Intel's Core i3-530 - The Budget Powerhouse?
Techgage.com posted a review of Intel's budget-priced Core i3-530

When Intel launched its Westmere-based line-up this past January, one of the more interesting models released was the Core i3-530. The big reason was its budget $120 price tag. But if there's one thing that can make a budget chip interesting, it's overclocking, and fortunately, there's huge potential where this chip is concerned.

Intel's Core i3-530 - The Budget Powerhouse?

Masscool MP-1370S 'Media Mate' Media Player Review
Legit Reviews posted Masscool MP-1370S 'Media Mate' Media Player Review

Masscool has introduced an economical high-definition portable multimedia player that you can use to stream your video, photos, and music to your home theater. Not only does the MP-1370S play multimedia, it can record to an optional 3.5” HDD or connected USB drive. Read on to see if the MP-1370S media server is the most complete player/recorder on the market.

Masscool MP-1370S 'Media Mate' Media Player Review



AMD Phenom II X2 555 BE Review
Rbmods posted a review on the AMD Phenom II X2 555 BE

Dual-core, tri-core or quad-core - the question of the day. If you want ultimate performance, you have to choose quad-core.. ..or do you? Some of the AMD Phenom II X2:s can be unlocked to full X4:s. Let's have a look how our AMD Phenom II X4 555BE performs in tests and can it be unlocked ?

AMD Phenom II X2 555 BE Review

OCZ Z Series 1000 W Power Supply Review
Hardware Secrets posted a review on the OCZ Z Series 1000 W Power Supply

OCZ Z Series is the 80 Plus Gold-certified power supply family from OCZ, and so far they released an 850 W and a 1,000 W model. Let's see if the 1000 W model will live up to the expectation.

OCZ Z Series 1000 W Power Supply Review

AMD 785G Motherboard Roundup
iXBT Labs posted their AMD 785G Motherboard Roundup

The AMD 785G chipset expands the application of integrated graphics core in video transcoding tasks. Considering that it can still decode HD content, a compact motherboard with this chipset is one of the most attractive foundations for an inexpensive and energy-efficient home theater PC.

AMD 785G Motherboard Roundup

Gigabyte GV-567OC-1GI Radeon HD 5670 Videocard Review
PC Stats posted Gigabyte GV-567OC-1GI Radeon HD 5670 Videocard Review

Gigabyte has designed a slightly overclocked (+10MHz) version of the
Radeon HD 5670 videocard called the GV-567OC-1GI. ATI has produced several 'sweet spot' videocards over the past year like the Radeon HD 4870, 4850 and 4770, and through aggressive pricing and new manufacturing techniques ATI has managed to get all of these videocards into that $100-$150 'sweet spot' that net excellent gaming performance at a cut-rate price. Will the GV-567OC-1GI be worthy to join such hallowed company?

Gigabyte GV-567OC-1GI Radeon HD 5670 Videocard Review

Crucial Ballistix Tracer Red PC3-12800 Memory Kit Review
OCIA.net has posted their review of the Crucial Ballistix Tracer Red PC3-12800 Memory Kit

Crucial under its parent company Micron has been producing high quality, standard spec computer memory for more than 30 years. Although a latecomer to the performance marketplace, Crucial has not disappointed their fans and has built quite a name for its Ballistix line of memory over the last six years, beginning with their high speed DDR up through DDR2 and now DDR3. The Tracer series adds an interesting twist, that of LED activity lighting on the memory sticks themselves, useful for indicating memory utilization and also just for the bling factor. The memory I have for review today is the red version of Crucial's latest Ballistix Tracer series, in a 2x2Gb kit of PC3-12800 8-8-8-24.

Crucial Ballistix Tracer Red PC3-12800 Memory Kit Review

ASUS External Slim Blu-ray Disc Combo SBC-06D1S-U Review
Vortez.co.uk posted a review on the ASUS External Slim Blu-ray Disc Combo SBC-06D1S-U

As reported in our News section on 15th February - ASUS have launched two new external optical drives. ASUS have very kindly provided us with the SBC-06D1S-U to review today.

ASUS are a hugely successful company known for their innovative product design and industry leading quality in the world of 3C (Computers, Communications and Consumer Electronics). Let's take a look at one of their latest external optical drives and see if it continues their excellent pedigree.

ASUS External Slim Blu-ray Disc Combo SBC-06D1S-U Review

ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 890GX Motherboard Review
Vortez.co.uk posted their review on the ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 890GX Motherboard

Most focus these days seems to be on i5 and i7 based hardware. However, AMD have been working hard on this new chipset to compliment their new Athlon II and Phenom II processors so I'm eager to take a look and see how this board compares to the competition.

ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 890GX Motherboard Review

Patriot Valkyrie NAS Review
Neoseeker takes a look at the Patriot Valkyrie NAS device

Once Patriot works out the Valkyrie's few rough edges, it'll be hard to resist the attractive $140 price tag. While it's certainly not anything near fast, if you're looking for an affordable, flexible, centralized data storage solution for your home, look no further!

