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ATP Electronics is a 17 year-old company best known for their EarthDrive recyclable USB flash drive, which is not only made of recycled materials but also has part of the proceeds go towards rainforest protection. They also make memory products for both enterprise and home applications in addition to various types of removable storage. Today, ASE Labs has the ATP ToughDrive 4GB Camo edition.
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This is the second product from Icy Dock to pass by the Labs of ASE. In the previous review, we saw that Icy Dock knows how to make an excellent product. Will the trend continue with the internal version of the screwless hard drive enclosure? The Icy Dock 3.5" Screwless SATA Internal Enclosure (MB672SKGF) hopes to earn a valuable 5.25" slot in computer and it did on mine.
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It seemed like some time ago that external storage was the oddball for people. Times have certainly changed now that internal hard drives are so large that backing up to optical media is really an impossibility. More and more external drive enclosures are coming out to provide the need, but they aren't created equal. Icy Dock's 3.5" External Screwless Hard Drive Enclosure (MB664US-1S) aims to fit the external storage needs of everyone in a convenient to use package. I believe they have achieved that.
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Since ASE Labs is getting more and more into producing videos, it is time to start reviewing digital video cameras. The first such device is absolutely perfect for the Youtube crowd and has been making the rounds on the internet. The Flip Video Mino from Pure Digital promises web videos made with ease and they aren't kidding.
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Quote: Good things come in slightly smaller packages... Smaller than a full tower case, that is! A few weeks ago the Thermaltake Armor+ VH6000BWS full tower chassis was reviewed at Bigbruin.com, and the overall impression was quite positive. This time around we have the mid tower version, the Armor+ MX VH8000BWS, another solid case that houses all of the features of its larger kin, as well as some additional ones.
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The crucial link in the chain for getting = the best performance from the Patriot Viper PC3-16000 2GB Memory Kit is = whether or not your motherboard and processor can handle Front Side Bus increases. If your Nvidia or Intel chipset based motherboard can't give you something upwards of at least 1600 MHz FSB, then you won't really be tapping in to the bulk of the memory's potential. Nvidia 790i users can at least expect great things from the BIOS memory and CPU Bus Link option. A quick change to a memory setting or two and you're running at 2000 MHz. But, again, you'll get much better results if you at least tap in to your processor's 1600 MHz FSB potential.
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BFG has a great power suppy here - not only does it look good, but it does it with performing style. For the duration of the testing, and the subsequent gaming session afterwards, performance remained solid while silence was in full effect. I found no issues with any of the cabling, or the installation of the unit - that was the fault of the unit. Overall, I would have to say that if you're in the market for a PSU at this price point ($219), BFG's ES800 is an excellent choice. While it's lack of support for Tri-SLI is definitely disappointing, it's ability to take a system with two 4870x2 or 9800GX2 cards is admirable.
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It was an excellent chance to get overclock numbers from not just one card, but from 24. The model chosen was the PVT96GYDF4 clocked at the standard 650MHz for the GPU, 900MHz for memory, and 1625MHz shader clock. Each card was tested on the same system with a Athlon 64 X2 4600+, 2GB of Corsair DDR2 800MHz on the Asus 590 SLI based CrossHairwith an 850 watt Antec Truepower Quattro. We pushed each card to its limits using Riva Tuner, and to test for stability Crysis was used. It made quick work of a clock speed it didn't like usually with a crash quickly into the built in GPU benchmark.
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With all the advances and new releases in the computer industry this summer, it's easy to overlook the smaller things that often play excellent support roles. One of these devices in particular happens to be a fan controller. Not just any fan controller, but the NZXT Sentry LX. Today we'll have a look at whether NZXT has delivered a winning product or one that you can live without. For those of you that don't know, NZXT has been around for a few years now, focusing their efforts primarily on cases. This is the second fan controller to come from NZXT, following the Sentry 1.
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Today for review I've got a very small solution to that problem from our friends at USBFever, it's called the World's Slimmest USB Bluetooth Dongle, and while I'm not sure if it's the World's Slimmest it is very, very small, about the size of a quarter, so it will fit anywhere and you won't have some ugly big USB Dongle sticking out of your computer to enable BT functionality. So continue on for a quick look at a great option to enable BT on your computers...
