Tech News
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Kingston Hyper X Predator Dual Channel 8GB 2400C11 Kit Review @ Madshrimps
Published: Monday, October 8, 2012 | By: DennisYou don't normally see Kingston at the forefront of performance memory options despite seeing them as the option at MOA and other overclocking competitions.
A while back Kingston introduced their brand new Hyper X gaming RAMs to the world, baptized the Predator series. The most obvious visual change is the redesign of the heatspreader. The Predator heatspreader is a bit lower and more refined then the aging blue Hyper X heatspreader. Biggest internal change however is the support for higher speeds and tighter timings out of the box. Kingston had to react to the competitors products. The insane memory speeds that Intel's latest 3rd generation Ivy Bridge support, were way higher then what Kingston had on offer. Today we look at the Hyper X Predator 2400MHz C11 8GB Dual Channel kit, optimized for the Z77 platform.
I use the HyperX memory on my test bench, its fast and stable but when it comes to overclocking I generally reach for GSKill or Corsair. Given the Predator specs it might be time to change up.
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Phj34r my Lak of N3ws
Published: Friday, October 5, 2012 | By: DennisBeen awhile since I have posted one of these but alas I haven't been posting much news lately. Sorry about that but the web attacks appear to be getting worse so I've had to take drastic measures to get the issue resolved.
Should have everyhing sorted out by the weekend at which time there should be a new overclocking related blog and memory review posted ("hint hint").
Stay tuned!
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Oh that was fun.
Published: Wednesday, October 3, 2012 | By: DennisIt would appear that the NInjalane.com servers came under fire this afternoon and completely brought down the network. Web attacks are nothing new but this one was different. Luckly I was able to bring everything back online else you wouldn't be reading this..
Now I have the task of tracking down excatly what happened and reporting those who are responsable. #phj34rMyWr4th
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XClio Touch 767 Chassis Review @ XtremeComputing
Published: Wednesday, October 3, 2012 | By: DennisThis is a different take on a chassis design and I kinda like it except for the louvers on the front panel. It would appear that you lift the panel to access the optical drive but it is hard to tell from the photo.
Today I will be reviewing the XClio Touch 767. XClio is one of those brands which have been around for a while, but isn’t the first brand I think of when considering what computer case I should get next. Hopefully by reviewing this product I’ll be able to see whether the XClio cases are worth your consideration in future, and indeed whether the Touch 767 compares well to its competition.
Be sure to check out the top touch panel.
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Mini-ITX Gaming HTPC: building the ultimate powerhouse @ XSReviews
Published: Tuesday, October 2, 2012 | By: DennisI tried building a HTPC once, the hardware choices were almost perfect and the case looked great however excess heat and crappy fans squashed the project after only a year in use. Now had I used the Silverstone Sugo SG08 things might have been different.
What’s good about a gaming rig is that it usually functions as a HTPC pretty much perfectly. The downside is the size, heat production and possibly noise issues of a gaming rig in comparison to an HTPC; so I set out on a journey to bring the best of both worlds together!
Today we’re going to take a look at a great mini-ITX HTPC-gaming build. It took quite a while to find the right components, activate sponsors and get all the parts shipped and put together, but the end result is one of the finest mini PC’s you’ve ever seen!Mini ITX motherboards are perfect for the HTPC provided you don't wish to play games or do much more than DVD/BluRay Decoding.
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Antec One Mid-Tower Case Review @ Bigbruin
Published: Tuesday, October 2, 2012 | By: DennisYour standard chassis comes in many shapes (all square) and sizes (tall to small) with some wiggle room in between. The Antec One is a solid mid-tower and comes with a few neat features to enhance your system building experience.
Some of the finer features of the Antec One mid-tower case include the two 120mm exhaust fans, tool-less drive installation, power supply intake filter, power supply anti-vibration feet, large CPU bracket cut-out, and plenty of options for cable routing. This is all offered without the premium price that enthusiast cases typically have.
