News for May 6th 2009

Lots of news today… I need to get out of this depressed funk that I’m in…..

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Title: Incognito: Episode One PC Game Review @ TestFreaks
Review Link: http://www.testfreaks.com/blog/review/incognito-episode-one/
Review Snipit:
“Incognito: Episode One is the first video game created by Canadian company Magrathean Technologies
. Magrathean typically works with web and Second Life development, API construction and other fancy stuff. With Incognito, they sought to combine multiple gaming genres, incorporating elements of RPG, FPS, RTS, vehicle simulation and space simulation; creating an “ultimate” game for all types of players. You’re right – that’s a very ambitious task to execute properly, especially for a first-time game under the helm of a tiny three-person development team.  ”

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Title: Guitar Hero Metallica Xbox360 – Bang your head! @ TestFreaks

Review Link: http://www.testfreaks.com/blog/review/guitar-hero-metallica-xb0x360-bang-your-head/

Review Snipit:
“Guitar Hero Metallica is the latest entry in the Guitar Hero series, and the best in my opinion, but I’m a bit biased as I’ve always been a Metallica fan. In fact as I write this I’ve got my Zune program open listening to Ride the Lightning. GH Metallica is an excellent game that really feels like Metallica had a hand in creating it, from the track list, the the graphics, it’s metal all around. The backgrounds are just awesome, in true metal style, and the music is a collection of tracks handpicked by Metallica, their own and music from other bands that they like and have influenced them.  ”

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I guess, when they say it’s aimed at the mainstream market … they really mean it. Still, the MA770T-UD3P has a lot of great features including Gigabyte’s Easy Energy Saver, 2oz Copper PCB, as awell as their advanced 8+2 phase CPU VRM power design.

So what are expecting from this motherboard? Well, it uses the AMD’s lower-end 770 chipset, which is designed for the mainstream market … so in that respect, we can’t expect too much from it. But having said that, it’s the overall performance that counts and we’ll be seeing if Gigabyte can deliver the goods.

More … http://www.cpu3d.com/review/7715-1/gigabyte-ma770t-ud3p-am3-motherboard/introduction.html

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NEW CONTENT (Motherboards) – GIGABYTE EX58-UD4P Motherboard

QUOTE: “Intel has certainly put a high price premium on the X58 IOH to its partners, which in turn causes the boards produced to be somewhat expensive. Coupled with the higher price of Core i7 processors, this means that we are stuck with a huge bill to build a capable overclocking gaming rig, or are we?

GIGABYTE has certainly produced a few good X58 boards for the extreme users, but today we are looking at one aimed for overclockers who want to keep a few extra dollars in their wallets. The EX58-UD4P motherboard comes in at 259.99 U.S. Dollars over at Newegg and comes equipped with quite a few features for a more budget conscious board. Today we are going to see just what GIGABYTE is able to produce when it comes to keeping prices down.”

For more information, please visit - http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/2752/gigabyte_ex58_ud4p_motherboard/index.html

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Dell’s Studio line of products is a breath of fresh air to anyone who remembers the company’s tendency toward the “beige boxes” from days gone by. The hip, modern look embodied by the Studio moniker has rubbed off on the new Studio XPS 13, a tight-fitting ultraportable notebook with loads of style and plenty of power to go around, including a hybrid SLI graphics engine.  Without question, Dell has gone its own way with the Studio XPS 13.  It’s not trying to compete with the MacBook Airs and MSI X-Slim X340s of the world; instead, it’s hoping to spark another trend and lead the way…

Typically, users gunning for a 13″ machine have to sacrifice extra power to get a machine that’s thin, or they have to sacrifice style for a machine’s that widely available at a reasonable price. Dell’s attempting to do an awful lot within a single 13″ notebook.  We’re going to explain just how well we feel they’ve succeeded, in the pages to come.
Direct Link:

http://hothardware.com/articles/Dell-Studio-XPS-13-Evaluation/

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Direct Link:
http://www.modreactor.com/english/Reviews/120-93-and-80mm-Fan-Roundup.html

Quote: “We have gathered quite some 80mm, 92mm and 120mm fans and we
put them to the test to see what are they capable of.”

