Intel Atom 230 versus VIA Nano L2100
Legit Reviews published a comparison review between Intel Atom 230 versus VIA Nano L2100

The Intel Atom and VIA Nano processors have been making a ton of noise in the market place as they are inexpensive, energy efficient and fit into sleek and sexy devices that consumers are looking for today. Armed with the VIA Nano processor and the Intel Atom processor, I can now do a direct performance comparison against two of the most talked about processors for 2008.

Intel Atom 230 versus VIA Nano L2100

Thermaltake DuOrb Heatsink Review
ForstyTech posted a review on the Thermaltake DuOrb Heatsink

Anyone with a compact computer case will tell you that finding a good heatsink can be a daunting task. After tracking down the best heatsinks available for your budget, there's the question of heatsink heights to factor in. This is where the new Thermaltake DuOrb heatsink comes in. This heatsink features twin 80mm fans set side-by-side so cooling surface area isn't sacrificed for keeping the total heatsink height under 90mm. The DuOrb is novel in a couple of other aspects...

Thermaltake DuOrb Heatsink Review



Logitech G51 Review
InsideHW.com has posted review for Logitech G51 speakers

Logitech G51 speakers were the first with prefix "G" (G as a short from gamer). Sound, as one of important component of any game, should be the best as possible, so engineers from Logitech did their best to satisfy expectations of most demanding users with this model. The first thing you'll spot is definitely futuristic design of G51. Engineers from Logitech were probably led with idea that gamers have affections to that "futuristic" look.

Logitech G51 Review

NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3 Review
HardwareZone posted a review on the NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3 video card

Despite its recent troubles, NVIDIA has continued with its quest to populate its GeForce 9 series with tweaked versions of its GeForce 8 GPUs. We take a look at its new mainstream GPU, the GeForce 9500 GT and find out if it can distinguish itself from its predecessors. Also check out how the overclocked Zotac AMP! Edition fared.

NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3 Review

XFX Motherboard Roundup
DriverHeaven posted XFX Motherboard Roundup

Every hardware enthusiast should know the name XFX as they are synonymous with the fastest performing Nvidia products on the market. Whether you are shopping for the ultimate graphics card or the highest specification motherboard it is hard to go wrong with the XFX branded versions.

High end is not their only area of expertise however and recently XFX offered us the opportunity to review a number of their value segment motherboards with onboard graphics, they told us that their products were capable of taking on the best AMD and Intel had to offer. This is quite a claim so after tracking down some impressive AM2/Socket 775 boards we put XFX to their word.

XFX Motherboard Roundup

Kingston 8GB microSDHC Card Review
DragonSteelMods posted a review on the Kingston 8GB microSDHC Card

Today for review I've got an 8gb microSDHC card from Kingston, it's a Class 4 card which means it should perform well with a rated transfer rate of 4MB/s. So read on to see if this microSDHC card lives up to its rating and how it compares to a couple other microSD cards I've got on hand.

Kingston 8GB microSDHC Card Review

Icy Box IB-3218 Enclosure Review
OCIA.net has posted their review of the Icy Box IB-3218 Enclosure.

A few months ago I reviewed the Icy Box NAS 4220 dual-drive enclosure from Raidsonic. They've taken the best features of the NAS box and incorporated them into the product we have for review today, the Icy Box IB 3218. Bearing a striking resemblance to the NAS 4220, the IB 3218 uses the same housing and drive mounting mechanism, but without the network interface.

Icy Box IB-3218 Enclosure Review

NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GT Video Card Preview
Legit Reviews posted a preview on the NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GT Video Card

The new NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GT is touted as the perfect and best performing mainstream graphics board solution on the market today. The GeForce 9500 GT can be found for just $69.99, needs no external power connector and has a maximum board power rating of just 50 Watts. Very impressive for a board that supports PhysX techology, CUDA applications like F@H and can still run intense 3D games!

Performance aside the GeForce 9500 GT offers consumers other things like compact size, a quiet cooler and low power consumption. The fact that it doesn't need any additional power connections means that it will make for an easy upgrade for many that don't have a power supply that is able to handle more devices. These strong areas make for great selling points not to mention that the GeForce 9500 GT can run F@H and is CUDA ready for parallel applications. In the future things like GPU video transcoding will be sure to take off and the GeForce 9500 GT can...

NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GT Video Card Preview

Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3R Review
InsideHW.com has posted review for Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3R motherboard.

This time we have tested a middle-lower class motherboard but nevertheless an interesting model, Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3R. Gigabyte was always, at least when it's comes to DS3 series of motherboards, known for simplicity and real good production quality. As far as this model is concerned, there is enough space around CPU socket, so you can very easily mount any cooler. EPS 12V connector is positioned in upper left corner while 24-pin ATX connector for supplying components on motherboard is placed in upper right corner.

Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3R Review

Tagan Icy Box IB-3218 Series Review
OCC has published a new review on the Tagan Icy Box IB-3218 Series

The Tagan Icy Box has many nice features, like the ability to take two small capacity drives and make them look like one larger capacity drive. Also, you can take the drive with you wherever you go, unlocking the ability to show people your picture archives or home made movies with ease. A backup button allows you to use backup software to save all your irreplaceable data at the touch of a button, whether it's your work spreadsheets, that final paper you have to turn in tomorrow, or pictures of your kid taking their first steps.

Tagan Icy Box IB-3218 Series Review

SilverStone SST-TS01B RFID External Drive Kit Review
Benchmark Reviews has released a new article on the SilverStone SST-TS01B RFID External Drive Kit

External HDD Enclosures are plentiful and cheap these days. It's tough for a manufacturer to differentiate its products in the marketplace, and the competition on price is never-ending. Silverstone Technology has introduced a new product that is completely unique in the market, with a security system that you won't see anywhere else. Instead of relying on passwords to allow access to the encrypted data on the HDD, the SilverStone SST-TS01B uses a small RFID "Key" to identify an authorized user. This is not new technology, it's in commercial use in other markets, but it's the first time I've seen it used to unlock an encrypted HDD.

Benchmark Reviews has looked at some HDD enclosures in the past and they have all done what they were intended to do, but in my mind, there was something missing. None of them really stood out, in terms of features or performance. None of them said, "BUY ME" in no uncertain terms. This one does. Let's see how it performs on the bench and in daily use.

SilverStone SST-TS01B RFID External Drive Kit Review

GeForce 9600 GT - Galaxy Silent Heatpipe Review
The Guru of 3D takes a look at the Galaxy GeForce 9600 GT Silent Heatpipe

Noise always has been an issue with graphics cards. The past few years however manufacturers has put more emphasis on cooling solutions that though are high performance, are silent. Every now and then however there are some companies out there releasing a product completely passively cooled. Today therefore we test the first in a two-fold of passively cooled GeForce 9600 GT products. This one comes from the lads at Galaxy, and is completely heatpipe based. There are situations where passive cooling can be ideal - Home Theater PCs for example. Or even the common desktop PC if you game heavily and you like the lack of noise as much as I do.

Today we test a passively cooled GeForce 9600 GT product. This one comes from the lads at Galaxy, and is completely heatpipe based. But is it any good ?

GeForce 9600 GT - Galaxy Silent Heatpipe Review

NZXT Performance Power 800w PSU Review
OCIA.net has posted their review of the NZXT Performance Power 800w PSU

A company "built on gamers' dreams," NZXT has since expanded upon their "Crafted Series" cases, into a line of more modest, yet still stylish, "Classic Series" cases, and even two lines of power supplies. They have, for the most part, enjoyed great success with all of their products, which are known for being high quality despite having a lower than usual cost. Today we have for review the NZXT Performance Power 800W power supply, one whose launch was abnormally silent and hasn't received much attention.

NZXT Performance Power 800w PSU Review

FSP Everest 80Plus 700 Watt Modular Power Supply Review
TechAddicts checked out the FSP Everest 80Plus 700 Watt Modular Power Supply

This power supply would be perfect for anyone looking to build a dual/quad core system with up to two video cards, especially because it offers SLi certification for up to two NVIDIA 8800 GTS'. It would also be great for anyone looking to build a quiet PC or a Home Theater PC where silence is needed. Also, the modular connections are great for keeping the insides of the computer case neat and tidy.

