Pc-hardware
Written by garfi3ld Thursday, 28 January 2010 00:00
Thermaltake's Toughpower series of power supply's makes a big statement with its name. Oddly enough even though we have taken a look at a variety of their products we have never put the Toughpower line to the test to see how tough they really are. Today we have the chance to check out the Toughpower XT 750 watt power supply. Lets find out how it compares to other PSU's we have tested in the past.
Written by garfi3ld Monday, 18 January 2010 00:00
It's hard to tell it from the reviews we have done in the past, but our friends over at Cooler Master make more than cases. In fact, they have a wide range of products including a variety of power supplies. For the past year, I have been using their UCP 1100w in my own rig and have been very happy with it. Today we are going to take a look at their new 850 watt Silent Pro M and see if it lives up to the Cooler Master name.
Written by Lersar Saturday, 09 January 2010 00:00
Cluster is an issue that any entertainment enthusiast can sympathisize with, especially gamers. The requirement for all the equipment involved in the modern gaming PC plus three cores console systems on the market, each with their own cords and controllers, trying to switch between mediums can truly be a pain. The frustration is that much more for gamers in the press world, attempting to capture screenshots and videos between all these mediums. If only there were some way to combine them all in one place, so TVs wouldn't need switched, cords wouldn't need swapped, and capturing a gaming experience wasn't such a chore. AVerMedia has answered the call with their Video Capture Card, and has sent us a sample to help spread the word.
Written by garfi3ld Wednesday, 30 December 2009 05:58
A while back I took a look at a BluRay drive from Plextor, a well known manufacture in the disc drive market. Today I have the chance to take a look at another BluRay drive from them. This time we will be looking at the B320SA with a speed of 8X in comparison to the 6x speed of the B310SA I reviewed before. 2x doesn't seem like that drastic of a change but will it make a noticeable difference? Read more to find out.
Written by garfi3ld Thursday, 24 December 2009 00:00
Memory these days comes in just about every speed, shape, color and price. Recently we have taken a look at memory with LED's, and even memory with a platinum finish. Today I'm taking a look at a triple channel kit from Patriot from their Viper Series, designed specifically for i7 rigs. We are going to find out how well they performed compared to the kits we have tested in the past. Will the Viper Series come out on top?
Written by garfi3ld Thursday, 10 December 2009 00:00
In the ram market there isn't any one manufacture who is top dog, but there are a few that stand out. One of the few manufactures that targets enthusiasts and benchmarkers is OCZ. They entered the memory market in August of 2000 hoping to make the best high performance memory; over nine years later they have grown to be one of the most successful enthusiast ram manufactures on the market. Recently they have been known for their SSD's but their memory is what started it all. Today I have the chance to take a look at one of their 1600Mhz Triple channel kits for the i7 platform. Read on to see how it performed.
Written by Lersar Thursday, 08 October 2009 00:01
Multi-player game play has been a feature of video games that has seen as much of an evolution as the industry itself. It's existed since the early days of the Atari, but recently with the new wave of hardware and software advancements, we've seen both consumers and developers alike scrambling to put together the best multi-player experience possible. Partnered with new Internet connection speeds that are more readily available to the mass public than ever before, the possibilities are indeed endless.
Written by garfi3ld Thursday, 02 July 2009 05:01
![IMG_4780 [lr] [lrsm]](http://lanoc.org/reviews/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/IMG_4780-lr-lrsm.JPG "IMG_4780 [lr] [lrsm]")
With netbooks becoming very popular over the past year it's no surprise that the lack of a disc drive on them has come up a time or two. Our friends over at Plextor have been known for their amazing disc drives for some time, foreseeing the need for portable drives early this year they released the PX-610U. The PX-610U is available in both a PC and mac version with appropriate software and coloring to match each. The main feature of the PX-610U is its lack of an external power supply or multiple USB ports. Using a slim laptop drive Plextor hopes to of brought a solution for thoughts who are looking for easy to use and portable disc drives. Today I have the opportunity to check it out myself.
