Gainward's Radeon HD 4870 1GB Golden Sample Review
bit-tech published a review of Gainward's Radeon HD 4870 1GB Golden Sample

Despite delivering both excellent thermal and gameplay performance on the whole, we can’t help but feel that the Gainward HD 4870 1024MB Golden Sample is a little bit of a letdown, especially considering the ?30 price premium it carries over the stock HD 4870 1GB. For that extra fifteen percent of investment the in game frame rate returns are generally around the two to three percent mark thanks to the very conservative core overclock, which is pretty disappointing.

In those games that are able to utilise the more aggressive memory overclock, like Call of Duty 4 and Call of Duty: World at War, you will see a reasonable performance increase of close to ten percent, but sadly such applications are fairly limited, and thus so is the performance advantage offered by this card.

Making the situation even more complicated is the recent announcement by Nvidia that the 216 core version of the GeForce GTX 260 has received a hefty price drop to just around ?210 and firmly into the territory of the HD 4870 1GB. While we’ll reserve judgement on the price drop until more retailers get onboard and availability improves, it certainly goes a long way towards complicating things even more in the high end graphics market.

But even discounting the green competition, there really isn’t a lot to recommend this card ahead of a stock HD 4870 1GB which can be had for a good ?30 less. The performance improvement offered by the Gainward HD 4870 1GB Golden Sample really doesn’t come close to justifying the extra outlay, and the limited bundle and chronic lack of overclocking headroom don’t help either.

While we love the old school Turbo switch it just ends up feeling redundant and in the case of the dual BIOS, causes more problems than it would ever solve and while it's by no means a bad card, especially when you consider the performance in comparison to the wider graphics market, the Gainward Radeon HD 4870 1GB Golden Sample is simply too expensive to strongly recommend.

Gainward's Radeon HD 4870 1GB Golden Sample Review

Seagate Free Agent Go 320GB External Hard Drive Review
Bigbruin.com has posted a review on the Seagate Free Agent Go 320GB External Hard Drive

If you are looking for an extremely compact and stylish portable hard drive, the new Seagate Free Agent Go series is definitely worth checking out. While the aesthetics are a strong selling point, Seagate didn't sacrifice the performance in order to produce a pretty product. It may not offer the high speed transfers available with an eSATA drive, but the USB 2.0 interface performed quite respectably during testing.

Seagate Free Agent Go 320GB External Hard Drive Review



First Look: DFI's LANParty UT X58 T3eH8 motherboard
bit-tech published an early look at DFI's LANParty UT X58 T3eH8 motherboard

Finally, the BIOS. We've not got much information on this yet but we do know it features DFI's latest "Genie BIOS Extreme Edition" (all it needs is "super special, lightening fast and ultra reliable/durable" and we can play marketing buzzword bingo) that claims over one hundred BIOS options for overclockers and for the sake of my sanity having to review it, I hope it comes with a comprehensive manual or they are well labelled. Beginners fear not though, because the LANParty Auto Boost System is there to satisfy the needs of tweaking newbies.

It even allows sharing of BIOS settings and DFI is clever to further use its strong, very loyal overclocking community that likes to just be given a load of options and told to get on with it. They are the kind of kids that got the box of Lego Technic or Mechano and threw out the manual. By allowing "global [overclocking] veterens" to decipher what works best it not only generates more interest in a product but also means 10/20/50/200 people are tuning your board rather than just a BIOS team (... or Oskar).

Has this perked your interest in DFI's X58 UT? Or are you waiting for a firm price, overclocking results and a comparative against the Asus Rampage II Extreme, Foxconn Renaissance and EVGA's X58? The enthusiast arena is heating up like a cook-off with the Devil, and who will win in the X58 war (or will no one because they will all be too expensive)? Drop us your thoughts, in the forums

First Look: DFI's LANParty UT X58 T3eH8 motherboard

NorthQ Siberian Tiger II Water Cooler Review
JonnyGURU.com posted a review on the NorthQ Siberian Tiger II Water Cooler

Back at the end of April, I took a look at the NorthQ Siberian Tiger water cooling kit. Today we are taking a look at the Siberian Tiger II water cooling kit, which is the bigger brother due to its use of a 240mm radiator compared to the little brothers 120mm radiator. Will the extra liquid capacity, increased radiator size, and dual 120mm fans give it the edge you're looking for? Well let's jump in and find out.

