Noctua NH-U12P Heatsink Review
techPowerUp posted a review on the Noctua NH-U12P Heatsink

On the heels of the successful NH-U12F CPU heatsink, Noctua has released a newer, more compatible version called the NH-U12P. This version has more clearance below the fins, making it easier to install on many motherboards. It comes with the new, ultra-quiet NF-P12 fan and a tube of the new NT-H1 thermal compound.

Noctua NH-U12P Heatsink Review

Rosewill RX81-MP-SC-SLV Review
Bjorn3D takes a look at the Rosewill RX81-MP-SC-SLV

I have reviewed plenty of external and internal enclosures here at Bjorn3D.com. I have seen enclosure with some combination of USB, eSATA, and/or FireWire 400 connector. Today, we are going to take a look another enclosure which takes the connector to another level by incorporating FireWire 800. The Rosewill RX81-MP-SC-SLV (man that’s a mouthful for an external enclosure), will be the focus of today’s review. This is a 3.5’’ SATA to 1394a/b, USB, and eSATA enclosure.

Rosewill RX81-MP-SC-SLV Review



AeroCool DoublePower VGA Cooler Review
DragonSteelMods posted AeroCool DoublePower VGA Cooler Review

Today for review I've got the DoublePower from AeroCool, it's a VGA cooler that promises to help keep our video cards cool while looking rather cool as well. The DoublePower is fairly lightweight, and it features a built in fan speed controller, the fan has white LEDs in it that get brighter as the fans speed in increased to give you a visual clue to the speed of the fan. I've put the DoublePower up against the Stock cooler on my X1800GTO video card along with the Thermalright V-1 Ultra and the Arctic Coooling Accelero, so read on to see what I learned...

AeroCool DoublePower VGA Cooler Review

CS-Secure Vault Edition Review
TechwareLabs has published a review of the CS-Secure Vault Edition.

CS-Secure Vault Edition is a software released by CMS Products and is aimed at assisting users with securing files and information. With the urgent rise in the need for security software CS-Secure Vault Edition is an easy to use software that does what its meant to do. See why we feel this software is an excellent value.

CS-Secure Vault Edition Review

Gigabyte GA-945P-S3 Motherboard Review
OCModShop posted a review on the Gigabyte GA-945P-S3 Motherboard

First and foremost, this review is a long time coming, why? Because, I had to buy a CPU and memory just to test the darn thing. But once I did, I finally got up and running quite quickly. I purchased a Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 and 1 gig of appropriate memory. I then placed this equipment into my favoritest (and my wifes) case, the Antec P180b.

But the board itself is quite affordable for any level of computer builder. Gigabyte has provided us a board that has big time functions but not a big time price. A newer series board with all the bells and whistles for a new operating system (Vista), a host of easy to use BIOS menus and some other extras that you don't find in more expensive boards. Yes, the GA-945P-S3 is a value at the price.

Gigabyte GA-945P-S3 Motherboard Review

Abit IP35 Pro Motherboard Review
Hardcoreware posted a review on the Abit IP35 Pro Motherboard

We have just published our first motherboard review in a while, and it's a doozy. The IP35 Pro from Universal Abit is based on the Intel P35 Express chipset. This chipset supports FSB rates up to 1333 MHz, and the IP35 Pro supports pretty much every Intel CPU out there.

You might be amazed at how many features and tools that are packed into the IP35 Pro. I know I was, even though I have reviewed many Abit boards in the past. I guess I wasn't sure what to expect, 2 years into Abit being purchased by "Universal Scientific Industrial". Thankfully, it's just as good as we've come to expect, but with a 3 year warranty and whacky box-art.

Check out this award-winning motherboard in our full review!

Abit IP35 Pro Motherboard Review

Zalman ZM1000-HP 1,000W Power Supply Review
PC Perspective posted a review on the Zalman ZM1000-HP 1,000W Power Supply

Zalman's latest high-end power supply uses dual heat pipes to deliver stable power quietly and efficiently with support for NVIDIA's Quad-SLI or ATI's CrossFire platforms. Zalman has successfully added another high-quality power supply to their line up.

