Monday Reviews

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ATP Electronics is a 17 year-old company best known for their EarthDrive recyclable USB flash drive, which is not only made of recycled materials but also has part of the proceeds go towards rainforest protection. They also make memory products for both enterprise and home applications in addition to various types of removable storage. Today, ASE Labs has the ATP ToughDrive 4GB Camo edition.

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This is the second product from Icy Dock to pass by the Labs of ASE. In the previous review, we saw that Icy Dock knows how to make an excellent product. Will the trend continue with the internal version of the screwless hard drive enclosure? The Icy Dock 3.5" Screwless SATA Internal Enclosure (MB672SKGF) hopes to earn a valuable 5.25" slot in computer and it did on mine.

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It seemed like some time ago that external storage was the oddball for people. Times have certainly changed now that internal hard drives are so large that backing up to optical media is really an impossibility. More and more external drive enclosures are coming out to provide the need, but they aren't created equal. Icy Dock's 3.5" External Screwless Hard Drive Enclosure (MB664US-1S) aims to fit the external storage needs of everyone in a convenient to use package. I believe they have achieved that.

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Since ASE Labs is getting more and more into producing videos, it is time to start reviewing digital video cameras. The first such device is absolutely perfect for the Youtube crowd and has been making the rounds on the internet. The Flip Video Mino from Pure Digital promises web videos made with ease and they aren't kidding.

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Quote: Good things come in slightly smaller packages... Smaller than a full tower case, that is! A few weeks ago the Thermaltake Armor+ VH6000BWS full tower chassis was reviewed at Bigbruin.com, and the overall impression was quite positive. This time around we have the mid tower version, the Armor+ MX VH8000BWS, another solid case that houses all of the features of its larger kin, as well as some additional ones.

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The crucial link in the chain for getting = the best performance from the Patriot Viper PC3-16000 2GB Memory Kit is = whether or not your motherboard and processor can handle Front Side Bus increases. If your Nvidia or Intel chipset based motherboard can't give you something upwards of at least 1600 MHz FSB, then you won't really be tapping in to the bulk of the memory's potential. Nvidia 790i users can at least expect great things from the BIOS memory and CPU Bus Link option. A quick change to a memory setting or two and you're running at 2000 MHz. But, again, you'll get much better results if you at least tap in to your processor's 1600 MHz FSB potential.

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BFG has a great power suppy here - not only does it look good, but it does it with performing style. For the duration of the testing, and the subsequent gaming session afterwards, performance remained solid while silence was in full effect. I found no issues with any of the cabling, or the installation of the unit - that was the fault of the unit. Overall, I would have to say that if you're in the market for a PSU at this price point ($219), BFG's ES800 is an excellent choice. While it's lack of support for Tri-SLI is definitely disappointing, it's ability to take a system with two 4870x2 or 9800GX2 cards is admirable.

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It was an excellent chance to get overclock numbers from not just one card, but from 24. The model chosen was the PVT96GYDF4 clocked at the standard 650MHz for the GPU, 900MHz for memory, and 1625MHz shader clock. Each card was tested on the same system with a Athlon 64 X2 4600+, 2GB of Corsair DDR2 800MHz on the Asus 590 SLI based CrossHairwith an 850 watt Antec Truepower Quattro. We pushed each card to its limits using Riva Tuner, and to test for stability Crysis was used. It made quick work of a clock speed it didn't like usually with a crash quickly into the built in GPU benchmark.

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With all the advances and new releases in the computer industry this summer, it's easy to overlook the smaller things that often play excellent support roles. One of these devices in particular happens to be a fan controller. Not just any fan controller, but the NZXT Sentry LX. Today we'll have a look at whether NZXT has delivered a winning product or one that you can live without. For those of you that don't know, NZXT has been around for a few years now, focusing their efforts primarily on cases. This is the second fan controller to come from NZXT, following the Sentry 1.

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Today for review I've got a very small solution to that problem from our friends at USBFever, it's called the World's Slimmest USB Bluetooth Dongle, and while I'm not sure if it's the World's Slimmest it is very, very small, about the size of a quarter, so it will fit anywhere and you won't have some ugly big USB Dongle sticking out of your computer to enable BT functionality. So continue on for a quick look at a great option to enable BT on your computers...

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It was only going to be a matter of time 'till ASUS strapped some mean clocks onto the GTX 280 and put it under its TOP naming scheme. Well, that day has come and it's time to see what happens when the GTX 280 gets, for the most part, an unnecessary but much loved speed bump. The tumbling GTX 280 prices over the past few weeks make the card more and more affordable for people wanting to get a top gaming experience. While we all know that for the most part the new AMD HD 4870 X2 is the faster single card on the market, NVIDIA still hold the crown of the fastest single cored card.

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Thermalright set out to pack the performance of a 120mm cooler into a 90mm package. With the Optima-90I, it looks like they've done just that. The cooling is very good with the 90mm fan and the package is relatively compact. As always, the workmanship is outstanding the mounting is not too difficult, though a bit bothersome for AMD users.

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BFG Tech is one of those companies you expect quality products from, no matter what you're buying. While most famous for their graphics cards, they make a range of products, including motherboards, accessories, and power supplies. BFG has a few lines of power supplies, from modular to energy efficient, and has recently started advertising their 550W and 680W LS power supplies. A few weeks ago, our very own Zahn had a look at the 550W version and was generally impressed with the quality and performance versus the price. Today, I'm going to have a look at the 680W version to see if it's true to their slogan.

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* Today I will be looking at one of Sapphire's latest video cards, the Radeon HD 4850 Toxic, a 512MB DDR3 factory overclocked version of the HD 4850. This card comes complete with ramsinks, the first I have had on a video card that I didn't install myself, and a Zalman heatpipe cooler. Will the HD 4850 impress me as much at the HD 3850 did? How will it fare against the cards I plan to compare it to? Read on to see!

