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Intel Core i7-4770K Haswell Processor Review
Just a year ago Intel launched their Ivy Bridge processors and now a year later we have another platform launch from Intel. The 4th Generation Core Haswell processors are the “tock” to Intel’s “tick” and “tock” release schedule. A “tock” represents a new architecture and a “tick” represents a process refinement. So Haswell brings with it a new architecture, but is still built on the same 22nm process as Ivy Bridge. Intel has introduced a new LGA1150 socket with Haswell and a new chipset so you will not be able to throw this processor in an older motherboard, you will have to buy a new one. Today we are taking a look at the top of the line Haswell desktop chip the Core i7-4770K. Of course the “K” denotes that it is an unlocked processor. This is a quad-core processor that has a default clock speed of 3.5 GHz and a turbo frequency that goes all the way up to 3.9 GHz.
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XSPC AX Radiator Desk Stand Review
One of the biggest limiting factors in what you can do with watercooling is how much room you have in your case. With so much equipment to pack in for watercooling alone, space ends up being one of the chief concerns for builders and modders. And the single biggest limiting factor: how much radiator one can fit. Radiators are large, bulky, and inflexible in how they need to be installed. This can easily lead to the builder having to sacrifice cooling surface for space. There is a solution to this problem though; external radiator stands. And if you have chosen to use XSPC’s AX series of radiators, then you’re in luck. Today we will be looking at the AX Radiator Desk Stand from XSPC.
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Win a NZXT Phantom 630 Case!
It is summer time and it is the perfect time to give you, our readers some free hardware! We have teamed up with our friends at NZXT to give away a brand new NZXT Phantom 630 Case! This Ultra Tower not only looks good it has room for quite a lot inside like long graphics cards, XL-ATX Motherboards, 8 hard drives and a lot of watercooling! Like many of our contests we will be running this one on Facebook and it is extremely easy to enter!
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Case Mod Friday: ReactorMod
Welcome to another Case Mod Friday showcase! This week we have a builders ReactorMod build. Here is what he had to say about it: It's a modded Chieftec BX-03 case. I wanted to make it look like it's quite old and kinda shabby. I was thinking about this build for quite a long time, so I managed to collect some cool stuff that I've found on a nearby scrap yard (e.g. switch or steel sheet that I used to make the radiator cover). I also used some spare parts that I had lying around.
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Enermax Triathlor FC 550W Power Supply Review
Enermax is a brand whose strong product is their power supplies, especially when it comes to the high-end spectrum. Their Platimax and MAXREVO units are some of the best out there. But these units are not cheap in terms of cost. Enermax knows not everyone has a ton of cash to throw at a new power supply so they have created the Triathlor series of power supplies. There are actually the Triathlor and Triathlor FC units. The Triathlor units are lower wattage and non-modular and the Triathlor FC units are higher wattage and are modular. Today we are checking out the Triathlor FC 550W unit which is 80PLUS Bronze certified and offers quiet operation.
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SilverStone ARM22SC ARM Two Dual LCD Monitor Mount Review
We mainly know SilverStone for their cases and for good reason, they are high quality and look great. What if SilverStone took that same quality and put it into a LCD monitor mount? Then you would have what we are reviewing today which is the ARM Two ARM22SC dual LCD Monitor Mount from SilverStone. LCD arms are a great addition to any computer setup, especially if you are using a multi-monitor system. The ARM22SC is constructed with robust aluminum alloy and steel so this is a heavy duty piece of hardware. It will support two displays with VESA mounts. Read on as we get this installed and see how it transforms our desk.
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Win a Pivos XIOS DS Media Player!
Pivos is a company we have been working with lately and they make some pretty cool little media players. We have already reviewed their XIOS DS media player and it is a very unique device. Pivos was nice enough to give us one to give away to our readers! Just like all of our contests this one is very easy to enter and we will be running it on Facebook? So what are you doing get out there and get your entry in!
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Case Mod Friday: Black and White
Welcome to another Case Mod Friday showcase! This week we have Christian Black and White build. Here is what he had to say about it: Well this is the first time I do something like this, and it really is interesting the world of case modding the project is BLACK AND WHITE and really was a design chosen because I began to paint the cabinet only and one thing leads to another as in all cases and was thinking of some ideas for covers.
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The History Of The Hard Drive
In 1953, engineers in IBM's California-based laboratory invented the very first hard drive. Since that first disk drive, technological advances have been made at an astonishing rate, with data capacity increasing and size and price decreasing exponentially, year on year. 60 years on, the hard drives of today are unrecognizable from the first models, which took up an entire room. Hard drives today are measured in terms of gigabytes and terabytes, rather than megabytes-an amount of data that would have been almost unimaginable in the early history of computers. Here we take a look back at the evolution of the hard drive as it grew from 5MB to 4TB.
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Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11 Review
Lenovo has been making headlines with their IdeaPad Yoga. It is a tablet convertible that can be used as a laptop as well. There are 11-inch and 13-inch models. While the larger 13-inch model has the choice of Intel Core processors, the 11-inch does not and is rather powered by the NVIDIA Tegra 3 platform. Today we will be taking a look at that unit which does offer a very sleek and slim design, responsive 11.6-inch touchscreen, Lenovo’s patent-pending hinge design that allows the screen to flip completely over and it is running Windows RT. Let’s check it out!