NorthQ Siberian Tiger II Water Cooler Review

Corsair HX1000W Power Supply Review
Bjorn3D takes a look at the Corsair HX1000W Power Supply.

In this age of computers, a power supply unit is often times an overlooked part of the computer, but if you decide to cheap out and your whole system gets fried you will be hating yourself because of that decision. Often times it is hard to decide on a PSU. You don't want to waste money on getting too much wattage if you don't need to use it. But then again, you also don't want to come up short and not have enough juice to run everything in your PC. Today, Corsair brings us a 1000 watt PSU that offers spectacular reliability and plenty of power to run whatever you please. Corsair backs this PSU with an almost unheard of 5 year warranty, so you can be pretty sure that this will most likely not be the component in your system to give out during an intense gaming session.

Just because it performs well doesn't mean it can't look good while doing it. The black finish is a very nice touch that is sure to blend in with any black case. The blue label and plug-ins add to the overall feeling that I got with this PSU because my PC case has blue LED's, but making this PSU look good in any case should not be a problem.

Corsair HX1000W Power Supply Review

Far Cry 2 PC Review
TestFreaks.com posted a review on Far Cry 2 for the PC

Far Cry 2 is a visually stunning and action oriented masterpiece of a game that any gun loving geek will be thrilled to spend hours at a clip playing. The visuals and graphics are nothing short of amazing, you can easily just get lost driving around Africa looking at the sights and admiring the scenery, from the rocks, trees and water, to how the sun shines through those same trees. The wide open, free roaming nature of Far Cry 2 tends to allow the player a lot of freedom when it comes to how to play the game, most likely everyone will have a different experience with it. If you don't have a mission you can just drive around and explore a bit, and maybe shoot a few people along the way, this style of gameplay leads to a game that could last forever really.

Far Cry 2 PC Review

MSI GeForce 9800GT 512MB Review
Phoronix posted a review on the MSI GeForce 9800GT 512MB running under Linux

For Linux desktop users interested in a mid-range discrete graphics card there are more choices than ever before with NVIDIA continuing to release new stable Linux drivers as they have done for many years while AMD this year has been making evolutionary leaps compared to their earlier state. AMD is now providing same-day support with all new products, CrossFire on Linux, OverDrive, and many other recently introduced features. NVIDIA and AMD are nearly at a feature parity and even in the past two months they both released new video APIs for Linux (PureVideo / VDPAU and X-Video Bitstream Acceleration, respectively) and they are now battling it out on Linux over performance. We recently looked at AMD's new ATI Radeon HD 4830 mid-range graphics card, but in this article we are comparing it to the NVIDIA GeForce 9800GT, courtesy of Micro-Star International.

MSI GeForce 9800GT 512MB Review

Intel Wolfdale vs. AMD Agena
Digit-Life posted a comparion review between Intel Wolfdale vs. AMD Agena

In this review we'll analyze performance of a single processor core in comparison with two main competitors. For this purpose we'll use two motherboards -- Biostar TPower I45 (IP45A-A7P) and ASUS M3A32-MVP Deluxe/WiFi-AP -- that allow disabling all CPU cores but one in BIOS.

Intel Wolfdale vs. AMD Agena

XFX GeForce GTX 260 Black Edition Video Card Review
Legit Reviews posted XFX GeForce GTX 260 Black Edition Video Card Review

The XFX GeForce GTX 260 Black Edition video card is one sexy looking card, but how does it perform against the Radeon HD 4870? That is what we look at today with the latest and greatest video card from the gang over at XFX. With the latest GTX 260 Core 216 GPU this card is sure to give any graphics card a run for the money! Read on to see how it performs and overclocks!

[url=http://www.legitreviews.com/article/830/1/]XFX GeForce GTX 260 Black Edition Video Card Review

Velocity Micro Edge Z55 - Intel Core i7 Gaming System
HotHardware.com have a new Core i7 system on the test bench

Like many enthusiast system manufacturers, Velocity Micro makes hand-built, high-end gaming rigs using the latest components, such as Intel's Core i7 processors. Velocity Micro claims that they pride themselves on their extensive customization options, meticulous assembly procedures, a technically trained staff, and in-house US-based support. Each system is hand-assembled by expert engineers and run through extensive testing to ensure complete functionality. As you'll see, Velocity Micro's engineers are also appear to be very careful about how they route and tie cables to ensure optimal airflow within the chassis.

