Tech News

• NL: Revierw Block - Just a few heatsink reviews

  Published: Wednesday, May 30, 2012 | By: Dennis

  It would seem that I have been doing a whole lot of heatsink reviews lately and it pains me to see bad reviews of good coolers along with the opposite.

  Heatsink Reviews
  - Prolimatech Genesis CPU Cooler Review @ Legit Reviews
  - Thermaltake Frio Extreme Cooler @ TechwareLabs

  Look for our review of the Frio Extreme in the next few days, its one you will want to read.

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• 16 Intel X79 Socket 2011 motherboards round-up @ Hardware.Info

  Published: Wednesday, May 30, 2012 | By: Dennis

  It isn't uncommon for a hardware site to acquire a large number of motherboard samples, so many in fact that it may not seem possible to review them all in the short window between when the product launches and when other hardware sites get their reviews posted.
  
  Because of this some sites "bank up" their samples and do the reviews required to satisfy the advertisers and leave the rest to a large roundup article posted sometime after the dust settles.

  

  At the end of last year, Intel released its new generation high-end processors under the codename Sandy Bridge-E. The Core i7 3960X and 3930K feature six cores, up to 15 MB L3 cache, a quad channel DDR3 memory controller, and a PCI-Express 3.0 controller with 40 lanes.Our review showed that the new processors ensure Intel's comfortable lead on the CPU market. Since the architecture changed a lot compared to Intel's previous high-end processor, the manufacturer could not avoid creating a new socket and chipset for the Sandy Bridge-E CPUs. That new socket is called Socket 2011, and the chipset has been christened X79.
  
  The new platform has now been around for more than half a year and in that period we have tested a total of 16 motherboards with Intel X79 chipsets. Time for a round up!

  The list is rather extensive too with a few designs that we have already looked at.

  ASRock X79 Extreme4-M
  ASRock X79 Extreme9
  ASUS P9X79 Pro
  ASUS P9X79 Deluxe
  ASUS P9X79 WS
  ASUS Sabertooth X79
  ASUS Rampage IV Extreme
  ASUS Rampage IV Formula
  ASUS Rampage IV Gene
  Foxconn Quantumian 1
  Gigabyte GA-X79-UD3
  Gigabyte GA-X79-UD5
  Gigabyte G1.Assassin 2
  Intel DX79SI
  MSI X79A-GD65 (8D)
  MSI Big Bang XPower II

  Links will go to the articles on this site while the main link below will ship you off to Hardware.Info

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• The Demise of Guys? Or Shaming the Guy Brain?

  Published: Tuesday, May 29, 2012 | By: Dennis

  Here is a fun little article that talks about why guys become addicted to "tech" stuff either it be games, computers or pr0n.

  Every compulsive gambler, alcoholic or drug addict will tell you that they want increasingly more of a game or drink or drug in order to get the same quality of buzz.
  
  Video game and porn addictions are different. They are “arousal addictions,” where the attraction is in the novelty, the variety or the surprise factor of the content. Sameness is soon habituated; newness heightens excitement. In traditional drug arousal, conversely, addicts want more of the same cocaine or heroin or favorite food.

  The same could be said for overclocking, once you get the rush of a good score or addicted to making the most from your points pool you tend to keep going.  On the positive these types of addictions are often short lived and easily replaced.  

  At least for some

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• ASUS Maximus V Gene @ Bjorn3D

  Published: Friday, May 25, 2012 | By: Dennis

  To make up for the weak article snip in the notification I'll be including a picture of the motherboard in question.

  

  ASUS jumped into the Z77 chipset head first with many models and of course a ROG offering in the Maximus V Gene. 
  

  I won't lie, the Gene edition motherboards work great but are a little small for my tastes.

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• NL: Revierw Block - Cards Coolers and Memory - 5/25/2012

  Published: Friday, May 25, 2012 | By: Dennis

  Not much to say here but we have a good list of Video Cards (with a 3) CPU Coolers and Memory products.  This is where I usually make note of Crucial Memory and how they HQ in my town and yet are not ones to send out samples. No real issue for me since they got out of the overclocking game awhile back.

  Vid3o Cards
  - MSI R7850 Power Edition 2 GB @ techPowerUp
  - Inno3D iChiLL GTX 670 HerculeZ 3000 Graphics Card Review @ HardwareHeaven
  
  CPU Coolers
  - Spire Coolgate 2011 CPU Cooler Review @ Legit Reviews (For some reason I think toothpaste when I read this)
  - Thermaltake Frio OCK Review @ HCW
  - Funky Kit Review: ARCTIC Accelero Twin Turbo II VGA Cooler
  - Thermaltake Frio Extreme Heatsink Review @ Frostytech
  - Thermaltake Water 2.0 Pro Liquid Cooling System @ Pro-Clockers
  - Funky Kit Review: ThermalTake Frio Extreme CPU Cooler
  - Phanteks PH-TC14PE CPU Cooler @ Maximum-Tech
  
  Memory Modules
  - Quad-Channel DDR3 Memory Round-Up: Kingston, Corsair, Patriot and G.SKILL @ HotHardware
  - Crucial Ballistix Elite DDR3 1866 16GB Quad Kit @ Pro-Clockers
  - Crucial BallistiX Elite 16GB 1600MHz Quad Channel Kit Review

  I'm planning a 4-way (for CPU Coolers ) look for it next week.

