Gigabyte X58A-UD3R Ultra Durable Motherboard Review
Published: Tuesday, March 16, 2010 - Motherboards

Many of you already know a motherboard design can vary widely between motherboard makers. Colors, layout, and components are often fingerprints of the product designer and backed up by the pedigree of the company.

CoolerMaster 690 II Advanced vs. CoolerMaster 690
Published: Thursday, March 11, 2010 - Cases

CoolerMaster has realized the desires of their customers and has reworked one of the most popular CM cases on the market today. We touched on many of the major highlights of the CM690II but when compared to the original CM690 you quickly realize that many of the subtle changes will go unnoticed.

ThermalTake SpinQ VT Heatsink Review
Published: Sunday, March 07, 2010 - Cooling

At first glance the SpinQ VT appears to be a perfect cooler for Ninjalane given its sawblade appearance. While the 50 radiator fins are relatively harmless we cannot speak for the squirrel cage fan inside.

Ninjalane News

Feel The Power from EVGA

Published: Thursday, March 18, 2010 - By: Will
News Source: Email

With all of the excitement over the new EVGA dual socket Classified SR-2 we seemed to have messed another important part of the web link. That right it looks like EVGA will be putting out a 1200Watt PSU to compliment the new motherboard.

In addition to the innovative EVGA Classified SR-2 motherboard, EVGA will soon be offering the ultimate power solution. The EVGA Classified SR-2 Power Supply takes high performance power to the next level. Rated at 1200W, this baby can peak at over 1500W of output. With 6 +12v rails capable of putting out 38A a piece, it's clear why this is the ultimate of all power supplies.

* Over 1500W Peak Powe
* 6 +12v rails rated at 38 amps each
* Adjustable +12v Rail
* Adjustable Fan speed
* Perfect for the SR-2 Motherboard

Got to the middle of the page to catch this little teaser.

ASUS Rampage III Extreme Sneak Peek

Published: Thursday, March 18, 2010 - By: Will
News Source: Email

Looks like the new Rampage III Extreme is about to hit us soon. I like the colors and the strange angles of the heatsink is just hard to look at.

"Today we get a sneak preview of the ASUS Rampage III Extreme."

I think Pyramids when I look at this board.


Image borrowed from OC3D. Go check out the review.

BFG GTX Three-Way Video Card Unboxing

Published: Wednesday, March 17, 2010 - By: Dennis
News Source: Ninjalane

With the pending release of the NVidia GTX 480 and GTX 470 cards I felt it was time to treat myself to a three-way. 

(Strange way to celebrate I know )

Check the forum link below for the complete unboxin.

Announcing the EVGA Classified SR-2 Motherboard!

Published: Tuesday, March 16, 2010 - By: Dennis
News Source: Web

Saw this on Twitter this morning.

Meet the mother of all motherboards
We are proud to present the EVGA Classified SR-2, the absolute ultimate for the extreme user. It takes everything that made the X58 Classified 4-way SLI motherboard great and doubled it up. Now you can experience the ultimate in overclocked multithreaded performance by way of Dual 1366 sockets which allow for hyperthreaded Intel Xeon CPU's to be combined together for massive amounts of workload to be spread across a multitude of processing threads.

Personally I cannot wait to get my hands on this beast, and having this board available ends a long awaited return to dual CPU processing.  

True story:  After my review of the dual P3 board from Freeway I convinced myself that dual processor was going to be the way of future.  Much to my disappointment, after the P3 SMP coolness, Intel removed the ability to SMP the low end Pentium processors.  A short while later Hyperthreading was announced, followed by mulit-core processors. 

It seemed all was right with the world.  However, something was missing; it was the joy and satisfaction knowing that you have two physical processors chugging away while you play your favorite game.  Also knowing that you have some awesome power to create something awesome in (AutoCAD, Illustrator, Photoshop etc..).  Truth of the matter, these days something like dual Xeon's is nothing more than bragging rights since the Core i7 gives you all of that, and then some. 

Seriously though, what kind of computer enthusiast would you be if you didn't have a little excess every once in awhile.

Xeon 5600 series brings six-core chips to 2P systems @ Tech Report

Published: Tuesday, March 16, 2010 - By: Will
News Source: Email

Here is the dream of many enthusiasts right now. Getting two six-core Xeon 32nm beast inside of  the new EVGA  Classified SR-2(W555) motherboard. Yep, this would be the best of the best. Let's get some more info on the new Xeon processors here.

"Less than a week after launching its first six-core desktop CPU, Intel has completely revamped its Xeon lineup for 2P systems. The new Xeon 5600 series features a whopping 20 CPUs, all of which are based on the same 32-nm Westmere-EP silicon."

Enjoy.

MSI R5770 HAWK @ Bjorn3D

Published: Tuesday, March 16, 2010 - By: Will
News Source: Email

MSI has a very cool looking heatsink on this new Radeon 5770 HAWK graphics card. Let's see what this card is capable of in this review. I bet the overclocking is pretty good with that nice big heatsink.