Velocity Micro Edge Z55 - Intel Core i7 Gaming System

First Look: Left 4 Dead
Gameconnect has just posted a preview of Valve's recently-released Left 4 Dead

General impressions on the demo were overwhelmingly positive, and players the world over have been blowing the heads, arms, legs, projectile intestines, teeth, claws and other assorted bodyparts off the most intelligent zombies this side of nothing you've ever seen before. Now the game's out, and it's time to get to that cursed hospital.

First Look: Left 4 Dead

Gigabyte MA78GM-S2H Motherboard
Hardware Secrets took a quick look on MA78GM-S2H a socket AM2+ motherboard from Gigabyte based on AMD 780G chipset and targeted to HTPC and “media center” computers

We took a quick look on MA78GM-S2H a socket AM2+ motherboard from Gigabyte targeted to AMD CPUs targeted to HTPC (Home Theater PC) or "media center" computers. This motherboard is based on AMD 780G chipset with ATI SB700 south bridge chip. Because of the available features this board isn't targeted to the low-end market but to PCs that require a lot of multimedia features, which is an expanding market right now. It uses the micro-ATX form factor, so you can install it on a smaller case targeted to this class of computers.

Gigabyte MA78GM-S2H Motherboard

XFX 9800GTX+ Black Edition Review
Bjorn3D takes a look at the XFX 9800GTX+ Black Edition.

A lot of enthusiasts set aback by the high cost of the current generation of GPU's are looking for GPU's that will still provide good FPS in demanding games, but are a little more pocket friendly. That usually means the last generation of GPU's which still provide plenty of punch, just not in the pocket. We're reviewing a single XFX 9800GTX+ Black Edition, but with the scaling improving on SLI a couple of these beauties on a 775 or 1366 socket board would yield pretty sweet results.

Set back and relax we've done all the testing for you on some of the most demanding games and benches out there so you can see what running the XFX 9800GTX+ Black Edition on that gaming shrine of yours will do for you, and don't forgot they tossed one of the hottest titles in the box with this monster, FarCry2.

XFX 9800GTX+ Black Edition Review

Gigabyte EP45-DS3R Motherboard Review
Driverheaven posted a review on the Gigabyte EP45-DS3R Motherboard

Founded in 1986, Gigabyte made a name for themselves manufacturing cutting edge motherboards and VGA solutions. They also offer a selection of other products from pre-built PC's to network equipment and mobile phones. It is in manufacturing motherboards though where their true passion is, and today were going to look at the EP45-DS3R, one of the inexpensive options among a plethora of offerings from the company.

Gigabyte EP45-DS3R Motherboard Review

Cooler Master HAF 932 Case Review
Virtual-Hideout posted Cooler Master HAF 932 Case Review

This is one of those few times when you'll hear me say it: Get this product! Though it requires a spot of its very own in the room, and tends to be quite on the heavy side, this case manages to move a LOT of air in near silence (if the sound of air moving doesn't bother you).

Cooler Master HAF 932 Case Review

ASUS EN9800GT Matrix 512MB Review
PC Perspective posted a review on the ASUS EN9800GT Matrix 512MB

The 9800 GT is based on the aged-yet-powerful G92 GPU from NVIDIA that has seen life on the shelf for well over a year now. The new ASUS EN9800 GT Matrix card gives the 9800 GT a face lift with custom cooling and over-spec clock rates.

ASUS EN9800GT Matrix 512MB Review

COMPRO Vista U890F USB TV Stick Review
Futurelooks checks out a new USB TV Tuner...

When you are stuffed into cramped quarters, there’s a good chance that your computer also has to pull double duty as your television. Naturally, not all computers come with a built-in TV tuner, so you may have to consider external options like the recently released COMPRO Vista U890F TV Stick.

COMPRO Vista U890F USB TV Stick Review

Left 4 Dead Review (PC)
GamingHeaven posted a review on Left 4 Dead for the PC

Left 4 Dead is the newest team based game from Valve which puts you and some buddies into the role of a group of people battling against hordes of mutant zombies with a simple goal ... to stay alive and hopefully escape. Is this a modern-day Valve classic or just another run of the mill zombie romp?

