Asus GTX 280 TOP Vs. XFX GTX 280 XXX Review
DriverHeaven posted a comparison review on the Asus GTX 280 TOP vs. XFX GTX 280 XXX

Over the past few years XFX have become well known for their range of factory overclocked graphics cards. They started with the XXX brand but more recently cemented their position as leading performers with the release of Black Edition products. Asus on the other hand have generally been known for making reference specification cards with value adding extras but in recent times they have moved into the area of serious overclocking.

Today we have factory overclocked cards from each of these manufacturers and we will be putting them head to head in a variety of tests including gaming at 2560x1600, high definition playback and PhysX calculations. In addition to this we will also take a look at how each of the cards compares to various other products which are available on the market, including the Geforce GTX 260, and Radeon 4870.

Asus GTX 280 TOP Vs. XFX GTX 280 XXX Review

Apevia X-Supra Blue Special Edition Review
techPowerUp posted a review on the Apevia X-Supra Blue Special Edition

The X-Supra is a new mainstream case from Apevia, which features all the usual extras like a handful of colorful fronts, screw-less design and fan controller. On top of that you can go for a huge 250 mm side fan or a windowed variant with a smaller 120 mm fan. The special edition features a solid side panel.

Apevia X-Supra Blue Special Edition Review



Thermaltake Toughpower 1000 Watt Modular Review
Bjorn3D look at the Thermaltake Toughpower 1000 Watt Modular

Power supplies have moved from the ugly box in the computer that no one paid any attention to, to the heart and soul of modern enthusiast systems. There are a lot of power supplies out there marketed as high-end enthusiast power supplies and are little more than cheap and not worth using in nice looking housings.

So how do you pick from the vast selection of Power Supplies out there without getting a fancy housing and rotten guts? In todays market you have to know your Power Supplies, the OEM manufacturer behind them if they use an OEM, and rely on past performance, word of mouth, and testing done on the PSU.

Today at Bjorn3D we have a Thermaltake Toughpower 1000 Watt Cable Management (modular) power supply to test. Given Thermaltake's past performance in the power supply area and their OEM Channel Well Technologies who manufactures this line for them, we should have a winner on our hands.

Thermaltake Toughpower 1000 Watt Modular Review

Aerocool Modern-V LCD Fan Controller and Temperature Monitor Review
DragonSteelMods posted Aerocool Modern-V LCD Fan Controller and Temperature Monitor Review

The product I have today for review is from our friends at Aerocool and it's called the Modern V. What the V stands for I'm not sure, but it's an LCD Display Fan Controller and Temperature Monitor that looks pretty cool when it's installed in your PC, oh and it works great as well...

Aerocool Modern-V LCD Fan Controller and Temperature Monitor Review

Antec Three Hundred Gaming Case Review
Tech-Reviews.co.uk posted a review on the Antec Three Hundred Gaming Case

PC gaming is a fast growing market with a high demand for products which can deliver solid performance - an always-growing requirement. There have been many attempts in recent times to create the ultimate gaming enclosure many of which have been total failures and others which have produced astonishing results. The Antec Three Hundred is a versatile midi tower case that has been designed purely with gaming in mind in - another one of the hopefuls that could be added to the ever-growing list of great gaming cases.

Antec Three Hundred Gaming Case Review

Super Talent Pico-C 8GB Flash Drive Review
TweakTown posted a review on the Super Talent Pico-C 8GB Flash Drive

Over the next thirty days I will have only one thing on my mind; USB thumb drives. Thumb drives started out as small devices that were a little pricey, offered a small amount of storage and had very low transfer rates. Even with limited space and transfer rates that felt like we took a step back to 1.44 MB floppy disk days, people quickly adopted the technology based on their ease of use and convenience.

TweakTown is working on gathering as many USB thumb drives as possible for a massive round-up review that will put products from every major manufacturer in the ring with one another. Some drives stand out for their high transfer rates, while others have high capacity. Other drives use a very small enclosures; about the size of your thumbnail.

Super Talent Pico-C 8GB Flash Drive Review

ETASIS ET850 850 Watt Power Supply Review
TechwareLabs has published a review of the ETASIS ET850 850 Watt Power Supply

Power Hungry? We are. We let our machine bite into an ETASIS 850W power supply and cover everything from packing and installation to testing and its performance. Did the ETASIS 850 tame our beasts hunger cravings? Read our tasty review to find out.

ETASIS ET850 850 Watt Power Supply Review

Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 Review
ASE Labs posted a review on the Sapphire Radeon HD 4850

The Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 retail box is black with red accents. This is the case it should be since ATI graphics are known to be red. Also, red and black are my favorite colors. While the box says it supports some stuff, there is no mention of Linux support even though AMD has said it wants its partners to include a penguin or other open sourcey stuff on the box. The Catalyst 8.6 drivers for Linux support this GPU and were released last month.

Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 Review

Mounting a CPU Cooler? The Heatpipe Direction Might Matter
Legit Reviews revisit a recently reviewed cooler, the NH-C12P from Noctua, to see how the mounting direction impacts the cooler's performance

We recently tested the newest cooler from Noctua, the NH-C12P. We received many e-mails questioning the way we, well I, had the cooler oriented. Noctua themselves emailed us as well with concerns on how we tested their product. So, due to the requests of the readers, and the manufacturer as well, we decided to re-visit the cooler to see how the CPU temperatures are affected by different mounting positions.

Mounting a CPU Cooler? The Heatpipe Direction Might Matter

OCZ Rally2 32Gb USB Stick Review
Madshrimps posted a review on the OCZ Rally2 32Gb USB Stick

We are testing the largest USB drive in such a compact form today. Packing 32Gb this OCZ Rally2 promises high performance and high capacity. It comes in classy black with fancy activity LED and carrying strap.

OCZ Rally2 32Gb USB Stick Review

BFG GeForce 8800 GT and 9600 GT OCX ThermoIntelligence Review
PC Perspective checked out the BFG GeForce 8800 GT and 9600 GT OCX ThermoIntelligence

Though they might seem outdated we have to say that both the BFG GeForce 8800 GT and 9600 GT OCX ThermoIntelligence graphics cards have some life left them, just as we proved in our recent 9600 GT roundup article. It is true that there are a BUNCH of graphics options huddled around the $150-$250 price mark now and that could make your decision a bit more clouded than we'd like but it really comes down to your exact budget and performance desires. BFG has put both the 8800 GT and 9600 GT OCX TI cards in a very good position with pricing but I would definitely lean towards the 8800 GT OCX model as being the best value in our comparison; that's a lot of extra performance for just $10.

BFG GeForce 8800 GT and 9600 GT OCX ThermoIntelligence Review

ECS A740GM-A Motherboard on AMD 740G Chipset
Digit-Life takes a look at the ECS A740GM-A Motherboard based on AMD 740G Chipset

Let's see how general requirements to entry-level motherboards agree with what ECS engineers have in mind. This company is quite experienced in designing low-end motherboards.

ECS A740GM-A Motherboard on AMD 740G Chipset

Intel Nehalem System and SSD Sneak Peek
HotHardware.com posted a preview on the Intel Nehalem System and SSD

Intel was showing off some of their next-gen hardware today at a posh NYC hotel on the east side of Manhattan. There aren't many specifics we can disclose just yet, but we were allowed to snap off a few pictures of a system that we're sure many of you are eager to check out. What you see pictured at the URL below is a complete Nehalem-based rig, built around an Intel X58 chipset motherboard and a pair of Intel SSD drives running in RAID 0. Could this be early 2009's version of an enthusiast class PC? Head on over to the site and to check it out and decide for yourself...

Intel Nehalem System and SSD Sneak Peek

Moneual MonCaso 972 HTPC Case w/ 7" LCD Review
3D Game Man posted a review on the Moneual MonCaso 972 HTPC Case w/ 7" LCD

The Moneual 972 HTPC Case comes with a full featured Microsoft Vista compatible remote control and a large 7" touch screen display. This screen has a 15 to 9 ratio & the recommended resolution is 800x600 and a maximum resolution 1024x768. It's bright, has accurate colors, shape text quality and simply looks amazing. This is the ultimate HTPC case to have! Watch the video to find out more.

Moneual MonCaso 972 HTPC Case w/ 7" LCD Review

ECS GF8200A Black Series Motherboard Review
Hardware Secrets posted ECS GF8200A Black Series Motherboard Review

GF8200A Black Series is an entry-level socket AM2+ motherboard with on-board video from ECS based on GeForce 8200 (MCP78M-A) chipset from nVidia. Since it features an HDMI output, this board is clearly targeted to users willing to build a media center PC based on an AMD CPU like Athlon X2. In this review we will compare the performance of GeForce 8200 to its main competitor, AMD 780G. Check it out.

ECS GF8200A Black Series Motherboard Review

Mushkin Enhanced PC3-14400 2GB Memory Kit Review
Hardwarelogic checked out the Mushkin Enhanced PC3-14400 2GB Memory Kit

Mushkin's eXtreme Performance (XP) series represents the fastest DDR3 memory they have to offer. Today I'll look at their latest kit, the XP3-14400, which provides 2GB and 1800MHz of pure ownage. Enthusiasts can appreciate what memory this fast is capable of and if you are in the market for crazy fast DDR3, you'll want to check out this review. Read on as I take this kit into HardwareLogic's West Coast lab to help you figure out if this is exactly what you're looking for.

