http://www.thinkcomputers.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/front3.jpg
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.
http://www.thinkcomputers.org/xspc-ax-radiator-desk-stand-review/
http://www.thinkcomputers.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/phantom630.jpg
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!
http://www.thinkcomputers.org/win-a-nzxt-phantom-630-case/
http://www.thinkcomputers.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/reactormod.jpg
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.
http://www.thinkcomputers.org/case-mod-friday-reactormod/
http://www.thinkcomputers.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/front2.jpg
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.
http://www.thinkcomputers.org/enermax-triathlor-fc-550w-power-supply-review/
http://www.thinkcomputers.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/front1.jpg
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.
http://www.thinkcomputers.org/silverstone-arm22sc-arm-two-dual-lcd-monitor-mount-review/
http://www.thinkcomputers.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/XIOS_DS_main2.png
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!
http://www.thinkcomputers.org/win-a-pivos-xios-ds-media-player/
http://www.thinkcomputers.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/blackandwhite.jpg
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.
http://www.thinkcomputers.org/case-mod-friday-black-and-white/
http://www.thinkcomputers.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/hdd-history.jpg
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.
http://www.thinkcomputers.org/the-history-of-the-hard-drive/
http://www.thinkcomputers.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/front.jpg
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!
http://www.thinkcomputers.org/lenovo-ideapad-yoga-11-review/
http://www.thinkcomputers.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/viroid.jpg
Case Mod Friday: ViRoiD
Welcome to another Case Mod Friday showcase! This week we have Ben's ViRoiD build. Here is what he had to say about it: Pictures speak louder than words. Getting a 690 to fit in a prodigy is not a big deal until you start thinking about watercooling it, and a cpu, and ram. I wanted a color that matched the p8z77-i, and blue was the ticket. The orange case was chosen because of its location opposite of blue on the color wheel. Modding the front of the case to fit the 200mm rad was fun, plus it gave me some extra materials to make some psu covers with.
http://www.thinkcomputers.org/case-mod-friday-viroid/

ASUS M4A89GTD Pro/USB3 AMD 890GX Socket AM3 Motherboard Review

Gaming
The games I normally use for testing video cards are just too VGA intensive for integrated graphics, as advanced as they’ve become.  So I picked up a couple of games that could actually be played on this rig with some satisfaction.  We’re still not going to see 50+ FPS, there will be some choppy moments, but it will be a much better gaming experience that you’d get with an “off the shelf” HP/Compaq/Emachines/Dell/etc.

Left4 Dead 2 is a DX9 FPS that was released late last year.  Though the graphics are pretty good, it isn’t that VGA intensive at lower settings.  I recorded a 90 second video at The Waterfront with FRAPS, settings were medium, no AA, 1280 x 1024.

Far Cry 2 is an FPS somewhat similar to the extremely popular Far Cry, but takes place in Africa rather than on a tropical island.  Supporting both DX9 and DX10, it was released in late 2008.  With DX10 I expect it to be a little more VGA intensive than Left 4 Dead 2 and may be pretty choppy with this rig.  I used the “Ranch Medium” onboard benchmark, settings were medium, no AA, 1280 x 1024.

Corsair Obsidian 650D System CabinetStoreRatingPrice$149.99SeaBoom.com$236.76$211.81$189.99$179.99Offers by PriceGrabber.com
« Previous Page » Next Page

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Tags:

Related Posts

  • Pingback: Technology By Day » ASUS M4A89GTD Pro/USB3 AMD 890GX Socket AM3 Motherboard Review …

  • Hangfirew8
    No overclocking of the NB, which (as we all should know) has an enormous effect on the performance of an OC’d AMD CPU. No overclocking of the on-board video. No comparison with the HD4200, which this system is supposed to be faster than… and usually isn’t.

    I have this board, I have good luck with unlocking both cores of my 550BE. I’ve had really bad luck with fglrx driver stability under KDE, but I’m not the only one. I’ve finally reached stability using fglrx 10.6/10.7 (AMD couldn’t make up their mind which version it was, it was labeled as both point six and point seven on their website and the internal documentation, such is their attention to detail). Word is that 10.8 re-introduces KDE incompatibilities so I haven’t tried it.

    Except for that and the occasional KIO crash when using USB 2.0 this board makes a good cheap Linux system with some future-proofing for the USB3 and SATA3 features (I’m using neither at the moment). If AMD would only adjust to the fact that KMS drivers are here and modern Linux desktops use ALL the fade effects and they are expected to work, this would actually be a very nice alternative to buying an Nvidia card for every Linux system built. As it is they are almost there. Maybe. Just fix fglrx, like all of it.