Tech News

• ECS GF8200A black edition mainboard review @ Guru3D

  Published: Wednesday, May 7, 2008 | By: Will

   These new ECS boards are starting to look a little better for being on the cheap budget side.

  "It never ceases to amaze me how much fun the more budget oriented products can be. Recently we reviewed ECSes AMD 780G chipset based mainboard, feature-packed for a very small price. It offers just so much fun for the money spent on it. Yet we figured, that's based on an AMD chipset based solution, and NVIDIA recently released their GF8200 based mainboards. So why not grab a Phenom processor, some memory and the ECS GF8200A mainboard and see where we end up? And I'll tell you in advance ... for this kind of money, this little mainboard again is amazing for the price."

  Well the budget minded person can get a cheap case with a window, and feel proud that there board is not purple anymore. Be happy for the ECS Black Edition.  

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• Asus M3N-HT Deluxe @ HardOCP

  Published: Wednesday, May 7, 2008 | By: Will

  The guys over at HardOCP have the new NVidia 780a Chipset under inspection. Lets see what they think of it. 

  "ASUS comes out swinging with their latest NVIDIA chipset based AMD offering, the M3N-HT Deluxe. Based on the AMD version of the NVIDIA nForce 780a chipset, the board packs a lot of promise."

  Is the Phenom starting to look more promising with the new chipsets?  

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• Sapphire Hybrid CrossFire 780G Motherboard @ Modders-Inc

  Published: Tuesday, May 6, 2008 | By: Will

  It looks like AMD is going to try, and make the Hybrid market the wave of the future for all boards. So lets start looking at what it is today. 

  "Are you in the market for a small form factor m-ATX motherboard that can give you blistering performance for your multimedia needs, plus the ability to play the latest Direct X 10 games? And as a bonus you can install a second card to gain CrossFireX for your games. Then you have to check out the Sapphire PURE Hybrid CrossFire 780G Innovation Motherboard."

  Well don't worry Nvidia has a big stick with Hybrid written all over it. Let's watch the beating begin in a few weeks from now. 

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• NVIDIA nForce 780a SLI Motherboard Round-Up, Asus, MSI @ HotHardware

  Published: Tuesday, May 6, 2008 | By: Will

  Well all I can say is it is about time NVidia. AMD needs a new chipset to give us all SLI for the Phenom processor. 

  "Early this year while NVIDIA outlined their plans to mix things up at the high-end of their AMD chipset line-up with the IGP-equipped nForce 780a SLI, but it has taken quite a bit of time to bring that product to market.  Today though, we present to you three nForce 780a SLI-based motherboards (two from Asus and one from MSI), that are sure to pique the interest of all of the AMD fans out there.  For the first time since the Phenom launch, AMD fans will now be able to pair up NVIDIA's flagship graphics configurations with an AMD CPU and exploit all of the features inherent to both."

  Now if AMD can make a faster processor the NVidia chipset may really shine. Let's keep the new stuff a rollin' out.

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• ASUS P5Q3 Deluxe - Intel P45 chipset review @ NordicHardware

  Published: Tuesday, May 6, 2008 | By: Will

  Looks like it is time to start looking at the new Intel P45 Chipsets. Here is the first review I have seen on the P45.

  "In this review, we will take a closer look at ASUS P5Q3 Deluxe, which is based on Intel's P45 chipset. The difference in performance between the P35 and its precursor P965 was minimal; the question is whether the P45 has any additional performance advantages. An important difference between P35 and P45 is that the latter is made using the 65nm manufacturing process, while the former was made with the 90nm process."
  

  Well the P45 using a smaller process may make it run cooler, and give a better overclock. Something we all crave here at Ninjalane. More power!

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• Intel to launch 4-series chipsets at Computex 2008

  Published: Tuesday, May 6, 2008 | By: Dennis

  Intel will officially launch its 4-series chipsets at Computex 2008, while motherboard makers will start shipping products in the third week of June, according to sources at motherboard makers.
  
