NVIDIA has built its brand and reputation as a GPU designer since the company was founded in 1993, but recent comments by the company have implied that it believes platforms like Tegra and ION will be key revenue generators in the future. We've previously discussed NVIDIA's ongoing emphasis on the GPU as a massively...Read more...
Enthusiast level hardware is exciting, especially if you can make use of its full potential. When Intel released the monster 3.33GHz Core i7 975 processor, they laid claim to the highest performing desktop CPU on the market. Interestingly enough, they were competing with themselves as the 3.2GHz 965 held the pole position up to that point....Read more...
Upgrading your notebook's legacy hard drive to a new, fast SSD is a substantial upgrade that makes good sense for a number of reasons. First, Solid State Drives offer orders of magnitude higher performance under certain conditions, with blazingly fast random access times. They also produce much less heat versus a standard 2.5-inch...Read more...
When building or buying a desktop gaming system, enthusiasts don't normally put much thought into how much it's going to weigh, or how hard it will be to carry around when attending a LAN party. Notebook and netbook end users are much more weight-conscious consumers than are folks looking at desktops, obviously. ...Read more...
As details of upcoming Lynnfield processors and P55 chipset-based motherboards hit the scene, there is a growing buzz within the industry about the effects of bringing Nehalem down into the mainstream market segments. While X58 and Core i7 performance dominates, complete system pricing has kept some average consumers looking to upgrade...Read more...
With the growing popularity of cloud-based storage solutions, such as the Amazon S3 and Nirvanix services, many businesses--both large and small--are eschewing traditional onsite file servers, and instead opting for offsite, third-party storage solutions. But the ongoing cost of maintaining cloud-based storage as well as the often unproven...Read more...
Recently, we've seen the meteoric rise of netbooks in the mobile space. Their ultra portability in conjunction with the global economic climate seems to have led consumers to think twice about spending large amounts of cash on mobile devices. This is especially true when netbooks offer the same basic services (word processing, internet...Read more...
AMD is launching a brand new flagship desktop processor today, dubbed the Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition. As you can probably surmise from its name--if you're familiar with AMD's naming convention--the Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition is virtually identical to the 955 it supplants at the top of AMD's desktop processor line-up, save for...Read more...
Let's face it: the mobile arena is more crowded than ever, and with that overpopulation comes confusion. Specifications begin to run together, prices seem to be all over the map, and actual standout features are harder than ever to locate. If you've grown frustrated by trying to separate the worthwhile from the worthless, trust us, we feel...Read more...
Regardless of their size or industry, most businesses depend on ready and secure access to their data. To a business, "secure" means that its data is protected from hardware or software failures and is safe from prying eyes. But small and even some medium-sized businesses often can't afford to maintain a data center, let alone a dedicated...Read more...
Synopsis: The 13" Macbook Pro features Apple's uni-body enclosure that is carved from a solid block of aluminum for added durability. The machine also features a LED-backlit screen with a higher color gamut than most notebooks, a backlit keyboard, and a 7 hour battery that actually lasts about 7 hours, which reaffirms Apple's reputation...Read more...
For the last several years AMD has delivered a series of solid, cost-effective mainstream chipsets with integrated graphics. First with the original 690G which offered a wealth of features and surprisingly competent IGP performance. Then later with the 780G and 790GX chipsets, which added a little more graphics horspower and IGP features,...Read more...
Synopsis: The M17x is Alienware's current flagship gaming notebook. It features an anodized aluminum shell that is available in a variety of colors, including silver, black, and red, and its 17" LCD sports a covering comprised of a single sheet of glass, that runs from edge-to-edge. The M17x also features 'BinaryGFX' technology which gives...Read more...
After years of delays (including one cancelation), developer change-ups, and a lot of hard work, Terminal Reality succeeded in bringing a Ghostbusters game to market for the PS3, XBox 360, Wii, and PC. Terminal Reality committed to building their own graphics engine—dubbed the Infernal Engine—to facilitate game development; we recently had...Read more...
The Palm Pre is likely one of the most anticipated smartphones to arrive this year. First announced at CES 2009, the Palm Pre has been called an iPhone killer, Palm’s comeback device, and Sprint’s savior. Needless to say, there are a lot of expectations for the Pre.Two of the first things you’re likely to notice about the Pre are its sleek,...Read more...
A few months back NVIDIA "released" the GeForce GTS 250 priced at just around $150. The reason behind the quotations in the previous statement is that the GTS 250 is not exactly something new. While a lot of NVIDIA's R&D dollars have gone into their higher-end products such as the GTX 285 and GTX 295, to satisfy...Read more...
When doing research for a new graphics card, mainstream users might come across a professional workstation-class video card and wonder what all the fuss is about. On the surface, one must look at the enormous price differences and question the justification when technically the hardware used to build the cards is very similar. But those...Read more...
When Intel released their first generation 50nm SSD product, the market buzzed with appreciation for the product and its overall performance profile. We in fact took you through the ins and outs of Intel's new MLC-based Solid State Drive product line-up for the consumer market and agreed it was one of the fastest on the market at the time. ...Read more...
In early June, Apple released what is arguably its most significant upgrade to Safari yet: Safari 4. In typical Apple fashion, the company was quick to deem it the "world's fastest and most innovative browser." Today, we're setting out to find if that bold claim is indeed true, and we'll be breaking down the features and performance profile...Read more...
Although the worldwide economy may be shrinking, our needs as consumers to store large amounts of data continues to grow at a breakneck pace. Whereas only a few years ago it was uncommon for most PC users to have more than just a few digital images or media files, today virtually every aspect of our lives has some sort of digital component....Read more...
Synopsis: EVGA's Interview Dual Monitor System incorporates a pair of 17" widescreen LCDs with an innovative rotatable stand that allows the user to flip a panel over to share a desktop display with someone sitting across from them on the other side of the desk. These twin TFT displays support a native resolution of 1440X900 and...Read more...
If Asus doesn't make a machine you like (or are at least fond of in some way), you aren't looking hard enough. As the company famous for putting the netbook (and thus, the Eee PC) on the map continues to broaden its horizons in the notebook market, it's taking a breather from shipping new "Seashell" machines to introduce a horse of a...Read more...