Bit-Tech just published a review of the new Metaboli: Games on Demand service

In terms of interface, support and design however, Metaboli is superbly executed and well put together. The system offers detailed system requirements, which is a great advantage. The reader reviews are universally useless and Metaboli would do well to mimic Steam by showing a Metacritic score for the game instead, but the vast majority of titles will already be familiar to most players so it isn’t an immediate problem. It should also be pointed out that the forums were somewhat sparsely populated.

When you get right down to the core of it, Metaboli is an incredibly well designed system that comes the closest to rivalling Steam or Gametap to date. Whether it can continue to rise in the ranks and impress gamers remains to be seen as it’s still early days for it, but there’s no reason we can see why Metaboli won’t be the next ‘big thing’. Especially when a glance over the Term and Conditions reveals that it's possible to organise a ?1 trial period.

Metaboli Review - gaming on demand

Hardwarecanucks posted a review of the Xion Supernova 600W modular power supply.

After the tests were concluded, the shiny new Xion Supernova looked a bit tarnished in our eyes due to its lackluster performance in many of the tests and its completely unintuitive modular interface. On the other hand, if you are going for looks alone, this power supply will probably be at the top of your list due to its flashy blue modular connector halos and LED-equipped fan.

Xion Supernova 600W Power Supply Review



Madshrimps posted a comparison review between Intel Core 2 Duo E2160 and E6300

Last year Intel gave us the Core 2 Duo, a competitively priced CPU with very acceptable prices for the low and mid-range. This year Intel introduced newer models from low to high end, we take a look at the new low priced E2160 model which has less L2 cache but higher multiplier and compare it with the low end part from last year, the E6300.

Intel Core 2 Duo E2160 vs E6300: Budget CPU Comparison Review

Driver Heaven posted a review on power supplies from Ultra

Ultra is a company who offer one of the widest selections of computer related products, ranging from modding lights and cables to RAM modules and hard drives. Their biggest success story however has been their power supply units. Ultra were one of the first companies to offer modular power supply units, a trend that was quickly followed by other makers. Today Ultra offers a great number of high end power supply units up to 1kW maximum output, most of which are modular. We will take a look at the best modular units Ultra currently offers, the X3 800W and 1kW units.

Ultra X3 800w and 1000w PSU's Review

Bjorn3D posted a review on the Gigabyte 8500GT TurboForce Video Card

At a recent briefing for AMDs latest entry and mid-range cards, the HD2400 and HD2600, I was told an interesting little tidbit that AMD had found out. It turns out that a lot of the customers buying their previous entry-level cards, the X1300, had bought it mainly for playing games. Even AMD was surprised that people would first spend as little as possible on the video card and then buy games each month for 50-100$ instead of buying a few less games and put the saved money on a faster card . It probably is not as strange as it sounds though. We have all seen all those gaming computers that are being sold with slow X1300, NVIDIA 7300LE cards or even (shudder) on-board video. How should Joe Average know what is a good gaming card or not?

This is where we come in. Reviews like this are meant to tell you what a card is good at and what it isnt good at. So let me start this review by telling you that if your main objective with your planned new video card is to play games you probably should spend a bit more cash on another card, something like the 8600GT or the HD2600XT. When it comes to gaming this card is meant as an upgrade to on-board graphics. Luckily it has some other nice tricks up its sleeve making it an interesting card for HTPC-builders.

Gigabyte 8500GT TurboForce Video Card Review

TC Magazine posted a driver comparison between the 163.16 beta driver versus the official 162.18

Both drives underwhelm, compared to the previous WHQLs, and offer very little in the way of performance increases, or image quality.

