Reviews
Major product launches don't seem to be getting any easier these days, at least on our side of the fence here in the online media community. Competition is fiercer than ever in all of the major functional blocks for personal computing, whether it's Graphics, Platform Chipsets, Drive technology or...
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For video card manufacturers, the drums of technology beat forever. Today's hot new release is tomorrow's eBay listing, because the hardcore enthusiasts are always looking for the next "big thing". It's a hard to stay on top of the list for very long, so we were interested in the recent arrival of two new GeForce FX 5900XT's...
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For years Plextor has set the standard for optical drives in both quality and features, being the first to bring major innovations to market on a number of occasions. These days, the competition fierce, with cheaper offerings available that can compete on the same performance level as slightly more expensive Plextor products. However, what...
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It has been barely over a week since we first took a look at AMD's new Socket 939 Athlon 64s, and motherboards equipped with the new socket have already started to arrive in the HotHardware Labs. The first motherboard to land on our test bench is the fully-loaded Asus A8V Deluxe "Wireless Edition". The A8V Deluxe...
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Water cooling is becoming increasingly more popular amongst hardcore overclockers. Not only does water cooling provide the utmost in cooling potential, short of refrigeration, but it can also quiet things down significantly. With today's processors producing upwards of 100 Watts of heat energy, cooling them down has becomes...
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We've taken a look at quite a few dual format DVD burners over the last few months, and found some to be better than others for various reasons. Most, if not all, of the drives we've reviewed shined in one area, but were lacking in another. Whether it be slower CD-R burning speeds, lack of options, or slow access times, we keep pressing...
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Recently ATi spent time with us going over their soon to be launched PCI Express based offering of 3D Graphics cards. Although we're unable to share performance metrics with you today, due to the current NDA embargo status of Intel's forthcoming i925X, i915G and i915P chipsets (and ATi's coordination of availability for that launch),...
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Since we last took a look at their Athlon 64 FX-53 back in March, AMD has remained relatively quiet. There was a low profile release of the mid-range Athlon 64 2800+ into the channel, but nothing really new has come from CPU lines at AMD for almost 3 months, which is an eternity in "silicon years". AMD's relative...
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Back in October of 2003, we had the opportunity to take a good look at several new Athlon 64 motherboards. We had two high profile boards from ASUS and MSI that came packed to the gills with features, extras and a promise of high performance courtesy of VIA's K8T800 chipset. A third, less prolific motherboard from Shuttle was a...
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The PC has undergone quite a metamorphosis recently. Over the past few years, we've seen the boring beige boxes of yesterday, transform into the multi-colored, windowed and lighted works of art of today. We've also seen (or should we say heard?) the community move away from multi-fan, super-loud cooling techniques, to more...
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Back when I was first stepping into the world of PC hardware, Diamond was quite a contender in the PC enthusiast market. Historically known for their high-end "Viper" graphics product line-up, Diamond's name still strikes home with many a gamer. Unfortunately, back in 2001, Diamond withdrew themselves from the graphics...
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We recently had a chance to talk with representatives from NVIDIA regarding a new initiative they've spearheaded, with the goal of bringing a consistent graphics interface to PCI Express equipped notebooks. Historically, the graphics processors used in laptops / notebooks have been impossible, or prohibitively expensive, to upgrade....
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Foxconn is a relative newcomer to the commercial motherboard market, but they are no stranger to the industry. Like we reported when we reviewed the Foxconn 875A02, they have been producing computer parts for quite a long time, but mostly as a component maker for different OEMs. With the manufacturing facilities already in place,...
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Being successful, especially in the computer hardware industry, is no easy task. While some companies struggle to win over customers with just a smattering of products, NVIDIA's brand recognition almost seemed to guarantee them success on a regular basis. What seems like not so long ago, the nForce2 Ultra chipset was taking the...
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For those of us that like to piece together our own computer systems from the ground up, deciding which piece of hardware to buy can tough. With more and more companies coming to market with competitive products, its never easy to choose which component best suits both your needs and budget. And it's not like one component will...
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There is no question, the year ahead in 2004, is shaping up to be a banner one for leading edge PC technology. New features and performance abound, as new technologies such as PCI Express, DDR2 and GDDR3 find their way into the mainstream. While the past few iterations of platform products have been more or less, "kicker"...
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When they initially released the All-In-Wonder 9600 Pro back in October of last year, ATi introduced a number of new features into their popular multimedia line of video cards. The All-In-Wonder 9600 Pro was the first product in the line-up to offer dual-monitor support. It was also the first to have an integrated FM tuner, and...
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The computer industry has been in a state of flux for the past few years. As the market continues to grow and new technologies continue to evolve, manufacturers are becoming more creative with their products. One of the most successful of these new offerings is the mini-PC, which has given the industry a nice shot in the arm. ...
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The GeForce 6800 Ultra NVIDIA's NV40 Debuts... By, Marco Chiappetta April 14, 2004 NVIDIA is poised to fire the first shot in the next battle of the war for 3D supremacy with today's official unveiling of their new NV40 GPU. The past two years have been especially hard fought. Both NVIDIA and ATI...
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S3 Graphics Interview More DeltaChrome Info Straight From the Source... By, Marco Chiappetta April 13, 2004 S3's DeltaChrome GPU is a different sort of graphics product, combining a few very unique features at very competitive price points, with projected street prices that should attract the masses. With the DeltaChrome...
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By, Marco Chiappetta April 8, 2004 Almost four years ago, we took at a look at Asetek's original version of the Vapochill designed for the Pentium III, and we came away impressed. The enclosure was a basic beige full-tower, which by today's standards isn't very exciting. The installation was...
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Foxconn's 875A02-6EKRS Motherboard A New Motherboard From a Not-So-Familiar Face By: Jeff Bouton April 5, 2004 While computer enthusiasts may not have Foxconn on their "short list" of favorite motherboard brands, chances are they have some Foxconn parts in their rig and just don't...
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