Archive for March, 2010

NZXT Tempest EVO Mid Tower Chassis Review

NZXT Tempest EVO Mid Tower Chassis Review

Today we have the opportunity to take a look revamped version of the infamous NZXT Tempest, the NZXT Tempest EVO. With many upgrades from the original Tempest including a complete black interior, tinted window, extra cable management options and many other features, the Tempest EVO is surely a case you should consider. Read on further to see more features and to see how the owner of the original Tempest feels about the EVO.

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Kodak Zx1 HD Digital Camcorder Review

Kodak Zx1 HD Digital Camcorder Review

With digital video becoming extremely popular and so many devices out there that will capture video it is hard to really choose which one to get.  Many people do not want to carry around a large device and they want that device to be easy to use.  Because of this needs many companies have released pocket digital camcorders.  Today we are taking a look at the Zx1 from Kodak that is capable of recording 720p HD video and has room for a 32GB SDHC card.  Let’s see if it is the perfect digital camcorder for you. Special thanks to Geeks.com for providing us with the Kodak Zx1 HD Digital Camcorder to review. Geeks.com is a great place to find cheap camcorders.

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Ozone Strato 5.1 Surround Sound Headphones Review


According to their about us page, Ozone was created by a group of gamers that were fed up with the current offering of peripherals targeted specifically to gamers. This group set out to produce cost-efficient gaming gear that delivers function and performance without sacrificing quality and style. Today we will be taking a look at one of their flagship gaming audio products, the Strato 5.1 Surround Sound Headphones.

Via [OCIA.net]

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FSP Group Zen 400 Watt Fanless Silent Power Supply Review


FSP Group’s Zen 400 is one of the very few silent power supplies on the market today, and has proven to be an excellent PSU during testing. With an 80 PLUS Bronze efficiency rating, a distinct look and great performance, this is an excellent product for the silent PC niche market.

Via [Tweaknews]

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Scosche solCHAT II Solar Powered Bluetooth Speakerphone Review

I had the opportunity to try out the first Scosche solCHAT solar-powered Bluetooth speakerphone a while ago and was generally pleased with what it had to offer. The second-generation Scosche solCHAT II (CBHSOL2) takes on the exact same form factor, but it comes with a few minor upgrades worth noting.

