Reviews 51911 Published by

Here a roundup of today's reviews and articles:

- ASUS GTX580 DirectCU II SLI review
- GIGABYTE G1 Assassin (Intel X58 Express) Motherboard Preview
- OCZ Vertex 3 240GB Solid State Drive Review
- The Future of Computer Enclosures
- Iogear GUWAVKIT Wireless Audio Video Kit Review
- HTC HD7 Windows Phone 7 Smartphone
- Turn an HP SFF Computer Into a Great HTPC
- Antec LanBoy Air Case Review
- Thermaltake Meka G1 Gaming Keyboard Review
- OCZ ZX Series 850w Power Supply Review
- RAZER Ferox Mobile Gaming & Music Speakers Review
- TRENDnet TEW-687GA 450Mbps Wireless N Gaming Adapter Review
- Pushing The Limits of SSD Storage at 2.4GB/s
- Grado GS1000i Statement Series Headphones Review
- Lenovo ThinkPad EDGE 13: Bleeding Edge
- Intel Core i7 990X Hexcore 1366 Review



ASUS GTX580 DirectCU II SLI review
The Guru of 3D posted a review on the ASUS GTX580 DirectCU II SLI graphics card

They call it the GTX 580 DirectCU-II and it is one big momma ! ASUS shortly ago released a new version in the flagship series of NVIDIA graphics card, the GeForce GTX 580.

They customized the graphics card itself, overclocked it, allow even more tweaking and to top it off, they placed a three slot wide cooling solution on it. heck let's test two of these in an SLI setup. You can check out the entire article right here
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GIGABYTE G1 Assassin (Intel X58 Express) Motherboard Preview
TweakTown posted a preview on the GIGABYTE G1 Assassin (Intel X58 Express) Motherboard

Back during CES we were given the chance to see the launch of a very exciting product. This was the G1 Killer series. From the beginning of the event you could pretty much tell this was going to be something a little different from the norm. Whether it was the pretend military dress or the little leaks about the product that I had heard, I was really looking forward to see this one.

Now a month or so later, we actually have one of these boards in the lab. It is an impressive sight to see and one that we are happy to give you a little teaser on. This is the G1 Assassin, an X58 based monster with multiple USB 3.0 ports, SATA 3.0 ports, a true audio card by Creative built right onto the board and a Killer Nic to add to the fun.
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OCZ Vertex 3 240GB Solid State Drive Review
ThinkComputers.org posted a review on the OCZ Vertex 3 240GB Solid State Drive

Only a little while ago we visited OCZ at CES and they showed us some of their upcoming solid state drives. These new drives feature the SandForce SF-2200 controller and boast blistering fast speeds. OCZ has been at the forefront of SSD technology and this year they are going to be releasing a ton of new drives. One of the first drives based on the new SandForce SF-2200 controller is the Vertex 3. This drive has a max read of 550MB/s and max write of 525MB/s! Those are some of the fastest advertised speeds we have seen in a consumer drive! OCZ was nice enough to send us an engineering sample version of the drive with BETA firmware on it, so let’s take a look!
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The Future of Computer Enclosures
Benchmark Reviews posted an article on the future of computer enclosures

I can remember the lead-sleds that rolled with a curb weight similar to moving vans, and it reminds me of modern-day desktop computer cases. Originally, giant-sized computer cases painted in beige were once the de facto standard for system builders wanting to construct their own IBM clone personal computer from separate components. I believed this horrible trend would phase itself out around the turn of the century, but when Y2K came and went and there was still significant demand for large full-tower cases I knew something was wrong. The more things change in this industry, the more they seem to remain the same. Now more than ten years later, we're still building our PCs with the same heft as an Oldsmobile Toronado.
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Iogear GUWAVKIT Wireless Audio Video Kit Review
Futurelooks gets wireless with the PC and the HDTV

I don’t like wires. I don’t like cables. As a technology and gadget geek, I’ve come to accept some of the tangle as a necessary evil but this is slowly becoming a thing of the past. Continuing with the cable-cutting procedure is the Iogear GUWAVKIT Wireless Audio/Video Kit. Say goodbye to that ugly cable clutter and enjoy the full computer experience from the comfort of your living room couch. Can you imagine surfing the web on a 55-inch Samsung HDTV? I sure can!
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HTC HD7 Windows Phone 7 Smartphone
Techgage posted HTC HD7 Windows Phone 7 Smartphone Review

