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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!
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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.

Archive for category: Motherboards

Gigabyte X79-UD3 Intel X79 Motherboard Review

Gigabyte X79-UD3 Intel X79 Motherboard Review

Gigabyte’s lineup of Intel X79 or Sandy Bridge-E motherboards is only made up of four boards.  For gamers there is the G1 Assassin 2, X79-UD7-OC for overclockers, and X79-UD5 for enthusiasts.  This brings us to the X79-UD3 which is Gigabyte’s entry-level and least expensive Intel X79 motherboard coming it at $249.  Sandy Bridge-E is Intel’s high-end platform and the X79 chipset is much improved over its P67/Z68 counterparts.  You now have 40 PCI-Express 3.0 lanes and quad-channel memory.  That means with this board you can easily throw in up to 32GB of DDR3 and run 4-way Crossfire or SLI right out of the box.  Also this is the first time we will see Gigabyte’s 3D BIOS.  Read on as we inspect the X79-UD3 Motherboard.

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Gigabyte Z68XP-UD4 Intel Z68 Motherboard Review

Gigabyte Z68XP-UD4 Intel Z68 Motherboard Review

Intel’s Z68 chipset has been out for sometime now and it brings together some of the best features of Intel’s P67 and H67 chipsets.  Today we are taking a look at another Intel Z68 motherboard, this time it is the Z68XP-UD4 from Gigabyte.  Gigabyte has loaded with motherboard with features like a 16 phase power design, Intel Quick Sync video, switchable graphics with LucidLogix Virtu GPU virtualization, and Gigabyte’s new touch BIOS.  Read on as we take this board through the paces and see what it can do!

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Zotac Z68-ITX WiFi Supreme Motherboard Review

Zotac Z68-ITX WiFi Supreme Motherboard Review

Small form factor systems are nothing new, but with the Mini-ITX form factor they keep on getting smaller.  Today we are going to take a look at a motherboard that is perfect for a small form factor or media center application.  The board is the Zotac Z68-ITX WiFi Supreme and it features support for second generation Intel Core processors, discrete Nvidia GeForce GT 430 graphics processor, support for DDR3 memory, USB 3.0, SATA 6GB/s support and of course built-in WiFi.  Read on as we check out this tiny motherboard!

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ASRock Z68 Extreme4 Intel Z68 Motherboard Review

ASRock Z68 Extreme4 Intel Z68 Motherboard Review

When Intel announced its second generation Core processors we had 2 different chipsets to choose from the P67 chipset and the H67 chipset.  P67 was made for gamers and overclockers having advanced overclocking features and being able to support Intel’s “K” series processors.  H67 was the cheaper option taking advantage of the built-in graphics of Sandy Bridge processors.  Both chipsets were successful, but there were many people that wanted features in both chipsets.  There is where the Z68 chipset comes in.  It fills that void allowing users to overclock their system, while using the built-in graphics.  Z68 offers plenty of other features as well, but we will get to that in just a little bit.  Our first jump in to the Z68 chipset will be with the ASRock Z68 Extreme4 motherboard.  This board features ASRock’s advanced V8 power phase design, 3 PCI-E x16 slots, SATA 6GB/s and USB 3.0 support, Intel’s Smart Response Technology, and LucidLogix Virtu GPU virtualization software.  Let’s get right in and see what Z68 and the ASRock Z68 Extreme4 motherboard is all about!

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Gigabyte X58A-OC Intel X58 Motherboard Review

Gigabyte X58A-OC Intel X58 Motherboard Review

People have been overclocking computer hardware for quite some time.  Overclocking is not that hard at all, but to really get the highest achievable overclocks you need a motherboard that can take the punishment.  Over the past 2 years we have seen efforts from many different manufacturers, but these efforts were targeted at 2 different demographics, overclockers and gamers.  So you had all of these boards that had all the features that gamers and overclockers wanted, but what if you just wanted the overclocking features?  Today we are taking a look at motherboard that gives you all of those overclocking features and cuts out all the extra “fat” that is not needed.  This board has been designed from the ground up to be best overclocking motherboard for the X58 platform.  The motherboard I am talking about is the X58A-OC from Gigabyte, let’s see how far we can push this board.

