ASUS ARES: fastest 5970 ever!

It has been a little while since any real buzz has been heard about the new Asus ARES 5970.So I guess it is a good time to look at an article about it again to keep it fresh in our minds. 

"When Asus first unloaded the EN7800GT on an unsuspecting world, enthusiasts marvelled at the sheer size of the product and the improvements it delivered. It arrived in special boxing and had KitGuru nipping to the local pro-tech store for a new PSU. Several generations and a massive R&D investment later, Asus is ready to unveil the ARES 5970. We're weak. Give it to us. Give it to us now!"

That is one sweet looking beast.

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Credit Card Theft: Dont Blame the Internet @ Hardware Secrets

Here is an interesting article about credit card theft. It is funny that many people freak about the theft coming mainly from the internet. In fact many times it comes right from the people at the department store/restaurant you hand your card too.

"Even though banks and credit card companies report huge losses due to all sorts of fraud, the credit-card system in the U.S. still has huge flaws, and some would cost absolutely nothing to fix."

Good read, and an added bonus of paranoia for everyone.

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ZOTAC GeForce GTX 480 Amp! Edition @ techPowerUp

I have never had the pleasure of using a Zotac video card, but this "GTX 480 AMP!" looks like the one I would like to try.  The heatsink looks just killer, and the GTX 480 is just a monster at the HWBot game. Looks like a great combo just waiting to be unleashed.

"ZOTAC's GeForce GTX 480 AMP! Edition comes with a mighty Zalman VF3000 cooler strapped to it which reduces the card's temperatures by 20�C. Thanks to the new cooling solution, the card has no problems running at higher clock speeds out of the box. But is that enough to declare this triple slot card a winner?"

I want one!

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ASUS Matrix 5870 Platinum @ PureOverclock

The new Matrix version of the 5870 looks just sweet as ever. I wonder if it clocks anything like the reference version that Asus has. If so then Asus has a winner on its hands there for everyone.

"ASUS is known for some innovative technologies and features through their Republic of Gamers products that are geared to gamers and enthusiasts alike, and the Matrix 5870 Platinum is no exception. Featuring a full 2GB of memory, voltage tweaking capabilities, some flashing lighting effects, and a few other goodies, it promises some serious performance potential for those who crave the best."

This cards scream for a case with a window.

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Cooler Master HAF X @ LanOC Reviews

Today is a big day for Cooler Master for they have now released the new HAF X. Ninjalane among other websites were given the opportunity to review such an incredible case. So check out our new review and some of the other guys as well. 

"Coming hot off the heels of the amazing 690 II Advanced, Cooler Master introduced today their newest case the HAF X. We have spent some time with both their HAF 932 AMD Edition and HAF 922, both getting some of our highest ratings. When the HAF X came in I was excited to find out how Cooler Master improved on the popular HAF design. Let's jump in and take a look."

Anybody want a tank for a case then step right up.

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ASUS ROG Xpander might be the craziest four-way SLI solution you've ever seen

This has to be one of the strangest after thoughts I have ever seen. Seriously an expansion card to allow for more PCI-E lanes to give all Asus Rampage III the ability to have 4-way SLI. I'm going out on a linb here, but would it have been a better ideal to maybe have engineered it with the ability to do 4-way SLI in the first place.

"Turns out the Rampage III Extreme motherboard unveiled by ASUS back in March won't support four-way SLI configurations right out of the box.

Perhaps in an effort to keep costs down, ASUS opted against equipping the board with NVIDIA NF200 bridge chips and a four-way SLI license. The decision makes sense, as very few users are ever going to utilise a four-way GPU configuration, and both the added expense and additional power draw (each NF200 chip eats up around 6W) are essentially drawbacks for 99 per cent of users."

Asus is happy that everyone buys the Rampage III and then pays extra for the expansion board. Now to think of it this is a brilliant cash cow. 

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NL: PC Game Reviews Roundup

I had thought all the PC game review had gone over to MAC since Steam just did. I guess I am wrong they are out there just in short supply.

StarCraft II - Press Day // Preview @ GamingHeaven

"StarCraft II is one of the most highly anticipated games of the year and fans of the series have been wishing for it to arrive for almost every day of its eight year development. As such we here at GamingHeaven were naturally delighted to be invited to the pre-launch exhibition in the UK, an event that would provide us with an opportunity to not only learn more about Blizzards long awaited sequel but also to get our hands on some of the single player campaign levels ahead of schedule."  

"Prince of Persia seems to be taking over the world this week with the lauch of a new video game and movie. Today lead game reviewer Richard Lewis takes a look back at the title which started the franchise back in 1989."

Okay the last one is not a new PC game, but I have heard that some of the old Sega games are coming to the Steam platform.

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5-Way SSD Round-Up: Sandforce vs. JMicron @ HotHardware

 The SSD situation just keeps getting faster and faster with a some hints on choices. So why not look at a roundup of a couple of the fastest controllers on the market today. I am thinking the SF1200 is going to take the gold here.

