Tech News
-
NL: Review Block - AMD Radeon HD 6990 - Dual GPU Monster
Published: Tuesday, March 8, 2011 | By: DennisLaunch day for the new AMD flagship GPU the Radeon HD6990
Video Cards - HD 6990
- AMD Radeon HD 6990 review @ Guru3D
- AMD Radeon HD 6990 4GB Dual GPU Video Card Review @ Legit Reviews
- AMD HD6990 Review @ KitGuru
- AMD HD6990 review @Bjorn3D
- AMD's Radeon HD 6990 graphics card @ Techreport
- PowerColor Radeon HD 6990 CrossFire @ techPowerUp
- ASUS Radeon HD 6990 4 GB @ techPowerUp
- AMD Radeon HD 6990 Review: Antilles Has Arrived @ HotHardware
- AMD Radeon HD 6990 4GB graphics card reviewed and rated @ Hexus
- AMD Radeon HD 6990 Graphics Card Review @ HardwareHeaven
- AMD Radeon HD 6990 4GB Review @ Hardware Canucks
- OC3D: PowerColor HD6990 Crossfire ReviewNow to decide, do we all upgrade from our HD 6970's or modded HD 6950's or stay with what we bought?
-
EK Waterblocks full cover block for the Asus Rampage III Extreme Review @ Madshrimps
Published: Tuesday, March 8, 2011 | By: DennisWatercooling has really left the limelight now that it has been commercialized but that doesn't mean it is gone. In fact it has become quite big and is a common upgrade in most enthusiast systems.
Here we have a bunch of full coverage motherboard waterblocks, after trolling over the waterblock review be sure to read our review of the Asus Rampage III Extreme.Ever tried to keep your X58 motherboards IOH and ICH temps at a reasonable operating temperatures ? To be honest most of the stock heatsinks really need some help as they are underdimensioned and/or lack an active fan. Temperatures over 65°C are very comon. Many watercooling companies jumped on the wagon to manufacture a all in one cooling solution for all the hot parts of the mainboard. No seperate waterblocks for the IOH and ICH chipset or PWM area. One block that cools down the hottest parts of your favoruite motherboard. EK Waterblocks was so kind to send us their clear nickel plated version for the Asus Rampage 3 Extreme
Of the enthusiast motherboards on the market, the Rampage III Extreme is likely the best candidate for the upgrade especially if you plan to overclock or want to keep system temps in check while still maintaining a low system noise level.
-
Beginner's Guide to HTPC Software @ MissingRemote
Published: Tuesday, March 8, 2011 | By: DennisOne of the hardest things about building a HTPC is deciding what software to use and with any software package there is usually a learning curve to a) decide if it will meet your needs and b) determine how to get it installed.
These things alone prompt me to shy away from installing some packages that may otherwise be really good.
Each one of these has their pros and cons. If you are using Mac OSX, you don't have many choices beyond Front Row and Plex (below). If you're using Linux, honestly you're probably not reading this guide due to limited options as well--MythTV (below as well). So that leaves Windows users . This is at least 90% of you out there, and most likely what everyone reading this is interested in. Let's take a look at some HTPC software programs and cover some of their pros and cons. By no means is this full in-depth, but should be a good starting point.
Guides like this are actually a good starting point.
-
The Real Differences Between 16-Bit and 24-Bit Audio @ Tested
Published: Monday, March 7, 2011 | By: DennisJust in case you were ever wondering why people say 24-bit audio is better but then turn around and claim it doesn't really matter.
When it comes to judging digital music quality, the discussion usually begins and ends with bitrate. A song encoded at 320 kilobits/second is going to sound a whole lot better than a song with a 128kbps bitrate, right? Well, sure, but it’s a bit more complicated than that. Bitrate stems from two different elements: bit depth and sample rate. Here’s where we can understand the difference between 16-bit and 24-bit audio.
Bit depth is essentially the number of bits you have to contain a piece of audio--the range from the imperceptible whispers of virtually no sound to the loudest noise a piece of audio gear can crank out. The difference between 16-bit audio and 24-bit audio isn’t just a matter of eight bits.This is a good read, I would encourage you all to give it a look.
-
ASUS Rampage III Extreme Black Edition - Layout and Design @ ocaholic
Published: Friday, March 4, 2011 | By: DennisNormally these short unboxing style reviews really bother me but I'll make an exception in this case, but only because it's a damn pretty board.
With the Rampage III Extreme Black Edition, ASUS is planning the next strike in the high-end gaming and overclocking market. This board will come with a lot of features like for example an additional Xonar soundcard as well as a Bigfoot Killer NIC network card. For overclockers they further refined the power design and they've also overworked the BIOS and added some new options.
This reminds me of the EVGA X58 SLI LE we reviewed last year. Badass black PCB with sweet grey accents. It's too bad they couldn't color code the memory tabs.
-
Musing on the state of motherboards @ Techreport
Published: Friday, March 4, 2011 | By: DennisI wouldn't post anything like this but it is actually a good read, here is a snip from the intro.