Mushkin Enhanced PC3-14400 2GB Memory Kit Review

OCZ DDR3 PC3-16000 Platinum memory Review
Neoseeker reviews OCZ DDR3 PC3-16000 Platinum memory

Mind you, current PC motherboards cannot make use of all of this bandwidth - a dual channel setup with these DIMMs is theoretically capable of supplying 32GB/sec memory bandwidth, however the processor is connected to the northbridge normally with a 1333MHz or 1600MHz FSB; and even though we pushed the FSB in these tests to 2000MHz, due to bus overhead it is literally impossible to make use of the full bandwidth of even one bank of these DIMMs.

OCZ DDR3 PC3-16000 Platinum memory Review

GELID Solutions GC-1 Thermal Compound Review
OCIA.net has posted their review of the GELID Solutions GC-1 Thermal Compound.

Today we have for review one of GELID's first products ever, their thermal compound, GC-1. I've seen a lot of thermal compounds hit the market and pass it by, and often times it seems as though it will take something absolutely astonishing to overshadow the great name of Arctic Silver 5. Even though many pastes out there perform better, have better features (not electrically conductive, doesn't have a burn in period, etc.) and are cheaper than Arctic Silver 5, it seems impossible to knock it from its thrown.

GELID Solutions GC-1 Thermal Compound Review

Tagan A+ CS-Monolize Review
OCC has published a new review on the Tagan A+ CS-Monolize

Having used many cases that I felt had good airflow made me skeptical of how well two giant 250mm fans would be able to balance the airflow in and out of the chassis while keeping the components from sitting in stagnant air and cooking. Tagan has done an excellent job making sure there is an avenue of escape for all of the air being pushed into the case. The venting on the top, sides, front and rear panels all allow the 300+ C.F.M to flow through almost completely unobstructed. You can really feel the airflow moving out of the vents. Initially, I was thinking there was no way that the volume of air would be turned over enough to not have a positive case pressure and create areas of stagnant air. That hunch got stronger when I realized there were no additional fans to help move the volume of air being ingested. Before checking the specifications on the fans, I measured the incoming airflow on each fan and was surprised that my measured numbers came within 5 C.F.M. of the rated flow. A bonus!

Tagan A+ CS-Monolize Review

Force3D Radeon 4850 & 4870 review
The Guru of 3D tested the Force3D Radeon 4850 & 4870

We dropped their name already a couple of times yet with this article I'd like to introduce a new company called Force3D.

Force3D is a Hong Kong based company that opened it's doors earlier this year. Their focus is placed completely at AMD's ATI graphics solutions. Their timing could not have been better with the 4800 release, so today we'll review two of their 4800 series products, the Radeon HD 4850 and 4870.

Force3D Radeon 4850 & 4870 review

Vizo Luxon Advanced hard disk enclosure Review
Elite Bastards posted a review on the Vizo Luxon Advanced hard disk enclosure

A closer look at the PCB of the Luxon and we can see that as well as supporting eSATA and USB 2.0 interfaces externally, it is actually also capable of supporting either an IDE or Serial ATA hard drive internally. While Serial ATA is now by far the most prevalent standard in the desktop hard disk market, if you're looking to reuse an old drive as a backup device or the like then the Luxon's capability of supporting an IDE drive may well be most welcome.

Vizo Luxon Advanced hard disk enclosure Review

Zalman GS1000 Review
Bit-Tech published a review of Zalman GS1000 PC case

Zalman has quite the reputation in the field of PC hardware, in the same way that BMW has quite the reputation in the field of cars. They both offer innovation, buckets of build quality, and for the most part, impressive performance, in exchange for massive chunks of your pay packet.

What do we have here? Low and behold, Zalman has made a case, and remarkably kept the price tag at a level that we mere mortals can not only afford, but can genuinely consider as an alternative to the usual suspects of PC cases. Could this be the 1-series of PC cases?

Zalman GS1000 Review

Alienware Area-51 m15x Review
Bit-Tech published a review of Alienware Area-51 m15x notebook

When you get right down to it, the Alienware Area 51 m15x is solid, but only marginally groundbreaking.

There are a number of little things and touches which might help make the m15x stand out, mainly in terms of the adjustable colour schemes and the overall look and feel of the excellent keyboard, but for each one there's also a drawback. Besides, adjustable colour profiles may look fancy, but are functionally redundant.

Still, niggles and nags aside the performance and style on offer here is very good, even if you do have to pay a premium. Gaming notebooks are an odd creature in that they aren't ever really intended to be notebooks as much as they /desktop replacements/. Even then, this is slightly more portable as a 15.4" rather than a 17" you could post a link on your site that would be very much appreciated.

Alienware Area-51 m15x Review