Reviews
Turn the clock back to the middle of this decade, and the idea of a Dell system using an AMD processor would be considered facetious at best. Dell, had been an Intel-only shop from the beginning, and had only toyed with AMD processors from time to time in highly niche market systems. Many AMD fans considered Dell's acceptance...
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When we think about what is perhaps the one draw-back that enthusiasts and gamers could point to with respect to an Intel chipset-based motherboard, historically, it was lack of NVIDIA SLI multi-GPU support. Though you could drop more than one AMD ATI Radeon-based graphics...
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NVIDIA has gotten a lot of mileage out of their G92 GPU architecture. Starting with the GeForce 8800 GT, which featured a 65nm variant of the G92 GPU, on up through the GeForce 9800 GTX+, which used an updated version manufactured on a more advanced 55nm process. The G92 GPU has been featured on no less than seven different GeForce branded...
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Synopsis: The Lenovo ThinkPad W700ds is a rather unique product, targeted squarely at mobile professionals who require the power, features, and performance of workstation-class machine on the go. We previously evaluated the standard ThinkPad W700 and praised the system for its...
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Asus continues to broaden their Eee PC line of netbooks, as we roll through the first quarter of 2009. Clearly, however, Asus was aiming more for evolutionary than revolutionary with its latest Eee PC 1000HE. Even though it's largely unchanged from its siblings, there are still enough refinements to the product here to take notice. For...
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Synopsis: The Eee Top ET1602 builds upon Asus' popular line of Eee-branded products by introducing an all-in-one desktop form factor, complete with a 15.6" touch screen. Like the Eee PC netbooks that preceded it, the Eee Top ET1602 is built around Intel's low-power Atom platform, with the 945...
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Since the great DRAM price plummet of 2007, memory prices continue to be extremely low. It's currently possible to pick up high capacity memory modules for very respectable prices. As the DRAM market is highly volatile, however, it's possible that we could see prices jump within the next...
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Since you are here, reading this and potentially some other articles and news about PC hardware, you've probably attended or at least heard of LAN parties. The main point of LAN parties is, of course, to play video games with your peers on networked PCs. Another fun aspect of LAN parties...
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Toshiba’s Qosmio X305 is the company’s flagship gaming notebook line, with configurations that include dual graphics cards, dual storage drives, and the latest Intel Core 2 quad-core processors. At CES, Toshiba introduced a new Qosmio X305, the X305-Q725, which competes with the company’s higher end X305-Q708, but at a much better price ($2,699.99...
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Touchscreen smartphones are certainly a big hit right now. If you consider Apple’s ever-popular iPhone, HTC’s well-received Touch lineup, and many others, touch is a high-demand feature. Manufacturers are certainly taking note of this fact. Traditionally speaking, the BlackBerry line of...
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When AMD launched their current generation of Radeon 4800 series graphics cards last summer, they propelled themselves back into the ring against NVIDIA, who had previously been dominating the performance game for a few product cycles. The Radeon 4800 series provided decidedly high-end...
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A few weeks back, we took an in-depth look at the dual-GPU powered NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295. Just to recap a bit; the GeForce GTX 295 is NVIDIA's current flagship graphics card that couples a pair of 55nm GT200 GPUs with 1792MB of frame buffer memory, culminating in what is ultimately the...
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Last month, AMD launched the Phenom II X4 processor line-up, and with it ushered in the first desktop processors built using the company's 45nm process node. While the first two Phenom II processors to arrive, the 3.0GHz X4 940 and 2.8GHz 920, were clearly superior to previous Phenoms in terms...
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If the recent release of Intel's X58 chipset has taught us anything, it's that change can be good. In our first two forays with these new boards and Intel's Core i7 processor, we've been firmly impressed by the performance gains seen over legacy Core 2 architectures, much less AMD's...
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Synopsis: As Gaming Notebooks go, there are always going to be trade-offs to make and a balance to strike between performance, weight, and cost. The Asus G50Vt strikes a happy medium, weighing in at 7.5lbs and around $949 at retail outlets like Best Buy with higher-end SKUs...
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In early January, back from our roadtrip to Vegas with CES show buzz and bewilderment still fresh in our minds, we brought you an interview with Drew Henry, General Manager of NVIDIA's MCP products. Drew gave us a first-hand glimpse at a new small form factor PC platform that NVIDIA was...
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Lenovo's IdeaPad series of notebooks is quite different than the company's popular line up of ThinkPads. Ideapads are currently available in three series of products. The "U" series designates an ultraportable style with 11.1" or 13.3" widescreen displays and Intel Core 2 Duo processors. The "Y" series is for family entertainment...
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When AMD launched the Radeon HD 4870 X2 a few months back, the company hinted at the impending release of another, more affordable, dual-GPU powered card aptly named the Radeon HD 4850 X2. Like the more powerful 4870 X2, the 4850 X2 would sport a pair of RV770 GPUs on a single PCB, but on the 4850 X2 they would be clocked somewhat lower...
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Innovation seems to be sporadic at best in the PC case market. We tend to see many more copycats and trend followers than trendsetters. Several true innovators come to mind, though, when we think about cases, and one of those innovative companies is Cooler Master. Sure, not every case designed by Cooler Master is a massive success or...
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Whether you’re an amateur photographer or someone who’s more serious about photography, a D-SLR can provide a lot of benefits over a simple point and shoot camera. With a D-SLR, you’ll get faster shooting speeds, better optics (and therefore a better quality picture), the ability to change lenses for ultimate flexibility, complete control...
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When first evaluated in June of 2008, we concluded that the GeForce GTX 260 and 280 series offered the most raw power of any gaming graphics cards available at that time. This premium performance, however, came with a hefty price tag, making these models too costly to justify for some folks. A week after their introduction,...
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When Windows Vista first hit the scene, it was quite a departure from Windows XP. It had been a while since a major desktop operating system release from Microsoft, and consumers along with many businesses, were slow to adopt the new OS, if at all. Add to that the new and sometimes cumbersome security features and reports that Vista...
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