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It was only going to be a matter of time 'till ASUS strapped some mean clocks onto the GTX 280 and put it under its TOP naming scheme. Well, that day has come and it's time to see what happens when the GTX 280 gets, for the most part, an unnecessary but much loved speed bump. The tumbling GTX 280 prices over the past few weeks make the card more and more affordable for people wanting to get a top gaming experience. While we all know that for the most part the new AMD HD 4870 X2 is the faster single card on the market, NVIDIA still hold the crown of the fastest single cored card.
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Thermalright set out to pack the performance of a 120mm cooler into a 90mm package. With the Optima-90I, it looks like they've done just that. The cooling is very good with the 90mm fan and the package is relatively compact. As always, the workmanship is outstanding the mounting is not too difficult, though a bit bothersome for AMD users.
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BFG Tech is one of those companies you expect quality products from, no matter what you're buying. While most famous for their graphics cards, they make a range of products, including motherboards, accessories, and power supplies. BFG has a few lines of power supplies, from modular to energy efficient, and has recently started advertising their 550W and 680W LS power supplies. A few weeks ago, our very own Zahn had a look at the 550W version and was generally impressed with the quality and performance versus the price. Today, I'm going to have a look at the 680W version to see if it's true to their slogan.
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* Today I will be looking at one of Sapphire's latest video cards, the Radeon HD 4850 Toxic, a 512MB DDR3 factory overclocked version of the HD 4850. This card comes complete with ramsinks, the first I have had on a video card that I didn't install myself, and a Zalman heatpipe cooler. Will the HD 4850 impress me as much at the HD 3850 did? How will it fare against the cards I plan to compare it to? Read on to see!
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Before we tell you anything concrete about ASUS P5QL-E we should clarify differences between Intel P45 and P43 northbridge. If you followed up IT scene in last couple of months you should definitely know that Intel's P45 is the first chipset made in 65nm technology and that it introduced to us with few new technologies and higher overclock margin. One of most important new possibilities that were implemented into P45 was ability to divide PCI Express line into two x8 lines.
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As consumers we want digital access to our media, but at the same time = we=20 want big screen displays not to be undone by the noise of a computer. = Intel=20 thinks it may have a solution to this problem. Make a computer that is = cheap=20 and quiet, and specialized at media playback in high definition. The = Intel=20 Canmore Digital Video Player concept was discussed this week at the Intel = Developer=20 Forum in San Francisco, and Gigabyte have been quick to highlight its = entry=20 into this emerging marketplace.
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Everyone that is a gamer knows that having the freedom to game whenever you want is severely limited to who you are living with or next to. Other than some special situations, both will actively object to you disemboweling your adversary with a gattlin gun at 3am in the morning with you 5.1 speaker system at gaming volume. Because of that simple problem, gamers rely on a good set of gaming headphones to span those times where our gaming audio is not appreciated by others.
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* One piece of technology that has really made it into the hands of most consumers is the GPS. Some people really rely on GPS units and for constant drivers they are a valuable tool. I really have never used a GPS before so this will be a first for me. Today I will be looking at the TomTom One GPS unit, which features a 3.5-inch touchscreen, 1GB internal memory, built-in Bluetooth, and preloaded maps of the US and Canada. Geeks.com was nice enough to send the TomTom One over.
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Quote: 6GHz was easily attainable with the E8600 having an ungodly low 1.84vcore and I was able to bench between 6100MHz and 6200MHz depending on the benchmark. Consumers with single-stage phase change systems should be able to easily hit speeds of 5200Mhz to 5500MHz as I was booting at 5500MHz around -40 Celsius with ease. This is where the E0 stepping really shines, past 5GHz it just tears everything else to shreds and makes it look easy...
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Up on the review block today is the Mach 1 900Watt Power Supply from Kingwin that not only looks great, but features an interesting modular cabling system that securely locks the cables into the PSU to insure they will not come loose. During my time with the Mach 1 I found it to be a very quiet and exceptionally stable power supply that will meet or exceed the demands of most high end system on the market today.
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Tension Labs EAP03 is the name of a brand new earphone audio processor that can boost your experience in a variety of ways. The EAP03 features a built in microphone and can sample it into the audio feed, providing you with the power to control the level of isolation you want from your earphones.
