Tech News
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NL: Review Block - Its Not a Cooler!
Published: Tuesday, April 15, 2008 | By: DennisWell ok maybe it is.
- Titan Twin Turbo TTC-SCS88TZ VGA cooler @ Driver Heaven
- GlacialTech Igloo 5750 Heatsink Review @ Mikhailtech
- Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro @ Bjorn3D
- Asetek LCLC - Low Cost Liquid Cooling System @ HotHardware
- Coolink ChipChilla Chipset Cooler @ TweakTownNow we can all walk around and talk like the Fonz.
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ASUS Striker II NSE motherboard review @ Elite Bastards
Published: Friday, April 11, 2008 | By: DennisPoor Asus, first to the market and all alone at the top.
Oh wait, ya that’s a good thing right
Elite Bastards took some time to review the new Striker 2 NSE board from Asus based on the 790i chipset. The 790i only supports DDR3 which initially will cause a little heartache but in the long run will be extremely good for the enthusiast platform.
Memory support is the one and only difference between the nForce 790i SLI and Ultra SLI chipset - While the standard nForce 790i SLI officially supports memory speeds of up to 1333MHz, the 790i Ultra SLI can make use of speeds up to 2000MHz. In short then, while both boards support EPP 2.0, the nForce 790i SLI chipset is identical to its bigger brother aside from officially supporting memory clocks above 1333MHz, so if running insane memory clock speeds doesn't interest you, then this chipset will suit your needs without burning quite such a large hole in your wallet.
It would have been nice to see a dual memory option in the 790i but with the memory controller being the deciding performance factor on the Intel platform it makes sense that nVidia would spend so much time on making sure it was right.
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EK Water Blocks EK Supreme @ techPowerUp
Published: Friday, April 11, 2008 | By: DennisHere is one of the more interesting waterblock designs I have seen, It a 2 barb block that flows like a 3. It also has a universal fit which also makes the mounting plate extremely big.
Today we take a look at EK Water Block's EK Supreme. This CPU waterblock features a universal mounting plate, as well as a clear acrylic top that can be lit up with two 3mm LEDs. Performance is excellent on the EK Supreme, making it truly worthy of the name "Supreme"
Not sure I would call it supreme but then again that’s the name
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Gigabyte GA-EX38-DS4 Socket 775 Enthusiast Motherboard @ Pro-Clockers
Published: Tuesday, April 8, 2008 | By: DennisWe've only had a single Gigabyte motherboard in the Ninjalane Labs and it was a board we never bothered to review and actually only used it for 8 months. There was nothing wrong with it but damn if it didn't overclock one little bit.
Gigabyte was nice enough to send us two motherboards, one based on the P35 and the other the X38. We wanted to see how much better it really is over the P35 purely based on benchmarks and overclocking. Not to give the whole review away in the introduction, but I was really surprised with the GA-EX38-DS4 as it took our E8400 to a whole new level.
Ninjalane is hosting a forum building contest with 2 lucky winners each walking away with an X38 motherboard from DFI. Stop by the Ninjalane Message Forum for rules and how to enter.
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NL: Review Block - Coolers and Clocking
Published: Tuesday, April 8, 2008 | By: DennisKeeping cool and clockin,
overclocking that is.. No mercy
Cooling
- ASUS Triton 77 CPU Cooler @ Hardware Canucks
- CoolIT Systems Pure CPU Cooler @ Legit Reviews
- Kingwin Heat-Pipe Direct Touch CPU Coolers Review @ Virtual-Hideout
- Noctua NH-U9B Heatsink Review at Icrontic
- Coolink GFXChilla Review @ Mikhailtech
Clocking
- Intel Xeon X3320 45nm Quad Core Overclocking Test @ MadshrimpsBe sure to check out our own cooling reviews, the most recent is the Hyper 212 from Cooler Master
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ATI HD 2400 XT 256MB Video Card Reviewed @ TheTechLounge
Published: Tuesday, April 8, 2008 | By: DennisPerish the thought!
