Western Digital Releases 16MB Cache Caviar

Subject: Storage | May 23, 2005 - 06:03 PM | Ryan Shrout
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While at E3 I met up with the folks at Western Digital to discuss their future plans for the enthusiast market.  They were obviously very happy about the success of the Raptor drive in the market and were looking on towards the next step in their high-RPM drives.  Perhaps we'll see some higher capacities soon?

In other news that we can discuss, WD announced a 16MB cache part to compete against Maxtor's drives that have been out for a few months re

Xbox 360 vs Playstation 3 Specs Comparison

Subject: Graphics Cards | May 23, 2005 - 05:59 PM | Ryan Shrout
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It looks like Microsoft has written a little article comparing the specs of the Xbox 360 against the Sony Playstation 3.  Guess who came out on top?  Take all this with a grain of salt...

We decided to put this Microsoft-provided information up undigested. Thus, enclosed is a Microsoft-made comparitive analysis. We have not altered, added, or tinkered with the data. We have not interpreted the specs. We have cut and pasted this information from the email into our site and formatted it.

HardOCP System Guide 1000

Subject: Systems | May 23, 2005 - 05:55 PM | Ryan Shrout
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Keith over at HardOCP has put together another HardOCP 1000 article that finds the best upgrades a user can get for a $1000 at Newegg.com.

After deciding on a CPU, we turned the next few hundred dollars of our money toward a motherboard. There are several boards on the market that could fill our needs for out-of-the-box usability, stability, and performance, but future upgradeability is also a top requirement for us. It is important to target purchases that maximize our investments.

Get Your E3 Coverage in HD

Subject: General Tech | May 23, 2005 - 05:51 PM | Ryan Shrout
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If you want to see all of what happened at E3 this year, head on over to FileShack to see it all in video format.  If you are a subscriber, then you can get all these files in HD format as well!

FileShack is proud to bring FileShack members E3 2005 coverage from the Expo in L.A.! FileShack is the only site in the world bringing you true High definition resolution videos from E3 so you can check out all the latest games in amazing high resolution.

MSI P4N Diamond nForce SLI Intel Board Review

Subject: Motherboards | May 23, 2005 - 05:49 PM | Ryan Shrout
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The gang at Hexus.net has a review up of the MSI motherboard powered by the Intel Edition of the nForce4 SLI chipset. 

The SLI performance problem that the likes of Dell would inevitably gloss over, but has been graphically (pun intended) shown on the previous few pages is squarely down to Pentium 4s' relatively weak gaming performance that's exhibited at lower resolutions and/or with games that rely on masses of subsystem grunt.

Back from E3

Subject: Editorial | May 23, 2005 - 05:43 PM | Ryan Shrout
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I got back from E3 late last night, and unfortunately fell straight to sleep.  There wasn't a lot of excitement going on there from a hardware point of view, especially with both the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 missing in action for playable demos.  I am putting the finishing touches on an article I think you'll find very interesting, though it falls outside the boundes of what current technologies are out there.  It should be up in the morning tomorrow. 

I think I might have enough info on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 GPUs to get a short article comparing the

FIA/AMD Formula One Survey 2005

Subject: General Tech | May 23, 2005 - 01:00 PM | Joe White
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Monaco -- May 20, 2005 --At the beginning of 2005, the FIA initiated a consultation on the future of Formula One. A timetable for the consultation has since been published with an open invitation to all of the stakeholders to participate.

The FIA has always considered the fans of Formula One to be an essential part of this process. As a result, the FIA, backed by Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., (NYSE: AMD) a global technology leader, is launching a new survey to gauge public opinion and to help shape the future of the sport.

AMD Geode(TM) LX 800@0.9W Processor

Subject: Processors | May 23, 2005 - 08:50 AM | Chuck Smith
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AMD announced the availability of the new Geode™ LX 800@0.9W Processor today. Hop on over to AMD and check out the press release!

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. today announced availability of the AMD Geode™ LX 800@0.9W processor,* enabling consumers to experience full-featured, desktop-style computing on a new generation of x86 architecture-based embedded and mobile devices.

VIA DualGFX SLi

Subject: Motherboards | May 22, 2005 - 09:51 AM | Chuck Smith
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Here is a taste of what VIA will have to offer us in the SLI department. While the translation is a little shaky HKEPC has some early benchmarks to wet your whistle.

