The NZXT Avatar is the first input device from the famous case and power supply manufacturer. It offers up to 2600 DPI, clean symmetric looks and a driver software that can rival what Razer and Logitech offer.
Thecus' N5200 PRO NAS device holds up to five drives internally in any RAID configuration desired for maximum safety. With plenty of features and a modular design, when it comes to both hardware and software, it fits anyone's needs. As the N5200 PRO uses a fast 1.5 GHz CPU it has serious potential to stomp the competition.
Lexar's new entry level 8 GB SDHC card is quite unique. It is both reasonably priced and offers really good performance for a "Class 2" card. Actually the card surpasses the Class 2 requirements in our testing. At around $50 quite a nice achievement.
Sapphire's new HD 4850 Toxic graphics card comes with a preinstalled Zalman VF-900 GPU cooler that greatly reduces the operating temperature of the card. Also the operating frequencies have been bumped quite a bit, with some additional overclocking potential left in the card.
OCZ is offering a full line-up of DDR3 memory. Their Platinum Series was always known for their great price/performance ratio and this Enhanced Bandwidth kit is no different. It offers tighter timings at 1600 MHz than the competition, at a lower price point. So can it give us some serious bang for our buck?
NVIDIA's new GeForce 9800 GTX+ comes with a 55 nm CPU that runs at higher clock speeds, yet consumes less power than the original 65 nm chip. Zotac's Amp! Edition further increases the operating frequencies. Even though the higher clocks make the card faster than the ATI HD 4850, the difference is very small and probably not noticable while gaming.
PureBuds is the name of Amazing Tech Products all new ear bud offering. The ear buds feature a new approach on how to make a good ear bud, unlike most ear buds these have a reverse mounted driver which should have quite an effect on the sound quality.
The Zaward Gyre looks quite interesting with the black shroud. Its unique design shows us that it is a competitor to more "known" heatsinks. Featuring a nice finish with blue LED lights, being very easy to install and having great performance, the Gyre lives up to all of its expectations.
NVIDIA recently launched the GeForce 9500 GT. This low-end card in the GeForce 9 Series is designed to offer acceptable gaming performance for the small wallet. Galaxy has created an overclocked edition which runs at higher clocks and comes with a quiet heatpipe cooling solution. In our testing we saw amazing overclocking potential of over 35% compared to the reference design clocks.
NVIDIA's new GeForce 9800 GT Series is not really new. The performance, specification and GPU are identical to that of the GeForce 8800 GT. Only a few minor features like Purevideo HD and Hybrid Power are present. At least Zotac showed a bit of creativity and added a bright orange PCB and higher clocks out of the box.
The Silverstone Commander ESA Edition enables complete system monitoring functionality through the nTune System Monitor. Instead of going for one of the few ESA enabled cases out there, the CMD01 Commander gives unprecedented flexibility, as you can enable ESA connectivity for any case of your choice.
The AirTV-1000U DVB-T TV Tuner is something you would not expect from a company like AirLive. They are known for their excellent networking products, not TV Tuners. The USB based AirTV-1000U features some interesting features, like recording, EPG and time shifting support.
The CoolIT Systems coolers are certainly a unique way to get into liquid cooling. They come pre-assembled and are maintenance free. We are taking a look at their dual card cooler for two GeForce 8800 GTXs, but CoolIT offers a very similar variant for the GTX 260/280 and for AMD cards as well.
The G.Skill Pi Series goes a completely different route, than other high-end memory today. Instead of pushing the envelope on voltage, it gives you some crazy performance at default or close to default DDR2 voltage.
Lian-Li is pulling out all the stops with the new Tyr case series. On our testbench is the X2000, which is not only the tallest case we have ever tested, but is packed with SATA backplates for six hard drives, three 140 mm fans and a long list of other features, too numerous to mention.
The Lian-Li V1010 is the successor of the very popular V1000. It now incorporates some of the new and unique features, which you will find in the X2000 or X500, at a much lower price point.
The Hiper Osiris is the company's newest offering in the crowded case market. It features numerous improvements over the Anubis, while coming in at a lower price point. The case also comes in black or silver and successfully improves on everything we criticized in our Anubis review.
TekNmotion Pulsar SX is the name of a brand new headset aimed at gamers. The Pulsar SX features a USB sound card, vibration feature, and blue lights. This headset has a lot of unique features and costs a mere $59.99 which is cheap considering the integrated USB sound card.
The Chipchilla from Coolink manages to decrease chipset temperatures while maintaining a low noise level. It is extremely light-weight being constructed of copper and aluminum all for an decent price. Limited availability and some installation issues are all that hold this cooler back.
Cooler Master's new Ultimate Circuit Protection power supply is among the first to receive the prestigious 80plus Silver certificate for an efficiency of above 85%. With 900W of output power this PSU can easily handle every rig that you put it into. During our testing we saw very stable voltages, especially 3.3V and 5V delivered great results.
A-DATA is pushing the performance envelope with their Turbo series of CF cards. The series goes up to 16 GB and aims to give you the best possible performance - if you are willing to pay for it.
The X-Supra is a new mainstream case from Apevia, which features all the usual extras like a handful of colorful fronts, screw-less design and fan controller. On top of that you can go for a huge 250 mm side fan or a windowed variant with a smaller 120 mm fan. The special edition features a solid side panel.
The OrigenAE T12 is a 12" touch screen that will set you back 800$. It is capable of processing up to 1080p resolution - perfect for that home theater. Thanks to the umbilical cord, you not only have a mouse at your fingertips, but also an IR receiver and USB 2.0 hub. Best of all the OrigenAE T12 does not even require an external power source, everything is integrated in the single cable.
Alex Mei has recently been promoted to Executive Vice President of OCZ Technology. In our interview he shares interesting details about how he got into the Industry, also he talks about OCZ's past and planned future. For example DIY notebooks and the Neural Impulse Actuator.
The Rosewill R2 is a dual bay RAID enclosure for two 3.5" SATA HDDs. It supports connectivity via USB or eSATA. With the included software you can create RAID 0, RAID 1 or JBOD arrays for increased performance or data safety. Since eSATA offers the same performance as you would see from an internal drive, the RAID 1 performance is very impressive with over 108 MB/s.