Zalman ZM1000-HP 1,000W Power Supply Review

Crucial Ballistix Tracer PC2-8500 2GB DDR2 Memory Kit Review
EXTREME Overclocking has just posted a review on Crucial's Ballistix Tracer PC2-8500 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 Memory Kit

DDR2 RAM is currently the mainstream memory of choice for most modern PC systems, it has been around for years and is very reasonably priced. However, with the introduction and fast adoption of DDR3, it is only a matter of time before DDR2 suffers the same fate as all previous memory technologies. While this changeover won't happen overnight, it is unlikely that DDR2 manufacturers will be releasing many more iterations of higher clocked DDR2 modules. With that being said, now is probably the best time to invest in some quality, high-speed, high-capacity DDR2 modules while mainstream production is keeping the prices competitive and quantities available.

Crucial Ballistix Tracer PC2-8500 2GB DDR2 Memory Kit Review

FSP Everest 1010W Review
XSReviews has reviewed the FSP Everest 1010W

As the need for PC juice increases, so does the size of the PSUs providing the needed power. Fortunately, there are a few companies who aren't willing to extend the chassis of their power providers, and instead stick faithfully to the compact size that we've come to expect.

Once such company is FSP who have created the Everest PSU which is capable of sending (just) over 1000W of energy to your ever-hungry components. It features a modular design alongside 4 PCI-e connectors and comes in shiny blue. What else could you need? Read on to find out.

FSP Everest 1010W Review

Thermaltake BigWater 760i Liquid Cooling System Review
Virtual-Hideout posted Thermaltake BigWater 760i Liquid Cooling System Review

Overall, the Thermaltake 760i BigWater Liquid Cooling System is one efficient compact liquid cooling system. Not only does it integrate nicely in to your chassis, it'll also compliment most any system you want to assemble. Thermaltake took the time to preassemble some things and make the installation process much simpler. All these factors have made it a very easy system to use and should be simple enough for any and every user wanting to make a change in the way the CPU is cooled.

Thermaltake BigWater 760i Liquid Cooling System Review

Thermaltake BigWater 760i Liquid Cooling System Review
Virtual-Hideout posted a review on the Thermaltake BigWater 760i Liquid Cooling System

Overall, the Thermaltake 760i BigWater Liquid Cooling System is one efficient compact liquid cooling system. Not only does it integrate nicely in to your chassis, it'll also compliment most any system you want to assemble. Thermaltake took the time to preassemble some things and make the installation process much simpler. All these factors have made it a very easy system to use and should be simple enough for any and every user wanting to make a change in the way the CPU is cooled.

Thermaltake BigWater 760i Liquid Cooling System Review

XFX 8800GTS vs. Gainward 8800GT 1024MB Review
Metku.net took a closer look at XFX's 8800GTS and Gainward's 8800GT 1024MB Golden Sample.

As a conclusion I have to say I'm impressed by the performance of the G92 core. The difference between the GTS and the GT 1024 MB was surprisingly small though, only a couple of frames per second in both average and minimum.

XFX 8800GTS vs. Gainward 8800GT 1024MB Review

Cooler Master Sphere CPU Cooler Review
OCIA.net has posted their review of the Cooler Master Sphere CPU Cooler.

The Sphere is an all-copper, quad heatpipe and fin CPU cooler shaped like, you guessed it, a ball. It comes with a single-speed radial fan built in, instead of the typical axial fan you find on most CPU coolers. The radial output of the fan helps to cool other components in the immediate vicinity of the CPU socket. This combination of round-shaped fins and radial output fan put the sphere into a fairly unique class of cooler?

Cooler Master Sphere CPU Cooler Review

SteelSeries Ikari Laser Mouse Review
DreamWare Computers posted a review on the SteelSeries Ikari Laser Mouse

When designing a "gamers mouse" the best thing to do would be to consult top gamers and gaming groups around the world to take into account what games want and need in a mouse. That's exactly what SteelSeries has been doing for the past 15 months while making the Ikari mice (both laser and optical versions available). With a unique styling and even more unique features, will this really be the mouse all gamers dream of?

SteelSeries Ikari Laser Mouse Review

Asus PM17TU 17inch Gamer LCD Display Review
PC Stats posted Asus PM17TU 17inch Gamer LCD Display Review

The Asus PM17TU is an economical 17" LCD monitor designed for gamers. Its prime attribute is a fast screen which boasts a ghost-busting 3ms G-to-G pixel response time. The panel is very bright, which works well in game situations to bring colourful screens to life, yet it maintains a good contrast with the darker areas. Like many LCD displays designed with gaming in mind, the PM17TU has a glossy finish that makes colours seem a little more colourful.