Written by garfi3ld Wednesday, 01 July 2009 05:01
![IMG_4352[lr]](http://lanoc.org/reviews/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/IMG_4352lr-200x133.jpg "IMG_4352[lr]")
Desktop computers have an inherent flaw in that, short of custom modding jobs, most PCs end up looking fairly similar. Most cases are black and nondescript, with only a portion of people opting for case windows to show off their hardware. And if you have a store bought rig, forget creativity - there are thousands of people with the same exact computer. So the question is, what makes a specific build unique? What it boils down too are all the little features and touches that the end consumer may opt for over one another. Accessories play a large part of this picture. One person might decide they need a fan controller, whereas another might have a use for an all in one memory card reader. In the end these people are able to claim difference from one another in form and function. VFDs are one of the more interesting computer accessories, providing visual information via a small screen. This is not unlike having a small monitor attached to your computer at all times. Its worthy to note that the term VFD actually is an acronym for the technology used in older devices, and has become a catch-all term for them in general. Most newer VFDs actually utilize LCD technology for a crisper viewing experience. Many case manufacturers include mediocre old VFDs with their htpc cases but quality new ones usually have to be purchased separately. SilverStone makes such a VFD, the MFP51 LCD Media Display, which they kindly sent to us to try out...
Written by garfi3ld Tuesday, 09 June 2009 17:09
For years the idea of video conferencing and video phones was only a pipe dream or a prop in low budget Sci-Fi films. When the internet came around this dream started to become a reality but with many limitations. More recently the idea of video phones has gained a little more traction with the inclusion of microphones and web cams on almost every laptop and some home pc's (in fact I type this right now on a low budget netbook with the features needed to do this). Of course not everyone has this ability and this is where Microsoft comes in with their LifeCam series, specifically the VX-5500. With programs like MSN(windows) messenger and Skype along with the VX-5500 you have the ability to let people see you while they talk (of course this depends on if they really want to see you). Today I'm going to take a look at the VX-5500 to see how it performs at home and on the go to keep in touch with friends and family.
Written by garfi3ld Friday, 05 June 2009 05:16
We've come to a day and age where having just one hard drive, regardless of its size, just isn't enough. Whether its a media, gaming, or task computer, multiple hard drives have become a necessity. In non-transparent cases, this isn't much of a problem, but for those who are lookng to show-off their rig all those SATA cables can become as unappealing as any other. A reasonable solution is adding UV lights to any case, which can be paired with VIZO's Starlet line, in our case the UV reactant SATA cables.
Written by garfi3ld Thursday, 04 June 2009 05:20
Cables suck. They're stubborn, thick, restrictive, and unattractive. While there have been countless attempts to try and eliminate the inconvenience, the cruel truth is that in our current generation, cords are a necessity. Even when wireless capabilites are available, a conflict of speed enters the equation. Bottom-line is they're not going away, so Vizo has come up with a way to help make cables a little more livable, and look good while doing it. Today we take a look at the Starlet Cable Binding kit.
Written by garfi3ld Tuesday, 02 June 2009 02:12
When you pay hundreds of dollars or even thousands for a gaming pc, you expect quality. That includes not having your machine sound like a sad excuse for a vacuum cleaner. Fans are a critical component in any machine, cooling your vital components and allowing for optimal performance. Unfortunately, typical stock fans or any fan short of the expensive ones often sound noisy at full power. This is the point where you pick up a fan controller, a device that in truth, controls the amount of power your fans get. Using one of these gadgets allows for minute adjustments in fan speed, allowing for a perfect balance of noise as well as cooling. Now, fan controllers are an age old pc accessory, but that doesn't stop manufacturers from trying to perfect the technology. Lamptron has cooked up three different iterations of this tech, and graciously sent us one of each to tinker with.
Read more: Lamptron FC-2, FC-3, and FAN-ATIC Fan Controllers
Written by garfi3ld Friday, 06 March 2009 05:01
With it being tax time and computer upgrade season we have been seeing a lot of our members upgrading to new i7 setups. I was even lucky enough to win a setup while in Vegas thanks to our friends at Coolermaster. With DDR3 ram becoming more prevalent, especially when run in Tri Channel with the new i7 setups its no surprise that every ram manufacture is bringing out their new kits. While at CES we did get to take a look at Crucial's new Ballistix Tracer color series. Well knows for their led lighting that flashes to the speed of ram access, I was really happy to see they are producing a line using only one color to help match today's high end rigs. Today I will be taking a look at a Blue set of TriChannel 3 x 2 GB RAM from Crucial with a color matched LED, heatspreader, and PCB running at 1600Mhz.