FSP Everest 80Plus 700 Watt Modular Power Supply Review

Gigabyte EP45-DQ6 Motherboard Review
Bjorn3D takes a look at the Gigabyte EP45-DQ6 Motherboard

The Gigabyte EP45-DQ6 features might have had a few limitations but they were far out weighed by the functionality and performance of the board. In a lot of the testing we did against the older P35 chip set Asus P5KC we saw a 30% or more performance increase with the EP45-DQ6. The Matrix Raid Array we set up on 2 hard drives and partitioned to run dual boot XP/Vista worked perfectly and provided a superior transfer rate that exceeded 100 MB/s and after things got broken in was hitting 120+ MB/s in most cases.

Gigabyte EP45-DQ6 Motherboard Review

Noctua NF-P12+NF-B9 Quiet Fans Review
XtremeComputing posted a review on the Noctua NF-P12+NF-B9 Quiet Fans

A lot of the time I use my computer in the late evenings when the ambient noise is very quiet in my house, so trying to keep PC noise to a minimum is important so as not to annoy me/disturb others. With testing the Noctua NF-P12+NF-B9 fans today I have been treated to a taste of really quiet computing.

Noctua NF-P12+NF-B9 Quiet Fans Review

Antec Twelve Hundred Gaming Case Review
Virtual-Hideout posted Antec Twelve Hundred Gaming Case Review

One of the last cases to make a hit with the enthusiasts was the recent Antec Nine Hundred. To give you a little recap, it offered front Dual Blue LED 120mm fans along with two internal 120mm fans, a unique side window with the optional 120mm cut out behind the black screen, 200mm top exhaust fan, top mounted front panel ports, and looked pretty cool. You can still find them on several shelves and makes one heck of a mid-tower case. After patiently waiting, we received word that the Antec Twelve Hundred was finally on the way. If you liked the Nine Hundred and just about bought one, you'll really appreciate the Twelve Hundred. It's one of those cases you might just have to have.

Antec Twelve Hundred Gaming Case Review

In Win Alpha360 Mini-Tower Case Review
TheTechLounge posted a review on the In Win Alpha360 Mini-Tower Case

In Win is a king of case manufacturers. Their purview extends across the entire realm of beige, from the calm sea of beige to the shallow cliffs of beige, with the inoffensive beige plains between. I speak in jest. I have a soft spot in my heart for the oft-marginalized company, mainly because they made the first case I ever bought. It was, you know, off-white, a mini-tower affair that came with an adequate PSU. And even though I've since played with the full spectrum of cases, that first case I still have, and still use. Despite the color, it was way ahead of its time, both in layout and features. So I look at the Alpha360, boxed up in Engrish, and I think, people should know about these guys. These cases are awesome. I mean, these specific cases. The
rest are all King Beige.

In Win Alpha360 Mini-Tower Case Review

ASRock P43 and P45 Motherboards Reviewed
TweakTown reviewed the ASRock P43 and P45 Motherboards

At the 2008 Computex event, Intel officially took the curtains off its 4 series PCI Express chipset range which is set to replace the original 3 series of chipsets. Intel’s 4 series not only brings Crossfire support to the mainstream, thanks to its ability to run two PCI Express x8 slots for GPUs, but it also adds PCI Express 2.0 to all of its 4 series of chipsets. That’s right, even the low-end of the 4 series gets a new PCI Express controller hub.

Today we have been sent two of the newest members of the 4 series family from ASRock, and they are loaded with features for the home user along with some nice overclocking for the enthusiast. Today we take a look at the ASRock P45R2000-WiFi and the P43R1600Twins-WiFi. How do they stack up? - Come and see with us.

ASRock P43 and P45 Motherboards Reviewed

XFX GeForce GTX 280 XXX 1GB video card review
Elite Bastards posted a review on the XFX GeForce GTX 280 XXX 1GB video card

XFX's XXX range of graphics boards always have plenty to offer performance-wise over a reference part, and things are no different on this occasion. Starting out with this board's core clock speed, we see a 68MHz increase to give us an overall speed of 670MHz, while the GT200's shader clocks on this part are bumped to 1458MHz, making for a 162MHz improvements over a reference solution. Finally, the 1GB of GDDR3 memory on the board is blessed with a clock speed of 1250MHz (2500MHz effective) on this XXX part, against 1107MHz on a standard GeForce GTX 280. Some good clock speeds increases to be found on this offering then, and we'll be seeing how that impacts real-world performance later on.

XFX GeForce GTX 280 XXX 1GB video card review