Tech News
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EVGA SR-2 Experience Articles
Published: Thursday, August 5, 2010 | By: DennisHere we have one of the most powerful enthusiast ready motherboards in the world. I have lusted over a dually motherboard like this ever since my first SMP experience over 10 years ago. Why so long? Well sadly when Intel branched the CPU lines to create Xeon processor it also limited what motherboard makers could do with them. Now keep in mind it wasn't that they "couldn't" do anything, but rather it was not in their best interest to dedicate any development time to a niche product that consumers wouldn't understand or want to afford. Not to mention the niche was too small to make a return on any sort of investment.
The one thing the EVGA SR-2, dually CPU, overclocking goodness brings to the table is proof that a company can do something with server/workstation hardware, and do it well. It also forces hardware sites to actually invest in supercooling and overclocking gear just to review the board.
- eVGA SR2 - preparation update article Part 2 @ KitGuru
- The Ultimate Performance PC: EVGA & Intel Infused @ HotHardware
Reviews and experience articles related to the EVGA SR-2 keep trickling in so stay tuned. Never know we might even be able to review the motherboard before year out.
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NL: Review Block: Kitchen Sink and Cooling
Published: Thursday, August 5, 2010 | By: DennisNothing like a review block to get your mouse finger working. Then again you likely clicked on something to get here, go figure.
Cooling
- CoolIT Systems Vantage A.L.C. CPU Cooler @ Tweaktown
- CoolIT ECO A.L.C CPU Cooler Review @ Hardware Canucks
- Funky Kit Review: Noctua NH-D14 CPU cooler
- Arctic Cooling Breeze Mobile Fan @ techPowerUp
- Gelid Icy Vision Video Card GPU Cooler Review @ Legit Reviews
Controllers
- OC3D: NZXT Sentry 2 LXE Fan Controller Review
Power
- Choiix Power Fort Portable Charger Review @ OCIA
- Corsair AX1200 Power Supply Review @ HardwareHeaven
- OCZ StealthXStream 2 600 W Power Supply Review @ KitGuru
Stuff
- Ripping Your Blu-rays the Easy and Free Way @ TechgageStay tuned, more to come.
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Enzotech Stealth CPU Water Block @ PureOverclock
Published: Thursday, August 5, 2010 | By: DennisNow that watercooling has gone mainstream you don't see much in the way of new DIY Waterblock designs so when a new block hits the street it tends to get some attention.
This block is based on the new microfin design and comes with a guide plate to direct the water where it needs to be, not a bad configuration.The Enzotech Stealth CPU water block has a design that is apparently inspired by the F-117 Nighthawk jet fighter built with stealth technology. They didn't just use the Stealth name to represent the quiet operation, but also the aesthetics as well. Fortunately, PureOC's radar detected the Stealth CPU water block in the hangar and we're lucky enough to have captured one for review. Today's mission is to take a tour of this new flagship CPU water block from Enzotech, so strap in flyboy, you're the wingman for the review.
Provided you can get past the jet references the review is pretty good.
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Darn Those RootKits - Arrggg
Published: Tuesday, August 3, 2010 | By: DennisWell a computer was brought to me last night that was infected with a nasty trojan/rootkit and a variety of other things which makes you wonder.. Shouldn't your antivirus be able to detect and remove such infections?? I mean that is one of the main reasons for having the software to begin with, so what good does it do to block the bad stuff "after" the infection if it let the thing install in the first place.
So I would like to thank all of the virus writers out there, good job guys, you not only proved you are better than the dopey programmers at Microsoft, but you also fuxX0ring wasted my entire evening.
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Exclusive Sneak Peek: DefCon Ninja Party Badge
Published: Saturday, July 31, 2010 | By: DennisNow here is a hacking group that knows how to get people's attention. Their name isn't too bad either.
DefCon, the world’s largest hacker convention, is more than just a group of hackers getting together to exchange the latest exploit code and hacking techniques. It’s a time for hackers who may only see one another once a year, to socialize face to face. One of the most exclusive venues for fraternizing at DefCon is the Ninja party. To attend the party attendees have to know one of the Ninjas and they have to give them a badge.
I am very impressed with the board design. not only is it red, but has some art in there too. Good Job guys!
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X58 Motherboard Roundup July 2010 @ HardwareHeaven
Published: Friday, July 30, 2010 | By: DennisRoundups are a fun way to see related products side by side thru the eyes of a single reviewer. The only downside to round-ups is that they never include "every" product you think they should be covering.
This X58 round up from HardwareHeaven features boards from ASRock, ASUS, Gigabyte, and MSI. In fact there are 3 ASUS boards listed covering various segments in the market.
Today we look at a number of boards designed for those who must have the best products available, at any price. However we also like a little bit of balance in our lives so we have selected a few boards which focus on other aspects such as value. Join us as we take a look at what the latest developments on the X58 market are; in a selection of tests including video encoding, SATA3/USB3 performance and overclocking we will discover which boards offer the best for each consumer.