The case has few provisions for watercooling but that is rarely a consideration in this price segment.
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Funky Kit Review: Antec P280 Midi Tower Case
Published: Tuesday, October 2, 2012 | By: DennisYep it would appear that Antec still makes cases, let's see what Funky Kit has to say about the Antec P280.
The Antec P280 is just absolutely great. If you are looking for a quiet and sophisticated case that doesn't break the bank look no farther. There is plenty of space for everything you can throw at it, but it does not take up huge amounts of extra space like some excessively large cases out there.
Yep, still looks like a box to me.
Be sure to check out our review of the Antec P280 Performance One, you might be suprised at what you see.
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Asus Makes an Offer to Buy ASRock @ SemiAccurate
Published: Monday, October 1, 2012 | By: DennisLooks like i won't have to worry about getting those ASRock review samples after all.
This is currently rumor mill and not that the "news" is out share prices of ASRock will begin to fall, so much in fact that Asus can either buy them or they will end up folding. Currently word has it that an offer has been made for Asrock, and Pegatron is essentially fine with the terms. This would take the #1 and #3 mobo makers and combine them, leaving the industry with one massive behemoth, one solid player, and a lot of minnows struggling to make waves. As of now, there is a first tier of Asus and Gigabyte, then Asrock, MSI, and ECS at less than half of that volume, plus a few niche players in the motherboard market.
TechReport did some digging and "re" discovered that ASRock used to be an Asus Company (which was no suprise to me) back in 2002 but was spun off to avoid compeition within the company.
It would seem that things just got real in the motherboard world. I wonder how this will impact some of the other players in the field.
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Haswell may cause motherboard players to exit market
Published: Thursday, September 27, 2012 | By: DennisI really hate to see stories like this.
Intel is already set to launch its next-generation Haswell-based processors, comprehensively designed for IT products such as tablets, notebooks, ultrabooks, desktops and servers, in the second quarter of 2013; however, since Haswell is designed to integrate functions such as power phase control, which is mainly used for overclocking, into the CPU, sources from motherboard players are concerned that the new processor and weakening desktop market demand will cause several second-tier motherboard players to exit the market in late 2013.
Intel has been taking steps to further reduce total system costs by moving more and more "chipset" functions to the processor. This all started with the Math Co-Processor (A long time ago) followed by the CPU (multi core processors). The memory controller was the most impressive move from a performance standopint followed by the PCI Express bus found in Sandy/Ivy Bridge.
In proper "we can do it better than you" thinking the latest thing to move to the CPU will be PWM control. On the surface this is a good thing since it should improve power savings but won't help much if you intend to overclock or do any of the traditional enthusiast activities. All of the things listed above were also factors that separated the various motherboard vendors. Some vendors did things better and that reflected on their quality while other vendors would cut costs and the consumer would suffer.
Eventually the Intel processor will be a total SOC (System on a Chip) and render the traditional motherboard obsolete and thus level the playing field. No longer will you lust for an Asus ROG board or hunt high and low for a Gigabyte 7 series, instead it will be like a GPU reference design.
Yes you will still need a physical PCB but the things that made that PCB unique will no longer exist. People say that the PC is dead, in some ways they are right.
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Cooler Master Storm Scout 2 Launch Day
Published: Tuesday, September 25, 2012 | By: DennisIf you are looking for a good chassis that is easy to carry around and offers a vareity of customization options then you owe it to yourself to look at the new Storm Scout 2 from Cooler Master.
Check our our review of the CM Storm Scout 2 right here.
Web Reviews
- CM Storm Scout 2 Case Review @ Hardware Secrets
- Cooler Master Storm Scout 2 Case Review @ Legit Reviews
- Cooler Master Storm Scout 2 @ LanOC Reviews
- Cooler Master CM Storm Scout 2 Gaming Case @ Pro-ClockersBe sure to stop by the forums and leave us a comment.