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Direct Link:
http://www.modreactor.com/english/How-To-Guides/DIY-Printed-Circuit-Boards-with-the-Toner-Transfer-Method.html

Quote: “Most probably everyone of you who makes his own small
electronic project at somepoint needed or will soon need to make
himself a printed circuit board (PCB) for a given item. This is not at
all difficult and in today’s article we will show you a short guide
how to make such PCBs with the most common method at home – the
toner transfer method.”

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TITLE: Cooler Master Notepal Infinite @ LanOC Reviews

DESCRIPTION: There are a lot of things a laptop provides: generally low power consumption, connectivity, and portability to name a few. But when a user takes a laptop beyond spreadsheets and blogging, there are certain areas that are left lacking. Extensive use creates stress on the system and many styles’ neglected ergonomics create stress on the user. Cooler Master has created a solution for both.

ARTICLE URL: http://lanoc.org/reviews/cooler-master-notepal-infinite/

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Today, we have a look at the Asus AM2+ motherboard, the M3A78-T, which is one of the higher-end motherboards from their AM2+ series. It comes with HD3300 onboard GPU which we overclocked to the limit… and beyond, running Crysis at 1280×1024 at 30fps!

http://www.madshrimps.be/gotoartik.php?articID=932

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We have posted a new article, ‘AMD Phenom II X4-810/MSI 790GX-G65′

The Article can be viewed at
http://www.tbreak.com/2009/05/amd-phenom-ii-x4-810msi-790gx-g65/

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NEW CONTENT (Cases, Cooling and PSU) – Evercool Buffalo HPFI7-10025 Core i7 CPU Cooler

QUOTE: “Evercool, of course submitted the Transformer 4, which I had found damaged and not really up to snuff as far as dual, 120mm fan powered coolers go. This time I have a stouter cooler from Evercool, which is powered with a single fan, which many of you have most likely seen at this point, just with a different mounting kit on it. I am talking about the Evercool Buffalo CPU cooler.

Today Evercool sends the Buffalo HPFI7-10025. This is the same Buffalo, twin heatpipe, cooler that has been on the market for quite some time now. This time Evercool adapts the mounting hardware to accommodate the Core i7 line of processors. This cooler is compact in nature and only has the aid of a single fan to take on its task. Time now to get to the images and testing and see if the Buffalo HPFI7-10025 is up to the task of sufficiently keeping up with the competition.”

For more information, please visit - http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/2751/evercool_buffalo_hpfi7_10025_core_i7_cpu_cooler/index.html

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Title: Jetway NF94-270-LF Motherboard at Modders-Inc

Summary: Modders-Inc is taking a look at another fine motherboard from Jetway. Currently they are offering some of the best all-in-one mini ITX motherboards. Jetway is packing all sorts of goodies into a very small form factor that is highly suitable for a Home Theater PC or for a space saving desktop.

Articles URL: http://www.modders-inc.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=270

Site URL:  http://www.modders-inc.com

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Title: Hello There, Ladies and Gentlemen… @ Techgage

Link: http://techgage.com/article/hello_there_ladies_and_gentlemen/

Quote: We recently introduced the newest member of our staff, Brett Thomas, who will be heading up our Senior Editor position. There, Brett will help both with site direction and also management. To help kick things off, he has a few things he’d like to share on some of the upcoming changes you can expect to see here at Techgage.

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TITLE: OCZ Vertex EX SLC SSD OCZSSD2-1VTXEX120G @ Benchmark Reviews

DESCRIPTION: There are very few products that grab enthusiast attention like SSDs have. OCZ has created a well-deserved buzz around the industry since they launched their Core II, Apex, and Vertex multi-layer cell SSD products for retail consumers. Now they’ve gone one step further, and designed a SLC SSD for the demanding enterprise server segment. Benchmark Reviews welcomes the OCZ Vertex EX SSD OCZSSD2-1VTXEX120G into the ranks, and our bandwidth performance tests compare the Vertex EX to several other SSDs occupying the high-end market.