Manufacturers routinely ask us what we think of their current products and what we'd like to see from future ones. Sometimes, I get the impression that they're genuinely interested in our input. Other times, I feel like my girlfriend is asking me what she should wear. My suggestion of a particular tank top, short jean skirt, and knee-high American Apparel socks—you know the ones I'm talking about—inevitably falls on deaf ears. She's only interested in my opinion if it aligns with an outfit already on her mind. And that's never it.
I do believe that current motherboard designs could be improved but I also know why certain styles of boards are designed to be stark and devoid of the luxuries. What would be nice is instead of 5 different motherboards they release one single board design that does everything.
Now that would be something to see.
-
SilverStone Fortress FT03 Mini-Tower Chassis Review @ Techgage
Published: Friday, March 4, 2011 | By: DennisIt has been awhile since we have heard from Silverstone, I'm actually wondering what they have been up to.
The benefits of building a small PC are easy to understand, but what's not always easy is finding an ideal case to store all of the components in. Well, for those looking for something a bit different, SilverStone has its Fortress FT03... an offering that must be seen to be appreciated. It's a tower, yet small, and has huge aesthetic appeal.
FT03 W00t! It's that trash can looking case we got pictures of during the last Computex.
-
Chinese activists disappear amid calls for protests
Published: Thursday, March 3, 2011 | By: DennisDo you want to know the best way to keep your people happy and prevent them from revolting? You do the same thing you do when eating grapes that might have stayed in the bag a little too long. Pick out the bad ones and wash the rest.
If you are surprised to see this news report from China, then start reading more news.
BEIJING - Chinese human rights activists have been disappearing ever since a mysterious call went out on the Internet for a "Jasmine Revolution" similar to the uprisings against authoritarian regimes in the Middle East - a call that was made again this week.
Jiang Tianyong, an activist lawyer in Beijing, vanished Feb. 19, a day before the protests called for in Internet postings in the Chinese capital. Jiang has not been heard from since. The mysterious group running the website called this week for fresh protests Sunday.To be honest this would be the scariest thing about working in China, or any communist controlled country. We think it is wrong only because we don't understand how different our countries are.
-
5.96GHz Overclock with P67A-UD7 and 2600K lands on HWBOT
Published: Wednesday, March 2, 2011 | By: DennisFrom the land of HWBot someone has posted a 5.96Ghz overclock using the 2600K and P67A-UD7 (yes the recalled on due to the chipset issue)
The only way i can describe what I’ve seen last night on HWBOT is an all out blitzkrieg on Sandy Bridge overclocking by a German OCer SuicidePhoenix, just wow. He posted a CPUz validation at 5961MHz using a GIGABYTE P67A-UD7 and 2600K CPU.
I found it particularly impressive that he did not hold back when it came to RAM either, running 1096MHz 7-7-7-21. It’s obviously telling how comfortable he is with such huge RAM clocks he is getting from GIGABYTE’s flagship board.The cool thing is I (yes me) was able to post 5.78Ghz using a 2600K on the Gigabyte P67A-UD7 which landed me in on the CPUz front page for that processor. Kudos goes out to Gigabyte for building such a great board. I so suspect my processor can go higher however condensation stopped my efforts before I could fully max out the chip.
Given how good my chip seems to be I'll be doing my best to improve my ranking, I just need time and better ram.
-
NL: Review Block - Cards Boards Cooling and Storage
Published: Tuesday, March 1, 2011 | By: DennisReviews from around the web. In this edition we have a nice cross section of Video cards, some Gigabyte Motherboards, a few coolers for a hot CPU and SSD Storage soluations to round things out.
Video Cards
- HIS Radeon HD 6970 Turbo FAN 2GB review
- PowerColor HD 6970 PCS+ 2 GB @ techPowerUp
- EVGA GTX 560 Ti SC @ PureOverclock
- Sparkle ONE GTS 450 1GB OC Single Slot Review @ Hardware Canucks
- Gigabyte GTX 560 Ti Super Overclock Graphics Card Review @ HardwareHeaven
- AMD teases us with HD6990 board shots and Eyefinity Dragon Age II
Motherboards
- GIGABYTE G1-Killer Motherboard Launch / LAN Party Coverage @ Hardware Canucks
- GIGABYTE G1 Assassin (Intel X58 Express) Motherboard Preview
Cooling
- Arctic Freezer 13 Cpu Cooler @ Rbmods
- Be Quiet Silent Wings USC 12cm Review @ XSReviews
- Arctic Cooling Freezer 13 Pro CPU Cooler Review @ Legit Reviews
- Evercool Transformer 4 Plus @ PureOverclock
Storage
- Corsair Force F90 90GB Solid-State Drive Review @ Techgage
- OCZ RevoDrive 50GB PCIe Solid State Drive @ Pro-Clockers
- Pushing The Limits of SSD Storage at 2.4GB/s @ The SSD ReviewStay tuned, mobo reviews coming this week.
