Tech News

  • nVidia Press Conference - Live Blog

    Published: Thursday, January 7, 2010 | By: Dennis

    Its the dawn of CES Day 1 and the first event on the agenda is a press conference with nVidia.  They will be re-broadcasting the press event via the web and might be worth listening to. 

    Check it out below. 

    Today's the big day and we're at the Shimmer Cabaret, in the Hilton Las Vegas getting ready to start our press conference. For those who can't make it here in-person, we'll kick off the liveblog at 10:30 am PST or you can tune into the live audiocast on our CES site: www.nvidia.com/ces2010.

    Never know you might even hear yours truley ask some really dumb questions. big grin smile 

  • CES: ASUS NX90 Bang & Olufsen ICEpower Notebook: A Duet of Style and Sonority

    Published: Tuesday, January 5, 2010 | By: Dennis

    One of the benefits of getting to CES early is that you get to partake of some of the pre-show press releases.  On the surface these press conferences are extremely boring but they help to explain some of the stuff that we all get to see when the show actually starts.

    One of the coolest items they had announced is this laptop and is really more than a desktop replacement for the home that is not only convenient but brings style into the mix as well.

    ASUS NX90 Bang & Olufsen ICEpower Notebook: A Duet of Style and Sonority
    Atelier craftsmanship and cutting-edge technology seamlessly meld together in the luxurious ASUS NX90 Bang & Olufsen ICEpower notebook. Designed by award-winning B&O Chief Designer David Lewis, the NX90 is a study in sublime contrasts, featuring a polished aluminum exterior and palm rest that match beautifully to the matte-black keyboard and dual touchpads. Two speakers featuring ICEpower technology flank a display reminiscent of high-end consumer flat screen televisions. Exclusive Sonic Focus technology helps to ensure that all audio is reproduced as flawlessly as possible. The NX90 also offers a unique way to interact with the system, in the form of dual touch pads. These work in concert with the Rotation Desktop software to provide users with an intuitive DJ-like control.

    This is by far one of the coolest things I have seen in terms of a laptop for the home. cool smile

  • Clash of the Drivers @ InsideHW

    Published: Tuesday, January 5, 2010 | By: Will

    Here is some info to read for you guys that love to jump onto the newest drivers out there. You might want to stop and think about it first to see if is really going to help you out. This little article will give you some idea on what your looking for.

    Therefore, the advice of keeping the video drivers always up to date, which can be heard in the circles of enthusiasts, should be taken with caution: depending on the generation of card you use and the games that you play most often, the gain in speed will often be indistinguishable, and it's not impossible to see a performance drop.

    Enjoy!tongue smile

  • Intel's Core i3/i5 and Core Mobile processors reviewed @ TR

    Published: Monday, January 4, 2010 | By: Will

    The mobile Core i3/i5 are showing up and are the ideal platform for the intergrated graphics on these processors. These new processor should sell like hot cakes. We at Ninjalane cannot wait to get ahold of one of these guys. 

    Intel's Nehalem microarchitecture has gone entirely mainstream with the arrival of the dual-core desktop processors code-named Clarkdale. This release also marks two major milestones: the first 32-nm processor, and the first major desktop CPU with integrated graphics. But is it a peanut butter and Vegemite sandwich? Hmm.

    Think I just figured out my next laptop buy. cool smile

  • Intel i5 661 3.33GHz Dual Core CPU @ Bjorn3D

    Published: Sunday, January 3, 2010 | By: Will

    The next big thing for Intel is not only having a i5 dual core processor, but having intergrated graphics in the chip as well. Then to top it off the chip is on the new 32nm size as well. Plus some room for overclocking maybe?

    It's that time of year again, Christmas is in the air, the smell of pine trees gracing the lab, CES just around the corner, and above all else the smell of a new CPU going through burn in testing on the test rig.

    Intel was nice enough to send in one of their LGA 1156 i5 661 32nm dual core CPU's that run at a blistering 3.33GHz out of the box. They also sent in an LGA 1156 DH55TC motherboard which is primarily designed for HTPC/Media applications. We'll be taking a look at both with the primary focus on the CPU with it's newly integrated graphics that sit on the processor itself. Yes Intel has delivered a CPU with graphics integrated on the CPU.

    We can hear the groans from the serious enthusiasts already, 'Oh no integrated graphics'. Well we were a little skeptical ourselves until we ran it. It's not a powerhouse integrated graphics but it's more than adequate for Blu-Ray playback, light gaming, and most end users won't need anything more powerful than the integrated graphics built into the chip. That's saying a lot for an integrated graphics solution. We also ran the i5 661 in a high end Asus Maximus 3 board with a discrete GPU to see if the integrated graphics were going to interfere with discrete GPU usage and had no problems with running several discrete GPU's we tried so if integrated graphics isn't what you need the i5 661 will allow you to go to a discrete GPU. Before you think discrete GPU though you might want to look at the 3DMark Vantage results on the Intel HD integrated graphics.