Asus PM17TU 17inch Gamer LCD Display Review

19 Flash Drives Tested to the EXTREME
Driver Heaven posted a roundup of 19 Flash Drives

We have 19 drives on test today from all the leading manufacturers. Some of them we not only test but we burn in boiling water up to 100c, and if this wasn't bad enough, we borrow a 14 tonne bus and see if we can crush them. Don't believe it? we have the videos to prove it !

19 Flash Drives Tested to the EXTREME

A look at mid-range graphics card memory size
The Tech report takes a look at mid-range graphics card memory size

When shopping for computer hardware, consumers tend to favor bigger numbers. I don't blame them, either. The average consumer knows about as much about hardware as I know about needlepoint, which is to say very little. Most, I would suspect, have no idea exactly what a megabyte is, let alone a gigahertz. But they can count, so when faced with the choice between 2GHz or 2.5GHz, they're going to go with the higher number. Because it's better.

Except when it's not, as was the case with the Pentium 4. Intel architected the P4 to scale to higher clock speeds than we'd ever seen before, birthing a megahertz myth that conveniently exploited consumer ignorance. Why would Joe Sixpack buy an Athlon at a mere 1.4GHz when he could get a Pentium 4 at 2GHz? Enthusiasts knew the score, but for years, mainstream consumers were easily persuaded—if they hadn't assumed already—that the Pentium 4 was a far better processor because it had a higher clock speed.

More recently, we've seen a much smaller but not less absurd memory myth take hold in the graphics card industry. Budget cards equipped with ridiculous amounts of memory are the culprit here. For enthusiasts, a gig of memory on a sub-$100 graphics card makes about as much sense as putting a spoiler on a Yugo. Budget GPUs lack the horsepower necessary to run games at the kinds of resolutions and detail levels that would require such a copious amount of video memory. But what about the latest crop of mid-range graphics cards? Nvidia's GeForce 8800 GT has considerable pixel-pushing power on its own, and when teamed in SLI, that power is effectively doubled. Perhaps a gigabyte of memory on this class of card isn't so unreasonable.

Conveniently, derivatives of the GeForce 8800 GT are available with 256MB, 512MB, or 1GB of memory, making it easy for us to probe the impact of graphics memory size on performance. We've tested a collection of single cards and SLI configurations in a selection of new games, across multiple resolutions, to see where memory size matters, if it does at all. Keep reading for the enlightening results.

A look at mid-range graphics card memory size

XFX GeForce 8800GTS 512MB Review
InsideHW.com posted a review on the XFX GeForce 8800GTS 512MB

The tendency to increase the presence of models with the G92 chip on the market is quite logical in the chain of events. Although they are still outnumbered on the market, the new GeForce 8800GT and GTS cards are very good and asked for. As we couldn't find a single 8800GTS with 512 MB of VRAM so far, we decided to plunder a little, and dug out an XFX model.

XFX GeForce 8800GTS 512MB Review

Logitech MX Air Rechargeable Cordless Air Mouse Review
Digit-Life posted a review on the Logitech MX Air Rechargeable Cordless Air Mouse

Devices like Logitech MX Air are not very popular or very profitable. But noblesse oblige, Logitech can afford it, so why not? This mouse is not the first concept from this company. It's hard to say whether this device will survive in the market, but it's certainly interesting and very unusual.

Logitech MX Air Rechargeable Cordless Air Mouse Review

VIA EPIA-SN Mini-ITX Motherboard Review
TweakTown posted a review on the VIA EPIA-SN Mini-ITX Motherboard

Our first look at the EPIA boards really opened our eyes; while others were criticizing the board for its lack of CPU power, EPIA was never intending to take the place of high-end CPUs. In fact, its aim is to make its way into the silent PC and HTPC market, and with the newest generation of features.

Today’s test candidate is VIA’s newest EPIA kid on the block. For quite some time there has been criticism that no graphics card upgradability was offered, but today that changes thanks to the EPIA-SN.