NVIDIA Forceware 163 Driver Comparison

ClubOC takes a look at the OCZ Vista Performance PC2-6400 Memory

With a 32-bit operating system, the maximum amount of addressable system ram is 4,096 Kilobytes (4 Gigs). If you put 4 Gigs of RAM into a 32-bit Vista PC, this is what you'll see under your system stats. There are hundreds of explanations for this in as many different levels of tech-speak. However, to put it in layman's terms--a 32-bit operating system can only address up to 4096 Kilobytes of memory. That sounds fine in theory, because that is the amount you have installed right? Well, this is where things get a bit more complicated. 32-bit operating systems develop a 'memory hole' and for those who have been around long enough, think back to the 286 days when we were using DOS commands with the XMS managers to try and put device drivers into extended memory, above the 1024 mark. Remember that 'hole' that resided between 640 and 1024 that we couldn't put anything into? Same basic principle applies here as Windows is trying to stash all of our device drivers into memory, addresses are quickly being eaten. The end result, the hole. Yes, there are various hacks that have been developed by at-home programmers to help 32-bit Windows desktops overcome this issue, but unless all of your applications are coded to work with these third-party modifications, then they won't be able to utilize the extra memory properly. Face it - it's time for the 32-bit operating system to just -- go away.

OCZ Vista Performance PC2-6400 Memory Review

R&B Mods posted a review on the DDR2 PC2-9200 Reaper HPC Edition memory from OCZ

Even though DDR3 is slowly coming along we still decided to put out a DDR2 review as they still perform as well as DDR3 ram. Ocz sent us a sample of their latest Reaper kit. Other reviews have praised this ram kit and given it very good reviews so we look forward to sharing our thoughts with you readers about the performance here. We will compare the ram vs a Corsair kit and vs a Ocz kit tonight.

OCZ DDR2 PC2-9200 Reaper HPC Edition Review

APH Networks has published a new review on the OCZ Trifecta 2GB Flash Memory

After many complications, we finally got our hands on the OCZ Trifecta... uhh, flash storage device What makes this product so interesting, even after such a lengthy period of time, that still retains our interest in reviewing, primarily exists within the nature of the product itself. OCZ's Trifecta (As the name implies) is basically a three-in-one flash memory product -- it functions as a standard SD card, USB flash drive, as well as a Micro SD -- you can call it a Quadfecta if you count it to be used to be a Micro SD adapter as well. Now, that's an interesting implementation! Let's give this product a close examination today, and we will benchmark to see its transfer rates and latencies as well.

OCZ Trifecta 2GB Flash Memory Review

PC Stats posted a review on the Gigabyte GA-MA69G-S3H AMD 690G motherboard

For AMD to succeed in the future, it needs to build a pedigree of inexpensive and fully featured chipsets that draw in users on a budget. After all, we all want to spend the absolute least for the most return, right? With that kind of mind set, a motherboard based on the AMD 690G that offers you good solid performance in WindowsXP or Vista, comes with a built in videocard, and even allows you to output HD movies to a big screen HDTV via one thin HDMI cable... all for under $100 bucks. That kind of feature set is hard to resist, and one of the reasons why the AMD 690G is so popular.

Gigabyte GA-MA69G-S3H AMD 690G Motherboard Review

DV Hardware has a new review online. This week they checked out the Antec NP-100, a versatile notebook power adapter.

Notebook makers generally ask a lot of money for replacements so you may end up spending a lot less money by buying the NP-100. Not only will it be cheaper, but you'll also be able to use this adapter for other notebook you buy in the future and the NP-100 may be able to charge your battery faster and more efficient.

Antec NP-100 Notebook Power Adapter Review

TechReviewSource.com posted a review on Microsoft's latest addition to its Windows Live online services

Windows Live Skydrive, gives you free online file storage that you can access anywhere at anytime. TechReviewSource.com's full review of the beta gives you a taste of what's to come.

