Tech News

• China Mafia-Style Hack Attack Drives California Firm to Brink

  Published: Friday, December 7, 2012 | By: Dennis

  This here is a story of one man's fight to save what is right against the relentless hordes of the Chinese Digital Mafia.  The Bloomberg story is a very good read and would suggest that if you are interested in computer security or wonder how bad things have gotten that you check it out.

  For three years, a group of hackers from China waged a relentless campaign of cyber harassment against Solid Oak Software Inc., Milburn’s family-owned, eight-person firm in Santa Barbara, California. The attack began less than two weeks after Milburn publicly accused China of appropriating his company’s parental filtering software, CYBERsitter, for a national Internet censoring project. And it ended shortly after he settled a $2.2 billion lawsuit against the Chinese government and a string of computer companies last April.
  
  In between, the hackers assailed Solid Oak’s computer systems, shutting down web and e-mail servers, spying on an employee with her webcam, and gaining access to sensitive files in a battle that caused company revenues to tumble and brought it within a hair’s breadth of collapse.

  In the end, the good guys win but not after having almost lost his business, his life savings and mind.  It would seem that Digital war is just as stressful as the traditional but can be more focused than a smart bomb.

  Food for thought, this all started with a phishing email and someone clicking on the link.

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• NL: Review Block: Kitchen Sink Edition - and not the good kind

  Published: Friday, December 7, 2012 | By: Dennis

  Brace yourself this is going to be a seriously major list of reviews.  
  
  Input Devices (you know like Mice and stuff)
  - ROCCAT Lua Gaming Mouse Review @ ThinkComputers
  - Thermaltake Level 10 Mouse @ LanOC Reviews
  - Funky Kit Review:Thermaltake Level 10 M-series Mouse
  
  Coolers (these would be like fans and heatsinks, sorry no beverages)
  - Sapphire Vapor-X CPU Cooler Review @ Pro-Clockers
  - Silverstone Heligon HE01 CPU Cooler Review @ Hi Tech Legion
  - Corsair Hydro Series H60 & H55 Review @ Hardware Canucks
  - Cooler Master TPC 800 CPU Cooler Review on Technic3D
  - SilverStone Heligon HE01 @ Ocaholic
  - Corsair Hydro Series H80i and H100i Liquid CPU Coolers Review @ Madshrimps
  - Sapphire Vapor-X CPU Cooler Review @ Hi Tech Legion
  
  Motherboards
  - ASRock Z77 Extreme11 review: with workstation features
  - MSI Z77A-G41 Motherboard @ Rbmods
  - ASRock FM2A85X Extreme 6 Motherboard Review @ TechwareLabs
  - Funky Kit Review: Gigabyte Z77X-UP4-TH LGA1155 Motherboard (with Thunderbolt)
  
  Memory
  - Kingston HyperX Predator KHX18C9T2K2/16X 2x8GB Review @ APH Networks
  - Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR3-1866 16GB Memory Kit Review @ ThinkComputers
  - Corsair Dominator Platinum 2800 MHz @ Bjorn3D

  More to come after the break 

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• ASUS Rampage IV Formula Motherboard Review @ ThinkComputers

  Published: Friday, December 7, 2012 | By: Dennis

  Asus has been rather quiet in recent months, of course there have been a few reviews here and there but nothing new in terms of products.  Even the motherboard in this review is somewhat dated.

  ASUS’s Republic of Gamers (ROG) line of motherboards has been going strong for a few years now.  ROG boards are made for the gamer and enthusiast having the features that these users would want.  The board we are taking a look at today is no different.  The Rampage IV Formula features 4-way SLI / CrossFireX support, ASUS’s own SupremeFX III audio, Intel Ethernet, ASUS’s ROG connect technology, support for quad channel memory up to 2400 MHz, and so much more.  The Rampage IV Formula is positioned between the Rampage IV Extreme at the high-end and the Rampage IV Gene which is ASUS’s mATX version of this board.  Read on to see if this is the perfect board for your gaming setup.

  Keep in mind this board is the lower-end version of the Asus Rampage IV Extreme that we reviewed towards the beginning of the year.  Awesome motherboard for those of you looking to board the LGA 2011 train.

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• Radeon HD 7950 vs. GeForce GTX 660 Ti revisited @ TR

  Published: Wednesday, December 5, 2012 | By: Dennis

  I sometimes wonder why sites do articles like this but in the modern landscape and "dead time" between product releases it kind of makes sense but, really?  The HD 7950 vs GTX 660Ti?? 

  What do they intend to discover?

  Much has changed since we last tested the GeForce GTX 660 Ti against the Radeon HD 7950. New drivers, new games, and a new OS have arrived, among other things. We've decided to stage a rematch of the classic Nvidia-versus-AMD battle using seven of the latest games, including Borderlands 2, Hitman: Absolution, Assassin's Creed 3, and Guild Wars 2. And, of course, we've deployed our "inside the second" testing methods to give you a true sense of gaming performance. In the end, we had surprisingly clear winner—and perhaps not the one you'd have expected.

  So with a quote like the one above you have to wonder, "which card won?"  In the past we have seen how the GTX 660Ti can tromp a HD 7970 in benchmarks and really hold its own in games so what changed?  In a word, nothing.

