Tech News
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Cooler Master CoolDrive 3 Review @ VoidedWarranty
Published: Thursday, July 24, 2003 | By: Dennis"Well, there she is folks! As you can see this hard drive cooler looks pretty damn cool. It almost makes my computer look like it has a set of eyes. You may also notice that I have taken the liberty of VOIDING the WARRANTY by removing the print that was on the front of the unit. This can be done with a rag and some acetone."
I will agree, the cooler does look very good though I've noticed that although the CoolDrive 3 does an excellent job removing heat from your HDD it does so in an uneven manner. ie: the front of the drive is cooled, whereas the back of the drive gets hotter than if there was no cooler at all. -
Asus P4P8X Review @ TechJuice
Published: Wednesday, July 23, 2003 | By: DennisYou have to be a little careful when buying a Springdale enabled motherboard since there is more than one style of i865 chipset on the market, the i865PE and i865P. The PE version supports the new 800Mhz FSB whereas the cheaper i865P only supports the 533Mhz FSB. The chipset can still reach 800Mhz on some motherboards by overclocking but it remains unclear if you get the DDR400 memory controller or not. (DDR400 is only enabled with 800Mhz FSB processors on the Springdale and Canterwood chipsets)
"So if this board will do 800MHz, how about 1000MHz. We hooked up the alcholcooler to see what we could get out the Asus P4P8X. Why alcohol? Because we have been trying a new types of fluids for maxium heat transfer, and it was the closest liquid to the bench. We are professionals. Don't try this at home." -
Abit IC7-G Review @ HardwareZone
Published: Wednesday, July 23, 2003 | By: Dennis"The IC7-G is the answer to overclockers and fans of ABIT motherboards - particularly those who wants the performance of the Intel 875P chipset and ABIT's famous overclocking track record. The IC7-G is a well designed board (except for badly positioned IDE connectors) that should appeal both power users and beginners with its well-balanced range of features."
I would suggest that if you are in the market for a Pentium 4 system seriously consider getting a board with the i875P chipset. It isn't the most “bang-for-your-buck” but you do get the best performance and the chipset loves to overclock.
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Taipei Computex 2003 Expected to be Biggest Ever
Published: Wednesday, July 23, 2003 | By: Dennis"The Computex 2003 exhibition, which will be held from September 22-26, is expected to be the largest ever, according to organizers Taipei Computer Association (TCA) and China External Trade Development Council (CETRA).
A total of 1,195 companies have registered as exhibitors, up nearly 8% from last year, occupying a total of 2,471 booth spaces. “The number is still increasing, as the show is still two months away,” said Nick Chang, sector chief of CETRA."
The cool part this is that Ninjalane will be there,
provided I can find a hotel room. -
PNY GeForce FX 5900 Ultra Review @ Extreme Overclocking
Published: Tuesday, July 22, 2003 | By: Dennis"The FX5900 beat out our Radeon 9800 Pro in a number of tests. In fact, the 9800 Pro was only faster in three out of our twenty tests. The 5900 Ultra was faster but not by enough to notice. This makes purchasing the fastest video card from NVIDIA a tough decision. We personally do not think that the small gain in performance is worth the extra $100 dollars over a 9800 Pro. For enthusiasts it will come down to things like image quality, driver support, and for some, which company they are loyal to (if any)."
I can't remember the last time the competition between two flagship video cards has been so close. Even at extremely high frames, the difference between the two seems to be minimal. -
AOpen's HP-590 Headphones Review @ Techwarelabs
Published: Tuesday, July 22, 2003 | By: Dennis"AOpen has developed a very unique feature with their HP-590 headphones, dubbed "Vibration Bass." Basically, this pair of headphones features a second 30mm "vibration" driver that is specially designed to translate low frequency sounds into vibrations. This is designed to add to the overall audio sensation by accenting bass with a tactile response."
I've never liked headphones, but these seem to be quite neat for gaming. Make sure check out our own review on the same headphones. -
ATI All-in-Wonder Radeon 9800pro Videocard Review @ Tweaknews
Published: Tuesday, July 22, 2003 | By: Dennis"With no competition in sight, ATI's All-in-Wonder 9800pro is nothing less than a dream card for the computer enthusiast. Not only does it handle any game on the market with the quality at maximum, it does so with amazing framerates. Gaming aside, you just have to understand the capabilities of this card for it's price. With a one card solution, you practically turn your computer into a home theater system, a gaming system and a full featured multimedia center."
The ATI All-in-Wonder series has always distinguished themselves in the market of video cards by great performance and a load of features. That is for those willing to spend an extra bux. -
Danger Den Maze4 Review @ HexaPlague-Hardware
Published: Tuesday, July 22, 2003 | By: Dennis"Overall, I like the Maze 4. It looks to be an excellent block from a company who is no stranger to quality. The price is right up there in the range with other quality blocks (excluding the white water, which frankly I am not robbing a bank for) and it delivers solid performance."
Danger Den has been making great water blocks for quite a while now. Their latest, Maze4, seems to be one of the best waterblocks currently on the market. -
Athenatech Pearl White A100 Mini-ATX Case review @ XtReMoDs
Published: Tuesday, July 22, 2003 | By: Dennis"There's is not much diversity form the every day Mini-ATX cases that are shipped out now a days you get a square front and a window on the side. Well after a while that gets boring, you need to spice things up a little with some style. If you are tired of the pre-modded windowed cases then you might be interested in Athenathech's Pearl White A100 case."
Lack of diversity in Mini-ATX cases can be explained by the lack of interest in the consumer market. However, something different is always welcome. -
Xaser III V2000A review @ Ohls-Place
Published: Tuesday, July 22, 2003 | By: DennisThe place of Ohl has another ThermalTake review up this time they take a look at the snazzy news Xaser III case.
"Don't take all of this to mean that I am trashing the case, because I am far from doing that. I just think that a couple of these items a good Q & A program would have caught. When one pays more for a quality case, one would like to think the workmanship and reliability went into it as well. I think with a little work Thermaltake would have top notch case that would compete with anything out there."
The review almost seems like a ongoing complaint than a review, but you can still get an idea as to what the Xaser III brings to the table.