VIA EPIA-SN Mini-ITX Motherboard Review

AMD ATI Catalyst v8.3 Sneak Peek
HotHardware.com posted a preview on the AMD ATI Catalyst v8.3 suite

About every year or so, the software team at ATI, which is now a part of AMD, produces a Catalyst driver suite that introduces a handful of major new features, above and beyond their regular monthly release. And at least so far, for 2008, the upcoming Catalyst v8.3 suite appears to be that major release. In addition to the typical batch of performance enhancements and bug fixes, the v8.3 suite is going to deliver official support for three and four GPU CrossFireX and Hybrid CrossFire configurations, plus some new anti-aliasing features, previously unavailable tweaks for video playback, and GPU LCD scaling, among some other things. Head on over to the site for the full scoop...

AMD ATI Catalyst v8.3 Sneak Peek

Gigabyte GeForce 8800 GT Review
OCC has published a new review of the Gigabyte GeForce 8800 GT

I used Gigabyte's HUD program to overclock this 8800GT. After hours and hours of changing settings, I finally found the best clock. I reached 760MHz core clock, which is a 60MHz increase over the stock 700MHz core clock. The memory clock was harder to push and the highest I could get it was 960MHz (1920) from the stock 920MHz (1840) memory clock. The shader clock was stock at 1700MHz and I raised that to 1818MHz. I was almost disappointed but then I remembered that this card is pre-overclocked so for this card to be able to squeeze out this much more is impressive. The temperatures never rose above 60C, even when I raised the GPU voltage from 1.10v to 1.20v.

AMD ATI Catalyst v8.3 Sneak Peek

Antec P182 Advanced Super Mid Tower Case Review
Futurelooks takes a plook at the Antec P182 Advanced Super Mid Tower Case

Antec’s Performance One series of cases have been the recipients of much praise from the industry, with some going so far as to claim they are the de facto standard for inexpensive feature rich performance computer cases. We’re going to test that claim with the most recent addition to the Performance One line, the P182 Advanced Super Midtower.

Antec P182 Advanced Super Mid Tower Case Review

Belkin N1 Vision Wireless Router Review
I4U NEWS reviews the Belkin N1 Vision Wireless Router.

The coolest feature of the Belkin N1 Vision wireless router is the built-in LCD display that shows information about the router at a glance. The screens show date and time, download speed, connected devices, traffic from connected devices in the past 24 hours, upload and download speeds, and a pictorial representation of your network that makes it easy to tell where problems with your connection are happening.

Belkin N1 Vision Wireless Router Review

Vizo sata Saturno 2.5” hard drive caddy Review
XtremeComputing posted a review on the Vizo sata Saturno 2.5” hard drive caddy

Moving onto the end of the Saturno we find all the necessary connections and buttons. There is the usual USB and power connections but this also has a connection for e-sata, as mentioned before, plus this caddy is capable of one touch backup of either certain files or the whole of your boot disk, which would be VERY useful if the worst should happen.

Vizo sata Saturno 2.5” hard drive caddy Review

GeForce 9600 GT 512MB SLI review ( with Inno3D OC edition)
The Guru of 3D posted a review on a GeForce 9600 GT 512MB SLI video card from Inno3D

Let's uncloak everything you need to know about the Inno3D GeForce 9600 GT OC 512MB edition, a 512MB GeForce 9600 GT default overclocked to such high levels that it even made me scratch behind my ears. Also this is a "double article" as we'll partner up the card and test SLI performance of the GeForce 9600 GT by activating two of these puppies in our far out SLI test rig.

GeForce 9600 GT 512MB SLI review ( with Inno3D OC edition)

Mushkin HP2-6400 4GB Memory Review
Ninjalane has just posted their review of the mid-range performance memory from Mushkin, the HP2-6400

Knowing that size plays a deciding factor in performance what separates one module from another? In a word, speed. Every module is assigned a speed rating from the manufacture that is largely dependent on the quality of the chips but can also be affected by module (PCB) design, the voltage requirements, and settings required to maintain a given level of performance. This roughly translates into frequency and latency.

Mushkin HP2-6400 4GB Memory Review

ATI TV Wonder HD 600 PCI & HD 650 Combo USB Review
Techgage published a review of ATI's latest HD TV tuners, the 600 PCI and 650 Combo USB.

AMD recently released two new ATI TV Wonder HD tuners, both of which have been in our lab for the past few months. In that time, we've put them through numerous tests to see what each one was made of. While the 600 PCI left a bit to be desired, the 650 Combo USB proves to do a lot of things right.

ATI TV Wonder HD 600 PCI & HD 650 Combo USB Review