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• Extreme Overclocking Session III ( EOS ) Event 2012 @ Madshrimps

  Published: Friday, May 25, 2012 | By: Dennis

  Little events like this are pretty common in Europe but not so much in the US.  Yes, we Americans do have parties and such but the whole community aspect of it all is rare to see, much less exploit for internet linkage.

  Once in a while Team Madshrimps gets invited to attend a Team Overclocking event. Is it because people like us for who we are? Because of our looks? The knowledge we can share? Well to be honest we don't care about the previous. Most important thing on our own list is the abundant presence of free food and drinks. Secondly if the event is related to torturing PC Hardware, then we don't mind a long drive. Wickedly enough after each event, we get invited to the next upcoming one. So at least we must be doing something good. Time to get in the HWBot company war (in reality it's Massman's dad) and start the drive towards the 3rd EOS event at the cute town, called Heilbronn in Germany. 

  Looks like the Madshrimps overclockers went to Germany to overclock, I wonder how it went?

  Click the link below to find out.

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• Thermaltake Frio Advanced Heatsink Review @ Frostytech

  Published: Wednesday, May 23, 2012 | By: Dennis

  Below is the quote that accompanied this review link.  It describes the heatsink quite well but seems to be lacking the most important aspect of the cooler.

  Thermaltake's Frio Advanced heatsink stands 161mm tall and weighs upwards of 954 grams, it is rated to heat loads of 230 Watts by the manufacturer. The heatsink ships with two 130mm PWM fans arranged in a push-pull configuration that rotate at 2000-800RPM. Behind each fan shroud is a 110mm tall aluminum fin tower connected by five U-shaped, 6mm diameter copper heatpipes which are exposed at the base. Thermaltake's Frio Advanced heatsink is compatible with Intel socket LGA2011/1366/1155/1156/775 and AMD socket AM2/AM3/FM1 CPUs.

  I have seen this heatsink up close and feel the first paragraph in the review is a little more descriptive.

  Thermaltake's Frio Advanced heatsink is basically a reboot of the Jing heatsink, but this time around the copper heatpipes are exposed at the base, none of the aluminum surfaces are nickel plated and the heatpipes not soldered to the cooling fins. We mention this seemingly minor point of construction, since the Frio Advanced's heatpipes are pressed into each aluminum fin with a new type of swage joint we haven't encountered before.

  I'm hoping to have a have a massive Thermaltake round up in the next couple weeks, look for this guy to be in the bunch.

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• Hacks Decimate Diablo III Debut @ HotHardware

  Published: Tuesday, May 22, 2012 | By: Dennis

  Lots of chatter about Diablo III and for good reason between failures to launch, fat guys complaining and hotties being out of the country you have to wonder if they sold any copies at all.

  One of the biggest issues is with hacking and Hothardware is hot on finding out why.

  Diablo 3 players don't need any more bad news. The game is already staggering from a debut marred by enormous lag spikes, dropped games, and auction house errors. Now, widespread allegations of hacking are taking further chunks out of Blizzard's hide. This time though, there's an added twist: A significant number of those hacked claimed to be using Blizzard Authenticators. This has led to counterclaims that the victims must be lying, as well as a great deal of confused discussion over whether or not such a thing is even possible.
  
  To that end, there's something all of you need to understand up front. The Authenticator that Blizzard sells is not guaranteed proof against having your account hacked...

  Makes you wonder why WOW never got this kind of press.  oh wait...

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• Bill Gates, fellatio and media, and how all three relate to a profile of Gates

  Published: Tuesday, May 22, 2012 | By: Dennis

  Ok so this is not related to computer hardware directly but today I caught myself asking the question.  "Where is that video showing Bill Gates saying that 640k would be enough for anyone?"  A quick google search returned a variety of sites quoting the quote and all of them were pointing at this article at wired.

  Earlier this week, in a column on Bill Gates, fellatio and media, and how all three relate to a profile of Gates in last week's Time magazine, this column daringly offered free software into the millennium to anyone who remembers one thing Bill Gates ever said. We were taking issue with the notion advanced in the magazine that Mr. Gates is shaping this or the next century as a visionary leader, as opposed to just selling lots of software.
  
  Within minutes of the column's postings, the first challengers had emailed, all offering the same quote.
  
  "I've got one for you," messaged a hacker from Cambridge. "Some years back, Gates said '640K is more memory than anyone will ever need.' Where do I pick up my software?" 

  So I am guessing the video I saw was a fake or as the FBI says when they want to cover up the truth. "I must have mis remembered".  Either way the wired article is hella funny and the quotes at the end are to die for.

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• Crysis 3 Studio Reminds You It Still Owns Your Copy Of The Original Crysis

  Published: Tuesday, May 22, 2012 | By: Dennis

  I was an early adopter when it came to laying the first Crysis and bought one of the first copies to hit the shelves.  It would seem to have been a good decision on my part since later editions came with a key activation scheme that would limit how many times you could install it.

  to celebrate the release of the game Crysis 3, the studio has raised the activation limit on the original Crysis from 5 to 50. It seems like a nice gesture, but it doesn't really make any sense—why not just remove the limit entirely? The game is nearly four years old and cracked copies are easy enough to obtain, and it seems like they aren't that worried about piracy, since otherwise I don't imagine they'd make the limit so high. But the real slap in the face is that, when you get down to it, this is still them restricting your legitimate use to their arbitrary terms.

  I never liked activation installs since it limits how you can use your software and opens up a list of privacy issues.  On the flip side it does prevent the piracy of legit software by forcing legit owners to crack the copies they paid for once their activations run out.

  Or better yet download and run the cracked copies and bypass the whole purchase program to begin with.

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