    Hey, What The...wasn't AMD supposed to have this out first. big grin smile

  • NL: Case & PSU Roundup

    Published: Sunday, January 3, 2010 | By: Will

    We have been getting a few Case & PSU reviews starting to stack up from around the net. So why not do a roundup.

    Case

    - XClio Nighthawk Case Review @ DriverHeaven
    - Thermaltake Element V Big Tower Computer Case Review @ TweakPC
    - NZXT Lexa S Case @ Rbmods
    - Zalman MS1000-HS2 Professional Tower @ Pro-Clockers
    - Azza Helios 910R ATX Mid Tower Case Review @ BayReviews
    - NZXT Gamma Mid Tower Case Review @ ThinkComputers

    PSU

    - Zalman ZM600-RS 600 Watt Power Supply @ Pro-Clockers
    - Thermaltake Evo_Blue 750 watt PSU @ Bjorn3D
    - Ultra X4 Fully Modular 850 Watt Power Supply Review @ Tweaknews
    - Nexus RX-6300 PSU @ Rbmods

  • Dual Processor 1366 Motherboard for Enthusiasts

    Published: Friday, January 1, 2010 | By: Dennis

    This might be the coolest thing I have ever seen.  EVGA has released a teaser pic for a new motherboard that will be on display at CES.  So far there are no details beyond what you can see in the photo but rumors have speculated that the dual processor board will come in the typical "Classified" trim and color scheme.

    For years I have been telling the various motherboard makers that we really need a dual processor enthusiast motherboard and something that doesn't require the extremely slow ECC Registered memory.  Well it seems that EVGA might have finally paid attention.

    You can be assured that this board will most likely require XEON based Intel processors and while an enthusiast platform would suggest overclocking it will ultimately come down to memory support and power delivery.

    I have a meeting scheduled with EVGA during CES so stay tuned for more details behind this board and other cool things from EVGA.

  • Happy New Year from Ninjalane

    Published: Thursday, December 31, 2009 | By: Dennis

    On behalf of Ninjalane I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year.

    2010 is a huge milestone for Ninjalane and marks 10 Years of hardware review, overclocking, mods and more.  While we celebrate our past achievements and look towards the dawn of another 10 years I thank you.

    Have a good one!

    See you all in 2010 big grin smile

  • ASRock ION 330HT Nettop Review @ ThinkComputers

    Published: Thursday, December 31, 2009 | By: Will

    We first had the Netbook platform that really swept the laptop area big time. Now it looks like the tiny systems are ready to take on the desk solutions. To be honest these look to be a great way to add a touchscreen computer into about any place in the home. This is without sacrificing to much space or power at that.

    "Home Theatre PC's or HTPC's have been around for a few years now and are very popular. Most people use their old PC for a HTPC. The problem with that is that they are loud, not that powerful, and take up a lot of space. Well ASRock has got your HTPC needs covered with the ION 330HT Nettop that is capable of full 1080p high definition video playback and true-fidelity 7.1 surround sound audio. This system is powered by a Dual Core Intel Atom 330 (1.6GHz) processor, NVIDIA ION Graphics Processor, 2GB DDR2-800 memory, 320GB hard drive, DVD player and even WiFi!"

    On agenda to check out at CES.happy smile

  • NL: PC Game Reviews Roundup

    Published: Thursday, December 31, 2009 | By: Will

    Here is a few games to bring in the New Year for some PC gamers.

    Left 4 Dead 2 @ LanOC Reviews

    One of the most surprising announcements at last year's E3 was that Valve's zombie-survival thriller Left 4 Dead was already getting a sequel. The game would only have been out for exactly one year from Left 4 Dead 2's date of arrival, November 17, 2009. The gaming industry was swept with a broad range of emotions, from excitement to enough resentment to incite a boycott. Left 4 Dead 2 (L4D2) has been out for a few weeks now, and we've sat down with it to see if it not only has deemed itself worthy of a full core game, but helped to heal the wounds that a rocky launch left behind. 

    Resident Evil 5 Review @ ocaholic

    With the first part of Resident Evil back in 1996 Capcom did pioneers work regarding horror shooters. A good story, small quests and an a terrifc atmosphere were able to chain lots of players to the PSone. Meanwhile the horror goes into the fifth round and if the brand Resident Evil still stands for solid action and awsome horror that's what we will show in the following pages. But be careful, it could infect you!