Tech News

• Sapphire Pure Platinum A75 & AMD A8-3800 @ LanOC Reviews

  Published: Monday, August 29, 2011 | By: Dennis

  Hot new Llano motherboards from Sapphire, styling hasn't changed much from the P67 we reviewed but they did update the layout added a mini PCI Express slot.

  It has only been a few weeks since AMD introduced their Llano APU and things are finally starting to come together. Today Sapphire is joining the mix with an addition from their Pure line, the Pure Platinum A75. Sapphire has had a big push to become a name to be reckoned with in the motherboard market and their Pure line has thus far done a good job. Paired up with an AMD A8-3800, today we will be taking a look at both Sapphires new board and the A-Series platform as a whole.

  Lets hope they keep it up.

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• When it rains it pours - a response to the unexpected

  Published: Friday, August 26, 2011 | By: Dennis

  This is not so much intended as a response to hurricane Irene but rather to express how even the best laid plans and schedules can be totally blown out of the water when something "unexpected" happens.

  In my case, that would be client work.  You see, in addition to running the day to day on Ninjalane.com I support several clients from basic website maintenance and development to a few select computers, servers, and networks.  Under the normal run of things my client work is extremely light but, every once in awhile the world comes crashing down on them and I'm called to action.

  What I never expect is when ALL of them contact me in the same week.  Without going into too many details I had a server crash, broken laptop panel, malware infection (thrice on the same PC) and website updates across two sites.  Those things combined really threw off my posting schedule and really ate into my designated time to decompress.
  Of course this is simply a long version of the "phj34r my lack of n3ws" postings that I normally publish during times like this but, I felt it was needed.

  btw, PAX starts today, sadly "we" weren't able to attend but it's on the schedule for next year.  The convention isn't friendly for press but that doesn't mean we can't post stuff after the fact and generally enjoy going.  In the meantime sit tight there is a motherboard and two chassis reviews in the works, all of which are almost ready to post.
  

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• Serious Sam 3: BFE gets a release date

  Published: Thursday, August 25, 2011 | By: Dennis

  Oh no, not a prequel !!

  Slated for October 18, BFE will serve as a prequel to 2001's Serious Sam: The First Encounter. Set in 22nd century Egypt, the latest entry vows to deliver a modernized Serious Sam experience without altering the formula that earned its predecessors a cult following: relentless action and a wanton disregard for digital life forms. That's all you can really demand in an arcade-style first-person shooter.

  I'm gonna buy it, how about you?  Be sure to check out the gameplay video, its just like the first 2 Serious Sam games but with better graphics. 

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• SilverStone DC01: An Entry Into The Linux NAS Market @ Phoronix

  Published: Wednesday, August 24, 2011 | By: Dennis

  If you need to access files from more than one location you have a couple of options.  You can buy/build a network server to host those files and deal with all of the headaches associated  with it or buy a small NAS box, plug it in and forget about it.

  When talking about SilverStone Technology on Phoronix it's commonly about one of their wonderfully-designed computer cases that we have enjoyed reviewing over the past six years, one of their power supplies, or the few other product categories this Taiwanese manufacturer has explored. Among the more peculiar products from SilverStone has been the HDDBOOST, the Raven mouse, and the Treasure RFID Enclosure. What we have our hands on today is SilverStone's first entry into the single-drive Network Attached Storage (NAS) market. The SilverStone DC01 is an affordable Linux-based NAS server.

  Most NAS boxes run Linux but so far this is the first one from Silverstone and is worth checking out.

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• Cooler Master Notepal U Stand Launch Day

  Published: Tuesday, August 23, 2011 | By: Dennis

  One of the difficult things about using a laptop away from your desk is where do you put it?  Your lap tends to work quite well for this but doing so can sometimes lead to nasty burns and system overheating due to reduced cooling capacity.

  Cooler Master as a pretty good solution for you that does more than just elevate your laptop for easy access.

  Notepal U Laptop Cooler Reviews
  - Cooler Master Notepal U Stand @ LanOC Reviews
  - Cooler Master Notepal U Stand Laptop Cooler Review @ Bigbruin

  And its adjustable too.

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• NL: Review Block - Cards and Boards Extravaganza

  Published: Monday, August 22, 2011 | By: Dennis

  Seems I have been slacking on the whole posting news thing so here is a review block for your clicking enjoyment.

