Reviews 52162 Published by

Kingston SSDNow V Series 40GB Solid State Drive Review
Bigbruin.com has published a review on the Kingston SSDNow V Series 40GB Solid State Drive

With Intel's second generation controller and 34nm MLC NAND flash memory, many might argue the internals are the best presently on the market. The read performance is definitely impressive, while the write performance will leave something to be desired. Once you see the price you may be willing to make the compromise in order to jump from a traditional hard drive to a SSD.
Kingston SSDNow V Series 40GB Solid State Drive Review

7-Way Intel P55 Motherboard Round-Up
TechSpot posted a 7-Way Intel P55 Motherboard Round-Up

One year after its introduction, Intel Core i7 processors remain unchallenged in the high-end desktop segment. However with the recent introduction of the Core i5 and the LGA1156 platform, all of a sudden we no longer feel the need to stretch out the budget and look into buying a Core i7 920 one way or the other.

So, should you decide to go with the Core i5 750 processor, the next and possibly most difficult choice is which motherboard to purchase. Already there are over 40 possible motherboard options to choose from and today we'll be taking a look at quite a few of the better examples.

Our round-up comprises products from the likes of Asrock, Asus, DFI, ECS, EVGA, Gigabyte and MSI. In total we have 7 motherboards ranging in price from $120 to $250, so there should be something for everyone.
7-Way Intel P55 Motherboard Round-Up



MSI NF980-G65 Mainboard/Motherboard Review
TechwareLabs has published a review of the MSI NF980-G65 Mainboard/Motherboard

While your computer may be used for several things, whether work related or for entertainment purposes; usually the components on the inside were aimed for both options. MSI's new motherboard, the NF980-G65 pushes all other options aside and screams, I was meant for gaming! The NF890 is in every way, a motherboard meant for the gamer enthusiast. Supporting 3-way SLI, the latest AM3 based processors (Phenom II), allowing for an easy overclocking switch and MSI's Active Phase Switching for those who sometimes may feel the need to go green when they are not fragging (or being fragged).
MSI NF980-G65 Mainboard/Motherboard Review

NVIDIA GeForce GT 240 Video Card Preview
Legit Reviews posted their NVIDIA GeForce GT 240 Video Card Preview

The GeForce GT 240 is NVIDIA’s latest performance-class GPU that enables the mainstream PC to become vastly more functional and enjoyable. Compared to PCs using integrated graphics that struggle with today’s increasingly graphical and GPU-computing workloads, systems outfitted with GT 240 offer great general gaming performance, Power Gaming (PhysX acceleration + 3D Vision), and GPU Computing at under $99. With the addition of a GeForce GT240, a PC can also provide smooth HD video playback from Bluray, DivX, and Flash 10.1 sources, while also facilitating seamless HD video creation and editing. The concept of Power Gaming is more than just high performance graphics. Gamers using a GeForce GT 240 can enjoy the latest games with PhysX and 3D Vision for a truly immersive gaming experience...
NVIDIA GeForce GT 240 Video Card Preview

MSI GeForce N240GT 512MB GDDR5 OC Video Card Review
TweakTown posted a review on the MSI GeForce N240GT 512MB GDDR5 OC Video Card

Recently we saw NVIDIA release some new models to the market, the GT 210 and GT 220. Today they've released another model sitting in the same series; this called the GT 240. While companies continue to tell us this is a mainstream product, we better know it as a low end card.

While we don't doubt that this model will outsell future mid-range and higher end models when they're released, it doesn't make the model any more exciting. In saying that, however, the GT 240 has some pretty cool features like a 40nm core and GDDR5 memory. We'll get into more detail about this in just a moment.
MSI GeForce N240GT 512MB GDDR5 OC Video Card Review

MSI N240GT GeForce GT 240 512 MB GDDR5 Review
techPowerUp posted a review on the MSI N240GT GeForce GT 240 512 MB GDDR5

Today NVIDIA launches their first GDDR5 graphics card. The new GeForce GT 240 is based on NVIDIA's brand-new 40 nm G215 graphics processor and features 96 shaders. It also includes several new features like support for DirectX 10.1, HDMI audio enhancements and extremely low power draw. But is that enough to justify a price of $100 ?
MSI N240GT GeForce GT 240 512 MB GDDR5 Review

Zotac GeForce GT 240 AMP! Edition Review
HotHardware.com posted a review on the Zotac GeForce GT 240 AMP! Edition

NVIDIA is launching a new mainstream graphics card today, aimed squarely at consumers in the market for a relatively low-cost upgrade from an integrated graphics solution or older entry-level GPU. The new GeForce GT 240, features a GPU outfitted with 96 processor cores, 8 ROP units, and 32 texture filtering units. In addition, the GT 240 GPU is manufactured using a 40nm process, it features a GDDR5 memory controller (that's also compatible with GDDR3), and unlike NVIDIA's current high-end GPUs, the GT 240 is DirectX 10.1 compatible.

