Tech News
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New Navigation Features Added
Published: Sunday, March 8, 2009 | By: DennisIn an attempt to make surfin Ninjalane a little easier I've changed a few things. With any luck the changes will appear seamless to you (and anyone else visiting the site) but some things are important to note.
There is a new table of contents added to the Reviews / Projects / Articles section to give you easier access to the different subcategories for our articles.
The URLs are now "hackable" (and no that's not an open invite to try and break stuff). The term hackable means you can navigate up and down the navigation tree and see the different parent/child relationships.
For instance reviews is now located at http://www.ninjalane.com/reviews if you want to view motherboard reviews the url will be http://www.ninjalane.com/reviews/motherboards and so on.
If you watch the URL as you click around the site the new format will become clear.
Happy surfing
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A Trip Down Memory Lane @ The Tech Report
Published: Thursday, March 5, 2009 | By: DennisI got a chance to meet the Tech Report guys at CES this year. I can't say I made a lasting impression but it was more like a "thanks" for being cool.
Speaking of cool stuff check out their latest blog posting, "A trip down memory lane."
Moving often involves getting rid of old and useless computer hardware. However, some components are simply too special or unique to toss out--even if they have no practical use. In his latest blog post, TR editor Geoff Gasior has listed some old (and not-so-old) hardware that's made it into the movers' truck: an original 3dfx Voodoo 2, a GeForce FX 5800 with the matching Dustbuster cooler, a SpaceOrb 360 game controller designed for late-1990s 3D games, and more.
In passing I have often mentioned "the closet" which is where i keep all of the old review hardware I want to keep for future reference. As of late the storage vessel has spilled over into some of the other spare rooms in the house and threatens to create a black hole of goodness.
I've saved some really good stuff over the years like the first motherboard I ever reviewed. Several unique Soltek motherboards (golden flame, violet eyes etc..) some of the first DFI LanParty boards in existence including the famed NF2 board from Oskar.
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NL: Gaming Review Roundups
Published: Wednesday, March 4, 2009 | By: WillHere is a few games for your PC to chew on. Check out our Palit GTS 250 review for the info on how it handles FEAR 2 in this roundup below.
FEAR 2: Project Origin @ TheTechLounge
"Fear 2 is a game for people who aren't alright with a safe world. Even a despotic world. Those places can be made safe with skill and determination, and a gigantic supply of ammunition. There's a grim glee in being scared, truly frightened, by something that isn't even real. Fear 2 is a place where the most dangerous place isn't tangible, but can and wants to kill you, because you're human and it isn't. Fear is an emotion worth stimulating."
Burnout Paradise Ultimate Box - PC Review @ Gamepyre
Burnout Paradise has certainly introduced some new features to the racing community but if you're thinking that just because this game won best racing game of 2008 it does not meant that the game is perfect by a long shot.
The game's graphics are not the sharpest graphics found in a racing game. The game's sound, while good is definitely not great. Even the controls and the gameplay could use a bit of improvement. What makes this game great is the fun factor and as long as players have fun playing a game, that game can stay fresh forever. Burnout Paradise: Ultimate Box will certainly remain fresh until EA will release the next Burnout game, but until that that happens you might as well try to own the streets of Paradise City. Multiplayer is the best aspect to this game; crashing into other real players is a lot of fun but if multiplayer is not your thing, unless you really like arcade style racing games, well, you know the rest....Enjoy!
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Details on the Palit GTS 250 2GB
Published: Tuesday, March 3, 2009 | By: DennisIn our recent review of the Palit GTS 250 we noticed the PCB color being the standard "green" well we like to see some variety in our lives and a nice sexy red does wonders when color matching.
Of instance this card would look right at home on a Foxconn BloodRage or even any of the DFI LanParty motherboards.
Here are some specs on the new card
2048MB memory on board
Higher Core Speed at 745MHz
Revolutionary cooling system
Native HDMI support
3-Way SLI® technology
4-Phase Power SupplyMemory: 2048MB/256bit - GDDR3
Graphics Clock : 745MHz
Memory Clock: 2000MHz (1000x2)
Processor Clock: 1850MHz
Video Support: Dual-link DVI,CRT, HDMINative HDMI yes finally some nicely formatted video for that gaming centric HTPC
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NL: Review Block - NVidia GeForce GTS 250 Reviews
Published: Tuesday, March 3, 2009 | By: WillIn honor of Ninjalane getting in on the GeForce GTS 250 action today. We decided to give our readers a chance to check out a few other sites reviews. Enjoy!
- EVGA GeForce GTS 250 Superclocked @ Techgage
- BFG GeForce GTS 250 OC 1GB Review @ OCC
- NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 technology preview @ Elite Bastards
- Nvidia's GeForce GTS 250 graphics card @ TechReport
- NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 Mainstream GPU @ HotHardware
- Gainward GeForce GTS 250 @ DriverHeaven
- Galaxy GeForce GTS 250 1GB Graphics Card @ TweakTown
- Palit GeForce GTS 250 @ Guru3D
- Palit GeForce GTS 250 @ PCPerspective
- Palit GeForce GTS 250 2048 MB @ techPowerUp
- EVGA GTS-250 1 GB Superclocked Edition @ Bjorn3DMore will be added as they come in.