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Unlike the others Scythe did not add more heat pipes to the cooler to attempt to make it better. The added weight and size as well as an improved fan to aid in a higher performance capacity in the Ninja 2. There are a few more differences we can discuss but we will not be doing it in the introduction of the review. So sit back, relax and read along as we take the Ninja 2 for a little ride.
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Just over two months have passed since the release of our initial article. XFX has sent us a replacement sample for the GTX280 which is completely free of from the electronic component hum we initially experienced. In addition to the GTX280, XFX also sent us their latest and greatest XXX version of the card for review. We decided to embrace this as an opportunity to compare the two cards in a head to head along with a number of other popular graphics solutions. Our intent is not to rehash the plethora of features already covered in great detail in the aforementioned article, but more to concentrate on serious testing and expound on those features that prove noteworthy with the more mature drivers we will be using.
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Now that the HD 4850 has been hanging around for a bit, we're beginning to see more and more companies jump on the aftermarket bandwagon. The latest company to do this is Palit, bringing the highly popular HD 4850 to the also highly popular Sonic line. The HD 4850 has had so much going for it from the word go; its aggressive pricing and excellent performance gave users everything they wanted. It wasn't all rosy, though; while the use of a single slot cooler was handy, it caused the card to run extremely hot.
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Quote: The Asus Striker II NSE sports an attractive black PCB and very little color compared to many other boards. The black color lends to the overall classy feel of the board. With the first glance at the board, it is hard to miss the Fusion block system that cools the board. Asus has decided that hard core enthusiasts would like to cool off the North Bridge using their water cooling setups, and provided an easy way to do that by placing a water block on the North Bridge...
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Its predecessor, the AVR-2807 was one of the best midrange receivers of the last couple years. The 2808CI adds digital goodies like HDMI 1.3 and 1080p upscaling, as well as the Audyssey MultiEQ XT auto-calibration system, which tailors the amp's sound to your room acoustics. It's a complex amp to set up, and the user guide is so-so, but when you're finally done you'll be rewarded with great sound and power across three independent zones. The bottom line: You can't do better than this for around $900 USD. For a few extra bones, you can step up to the Denon's 2809CI was recently released and adds adds a few extra inputs, including an HDMI, and Audyssey Dynamic Room EQ.
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is ATi which showed to all of us that even when hard times come they are continuing with good work as if competition isn't a problem and as confirmation of their efforts we got incredible new generation of graphics cards. The whole story started with great Radeon HD 4850 and continued with HD 4870 that had GDDR5 memory. After great critics for these two GPUs, ATi was aware that they shouldn't stop there, if they want to overthrown nVIDIA from the top performance throne. And they did it.
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Quote: The Diamond HD 4870 features some of the most current technology available on the market and sits at an easily affordable price point. The power requirements aren't anything to snuff at but for those users looking for a single-GPU card to game at 1920x1200 with high settings, the Diamond HD 4870 is an excellent option. A single HD 4870 wouldn't be able to game at 2560x1600 but the beauty of CrossFire would let you couple two or three of these cards together till you have enough graphical power...
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This is the second product from Icy Dock to pass by the Labs of ASE. In the previous review, we saw that Icy Dock knows how to make an excellent product. Will the trend continue with the internal version of the screwless hard drive enclosure? The Icy Dock 3.5" Screwless SATA Internal Enclosure (MB672SKGF) hopes to earn a valuable 5.25" slot in computer and it did on mine.
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It seemed like some time ago that external storage was the oddball for people. Times have certainly changed now that internal hard drives are so large that backing up to optical media is really an impossibility. More and more external drive enclosures are coming out to provide the need, but they aren't created equal. Icy Dock's 3.5" External Screwless Hard Drive Enclosure (MB664US-1S) aims to fit the external storage needs of everyone in a convenient to use package. I believe they have achieved that.
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Since ASE Labs is getting more and more into producing videos, it is time to start reviewing digital video cameras. The first such device is absolutely perfect for the Youtube crowd and has been making the rounds on the internet. The Flip Video Mino from Pure Digital promises web videos made with ease and they aren't kidding.
