Tech News
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Sapphire Blizzard X1900 XTX with watercooling @ TweakPC
Published: Tuesday, May 2, 2006 | By: DennisNow this is actually pretty cool, take a standard X1900 XTX and attach a sweet watercooler to it.
"Nachdem man die TOXIC aus dem großen Sapphire Karton befreit hat, hält man quasi zwei Karten in der Hand. Auf der einen Seite die Radeon X1900 XTX Karte, auf der anderen das Wasserkühlungsmodul, dass auch die Form einer Steckkarte besitzt. Die beiden Elemente sind über zwei schwarze sehr flexible Schläuche verbunden."
The radiator they include isn't any smaller than the stock fan/heatsink unit but does add to the coolness factor of the whole thing.
Oh and yes, I have no idea what the quote says. For all I know it could say "pigs are flying and pooping on cows"
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Vizo Sleet Copper Cooling Components Review @ Virtual-Hideout
Published: Tuesday, May 2, 2006 | By: Dennis"So if you are in the need for copper heatsinks, give the VIZO series of copper coolers a try. They add a nice bling factor by looking extremely sharp, and also copper is a much better choice then aluminum for heat dispersion."
Memory doesn't really get that hot however some people will swear that memory coolers make or break their overclocks. Personally I buy into the memory heatsink fad for a number of reasons.
1) makes installing system memory a snap as you have something of substance to hold on to.
2) gives memory mfgs a way to apply branding to their products
3) makes video cards look "cool"
4) gives you an exchuse to RMA a video card for something better if the heatsink falls off.
5) gives your stuff that "go fast" look
6) makes system memory look "cool"
7) etc..
As I've always said, apply cooling to anything that gets hot and could be damaged by that heat. -
Asetek Waterchill KT12A-12VX @ DNRhardware
Published: Tuesday, May 2, 2006 | By: DennisI must say when it comes to complete watercooling kits asetek wins hands down in the category of ease of use and installation. Performance isn't bad either.
"In de zak bevinden zich het montage materiaal voor de waterblokken, de radiator en voor de pomp (zuignappen).Verder zit er een kabel bij om de pomp aan te sluiten op het moederbord, 2 tempsensoren en een verloop van 1 naar 2 fan aansluitingen.Ook is er een bovenkant mee geleverd zodat het CPU blok op de pentium modellen past, dit is eenvoudig te veranderen met de meegeleverde sleutel."
Yep you guessed it I have no idea what this says.
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NL: Review Block - MSI K8N Diamond Plus
Published: Tuesday, May 2, 2006 | By: Dennis
MSI K8N Diamond Plus nForce4 SLI x16 Review @ PC Stats
" The 'x16' SLI chipset was a quiet announced, and motherboards using the nVIDIA nForce4 SLI x16 and nVidia C51D have been slow to reach retail. The MSI K8N Diamond Plus is one of the few nForce4 SLI x16 motherboards that is readily available, and it's a very sweet little slab of PCB."
MSI K8N Diamond Plus Review @ nV News
"Overall the board does not look cluttered with main components adequately positioned and spaced, surprising considering the features packed in such a small space. Except for the Northbridge HSF, the Ziff socket area looks to provide ample room for many of the larger popular heatsinks."
Go MSI! It would seem that many Mfgs are moving to the black PCB for their high end boards despite having made a reputation for using certain colors on everything. I'll call this "The LanParty syndrome" -
Dont fear the news
Published: Tuesday, May 2, 2006 | By: DennisHey everyone, I'm still alive, just have a bunch of stuff brewing and very little time to sample the goods.
More news at 11 -
AuzenTech HDA X-Plosion 7.1 DTS Review @ ThinkComputers
Published: Monday, April 24, 2006 | By: DennisCall me old school but onboard audio still sux, even when it is the best thing since sliced bread.
"If you are like me then sound is important to you. You need the right headphones, the right speakers and of course the right sound card. With the recent release of Creative's X-Fi sound card there were not many cards that could match up with it, but the card was still missing something; Dolby Digital Live"
Actually these says the only reason to buy an extra sound card is when the onboard one doesn't do something you want it to. Such as Dolby or,... work.