Written by garfi3ld Monday, 23 February 2009 05:01
In the Disc drive industry it's really hard to stand out. Most people just pick the cheapest drive with the specs that they are looking for. This may work for some people but anyone who has lived with the cheap drives should know that they can sometimes be noisy and unreliable. One company that has made a reputation of quality in the disc drive market over many years is Plextor. I've seen people throw down two and sometimes three times the price of a cheap drive just to be able to have a Plextor drive. The reason for this is all about quality and noise, for those same reasons I was excited to hear that I was going to be able to check out their new PX-B310SA BD Combo Super Multi Drive. My excitement doubled when I realized I would be able to watch The Dark Knight and other Blu Ray movies in 1080p on our 52-inch television. So today I'm going to find out if the PX-B310SA is a quality drive that's quite enough to include in your HTPC without sounding like a weed eater running.
Written by garfi3ld Monday, 02 February 2009 13:04
High-end PC gaming can be considered a niche market without too much of a stretch. Its expensive and doesn't always translate well in the price to performance ratio department. Home theater PCs, on the other hand, are a niche within a niche, due largely to the pain and expense necessary to maintain a separate computer simply to watch television. Furthermore, you can't use just any hardware in an htpc. If you want one that can decode high-def movies and television or even lightly game you can't just slap the oldest stuff you have lying around the house into a case - the tech has to be somewhat competent. Antec has recently come out with the Veris product line to help blur these lines a bit. Whether you're looking to turn your main rig into a pseudo-htpc, or trying to spice up an already assembled home theater solution, read on for our experience with the Veris Basic.
Written by garfi3ld Wednesday, 17 December 2008 05:01
A few of you may have noticed that when I reviewed the Coolermaster Cosmos S a few weeks ago I didn't use our normal test rig for the testing. I liked the case enough that I decided to move my personal rig over too it. I did have a few complaints about the case and I hope to post a few small updates on here as I work on making the case fit my style. My biggest complaint was the lack of a side window. Coolermaster was kind enough to send a new side panel with a window out to get me started on the updates to this case.'
Written by garfi3ld Wednesday, 22 October 2008 04:01
Everyone today has atleast one digital camera anymore. You can’t even buy film cameras at most retailers anymore. Some households have more than one along with other devices that require flash memory cards. When happens is you end up with 4 or 5 different cables to be able to transfer files to your pc. VIZO has provided us their Mirrorbox CR that works with a very wide variety of cards. They are far from the first company to produce a product like this, but they hope to produce one that has great functionality, performance, and style. We are going to take a look at the Mirrorbox CR to see how well they did at that goal.
Written by garfi3ld Thursday, 11 September 2008 04:15
A-Data, relatively new company, has been around for 7 years. Starting with twenty employees, A-Data has grown into Asia’s biggest Ram provider. They have recently been popping up in the US market. Their commitment to the US market is proven by their opening of the Miami, FL branch of A-Data on July 17th 2008. With Microsoft getting the bugs worked out of Vista and ram prices dropping unbelievably low you couldn’t ask for a better time to invest in more ram for your computer. Ram is one of those things that you can’t have too much, but you can have too little. We have the chance to take a closer look at A-Data’s G (Gaming) branded DDR2 memory. Specifically their DDR2-800G 2GBx2 with a Latency of 5-5-5-12. Check out how it performed
Written by garfi3ld Thursday, 15 May 2008 13:15
In the word of gaming and Lan Partys, it’s about more than who is the best player. It’s also about showing off your rig. People spend months getting their computers setup looking sharp so people can drool over them online and in person. One of the many ways to do this is to add lighting to the inside of your case. Cold cathode lighting is one of the best ways to do this. There are many different brands, sizes, and colors to choose from. VIZO has provided us with a set of their blue 12 inch cold cathode lights to review today.
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