Although its specifications aren't terribly high-end in light of NVIDIA's more powerful GeForces, the GT 240 is actually more advanced than its counterparts in a number of respects. Come on by and check it out...
Zotac GeForce GT 240 AMP! Edition Review

Bluetrek Bizz Bluetooth Headset Review
iGadget Life takes a look at the Bluetrek Bizz Bluetooth Headset

Today for review our friends over at MobileFun have sent me a very unique Bluetooth headset. It's called the Bluetrek Bizz, it's a BT headset and a USB drive in one, it might sound like a funky idea but it's not. It utilizes a microSD card for storage actually that is hidden under the earpiece, it also doubles as a card reader as well. The USB connection though is not only for the card reader but that's how you charge th headset as well, there's no need for an additional charger, just any USB port will do. So read on
Bluetrek Bizz Bluetooth Headset Review

Raidsonic Icybox IB-MP305A-B Mediaplayer Review
Rbmods posted a review on the Raidsonic Icybox IB-MP305A-B Mediaplayer

Raidsonic is well known for their internal and external RAID-enclosures. This time however we have something totally different. Raidsonic Icybox IB-MP305A-B is their newest FullHD capable mediaplayer with network interface. Let's have a look how it performs as full featured mediacenter in home use.
Raidsonic Icybox IB-MP305A-B Mediaplayer Review

Sunbeamtech Automaton ATX Case Review
Madshrimps posted a review on the Sunbeamtech Automaton ATX Case

The Automaton ATX case from Sunbeamtech is a budget friendly aluminum tower case with Alienware looks and plenty of cooling fans to keep your hardware running stable. Is it any good? Time to find out!
Sunbeamtech Automaton ATX Case Review

Samsung Spinpoint F3 Hard Drive Review
InsideHW.com has reviewed Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ hard drive

This is SATAII HDD with 16MB of cache (1TB model should have 32MB of cache) and one platter that rotates at 7200rpm. It was announced as “WD Black series killer” and as such it has to prove its reputation that was impelled even before it appeared on the market. We used standard battery of benchmarks that include HD Tune, ATTO Bench and our own HDD Test. Results that we got were pleasant surprise. Even our expectations were surpassed with average read and write speeds of over 110MB/s which is great result. If you take a look at already mentioned Hard Drive Roundup you will notice that none of those drives reached those values when it comes to average transfer rates…
Samsung Spinpoint F3 Hard Drive Review

Two Kingston 40GB V Series Boot Drive SSDs in RAID 0
Legit Reviews takes a look at two Kingston 40GB V Series Boot Drive SSDs in RAID 0

One of the negatives of the SSDNow V Series 40GB Boot Drive is the fact that it doesn't support TRIM functions in Windows 7. That really isn't a big deal as we don't know of any RAID drivers that do support TRIM. If you plan on running SSDs in RAID, you have already accepted that you want to give up TRIM support anyway. Other than that one negative, running a pair of Kingston SSDNow V Series 40GB Boot Drives in RAID 0 seemed like a solid setup. We found that the SATA 6Gbps controller isn't RAID bootable, but for someone with an Intel ICH10R chipset, this setup would be ideal and fun to play around with. The next time we try to play with a RAID setup we'll stick to the ICH10R or just spend the extra money and pick up a dedicated hardware RAID controller. Being able to hit 370MB/s read speeds in the ATTO benchmark pretty much sums up our experience with the Kingston SSDNow V Series 40GB Boot Drives in RAID!
Two Kingston 40GB V Series Boot Drive SSDs in RAID 0

ASUS SBC-04D1S-U External Slim Blu-ray Combo Drive Review
ThinkComputers.org posted a review on the ASUS SBC-04D1S-U External Slim Blu-ray Combo Drive

