Tech News
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Corsair SP2500 2.1 Gaming Speakers Review @ Techgage
Published: Friday, March 11, 2011 | By: DennisWait!?! what? Corsair is making speaker systems now? It might be hard to believe but Corsair has been branching out in an attempt to expand their product line and diversify the portfolio.
I did get an introduction to these speakers at CES and while the display demo sounded great it wasn't until I started talking with them about actual speaker specs and design that I realized Corsair had done their homework. Sadly doing your homework is sometimes only part of the story.With the launch of its HS1 headset last fall, Corsair proved that the audio market wasn't one it was planning on jumping into without first making sure that its products would impress. But what about those gamers that don't like to use headphones? The answer is the SP2500, a speaker set with a unique design, and a lot of power.
Do check out the review at Techgage while I finish up this news post with a little rant of my own.
The one thing that Corsair did that really disgusted me was when they called their subwoofer system a "4th order". Anyone that knows anything about speaker box design knows that "4th order" was a marketing term created in the early days of car audio (I believe by MTX) to describe the more technical term of "Single Reflex Bandpass" Ie a subwoofer placed in an enclosure where the back of the speaker is sealed (with a tuned volume) and the front of the speaker is facing another sealed enclosure with a tuned vent.
The reason for this is simply to tune the subwoofer to a certain frequency and make that limited range very efficient. Sadly the problem associated with this kind of enclosure design is limited bass response due to the non-tuned frequencies being muffled and basically filtered out. Yes you get hard hitting bass but not fluid base response.
Then again it is more about what the end result, and it would seem this is what Corsair bought in to. -
OC3D: ThermoLab Trinity Review
Published: Friday, March 11, 2011 | By: DennisI love this quote to describe the review.
The Thermolab Trinity gets the OC3D Heatsink torture treatment.
We have looked at a Thermolab cooler in the past and found the performance to be exceptional over both OEM and other high end cooling solutions. The Trinity takes many of those concepts and improves on them. For instance the heatsink is now a core contact design and while we often consider these coolers to be inferior they do well if you stay below their thermal boundaries.
Look for our review of the Thermolab Trinity in the next couple days.
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NL: Review Block - Quest for Uncommon Video Cards
Published: Friday, March 11, 2011 | By: DennisOne of the unfortunate things about high end computer hardware is that some (if not all) is rarely sold in the US. We used to pay special attention to hardware like this since it helped the site stand out, however, as you can imagine it is difficult to obtain review samples when your website is US based and the company has no market.
Here are a few video cards you will rarely see for sale in the US.
- Sparkle Calibre X580 Video Card Review @ Madshrimps
- Zotac Geforce GTX 570 Review @ Tweaknews
- Gainward GeForce GTX 570 Phantom Review @ TweakPC
- Geforce GTX 570 SLI Performance @ HardwareoverclockFunny thing is I believe Sparkle has their US offices in Miami, you'd think their presence would be bigger.
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6 Things You Should NEVER Buy Used
Published: Thursday, March 10, 2011 | By: DennisThe top 6 things you should never buy used? You might be surprised what is on the list.
The weak economy has many cash-strapped consumers opting to purchase items secondhand, but buyers beware: Not all items are fit to be purchased used.
"When the economy first bottomed out, a lot of people shopped resale for the first time," says Adele Meyer, executive director of National Association of Resale Professionals. "And once they get that first bargain, they're hooked, there's a real thrill to finding something that you get such a good buy on."I know several people who check out at Craigslist on a daily basis looking for deals on just about anything. While you can find some great deals on Craigslist you have to ask yourself, do you really need all of that stuff? Along the same lines, are you really saving when you buy used?
Don't get me wrong I love to search ebay for computer hardware, you always run the risk that the gear will be dead or damaged during shipping but, if you can get the item at a fraction of the cost it can be worth it, especially if it's no longer in production and/or you need something specific.
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NL: Review Block - Motherboards
Published: Thursday, March 10, 2011 | By: DennisNormally I like to do full news postings on motherboard reviews but when there are a bunch in the news box it makes sense to group them into a review block.
Motherboards
- Gigabyte 890GPA-UD3H Motherboard Review @ GeekInvaders
- Asus Crosshair IV Extreme AMD 890FX Motherboard @ HotHardware
- Sapphire Pure Black X58 LGA1366 Motherboard Review @ Hardware Canucks
- ASRock Fatal1ty P67 Professional Series @ PureOverclock
- Gigabyte's Fusion-infused GA-E350N-USB3 motherboard @ TR
- ASUS P7P55D-E Pro LGA 1156 Intel P55 @ techPowerUp
- Gigabyte G1 Assassin and Intel Core i7 990X Extreme Edition Review – 5ghz @ KitGuru
- GIGABYTE G1.Assassin @ Bjorn3D
- GIGABYTE P67A-UD4 Motherboard Performance Review @ Legit ReviewsBe sure to check out our latest review the Asus Rampage III Extreme. A gamers toy for the hardware enthusiast.
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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?
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