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A few months ago, I reviewed a DDR3 kit from Kingston that supported 1800MHz operation at fairly fast timings. It was criticized by some that the modules did not include XMP information to aid in easy system setup. Fast forward to the current market and the KHX14400D2K2/2GX delivers XMP support.
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Quote: Installing the Thermaltake DuOrb heatpipe CPU cooler on a motherboard with an open layout should be very simple thanks to the well thought out mounting hardware that will hold the cooler in place and will keep it from sliding around. As seen in the review, there could be issues installing the DuOrb on some motherboards.
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Last month on July 1st, Corsair Memory announced the immediate availability of a new DOMINATOR DDR3 memory kit running at 2133MHz. The launch of this memory kit made it the world's fastest DDR3 memory solution in production volume, a title that it still holds over a month later. Read on to see how this kit does on an EVGA nForce 790i SLI Ultra motherboard at 2135MHz.
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"Intel's P45 Chipset was released this summer along with the P43, G43, and G45 Chipsets as the mainstream Eaglelake alternative to Intel's current flagship X48 Chipset. Though over the older X48 motherboards, the P45 has the advantages of using Intel's newer ICH10 / ICH10R Southbridge and support for up to 16GB of DDR2/DDR3 memory, which is double that of what's supported by the X48. Today we are looking at two Intel P45 motherboards compliments of Gigabyte with their EP45-DS3L and EP45T-DS3R. The EP45-DS3L and EP45T-DS3R are just two of Gigabyte's motherboards bearing the P45 Chipset but in total they have eight different motherboards using this version of the Eaglelake Chipset."
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Sunbeamtech has left a clear presence in the hardware industry by developing a huge line of products and since a year or so they created a whole new premium series to offer cases and coolers. What we are looking at today is their Tuniq 3 casing which offers their patented 3D Core-Fan Bracket, tool free drive installation and two cold cathodes underneath the bottom to finish it off.
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What's so great about the TOP line-up from ASUS is that they don't get a card and just add an extra 10MHz to the core and 20MHz to the memory, the TOP line-up of cards are really well overclocked cards that stand out from the competition. That latest card to carry the TOP name comes from the AMD team; the HD 4870 has quickly become a hot product for so many people thanks to the aggressive performance and even more aggressive price tag. Today we'll be checking out how the ASUS overclocked version goes against a stock clocked offering and see if it's worth paying the premium that the TOP cards carry to get the larger out of the box clocks.
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* Today I will be looking at ATI's most recent release, the Radeon HD 4870 X2. I can't quite imagine the performance capacity of a pair of HD 4850s, so I really have no idea what to expect from twin 4870s, complete with two full gigs of DDR5 memory. This will be my first ATI-branded Radeon card, which will make things even more interesting. Will the 4870 X2 offer the ultimate 3D graphics experience? Read on to see!" A post in your news would be appreciated! Please send your news to news@ThinkComputers.org Regards, Bob Buskirk Founder, Webmaster, Editor-in-Chief bbuskirk@thinkcomputers.org http://www.thinkcomputers.org
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Technology doesn't play favorites, and when it reaches an apex there is an indifference towards who develops it. ATI has learned this lesson the hard way, having watched from the sidelines for so long that most have forgotten that AMD could be a leader in technology. The Radeon HD 4870 X2 is the latest evolution in graphics cards, and ATI has delivered something bigger than we've ever seen before. Benchmark Reviews is fortunate to test the Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 X2 Dual-RV770 GPU video card 100251SR against a collection of todays hottest video cards available.
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How do you decide which router to buy in this day and age? Is there one product that has it all? You'll be hard pressed to find a product with all the bells and whistles, but we may have one here today that comes close to the mark. Today we get up close and personal with TRENDnet's very latest router, the 300Mbps Dual Band Wireless N Gigabit Router sporting model number TEW-672GR. Specifically, we are looking at version 1.0R, which is the shipping version you'll find in the stores when buying.
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* "Listen up folks, the DDR3 era is upon us. Both Intel and AMD have adopted the newer standard, and with Intel's Core i7 (the chip formerly known as Nehalem) peeking around the corner, there's just no looking back. Despite the temptation posed by dirt-cheap DDR2 modules, any build from the ground up should be focused on DDR3, save for those on an extremely tight budget. Newer processors are finally starting to benefit from the added benefit, and each new chipset release finds new ways of optimizing memory performance, making those DDR2 modules seem ancient by comparison."