Blu-ray devices are slowing becoming more and more popular, especially as prices come down. Many computer users who are looking for a Blu-ray drive can easily find an internal drive for their desktop, but what if they want one for their laptop? How about one that works on both their desktop and laptop? This is where ASUSs SBC-04D1S-U External Slim Blu-ray Combo Drive comes in. This slim external drive connects to any computer via USB and allows you to play Blu-ray media as well as burn CDs and DVDs. Lets check it out!
ASUS SBC-04D1S-U External Slim Blu-ray Combo Drive Review

Intel P55 Motherboard Round-up
TechSpot posted an Intel P55 Motherboard Round-up

Should you decide to go with the Core i5 750 processor, the next and possibly most difficult choice is which motherboard to purchase. Already there are over 40 possible motherboard options to choose from and today we'll be taking a look at quite a few of the better examples.

Our round-up comprises products from the likes of Asrock, Asus, DFI, ECS, EVGA, Gigabyte and MSI. In total we have 7 motherboards ranging in price from $120 to $250, so there should be something for everyone.
Intel P55 Motherboard Round-up

Sapphire Radeon HD 5970 2GB Video Card Review
TweakTown posted a review on the Sapphire Radeon HD 5970 2GB Video Card

The HD 5970 is ultimately what the previous X2 offerings are and what the GTX 295 to NVIDIA has been for a long time. They’re about a company getting on top of the soap box and shouting out at the top of their lungs, “We're the fastest”.

Dual GPU cards are a bit of a mixed bag for me. While I think they're a bit of a lazy mans model to create the fastest product on the market, I'm at the point now that there's no point fighting it. Instead, let's just embrace the power that's on offer from a card that only uses a single PCI-E slot on your motherboard.
Sapphire Radeon HD 5970 2GB Video Card Review

Powercolor Radeon HD 5970 2GB Graphics Card Review
Driverheaven posted a review on the Powercolor Radeon HD 5970 2GB Graphics Card

Today we will be taking a look at the Powercolor Radeon HD 5970 2GB and putting it through its paces in a selection of real world gaming tests, including the recently released Modern Warfare 2. In a ddition to this we will cover GPU computing and high definition playback as well as having a play with the surprise inclusion of an official voltage tweaking tool. This little application may well make this product a favourite with enthusiasts who want to get the most from their purchase.
Powercolor Radeon HD 5970 2GB Graphics Card Review

Sapphire Radeon HD 5970 2GB OC Edition Review
Hardware Canucks posted a review of the new Sapphire Radeon HD 5970 2GB OC Edition video card.

It's here. ATI's latest gamble to grab the performance crown once and for all -beastly dual GPU HD 5970- has landed. This card packs a massive amount of rendering power onto a single PCB and Sapphire has gone one step further by releasing their OC Edition which features increased clock speeds. Will the HD 5970 hold the title of the fastest card in the world or will its dual GPU nature drag it down?
Sapphire Radeon HD 5970 2GB OC Edition Review

ATI Radeon HD 5970 Dual-GPU Powerhouse Review
HotHardware.com posted a review on the ATI Radeon HD 5970 Dual-GPU Powerhouse

AMD's "Sweet Spot" GPU strategy over the last few years has been fairly predictable. Instead of producing the biggest, most powerful GPU possible--yields be damned--the company sets out to produce a relatively high-end GPU, using a cutting edge fabrication process, that hits a proverbial sweet spot between cost and performance. Then derivatives, and even multiples, of that GPU are used to flesh out a top-to-bottom line-up of graphics cards, that hit a broad range of price points.

It began with the RV670, which powered the single-GPU based Radeon HD 3870 and dual-GPU Radeon HD 3870 X2--hence the X2. Then came the RV770, which powered the Radeon HD 4870 and eventually the Radeon HD 4870 X2. The strategy has obviously paid off, as AMD is once again a price/performance leader in the GPU space, after some not-so-great performances like the R600, better known as the Radeon HD 2900 XT. Knowing their strategy, it should almost come as no surprise that the graphics card we'll be showing you today, the Radeon HD 5970, has come to fruition. Although it doesn't follow the same naming convention as AMD's previous dual-GPU powered cards, the Radeon HD 5970 is nonetheless powered by a pair of ATI "Cypress" Radeon HD 5800 series GPUs, linked together on a single PCB by a PCI Express bridge, very much like previous X2 iterations. Come on by and check it out...
ATI Radeon HD 5970 Dual-GPU Powerhouse Review

