Razer Arctosa Review
Bjorn3D takes a look at the Razer Arctosa

Gaming and the tools to achieve pawnage have really evolved in the years we've been looking for the perfect gaming shrine. Once upon a dinosaur ago we can remember pounding away at an IBM keyboard in the green monochrome glow of a CRT and thinking that this was the stuff dreams were made of. Then, CGA (3 Color) and EVGA (16 color) monitors hit the streets and we knew we'd achieved the pinnacle of gaming.

Lots of years have passed since then and gaming equipment has made leaps and bounds and it's hard to keep track of all the high end gaming gear out there. We often overlook the midrange gaming market, so we've got a Razer Arctosa entry level gaming keyboard for those that want better equipment but don't feel they need the highest end uber expensive setup.

Razer Arctosa Review

Plantronics Explorer 370 Ruggedized Bluetooth Headset Review
Legit Reviews posted Plantronics Explorer 370 Ruggedized Bluetooth Headset Review

Working with the Explorer 370 is really easy and natural. The headset just seems to work right with no weird quirks or hiccups. When a phone call comes in or when the user initiates a call, the headset responds quickly and transfers calls as fast as any headset we have tested. Advertised range of the headset is 33 feet and when tested in an open area, we can confirm those numbers. Usable range for the headset is easily 15-20 feet before encountering static or dropouts. For the majority of users - even those who have a need for a ruggedized headset – the range of the Explorer 370 will be satisfactory. It certainly doesn’t match the 100-foot + range of the Callpod Dragon, but then again, who really needs that kind of range?

Plantronics Explorer 370 Ruggedized Bluetooth Headset Review



GMC R-2 Toast Mid-Tower Case Review
DreamWare Computers posted a review on the GMC R-2 Toast Mid-Tower Case

When I first saw the images of these really unique looking cases that are made by GM Corporation (no ties to General Motors) at Computex 2008, I knew I had to get my hands on one to show you here in a review. The R-2 Toast is a very simplistic and stylish mid-tower case made by GMC which uses the optical drive as a unique center piece on the bezel and is available in a slew of eye-catching colours. I'm lucky enough to have the Ocean Blue version of this case here to review today!

GMC R-2 Toast Mid-Tower Case Review

Asus DRW-22B1LT DVD/RW Drive Review
DragonSteelMods posted a review on the Asus DRW-22B1LT DVD/RW Drive

For todays review, our friends at Acoustic PC sent us the latest burner from Asus: the Asus DRW-22B1LT. This DVD burner is a Multi DVDR/RW which includes LightScribe technology for laser etching labels. Using LightScribe is as simple as burning the data to your DVD and flipping the disc over to laser etch a label. Besides these fairly standard features, Asus added a few new wrinkles including E-Green technology, OTS (Optimal Tuning Strategy) and Auto Vibration Reducing System (AVRS).

Asus DRW-22B1LT DVD/RW Drive Review

Acer Aspire 8730G Review
InsideHW.com has reviewed Acer Aspire 8730G notebook

We are sure that most of you don't fantasize about big and heavy notebook models, but then again, we are also sure that most of you would like to own a notebook like Acer Aspire 8730G. If multimedia features of notebook mean to you more than mobility and portability than this "giant" will draw your attention for sure. Don't let this initial description scare you. Although dimensions of Acer Aspire 8730G are noticeable, its weight doesn't go over 4kg which is not too much for a notebook with 18.4inch diagonal.

Acer Aspire 8730G Review

Diamond HD 4870 1GB GDDR5 Review
Hi Tech Legion posted a review on the Diamond HD 4870 1GB GDDR5

The Diamond HD 4870 1GB GDDR5 was one of ATI's most powerful cards on the market, until just recently, with ATI's new 4890 coming out, and the HD 4870 1GB GDDR5 by Diamond is still a great card to own and purchase, especially with some recent price drops. The Diamond HD 4870 can be part of AMD's Dragon Platform, which is definitely a plus to anyone looking to upgrade to a Phenom II.

Diamond HD 4870 1GB GDDR5 Review

Sparkle GeForce 9800GT HDMI Video Card Review
Tech Addicts posted a review on the Sparkle GeForce 9800GT HDMI Video Card

This is a great video card that offers surprising performance for a graphics card with such a small footprint. The Sparkle GeForce 9800GT HDMI is perfect for home theater PC enthusiasts who want not only Blu-Ray and H.264 acceleration but also want enough performance to play most of today's games smoothly at higher resolutions, such as 1080p. This graphics card is also one of the few low-profile cards that offer both HDMI and DVI-D without the need for any adapters. When not overclocked, this card is nearly silent, which is also great for home theater computer systems. At around $115, this card is priced perfectly for the amount of performance and convenience it offers.

Sparkle GeForce 9800GT HDMI Video Card Review

Xigmatek Thor's Hammer Review
PureOverclock posted a review of the Xigmatek Thor's Hammer CPU cooler.

Today we're testing the Xigmatek Thor's Hammer S126384, which offers Heatpipe Direct Touch (HDT) technology, a newer trend in tower-style heatsinks, and promises some efficient cooling numbers. It is Socket 1366-capable and looks stunning in nickel-coated black, so despite its imposing name, what remains to be seen is whether it can cool well or not. Let's find out.

