http://www.cekora.com/ Cekora.com Global Review Directory en-us http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14258 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14258 Benchmark Reviews -- Sometimes Intel's tick-tock plans don't coincide with the technical improvements made to other areas, such as SuperSpeed USB-3.0 or SATA-III 6.0-Gbps controllers. Most hardware enthusiasts agree that it's awkward to see Intel's "Enthusiast" branded X58-Express chipset paired to older standards while "Mainstream" P55 motherboards enjoy the better and faster new ones. Gigabyte agrees, too, and has re-launched the X58A-series as a refresh for their flagship platform. In this article, Benchmark Reviews tests the Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD7 motherboard against the ASUS P6X58D Premium in heat-to-head performance, and compares to the original X58 platform. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14257 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14257 Techgage -- Finding a great H55 board to match up with your Clarkdale CPU isn't hard, as the market currently has a great selection. But Gigabyte's H55M-USB3 stands out, as it has a superb feature-set for its ~$100 price tag, and also proves itself in our tests as being a great all-around board, and one that seems to have no limit in overclocking. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14256 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14256 TweakTown -- I'm reviewing a mouse! It's been a while since I've looked at a peripheral and when I say a while, I mean years. Since Chinese New Year was coming in fast and GIGABYTE wanted to get a sample of the M8000X out before the factories shut down, I said to send it over to me. With the press document sitting in my inbox on the GIGABYTE M8000X, I took the time to really look through it. Damn, it looked oh so sweet. But features and software are only half the story; what really matters is how it feels. Something that most companies struggle to achieve is the greatness in a fantastic feeling mouse. Let's find out how GIGABYTE is traveling in this segment these days. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14255 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14255 Think Computers -- In Win isn’t a widely known company, but it is slowly starting to get to there. Their unique cases are a different from the norm and the In Win Fanqua Mid Tower Chassis that we have to review today is no exception. Supporting up to nine drives the Fanqua houses four fans: three 120mm and one 220mm blue LED fan which lights up the entire case. In Win has also developed many tool-free devices to help ensure a fast and easy installation. Read on further to find out more about this case. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14254 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14254 Dragon Steel Mods -- One way to describe the Lexa S is with a word I tend not use in tech reviews - sexy. This case is a stunner that is designed to catch your eye. Now external appearances don’t always tell the whole story, so today we will be taking an in depth look the Lexa S. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14253 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14253 OCIA -- In the world of PC customization there are a wide range of products to choose from when looking to house your computing hardware. Some are expensive and high quality, while others are expensive and not worth their weight in tin. Others are great bargains and targeted towards the modding community, while some are cheap both in price and materials. Today we look at the Raidmax Skyline and decide which of these categories it falls into. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14252 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14252 TweakTown -- It’s been some weeks since I last checked out a USB 3.0 product and that was early on in the game. Fast forward a little and in that time many motherboards have hit the market complete with USB 3.0 and it’s easier to find USB 3.0 PCI Express controller cards on the market, too. Our next USB 3.0 products to be put through the paces come by way of German company RaidSonic. They actually sent us their new Icy Box USB 3.0 products several weeks ago when USB 3.0 was first hitting the market, but with Christmas, New Year, CES, a holiday and Chinese New Year, things have been rather hectic. Today, though, we can tell you about these products for you folks who are interested in getting in touch with the speed advantage of USB 3.0 for your external storage needs. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14251 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14251 Frosty Tech -- The Zalman CNPS10X Flex heatsink ships without any fans, so users can install one or two 120mm fans of their own choosing. In all other respects the CNPS10X Flex is identical to Zalman's CNPS10X Quiet heatsink, so today's review is not going to be a huge departure from what we saw from the Quiet. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14250 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14250 OCModShop -- While visiting Zalman at a few trade shows, I was introduced to their new stereoscopic 3d monitor: the Zalman Trimon 22-inch monitor. nVidia has been showing off their own solutions that use any regular monitor, so what makes this monitor different, and why would you want to buy one? I spoke with Richard Chung of Zalman, who gave me the lowdown on thi explained to me the differences between the Zalman monitor and nVidia's 3d solution. For one, this 22-inch 3D LCD monitor is optmized for gaming purposes, supporting 3D and 2D realizations. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14249 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14249 Frosty Tech -- The XtremeGear HP-1216B heatsink utilizes a dimpled surface texture on its raw aluminum fins as well, and quite amazingly retails for $29! Standing 153mm tall, the HP-1216B heatsink is equipped with a single no-name 120mm fan that rotates at 2000-1000RPM and is illuminated by four blue LEDs. At full speed it's moderately audible, and at the slowest speed you'll get good performance a nearly silent levels. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14248 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14248 Frosty Tech -- Zalman's CNPS10X Performa heatsink is standard in most other respects, especially to anyone familiar with the CNPS10X-series. It's equipped with a 120mm PWM fan that ranges in speed from 900RPM to 1350RPM with the RC24P PWM-resistor attached, 2000RPM under full power. The 153mm tall CNPS10X Performa weighs in at 748 grams and installs onto Intel socket 775/1156 and 1366 processors. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14247 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14247 Driverheaven -- Today we have a product on our test bench which aims to fill the SATA3/USB3 gap in AMDs high end product line. We will be running the Gigabyte GA-790FXTA-UD5 through a selection of real world tests to find out whether this is the board that AMD users with a need for the latest features have been waiting on. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14246 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14246 Benchmark Reviews -- Intel-land is becoming a very confusing place of late. An Intel Core i7 processor might be Socket 1366, or it might be Socket 1156. A Core i5 processor might be dual core or quad core; it might have Hyper-Threading or not, or integrated video or other features, and there's no way to tell just from the name. And to make things even more confusing, there are now four consumer-level chipsets for Core i5 processors: the original P55, as well as the new H55, H57, and Q57 chipsets. The newer chipsets are required if you want to use the integrated video feature of some of the Intel 2010 Core Processor Family CPUs, and ASUS, as always, is ready with new motherboards to support the latest technology. In this review Benchmark Reviews covers the new ASUS P7H55D-M EVO motherboard, based on the Intel H55 chipset. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14245 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14245 OCIA -- SSDs still may be a few years away from mainstream acceptance due to the high cost of ownership versus a spinning drive, but for the enthusiast looking to round out their system or someone wanting to give their notebook a kick in the pants, there is no single upgrade that will do that better than a solid state drive. Today we will be taking a look at a drive from Patriot Memory, the 64 GB Torqx. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14244 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14244 Legit Reviews -- The Micron RealSSD C300 256GB SSD is an amazing SSD that has the ability to take advantage of the SATA 6 Gbps interface. When we first looked at SATA 6 Gbps performance using the Seagate XT 2TB hard drive we found the burst speed to be impressive, but found that a hard drive was able to fully use the new interface since it wasn't fast enough. We were seeing the Seagate XT 2TB hard drive have a maximum read transfer rate of 144MB/s, which is nothing to write home about these days. The Micron RealSSD C300 on the other hand was able to peak at 387MB/s in ATTO, which is insane for a single SSD. When it comes to read performance nothing on the market today can beat the Micron RealSSD C300 256GB SSD! This drive has spectacular read performance and the write performance is not too far behind other drives like the OCZ Vertex LE. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14243 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14243 Techgage -- You might know Hades as being the God of the Underworld, but after taking a look at this chassis, you might begin to think he was the God of the "Meshworld". Yes, there's a lot of mesh used here, along with stark angles, creative lighting and a smart design that delivers fantastic cooling performance. But, can it unseat CM's 690 II? http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14242 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14242 Techware Labs -- Will gives us an in-depth look at SilverStone's latest flagship chassis, the Fortress FT-02. See how this enthusiast-class chassis measures up. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14241 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14241 TweakTown -- Being an ATI only partner, it's important for Sapphire to have a large array of variations when it comes to their model line-up. Split into four categories, we have our standard reference models from them. Moving up a notch to the Vapor-X line, you get a nice upgraded cooler, but the same reference clocks. After the Vapor-X you've got the TOXIC variants which are what we have today. They're essentially an overclocked Vapor-X model, so you get the upgraded cooler, but also an upgrade in clock speeds. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14240 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14240 Legit Reviews -- Thermalright has released yet another quality high performance cooler. The all new patented multiple support pressure vault bracket system was fairly easy to use and it allows users to add pressure to the bracket system (40~70 lbs.). Not only did this help secure the cooler to the board better, but we clearly had a more efficient mounting that improved cooling performance. Is it good enough to be the new king of the hill? With our testing I'm going have to say no. In most cases it is close to the Noctua NH-D14, but still ever so slightly behind at the 70lbs mount setting. With the mounting tension decreased down to 40lbs it was noticeably behind... http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14239 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14239 Benchmark Reviews -- High quality gaming peripheral equipment is a speciality of Razer. In this article Razer brings us a new product, a first for its kind, the Razer Orochi mobile gaming mouse with both USB-2.0 and Bluetooth capability. Traditional mice suffer from poor mobility, often adding a huge lump inside of your laptop bags. Long wires and the need for a "perfect" surface often make setting up a hassle. Benchmark Reviews tests and inspects the Razer Orochi gaming mouse (model RZ01-00300100-R3U1) to see whether it really is the solution for gaming on the go that will revolutionize mobile gaming. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14238 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14238 Dragon Steel Mods -- The NH-U9B SE2 includes Noctua’s SecuFirm2 multisocket mounting system which allows this cooler to work with numerous socket configurations including: LGA1366, LGA1156, LGA775, AM2, AM2+ and AM3. Noctua built this CPU cooler around their highly regarded NH-U9 series of compact coolers. They also provide two 92mm NF-B9 fans with included Low-Noise and Ultra-Low-Noise-Adaptors. According to Noctua the two fans are designed to work best in a push-pull arrangement. Plus Noctua warranties this cooler for six years. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14237 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14237 TweakTown -- The HD 5670 continues to be a stand out model thanks to the value for money the model represents when it comes to gaming. Sure, you can't game at the highest resolutions, but if you're a casual gamer at 1680 x 1050 the chances are you're going to be able to get a frame rate out of the model that you're happy with. The latest version of the model to arrive comes from GIGABYTE and packs the OC label on it. GIGABYTE has really been a bit of hit and miss when it comes to OC video cards. Sometimes we see a small bump in clocks and other times we see models that come under the Super Overclock series that sport some serious MHz. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14236 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14236 Legit Reviews -- The GIGABYTE M8000X (Xtreme) is a mouse that has been designed specially for gamers. Equipped with a 6000dpi pro-laser engine, the mouse easily supports high-speed movement with great precision. The on-board GHOST Engine memory is capable of 45 button assignments with macro editing that lets you bring your unique settings wherever you go as you can use them on other PCs without software. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14235 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14235 Motherboards.org -- The Corsair Hydro Series H50 water-cooling system is a great CPU cooler, with temperature differences of up to 20C during testing. The unit is self-contained meaning there is no need to fill a reservoir with coolant during operation of the system as many liquid cooling solutions on the market require. Corsair is best known as a memory company but the Hydro Series H50 CPU cooler does the job and does it well. The unit is available online for around $70, making it a worthy addition to any computer system as it supports the latest and greatest CPU Sockets, making it a great choice for everyone. If you want to liquid cool a system, do not have a lot of money or experience with installation, then the Corsair H50 is a great choice of product. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14234 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14234 Hardware Secrets -- Silent Pro M is a power supply series from Cooler Master featuring a modular cabling system and a single +12 V rail, at this moment featuring 500 W, 600 W, 700 W, 850 W and 1,000 W. The first three models have only the standard 80 Plus certification, while the 850 W and 1,000 W model have the 80 Plus Bronze certification, showing that they are based on a different design. Let's see if the 600 W model (a.k.a. RS-600-AMBA-D3) is a good buy. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14233 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14233 OCIA -- External drives are indispensable when it comes to transporting large amounts of data or having a means of portable storage for backup. There's no doubt that USB flash memory drives are hard to beat when it comes to small and lightweight, but sometimes they just don't offer enough capacity. The external drive enclosure we have today from Computer Geeks is a very small unit designed for a 2½" SATA notebook drive, and features two methods for connecting to a computer, either through USB 2.0 or eSATA. As an added bonus it supports powered eSATA, a new standard for supplying operating voltage for the unit over the same cable that's used for the data stream so a separate AC adapter is not required. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14232 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14232 techPowerUp -- The 633x Compact Flash from A-DATA is their fastest CF offering available today. With advertised read and write speeds of above 90 MB/s it should be an interesting performer. We take a close look and push it to the real world limits - for your reading pleasure. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14231 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14231 Techgage -- AMD last month launched five processor models, three Athlon II's and two Phenom II's, and we're taking a look at one of each. The Phenom II is a 3.20GHz dual-core, and a Black Edition dual-core at that, while the Athlon II is the ultra-affordable 2.9GHz quad-core. Let's see how both stack up to the rest of AMD's line-up, and the competition. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14230 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14230 Driverheaven -- Today HardwareHeaven will have a look at Antec's new flagship model in the TruePower Quattro series, the Quattro 1200W. Antec claims that their latest Quattro model offers cutting edge electrical performance while still operating quietly and this unit provides a unique feature, Powercache, which we will look at in detail. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14229 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14229 Hardware Secrets -- Motherboards based on the new H55, H57 and Q57 chipsets are targeted to the new Core i3 and Core i5 processors with integrated video, and Gigabyte has so far released three different models. Today we are going to take a look on H55M-USB3, which brings as main feature the presence of USB 3.0 ports. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14228 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14228 Benchmark Reviews -- Intel continues filling out its processor lineup with the introduction of the 2010 Intel Core Processor Family, comprising new versions of Core i3, Core i5, and Core i7 processors. The new Core i3 and Core i5 processors use Intel's new "Westmere" architecture, which brings facets of Intel's "Nehalem" design to the lower-end desktop CPUs (code-named "Clarkdale") and mobile CPUs (code-named "Arrandale"). These are Intel's first CPUs to be built on a 32-nanometer process, and some models include another first for Intel: a graphics processing unit (GPU) included on-chip. Built with Intel Hyper-Threading Technology and an improved version of the Turbo Boost feature introduced with the original Nehalem processors, how do these new dual-core CPUs compare with other processors in Intel's line? Benchmark Reviews tests the Intel Core i5-661 CPU, model BX80616I5661, with its integrated GPU to find out. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14227 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=14227 XS Reviews -- Portable storage security has been quite a hot topic in recent years, especially here in the UK with government officials being rather careless with sensitive materials. To help combat this iStorage have come up with a nice little product designed to keep your portable storage protected. The Disk Genie comes equipped with a fully functioning keypad allowing a passcode to be inputted when the device is to be used. Should prove an interesting review at least. Let's check it out.