ASUS EAH5970 2 GB GDDR5 Review
techPowerUp posted a review on the ASUS EAH5970 2 GB GDDR5

Today marks the day that AMD takes back the graphics card performance crown from NVIDIA. The new AMD Radeon HD 5970 comes with two fast Cypress GPUs on a single PCB. Using their latest power saving features, AMD achieved a very modest power consumption for this card which right now is the fastest money can buy.
ASUS EAH5970 2 GB GDDR5 Review

Neoseeker reviews the HD 5970
Neoseeker inspects the HD 5970

If you want top-end, no-joke performance right now, then there is only one option really: the HD 5970.
Neoseeker reviews the HD 5970

HIS Radeon HD 5970 CrossFire Review
techPowerUp posted a review on the HIS Radeon HD 5970 CrossFire

With the release of AMD's latest Radeon HD 5970, the question comes up "What can be gained by going CrossFire?" We investigate the quad GPU performance of the HIS Radeon HD 5970. Even though the setup rip a $1200 hole in your wallet, performance will make you smile.
HIS Radeon HD 5970 CrossFire Review

Sapphire Radeon HD 5970 OC Review
PureOverclock has published a review of the Sapphire Radeon HD 5970 OC Edition graphics card.

The Sapphire Radeon HD 5970 OC. Yes, it is a dual-GPU, single PCB card. And it has a new naming scheme, no longer following the "X2" moniker. And yes, it is an overclocked version. The Sapphire HD 5970 OC is an absolute behemoth, from its gaming horsepower, to its size, weight, cooling technology, and price tag. It is big, it is brash, and and it is entirely unapologetic. Let's take a look at the fastest gaming card on the planet.
Sapphire Radeon HD 5970 OC Review

ATI Radeon HD 5970 Hemlock Video Card Review
Benchmark Reviews posted a review on the ATI Radeon HD 5970 Hemlock Video Card

ATI now dominates the graphics industry with their DirectX 11 Radeon HD 5000-series video cards, which allows them to enjoy current-generation gaming on Windows 7 and Vista. The ATI Radeon HD 5870 has already beat the worn and weathered GeForce GTX 285, just as the Radeon HD 5850 and HD5770 do at their respective price points. By combining two Cypress XT GPUs together on one PCB, the ATI Radeon HD 5970 video card will now compete against the very best NVIDIA can offer: the GeForce GTX 295. In this article, Benchmark Reviews tests the 'unlocked' Hemlock GPU against the top graphics products available and demonstrates just how much ground AMD has gained in a few short months.
ATI Radeon HD 5970 Hemlock Video Card Review

Thermaltake BlacX Duet Dual Hard Drive Docking Station Review
Tweaknews posted Thermaltake BlacX Duet Dual Hard Drive Docking Station Review

The BlacX Duet is a very simple yet effective product for quickly accessing data on any two hard drives. And when I say any two drives, I mean it in a literal sense. The docking station supports all 2.5” and 3.5” SATA drives up to 2TB, so the chances of incompatibility with any current drives you have are slim to none. Furthermore, installation is completely tool-free and the absence of fans allow for silent operation.
Thermaltake BlacX Duet Dual Hard Drive Docking Station Review

ATI Radeon HD 5970 Dual-GPU Video Card Review
Legit Reviews posted a review on the ATI Radeon HD 5970 Dual-GPU Video Card

The Radeon HD 5970 is the latest dual-GPU flagship video card by AMD. This card has 3200 stream processors clocked at 725MHz and 2GB of GDDR5 memory at 1GHz! Will this be enough to destroy the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295? Read on to find out how this card does and to see if AMD has what it takes to be the fastest video card on the planet again!
ATI Radeon HD 5970 Dual-GPU Video Card Review

Palit GT 240 Sonic Review
OCC has published a review on the Palit GT 240 Sonic

This graphics card should be an easy drop in upgrade or replacement card that can bring decent gaming capabilities and a multimedia aspect through software like Badaboom or vReveal. Although the Palit design does take up two slots, its length and lack of power adapter requirements should make it an easy fit in cramped cases, OEM computers, and HTPC applications.
Palit GT 240 Sonic Review