"With ATI's step into the future with its new line of DX11 GPU's known as the 5xxx series MSI has taken the opportunity to build a new card to add into the innovative gpu lineup. Today we will be looking at one of their mid range cards, the R5770 HAWK, targeted for people on a budget looking to get the most for the money. MSI has decided to improve on the already great 5770 with improved 7+1 phase PWM and overvoltage options. The even included an aftermarket twin frozr cooler. MSI's introduction of the R5770 HAWK gives the budget gamer the option to get the most out of his card for the price. MSI even takes a step ahead and the card comes with a 875MHz core clock a 25MHz overclock over a standard 5770. With all these improvements MSI have a great card on their hands, let's see how it performs."

Very sharp looking card.

NL: PC Game Reviews Roundup

Published: Sunday, March 14, 2010 - By: Will
News Source: Email

Here is a bunch of games for the PC gamer to enjoy.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (PC) @ GamingHeaven

"From the moment the title is fired up it sucks the player into an interactive cinematic experience and it is as visually stunning as it is immersive. While the opening mission is reminiscent of the Metal Gear Solid 2 intro it doesn't have the same overblown and bloated style."  

Assassin's Creed II (PC) Review @ TweakPC

We just took a look at Assassin's Creed II. New hero, new place, new copy protection. Is Assassin's Creed II better than the first
part? We player it... 

Call of Juarez - Bound in Blood Review @ ocaholic

"Call of Juarez Bound in Blood stages in the United States right before the 20th century. There is a civil war going on the Wild West and you'll be involved in a very intese story which shouldn't be boring at all. Ubisoft tries to rise the bar with Bound in Blood compared to its predecessor. If they succeed, that's what you'll read on the following pages."  

nVidia GeForce GTX 480 has been sighted

Published: Friday, March 12, 2010 - By: Will
News Source: Email

Inno3D is so proud of there new GeFroce GTX 480 getting ready to ship. They had to show a full box ready to ship. Looks like all of the rumors saying it is never going to come out is going to be put to rest.

MSI HD 5870 Lightning @ techPowerUp

Published: Thursday, March 11, 2010 - By: Will
News Source: Email

Looks like everyone is putting out a none reference version of the Radeon HD 5870. Here we get to see the new MSI R5870 Lighting version that is way out of case makers specifications. This card is super wide.

"MSI's new R5870 Lightning is designed with the hardcore overclocker in mind. It comes with more PWM phases, noise free coils, voltage measurement points, an overclock out of the box and software voltage change support via Afterburner. But is that enough to satisfy the demanding enthusiast crowd?"

I bet this is one solid beast.

G.Skill PC3-18400 (2300MHz) PI Series 4GB Kit

Published: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 - By: Will
News Source: Email

Looks like G.Skill is going to level 11 with their new PI Series ram with 2300MHz. Gotta love the spirit of the enthusiast pushing it faster. The large fins on this ram looks pretty cool as well.

"When I think of memory companies that want nothing but speed, only a few really come to mind and one of them would have to be G.Skill. While so many companies these days produce high end memory, we only really see a few leading the pack and when I say that I mean we see the same few companies ahead of everyone with most other companies playing catch up when it comes to speed.

While most companies are sitting around the PC3-17600 mark these days, G.Skill as always has kicked it up a notch with a PC3-19200 kit and a PC3-18400 one which we have on hand today. Like most high performance memory kits at the moment, the modules are aimed at P55 platforms due to them coming in dual-channel packets."

I think you'll need a serious chip and board to handle this speed.

Another World-Exclusive: Lian Li PC-T1R Spider @ techPowerUp

Published: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 - By: Will
News Source: Email

I have always liked the sleek aluminum style of the Lian-Li cases, but this one is way out there. So how long till we see people painting this orange and calling is a Headcrab from Half-Life?

Here's Lian Li being Lian Li. The PC-T1 is an open mini-ITX chassis, which is one of the most wacky cases on the planet: it looks like a spider when assembled. Being the case that it is, we wanted to look into the belly of the beast and see if the menacing looks are coupled with the kind of engineering required to pull such a design off.

Remember, that if you make the Headcrab out of this and do not post it at Ninjalane. We will hunt you down, and do horrible things to you much like the headcrabs.

ASUS HD 5870 Matrix 2GB & ASUS HD 5870 "V2" Sneak Peek @ Hardware Canucks

Published: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 - By: Will
News Source: Email

I am really diggin the new heatsink looks form Asus here on the Radeon HD5870. Check out 2gigs of ram and direct contact heatpipes on the heatsink. They are even going to replace the reference design with a sweet looking new board. 

"Lately, there has been a lot of talk about upcoming overclocked and 2GB HD 5800 series cards which will see the light of day in the next few months. In this sneak peak, we take a look at the ASUS HD 5870 Matrix that has high clock speeds as well as a massive amount of memory and a new custom design which ASUS will use to replace their reference HD 5870 cards with."

Alright let me get you a pic to tease you with.

Image from HWC

DimasTech Bench Table V2.5 @ techPowerUp

Published: Tuesday, March 09, 2010 - By: Dennis
News Source: Email

For years I have been using a hacked up Antec case as my primary test bench, and so far it has worked great.  So great in fact, I can say that only a single motherboard has been lost on the bench after I burned up a chipset trying to reach 250Mhz FSB.  (Which I did attain by the way)

I have recently decided that the ole test bench needed and upgrade so I pay careful attention to reviews like this, only to become disappointed in what test bench options there are.  Heck, they even broke this one during testing.