It's hard to believe, but there are actually many people who don't want the trappings, and cost, of gaming hardware. Integrated graphics aren't always an option and, when they are, they use precious system resources that, for only a little extra cash, can be un-tethered.
We actually reviewed a video card based on this GPU some months ago and found it to be very solid and quite the little trooper. The best part was the HDMI output and 63" gaming goodness!
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NL: Review Block - Mems
Published: Monday, April 7, 2008 | By: DennisSome say doing memory reviews is worthless but I have a different theory, Instead of reviewing the technology why not review memory products for how well they complement your system, either in performance, style, or gossip factor.
- OCZ PC3-10666 ReaperX 4GB Memory Kit @ 3DGM
- Kingston HyperX 1GB PC2-9600 DDR2 Memory Kit Review @ Bigbruin
- Crucial Ballistix Tracer 2Gig DDR2 Memory Kit Review @ Tweaknews
- OCZ DDR2 PC2-8500 Reaper HPC 4GB Edition @ Bjorn3DWe've been fans of so many memory companies over the years and what do we have to show for it? Nothing
We throw rocks at the Crucial building and get called in to clean them up (they are located within a stones throw of the Ninjalane Labs),
We arrange a meeting with Corsair and they fail to tell us where they are,
Patriot is extremely nice but damn if they forget about you in a second.
Oh ya we can't forget about OCZ, a friend of ours from DFI starts work there and when we go by to say hi to that person we get the 10th degree as to why we're wanting to talk to our friend and not their marketing person.A-DATA is a company of extremely hot chix so we can't exactly diss
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5 PC games that deserve sequels @ XSReviews
Published: Monday, April 7, 2008 | By: DennisHere is a fun little article about games that need to be reborn a second time. While sequels in games do not suffer the same scrutiny as movies there is also less money being thrown around to whoever can do the most coke or has the best casting couch.
Age of Empires 2, Call of Duty 2, Red Alert 2, Half Life 2, the list of great video game sequels for the PC is almost endless. Why then, are so many franchises left to die at the side of the road, despite the first game having an original concept or a great fan base? Unfortunately, in most cases it probably boils down to money, but there are many reasons that games just don't get made. Still, in an effort to see our dreams come to life, XSR has come up with our top 5 PC games we'd love to see sequels to.
My personal vote would be to have NetHack as a sequel but less so in a cheezy way but more as a turn based FPS.
yes yes I know, I'd better get cracking on that.
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NL: Review Block - Cases
Published: Friday, April 4, 2008 | By: DennisWe got quite a few cases this week; here is a good cross section.
- CSX Wraith Tower Case Review @ OCIA
- Cooler Master CM690 @ Viper Lair (Check out our review of the same case here)
- Thermaltake M9 Case Review @ Hardware Secrets
- SilverStone KLO2 Kublai Series Case Review @ Motherboards
- Cooler Maste Cosmos S Review @ TechwareLabs
- Apevia X-Supra G Type Case Review @ HardwareLogic
- Apevia X-QBOII Micro-ATX Case Review @ OCIA
- Antec NSK4480 Case Review @ Hardware Secrets
- Ultra M998 Chassis Review @ Driver Heaven
- Cooler Master Centurion 590 system chassis review @ Elite BastardsQuite a few cases there, We'll have our own posted in the next week or so.
Also keep in mind, even though we post news about crappy cases don't think we would remotely endorse them for normal consumption.
We're still a little curious about that Ultra case as we've seen it someplace before way back in our Ninjalane past.
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Sunbeamtech Acrylic HTPC Case Review @ Mikhailtech
Published: Thursday, April 3, 2008 | By: DennisIts not every day you see a HTPC case made from clear acrylic but there is a first time for everything.
Sunbeam, well known for their fascination with acrylic and lights, shipped us their new Acrylic HTPC with, you guessed it, more lights! Building a case is serious business, especially when dealing with enthusiast hardware. Some of the design considerations include good cable management, good airflow with clean air, room for plenty of hard drives, quiet, and let’s not forget aesthetics! This is quite a large list! Let’s take a look at Sunbeam’s work at how they incorporated all of these considerations.
