Zalman's new ZM850-HP PSU uses two heatpipes to transfer heat away from the hot components on the PCB to the rear of the unit. The hot air is then exhaust by a slow running 140 mm fan. This design allows Zalman to run their fan much slower than the competition. In the end this results in one of the quietest PSUs we have ever used, especially if you consider the 850W maximum load.
Matrox has made some waves with their recent release of the DualHead2Go Digital GXM module, but the TripleHead2Go Analog has one great feature which the dual display variant lacks: Surround Gaming. We fire up a classic and a brand new game, to show you what you could be gaming on with the TripleHead2Go GXM module.
Spire has just released their new interpretation of a sleek looking hard drive enclosure namely the all new MegaPOD III IDE. With the MegaPOD III Spire wishes to conquer the mid-range enclosure market, but can this enclosure keep up with rest, or has the sleek design prohibited performance?
Biostar is the first manufacturer to put 512 MB of fast GDDR3 memory on a GeForce 8600 GTS card, which usually comes with 256 MB. Since GDDR3 memory is expensive, the card retails for around $50 more than the regular variant. Are 256 MB additional video memory worth the price difference?
When building an HTPC system, one of the main problems is finding a decent keyboard and mouse that won't take up too much room. Often a good keyboard is just a standard full sized desktop keyboard in a wireless version. Then there is the issue of cursor control. A mouse often gets misplaced, and remote control units are awkward at best. VidaBox's new Premium Wireless Keyboard features a built-in optical trackball, and the size is as compact as a laptop keyboard.
Corsair's brand new VX450W power supply comes with a maximum load of 450W. While this may not sound much it is absolutely sufficient to power most of today's systems. The PSU has a very high efficiency of over 83% which allows the fan to run slower because there is not so much excess heat to get rid of. In our fan noise testing this extremely silent unit leads by a large margin over all other PSUs tested so far.
A-DATA is joining the band wagon of 1200 MHz memory with their Extreme Edition memory. Many manufacturers have displayed memory at these speeds at Computex this year. The kits are available in 1 or 2 GB variants and come with the new, cleaner heatspreader. This Extreme Edition memory is the first to manage 1200 MHz at default voltage with no problems at all.
PC Power and Cooling is without doubt one of the best power supply manufacturers out there. Recently they have been bought by OCZ and we are now seeing the first products which are geared for the masses. The Silencer 750W Quad CF comes with an ATI CrossFire certification and boasts four PCI-E power connectors. In our testing we saw excellent regulation qualities and very high efficiency of up to 82%.
The P3 is a large mousepad made from cloth with a soft and very fine surface. The orange logo on the edge looks very nice and the overall feel is great. If you are in the market for an XL pad, this may just be for you. The great price makes this pad a very affordable choice for low-sensitivity gamers who need a large gaming surface.
Before the next generation of GPUs is released, we must deal with NVIDIA's flag-ship card, the 8800 Ultra, and the massive amounts of heat it produces. There are several air cooling options available, but enthusiasts will surely select water cooling. The D-Tek Fuzion GPU block offers versatility, and coupled with the Uni-Sink it should be a great solution for cooling 8800 Ultra and GTX cards. Is it the same in practice as in theory?
The Cooler Master Cosmos is the company's newest high-end offering designed to be a follow up on the highly successful Stacker Series. The case did not only grow in dimension & weight but also offers a long list of new and unique features. You will find seperate hard drive drawers, four fans and foam covered side panels among many other details.
Most users these days know to at least protect their PCs with a surge protector, but in truth, that is not nearly enough. Surge protectors do not protect against blackouts, brownouts or "dirty" power, but an interruptible power supply can. Today we takes a look at the Smart1000LCD UPS from Tripp Lite. It is a 1000VA / 500W unit with a blue backlit LCD display that provides real-time power status.
The Zykon M1 is a very cool looking mouse, featuring red LED lighting and a scroll wheel that can be seen from the bottom of the mouse. It is smaller and lighter than most gaming mice these days, which makes it great for low sensitivity gamers, especially with large cloth mouse pads.
After a long wait the Zalman VF1000 LED VGA cooler has finally arrived. It is a special cooler designed to meet the cooling requirements of today's high-end cards like the GeForce 8800 Series. The additional RHS88 heatsink plate is required for proper cooling of other components on the board like voltage regulation circuitry. This all copper beauty sure does look nice, but can it live up to the expectations?
Tuniq launches a new thermal compound that should be available September 10, 2007. We put it to the test against Arctic Silver 5 and the older TX-1 compound to see how easy it is to work with, how easy it cleans up and how well it performs.
Next month Zaward will be releasing a new CPU heatsink called the Vivo. This new cooler is based on a 92mm fan and uses exposed heatpipes that contact the CPU heatspreader directly. Add to that the Dimple Technology Golf fan and a unique fan shroud, the Vivo's compact size really packs a punch.
As always there are a lot of parties at Games Convention Leipzig. Sony has managed to fill up an entire hall with their consoles and has used the entire area for a massive party after the convention closed for the public. Four DJs and a large crowd made this party one of the best of this year's show.
The Games Convention 2007 had some very interesting hardware product launches. We have scoured the halls, snapped pictures and collected information on all the interesting new releases at the show.
In the quest for silent performance, users are looking toward heatpipes for most of their cooling needs. Today we are looking at the new fanless chipset cooler from Zaward, called the Twin Towers. This chipset cooler has two heatpipes, one of which can rotate around the other to reduce compatibility issues. We put the Twin Towers to the test to see what kind of performance comes with its silence.
After running wild search patterns through the halls of Games Convention Germany we are proud to present you the finest collection of booth babes from Europe's biggest gaming show. You will find 300 high-res photos to get an impression of what you missed.
Zalman's latest ZM-RS6F USB headphones are based on a C-Media USB sound card and a 5.1 capable headset that can do real surround sound. The whole unit has been built to deliver a maximum of comfort while still being rugged and easy to transport. Another plus is that it is quite affordable when compared to other solutions with similar features.
The Akasa Integral PNES is one of the first 2.5 inch external enclosures which can either utilize an IDE or SATA drive. This also results in a USB 2.0 or eSATA connectivity, which makes the P2NES perfect for anybody with na eSATA equipped PC at home or work and a USB 2.0 equipped notebook
Zalman first showed their compact ZM-DS4F headphones at Computex. The headphones are designed in an Apple white and can be folded together for easy transportation. Inside you will find two individual audio drives per ear cup which improves sound quality a lot. Actually, it will be hard to find a better set of headphones in the sub-$30 price range.
Watching video on an iPod is nice, but sometimes it can be difficult. The Myvu Personal Media Viewer allows the user to view video by looking through a set of glasses, putting the display up in front wherever the user looks. Add in a set of noise-reducing earbuds and the Myvu Personal Media Viewer is the perfect iPod accessory for the frequent traveler or a college dorm.
Nowadays a lot of people have a dedicated home server for data storage, downloads or both. The TS-109 Pro is the latest fully featured NAS server by QNAP, it allows you to house everything your home-serving heart requires in a little box without making your energy bill go through the roof. Among the included features are Gigabit Ethernet, BitTorrent Downloader, Apache+PHP+MySQL Server, FTP and more. Since the system is based on Linux it can also be customized to suit more advanced users.
