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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.
http://www.thinkcomputers.org/intel-core-i7-4770k-haswell-processor-review/
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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.
http://www.thinkcomputers.org/xspc-ax-radiator-desk-stand-review/
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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!
http://www.thinkcomputers.org/win-a-nzxt-phantom-630-case/
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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.
http://www.thinkcomputers.org/case-mod-friday-reactormod/
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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.
http://www.thinkcomputers.org/enermax-triathlor-fc-550w-power-supply-review/
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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.
http://www.thinkcomputers.org/silverstone-arm22sc-arm-two-dual-lcd-monitor-mount-review/
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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!
http://www.thinkcomputers.org/win-a-pivos-xios-ds-media-player/
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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.
http://www.thinkcomputers.org/case-mod-friday-black-and-white/
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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.
http://www.thinkcomputers.org/the-history-of-the-hard-drive/
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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!
http://www.thinkcomputers.org/lenovo-ideapad-yoga-11-review/

Sparkle GeForce GTX 260 Plus 1792MB Video Card Review


The nVidia geForce GTX 260 was originally released in June 2008, nearly 1.5 years ago. At that time, it and its big brother, the GTX 280, were the most powerful single GPU gaming cards in the market. At its release price of $400, it was pretty expensive, but it was $150 less than the only two cards that really came close, the GTX 280, and the Radeon HD 4870 X2, which was released a couple of weeks later.

Though nVidia has recently come out with a few new cards, the GTX 295, GTX 285 and GTX 275, the venerable GTX 260 is still a quite powerful gaming card. And it really isn’t the same card it was when released, though released in the 65nm process, it has since been upgraded to the 55nm process. And originally sporting 192 stream processors, it now has 216.

I recently made the comment that the GTX 260 896MB video card is probably the best bang-for-the-buck gaming card deal going. It is a lot of video card for around $175, and gives reputable FPS when coupled with inexpensive processors like the Phenom II X3 720.

Today I will be looking at a GTX 260 by Sparkle, the GTX 260 Plus. This isn’t your typical GTX 260, as it sports 1792 megs of memory. I reviewed a couple of Radeon HD 4870 X2s that each had two gigs of memory, but they were actually two 4870s with 1GB of memory per GPU. This is a single GPU with not much less than two gigs for itself. Will this massive amount of graphics memory make a difference? Read on to see!

Special thanks to Sparkle for providing us with the GeForce GTX 260 Plus Video Card to review!

Specifications:
Model Number: SXX2601792D3S-VP
Interface: PCI Express 2.0 x16
GPU: geForce GTX 260
Core Clock: 576MHz
Shader Clock: 1242 MHz
Stream Processors: 216 Processor Cores
Memory: 1792MB GDDR3
Memory Clock: 2214 MHz
Memory Interface: 448-bit
RAMDAC: Dual 400 MHz RAMDAC
Max Resolution: 2560 x 1600
Power Connectors: 2 x 6 Pin PCI-E
Ports: 2 x DVI
3D API: DirectX 10, OpenGL 2.1

Features:
- 55nm manufacture process for lower power consumption
- Dual-link DVI supported
- HDCP ready
- Warranty: Lifetime Limited Parts and Labor

Packaging
The card comes in a sleeved white themed box with the typical icons denoting the card’s capabilities and features.


Sparkle geForce GTX 260 Plus 1792MB Video Card Sparkle geForce GTX 260 Plus 1792MB Video Card

Inside the card is packed in bubblewrap and protected from the bundle by cardboard.


Sparkle geForce GTX 260 Plus 1792MB Video Card

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MSI GeForce GTX 260 Graphics CardStoreRatingPriceMemory4Less.com$331.01Offers by PriceGrabber.com
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  • http://twitter.com/werty316 Peter
    Using skived fins in the heatisink is a nice touch.
  • http://twitter.com/slugbug55 G Smith
    Nice to see someone still releasing a GTX 260. A lot of other manufacturers seem to have stopped making them.
  • http://twitter.com/werty316 Peter
    Using skived fins in the heatisink is a nice touch.
  • http://twitter.com/slugbug55 G Smith
    Nice to see someone still releasing a GTX 260. A lot of other manufacturers seem to have stopped making them.
  • http://www.unichost.com/ Powerful Servers
    What about cooling. I heard it need separate exhaust ?
  • F. Buskirk
    IT LOOKS GREAAAAAT BOB. TOP OF THE LINE. YOU GOT IT BOY. DAD
  • http://www.facebook.com/saberwolf666 Nik Parenti
    with the cooling shell so large i wonder why they didn't make it a 2U PCI card?
  • http://www.unichost.com/ Powerful Servers
    What about cooling. I heard it need separate exhaust ?
  • http://twitter.com/werty316 Peter
    What do you mean? It is a 2-slot video card…
  • http://twitter.com/werty316 Peter
    It looks to me like the video exhausts some of the heat back into the case.
  • F. Buskirk
    IT LOOKS GREAAAAAT BOB. TOP OF THE LINE. YOU GOT IT BOY. DAD
  • http://www.facebook.com/saberwolf666 Nik Parenti
    with the cooling shell so large i wonder why they didn't make it a 2U PCI card?