For those of you interested in the Gigabyte UD9 there are a few pictures in the review along with some performance numbers. The only issue is the numbers are so close they all easily fall within the margin of error, thus giving us no clear "winner" (as if we need one)
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Auzentech X-Meridian 7.1 2G Exclusive Preview @ Guru3D
Published: Friday, July 30, 2010 | By: DennisMaybe one of the coolest sound cards in existence, the article is just a preview of the card so don't expect anything more than a few pretty pictures.
We have an exclusive sneak preview of the Auzentech X-Meridian 7.1 2G soundcard. This card also marks a move back to the highly popular 8788 based chipset (at least for this model) that has been seen on some of the best sounding cards built to date.
It is too bad they are still using the PCI interface; however the rest of the card is choice for the audio enthusiast. -
Wikileaks confirmed: A plan to kill American geologist with poison beer
Published: Wednesday, July 28, 2010 | By: DennisThis is just wrong on so many levels. I know some of you are saying "that is why I don't drink beer" while others are saying "Silly Afgans, you can't learn about beer culture by watching "The Fast and Furious" with that Dom guy"
My opinion, I like beer, almost as much as Pepsi. However if presented with the situation below I might have laughed and then promptly thrown the bottle out the window.
The Corona bottle sat on his counter for the next two weeks Yeager says, because Corona is one of his least favorite beers. He finally opened it during a going away party as the other drinks began to run low.
"I pulled it out and when I popped it there was no fizz and the cap was loose," says Yeager. "Because this one didn't have fizz you wonder if it went rancid or not, and I just kind of sniffed it and I went 'Oh, that doesn't smell like beer.' "
Funny thing after reading this I remember a scene in an old James Bond film (Dr. No I believe) where James comes back to his hotel room only to find that someone had been there while he was out. He seemed to have expected that so went over to fix himself a drink. As he picked up his bottle of vodka he had a second though, stopped, took a sniff, then recapped the bottle and grabbed a fresh one from another drawer.
The lesson here, watch what you drink and if you do drink buy the booze yourself. Also (on the flip side) if you are going to poison a drink, take some time and at least research your target and their culture. At least then the story might reflect that you aren't a total and complete fuxX0ring idiot. -
NL: Review Block - SSD Storage Systems
Published: Wednesday, July 28, 2010 | By: DennisPCI Express SSD drives are a convenient way to bypass the limitations of a SATA controller, however until now they have been cost prohibitive to most people with human sized pools of money.
Here are a couple reviews related to the new SSD "card" from OCZ
- OCZ RevoDrive 120GB PCI-Express SSD Review @ Legit Reviews
- OCZ Revo 120GB PCI Express SSD Performance Preview @ Techgage
For those looking for something more traditional there are several options including a C300 drive from Crucial.
- Corsair Force 120GB Solid State Drive Review @ Hardware Canucks
- OCZ Vertex 2 Extended SSD Review @ TweakPC
- G.Skill Phoenix Pro 120 SSD Review @ TweakPC (these are "de" so be sure to click the US flag in the corner)
- OCZ Agility 2 SandForce-based 60GB Solid State Drive @ Pro-Clockers
- Crucial C300 256GB SSD Review @ KitGuru
For something even stranger check out the Silverstone HDDBoost designed to speed up rotational drives with an SSD backer.
- SilverStone HDDBoost Review @ BURNED iN
On a side, and somewhat unrelated note, I have finally filled up my 1TB network storage array. The array has been comprised of 3x 500GB Seagate drives in a RAID 5 and up until now has been my main storage platform. I guess it might be time to replace those 500GB drives with their 1TB counterparts and expand the logical drive.
Try doing that with SSD! -
NL: Review Block - Motherboard Goodness
Published: Wednesday, July 28, 2010 | By: DennisBeen awhile since I posted anything motherboard related, here is what landed in the Inbox from sites around the web.
Motherboard Reviews
- Gigabyte 890FXA-UD5 @ Techgage
- Gigabyte H55N-USB3 ITX Motherboard Review @ Madshrimps
- MSI Big Bang XPOWER Motherboard @ TechwareLabs
- MSI Big Bang XPower Intel X58 Motherboard Review @ OCIA
- MSI Big Bang XPower @ PureOverclock
- EVGA P55 FTW Overclocking Mainboard Review @ TweakPC
- iXBT Labs Review: Foxconn H55MX-S Motherboard
- ASUS Rampage III Gene Motherboard @ Tweaktown
- Funky Kit Review: Gigabyte P55 USB3 motherboard
- Asus Rampage III Extreme - Overclocking Hero @ ocaholicIt would seem that "somebody" was able to secure a UD9
- Gigabyte X58A-UD9 review @ t-break
