Reviews 51943 Published by

Icy Dock 2.5" to 3.5" SATA SSD HDD Converters Review
OCIA.net has posted their review of the Icy Dock 2.5" to 3.5" SATA SSD HDD Converters

With the ever increasing speeds obtainable from modern solid state drives, more and more enthusiasts are switching to using them as their primary system drive in desktop machines. Since most SSDs are designed in the 2=BD" notebook format however, which many desktop computer cases are not equipped to handle, this leaves users with a quandary over how to mount their new drive. Use only one or two screws to hold it? Double-sided tape? Or maybe just leave it dangling at the end of the SATA cable? For those who want something a little more secure and a cleaner looking installation, Icy Dock has the perfect solution.
Icy Dock 2.5" to 3.5" SATA SSD HDD Converters Review

AMD Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition Review
ITShootOut.com posted a review on the AMD Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition

Today we are looking at one of the processors from AMD's 2010 line up, designed to go up against Intel's Pentium dual cores at the important £75 inc. VAT price point. Intel would no doubt prefer us to pitch this chip against its Core i3 530, but as that processor costs 20% more that wouldn't be a fair comparison. In actual fact the closest contemporary competitor is the Pentium G6950, which also uses the Clarkdale core. Intel released this chip rather quietly obviously mindful that without blistering clock speeds the Clarkdale architecture isn't as competitive as it would like. Either chip can be snapped up for around £75 from the cheapest online sources.
AMD Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition Review



Western Digital Scorpio Blue 640 GB Hard Disk Drive Review
TechARP posted a review on the Western Digital Scorpio Blue 640 GB Hard Disk Drive

There are two fundamental differences between Western Digital's Scorpio Black and Scorpio Blue drive families - spindle speed and storage capacity. The Scorpio Black drives spin at 7,200 RPM and are currently limited to a maximum capacity of 320 GB. The Scorpio Blue drives, on the other hand, spin at a more sedate 5,400 RPM but have a maximum capacity of 1TB.

While Western Digital offers Scorpio Blue drives in capacities of 1 TB and 750 GB, these models are 31.5% thicker than standard 2.5" drives and may not fit most notebook storage bays. They also spin at a slower spindle speed of 5,200 RPM. The model with the largest storage capacity, that also conforms to the standard 2.5" form factor, is the 640 GB WD Scorpio Blue hard disk drive, and this is the drive we will be looking into today.
Western Digital Scorpio Blue 640 GB Hard Disk Drive Review

Corsair Padlock 2 8 GB Review
techPowerUp posted a review on the Corsair Padlock 2 8 GB

Corsair's latest Padlock revision brings about more changes than just a new look. Data is now secured with a 256-bit AES encryption, unlike the original Padlock 1, which just cut off power to the flash drive unless the correct PIN was entered. We drill the Padlock 2 to see if it holds up or snitches under pressure.
Corsair Padlock 2 8 GB Review

Graphics Card + CPU in Professional Software and Games
iXBT Labs takes a look at two configurations, one with a more expensive graphics card and another one with a more expensive CPU

To make the review more interesting, we used two configurations of similar price. One had a more expensive graphics card, while the other had a correspondingly more expensive CPU. Let's see which configuration would be the optimal.
Graphics Card + CPU in Professional Software and Games

Gigabyte Radeon HD5770 Video Card Review
Ninjalane has posted their review of the mid-range gaming card from Gigabyte using the Radeon HD 5770 chipset

In this review we are going to look at the new Radeon HD 5770 from Gigabyte. The Radeon HD 5770 is the middle ground on the gaming performance spectrum designed to be cheaper than the HD 5870 and slightly more powerful than the HD 5670.
Gigabyte Radeon HD5770 Video Card Review

Plextor PX-128M1S 128GB Solid State Drive / SSD Review
PC Stats posted Plextor PX-128M1S 128GB Solid State Drive / SSD Review

Plextor, best known for manufacturing optical drives, has finally
stepped into the SSD market with the PX-128M1S, a 128GB drive that uses
multilevel cell (MLC) NAND flash memory. The PX-128M1S is a 2.5", SATA 3Gb/s drive, which makes it compatible with most notebooks. It can also be installed into a desktop computer with use of a mounting bracket (not included). With a capacity of 128GB, the Plextor PX-128M1S is well-suited as a boot drive. Unlike 64GB drives which can be a little tight in that regard, you'll have enough space to install Windows, everyday applications like Microsoft Office.
Plextor PX-128M1S 128GB Solid State Drive / SSD Review