  Initial 4-series chipset shipments will consist of the P45 and P43, for which the previously reported PCI Express compatibility bug has been fixed already. However, the G45 and G43 IGP versions will be delayed for another 2-3 weeks while Intel works to correct issues with VC1 hardware decoding and to increase the graphics core frequency to 800MHz.

  Its good to see that some actual product launches will happen at Computex this year.

  To read more, click below. 

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• ASRock Penryn 1600SLIX3-WiFi 680i Motherboard Review @ ThinkComputers

  Published: Tuesday, May 6, 2008 | By: Will

  ASRock always have some very creative motherboards. Just like the name of the company. Innovation is the only thing I can say about there boards for the most part, and cheap in price.

  "ASRock came on board in 2002, not long after I started building my own rigs. In those six short years, they have come up with some remarkably innovative designs for economy motherboards. Today I will be looking at the ASRock Penryn 1600SLIX3-WiFi motherboard. ASRock has taken the nVidia 680i SLI chipset, given it the capability of running the new Core 2 Extreme 1600mHz FSB processors, added WiFi, and placed that in an economy-minded board."
  

  Now, if only they can get creative with the names of there motherboards. Well I guess at least the names get to the point.

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• XFX GeForce 9800GTX Black Edition Review @ Gamepyre

  Published: Monday, May 5, 2008 | By: Will

  Here is a review from Gamepyre for the XFX GeForce 9800GTX. The interesting thing is that they are using a Black PCB for the card. So this is truely a Black Edition.
  

  "The bundle and support are very well with the XFX Black Edition GeForce 9800GTX, it comes with COD4, which is one of the hottest PC gaming titles available at this moment and costs around $49.95 at most e-tailors or retailers making the card a more attractive buy. Support and warranty options are well taken care of BY XFX as they take very good care of their customers in the after purchase environment and quick RMA return times."

  The extra Bundle, and the Black PCB does make this card different from all the same cookie cutter 9800GTX's.

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• Bytescout Watermarking Software Review @ DragonSteelMods

  Published: Monday, April 28, 2008 | By: Dennis

  As many of you are well aware we don't normally post software reviews but have made exceptions from time to time.  Here is one of them exceptions, and accepted in a good way.

  Bytescout Watermarking Software is an easy to use and very inexpensive solution to most of your watermarking needs. There are many choices for styles of marking and numerous customizations options as well. For under $20 I can easily recommend you getting this product for quick and easy watermarking of your photos.

  I can honestly say that watermarking photos is a royal pain the in the ass.  I know, I used to watermark 40+ photos as part of a motherboard review and then have to resize those copies down to make the thumbnails.

  Talk about a time waster!

  That is until I got fed up with doing things by hand and decided to let my programming skills work for me.  The result was one of the coolest little programs ever and happens to be fully integrated it into the new Ninjalane v3. 

  Yep!  dynamic image watermarking and resizing!

  What used to take 3 hours now takes less than 2 seconds and if I change my mind I simply flip a switch and choose a different watermark. 

  In a way just like the software featured here.

  Thought I couldn't tie it back in did you.

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• Edifer E3350 PC Speaker System Review @ Digital Trends

  Published: Monday, April 28, 2008 | By: Dennis

  Edifier is in the review light again, this time with some pimp speakers dubbed the E3350.

  With so many computer 2.1 speaker systems on the market today, it's easy to be turned off from anything starting at under $100. But at the Consumer Electronics show earlier this year, the buzz was all about Edifiers new E3350 lifestyle speaker systems. People were assuming that with such rich sounds, and well built speakers, they would be in the $250 or higher price range. Coming in at just $99.99, the new E3350 speaker system combines award winning design with practical affordability.

  When it comes to sound quality for the average desktop you can't really go wrong with Edifier, they make some pretty good stuff. 

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