ARTICLE URL: http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=186&Itemid=60

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Quote: “If you are looking for a TV turner device but TV box is not suitable then you may consider USB TV turner which has greater portability due to its much smaller size. AVerTV Hybrid Volar HX is one of the latest products from AVerMedia which supports WW analog TV, Digital TV and FM Radio. Other great features are HDTV 1080i/720p, H.264 format, Vista MCE supported and so on.”

Read More:
http://hardwarebistro.com/index.php?option=com_simple_review&Itemid=84&review=85-AVerMedia-AVerTV-Volar-HX-Review

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TITLE: Super Talent PICO 16 Gb USB drive @ LanOC Reviews

DESCRIPTION: The files that we used everyday continue to grow larger and larger along with the need to have them with you at all times. Because of that, the demand for flash drives continues to grow. For a while, it was all about how large of capacity the companies could pack into the flash drives. Now it we are starting to see companies focus on other things like size. At CES this past January, I had the chance to talk with a few people from Super Talent and take a look at a few items they had cooking for this year. One of those items is their PICO line of USB drives. The goal of the PICO line was to pack as much capacity into the smallest package. Today we have a chance to take a look at their PICO C Capless (and gold plated) model with a capacity of a whopping 16 gigs.

ARTICLE URL: http://lanoc.org/reviews/super-talent-pico-16-gb-usb-drive/

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TITLE: Thermaltake LanBox @ LanOC Reviews

DESCRIPTION: Packing up your entire rig to take it to a lan party is a pain in the butt. So much so in fact that at our lan parties we normally see 3 or 4 laptops show up. Of course with laptops you don’t have the ability to run the same level of components in most cases. Because of this there has been a demand for small form factor systems that are powerful but easy to transport. The smaller cases also are ideal for HTPC use. In my case I have been looking for the perfect HTPC case for our living room without any luck. I decided to talk to Thermaltake about their LanBox series of cases to see if it would fit the bill.

ARTICLE URL: http://lanoc.org/reviews/lanbo/

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Gigabyte GV-R477D5-512H-B Radeon HD 4770 Review motherboards.org

Author: Doc Overclock Date: 05-05-2009

ATI launched this card for a MSRP of $109 with a $10 rebate making it a sub $100 card. At this price point, ATI has a winner as performance is close in most cases to the bigger brother the HD 4850 and GeForce GTS 250. DirectX 10.1 features have begun showing up in games like Tom Clancy’s HAWX game, a flight combat game set in the near future. NVIDIA will have a hard time competing in this category as the HD 4770 is smaller than their chips and therefore more chips can be manufactured on the same wafer and decreasing costs. This level of one-upmanship between the two companies is great for the consumer, especially in these trying economic times. ATI seems to have a winner.

Review Link: http://www.motherboards.org/reviews/hardware/1884_1.html

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Cabela’s Legendary Adventures – PSP Review

Date: 05-05-2009 By Vlad Mihaiescu

This game is fun; and before you contact my boss and say that this reviewer is contradicting himself, give me until the end of the paragraph before you make the call. If you’re bored out of your mind and you have a lot of free time on your hands and hunting just happens to be your hobby, then Cabela’s Legendary Adventures might be a game that you considerfun to play.