You can also discuss this in our forums VIA DualGFX SLi

MonsterGecko PistolMouse FPS

Subject: General Tech | May 21, 2005 - 10:32 PM | Chuck Smith
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Whether it's shooting demons, terrorists or spreadsheets you will feel right at home using the MonsterGecko PistolMouse FPS

MonsterGecko - an over-grown lizard or manufacturer of innovative Gaming Controllers?  If you hazard a guess at the latter you'd be on the mark.

AMD And HP Team With Lance Armstrong Foundation

Subject: General Tech | May 20, 2005 - 04:40 PM | Joe White
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SUNNYVALE, CALIF. -- May 20, 2005 --AMD (NYSE: AMD) and HP (NYSE: HPQ) (Nasdaq: HPQ) today announced a joint initiative to support the Lance Armstrong Foundation™ (LAF), a non-profit organization dedicated to helping people with cancer live strong.

AMD and HP, working closely with the LAF, have developed the HP Special Edition L2000 Notebook PC, a one-of-a-kind consumer PC that bears the LIVESTRONG™ message and a reproduction of Lance Armstrong's autograph.

EPoX EP-9NPA+ SLI nForce 4 SLI AMD Review

Subject: Motherboards | May 20, 2005 - 12:26 PM | Chuck Smith
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Our own Jonathan Hung has put together a review of the EPoX EP-9NPA+ SLI nForce 4 SLI AMD Motherboard If you are planning to build a new SLI system you will want to look this one over.

The EPoX EP-9NPA+SLI is a very strong contender in the increasingly crowded SLI market. What sets this board apart from the rest is the great feature set and the cheaper price.

Another mixed cooling bag & More

Subject: Cases and Cooling | May 20, 2005 - 11:41 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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The one liquid cooling review I have to give you comes from MODTHEBOX, the Cooler Master AquaGate Mini R80.  If you are wondering, it's an 80mm-based radiator, and you can also get a 120mm version.  It has no abliilty to add video cooling to it, so here's a few new coolers below, in case you need 'em!

"One unique aspect of the Cooler Master AquaGate Mini R80 is the inclusion of an integrated pump and reservoir housing. This all-in-one solution works well with case interiors tight on free space.

Google Announces Personalized Home Page

Subject: General Tech | May 20, 2005 - 11:35 AM | Chuck Smith
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Google has released its new personalized homepage service which include news, weather and stock information along with other customizable features.

Citing user requests to coalesce it's disparate services, Google yesterday released its new personalized homepage service.

Everything USB reviews keyboard aimed at the HTPC crowd

Subject: General Tech | May 20, 2005 - 08:56 AM | Dave Phelps
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With Home Theater PCs becoming more commonplace, we begin to see more items aimed at that segment of enthusiast. Everything USB takes a look at a new keyboard that ends the frustration of controling your PC from the couch.

With the PC quickly becoming a part of many people's entertainment center, the universal remote is suddenly not so universal.

Why You Shouldn't Always Unsubscribe From Emails

Subject: Systems | May 19, 2005 - 10:02 PM | Chuck Smith
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Have you ever unsubscribed from one spam related email only to find yourself inundated with countless more later on? Extensiontech has done an Investigative Report on Why You Shouldn't Always Unsubscribe From Emails This may save you some spam in the long run.

This all started from me being spammed by some "Online Adult Dating Service" spam email. Of course my Spam Assassin caught it, and labeled it appropriately though. I guess I just had some weird inclination to go look around.

Blu-Ray DVD's Hit 100 GB

Subject: Storage | May 19, 2005 - 05:24 PM | Chuck Smith
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TDK has unveiled a 100 GB Blu-Ray disc at a Tokyo exibition this week. TDK has achieved this higher capacity by making this a four layer disc that can record data at 72Mbps (bits per second), double the 36Mbps rate for current Blu-Ray Discs. More can be read at The Register and at Macworld

The beast holds up to 100GB of data.

Aerocool Gatewatch

Subject: Cases and Cooling | May 19, 2005 - 02:00 PM | Chuck Smith
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GruntvillE has put together a nice review on the Aerocool Gatewatch fan contoller.

The Gatewatch unit is made of a plastic material that matches the aluminum cases very well. This unit comes in silver aluminum and black only. The front plate is plastic, but the base of the unit is aluminum. Recently I reviewed the Coolpanel from Aerocool, which was made entirely of plastic, which made mounting the unit difficult. I do not expect the plastic screwholes to last long.