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For a unit that performs as well as those which double it in terms of cost, Corsair's TX750W is quite a contender. Uncommon to most budget power supplies, Corsair has neither fallen short on performance or features. Shrugging off each of our tests is a feat of its own, but matched with perks found commonly in much more expensive units such as a beautiful paint job, quality fan, fully sleeved wires and matching black Molex connectors, I must honestly say, this is pretty much as good as it gets.
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It's been almost a year since the original Asus Eee 701 appeared stateside, making traditional ultra-portables look fat with its size and weight, sending prices plunging with its $400 price tag, and triggering a landslide of imitators. In that time, many have tried, but few have succeeded in one upping Asus at its own game. The Wind is MSI's freshman effort in the emerging subnotebook genre, but the company has managed to run with the best of them by offering a 10-inch display, a fast and efficient Intel Atom processor, and loads of storage.
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Quote: We have heard from an anonymous source that the M912 Gigabyte netbook will sport some features not to be found in any other netbooks at this time. We have also heard that it may indeed be coming to the USA though we do not have confirmation nor an available date as of yet. Stay tuned as we will bring you the update first when the information becomes available. For the full details of what the M912 will be packing when it hits the US check out our scoop.
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"First of all, it was planned to oppose GeForce GTX 280 with CrossFire configurations based on two separate HD 4850 or HD 4870 cards. Then the company presented a dual-GPU solution on a single PCB, the RADEON HD 4870 X2. We've already published its preview with several tests. Now it's time for a sterling article with theoretical data, synthetic tests, and an expanded set of games."
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Quote: Interested in getting a fully featured security system but don't want to pay over $300 for it? If so, then WiLife's Digital Video Security System might be worth a look. One of the featured items at CES earlier this year, was the WiLife Security System. WiLife, a sub company of Logitech, now offers wireless security for your entire home. Featuring three different types of cameras each for different instances, these include your standard indoor camera, weather-proof outdoor camera, and even a spy camera found in an alarm clock. Now I'm sure most of you guys just got some wild ideas of what to do with that spy camera, I know I thought of a few. Read on to see how the WiLife truly performs.
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It seemed like some time ago that external storage was the oddball for people. Times have certainly changed now that internal hard drives are so large that backing up to optical media is really an impossibility. More and more external drive enclosures are coming out to provide the need, but they aren't created equal. Icy Dock's 3.5" External Screwless Hard Drive Enclosure (MB664US-1S) aims to fit the external storage needs of everyone in a convenient to use package. I believe they have achieved that.
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Since ASE Labs is getting more and more into producing videos, it is time to start reviewing digital video cameras. The first such device is absolutely perfect for the Youtube crowd and has been making the rounds on the internet. The Flip Video Mino from Pure Digital promises web videos made with ease and they aren't kidding.
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A few months ago, I reviewed a DDR3 kit from Kingston that supported 1800MHz operation at fairly fast timings. It was criticized by some that the modules did not include XMP information to aid in easy system setup. Fast forward to the current market and the KHX14400D2K2/2GX delivers XMP support.
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Just a few weeks ago, the Radeon HD 4850 was released and with it came a huge boost of performance for the price. The 4870 is the highend version of the RV770 series of GPU released from AMD. Sapphire provided a card for this review and the Radeon HD 4870 is here.
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Quote: While the saying is that you get what you paid for, I think you might get a little extra with the ASUS TOP 512MB GeForce 9600GT. While you could easily spend three, four, or five times as much to have the latest and greatest video card, if you are satisfied with really good performance and a fatter wallet in the end, the ASUS TOP 512MB GeForce 9600GT is a good choice.
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Quote: The BlackArmor 160GB encrypted portable drive provides a unique twist on a rather common item. Portable hard drives are everywhere, and in general are easy ways for people to lose valuable personal or business data. Security is the key feature of this product, and if protecting your portable data is a high priority, Maxtor has made it just about fool proof.
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It IS a great sink in terms of quality, and usability. Anyone can install it, and almost anyone would appreciate it's appearance, yet it's performance and cost are found to be lacking. If you could find this heatsink on sale it would turn out to be a great buy, but otherwise... I'm not sure exactly what would motivate users to purchase it, other than an unusual fondness for Zalman, and a wee case.
