Tech News
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Thermaltake Volcano 11+ Review @ RipNet-UK
Published: Thursday, August 14, 2003 | By: Dennis"Clipping the cooler on was a bit of a nightmare actually. If you've installed a few HSF's then you'll know the scenario........ you put the first side of the cooler on, and then have twenty attempts to clip the other side on. It finally clicks into place and then you realise it's only because the first side has come off again! Doh! Needless to say that I got it on eventually but I was starting to get a bit worried about my CPU for a while there."
I would agree, check out our review of the Volcano 11+ for comparison purposes. -
Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 Review @ Unique Hardware
Published: Thursday, August 14, 2003 | By: Dennis"These 7200.7 hard drives have many security features built in, and come packaged very well. If you were ever to experience a problem, Seagate also provides the software you need to fix it. Although the drive was just a tad slower than the older Barracuda V, we expect better drivers to be released which should push these drives to new performance levels."
I don't think SerialATA drives are hindered by bad drivers but rather from overhead in the SerialATA interface, aka hardware. Just give the technology time to mature.
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PC4200 DDR Memory by GeIL
Published: Wednesday, August 13, 2003 | By: DennisI haven't been a huge supporter of Geil memory but when you churn out DDR533 dual channel memory some people tend to take notice.
Here are some of the specs:
"PC4200 533Mhz Dual Channel DDR Ultra Platinum Version:
Available only in 512MB (2X256MB) and 1GB (2X512MB) Dual Channel DDR Ultra Platinum Kits.
- 184pin, Non-ECC, Un-buffered, high performance DDR memory modules.
- Hand Picked 3.5ns GeIL Chips
- 6 Layers Ultra Low Noises Shielded PCB board.
- Optimized SPD for Intel’s 875/865 chipset Dual Channel DDR motherboards.
- Tin Coated Platinum - Copper Heat Spreader
- Lifetime Warranty
- CAS 3 8-4-4 Running @ DDR533Mhz PC4200
- 2.6v-2.95V
- Retail package with neon green clear acrylic case and instructions."
The memory timings are the same as many DDR500 modules from companies like Corsair and Kingston thus making the GeIL modules slightly faster from that standpoint. As you will see later this isn't always a good thing. -
i875P Dual Xeon Motherboard Photos
Published: Wednesday, August 13, 2003 | By: DennisI mentioned this before but who knew the "Canterwood" could support dual Xeon processors.
Anyhow the cool thing about this Akiba post is related to the store they are pimping. "Two-Top" was the retail front end for many Quata and Freeway products including motherboards and cases. Freeway motherboards have long sense died off but the legacy lives on. -
Shrinking Graphics Market Effects Taiwan Mfgs.
Published: Wednesday, August 13, 2003 | By: Dennis"Sales of discrete graphics cards have not met earlier expectations as their market has gradually been eroded by integrated chipsets, according to Taiwanese graphics card makers.
The global graphics card market is expected to account for less than 50% of the global PC market in the second half of this year, down from about 50% in the first half, according to sources at Leadtek Research, a Taiwan-based graphics card maker.
In the first half of this year, Taiwanese graphics card makers including Leadtek, Gigabyte Technology and Micro-Star International (MSI) all missed their targets."
Be sure to check out the graph, the results are pretty bad. -
MSI Geforce FX 5600 Review @ CyberCPU
Published: Tuesday, August 12, 2003 | By: Dennis" I have seen a lot of reviews of the Geforce FX 5600 Ultra but I didn't see many reviews of the lower cost option, the non ultra. Today I will be reviewing the MSI FX5600-TD128 (MS-8912). This is my first chance to take a look at the Geforce FX and I had some really high expectations. I will be comparing this card to a Geforce 4 TI 4200."
The GeForceFX series is actually pretty sweet though in some of the more popular games of today it seems to lack in framerate. -
Late News Review Block
Published: Tuesday, August 12, 2003 | By: DennisThe Ninjalane site news was a little late today but that does not mean nobody sent any in.
- Nexus PHT-3600 SkiveTek @ A True Review
- 3R System R201 Case Review @ Dans Data <-- Cool
Today’s links to other sites brought to you by.. -
Kingston HyperX PC4000 Review @ Bytesector
Published: Monday, August 11, 2003 | By: Dennis"Another problem we faced was that the memory works great at the two ends of the memory setting (between 400 and 500) anything close to the middle, the system becomes unstable. This is apparently was caused by the memory timings used on the modules. So if you got a pair of these RAM modules and not satisfied with them cause of instability, then try changing the memory timings (with in reasonable range) and am sure that problem can be fixed."
This is the new DDR500 paired memory from Kingston and it appears to do pretty well though they had a little trouble between the two major landing points. -
XFX GeForce FX 5600 Review @ radikalmod
Published: Monday, August 11, 2003 | By: DennisA really cool card that comes in a really cool box, too bad I can't read any of the text.
By the looks of it the cooling solution seems to be two slots high though only cools the GPU, not really the best cooling solution but it works I suppose. -
Sapphire ATI Video Card Review @ Gamers Depot
Published: Monday, August 11, 2003 | By: Dennis" Its two latest cards, the Radeon 9600 Pro and 9800 Pro have nothing really to differentiate them over other comparable solutions except two things – an orb cooler and the Redline Overclocking utility – both of which are pretty cool."
This article does a really good job at showing you the speed differences between the 9800 and 9600 ATI cards.