Patriot Valkyrie NAS Review

Thermalright Venomous X CPU Cooler Review
Vortez.co.uk takes a look at the Thermalright Venomous X CPU Cooler

Thermalright needs no introduction in the cooling segment but since they are a new arrival on Vortez, it is important to look at what made Thermalright such a significant player when it comes to cooling performance and why they were/are considered the Kings of this competitive market. Thermalright can be considered pioneers in developing large tower coolers, dating back to the 2002, when they entered the business, as CPUs became progressively more powerful and generating more heat. Thermalright's solutions were the answers to the growing need of performance coolers. It wasn't long before they struck a chord in the enthusiast market, delivering outstanding cooling performance using innovative heat pipes and large heatsink designs.

The Ultima 90, which was soon succeeded by the Thermalright Ultra Extreme marked the brand's dominance and lead over alternative solutions. Many tried to imitate them but most failed, hence why we still see the Thermalright Ultra Extreme being such a popular choice even to this day. Did I mention it was released three years ago? However, this was no reason for Thermalright to rest on its laurels, with brands such as Noctua, Tuniq, Prolimatech etc developing new and more efficient heatsinks. So today we have with us the next iteration of Thermalright's flagship CPU cooler, the Venomous X. As the name instigates, we better be prepared for some striking results.

Thermalright Venomous X CPU Cooler Review

Intel D510MO Mini-ITX Motherboard Review
Bigbruin.com posted a review on the Intel D510MO Mini-ITX Motherboard

The most appealing thing about the Intel D510MO Mini-ITX motherboard with 1.66GHz Intel Atom dual core processor was that it could be used as the core of a completely silent system. Since the board is passively cooled, you can pick other passively cooled or solid state components for a build that generates absolutely zero noise.

Intel D510MO Mini-ITX Motherboard Review

Kingston HyperX PC3-17066 (2133MHz) 4GB Kit Review
TweakTown posted a review on the Kingston HyperX PC3-17066 (2133MHz) 4GB Kit

Kingston has a reputation for creating some extremely high quality memory. What this means is that we tend not to see the company jump on the speed train as quick as some other makers do. They want to know when they release a module that it's going to run 100% across many platforms.

Due to the nature of this, what tends to happen is we see only major step-ups in speed. To give you a better idea from Kingston, we see at the top of the table the 2133MHz DDR kit we have with us today. Moving downwards and we've got 2000MHz which was a major release, while below that there are 1800MHz DDR, 1600MHz DDR and 1333MHz DDR modules.

Kingston HyperX PC3-17066 (2133MHz) 4GB Kit Review

Xclio Nighthawk Review
PureOverclock has published a review of the Xclio Nighthawk mid-tower case

The Xclio Nighthawk claims many great features and performance at a mid-range price tag $80 USD. The Nighthawk is targeted to both gamers and enthusiasts that are looking for an attractive case with many features. Xclio has a considerable amount of competition in a market that is saturated with literally several hundred other mid-tower cases, so we are wondering what the Nighthawk brings to the table in terms of uniqueness, performance, features, and quality.

Xclio Nighthawk Review

OCZ Agility Series 120GB SSD Review
OCC has published a review on the OCZ Agility Series 120GB SSD

When it comes to performance, the OCZ Agility had some mixed results. Don't get me wrong, this drive is miles ahead of any mechanical drive on the market, but seemed to struggle in the lower file size testing when compared to the comparison SSDs. However, it did perform quite well in the larger file size testing and delivered some excellent performance numbers.

OCZ Agility Series 120GB SSD Review

Thermaltake ISGC-300 CPU Cooler Review
Tweaknews posted a review on the Thermaltake ISGC-300 CPU Cooler

I had high hopes for Thermaltake's ISGC-300 cooler. I liked the design and it was very easy to install on the 775 platform, although the mobo may have to be removed for installation, even for AMD users.

Thermaltake ISGC-300 CPU Cooler Review

Too TRIM? When SSD Data Recovery is Impossible
Techgage.com posted a report on data recovery for TRIM-affected SSD's

It goes without saying that solid-state drives are well-worth the investment in order to give your PC some responsiveness, but with all the benefits they can offer, there's one lesser-known issue that we'll talk about here. That issue is simple. As soon as you delete a file on a TRIM-enabled SSD, the data is gone, for good.

Too TRIM? When SSD Data Recovery is Impossible

Athlon II X4 635: Quad-Cores Are In
InsideHW.com has reviewed Athlon II X4 635 CPU

Almost six months have passed since we first presented Athlon II quad-core CPUs on our site. In parallel with the 630 model, the cheapest 620 model was presented as well, threatening the competition severely with its price of under 100€ and bringing quad-core Phenom II derivatives closer to the mainstream segment. The popularity of these processors became evident quick after they were presented, and now we have the chance to review the latest member of the Athlon II X4 family, namely 635…

Athlon II X4 635: Quad-Cores Are In