Reviews
Thermaltake is a company that offers a wide variety of products for custom computer builders. Whether you are looking for specialized cooling solutions, such as an active hard drive cooler, a water cooling kit or a quality CPU cooler like the Golden Orb II we recently reviewed, Thermaltake has an answer. Top that off with Multifunction...
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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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In the past, notebooks and gaming were two mutually exclusive things. Granted, you could get away with some Solitaire or Pinball though that was just about the extent of any gaming for mobile users. Over the course of the last few years, we've witnessed the notebook industry go through some dramatic changes. Gaming-specific notebooks were...
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Whether you're a serious overclocker or simply want a quiet and cool running system, choosing a quality CPU cooler is crucial. There is no shortage of choices available, making the decision factor a daunting task for some, but taking the time to research the right cooler can result in a positive long term experience. Some coolers specialize...
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Last month we took a look at two recent sets of memory from Corsair and Kingston that were pushing DDR2 technology ahead, offering higher clock speeds and lower latencies to complement leading edge motherboard technologies. Each set did very well in our benchmarks, offering up premium peformance with solid stability. But, besides...
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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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Without question, it is typically far more interesting to read about the latest flagship $600 graphics card than it is to hear about a budget card's performance. Unfortunately, the vast majority of us doesn't have the luxury of being able to afford those high-end cards and must instead focus our attention on some more realistic alternatives....
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Budget priced notebooks make a lot of sense for a multitude of people. The simple fact is, we all don't need to game. And not all of us need the most powerful computer on the planet. Plus, parting with a handful of greenbacks isn't the easiest thing to do when there are bills to be paid. So, it's no wonder that budget notebooks from Dell and...
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The beige box; you had one, I had one, just about everyone and their mother had one. It wasn't that long ago either, that we all had our generic cases on display for no one to notice. Of course, this was back in the day when megahertz ruled, megabytes were plentiful, and a 56K modem was a bragging right. Fast forward a bit, and now we're running...
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Over the years, we've evaluated multiple versions of Asetek's famed Vapochill vapor phase-change cooling system. In fact, our first experience with a Vapochill dates all the way back to June of 2000. The first Vapochill we evaluated hardly resembles today's more refined models, however. Gone is the standard beige case, replaced with a custom...
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After recently reviewing the Leadtek WinFast TV USB II Deluxe and Diamond's Xtreme TV PVR 550 Power Pack, there are certain things we've come to expect in PC TV tuners. For one, easy driver and software installation is important. And the bundled software and its functionality is a primary concern as well. After all, what good is a TV...
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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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It's been less than two months since NVIDIA initially announced the availability of their new GeForce 7800 GTX, and already we ourselves in the enviable position of showcasing a third retail-ready version of NVIDIA's flagship card. We've previously showcased BFG's Editor's Choice Winning GeForce 7800 GTX OC and EVGA's e-GeForce 7800 GTX EGS,...
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Although Dell, IBM, and HP/Compaq get a lion's share of the press, there are several other major notebook brands vying for your hard earned dollar as well. Recently, Winbook's marketing machine has been in full swing emphasizing their new notebooks in the North American market. This means two things for potential notebook consumers. One, you...
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Over the course of the last few years, we've managed to make our way to a countless number of events all over the country. Without question, one of the highlights of each year would have to be QuakeCon. Whereas the foundation of most events is based around a vendor showcasing their latest products, the foundation of QuakeCon is entirely different....
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Off to school we go! Yes, it's that time of year again for many. But fear not! All is not lost, for it's also notebook hunting season. Of course, even if you enjoy going back to school, it's still a rare treat. After all, you are choosing a companion to help you stave off hours of boredom, and at the same time choosing an hombre to make your...
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It's been only about seven weeks since the GeForce 7800 GTX was officially launched on June 22, but NVIDIA is already making news yet again today with the latest addition to their GeForce 7 Series of cards, the new GeForce 7800 GT. As its name implies, the GeForce 7800 GT is very similar to NVIDIA's current flagship GeForce 7800 GTX, but the...
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When we last checked in with Shuttle back in April, we took a look at their current entry for the Intel platform, which was based on the latest chipset at the time, the i925XE. Our introduction for that piece went something along the lines of how the SFF market typically lags behind the full-sized board market, but how Shuttle was right...
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Now that we've got the IBM/Lenovo Thinkpad X41 Tablet PC review under our belts, we are going to backtrack a bit to take a look at the HP/Compaq TC4200. Although the IBM ThinkPad X41 Tablet PC hit the HotHardware lab first, the HP/Compaq TC4200 was actually introduced before the X41. These two Tablet PCs are targeted at slightly...
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