PC Components, Peripherals And Gadget Reviews And News
Dig into our deep-dive product reviews and news of PC components from processors, to motherboards, graphics cards (GPUs), sound cards, and storage, along with other gadgets and peripherals that complete the computing experience. Whether you're a DIY PC enthusiast builder or just looking to read-up on what should be inside or connected to your next pre-built PC, here's where you'll find all the nuts and bolts sorted on what makes modern computer systems tick, as well some of the best user interface devices to go with them.
The Radeon X800 XL has been a very successful GPU for ATI. The X800 XL has been widely available for quite some time, it's built using a .11 micron process that make it a cost effective part for ATI to produce, and retail cards based on the X800 XL GPU offer very good performance for the price. 256MB variants of the X800 XL have also been...
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Over the years, ATI's All-In-Wonder series of video cards have been the card of choice for those looking for a complete 3D Graphics card/TV-Tuner hybrid. With little competition and a consistent release schedule of new models, ATI sits atop the all-in-one food chain, with the most popular option available. We shouldn't ignore the fact...
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We certainly do evaluate and showcase our fair share of ASUS products here at HotHardware, and it's no great mystery because Asus is also typically one of the first out of the block with a new chipset technology. The company's new A8N32 SLI Deluxe motherboard is no exception. NVIDIA's new nForce 4 SLI X16 chipset has been out the...
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Asus recently presented us with an opportunity to evaluate a rather unique video card, namely their soon to be released Extreme N7800 GT DUAL. What makes the Asus Extreme N7800 GT Dual somewhat unique is that this card sports a pair of NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GT GPUs and 512MB of GDDR3 RAM on a single PCB. The Extreme N7800 GT Dual...
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This past year has been a tumultuous one for ATI. The Canadian graphics giant has been plagued by well-documented supply problems and have had to deal with multiple delays to their next-gen product, being developed under the code name "R520". The situation is reminiscent of NVIDIA's prior to the launch of the NV30 which later became...
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When ATi announced their new CrossFire multi-GPU rendering technology months ago, it could have been viewed by many enthusiasts and the market as more of a reactionary response to NVIDIA's SLI multi-GPU technology than anything else. When our preview showcase article was posted, hardware was still months away from being a reality and...
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Whether you are contemplating building a standard desktop, multimedia PC or that killer gaming rig you've always wanted, one of the biggest things to consider today is noise. There is a major shift in thinking lately, as a growing number of users, and companies alike, are tackling the problem of ambient noise in the quest for a quieter...
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Looking back over the course of PC history, as processor clock speeds have risen, we've seen larger and typically louder heatsinks, fans, and other cooling measures implemented, with the singular goal of keeping temperatures in check. Some would say it's a small price to pay for the performance gained, but an increasing number of PC...
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As we move into the third quarter of 2005, dual-core processors are gaining ground in the mainstream market. Both Intel and AMD now offer competing dual-core processors in the form of AMD's Athlon X2, and Intel's Pentium D and Pentium Extreme Edition. As we've touched on in recent articles, AMD's strength lies in their backward...
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When NVIDIA launched the GeForce 7800GTX back in June, most of the retail cards we saw were cookie-cutter replicas of each other, at least physically. About the only things that differentiated one card from another were various clock speed tweaks depending on the manufacturer or the software and game bundles that were included. ...
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With today's ever advancing PC technology, it seems that two things ultimately remain unchanged; an increase in performance usually means an escalation in heat output. Currently, air cooling techniques can still keep most computer hardware operating at reasonable temperatures, but those who decide to squeeze every ounce of performance...
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About a month after Intel officially unveiled their flagship Pentium Extreme Edition 840 processor, the crown jewel of their initial dual-core Pentium D processor line-up, AMD revealed their inaugural assortment of dual-core Athlon 64 X2 processors, which included the current flagship Athlon 64 X2 4800+. After assessing the Athlon 64 X2 4800+...
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For years, AMD has been a growing thorn in Intel's side. Early on, AMD had a much smaller market share than the elder silicon giant, but as the years progressed, AMD's foothold grew. By continually introducing new products that compete directly with Intel's product line, AMD has grown to be a formidable foe for the incumbent chip...
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We probably haven't stressed this often enough, whether to you our faithful readers or to our OEM contacts in the PR and Product teams at various companies we work with here at HotHardware. But let it be known unequivocally now, we LOVE board revisions. Don't get us wrong, we're not losing it on you. We'd rather a...
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AMD's Athlon 64 X2 series Dual Core launch back in May, along with Intel's Pentium 840 launch in April, underscored an industry-wide move toward a completely new Desktop Processor architecture, one that affects virtually all facets of Personal Computing from code-base, applications and software, to the platforms and technology that support...
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When Intel released their previous line of chipsets, namely the i915 and 925X, they got a luke warm reception at best. Performance gains over of the 865/875 platform were minimal, and there weren't many upgrade options available at the time of launch. On top of that, users were faced with the unenviable task of purchasing a new CPU,...
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Over the past few months, the ATI Radeon X800XL has built up a reputation for being one of the best buys in high-end PC graphics. A single-slot card, that's got relatively low power requirements, street prices hovering around $275 (give or take a few bucks) and performance that rivals flagship cards from both ATI and NVIDIA, is sure to please...
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With the advent of the mini-PC, a completely new industry has been born. Well, maybe it isn't so new anymore, but what started out almost as a novelty has matured into a major craze in the enthusiast market. Today's mini-PCs come in a broad range of flavors with a wide variety of features. Sitting high atop the list of unique...
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At this year's E3 show ATi was discretely showing their new multi-GPU rendering technology which until now has been held under wraps of the standard NDA embargos we've come to know and love here in the industry. Last week we were given a full briefing on the technology by the ATi team and were told sometime in the month of June, product...
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Over the years, Asus has built a solid reputation for manufacturing high-quality products, that consistently match or surpass competing products in terms of both performance, features and quality. It is with that kind of backdrop that we present today's review of the Asus Extreme AX800XL. Based on the ATI Radeon X800 XL VPU, Asus...
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The personal computer industry is about to undergo a major metamorphosis, due in large part to the recent efforts of Intel and AMD. For the last few decades, mainstream desktop processor manufacturers have focused on increasing the performance of their CPUs by raising their clock speeds, augmenting the base architectures with specialized instruction...
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Over the past 10 years or so, the Personal Computer has found its way into a majority of homes, evolving from a high-priced curiosity to an everyday necessity. As with any other market, companies have come and gone during that time period, with their bottom lines inevitably tied to the products they produced. In today's...
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