Via [Futurelooks]

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AMD Athlon-II X2-255 AM3 Processor Review


In late January 2010, AMD released a new series of processors that fills in some of the gaps in their Athlon-II and Phenom-II Dual, Triple, and Quad-Core Lines. Most of the newly released processors are really just 100MHz clock speed bumps on the old versions. We have also seen the addition of some triple and quad core Athlon-II processors. In this article Benchmark Reviews focuses on the newly released AMD Athlon-II X2-255 AM3 ADX255OCGQBOX processor. Based on the Regor core, the Athlon-II X2-255 has a 3.1GHz clock speed, up 100Mhz from the Athlon-II X2-250 at 3.0GHz which was released last summer. The Athlon-II X2-255 is at the very low end of the newly released processors and represents a value based market at only $75. Benchmark Reviews is going to use the Athlon-II X2-255, with its support for DDR2 RAM up to 1066MHz as well as DDR3 RAM up to 1333MHz, to show some of the great upgrade options available for consumers who have been waiting for! a low-cost option for a better computer system.

Via [Benchmark Reviews]

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G.SKILL Eco Series PC3 12800 2x2GB Review


This looked really promising, so I kept moving the volts up and finally had to adjust the TRCD setting to 9, reaching 1946MHz with the timings set to 6-9-6-24 with 1.55 volts, still far from the Intel specified max of 1.65 volts. At this point, I was pretty stoked and figured 1.55 was good so 1.60v should do better. Unfortunately, Memtest stability could not be reached, so I left well enough alone and did not even try to boot into Windows. CAS 6 at almost 2000MHz with 1.5 volts! Not too shabby for a $130 set of modules.

Via [OCC]

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GeIL Black Dragon 6GB DDR3-2000 Review


We are looking at a set of GeIL Black Dragon 6GB DDR3-2000 memory modules that look very unique from what we normally see, sporting no fancy heatspreaders. Going with a different approach, there is a black PCB design, gold printing, and red LEDs make these Black Dragons quite refreshing in a sea of clichéd products that want us to believe that sleek metal casings can justify the high price tags that accompany such things.

Via [PureOverclock]

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Cooler Master NotePal ErgoStand Review

Cooler Master NotePal ErgoStand Review

Lately these days many people are purchasing a notebook cooler when they purchase a new laptop. This is because many laptops still get very hot and many notebook coolers also act as a stand for their laptop. Today we will be taking a look at the NotePal ErgoStand from Cooler Master, which not only is a notebook cooler it acts as a notebook stand as well with 5 adjustable viewing angles. It also features a large 140mm fan, 4-port USB hub and a great ergonomic design. Let’s take a look…

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Sunday Night News 3-28-10

Well the weekend is over! Make sure you check out our review of the Antec Truepower New 750W Power Supply!

Audio
Arctic Cooling E361-BM @ techPowerUp
JayBird SB1 Sportsband Bluetooth Stereo Headphones Review @ Legit Reviews

Cases
In Win Maelstrom Case Review @ Verdis Reviews
Microcool It Banchetto 101 Case Review @ OCIA.net
Xclio A380Color Plus @ PureOverclock

Input
Mionix NAO 5000 Gaming Mouse Review @ Futurelooks
Cyber Snipa Silencer @ LanOC Reviews
Logitech Harmony 650 Review @ Digital Trends

Motherboards
MSI Big Bang Trinergy Motherboard @ Rbmods

Power
Tuniq Potency 750 W Power Supply Review @ Hardware Secrets

Storage
Vantec NexStar 3 SuperSpeed 3.5” SATA to USB 3.0 External Hard Drive Enclosure @ TestFreaks
Corsair Nova Series V128 128GB Solid State Disk @ TweakTown

Video
NVIDIA GeForce GTX480 Video Card Review @ Motherboards.org
Nvidia GTX 480 Review @ OCC
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 DirectX 11 Video Card Review @ Hi Tech Legion
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 Fermi Video Card @ Benchmark Reviews
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 GF100 DX11 Video Card Review @ Legit Reviews
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 Review @ HardwareHeaven.com
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 Fermi @ techPowerUp
NVIDIA Geforce GTX 480 Review @ Hardware Canucks
SPARKLE Geforce GTS250 Series SXS2501024D3L-NM Video Card @ PCShopTalk
XFX Radeon HD5830 DX11 Video Card @ Benchmark Reviews

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