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How to Install Vista on the ASUS P6T Deluxe with SAS RAID @ Legit Reviews
Published: Monday, March 2, 2009 | By: WillAt first glance, I had a small laugh at this articles name. Then I re-read it and it dawned on me that this is some good info for people. So for guys and gals that want to build a nice workstation without completely breaking the bank this is some good stuff here.
"In our review of the ASUS P6T Deluxe we noted that the motherboard was one of very few desktop boards to feature an on-board SAS controller. With this controller from Marvell, the board can just as easily function as an incredibly powerful and reliable workstation, or a monster gaming rig with ultra fast hard drives. Since there are a few different speed grades when it comes to SAS hard drives we aren't going to focus much on the speed of the drives, but simply how to get Windows Vista installed on a pair of drives in RAID 0 (stripe set)..."
Enjoy the read.
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NL: Review Block - Daily Roundup 3-2-2009
Published: Monday, March 2, 2009 | By: WillNinjalane Hardware Review Roundup for March 2, 2009.
Motherboards & Processors
- MSI X58 Platinum Review @ OCC
- Foxconn Renaissance Mainboard Final @ Technic3D
- ASUS M3A78-T AMD 790GX Socket AM2+ Motherboard Review @ PCStatsVideo Cards
- Palit GeForce GTX 260 Sonic 216SP 55nm Graphics Card @ Tweaktown
- Inno3D iChill GTX 260 896 MB (216 SP) @ techPowerUp
- XFX GTX285 and GTX295 @ InsideHWMemory
- Patriot Viper DDR3 1600 Tri Channel 6 GB Kit @ Bjorn3D
- Kingston HyperX T1 Series DDR3-2000 3GB Kit @ ThinkComputers
- Crucial Ballistix Tracers 6GB Kit @ Bjorn3DCases, Cooling, & PSUs
- OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W @ Phoronix
- Thermaltake SwordM Case @ Hardwarelogic
- Cooler Master V10 CPU Cooler Review @ Hardware CanucksMisc.
- Sunbeamtech Hard Drive Docking Station @ OCModShop
- Thecus N3200PRO @ TestFreaks
- Thecus N4100 Pro NAS Review @ Motherboards -
DFI LANParty Expands its Participation at CEBIT 2009
Published: Sunday, March 1, 2009 | By: DennisFrom the latest DFI Press Release
Hannover, 2009/02/27, DFI –DFI, Taipei, 20090227- To understand the needs of motherboard users, DFI will independently showcase its LANParty motherboard series in CEBIT 2009. The LANParty motherboard series are the end products of DFI’s R&D elites. The motherboards boast unparalleled performances in well-known industry tests and evaluations, no matter on an AMD or Intel platform. To many hard-core gamers, LANParty motherboards promise superb performance.
To give more users the opportunity to experience the outstanding effects of LANParty motherboards, DFI started to develop “CPU auto-upgrade technology” in 2007 and achieved related patents for the technology in 2008. In CeBIT 2009, DFI will announce ABS II for its LANParty customers, to achieve gaming performance a cut above others. DFI’s smallest gaming platform, the AM3 motherboard series, and its highly anticipated LANParty heat dissipation devices will also be showcased.
If you are interested to know more about our LANParty products, please visit our CeBIT 2009 booth for our animated and interactive product demonstrations. We will also update the latest exhibition news on our website www.LANParty.com.tw -
Windows 7 vs. Vista VGA Performance Analysis @ Tweaktown
Published: Friday, February 27, 2009 | By: WillThe way the Windows 7 train has been moving. It is just around the corner, and about to be upon us. So it is a good time to start looking at how the drivers and overall gaming performance of Windows 7 is doing.
"I'm one of those people who love Vista; I will openly admit it and honestly, from day one I've loved it. Over time it's only gotten better and as someone who loves their graphics cards and games, why would you not want to experience DirectX 10?
Today we want to see how VGA performance looks under the new Windows 7 in comparison to the now very well established Vista. We want performance to be close to Vista, but with Windows 7 still being in its Beta stage, we're not going to hold our breath."I still have not found the time to mess with Windows 7.
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DDR3 Round-Up: Memory Performance With The Core i7 @ HotHardware
Published: Wednesday, February 25, 2009 | By: WillHere is a nice little Round-Up for everyone on the fence about picking up an i7. At least the ram has been getting cheaper. Now if the processor and the motherboards prices come back down to earth, then it is all good.
"There's quite a lot of variance in DDR3 modules today, which can certainly be overwhelming for potential new buyers. While the Core i7 processor is officially rated to run at only DDR3-1066 speeds, modules that can run at DDR3-2000 or even higher are available for the Core i7, and many new motherboards support speeds even greater than these. There is also the introduction of huge 12 GB (6 x 2 GB modules) capacity kits to consider, and we have latencies in the CAS 7 to CAS 9 range, all of which affect pricing of these various modules kits dramatically.
Today, we're going to look at some of these new kits and see if we can break down what memory-related aspects users should look for when buying an X58 / Core i7 platform. We've got kits from big names like Corsair, Kingston, and OCZ in the labs. Let's try to clear up some questions, shall we?"Just checked Newegg, and the prices have fallen through the floor on some of this ram.
