MB of DDR3 memory, and a 256 bit wide memory pipeline.  It's a PCIe 16x card, that might be perfect for you if you are looking to make the jump to PCIe, without paying a lot just in the videocard.  Plus, it performs well enough that you may be able to keep it in your system longer than you might expect from a middle of the road card.

"It's important to remember that mainstream users aren't people who don't want powerful graphics cards, th

Low Latency Vs. High FSB & More

Subject: Memory | September 22, 2005 - 11:55 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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One of the biggest tricks to overclocking is to make sure your RAM is happy, while at the same time ensuring the tightest possible timings, and the highest FSB you can hit stably.  sgOverclockers took 2 RAM DIMM's, and compared the benefits of trading a looser timing for a higher FSB, and vice versa.

"Ever since the advent of the Samsung TCCD and recently TCC5 modules which have allowed consumers to hit astronomically high FSBs at moderate timings, the question has come back into

Gigabyte's Newest Mobo's & More

Subject: Motherboards | September 21, 2005 - 07:20 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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The Intel 945 chipset is taking it's time hitting the store, but Techniz got their hands on an offering from Gigabyte that uses it.  See how well it performs with a Prescott, DDR2 and SATA2.

"The GA-8I945P Pro was featuring the new Intel® 945P Express chipset with Hyper-Threading Technology delivers significant performance gains with variety of new generation architectures including the DDR2 main memory, PCI-Express interface, and Serial-ATA 2 interface for improving storage performa

PSU's Need Testing Too & More

Subject: Systems | September 21, 2005 - 04:45 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Virtual Hideout has a PSU tester shoot-out.  Not only do they review power supplies, they review the testers you can pick up to save yourself embarrasment at the return/troubleshooting counter of your favorite PC Store.  Following that are reviews of 2 actual PSU's.

"The Main thing I looked for was a tester that gave me the most options, yet remained easy to read and use.

New Version Of Firefox & More

Subject: General Tech | September 21, 2005 - 04:10 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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CNet has a writeup on the newly released 1.0.7 version of Firefox, which you can download from here.

"Firefox 1.0.7 was issued late Tuesday, a representative said.

Fast Cards, Faster Drivers & More

Subject: Graphics Cards | September 21, 2005 - 12:20 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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The Asus Extreme N7800GT that NGOHQ reviews may not be the fastest card based on NVidia chips, but it is certainly powerful, and signifiantly cheaper than the GTX, and it can still be setup in SLI.

"This card overclocked better than I expected, I was able to reach the core speed of 485 MHz and 1200 MHz on the memory. The card was 100% stable at that speed and no artifacts occurred.

Keeping Cool In Fall

Subject: Cases and Cooling | September 21, 2005 - 11:57 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Start your overclocking, t'is the season to squeeze some extra heat out of your PC, and start thinking about what you want other people to buy you.  The Guru of 3D has his hands on a Thermaltake Tai Chi, another giant heatsink that has been hollowed out and sold as a PC case.  If you can afford it, this case will not dissapoint. 

"Thermaltake recently released a new PC case.

Hot Home Theatre Hardware & More

Subject: Systems | September 20, 2005 - 07:28 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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To be honest, the front panel of ThermalTake's Tenor reminds of the old storage trays for VHS tapes, but much more stylish.  Brushed aluminium and blue LEDs will make sure that this component stands out in your home theatre, in a good way. Read all about it at Tweaknews.

"Thermaltake has done a great job of designing a kit that brings the user everything needed for a system that cools well, and is oh-so-quiet. The BigWater kit brings the bling, as well.

A Chipset With Great Graphics Grafted On & More

Subject: Graphics Cards | September 20, 2005 - 06:56 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Integrated video cards on Nforce4 are here.  

 The GeForce 6100 is a 425MHz chip and the 6150 a 475MHz chip with added features, like a TV encoder.  The Tech Report has the full story, head on over.

"Today NVIDIA is announcing a new K8 chipset family that brings GeForce 6 graphics to the nForce4

platform.

PC Case With A Spacious Interior & More

Subject: Cases and Cooling | September 19, 2005 - 12:14 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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With the size of components shrinking, the size of the cooling seems apparatus to grow.  With the norm quickly becoming huge heatsinks, 120mm fans, oversized videocards, or a radiator and waterpump, the size of your case can become an issue.   Gamepyre reviews the Lian Li PC76, a huge case, 24.79'(D) x 10.43'(W) x 22'(H), that should fit just about anyhing you want in it.

"After our exhaustive tour-de-force, there's one thing we've got to say about this case — it's big, really big — you wo

45lb Radiator Or Heavy PC & More

Subject: Cases and Cooling | September 16, 2005 - 12:01 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Titan's Robela Water Case is a simple watercooling solution, that will net you some good temperatures.  As just about everything is built right into it, you get to worry less about jumping into watercooling to see what it is all about.  The folks over at hi-techreviews show you just what this case is made of.

"What do you get when you take a full-size tower case and turn one side-panel of it into a radiator with two 120mm fans mounted on it? You get the new Titan Robela Water Case.

Heatsink Size Does Matter & More

Subject: Cases and Cooling | September 14, 2005 - 12:22 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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SystemCooling reviews the ThermalRight SI 120, a much more compatible version of the XP 120, with almost no performance difference.  If you want your A64 to run at under 40C, but couldn't fit the XP 120 into your PC, then this may be the cooler for you.

"The new Thermalright SI-120 heatsink is a redesigned XP-120 that offers greater motherboard compatibility while still accommodating a 120mm fan of your choice.