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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, 2012

Unboxing the Zoom H1 Portable Digital Recorder

Unboxing the Zoom H1 Portable Digital Recorder

When you start getting into recording videos after time you will realize that most microphones on your digital camera or camcorder are not that great, especially if you want high quality audio. There are quite a few external microphone and digital recorders out there, but one of the most popular ones is the Zoom H1. The H1′s onboard microphones are configured in an X/Y pattern for stunning stereo imaging. Because both mics are arranged on the same axis, they are equidistant from the sound source for perfect localization and no phase shifting. The result is great stereo recordings with natural depth and accurate imaging. Read on the check out our unboxing and overview video.

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Antec EarthWatts Platinum 650W Power Supply Review

Antec EarthWatts Platinum 650W Power Supply Review

It seems lately many companies have been coming out with power supplies that are very efficient and are made to be installed and just forgot about.  Well Antec has had a line of power supplies like this for a long time, the EarthWatts series.  Today we are going to be taking a look at one of the newest power supplies in the EarthWatts line the Platinum 650W.  This 650W power supply has an 80PLUS Platinum certification, the highest efficiency mark for power supplies.  With this power supply you will ge 92% efficiency at 50% load and 89% efficiency at 100% load.  Read on as we take it through the paces.

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Unboxing the Razer Chimaera Gaming Headset

Unboxing the Razer Chimaera Gaming Headset

Razer is one of the top brands that gamers go to for their gaming gear. Razer has a full line of gaming headsets for not only PC gamers, but console gamers as well. Today we are checking out the Chimaera gaming headset that is geared for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 users. This rechargeable headset gives you 12 hours of gaming time, is wireless, and features extra large 50mm neodymium drivers. Want to see what this headset is all about? Read on to check out our unboxing and overview video!

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Gaming Friday: Getting to Level 20 in Realm of the Mad God

Gaming Friday: Getting to Level 20 in Realm of the Mad God

Just a few weeks ago we talked about Realm of the Mad God, the “co-op fantasy mmo shooter” from Wild Shadow Studios.  Even since then a lot of us here at ThinkComputers have been playing the game.  I myself have unlocked all of the character classes, had many level 20 characters, explored many of the dungeons and even defeated Oryx a few times.  Even though I’ve had some awesome characters with great gear I ended up dying and when you die in the game you are permanently dead.  This is a real bummer, but it does keep the game interested.  When you start a new character the first thing you want to do is get back up to level 20 so in this Gaming Friday I will be going over some of the easiest way to reach level 20.

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Unboxing the In Win BUC 101 Case

Unboxing the In Win BUC 101 Case

It has been quite a while since we have taken a look at a case from In Win. Actually the last In Win case we reviewed was the original In Win BUC. Today we are unboxing the new upgraded version of the case, the BUC 101. The BUC 101 has many new features that were not on the original BUC. Some of the features of the BUC 101 are USB 3.0 connectivity, three 120mm cooling fans and a top mounted hard drive dock. Read on to check out our unboxing and overview video.

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CyberpowerPC Debuts PC Gaming Series Based on NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680

CyberpowerPC Debuts PC Gaming Series Based on NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680

BALDWIN PARK, CA (March 22, 2012) – CyberpowerPC Inc. www.CyberpowerPC.com , a global manufacturer of custom gaming machines and Intel’s 2011 Performance Client Innovation award winner, today announced it will feature the new NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 graphics card, the fastest single GPU video card, across its entire desktop gaming PC line.

The GeForce GTX 680 offers the fastest, smoothest and richest graphics experience of any single GPU on the market with its eye-popping visual technologies, blazing performance and superior power efficiency as well as support for multiple displays including NVIDIA’s stereoscopic 3D Vision technology.

The new GeForce GTX 680 GPU will be offered in all CyberpowerPC desktop gaming PCs including the Gamer Infinity, Gamer Ultra, Gamer Xtreme, Zeus, and the top of the line, Fang III series. Customers can configure their CyberpowerPC gaming rig with a single GPU, dual or triple GTX 680 for 3-way SLI. Base price of a CyberpowerPC gaming system based on the GeForce GTX 680 starts at $1,199.

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Techbargains Deals for 3-22-12

Techbargains Deals for 3-22-12

Computers & Peripherals:
Belkin BE108200-06 6ft 8-Outlets 3390-Joules Surge Protector w/ Phone/Fax Protection $14.99 (normally $19)

Samsung M3 Station 2TB External Hard Drive $99.99 plus free shipping (normally $129 – use coupon code: EMCNGHH57)

Samsung NP-QX411-W02UB 14″ Intel Core i5 Laptop $549.99 w/ Free Shipping (normally $799)

ZyXEL PLA4205KIT Powerline Kit Gigabit Ethernet Adapter $79.99 plus free shipping (normally $129 – use coupon code: EMCNGHH52)

Kaspersky Lab Anti-Virus 2012 Software (1-User) Free plus free Shipping (normally $39 – use this form

Apple iPad 2 32GB WiFi Tablet $449.99 plus free Shipping (normally $499)

Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Ultra Portable 1.5TB External Hard Drive $139.99 plus free Shipping (normally $159)

Home Entertainment:
Apple iPad 2/3 Luxury Convertible Carbon Flip Case, with $2 Future Credit $13.99 (normally $61 – use coupon code: convertibleipad2)

Resident Evil 5: Gold Game for PS3 $16.99 plus free shipping (normally $39)

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NVIDIA GTX 680 2GB Reviews @ Hardware Canucks

NVIDIA’s Kepler is finally here and after months of waiting, we finally get to see the first card with this new architecture: the GTX 680. The GTX 680 is based around a GK104 core and 2GB of GDDR5 memory but what really makes it stand out from the competition is NVIDIA new focus upon power efficiency coupled with class leading performance. Bucking their past trends, NVIDIA expects this card to beat the HD 7970 in benchmarks while consuming significantly less power and costing less than its AMD competitor. Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it?

Via Hardware Canucks

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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 (Kepler) Graphics Card Launch Review @ HardwareHeaven.com

“Today we take a detailed look at gaming performance of the GTX 680 in titles such as Mass Effect 3 and Battlefield 3 with single screen and surround gaming as well as Stereoscopic 3D testing. Added to that is GPU computing and media playback performance along with thermal, power, noise and overclocking results. Want to see how the GTX 680 does against the 7970 at its maximum overclock, or the GTX 580 OC 3GB we have that sorted too…”

Via HardwareHeaven

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Nvidia GTX 680 – Kepler @ LanOC Reviews

“You have all seen and heard the rumors for months now about Nvidia’s upcoming GPU code named Kepler. When we got the call that Nvidia was inviting editors out to San Francisco to show us what they have been working on we jumped at the chance to finally put the rumors to rest and see what they really had up their sleeve. Today we can finally tell you all the gory details and dig into the performance of Nvidia’s latest flagship video card. Will it be the fastest single GPU card in the world? We finally find out!”

Via LanOC Reviews

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