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The Venders area was a lot smaller than the last Quakecon I attended in 2k5, I don't really know the reason why. The big Intel/Dell/Alienware trailer always had a lot of attention, tournaments and giveaways. AMD/ATI took up the largest area, with gaming stations on all 4 corners, and a small stage in the middle.
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The other day we looked at the GTX 260 from GIGABYTE. Today we're going to be looking at the slightly more expensive GTX 280 version from them. Since launch, we haven't really seen any companies do much with the GTX 280. While a few have come overclocked, we have found that they've all stuck to the reference cooling option. Today we're going to be looking at the GTX 280 from GIGABYTE which follows the reference design down to a tee. The good news is that the price is also extremely competitive and for the most part the overclocks a lot of companies offer can be achieved by using a program like Rivatuner on your stock card.
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Like the older card, the newer card also supports NVIDIA's CUDA, which allows the GPU to function as a CPU for computational purposes. The latest FAH has started to take advantage of this, and the preliminary results look promising. Although the newer GTX 200 series cards have a much more powerful CUDA, the fact that you get CUDA in the 9800 GTX/GTX+ means the card will be able to utilize such power when the application is able to use CUDA.
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* It's been a couple of years since I reviewed my first kit of memory, a pair of green camouflage OCZ Special Ops Edition (SOE) DDR modules near the end of the DDR era. Here I am, around 20 memory reviews later, with my next pair of camo OCZ modules, their Special Ops Edition Urban Elite Edition DDR3-1600 (PC3-12800) 8-8-8 2GB kit. As the original Spec Ops, the Urban Elite is basically marketed towards gamers for a simple choice in building their gaming rig, just choose the camouflage memory. Will the Urban Elite live up to the expectations we have for OCZ memory?
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Intel has really pushed forward into the Express chipset lineup with the new 4 series being touted at what the 3 series should have been. It seems like the 3 series was just a stepping stone and the 5 series isn't all that far away. But that's for a totally different processor architecture. So far, we have already had the early P45-DQ6 and MSI P45 Platinum cross our paths. Today we are looking at another big wig P45 offering, namely ASUS' P5Q Deluxe Motherboard. Featuring its EPU6 energy saver, DDR2 and a wide array of features including Express gate, ASUS hopes to topple the likes of GIGABYTE and MSI. Let's see just how well it manages to perform.
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Not everyone can afford the bleeding edge of graphics hardware, and not everyone needs it. NVIDIA has already made headlines with their high-end GeForce GTX 280 video card, which offers high performance at a premium price. Most enthusiasts have seen so much coverage for the high-level graphic products that it might feel like nothing exists for the lower consumer segment. Benchmark Reviews hasn't forgotten about the entry-level enthusiast, which is why we test the Foxconn GeForce 9500 GT 256MB PCI Express video card 9500GT-256FR3 against the bigger names in this review.
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* *Through the last few years, BFG has always been at the forefront of the pre-overclocked craze and with their OCX cards, they take things to the next level. We should mention now that in our conversations with BFG they have stated that creating a highly overclocked GTX 280 isn't as easy as it seems due to the massive amounts of heat generated by the core directly influencing the final overclock. That being said, in this review we will be looking at their GTX 280 OCX which is highest-clocked GTX 280 in their lineup that keeps the stock cooler.*
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If you are TV fan and you have wireless network and notebook, than you probably at some point thought how it would be nice to take your notebook and simply move to other room, go on balcony or backyard and with no interruptions from other householders watch your favorite show or some sport event. Still, TV tuner demands antenna and cable and that's when you realize that even though your notebook is portable, after all, you won't watch TV as you would like to.
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Mushkin has also jumped the 4 GB DDR2 memory bandwagon and is offering these kits at tighter than usual latencies. This kit runs at 4-4-4-12 at 2.0 - 2.1V.
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Today, I will be looking at the EP45-DS3L, Gigabyte's economy-priced P45 motherboard. This is probably the least expensive newly released motherboard I have seen coming from either of the top two motherboard manufacturers in a very long time, and obviously marketed towards those buyers looking at buying boards from ECS, ASRock, or one of the other manufacturers that build budget motherboards. Will the EP45-DS3L meet the high standards that we have come to expect from a Gigabyte motherboard, with features found on its bigger brothers? Read on to see!