"Despite the rapid pace of advancement in the solid state storage market, innovation doesn't seem to be slowing. With that in mind, we've pulled together a quintet of the newest drives to hit the market, based on recently released controller designs from SandForce and long-time player JMicron, the SF1200 and JM612, respectively. We've got drives from OCZ, OWC, Corsair, and Patriot Memory on tap... "

Go read, I'm not giving away the winner.

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ASUS Crosshair IV Formula (AMD 890FX) Motherboard

The choice for high end 890FX motherboards is very limited to only a few. The Asus Crosshair is one of the best choices of the bunch though. Then again about all of them are able to push the X6 pretty well.

"As everyone knows, AMD just recently pushed their hexa-core Phenom II X6 out the door. This new CPU is a $300 six core piece of silicon that promises performance at a low price. The opinions were mixed about how well it managed this feat, but there is no question that AMD has pushed out the top end chipset for this CPU in the form of the 890FX.

The 890FX brings a few extras to the table and offers enthusiast performance and overclocking options. We have the ASUS Crosshair IV Formula in the lab (we used it for our Phenom II X6 review) and found that it has more than a few nice features to offer. With features such as Core Unlocking with the press of a button, Turbo Key II "push button" overclocking. X-Fi audio, and much more, all for about $230 over at Newegg, it makes for a good deal if you either already own an AMD CPU or are thinking of investing in the new Phenom II X6."

I do love the colors of the Crosshair.

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3DMark 11 Announced, Trailer and Images Released

 It took awhile but 3DMark 11has finally been released.  And will also be shown at the Computex show. 

Deep Sea is a demonstration of DirectX 11 technologies created using an early development build of the 3DMark 11 engine. The Deep Sea trailer features submersibles exploring the sea floor. Volumetric lighting illuminates the seabed with tessellation used to add rich detail to the rock, coral and manmade structures. Post processing delivers depth of field and other lens effects. The music is an original composition.

Now we just need a copy for the HWBot Team 

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EVGA P55 FTW @ Hardwareoverclock

This is still one incredible board that just rocks. I loved doing the review on it and clocking a Core i5 750 to 4.2GHz without looking back. I will have to admit I have not even looked at the newer BIOS to see what it improves on.

Hardwareoverclock.com has reviewed the EVGA P55 FTW mainboard. The P55 FTW has released 7 month ago. Many bios versions has been published since the release date. Many settings have been improved and optimized. Now we have reviewed the Board with a Core i5 650 and take a look at the new settings and Overclocking performance.

I might have to look at these new BIOS now.

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Seagate Momentus XT Solid State Hybrid Preview @ HotHardware

Call it predictable, but as soon as I heard Seagate had something awesome up there sleeve I said Hybrid. Then after that is when I didn't see it being a notebook drive. I was really hoping for a serious beast with 32gigs of SSD and 1TB disc drive. Oh well dream is shattered, but it might still be good let's read and see.

"Although there has been some noise over the years about hybrid drives that somewhat bridge the gap between hard drives and solid state drives, short of getting installed in a handful of notebooks, they haven't had a significant impact on the overall market. Hit your favorite on-line retailer and you'll find a slew of SSDs and hard drives available, but nothing in between. If you need massive amounts of storage space, a hard drive is a necessity (unless you've got an unlimited budget). But if it's maximum performance you crave, only an SSD will do. Today, however, Seagate aims to change that with the release of the new Momentus XT Solid State Hybrid.

The Seagate Momentus XT mates 4GB of solid state storage with a traditional 2.5" hard drive in an attempt to bridge the current gap between hard drives and SSDs. Seagate claims the Momentus XT can offer the same kind of enhanced user experience as an SSD, but with the capacity and cost of a traditional hard drive. That's a pretty tall order. Does the Momentus XT deliver? Let's find out..."

Mark this on the not interested list.

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Four-way Gaming Mouse Roundup: G9X, XAI, Abyssus and SideWinder X8

I love these kind of roundups for they are very hard to ever show which one is the best for the product depends on the person. Still it is a good round up to get an idea of which one you might like to game with.

"When it really comes down to it, a $20 generic optical mouse is going to deliver what you expect from your mouse even in heavy gaming sessions to the point where you won't really think about it too often, but then a pair of $20 joggers will probably offer the same sort of product satisfaction - that doesn't mean a $80 pair won't possibly be more comfortable, durable and offer just that tiny bit more of performance for the occasional recreational activity.

What it comes down to is in not knowing what I was missing - humans after all are masters at adapting and it really isn't until you try something new and improved that this becomes evident for yourself. With that said, when I was tasked to produce a roundup review of a few of the top gaming mice offerings on the market today, I was humbly introduced to the world I was missing out on - the world of the gaming mouse."

I'm on the G9X series side.

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AMD 6 Core 1090T CPU Overclocked with LN2 and Benchmarked @ Madshrimps

Been playing with a Phenom II X6 1055T here and I can say this is a pretty impressive chip. With the right amount of cooling it is a beast ready to unleashed. So why not look at an article with LN2 being put to the test.