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Before we tell you anything concrete about ASUS P5QL-E we should clarify differences between Intel P45 and P43 northbridge. If you followed up IT scene in last couple of months you should definitely know that Intel's P45 is the first chipset made in 65nm technology and that it introduced to us with few new technologies and higher overclock margin. One of most important new possibilities that were implemented into P45 was ability to divide PCI Express line into two x8 lines.

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As consumers we want digital access to our media, but at the same time = we=20 want big screen displays not to be undone by the noise of a computer. = Intel=20 thinks it may have a solution to this problem. Make a computer that is = cheap=20 and quiet, and specialized at media playback in high definition. The = Intel=20 Canmore Digital Video Player concept was discussed this week at the Intel = Developer=20 Forum in San Francisco, and Gigabyte have been quick to highlight its = entry=20 into this emerging marketplace.

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Everyone that is a gamer knows that having the freedom to game whenever you want is severely limited to who you are living with or next to. Other than some special situations, both will actively object to you disemboweling your adversary with a gattlin gun at 3am in the morning with you 5.1 speaker system at gaming volume. Because of that simple problem, gamers rely on a good set of gaming headphones to span those times where our gaming audio is not appreciated by others.

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* One piece of technology that has really made it into the hands of most consumers is the GPS. Some people really rely on GPS units and for constant drivers they are a valuable tool. I really have never used a GPS before so this will be a first for me. Today I will be looking at the TomTom One GPS unit, which features a 3.5-inch touchscreen, 1GB internal memory, built-in Bluetooth, and preloaded maps of the US and Canada. Geeks.com was nice enough to send the TomTom One over.

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Quote: 6GHz was easily attainable with the E8600 having an ungodly low 1.84vcore and I was able to bench between 6100MHz and 6200MHz depending on the benchmark. Consumers with single-stage phase change systems should be able to easily hit speeds of 5200Mhz to 5500MHz as I was booting at 5500MHz around -40 Celsius with ease. This is where the E0 stepping really shines, past 5GHz it just tears everything else to shreds and makes it look easy...

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Up on the review block today is the Mach 1 900Watt Power Supply from Kingwin that not only looks great, but features an interesting modular cabling system that securely locks the cables into the PSU to insure they will not come loose. During my time with the Mach 1 I found it to be a very quiet and exceptionally stable power supply that will meet or exceed the demands of most high end system on the market today.

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Tension Labs EAP03 is the name of a brand new earphone audio processor that can boost your experience in a variety of ways. The EAP03 features a built in microphone and can sample it into the audio feed, providing you with the power to control the level of isolation you want from your earphones.

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Unlike the others Scythe did not add more heat pipes to the cooler to attempt to make it better. The added weight and size as well as an improved fan to aid in a higher performance capacity in the Ninja 2. There are a few more differences we can discuss but we will not be doing it in the introduction of the review. So sit back, relax and read along as we take the Ninja 2 for a little ride.

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Just over two months have passed since the release of our initial article. XFX has sent us a replacement sample for the GTX280 which is completely free of from the electronic component hum we initially experienced. In addition to the GTX280, XFX also sent us their latest and greatest XXX version of the card for review. We decided to embrace this as an opportunity to compare the two cards in a head to head along with a number of other popular graphics solutions. Our intent is not to rehash the plethora of features already covered in great detail in the aforementioned article, but more to concentrate on serious testing and expound on those features that prove noteworthy with the more mature drivers we will be using.

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Now that the HD 4850 has been hanging around for a bit, we're beginning to see more and more companies jump on the aftermarket bandwagon. The latest company to do this is Palit, bringing the highly popular HD 4850 to the also highly popular Sonic line. The HD 4850 has had so much going for it from the word go; its aggressive pricing and excellent performance gave users everything they wanted. It wasn't all rosy, though; while the use of a single slot cooler was handy, it caused the card to run extremely hot.

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Quote: The Asus Striker II NSE sports an attractive black PCB and very little color compared to many other boards. The black color lends to the overall classy feel of the board. With the first glance at the board, it is hard to miss the Fusion block system that cools the board. Asus has decided that hard core enthusiasts would like to cool off the North Bridge using their water cooling setups, and provided an easy way to do that by placing a water block on the North Bridge...

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Its predecessor, the AVR-2807 was one of the best midrange receivers of the last couple years. The 2808CI adds digital goodies like HDMI 1.3 and 1080p upscaling, as well as the Audyssey MultiEQ XT auto-calibration system, which tailors the amp's sound to your room acoustics. It's a complex amp to set up, and the user guide is so-so, but when you're finally done you'll be rewarded with great sound and power across three independent zones. The bottom line: You can't do better than this for around $900 USD. For a few extra bones, you can step up to the Denon's 2809CI was recently released and adds adds a few extra inputs, including an HDMI, and Audyssey Dynamic Room EQ.

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is ATi which showed to all of us that even when hard times come they are continuing with good work as if competition isn't a problem and as confirmation of their efforts we got incredible new generation of graphics cards. The whole story started with great Radeon HD 4850 and continued with HD 4870 that had GDDR5 memory. After great critics for these two GPUs, ATi was aware that they shouldn't stop there, if they want to overthrown nVIDIA from the top performance throne. And they did it.

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Quote: The Diamond HD 4870 features some of the most current technology available on the market and sits at an easily affordable price point. The power requirements aren't anything to snuff at but for those users looking for a single-GPU card to game at 1920x1200 with high settings, the Diamond HD 4870 is an excellent option. A single HD 4870 wouldn't be able to game at 2560x1600 but the beauty of CrossFire would let you couple two or three of these cards together till you have enough graphical power...