Tech News

  • Secrets to the best passwords

    Published: Tuesday, July 15, 2003 | By: Dennis

    "The idea here is that you use a variety of words associated with an event that other people would not readily guess. Remember that you may also need to mix in uppercase letters and numbers when you create a new password. For instance, "hurry" could become hUrry66 or Hur5ry."
    This kind of reminds me of The Ninjalane Leet Dictionary just different. big grin smile

  • Game Makers Not Chasing Women?

    Published: Tuesday, July 15, 2003 | By: Dennis

    We need more chix in gaming, not only in the games but outside of them too. tongue smile
    "One of the key ways such games can exclude women is in the "hyper-sexualized" avatar choices they are offered, with distended Lara Croft-like physiques, Taylor said. The proportion of women playing such games would likely increase if they were given more freedom to choose the way in which they're electronically represented.

    "If you talk to women who are EverQuest players, they hate their avatar choices," Taylor said. "It's like they have to wear chain-mail bikinis." "

  • Albatron Gigi Geforce FX5600EQ review @ MonkeyReview

    Published: Tuesday, July 15, 2003 | By: Dennis

    Nvidia did a really good job at confusing the market with their new GeForceFX GPUs since you'd think a card with the 5600 processor would run pretty fast. In all reality the 5600 is nothing more than a MX class processor with support for the new FX features. The way I see it unless the video card has a 5900 and 5900 Ultra GPU I'll be buying ATI.
    "As you can see from the above benchmarks, the Albatron Gigi FX5600EQ didn’t really have the steam to deliver the kind of marks we had half expected to see. Something else that was realized during our testing was the lack of overclocking potential. We muscled with it for about an hour and the best that we were able to hit was a mere 331/410."

  • KingMAX PC3200 Color Modules Review @ Techseekers

    Published: Tuesday, July 15, 2003 | By: Dennis

    These are some of the only modules created using TinyBGA memory chips. Back in the days of PC133 memory TinyBGA was the way to go with many sticks running past 160Mhz.
    " I got to 225MHz FSB (1:1 ratio) with the KingMax, while maintaining close to the original timings. And although I had the DIMM Voltage at 2.7V I have a feeling that 2.65V would be all thats necessary to achieve this overclock. Unfortunately this was the actual limit in terms of FSB. Raising voltage or slackening timings would not yield a higher overclock."

  • Soyo KT600 Mobo Specs and Photo @ AMDboard

    Published: Tuesday, July 15, 2003 | By: Dennis

    Its so perdy. tongue smile
    For those that don't know the KT600 chipset is the next generation replacement for the KT400A. It still supports single channel DDR but has better support for 200Mhz FSB processors.

  • Corsair Announces XMS4000 DDR Modules

    Published: Monday, July 14, 2003 | By: Dennis

    Here is a snip from the press release. From a timing standpoint these modules are the same speed as the XMS3700 DDR modules announced last month.
    "Fremont, CA, July 14, 2003: Corsair Memory, Inc., a global leader in ultra-performance DDR memory modules for PC gamers and enthusiasts, today announced their first XMS4000 product, the TWINX1024-4000. Corsair’s new XMS4000 part, based on 500MHz DDR technology, delivers extreme memory performance when used with the new breed of overclockable dual channel DDR motherboards.

    Corsair designed this new module to support the highest clock speeds possible which translates to optimum performance. To select the fastest available components Corsair’s Compatibility Lab performed exhaustive benchmark tests on a broad range of RAM chips from a multitude of different chip makers.

    Moreover, the company developed a stringent battery of tests which every XMS module built must pass at its rated speed before being shipped. XMS4000 modules are tested at 500MHz with 3-4-4-8 latency settings at 2.75V. All XMS4000 modules are tested in an Asus P4C800 dual channel DDR motherboard based on the Intel 875P "Canterwood" chipset. TwinX kits are tested as a matched pair and physically packaged together immediately after passing test, guaranteeing that the customer receives a product that has been verified in the dual channel environment.

    All XMS modules are delivered in a stylish aluminum heat spreader that enhances performance by keeping the components cool."

    As of this posting the announcement hasn't made it to Corsair's news page yet so you heard it here first, again. big grin smileapprove smile
    Update: A direct link to the press release is below

  • DFI LanParty VIA KT400a Review @ 3dXtreme

    Published: Monday, July 14, 2003 | By: Dennis

    "Here is a close-up shot of the DFI LanParty KT400a. The layout of the board looks near perfect; as the IDE, Floppy, PSU and memory slots all look to be in the right spot. I used the very large Thermal Take Volcano 11 Xaser Edition heatsink/fan during this review, and this motherboard had no problems with installing a heatsink of that size; although the top capacitors were a little close."
    A little close? More like "in your face you had better have small fingers or use the onboard mounting holes" close. big grin smile Then again the Volcano 11+ does have a slightly different mounting clip compared to the Coolermaster Aero 7+

    The board is very solid though and comes with a ton of features. Here is our review of the DFI LanParty KT400A for comparison purposes.

  • VL System Lost In Space LCD Display Review @ TwistedMods

    Published: Monday, July 14, 2003 | By: Dennis

    Back in the day if you wanted an LCD display for your computer you actually had to break out the soldering iron and build it yourself. Those days have since passed and stuff like LCD displays and Fanbusses are commonplace at your local CompUSA.
    "The first things that got me hooked on the Lost in Space LCD Indicator (LIS LCD) were the color options, as well as the fact that it comes pre-attached to a front 5.25” bay filler. Included in the shipping box of the LIS is the LCD unit attached to a front bay filler, installation CD, instructions, and a cable for hooking up the LCD to the USB/Serial ports"

  • Block-0-Re-Views

    Published: Monday, July 14, 2003 | By: Dennis

    - Zalman ZM400A-APF Review @ DataFuse
    - Vantec ION 400W Review @ The Tech Lounge
    - Seasonic Super Tornado 300w Review @ Ohls-Place

    Lastly a link back to me to bring up that silly Alexa Ranking, for more info on why the Spyware Alexa tool bar is bad check out this thread in the Ninjalane Message Forums.

  • Thermaltake Volcano 11+ Xaser Review @ OverClockers Portugal

    Published: Monday, July 14, 2003 | By: Dennis

    This review isn't in English but there is a pretty cool Flash graph that relay the important benchmark info, not to mention plenty of photos to check out as well.