Tech News
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"In The Beginning" - My First Computer @ PCMECH
Published: Monday, May 12, 2008 | By: DennisThis is soooo cool!, I mean granted this is old talking about old but my first computer was a Tandy 1000 SX. Basically the upgraded version of the one in this article. Mine started out with 384KB of RAM and 2x 5.25 DD floppy disks. I later upgraded it to 640KB of RAM and added a 2400 Baud modem so I could surf the BBS'es
It was the Shiz!
Ahh yes, the many hours of NetHack I could talk about, at one point the saved game got so huge I had to save the game files to the secondary 5.25 just so I could load the thing. I also setup a RamDisk to make level loading faster and was actually the first time I thought 1MB of RAM would be beneficial.
Sadly those days have passed and the ole Tandy 1000 was given to the Youth Ranch as a donation.
The Tandy 1000, introduced in 1984, was manufactured to compete directly with the IBM PC. The one I had came standard 128Kb of RAM, one double density 5.25″ floppy disk drive and a 16 color RGB monitor. As add-ons, dad had the foresight to also purchase a matching dot-matrix printer and a Tandy joystick.
Not sure I would ever go back to those days but it's good to imagine.
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CPU3D Review: Coolermaster Hyper Z600 CPU Cooler @ CPU3D
Published: Friday, May 9, 2008 | By: WillThis new cooler from Coolermaster is just jaw dropping on the passive mode.
"The cooling performance of the Coolermaster Hyper Z600 is very good for a passive CPU cooler. What really makes this cooler shine is the total silence ... of course it has no fans!"
For you guys that like zero fan noise this is the heatsink to be looking at.
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EVGA 750i SLI FTW @ HardOCP
Published: Friday, May 9, 2008 | By: WillI have this board right now, and it is a killer board. I still cannot figure out how a $200 board is a budget board.
"This budget SLI motherboard provides high end performance and deep features for a much smaller cost. As EVGA puts it, the 750i SLI FTW is engineered For The Win. Now let's get to is and see what For The Win is all about."
FTW For The Win. Yeah that is what they ment by that.
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GIGABYTE X48T-DQ6 @ Bjorn3D
Published: Friday, May 9, 2008 | By: WillGigabyte makes some nice boards with the blue PCB that just stands out. Now, the colors for everything else is kinda strange. What is up with the pink dimm slot.
"Today we are going to take a look at GIGABYTE's high end motherboard, the X48T-DQ6. GIGABYTE makes two versions of this board utilizing Intel's X48 chipset. The X48 which is a DDR2 variant and the X48T which is the DDR3 version that we will be covering today. The X48 brings minimal changes to the chipset when compared to the X38 and the only tangible difference should be more overclocking headroom. In recent years GIGABYTE has truly reinvented itself as a leader in innovation. In today's world the name of the game, or color to be more specific, is green. We have green cars, green homes and now you can add motherboards to the growing list of items going green."
Oh well, as long as the board performs who cares about the color right.
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Scythe Zipang 139MM CPU Cooler Review @ OCC
Published: Friday, May 9, 2008 | By: WillHere at Ninjalane we love big 140mm fans on everything. So Zipang is on our list of cool.
"Fortunately, the heat sink blew away most of my doubts about the product. The Zipang is shockingly well built and extremely solid. It feels like serious quality, not at all flimsy like many others in this price range. Again, the shear size of the fan speaks for itself; attached resolutely with fan clips. I ran my hand across the the six heat pipes, which connect to the main cooling fins, in not only one section, but two sections, distributed on the bottom and throughout the center (UPHC as dubbed by Scythe). In addition, the Zipang includes a thick sub-heatsink, attached to the main cooling plate directly. This reminds me of the famed, but obsolete Thermal Right XP-120, except on some serious steroids."
The Zipang does look like it has some good cooling going for it. I really do like the heatpipes being folded over each other.
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Patriot Viper DDR3-1866 2GB Memory Kit @ TweakTown
Published: Friday, May 9, 2008 | By: WillPatriot looks to have a very cool looking Heatspreader on this ram. Once again lets go to the Forums, and look at our debate on that subject.
"Patriot has been one of the newer companies to come on board at TweakTown to supply us with their high performance memory for testing, and so far we have been pretty impressed with their line of high performance memory. Once again they have come on board to send us their new series of DDR3 modules. Today we have Patriot's Viper Fin DDR3 2GB dual channel memory kit."
I'm taking the stance that these bigger Heatspreaders can help the memory clock a little higher. If you think different let me know in the Forums.
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IN-WIN B2 Stealth Bomber Mid-Tower Case Review @ Hardware Canucks
Published: Friday, May 9, 2008 | By: WillWell those busy beavers over at Hardware Canucks are looking at a very different side of IN-WIN cases. Yes, the case really looks like it has a B2 Stealth Bomber on it's side panel.
"Prior to arriving on our doorstep, IN-WIN's B2 Stealth Bomber Mid-Tower case was already facing the unenviable task of overcoming several pre-conceptions on what we could expect from this case. In the past, our experience with IN-WIN cases has been positive, but impressions of their product line had them pegged as relatively conservative when it came to both styling and price. Add to this a street price at around $50 more than we'd ever expected to see an IN-WIN case listed for and you can imagine the B2 had some heavy lifting to do in order to win us over."
I really don't know if this case is my style. Read to see what those crazy Canucks think.
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Thermaltake M9 Mid-Tower PC Case Review @ DragonSteelMods
Published: Thursday, May 8, 2008 | By: WillThis looks to be a nice case for people on a tight budget. Check it out and see what you think.
"Today for review I've got the Thermaltake M9 ATX case, it's a mid-tower style case that is sort of a basic case but offers some nice features and looks good as well. Aesthetically the M9 is very pleasing with an almost solid black exterior, nice contour lines and an overall sense of style to it. When powered on the blue LEDs of the included fans make a nice contrast with the black and make for a very nice presentation, its also quiet and does a decent job of keeping your system cool."
This case for the budget minded has many nice features. Having a removable hard drive tray, few 120mm fans, good air flow, and some glossy black style. I think the M9 looks pretty sexy.
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9800 GTX vs. SLI vs. 3-way SLI. vs. Quad SLI @ HardOCP
Published: Thursday, May 8, 2008 | By: WillWell it is time to turn the lights off, and the volume down on your computers. We are going to be watching some dirty geek stuff. HardOCP has a 2 way, 3 way, and an all out orgy of video card fun.
"How does a 9800 GTX compare to SLI, 3-way SLI, and Quad SLI? We have completed an SLI scaling evaluation using our real world gameplay techniques as well as apples-to-apples testing to see what SLI, 3-way SLI, and Quad SLI can do to improve your gameplay experience."
I want to be in on some of this fun.
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OCZ ReaperX HPC DDR3-1333 2GB Memory Kit Review @ ThinkComputers
Published: Thursday, May 8, 2008 | By: WillI am a big fan of OCZ, and there products are great. Now I have to say we have a great debate about the use of Heatspreader on ram in the Forums here. You guys should check it out.
"In a few short years, OCZ has really made its mark in the PC enthusiast world. They have branched out into power supplies, CPU coolers, thermal compound, peripherals, flash media, they even have a new phase-change cooler for those extreme overclockers that need sub-zero temps. But, OCZ's forte is still high-performance system memory. Today I will be looking at OCZ's latest offering in the ReaperX series, the ReaperX PC3-1066 (DDR3-1333) 2 gig kit. Will the DDR3 ReaperX prove to be the awesome overclocker that its DDR2 little brother is? Read on and see..."
Well I guess for the time being you can look at this review of some sexy looking ReaperX PC3-1066.