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• The NEW Corsair H60 and H55 CPU Liquid Coolers Review @ [H]

  Published: Monday, December 3, 2012 | By: Dennis

  The Corsair H60 and H55 are the newest editions added to the Corsair Hydro line.  While the H55 is your standard Asetek design the H60 features and upgraded hose assembly and PMW fan. 

  Most computer hardware enthusiasts are no stranger to Corsair's closed loop system CPU water coolers. It has now redesigned the venerable H60 that many of us use and introduced a new model H55 unit in its Hydro Series. The H55 is billed as being it top "quiet" cooler while the H60 ranks as its entry to the "high performance."
  

  Side by side the H55 cools better but does so with a higher noise profile, the H60 is setup to be better all around but in our tests, not to much.

  I wonder what [H] thought of them?

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• Far Cry 3 VGA Graphics Benchmark performance test @ Guru3D

  Published: Friday, November 30, 2012 | By: Dennis

  At the time of this news posting gamers in Europe where able to get copies of Far Cry 3 and, as you may have guessed, were also able to post some performance informantion.  The game appears to fully support DirecX 11 with faster cards offering more performance than the slower ones.  [ohhhh rocket science ]

  Check out the performance tables for more insight.

  

  In this review we'll look at Far Cry 3 VGA Graphics benchmark performance with roughly 15 graphics cards. The new and popular title is looking great from a graphics point of view. But as a result how will it perform on a selection of different graphics cards ? This review will cover all these basics and then more so you know what choice to make either graphics card or in-game settings wise.

  Let's just hope that EU gamers haven't completed the game by the time of its debut in the US on December 4th.

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• NL: Review Block - Cases Coolers and CeyBoards

  Published: Wednesday, November 28, 2012 | By: Dennis

  A few of these items we have reviewed before,  See if you can figure out which ones.

  Coolers
  - Silverstone Heligon HE01 Heatsink Review @ Frostytech
  - Corsair Hydro Series H60 High Performance Liquid Cooler Review @ Pro-Clockers
  - Funky Kit Review: Xigmatek Prime SD1484 CPU Cooler
  - Cooler Master CM Storm Stryker Computer Case Review @ Madshrimps
  - Keeping it Cool: Corsair Hydro H60 Update and H55 Review @ Techgage
  
  Cases
  - Fractal Design NODE 304 @ techPowerUp
  - Fractal Design Node 605 review: ultimate HTPC case?
  
  CeyBoards
  - AZiO Levetron Clicker Mechanical Keyboard Review @ Hi Tech Legion
  - Gigabyte Osmium Keyboard Review on Technic3D
  - Das Keyboard Professional Model S Mechanical Keyboard Review @ NikKTech

  Here is a hint, the Ninjalane reviews feature a Gigabyte Keyboard and Silverstone Cooler

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• GIGABYTE Geforce GTX 670 (2GB) WINDFORCE 3X Video Card Review @circuitREMIX

  Published: Tuesday, November 27, 2012 | By: Dennis

  This is an amazing video card that we reviewed some time ago.  Not only does it come with a nice factory overclock but also features an upgraded PWM for enhanced overclocking and stability.

  Instead of releasing a plain-jane GIGABYTE branded reference design video card for its volume GeForce GTX 670 product, GIGABYTE injected its own style into its offering. Like the headlining products across the whole GIGABYTE GeForce 600 series, its top of the line GTX 670 product features a WINDFORCE cooler.

  Be sure to check out our review of the Gigabyte GTX 670 for comparison purposes.

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• Intel’s Haswell Could Be Last Interchangeable Microprocessors

  Published: Tuesday, November 27, 2012 | By: Dennis

  This is a developing story that seems to have some serious traction behind it.  As you may have noticed Intel has been consolidating their chip offerings by combining features.  First it was the memory controller, then PCI Express.  The pin process changed from a socket type to Land Grid Arrays and sometime after Haswell LGA will be replaced by BGA.

  According to Japanese PC Watch web-site, code-named Haswell microprocessors may be the last desktop chips in LGA packaging, which enabled easy switch of CPUs on mainboards. Starting from Broadwell chips, which are due in 2014, all mainstream desktop processors will be available in BGA packaging, which means that they will have to be soldered to mainboards, something that can be done  in relatively sophisticated manufacturing facilities.

  Speculation remains around what will happen to the Ultra High-end space.  For instance will processors like the LGA 2011 still exist?  Right now the interchangeable processor seems like the only way to build servers and graphical workstations leaving the mid-range to be treated like an OEM video card supplier with all-in-one system board offerings.

  I'll be watching this story as it very well could kill PC building process unless you're into the enthusiast builds and, have extremely deep pockets.

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• ECS A85F2-A Golden FM2 Motherboard Review @ TechwareLabs

  Published: Monday, November 26, 2012 | By: Dennis

  I will hand it to the ECS folks. they like it gold.  Makes you wonder if one of the old Soltek designers moved over there after the company folded.

  Today we are taking a look at the A85F2-A Golden Edition motherboard from ECS. This motherboard offers a long list of features, overclocking potential, and a flashy look. This motherboard has a lot of potential, but read on to see if this will actually be a quality product, or a gold-plated flop.

  The review is kinda short but covers the basics, I'll let you decide if this is a board you want or a board you can live without.

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