Reviews
When you consider Intel's recent success at introducing new, cutting-edge processor architectures as of late, you can't help but appreciate the fact that the company is executing extremely well. The cold, hard fact of the matter is, even their last generation Core 2 architecture competes admirably with AMD's most recent update of the Phenom...
Read more...
AMD is using the prominence of the Computex show in Taipei to unveil a slew of new, affordable desktop processors. A few of them are based on the existing core employed within their Phenom II processor line-up, but one of them is comprised of a new piece of silicon that pays homage to the once mighty Athlon brand.We've got four new...
Read more...
Windows 7 is undoubtedly the most exciting new operating system to come out of Microsoft within the past decade--and with good reason. The user interface is superb, gone are many of the oddball Vista quirks, and the operating system is light and snappy, marking a massive 180 degree shift away from the heaviness and bloat of Vista. Despite...
Read more...
Located in the heart of Texas, the city of Austin is known for many things. Nicknamed Silicon Hills, the state capital accommodates an army of tech companies including the one and only Advanced Micro Devices, better known as AMD. From May 20th to the 22nd, AMD brought in some of the biggest names in the extreme overclocking scene with...
Read more...
Windows Home Server is quite possibly one of Microsoft's most unheralded operating systems. Many speak longingly of Windows XP, jokingly of Windows ME, disappointedly of Windows Vista, and hopefully of Windows 7. But seldom discussed is the little-known and little-used operating system designed to be installed on a home server and act as a...
Read more...
The old adage, "looks can be deceiving," applies very well to the Western Digital My Book World Edition network-attached storage (NAS) device. With its small and simplistic physical design, housed in white plastic, and featuring only a set of white LED status lights on its front, this NAS device belies the power, features, and depth of configuration...
Read more...
Synopsis: HP's HDX 18t Premium Series Notebook is a mammoth 18" desktop replacement machine with a wealth of multimedia-targeted features and capabilities on board. With a stylish, glossy exterior, large keyboard area with touch-sensitive illuminated buttons, a TV tuner and remote control, this machine screams Media Center PC. It has...
Read more...
We know what you're thinking. You're thinking that this is just another netbook by yet another manufacturer trying to ride the wave of popularity -- and at a glance, we'd say you're right. Upon further investigation, however, you'll find that OCZ Technology's Neutrino is actually a horse of a different color, so to speak. Design-wise, it's...
Read more...
The SSD market is incredibly hot at the moment. Not only is there a consistent influx of new products that seemingly leapfrog the previous generation in nearly every way, but already established products have been treated to firmware updates that enhance their performance and capabilities as well.Over the course of the last few months, we...
Read more...
NVIDIA's Ion platform generated quite a buzz when news first broke of the company's plans late last year. As such, we've been keeping on top of Ion-related developments and have posted a number of stories related to Ion, beginning with our coverage of the platform at this year's Consumer Electronics Show. We followed that up with an evaluation...
Read more...
The PC scene is constantly evolving as businesses and individuals make use of next generation products that increase productivity or provide higher levels of entertainment. Bigger, better, faster - these are the insatiable desires of consumers. It doesn't matter if we're speaking of gigahertz or gigabytes, the demand endures and companies...
Read more...
Finding the right chassis for a system build is like setting up the foundation before building out the design of your computer and working your craftsmanship into the intricate details of component selection and configuration. Start with a good foundation that caters to your build requirements and you're bound to have a better...
Read more...
For the longest while, Dell seemed perfectly content to continue producing notebooks with a minimalist design. Sure, they were perfectly up to snuff internally, but externally they lacked the more agressive lines and personality captured in some of the high-fashion machines from the likes of Alienware, HP and a few other boutique...
Read more...
We do our best to protect our cameras, cell phones, MP3 players, and other electronics from extreme weather conditions, drops, force, and water. It makes sense to do so, given that most of these gadgets don’t stand a chance against a bucket of water, accidental drop, or extreme temperatures. Realizing that life brings its fair share of bumps,...
Read more...
Early last week, we spent a day or so with a number of representatives from Global Foundries, learning about the company's plans for a new fab that will be built in upstate New York. The name Global Foundries may be unfamiliar to many of you, but the company's origins may not. If you remember back to October 2008, AMD and the Advanced...
Read more...
While most computer enthusiasts overclock their systems to get increased performance from their components, there are a select few that push the limits of hardware to another level for the entertainment factor alone. Instead of just trying to get higher frame rates for gaming or better throughput for other types of workloads, these...
Read more...
The latest socket AM3 compatible Phenom II processors have been available for several weeks now and they had proven in our initial coverage to be excellent chips, a notable improvement over their predecessors in several respects, including overclocking and in their support for higher clocked DDR3 memory. Thanks to the Phenom...
Read more...
We have been talking about NVIDIA's Ion since late last year when news first broke of the ultra small form factor platform. At the time, NVIDIA's tiny Atom-powered prototype system wasn't even called Ion yet, but images of the miniscule motherboard that would eventually be used in the reference platform had already surfaced and the community...
Read more...
AMD is launching yet another new ATI Radeon graphics card today. And in light of the current worldwide economic conditions, along with the performance and power consumption data we'll be presenting you on the proceeding pages, we suspect it's going to be a welcomed addition to the company's already potent graphics card line-up.You see,...
Read more...
Over the course of a few months in late 2007 and early-to-mid 2008, AMD unveiled their Spider platform, consisting of AMD-built desktop processors, chipsets, and graphics cards, and refreshed said platform with faster processors and graphics cards. Fast forward to today, and AMD is doing the same thing, but this time with the newer,...
Read more...
Digital designers and video editors will tell you that one display is often not enough. With so many different tool and palette windows, a single display can get crowded very quickly, leaving little room for the primary workspace. Add some other apps to the equation, such as e-mail and Web browsers, and you can wind up with a desktop...
Read more...
High end GPUs target a niche market. In other words, companies make these cards with a specific type of user in mind. And while price is always an important consideration, it's usually not the deciding factor when it comes to introducing these flagship parts. This is especially true when you consider the consumers who are willing...
Read more...