Kidz Gear Wired and Wireless Headphones Review
Bigbruin.com has published a review on the Kidz Gear Wired and Wireless Headphones

Both the wired and wireless Kidz Gear headphones were given to several kids to test out. On a three hour trip, none of them took the headphones off. At the final destination, they all stated the headphones were more comfortable than the ones that came with the vehicle. The parents of the kids now have to buy new headphones!
>> Kidz Gear Wired and Wireless Headphones

Transcend aXeRAM 4GB DDR3-2000 Review
PureOverclock posted a review of the Transcend aXeRAM 4GB DDR3-2000 memory modules.

If you're looking for some high performance memory modules to satisfy your enthusiast cravings that aren't fussy, look great, and run fast, then today's product will certainly interest you. We're looking at a set of Transcend aXeRAM 4GB DDR3-2000 CAS9 modules that have some promise from what we've been told. Forgive us if we don't take Transcend's word for it though, we prefer to see for ourselves.
Transcend aXeRAM 4GB DDR3-2000 Review

Arctic Cooling Arctic Sound E361-WM Earphones Review
PCShopTalk posted a review on the Arctic Cooling Arctic Sound E361-WM Earphones

The Arctic Sound E361-WM Earphones from Arctic Cooling that I will cover more in-depth in this review, have a nice aluminium chassis a special shape and large drivers to deliver deep bass, precise highs right into the ear canal. They are also shipped with a little box to carry them easy and 3 different sized silicone cups, to fit all ear sizes.
Arctic Cooling Arctic Sound E361-WM Earphones Review

Uniblue Registry Booster 2010 Review
OCC has published a review on the Uniblue Registry Booster 2010

The biggest improvement was to the Windows startup and shutdown times form both systems. The desktop computer started a full 14 seconds quicker, which when you are wanting to get into your computer and start working, this extra time makes a big difference. The netbook gained an 18 second improvement, which is even more impressive, since everyone knows a netbook takes a long time to accomplish any task. There was not much improvement on the other tests, because quite frankly, with the exception of the Microsoft Word test on the netbook, the others didn't have much time to take off.
Uniblue Registry Booster 2010 Review

OCZ Platinum DDR3-1600 4GB Low Voltage Dual Channel Memory Kit Review
ThinkComputers.org posted a review on the OCZ Platinum DDR3-1600 4GB Low Voltage Dual Channel Memory Kit

Keep in mind that though most of us in the PC Hardware website realm generally fall in or near what I call the extreme enthusiast, more interested in overclocking, high-end gaming, or just owning powerful rigspretty much what you would have considered an enthusiast just a few years ago. But the term enthusiast has changed, encompassing a large number of new enthusiaststhe HTPC crowd, and those with high-end workstations. So rather than purchasing the upper end memory which will generally be purchased by the extreme enthusiast or overclocker, it is more likely that the buyer will get DDR3-1600 or DDR3-1333 memory. Today I will be looking at OCZs Platinum DDR3-1600 Low Voltage Dual Channel 4GB Memory Kit. It sports some tight timings of 7-7-7, and meets Intels requirement of doing its thing at a max of 1.65 volts. An has those beautiful platinum-plated OCZ Platinum heatspreaders. Will it live up to the expectations we have for OCZ memory? Read on to see!
OCZ Platinum DDR3-1600 4GB Low Voltage Dual Channel Memory Kit Review

ASUS P7P55D Deluxe Intel P55 Express Motherboard Review
PC Stats posted ASUS P7P55D Deluxe Intel P55 Express Motherboard Review

ASUS' P7P55D Deluxe motherboard is an Intel P55 Express platform that represents the flagship feature set available to the Core i5 processor, along with a healthy dose of overclocking tools and features. In addition to the obvious support for Intel Lynnfield socket 1156 processors, the ASUS P7P55D Deluxe motherboard features three PCI Express 2.0 x16 videocard slots. Along with the ASUS P7P55D Deluxe you'll find a collection of ASUS only tools and overclocking utilities under the Xtreme Design moniker.
ASUS P7P55D Deluxe Intel P55 Express Motherboard Review