Dimastech is continuously updating their Benchtable and listening to the feedback of both users and reviewers. The V2.5 simplifies many aspects of assembly, while adding new and useful features to the Benchtable. We take a close look at what it has to offer and at the improvements, to see if it is a worthy successor.

Not saying I can build one better, but by golly I'm a gonna do it.  Stay tuned for details and build log.  (btw I'm serious about doing a mod this time, )

Gigabyte GV-567OC-1GI Radeon HD 5670 Videocard Review @ PCStats

Published: Tuesday, March 09, 2010 - By: Dennis
News Source: Email

Factory overclocking is a great way to feel like you are getting a little something for nothing.  Sometimes you have to wonder if the additional boost is really worth all of that trouble.    As we noted in our review of the Gigabyte 5670 and proven with our HWBot scores, any overclock is better than no overclock.

Gigabyte has designed a slightly overclocked (+10MHz) version of the Radeon HD 5670 videocard called the GV-567OC-1GI. ATI has produced several 'sweet spot' videocards over the past year like the Radeon HD 4870, 4850 and 4770, and through aggressive pricing and new manufacturing techniques ATI has managed to get all of these videocards into that $100-$150 'sweet spot' that net excellent gaming performance at a cut-rate price. Will the GV-567OC-1GI be worthy to join such hallowed company?

Gigabyte calls this card the Transformer, yet features a sexy cartoon female on their packaging, go figure.

Crucial Ballistix Tracer Red PC3-12800 Memory Kit Review @ OCIA

Published: Tuesday, March 09, 2010 - By: Dennis
News Source: Email

There are several unfortunate things about this review.  First and foremost it is almost impossible to find the next and back buttons in this review, so don't feel bad if you only can only read the first page.  Next it is sad that even though these modules feature super sweet and sexy slick red heat spreaders and fancy dancing red LEDs, the modules are only rated at 12800. 

Crucial under its parent company Micron has been producing high quality, standard spec computer memory for more than 30 years. Although a latecomer to the performance marketplace, Crucial has not disappointed their fans and has built quite a name for its Ballistix line of memory over the last six years, beginning with their high speed DDR up through DDR2 and now DDR3. The Tracer series adds an interesting twist, that of LED activity lighting on the memory sticks themselves, useful for indicating memory utilization and also just for the bling factor. The memory I have for review today is the red version of Crucial's latest Ballistix Tracer series, in a 2x2Gb kit of PC3-12800 8-8-8-24.

Even though I was never offered a kit by the company that shares the same hometown as me, I "might" still buy a set.  

Gigabyte H55M Reviews

Published: Tuesday, March 09, 2010 - By: Dennis
News Source: Email

There are some interesting things to note about the new Core processors from Intel (Core i7 and Core i5).  Core i7 comes in 2 different socket configurations that also require completely different chipsets.  Core i5 comes in 2 "core" configurations but share the same socket requirements but require different chipsets depending on what features you are intending to use.

P55 and H55 are the current 1156 enabled chipsets (Core i5).  P55 is the mainstream option for desktop systems without onboard graphics.  H55 is basically the same thing but enables you to use the on-die GPU found in some Core i5 processors.(the dual core ones)

Gigabyte currently has one of the most popular H55 motherboards on the market, and here we have a couple of reviews for you to look over.

- Gigabyte H55M-S2H Budget 1156 Motherboard @ Pro-Clockers
- Gigabyte H55M-USB3 - The Ultimate $100 H55 Board? @ Techgage

We're still waiting for our H55 sample, but we hope to see it real soon.

ASUS RoG Maximus III Extreme LGA 1156 Motherboard Preview @ Hardware Canucks

Published: Tuesday, March 09, 2010 - By: Dennis
News Source: Email

ASUS is such a big company its sometimes hard to remember that they actually still do some enthusiast and workstation class computer hardware.

ASUS has long been known for their Republic of Gamers series of motherboards and while they have products already in place for both of Intel’s P55 and X58 platforms, they felt it was time to take things to the next level.  The Maximus III Extreme follows closely in the footsteps of the original Maximus III Formula but adds a bevy of new features that are sure to make enthusiasts go weak in the knees.

Gotta love their color scheme, it's almost like everyone else had the same idea.

STOP! Using the latest 196.75 NVidia Drivers

Published: Saturday, March 06, 2010 - By: Will
News Source: Web

Looks like some people video cards are getting fried from the fan running to slow with this new driver. So NVidia has put on there Facebook page to stop using the new driver and rollback to the 196.21 versions.

"NVIDIA We are aware that some customers have reported fan speed issues with the latest 196.75 WHQL drivers on NVIDIA.com. Until we can verify and root cause this issue, we recommend that customers stay with, or return to 196.21 WHQL drivers. Release 196.75 drivers have been temporarily removed from our website. Thanks, and stay tuned for updates."

You have now been warned!