Left 4 Dead Review (PC)

Samsung SyncMaster T240 Review
TechReviewSource.com posted a review on the Samsung SyncMaster T240

Samsung's SyncMaster T240 is a 24-inch high-definition TV as well as a computer monitor built into one device. It allows you to save space and use it for two purposes. It features many different video and audio connections, so it will work with any home entertainment setup. There is also a QAM cable TV tuner built-in, meaning you won't have to buy another cable box to get HD channels. Check out TechReviewSource.com's full review for all the details.

Samsung SyncMaster T240 Review

Topower TOP-1100P10 Power Supply Review
Hardware Secrets posted a review on the Topower TOP-1100P10 Power Supply

In the beginning of this year when nVidia was promoting their ESA (Enthusiast System Architecture) technology they sent to selected media a Thermaltake Armor+ ESA case, a Thermaltake BigWater 780e water cooler and a Topower TOP-1100P10 power supply, and that is how we got the product we are reviewing. This power supply, however, never reached the market, but it is basically a Tagan ITZ1100 power supply without ESA support, so on this review we will be also indirectly evaluating this model from Tagan.

Topower TOP-1100P10 Power Supply Review

Samsung Omnia i900 Review
InsideHW.com has posted article about PDA device Samsung Omnia i900

After interesting HTC PDAs we got in our test lab one more device from the same category that we've been waiting with great impatience. With launching of Omnia, Samsung joined to, more and more, interesting race for the best PDA device on the market. How did Samsung done its homework you can find out very soon. Quite differently from HTC Touch models, Samsung Omnia has a bit bigger dimensions and weight, but not in such amount that would bother anyone. Amount of additional functional keys is reduced to minimum.

Samsung Omnia i900 Review

ZOTAC GeForce 9800 GT 512MB AMP Video Card Review
TheTechLounge posted a review on the ZOTAC GeForce 9800 GT 512MB AMP Video Card

One of the greatest things about fabrication processes is that they can be shrunk. Assuming that your architecture is forward-thinking enough, and it navigates issues with power plane-mapping and transistor leakage and all that, you can take your design, make it smaller, run it faster, and use less power. ATI has reaped great successes going from 65nm to 55nm, and NVIDIA is going the same way with their G92 parts. This process will take their 8800 GT, an excellent performer at the time of its release, rename it 9800 GT, and reap away. I mean, that would be the way to do it if you wanted to make any sense whatsoever. Because this is a regular ol' 65nm part.

ZOTAC GeForce 9800 GT 512MB AMP Video Card Review

Sapphire HD 4850 X2 Review
Overclockers Online has posted a new review on the Sapphire HD 4850 X2

One of my biggest issues with high performance is the high levels of heat generated and that often means loud cooling. I'm completely surprised by how well the HD 4850 X2 cools itself, I was skeptical that the two tiny heatsinks would be able to do the trick, especially when there's probably more metal on the shroud than with the heatsink. However, with the latest BIOS flashed onto the card, Sapphire has managed to balance performance, heat and cooling noise. I was still able to achieve a modest overclock while staying at reasonable temperatures and quiet cooling.

Sapphire HD 4850 X2 Review

Thermaltake BlacX External Hard Drive Docking Station Review
Tweaknews.net posted Thermaltake BlacX External Hard Drive Docking Station Review

All in all, the BlacX is a fine piece of hardware. Solid construction, hot –swap capability, and good looks go a long way. Installation is a straight forward affair, with no surprises or hiccups. I was impressed by the speed over USB, though your mileage may vary.

Thermaltake BlacX External Hard Drive Docking Station Review

Asus Rampage II Extreme Review
t-break posted a review on the Asus Rampage II Extreme

With the Intel X48 based Rampage Extreme leaving it mark as an outstanding board, it was sure we hadn’t seen the end of the Rampage. With the advent of the Intel Core i7 CPU and Intel’s X58 chipset, Asus brings to us the Rampage II Extreme, a motherboard for gamers and enthusiasts alike. Will this one live up with extreme features like its older brother?

Asus Rampage II Extreme Review