Windows Live Skydrive Beta Review

3D Game Man posted a review on the SilverStone CW02 HTPC Case

I really like the SilverStone CW02 HTPC Case, right from the outside to the inside. Its looks fantastic, it's all aluminum, room to work on the inside, fits standard ATX motherboards and ATX PSUs. This allows the system builder a lot more freedom when selecting computer hardware over HTPC cases that only fit micro-ATX components. This case also has great air circulation from the included 120mm fan at the back and two optional 92mm fans can be added at the bottom front. This case even accepts full length Video Cards and coolers up to 160mm high. The remote that's provided works really well in both Windows and Windows Media Center. Let's not forget about the LCD at the front of the case which shows all kinds of system and media information. This is clearly a HTPC for the hardcore! Watch the video to find out more and check out the bloopers at the end.

SilverStone CW02 HTPC Case Review

Virtual-Hideout posted a review on the Lian-Li PC-A70 ATX Case

Lian-Li has a good reputation in the case market, so I had high expectations for the PC-A70. For the most part, this case lived up to those. I was very impressed by the overall construction and quality that this case possessed - it was definitely up to Lian-Li standards, and you can immediately tell that it's a sturdy case that won't fail you.

Lian-Li PC-A70 ATX Case Review

Hardware Secrets posted a review on a mainstream motherboard from ECS based on the Intel P35 chipset

ECS P35T-A is based on the latest Intel mainstream chipset, P35. This motherboard, however, does not have DDR3 sockets but on the other hand it has some extra features like one eSATA port, six SATA-300 ports and two x16 PCI Express slots. Let’s see the features and performance from this new ECS release.

ECS P35T-A Motherboard Review

HotHardware evaluate the features, performance, and overclockability of Asus' new high-end P35-based offerings for Intel processors, the Blitz Extreme (DDR3) and the Blitz Formula (DDR2)

Asus saw the need for an enthusiast-class motherboard based on the P35 chipset, but with a more flexible PCI Express configuration. And leveraging what they undoubtedly learned from designing the PW564-WS , engineered the Blitz Extreme and Blitz Formula motherboards, complete with a PCI Express switch that allowed them to connect the P35 Northbridge's PCI Express lanes to not one, but a pair of PEG slots. Asus didn't stop there, however, and also outfitted the Blitz boards with a hybrid air / liquid cooling apparatus and a number of other features that are sure to please.

Asus Blitz Formula and Blitz Extreme Review

PC Apex have a new review up of the X-Micro X-VDO MP4 F610 Music Video Player

Need an MP3 player? Take your pick. Need an MP3 player that offers video playback, a built-in FM tuner, audio recording functions, abundant storage space, and photo viewing capabilities? Enter the X-Micro X-VDO MP4 F610 Music Video Player. Not only does the F610 offer all of these features, but it packs them into an ultra-portable, sleek, lightweight device!

The F610 is X-Micro's latest addition to their growing line of portable MP3 players. And just like other competing manufacturers, X-Micro looks to shake things up a bit by packing in features and expanding on innovative ideas. So what makes the F610 Music Video Player so special? Let's take a look!

X-Micro X-VDO MP4 F610 Video Player Review

Tech ARP has posted a review on a software security tool called Laptop Alarm

The crime rate is going through the roof, with laptops (and worse!) getting stolen left and right and even under our noses! It's time to protect our notebooks and all that important data inside.

Today, Dashken takes a look at a simple, small but ingenious software that will literally give your PC its own burglar alarm - the Syfer Laptop Alarm. Best of all - it's FREE. Check it out.

Syfer Laptop Alarm Review

techPowerUp published a review on the Thermaltake Mozart IP Chassis that even comes with an integrated iPod dock

Today, more and more consumers are adding PCs to their home theater systems. With the goal of using it to watch DVDs, listen to music and surf the Internet, these consumers want something that functions well and looks great. The Thermaltake Mozart IP helps bring all those features to the home theater, with the added bonus of an iPod dock that works with or without the PC powered on. Using the included Media Lab display and iMedian software, many functions are at the user's fingertips with an infrared remote control.

Thermaltake Mozart IP Review