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ASRock 890FX Deluxe5 AMD Motherboard Review

ASRock 890FX Deluxe5 AMD Motherboard Review

Today we’ll be getting a look at another AMD motherboard with the 890FX chipset, the ASRock 890FX Delxue5, which features 3-Way CrossFireX support, USB 3.0, SATA6, onboard power/reset buttons, Dr. Debug, and many others. This motherboard has some of the old, some of the new, and some of the yet to come integrated into it. Read on further to find out what all they are.

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ASRock H61iCafe Intel H61 Motherboard Review

ASRock H61iCafe Intel H61 Motherboard Review

With Intel’s introduction of its second generation Core processors the main chipsets you have been hearing about and we have been covering are the P67, H67 and Z68.  These chipsets are the mainstream and enthusiasts chipsets that give you everything you would ever want on a motherboard, but what if you are trying to save money? Or just build a simple machine?  ASRock has you covered with the H61iCafe motherboard.  This board is of course based on the Intel H61 Express Chipset.  This board features USB 3.0 connectivity, Graphical UEFI BIOS, and support for Intel’s second generation processors.  Let’s check it out!

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ASUS P8P67 WS Revolution Intel P67 Motherboard Review

ASUS P8P67 WS Revolution Intel P67 Motherboard Review

ASUS’s P8P67 line of motherboards is huge, as of writing this review there are currently 10 P8P67 motherboards in the lineup.  Today we are going to be checking out the ASUS P8P67 WS Revolution board.  The “WS” implies that it is a workstation board but the “Revolution” means this board is not just made for standard workstation use, but in-home use and gaming applications.  Because this is a workstation board you get all of the features that you would expect on a workstation board like SATA 6GB/s connectivity, platinum level 92% power efficiency, dual Intel Gigabit LAN, Digi+ VRM digital power design, EFI BIOS and USB 3.0 connectivity.  Gamers don’t worry ASUS has you covered with 3-way SLI and quad-CrossFireX capabilities and unlike most boards the PCI-E slots are nicely spaced for those setups.  Read on to see what this board is all about.

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MSI P67A-GD80 (B3) Intel P67 Motherboard Review

MSI P67A-GD80 (B3) Intel P67 Motherboard Review

Intel’s Sandy Bridge launch was a huge success and a great way to start 2011.  Within a few weeks though a chipset error was found on every single P67 motherboard.  The error could have degraded SATA 3Gbps performance over time, putting you at risk of data loss and even total drive failures.  Users may have never experienced this issue but it needed to be fixed.  Intel was quick to rectify this situation with B3 stepping silicon.  All new P67 motherboards with the new fix will be called “B3”.  Today we will be taking a look at a new gaming / enthusiast motherboard from MSI with this B3 fix.  The motherboard is the P67A-GD80 (B3) and features a 12-Phase DrMOS Digital VRM, MSI’s Military Class II components, the new ClickBIOS and 10 USB 3.0 ports.

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ASUS Rampage III Formula Intel X58 Motherboard Review

ASUS Rampage III Formula Intel X58 Motherboard Review

ASUS’s top tier line of products is the Republic of Gamers line of products otherwise known as ROG.  If you are purchasing an ROG product you know you are getting the best of the best and something that is going to last you a long time.  With any line it is broken up into segments, Extreme being the highest, Formula being in the middle and Gene at the lower end.  Today we will be taking a look at the Rampage III Formula board and from the name we know it sits in the middle.  This is an Intel X58 board that has many of the features of its more expensive brother the Rampage III Extreme for a more reasonable price.  Let’s take a look and see if this board is perfect for your next build!

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