With the popularity of netbooks growing its no suprise that more and more manufacturers are entering this new market. We take a look at one of the most popular netbooks currently available, the MSI Wind. Well known for its light weight, low price, and exceptional range of included features, the Wind should be in every travelers briefcase. Read our review to find out why.
Today Ian takes a look at the Ineo external hard drive enclosure. From installation through testing and usefullness, Ian brings you the facts on this new product. Find out if the Ineo is worthy of your cash.
A relative newcomer to the PC case industry Ikonik is entering with some really nice designs and forward thinking designs. Mike Santini takes a look at the Zaria A20 and shows you its positive points as well as some of the drawbacks to its design and layout. Is the Zaria meant for you? Read our review to fid out if its your perfect case.
Buying an awesome tricked out computer case is the nerdy equivalent to buying a suped up hot rod of a car. The case is the outward manifestation of awesomeness inside. AeroCool does its best to combine car and computer with its AeroRacer Pro case. Unfortunately AeroRacer won't get you as much attention with the ladies as a real car, but it terms of nerd street cred, it works rather nicely. Also unlike a car, this case won't break the bank with its cost. So does the AeroCool AeroRacer Pro have what it takes to leave others behind in the dust? Lets take a look and find out.
It honestly surprises me that this topic slipped under the radar and all, but I've been having more than a few discussions and/or arguments over the topic of microtransactions in games. For those who don't know, microtransactions or micropayments are "now ... often defined to mean payments too small to be affordably processed by credit card or other electronic transaction processing mechanism" by Wikipedia. A less abstract definition would be to look at Xbox Points, Wii Points, and anything like that. So the question is "Are you getting what you pay for, or getting nickle-and-dimed?" What do you think?
Tagan is perhaps best known for their line of power supplies, which combine high-performance specs with a flashy, LED-laden presentation that certainly catches the eye. Expanding on this theme, Tagan has come out with a number of cases that combine various levels of flash with generally solid design. Today, we will be taking a look at Tagan's most recent addition to their enthusiast case line, the El Diablo Advance. After we put this case through its paces, you can decide for yourself if the devil you know is better than the devil you don't.
From The Newsroom
01.2.2009
Glacial Altair A381 (iMon) @ Bjorn3D
With high definition digital entertainment gaining popularity, having an HTPC setup is almost becoming a standard nowadays. It is easy to purchase a pre-built system for recording and playback HD contents. TiVo and Apple TV are a couple of example. Users can even add a TV tuner card to an existing system to convert it to an HTPC setup. For many computer enthusiasts, building their own system tailored to their needs is half the fun. Choosing the right case, one which offers ample expansion slots and good cooling, is essential for any HTPC. Of course, if the system can run at near silence, that would be a great plus when you immerse yourself in that digital enjoyment.
The Perixx Periboard-306 Keyboard arrived Technic3D. Slim Compact and Letter Illuminated Keyboard, On/Off EL Switch Button. Technic3D will see the functions in the following Review.
I've seen systems that are worth hundreds and thousands of dollars fall to poor PSU choices. I've seen one PSU kill two motherboards in a row because they thought buying a flea market PSU was a good idea. I've seen video cards that cost $300 (USD) and more die because people thought their PSU would be enough to drive the GPU. You name it I've seen it. Including a $20 dollar 650 Watt PSU burn down part of a house. Computer PSU's aren't something to skimp on.
You can take your chances in the PSU crap shoot and go cheap, or you can buy a quality PSU like the Seasonic M12D 850 Watt Modular and know that you will enjoy a long safe computing experience. Keep in mind that cheap PSU might still be running but, PSU that are cheap don't provide good solid voltage so every time you push that button your shortening the life of your computer. Be smart, go with a good quality PSU from a manufacturer like Seasonic that will provide years of good service and keep that gaming shrine safe from the dreaded flea market PSU catastrophe.
Kingston Technology Company, Inc. has been an industry leader in computer memory technology arena for as long as some people can remember. Producing high quality ram since 1987 Kingston has been in on every phase of computer memory manufacturing, worth mentioning that we can think of. Then some time back they started producing enthusiast level memory with their HyperX line. We have seen HyperX and tested HyperX and we'd have to say HyperX is some seriously great ram.
Every once in a while two of the titans in memory manufacturing produce a kit that could almost be twin brothers on paper. When that happens it's that rare time when we can do an SPD shootout. By that we mean we can compare two kits that will run at the same speed with the same timings against one another with a level playing field. In this case a 6 GB kit of Kingston HyperX DDR3 1600 and a kit of Corsair Dominator DDR3 1600. In all fairness to the Corsair Dominator kit the specified timings are 8-8-8-24 @ 1.65v and the Kingston kit is rated to run at 8-8-8-20 1.65v so there is that minor difference in the kits.
