http://www.cekora.com/ Cekora.com Global Review Directory en-us http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12904 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12904 3D Game Man -- AMD recently introduced the HD 4870 and it certainly made their competition revise their pricing immediately. While it’s AMD’s top-of-the-line GPU, lately AMD has been focusing more on lesser priced products that deliver excellent value for performance. But they obviously wish to compete in the fastest graphics card category and for that, they’ve been using dual GPU based cards. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12903 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12903 Motherboards.org -- The All in Wonder HD is an interesting jack of all trades video card. The good points include the ability to playback and record live TV on the PC, decent gaming performance in the form of the HD 3650 and the ability to run FM Radio. If gaming is your primary concern it would be better to buy a HD 4850 and a HDTV tuner if that is the route you want to go but the A-I-W HD is targeted for the home theater crowd not the hardcore gamer. For the casual gamer wanting to watch TV or listen to FM Radio, the A-I-W HD is definitely an excellent buy as you get much more than just a video card. For the Home Theater crowd, the A-I-W HD fits the bill in spades with the ability to watch HDTV, and HD content like Blu Ray discs without another card or additional software. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12902 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12902 Think Computers -- Some of you may have heard of Moneual Lab, some of you may have not. They are a home entertainment system solution provider that opened its doors in 2005. They make custom HTPC systems, which are some of the best that we have seen. They also sell their custom HTPC cases and today we will be looking at one, the MonCaso 972. The MonCaso 972 is one of the most appealing HTPC cases out there with a 7-inch touchscreen LCD on the front, included media center remote, card reader, and a great design. Let's take a look and see what all the MonCaso 972 from Moneual has to offer. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12901 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12901 TweakTown -- I’ve never had the chance to look at a graphics card from Point of View before, but now is as good a time as any to start. When word came through that the first card the company would ever be sending to me would be the 9500 GT, I felt kind of sorry for them. Clearly they didn’t read my original review of the 9500 GT from Leadtek. I made my thoughts pretty clear on the card, offering half the performance of the 9600 GSO but not half the price. This absolutely killed any form of value for money the product offered. Apart from being cheap, there wasn’t really much else the card could offer; even if you were extremely tight when it came to the money side of things, we recommended that you simply bite your lip for a few more weeks and save to buy something from the 9600 series. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12900 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12900 Techware Labs -- Scortch your screen with blazing hot graphics, at least thats what we would all like to do but without having to pay a small ransom to do it. Justin takes a look at the Radeon HD4850 which promises to do just that. Does the Sapphire card churn out hot frames and equally hot performance? Read Justin's review to find out. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12899 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12899 TweakTown -- Founded in 1986, Topower is a company that began life as a manufacturer of switching power supplies. While they have expanded their product line of late, today we will be looking at one of their latest offerings in the PSU segment, the PowerBird 1100. With features including a modular design and a high power efficiency, it is vying for your bid the next time you upgrade your system power. With so many choices in even high end power supplies, we will look at features and performance in an enthusiast build to see if these guys have what it takes to earn your upgrading dollars. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12898 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12898 The Tech Lounge -- Acer isn't Samsung, but its small, sub-$200 X193W+BD should get a serious once-over by the gaming portion of the market. The size difference means fast-switching .243mm pitch pixels (in this case, smaller is better) that betray the municipal looks of this panel. At 19", it's a versatile, high-resolution display that excels in value. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12897 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12897 Think Computers -- Today it is much more practical for my checking out watercooling, and our friends at Thermaltake have sent their latest complete watercooling setup, the Bigwater 780e ESA watercooling system. With a 120mm radiator, 530cc reservoir, and 500 L/hr pump, all fitting in three 5 1/4" drive bays, this is Thermaltake's nicest self-contained watercooling system yet. With this being my first attempt at watercooling, it will definitely be interesting. Read on to see whether I succeed, or whether I make one hell of a mess, trashing my motherboard in the process! http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12896 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12896 Techware Labs -- Looking for a case that is jam packed with features, looks good, and is easy to work on? So were we so we sent Justin out to test the Silverstone KL01. This full size ATX case comes designed with lots of extras and has a sleek aluminum look while retaining the strength of a steel case. See what Justin had to say about the KL01. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12895 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12895 Think Computers -- Today I will be looking at one of Sapphire's latest video cards, the Radeon HD 4850 Toxic, a 512MB DDR3 factory overclocked version of the HD 4850. This card comes complete with ramsinks, the first I have had on a video card that I didn't install myself, and a Zalman heatpipe cooler. Will the HD 4850 impress me as much at the HD 3850 did? How will it fare against the cards I plan to compare it to? Read on to see! http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12894 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12894 Think Computers -- Samsung has always been pretty impressive with its LCD panels, both in terms of computer monitors and high-definition televisions. The spec sheets on these Samsung LCDs are always at the top of the class, but sometimes having an impressive spec sheet isn't good enough. These days, you need to be more than just a good LCD, it seems, and that's why so LCD monitors now come equipped with all sorts of secondary functions. Recognizing that you need to have these extra features to compete in the home computer market, Samsung has created a family of LCD monitors that do more than just show you a pretty pictu re. The Samsung SyncMaster 2263UW is one such unit. It has been designed largely as an all-in-one solution, helping you save some of that precious real estate on your shrinking desk. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12893 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12893 Gamepyre -- Palit's card isn't available online as of yet, but as ATI's card just launched this past Tuesday, it should hit retail stores at a price of $549. At this price point it is the highest priced card for gaming enthusiasts but you get the performance of two HD4870s on a single card, making it the fastest single card on the market. When NVIDIA launched their GeForce GTX 280 card it was the fastest, but it wasn't so fast that two of the competition chips couldn't beat it. This has caused NVIDIA to drastically lower the prices of their GTX280 and GTX260 cards to reflect the performance and price you would expect. Competition is a good thing, as you get better performance, more features and lower prices because of it. This is a Gamers Gold card as it is the top of its class for a single GPU solution. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12892 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12892 TweakTown -- The HD 4870 has been quite the performer from the word go, but it’s in our blood that we have the need for even more power. This is where overclocking comes into play and today Palit has placed the HD 4870 under their Sonic naming scheme, which means we get a nice little out of the box overclock. Palit hasn’t just bumped the clock speeds up, though, they’ve also decided to change it by removing the boring reference cooler that we’ve been seeing for so long and adding their own design. Before we check out the cooler and the clocks the new HD 4870 Sonic from Palit offers, we’ll quickly take the time to have a look at the package to see if there’s anything inside the box to get excited about. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12891 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12891 Dragon Steel Mods -- A little bit ago I took a look at the Thecus N3200 NAS box and it was a nice choice overall, but today for review I've got the TS-109 Pro II Turbo NAS from QNAP that personally I like much better than the Thecus. One of the main reasons is that it only uses one drive, the other reason is because of the features and abilities of the TS-109 Pro II, this box is small but packed to the brim with numerous features that anyone will love and use. This box even has a 500Mhz CPU with 256MB of DDR2 ram built in to make sure the system runs smoothly and does what you want when you want it to. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12890 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12890 TweakTown -- Now that the HD 4850 has been hanging around for a bit, we’re beginning to see more and more companies jump on the aftermarket bandwagon. The latest company to do this is Palit, bringing the highly popular HD 4850 to the also highly popular Sonic line. The HD 4850 has had so much going for it from the word go; its aggressive pricing and excellent performance gave users everything they wanted. It wasn’t all rosy, though; while the use of a single slot cooler was handy, it caused the card to run extremely hot. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12889 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12889 3D Game Man -- Underneath almost every 280 card sticker is the same card in the GTX280 family of cards, with differences being cosmetic in nature in almost every case. There are a few bold partners who make spec changes and such, but that is a limited number of cards being brought to market at best. My point is this; almost every GTX280 you see on the shelf was made with the same spec and same manufacturing procedures so who you buy from becomes a very valid concern in a sea of manufactures. Palit is the biggest NVIDIA and ATI partner with the positions and distribution levels to bring solid business to the game. The Palit GTX280 is another Gamer's Choice Gold as it features the fastest single chipset card in the world the NVIDIA GTX280 and Palit's card is priced at under $500.00, a winning price at this time point. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12888 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12888 Driverheaven -- Recently while researching laptop prices we found Novatechs own branded laptops which feature some impressive components but retail at a level we can only wish Alienware would use! Of course buying a laptop from a relative unknown is always a risk, so today we will be taking an in-depth look at the X80r Pro, covering all the bases and letting you know if they are worth your money. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12887 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12887 Virtual-Hideout -- BFG has a great power suppy here - not only does it look good, but it does it with performing style. For the duration of the testing, and the subsequent gaming session afterwards, performance remained solid while silence was in full effect. I found no issues with any of the cabling, or the installation of the unit - that was the fault of the unit. Overall, I would have to say that if you're in the market for a PSU at this price point ($219), BFG's ES800 is an excellent choice. While it's lack of support for Tri-SLI is definitely disappointing, it's ability to take a system with two 4870x2 or 9800GX2 cards is admirable. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12886 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12886 Motherboards.org -- Lian Li cases are the best designed in the business and this is one of them. The V1100 Black has five 5.25" drive bays, but more importantly, has the ability to install six HDDs. There are a total of four 120mm fans on the case, offering total cooling solution for any user with the caveat that tall CPU coolers will preclude the optimal use of the fans. Otherwise the case has the features, and looks to be well worth the price online. Quality cases are important for the hardware enthusiast as it determines what can be installed in the computer. This is a very stylish piece of equipment and it is very functional as well as being attractive to the eye. Its priced in the mid $200.00 range and is available online and at a few retail outlets. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12885 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12885 OCIA -- J&W Technology is a name I was not familiar with, however they have been around since 1994 and currently sell 450,000 units monthly. Until just recently they have not had any distributors outside of Europe, Asia and Australia, however recently a few of their products have popped up on North American e-tailer sites like Geeks.com. Today I have for review their JW-RS780UVD-AM2+ motherboard. This is a micro ATX board utilizing the AMD 780G chipset, features the latest HT 3.0 and PCIe 2.0, support for DDR2-1066 memory, onboard Radeon 3200 DX10 graphics with 64Mb SidePort memory, and HDMI and HDCP ready. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12884 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12884 Hardware Logic -- Today HardwareLogic will cover the newest enclosure from Danger Den, the Tower-26 acrylic case. Those considering the Tower-26 had better make sure their components are up to snuff, because if they're not, they'll be on display for all world to see. And mock. To keep it simple, the Tower-26 looks to be a fantastic option for those wanting to showcase the great deal of time and money they've spent assembling the finest in hardware. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12883 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12883 Techware Labs -- Michael Bosse takes a look at the CoolerMaster GeminII S which serves as both a CPU cooler and a board component cooler. We test this heatsink against the stock cooler and bring you the results. Is the GeminII S worth your cash and is the performance up to par to handle the heat of an Opteron 1214? http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12882 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12882 hi-tech reviews -- Apevia X-Sniper has a unique look all its own. The front panel is adorned with an aluminum metallic-colored door, and balanced by two fan speed controllers at the top; power and reset switches on the bottom. Along with plenty of front panel air ventilation holes ensure optimal heat exhaustion. X-Sniper is made of sturdy SECC metal and comes furnished with a large see-through window (G Type). http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12881 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12881 OCIA -- We review quite a few cases here at OCIA.net, but it's been a few months since our last one from Apevia. It's always exciting to see what new chassis designs they come up with, one common factor among them all is the ability of Apevia to produce a quality, stylish case at a very good price. Today we have a new mid-tower to take a look at, dubbed the X-Sniper. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12880 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12880 TweakTown -- The KVM, as a device isn’t all that confusing; it simply let’s you use two or more (depending on the model) computers while only needing a single Keyboard, Video (Screen) and Mouse – or KVM. Over the past 18 months, I would have liked to have ventured into the world that is the KVM, but since my upgrade to Dual-Link DVI enabled monitors, it hasn’t been possible as the DVI side of things on all KVMs only support a maximum of 1920 x 1200; until now, that is! http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12879 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12879 bit-tech -- The DS3R was designed as an inexpensive essentials board and it exceeds its quota. While we cannot recommend the board for Multi-GPU purposes that doesn't mean you can't use a good single card or a GX2/X2 or the second slot for another Nvidia card for PhysX. Like any P45 if you can tweak the nuts off it the performance is exceptionally good - and the Gigabyte has plenty of options that work (!!) to do this. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12878 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12878 TweakTown -- With a trio of heatpipe direct touch CPU cooler reviews under our belts, I can definitively say that the tech is quickly catching on and spreading like wildfire. I am standing strong behind my statement from the last review of a H.D.T. cooler that I think this is the direction most CPU heatsinks will go in the future; much like the way nearly all CPU coolers use heatpipes nowadays. Today we are going to take a look at the HDT-SD964 from XIGMATEK. Unlike all of the Heatpipe Direct Touch (H.D.T.) coolers we have looked at thus far, this cooler does not use a 120mm fan. The HDT-SD964 uses a 92mm fan and is a little shorter than the others. This will allow the cooler to be placed in smaller enclosures like 4U server chassis’ and equal sized media center cases. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12877 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12877 PCStats -- On the PCSTATS test bench today is the new Samsung Syncmaster 943B 19" LCD/TFT monitor. The Syncmaster 943B is a mainstream/business oriented LCD display with a competitive price tag of about $290 CDN ($290USD / £60 GBP). The Samsung Syncmaster 943B offers users a luscious black 19" screen (5:3 aspect ratio) with a native resolution of 1280x1024 pixels. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12876 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12876 techPowerUp -- Powercolor's latest HD 4850 PCS graphics card is based on the AMD HD 4850 reference design but comes with an improved cooler and slightly increased core clocks. While the overclock makes only a small performance difference, the cooler substantially improves the product. Even under load the PCS 4850 is barely audible which makes it the quietest graphics card ever tested - of all performance classes. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12875 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12875 Techgage -- OCZ prepares to take on the world of gaming keyboards with their new Alchemy Elixir, part of the company's Alchemy lineup of gaming peripherals. How does it stack up to the competition from established gaming peripheral companies like Razer, Logitech, and Creative? http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12874 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12874 Benchmark Reviews -- Solid State Drives have become a subject of keen familiarity for Benchmark Reviews over the past year. After testing more than a dozen SSDs, I have watched the industry opinion of these cutting-edge products sway from luxury item to performance hardware necessity. While it cannot be denied that SSDs are still a pricey gadget best suited for the affluent enthusiast, there have been so many new developments that now cost is sharply on the decline while performance is continually rising. With prices being much more affordable, and performance having surpassed the best HDD products long ago, it all boils down to a good price-to-performance ratio. In this article Benchmark Reviews tests the premium MSP-SATA7525 SATA-II SSD from Mtron, a company that has become the grandfather of Solid State Drives. We dispel the myths associates with SSD products, and prove that Intel's ICH10 controller is still not ready for Solid State Drive performance. http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12873 http://www.cekora.com/index.php?k=entry&u=12873 TweakTown -- I’ve seen more 9600 GT cards than I would like to honestly admit. The bottom line is, though, that the card does offer some excellent value for money and if you don’t have the budget to buy new high-end cards like the HD 4870 or GTX 280 and GTX 260, the 9600 GT still remains a very good option. Today we’re going to take the time to check out the latest 9600 GT incarnation from ECS and see what it has to offer over the competition. In a time where bundles and overclocks separate brands, we see if the latest version from ECS can stand out.