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The other day we looked at the Smooth Creations Asylum and inside was the new Diamond HD 4870 XOC Black Edition. This isn't your normal overclocked HD 4870, though; if you have a look at the specifications on the thing, you will quickly discover that the card is packing some mega serious clock speeds. So what we've done is pull the card out of the Smooth Creations rig and install it into our testbed to see how the card performs against some of our other favorites. Since this wasn't a retail sample, we won't be looking at the package today. What we will do is have a quick look around the card and then check out the clockspeeds before moving onto the testing phase.
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Up on the review block today we've got the Sentry LX Aluminum Dual Bay Fan Controller from NZXT and it's very well made, easy to install and even easier to use. The Sentry LX is a stylish black colored aluminum with diamond cut accents so it will fit in nicely with most any chassis.
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I have already taken a look at the BlacX USB and BlacX SE which is also a USB only desktop drive device. The Thermaltake BlacX units have started a new class in hard drive storage. You can't really call them carriers since you don't take them with you on the go, nor can you call them internal hot swap since they do not sit inside the case. I guess for now, until someone tells me differently we will call them desktop hot swap devices. The first two USB only BlacX units we looked at performed brilliantly for USB. In the back of my mind, though, I knew the transfer performance was being held up by the connection and recommended to everyone to just hang tight and wait until the eSATA version became available. Today we have this version in hand; the BlacX (part number ST0005U) with eSATA support has finally made its way to my door step and even though I have other articles that need to be written up first, I just had to see how this baby performs.
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A few weeks ago the world was greeted to a sight many people only read about. The sight I am referring to is the dead coming back to life. No I'm not talking about the next Robert Rodriguez joint. I am talking about the rebirth of ATI and their return to the forefront of PC gaming. In an event that took the world, and NVIDIA, by surprise ATI unleashed their HD 4800 series of cards upon us. With performance levels far surpassing the previous generation and coming in at a price reserved for lesser cards, is it any wonder ATI was able to return to their former glory overnight?
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Cyber Snipa's Sonar 5.1. design is somewhat funky, it has these flame red ear cups and the rest of the design is all black. It has the same styling as the Cyber Snipa Stinger mouse we reviewed a while back. It's like Razer using their neon green and black theme. Cyber does it the other way round and uses hot rod red to fire things up a bit. These headphones have a bunch of neat features, for starters their 5.1 surround. This means you could actually make out the difference between an enemy sneaking up behind on your or watch your dvd's with all the sound effects and rumble. Yes that's right this headset what Cyber Snipa likes to call Force Feedback built inside.
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I've seen more 9600 GT cards than I would like to honestly admit. The bottom line is, though, that the card does offer some excellent value for money and if you don't have the budget to buy new high-end cards like the HD 4870 or GTX 280 and GTX 260, the 9600 GT still remains a very good option. Today we're going to take the time to check out the latest 9600 GT incarnation from ECS and see what it has to offer over the competition. In a time where bundles and overclocks separate brands, we see if the latest version from ECS can stand out.
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Just the other day, I was talking about how the HD 4870 X2 is a great card for P45 users. When I tested HD 4870 in CrossFire a few months back on both the P45 and X48, we noticed that the x8 / x8 configuration present on the P45 actually gave us a bit of a hit in performance. So, what we're going to do today is chuck a pair of Sapphire HD 4870s into a P45 board and do a bunch of tests. We're then going to pull those two cards out and stick in a single HD 4870 X2. We will run the same tests and proceed to compare. Since we've already looked at the cards themselves, we're just going to get stuck straight into the benchmarking side of things. Let's begin by taking a quick look at our testbed we're using today, before getting stuck straight into the benchmarks.
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ECS is very popular on the low-end segment, so we were really surprised to see this company launching a good high-end solution. The Hydra kit contains two GeForce 9800 GTX+ running at their default clock configuration and one Thermaltake BigWater 760is water cooler. The video cards come with the cold plates already assembled, so the only work you will have to do is to connect the hoses coming from BigWater to the video cards and fill the water tank with the coolant liquid that comes with the kit. We took an in-depth look on Hydra, check it out.