Link: http://www.gamepyre.com/reviews/games/psp/1093_1.html

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“Few months ago we tested Cooler Master V8 cooler and we announced that there will be more models in this new V series . This time in our test lab arrived V10 model that pretends to be top model of current line-up. This is the model that Cooler Master has hopes for becoming “king of the hill” model for some time, at least when it comes to CPU coolers. Cooler Master V10 is packed in nice and simple box with lot of information on it about the product inside. Most important information that we found was the fact that this cooler can be mounted on almost any socket…”

Article link:

http://www.insidehw.com/Reviews/Cooling/Cooler-Master-V10.html

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Razer Arctosa Gaming Keyboard Review:

Link: http://www.rbmods.com/content/8900/razer-arctosa-gaming-keyboard-review.aspx

Quote: Looking for an edge when it comes to PC gaming? Well, Xoxide, provider of a wide range of computer accessories, sent us one of the latest gaming keyboard, the Razer Arctosa. Razer is a well-known gaming product manufacturer that has produced many well-known gaming products such as the Razer Diamondback and Viper mice. Will this new keyboard bring similar performance to both gaming and everyday applications? That is what we’re here to find out.

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Title: Zotac GTX 285 Graphics Card Review @ Tech-Reviews.co.uk

Briefing: To replace the GTX 280, NVIDIA has released the GTX 285 – a graphics card which sports a 55nm GPU and the same 240 stream processors as the GTX 280. The GTX 285 that we’ll be reviewing today is made by Zotac – a quickly growing company who make some cracking graphics cards and motherboards. Anyway, let’s unleash this beast and see how it performs. Introducing the Zotac GTX 285 AMP! Edition…

Link: http://tech-reviews.co.uk/reviews/zotac-gtx285-graphics-card-review/

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Title: XFX X58i Mainboard Review on Technic3D

Link: http://www.technic3d.com/article-852,1-xfx-x58i-klasse-fuer-die-masse.htm


Quote: “The XFX X58i Mainboard arrived Technic3D. The Mainboard with Overclocking functions and X58 chipset for all Intel Socket 1366 CPUs. See you in the following Review the Intel Core i7 920 on Windows Vista 64Bit SP1 Performance Benchmarks against the Foxconn Bloodrage.”

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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, spills, and accidents, Olympus has launched an entire line of digital cameras that are designed to take a licking and keep on ticking.

The Olympus Stylus Tough-8000 is the top model in Olympus’ newly renamed “Tough” series of digital cameras that are made to survive the battles of everyday life. This camera is able to survive a drop from 6.6 feet, capture photos at up to 33 feet underwater, withstand 220 pounds of crushing force, and it can be used in temperatures as low as 14 degrees Fahrenheit (-10 degrees Celsius). With these capabilities, it’s likely the photographer will surrender before this camera does….

Olympus Stylus Tough-8000 Digital Camera:

http://hothardware.com/Articles/Olympus-Stylus-Tough8000/

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The actual unit is extremely compact and should fit most motherboards, with mounting brackets/clips for AMD AM2+/AM3 processors as well as Intel LGA775 and LGA1366 processors. The unit also comes a push button switch which allows you to choose between three operation modes … low, medium and high. The fan speeds as follows:

  • Low – Quiet: 1100-2500 RPM
  • Medium – Performance: 1100-2500 RPM*
  • High – Full: 2900 RPM
    (*System automatically increases cooling performance at an increased rate compared to Quiet Mode.)

There’s also a high contrast backlit LCD on the unit itself, for monitoring the liquid temperature and flow speed. The next important bit is heat dissipation, and this is done through a heat exchanger that features Copper Micro-Channels which is then cooled by a 120mm fan.

Read the rest of the review here … http://www.cpu3d.com/review/7717-1/coolit-domino-alc-liquid-cooling-system/introduction.html

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I4U News published a review of the new Microsoft SideWinder X3 Gaming Mouse.

Quote:
“Gaming mice tend to be expensive if you go with high-end products. The problem with high-end gaming mice is that they are almost exclusively right hand only designs meaning that left-handed gamers are left out. With the current economy many gamers simply don’t have the money to spend on a mouse that costs nearly $100 like the Microsoft X8 or the Logitech G9. Today we are going to look at the latest gaming mouse from Microsoft called the Sidewinder X3. The mouse carries a budget price tag but still promises to deliver gaming performance. Read on for all of the Microsoft SideWinder X3 gaming mouse details.”

Full Review:
http://www.i4u.com/section-viewarticle-537.html

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