Xigmatek Thor's Hammer Review

ASUS EAH4890 TOP Radeon HD 4890 RV790 Review
Benchmark Reviews posted a review on the ASUS EAH4890 TOP Radeon HD 4890 RV790

ASUS has a reputation for bringing cream-of-the-crop products to the marketplace, and branding them with the TOP badge. The new Radeon RV790 GPU is the next well-bred concept from the ATI labs, and in this article Benchmark Reviews tests the performance of the new ASUS Radeon HD 4890 GDDR5 EAH4890TOP video card against the rest of the high-end segment. Overclocked to 900MHz this Radeon 4890 is the most-powerful single GPU video card produced by AMD, it's going to be a tough fight to beat out NVIDIA.

ASUS EAH4890 TOP Radeon HD 4890 RV790 Review

ASUS Xonar Essence STX Review
Techgage.com posted an exhaustive look at ASUS' latest high-end sound card... devoted to headphones users

The majority of the high-end PC audio cards targeted at enthusiasts typically focus on multi-channel performance, with a variety of decoding modes, DSP enhancements, and other features tossed in. The Xonar Essence STX from ASUS has an entirely different focus - delivering audiophile-quality stereo output.

ASUS Xonar Essence STX Review

Asus Eee PC 1000HE 10-Inch Netbook Review
Futurelooks checks out the latest ASUS Eee PC 1000HE 10-Inch Netbook

While I certainly have reason to believe that netbooks are already obsolete, it is good to see that the market isn’t getting too stagnant. The manufacturers are constantly upping the ante, granting us access to new features and better performance. One of the more recent examples of this is the Asus Eee PC 1000HE, a netbook that improves on the existing Eee PC line in just about every way.

Asus Eee PC 1000HE 10-Inch Netbook Review

Sparkle Calibre P980X+ Review
OCC has published a new review on the Sparkle Calibre P980X+

Overclocking the card was more complicated than expected. The card artifacted at its factory overclocked speeds, and would begin artifacting at reference clocks as well. Thus the difficulty in overclocking - setting the speeds themselves was easy with Rivatuner and SPAtune. Temperatures were around 55C idle and 75C load, so I dismantled the card and replaced the stock thermal paste with some high performance paste. As a safeguard, while the heat sink was off, I also applied more paste to the heat pipe assembly, coating the pipes in a stickier paste to ensure that there would be good thermal contact. The pipes had little paste, and it seemed somewhat grainy, where the paste replacing it was similar to toothpaste. Once the card was refreshed with two thermal pastes, idle and load temperatures dropped 10C to 15C and the card ran stable at reference speeds. The factory default would still artifact although not as quickly or vigorously, and was caused by the high shader clock speed. The core didn't have much room left in it, a mere 38MHz over the factory tune, while the memory ran up to 1346MHz - a 185MHz overclock! Overall a 5% overclock on the core, 16% on memory, and technically -2.6% on the shader clock speed. Not great, but not bad either - at least the card was pre-overclocked and the memory had some room.

Sparkle Calibre P980X+ Review

Gainward GeForce GTX 275 Graphics Card Review
TweakTown posted a review on the Gainward GeForce GTX 275 Graphics Card

I've had HD 4890 samples coming in for a few weeks now. With that said, I chose not to test the card straight away, because as we draw closer to NDA we see new drivers come out. What ended up happening, however, is that we saw the NDA change for these cards a few times. The HD 4890 was originally set to release two days before the GTX 275; ATI then put the pedal down some more and it was released almost a week early.

In response to this, NVIDIA pulled their NDA forward to the day after the HD 4890’s new launch. While this was all happening, HD 4890 samples were in hand but GTX 275 ones hadn't shipped yet; not just for me, but most writers around the world. Three days before the NDA was up on the GTX 275, three companies confirmed that NVIDIA made a last minute change to the memory clock and decided to drop it, hence the delay for samples. Apart from a few reference cards, this was going to be a paper launch, which was something that we had not become accustomed to seeing.

Gainward GeForce GTX 275 Graphics Card Review

Gainward GeForce GTX 275 Graphics Card Review
TweakTown posted a review on the Gainward GeForce GTX 275 Graphics Card

I've had HD 4890 samples coming in for a few weeks now. With that said, I chose not to test the card straight away, because as we draw closer to NDA we see new drivers come out. What ended up happening, however, is that we saw the NDA change for these cards a few times. The HD 4890 was originally set to release two days before the GTX 275; ATI then put the pedal down some more and it was released almost a week early.

In response to this, NVIDIA pulled their NDA forward to the day after the HD 4890’s new launch. While this was all happening, HD 4890 samples were in hand but GTX 275 ones hadn't shipped yet; not just for me, but most writers around the world. Three days before the NDA was up on the GTX 275, three companies confirmed that NVIDIA made a last minute change to the memory clock and decided to drop it, hence the delay for samples. Apart from a few reference cards, this was going to be a paper launch, which was something that we had not become accustomed to seeing.

Gainward GeForce GTX 275 Graphics Card Review