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Thanks to a glowing array of 115 individual OLED displays fitted under its keys, Art Lebedev's Optimus Maximus is the first and only keyboard that literally morphs before your eyes. Pressing shift and watching all the letters beneath your fingers leap to caps gives you some idea what the Maximus is capable of, and why it's become one of the most hyped-up, fawned-over and generally talked-about devices on the Web. While it delivers sheer novelty value in spades, we found that its princely pricetag, layout and reliability woes may threaten its practicality as a typing device.
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It has been a short while since we have had an Asrock motherboard on our test bench. Today, we are ending that dwelt with the X38TurboTwins-WiFi. We know that the X38 is almost a thing of the past but for some of us it is the best priced way to get 16x across two slots when wanting to run a Crossfire setup. So read along as we take the X38TurboTwin for a ride.
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Quote: The XFX 9600GT XXX Alpha Dog Edition provides a solid performance/price card that easily fits into most gamer gamer budgets. Given it's minimal power requirements and single-slot cooler, the 9600GT would be at home in the meekest OEM computer or a mid-range custom gaming computer. The XFX 9600GT XXX Alpha Dog Edition is definitely not the fastest option available on the market but it is one of the better buys when you are trying to get the best bang for your buck. If you are gaming at 1280x1024 I would highly recommend the 9600GT as a solid purchase that will hold strong for another 12 months with medium to high quality settings in current and upcoming titles...
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Like the GTX 280 which has dropped in price over the last few weeks, the GTX 260 has followed suit. Whether you're a fan of ATI or not, the release of the HD 4800 series and their performance to price ratio has forced NVIDIA to cut margins on the new GTX line-up of cards and give us an extremely powerful card for what now resembles a fair price. To date we've only had a look at one GTX 260 which came with a massive out of the box overclock. What this means is it hasn't really given us the ability to completely come to terms with what the GTX 260 offers in its cheapest form; the stock form.
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As predicted for this year, the dizzying high prices of DDR3 have finally dropped to within reason- even edging into that of DDR2's price point. The reason for such drastic price drops is that chip makers like Micron, Samsung, Hynix, and Qimonda are currently in full swing mass production of DDR3 DRAM - increasing supply and beating demand. This excess in inventory of DDR3 means a steady supply affordable and readily available chips that have helped to spur such rapid market adoption, evident with over fifty different motherboards currently on the market that support this memory standard.
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Quote: If you want the absolute best when it comes to gaming graphics performance a pair of Radeon HD 4870 X2 cards are what you need. They are super fast graphics cards and at $549 each they aren't priced too high compared to where other cards have launched in the past few years. AMD has done a great job with these cards and they were able to take back the performance crown with the release of these cards. NVIDIA can no longer say they have the fastest graphics card and that has to hurt with NVISION just a couple weeks away...
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AMD RS740 chipset. Graphics core is based on RV410, identical graphics core as for AMD RD690 chipset. DX10 is not supported, which isn't a big problem because there isn't any integrated graphics that can run DX10 games with decent framerate yet. Communication between CPU and chipset is limited to 1 GHz, as for 690G, and in case of full duplex: 2 GHz (communication is carried out in both directions). Since 740G doesn't support HTT 3.0 (690G doesn't support it to), it is bottleneck as far as performances of integrated GPU are concerned.
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AMD is saying that the new Radeon HD 4870 X2 which was released today is the fastest single video card in the world today. Is that so? Let's compare its performance to all other high-end video cards available today. Check it out.
Said By Aron Schatz
Weird movie about time paradoxes. You wouldn't think it was by the start of it. The ending was corny, though.
It was okay to watch.
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We invite any and all Sonic fans to come to the 13th iteration of this long-standing, Sonic community tradition, hosted by one of the community’s original sites, Sonic Fan Games HQ. Play the latest and greatest fan projects all in one place for one glorious week of celebrating not only Sonic the Hedgehog, but our community as well.
Said By Vincent. Valentine
Hello Froogledoop I missed normal non-offensive sentences.
Said By FroogleDoop
I don't know any of the little pimply-faced anime kids, though, because I left around the time that we developed the anime forums.