If it was me, I'd be all over this card. -
Super Talent 2GB PC2-6400 T800UX2GC4 @ Techgage
Published: Monday, April 24, 2006 | By: DennisWords of wisdom about memory heatspreaders. “The thermal glue that binds heatsinks will also remove the memory chip”. I still remember a photo that some poor sap posted of his video card after trying to remove the passive heatsink from the memory chips, the board was pretty much picked clean..
"Heat spreaders are pretty much a standard now, and Super Talent realizes this. These modules are equipped with a very light aluminum spreader that's indented to press against all 16 chips on each module. Nothing innovative here, but I am happy to see them be as light as they are. Generally, the lighter the heat spreader is, the easier the modules are to cool, especially with lots of overclocking. The spreaders are glued on, so if you wish to remove them you will want to have the proper glue to re-apply, or perform the task quickly. Removing the heat spreaders are generally not advised with BGA chips, due to the fact that they can come off the PCB far easier than TSOP ones." -
A pair of water coolers compared @ Tech Report
Published: Monday, April 24, 2006 | By: DennisAnd now these messages on watercooling
"FOR YEARS, WATER COOLING has been reserved for the most committed overclocking and silent computing enthusiasts. Piping water around a PC's internals definitely isn't for the faint of heart, and generally only those with supreme confidence in their plumbing skills have been courageous enough to tempt fate. Fortunately, water cooling is slowly becoming more accessible as all-in-one kits that minimize the need for extensive amateur plumbing become more common. These kits are perfect for those looking to get their feet wet without diving into the deep end, so to speak."
Long live watercooling.
My current watercooling project has been slow going but only because I was waiting for parts. Be sure to check out the progress in the Ninjalane Message Forum. You'll need to be a registered member and signed in to see the attached photos. -
NL: Review Block - Foxconn
Published: Monday, April 24, 2006 | By: DennisI'm actually starting to like Foxconn, much in the same way I saw Soltek as being a leader in their field the Foxconn solutions are a step above.
Foxconn 975X7AA Review @ Neoseeker
"The Foxconn 975X7AA has turned out to be a surprisingly good overclocker as far as FSB capabilities go! While the memory tunables are quite limited, and we're still stuck with that FSB/memory lock, I managed to raise the FSB to a whopping 280 MHz (from its stock 200 MHz). This gives us an awesome 1120 MHz FSB, which is definitely nothing to scoff at."
I think I can do better.
WinFast NF4SK8AA-8EKRS Motherboard Review @ Legit Reviews
"The WinFast NF4SK8AA-8EKRS motherboard was really easy to work with and posed no problems with anything that we threw at it. The NF4SK8AA-8EKRS also did very well for itself in the area of overclocking. Being able to run my Opteron 146 at 2.9ghz+ was pretty impressive on this sub-$100 board."
Home of the card style SLI, ie budget.
For more Foxconn goodness keep watch here. -
NL: Review Block - Asus is Asus
Published: Monday, April 24, 2006 | By: DennisHere are a few Asus reviews to chew on.
ASUS P5N32-SLI Deluxe Motherboard @ Viper Lair
"ASUS was among the first Tier-1 manufacturers to release SLI X16 products when NVIDIA made the announcement last year. Rather than slapping on some new chipsets on their existing SLI motherboards and calling it a day, ASUS had overhauled the boards specifically for enthusiasts."
ASUS P5WD2-E Premium 975X Motherboard @ Pro-Clockers
" Improving on the P5WD2 with the Intel 955X chipset, Asus has released the P5WD2-E Premium based on Intel’s newest chipset the 975. Asus is known the world over for producing the best Intel based motherboards. Combining stability with a lot of overclocking features made the older P5WD2 the motherboard to have with the newer Cedar Mills and Pressler processors. We will today see if the newer Premium can hold a candle to the older brother."
Mobos - this is by bag, baby.