"This was one of the most eagerly awaited releases at the latest CeBIT show 2010. Sadly for the Shrimps reviewers we didn't see much Thuban or GTX 480 in real life at the fare. But now finally AMD's new core is amongst us. AMD released 2 brand new CPUs: the 6 core 1055T model running at 2.8Ghz and the flagship the 1090T version at 3.2Ghz with unlocked multiplier. Time to explore how it performs compared to the older 4-core as well as Intel i7 competition."

Enjoy.

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Noctua NH-C12P SE14 @ techPowerUp

The heatsinks have hit the fan at Ninjalane with lots of reviews from us. So it is time to share the wealth on heatsinks with posting someone elses review of a heatsink we just recently looked at. Remember to compare the reviews and post your thoughts about our in our forums.

"Noctua has taken the high performance NH-C12P, which already offers excellent performance, and added a 140 mm fan. Noise level are still at a minimum and push the envelope in silent high performance cooling for modern processors. They all say size matters - let's see if that holds true with the NH-C12P SE14 as well."

So many heatsinks so little time.

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AMD Athlon II X4 960T OEM CPU Review @ Motherboards

The rumormills have gotten the masses up in arms over this new puppy. The potential Phenom II X4 that could be unlocked to a X6 is something everyone wants. Still it might only be for the OEM market and that is not setting well with enthusiasts out there.

"In terms of performance, the AMD Phenom II X4 960T is right in-line with the expectation of a CPU that is clocked at 3.0GHz with four cores. Where this CPU really shines is when the end-user unlocks the extra two CPU cores on the die and runs this as a 6-core CPU except in the Sisoft Sandra test which is interesting. The extra cores come into play with multi-threaded apps in most cases and It works with a supported motherboard. The benefit of the AMD platform is that while the CPUs are released older motherboards still are generally compatible. Many AM2+ motherboards are certified to work with the new CPUs meaning that all you have to do to install the new CPU is update the BIOS. As the CPU is not available as of yet online I imagine the 960T will retail below the price of the 1055T making it a great competitor against the Core i5-650 CPU. More cores, more performance at the same price."

I'm sure some retailer is going to sell OEM versions of this chip soon enough.

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SandForce showdown: Corsair's Force F200 and OCZ's Agility 2 and Vertex 2 SSDs

The SSD storm is not over yet. The ball keeps rolling for better and faster controllers and the flavor of the month is now SandForce SF-1200 controller. As these get better we hope to see prices fall on the older SSD drives that are just as capable as the new technology. 

"A solid-state drive's controller chip largely determines its destiny. SandForce's SF-1200 is the latest controller to hit the market, and we've taken it for a spin in Corsair's Force F200 and OCZ's Agility 2 and Vertex 2 SSDs. Keep reading to see if all the hype is deserved."

Everyone is getting the itch to get an SSD the way these things keep coming out.

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AMD chipsets in tight supply

It looks like the new AMD processors have put a real strain on the rest of there chipset production. With making some of the chipsets in short supply during high demand times.

"Supply for AMD chipsets is running tight as the company has agreed to allow foundry partner Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) to allocate part of the 55nm capacity reserved for chipsets to GPU production in order to ease current GPU shortages, according to sources at motherboard makers.

In the second half of 2009, AMD's 40nm ATI Radeon HD 5000 series faced a serious shortage due to low yields on TSMC's 40nm process, as a result, graphics card makers turned to placing orders for 55nm ATI Radeon HD 4000 series GPUs. However, since AMD took a conservative attitude toward future 55nm GPU sales after the launch of 40nm GPUs, both the company's 40nm and 55nm GPUs ended up suffering from shortages, according to previous reports."

This could go very bad for AMD if they do not fix it quick.

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ATI's Eyefinity: 18 Games Benched on 3 and 6 Displays @ Techgage

Gaming with multiple monitors is the only way to play. We'll as long as you got that money to put out for it. Here is a fun little article on Eyefinity, and what you need to get you extreme resolution game on.

"When AMD launched its ATI Eyefinity technology, it helped redefine high-end gaming, and effectively made 2560x1600 look like child's play. In this article, we put the technology to a good test across 18 different games and on both 3x1 (5760x1080) and 3x2 (5760x2160) display configurations to see just how worthy Eyefinity is."

I prefer the 3 monitor setup over the 6  because of the seems from the bezels.

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MSI 890FXA-GD70 @ PureOverclock

The AMD Phenom II X6 is really picking up the pace on Intel with motherboards that are already ahead of the technology curve with USB 3.0 and SATA 6GBs. The big thing is how far will this motherboard overclock the new X6 to compete with the Core series. 

"Today we're looking at MSI's foray into the USB 3.0 and SATA III market with their premium AM3 board, the 890FXA-GD70. This new board looks to build upon the success of MSI's recent product offerings, bringing some enthusiast features into the mix through the 890FX chipset to the Phenom faithful."

That is a pretty impressive board.

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