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  • http://twitter.com/werty316 Peter
    What do you mean? It is a 2-slot video card…
  • http://twitter.com/werty316 Peter
    It looks to me like the video exhausts some of the heat back into the case.
  • http://www.facebook.com/saberwolf666 Nik Parenti
    2U as in it takes up two slots. Not internally, but externally. All mobo's are spaced differently so the internals don't matter. But, slot spacing on the back of a case is always the same. SO i was wondering why the mounting bracket on the card wasn't a 2U since the cooling shield was so big?

    i.e. http://www.thinkcomputers.org/reviews/asus_engt…

  • http://twitter.com/werty316 Peter
    Good question and since technically it takes up 2-slots I wonder why Sparkle never used a traditional PCI bracket with exhaust holes.
  • http://www.facebook.com/saberwolf666 Nik Parenti
    2U as in it takes up two slots. Not internally, but externally. All mobo's are spaced differently so the internals don't matter. But, slot spacing on the back of a case is always the same. SO i was wondering why the mounting bracket on the card wasn't a 2U since the cooling shield was so big?

    i.e. http://www.thinkcomputers.org/reviews/asus_engt…

  • http://twitter.com/werty316 Peter
    Good question and since technically it takes up 2-slots I wonder why Sparkle never used a traditional PCI bracket with exhaust holes.
  • lewislau
    This is a pretty good graphics card for the price you're paying, plus i've always been a fan of nvidia =D. top notch
  • lewislau
    This is a pretty good graphics card for the price you're paying, plus i've always been a fan of nvidia =D. top notch
  • http://twitter.com/werty316 Peter
    True dat buts its too bad the GT200 and GT200b stocks are quite low.
  • http://twitter.com/werty316 Peter
    True dat buts its too bad the GT200 and GT200b stocks are quite low.

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  • www.hardocp.com
    Why would you benchmark that card in only 1280×1024?

    Do you think that an additional 896 megs of GDDR3 (on top of the 260GTX's original 896mb) is going to make any appearance at resolution that low? Why would you even bother doing a benchmarking review if you weren't going to test this thing on more than 3 benchmarking utilities and on such a low resolution? You aren't going to need a card with more than 512mb of GDDR3 at that resolution. (Are we in 1998?) I know! How about 1680×1050 or 1920×1200, because we all know in 2009 everyone uses CRT monitors only capable of 1280×1024 resolution! How long did it take you to run these tests? 15 minutes? 20 minutes? Man, put a little effort into the next review. ThinkComputers… I don't see a lot of work or think going on here.

  • www.hardocp.com
    Why would you benchmark that card in only 1280×1024?

    Do you think that an additional 896 megs of GDDR3 (on top of the 260GTX's original 896mb) is going to make any appearance at resolution that low? Why would you even bother doing a benchmarking review if you weren't going to test this thing on more than 3 benchmarking utilities and on such a low resolution? You aren't going to need a card with more than 512mb of GDDR3 at that resolution. (Are we in 1998?) I know! How about 1680×1050 or 1920×1200, because we all know in 2009 everyone uses CRT monitors only capable of 1280×1024 resolution! How long did it take you to run these tests? 15 minutes? 20 minutes? Man, put a little effort into the next review. ThinkComputers… I don't see a lot of work or think going on here.

  • http://twitter.com/werty316 Peter
    You are entitled to your opinion but whining like a little baby doesn't help.
  • http://twitter.com/werty316 Peter
    You are entitled to your opinion but whining like a little baby doesn't help.
  • http://twitter.com/werty316 Peter
    You are entitled to your opinion but whining like a little baby doesn't help.

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  • http://twitter.com/werty316 Peter
    IMO 1792MB of memory is bit much.
  • http://twitter.com/werty316 Peter
    IMO 1792MB of memory is bit much.
  • lewislau
    good for higher resolutions
  • lewislau
    Yea, it's a pretty good card, and sad to see it go.
  • lewislau
    i agree, that testing on a larger resolution should have been included. Perhaps, you could have not been so harsh in your comments though.
  • lewislau
    good for higher resolutions
  • lewislau
    Yea, it's a pretty good card, and sad to see it go.
  • lewislau
    i agree, that testing on a larger resolution should have been included. Perhaps, you could have not been so harsh in your comments though.
  • http://twitter.com/werty316 Peter
    IMO 1792MB of memory is bit much.
  • lewislau
    good for higher resolutions
  • lewislau
    Yea, it's a pretty good card, and sad to see it go.
  • lewislau
    i agree, that testing on a larger resolution should have been included. Perhaps, you could have not been so harsh in your comments though.