One of the series we started here at Guru3D which I'm very proud of is the Rig of the Month. Each month here at Guru3D.com we feature one of you guys, your PC, your DIY project. It is quite honestly amazing how much detail and dedication you put into an PC, and every now and then it really shows. Today Deskee! by toesy. This project is not unique in the sense Toesy extravagant computer materials, contrary. With very simple idea's he made something really nice .. out of a table.
Suffice to say, 100% Guru3D Rig of the Month material. Take a look at his project as he talks you through this DIY build.
Year In Review: 2008 Computer Hardware Industry Failure
Every technology starts with a motivation, and throughout the past year Benchmark Reviews has watched the computer hardware industry follow trends that seem all too familiar of yesteryear. In this article by Executive Editor Olin Coles, the past 2008 calendar year is summarized for it's accomplishments, but the real focus is on the coming year ahead. Will 2009 be the year that component computer hardware becomes important again, or will it be relegated to a niche hobby for enthusiast?
With video cards not only getting bigger and faster, they are requiring a lot more power to run them. And with them using more volts and having more capabilities, it is only natural for them to run hotter. Video card manufacturers usually only use the bare minimum on cooling solutions for the cards that they sell. For many of us, when we buy a new CPU, we normally purchase an after market cooler for them because we know that the standard cooler just does not cut it when it comes to cooling. With this being said, we can not expect a standard cooler to handle today's video cards. It is also rare to find a GPU cooler that fits both Nvidia's 2xxGTX's and ATI's HD48xx video cards. The folks at SilenX have made a GPU cooler that not only cools well, but fits both Nvidia's 2xxGTX series of cards and ATI's HD4870 GPU's. So, let's take a look at the IXG-80HA2 GPU cooler and the Tri fan IXG-3F2from SilenX.
Microsoft Wireless Laser Desktop 6000 XSA-00001 @ BmR
The Wireless Laser Desktop 6000 is the jack of all trades. It contains enough programmable keys to keep the most fervent multi-tasker happy and a very precise mouse that to keep the gamer happy. Its wireless range makes it suitable for the office, conference room or even the living room. The wireless dongle is small and fits within the bottom of the mouse, making it easy to transport. How well does it work? Benchmark Reviews will fill you in on the XSA-00001 kit from Microsoft.
With today's computers it's really hard to find the right balance between features and price. And with a slew of companies that offer a variety of standard, multimedia, wireless, and gaming keyboards, you really have no idea where to start looking. Many enthusiasts and gamers are really picky and stubborn when it comes to finding the right keyboard and these guys are the ones that manufacturers find are hard to win over.
Razer is a company that is known for their excellent gaming equipment, and it comes at a nice price. It's hard to come up with the perfect combination of features, price, and most importantly, looks, but today we have the Razer Lycosa Mirror Special Edition, and we think Razer may have come up with that nice combination of everything we want.
Let's head on over to the mad scientist's lab where we will put this keyboard through hours of gaming (I mean hard testing) and see if it lives up to the Razer name.
Two or more fans are usually build in a modern pc. This could be a noise source. A thermal control panel can be helpful. Let's take a look at the "AXP MTR001B Thermal Control Panel".
The Topower Silent EZ 350W PSU arrived Technic3D. See you in the following Review from Technic3D the next PSU Review with a good price, modular cable management and a high efficiency. The Topower have a 120mm fan, 4xSerial ATA connectors and 2x PCIe 6-Pin connectors.
NZXT Whisper Full-Tower Computer Case @ Benchmark Reviews
Finally, a chassis that is designed for the enthusiast that combines noise dampening features with expandability and storage. Introducing the Whisper silent full tower chassis from NZXT, improving upon the successful of the NZXT HU-001 chassis, the Whisper is another step up from the Hush. Featured in a large size E-ATX Full Tower, the Whisper can support up to NINE hard drives and a total of SIX 5.25"; bays with ample space for large expansion cards. 10mm dampening foams, rubber grommets, and padded PSU holder are some of the major features in silence. The NZXT Whisper is the complete solution for the enthusiast who is not willing to sacrifice silence for performance. Benchmark Reviews recently got a hold of one of these cases and I must say I'm intrigued so now let's just see if the Whisper lives up to it's name or not.
The NZXT Avatar Gaming-Mouse arrived Technic3D with 2600dpi Sensor. 7 programmable keys, 4 Speed DPI switch, LED DPI indicator and more see you in the following Review on Technic3D.