  Motherboards
  - Sapphire Pure Platinum H67 Socket 1155 Motherboard @ Pro-Clockers
  - GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD5 @ Bjorn3D
  - Asrock Fata1ty Z68 Professional Gen3 1155 Motherboard @ Pro-Clockers
  - Sapphire Pure Platinum Z68 Motherboard Review @ Kitguru
  - Sapphire Pure Platinum Z68 @ PureOverclock
  - Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD4-B3 Intel P67 Motherboard Review @ PCSTATS
  - MSI Intel 1155 Z68 PCI Express 3.0 Motherboard Z68A-GD65G3 @ TechwareLabs
  - ASRock Z68 Professional Fatal1ty Gen.3 @ PureOverclock
  - ASUS Maximus IV Extreme @ Bjorn3D
  - MSI Z68A GD80 G3 PCIe Gen 3.0 motherboard review
  
  Video Cards
  - Zotac GTX 560 Multiview Video Card @ TechwareLabs
  - ASUS MARS II 3GB Dual GTX 580 Video Card Overclocked
  - ASUS Mars II 3 GB Dual GTX 580 @ techPowerUp
  - ASUS ROG MARS II 3GB Video Card Preview @ Legit Reviews
  - Asus ROG MARS II Graphics Card Review @ Kitguru
  - ASUS Republic of Gamers MARS II graphics card review
  - ASUS Mars II 3 GB Dual GTX 580 @ techPowerUp

  There should be two mobo reviews this week.  Be sure to check out our review of the Gigabyte G1 Sniper 2.

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• HP Kills TouchPad, Puts WebOS in Hibernation

  Published: Thursday, August 18, 2011 | By: Dennis

  Ouch!

  HP announced it will no longer produce hardware running its webOS mobile operating system, discontinuing operations on future TouchPad tablets and the Pre smartphone devices.
  
  “HP plans to announce that it will discontinue operations for webOS devices, specifically the TouchPad and webOS phones,” the company said in a statement. “HP will continue to explore options to optimize the value of webOS software going forward.”
  

  -- snip --

  The news comes in the wake of a huge announcement from Google earlier this week, when the Mountain View company announced its acquisition of hardware company Motorola Mobility Holdings for $12.5 billion. Traditionally a software-only company, Google is making its first foray into the hardware business. (The company did test the waters slightly with recent partnerships with Samsung and Acer, which both make the Chrome OS-powered Chromebook.)
  
  The news of the Motorola acquisition set the technology world abuzz, with pundits speculating that Google would alienate its other hardware partners — HTC, Samsung, LG and Sony Ericsson. The new relationship between Google and Motorola could make Google’s partners wary that competitor Motorola may be privy to inside information on Android, cutting others out of the loop.

  This isn't really the best time to be killing your mobile platform, but considering how slow HP moves and how poorly WebOS has done the decision was likely driven to stop the cash hemorrhage and stay in the green.  

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• Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 Intel Z68 Motherboard Review @ PCSTATS

  Published: Tuesday, August 16, 2011 | By: Dennis

  If you are looking for a mainstream motherboard you can't go wrong with the UD3 line from Gigabyte.
  

  Today, the newest chipset for Intel processors is the Z68 Express and motherboards like the Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 which are built around it offer up a mainstream suite of capabilities and a kitchen sink full o'features. On the all important videocard front there are two options - integrated graphics via the board's HDMI/Display Port/DVI-D/Analog video outputs, or PCI Express based discrete graphics cards. In terms of videocards, the GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 motherboard will handle one PCI Express 2.0 x16 videocard in x16 mode or a pair of nVidia Geforce / ATI Radeon videocards in SLI or Crossfire, in x8/x8 mode.
  

  
  It is difficult to get upset with integrated graphics these days since the GPU is part of the processors but having the option to run multiple discrete graphic cards or stick with the onboard option gives you plenty of options when building a system.  And, well, this board can give you that.
  
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• Google To Buy Motorola Mobility For $12.5 Billion

  Published: Monday, August 15, 2011 | By: Dennis

  Looks like that new android phone I bought will soon be property of google.  So will this put Google on the same level as Apple?

  Google Inc. (GOOG) agreed to acquire Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. (MMI) for about $12.5 billion, a move that would make Google more competitive in the mobile-computing market.
  
  The deal, which comes just eight months after the split of Motorola Inc., would give Google control of Motorola Mobility's attractive patent portfolio after the Internet giant recently missed out on a bid for Nortel Networks Corp.'s (NRTLQ) portfolio. Google, which owns the fast-growing Android operating system used in millions of mobile phones, has a thin portfolio of wireless and telecommunications patents. 

  "They" seem to think so.

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• SilverStone Raven RV03 @ PureOverclock

  Published: Monday, August 15, 2011 | By: Dennis

  Believe it or not but there are some people out there, hardware reviewers included, that can't seem to understand the benefits to rotating your hardware 90 degrees.  Not only do you get better cooling but you clean up every side of the case with only a single bundle of cables coming out the back.

  One of SilverStone's newer chassis is the Raven 3 which is derived from the original Raven case. The Raven 3 is smaller in stature compared to the original but still packs an aesthetically pleasing punch.  The Raven 3 has been engineered for innovative heat dissipation, the fact that heat rises SilverStone has turned the motherboard 90°, and stacked all of the gear vertically rather than horizontally like what we typically see in other cases.

  The Raven design has improved quite a bit since its inception a few years ago and the 3rd one is looking like it will be the best one yet.

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