If you're on the prowl for a quality Windows Phone 7 smartphone, HTC might have what you're looking for with its HD7. It features a large 4.3" WVGA display, dual-LED camera flashes, a kickstand for improved media viewing, solid application and game performance, a responsive on-screen keyboard and fantastic call quality.
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Turn an HP SFF Computer Into a Great HTPC
Computing on Demand has posted a new article, 'Turn an HP SFF Computer Into a Great HTPC'

Face it, most of us like the idea of having an HTPC (Home Theater PC) hooked up to our TV. The flexibility we get with an HTPC over just a DVD player or a gaming console is enough alone to justify the cost.  I have built a bunch of these for people and until recently, I have never used pre-built systems. There are many advantages to building a custom machine for your theater, but the biggest disadvantage is the cost. Lately, I have been using Small Form Factor (SFF) HP's and believe it or not... they make great HTPC's.
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Antec LanBoy Air Case Review
Hi Tech Legion posted a review on the Antec LanBoy Air Case

The Antec LanBoy Air is unlike any mid-tower case ever seen before. Nearly all the parts of the Antec LanBoy Air can be re-arranged to fit the user's needs. The Antec LanBoy Air mid-tower case has perforated panels for maximum airflow, utilizing positive air
pressure to push all the hot air out while keeping dust away from your system components. The LanBoy Air Case uses the new revolutionary Antec AirMounts^(TM) HDD mounting system to reduce drive vibration and noise. Users can install up to 15 fans inside the Antec LanBoy Air and even has room on top for mounting a water cooling radiator. The Antec LanBoy Air is simply the most flexible and customizable mid-tower case ever built.
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Thermaltake Meka G1 Gaming Keyboard Review
OCC has published a review on the Thermaltake Meka G1 Gaming Keyboard

First off you may have noticed that the Logitech G15 has no scores. That is because when the testing was taking place, I kept getting errors that there was not enough power to run the device. This is because there is a single USB plug that runs the whole keyboard. I kept this in the review test because I wanted to show how much of a difference the Meka G1 adds by using a separate USB connection for the hub, separating the power requirements and giving the USB hub enough juice to run the Mushkin thumb drive. Now when it came down between the Meka G1 hub and the direct connection tests, you can plainly see the hub stands its ground. The difference between the hub and directly connected is so minimal that the slight decrease in speed will be transparent to the end user.
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OCZ ZX Series 850w Power Supply Review
OCIA.net has posted their review of the OCZ ZX Series 850w Power Supply

Like many other manufacturers at CES 2011, OCZ had a collection of their most recent hardware on display, including solid state drives, memory and power supplies. It's one of the latter that we have for review today, the ZX Series 850W. The ZX replaces the Z Series as OCZ's Maximum Performance line of power supplies, and is available in 850W, 1000W and 1250W capacities. These models all feature 80Plus Gold efficiency levels, multi-GPU support and OCZ's exclusive five year PowerSwap Warranty.
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RAZER Ferox Mobile Gaming & Music Speakers Review
Madshrimps posted a review on the RAZER Ferox Mobile Gaming & Music Speakers

The new Ferox portable speakers from Razer are ideal for both normal users that want to get a better sound out of their laptop or gamers that are mostly on the go. The sound that these speakers deliver is clear even at high volumes, but they lack a good bass reproduction. The internal rechargeable batteries allow them to be used for about 12 hours and they can be also used while recharging.
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TRENDnet TEW-687GA 450Mbps Wireless N Gaming Adapter Review
Madshrimps posted a review on the TRENDnet TEW-687GA 450Mbps Wireless N Gaming Adapter

The new Wireless 450Mbps TEW-687GA from TRENDnet is not USB anymore like the previously released products, but offers a Gigabit network interface between itself and the computer we are connecting the adapter to; this way, we don't have to install drivers anymore and is compatible with any platform (we can even configure it through the Playstation3 Internet Browser). We will perform some data transfer speeds to see if it is really better in terms of performance.
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Pushing The Limits of SSD Storage at 2.4GB/s
The SSD Review posted an article: Pushing The Limits of SSD Storage at 2.4GB/s

A few months ago someone mentioned that setting up additional RAID configurations was not possible with an OCZ REVO drive installed. It brought forward an interesting idea that we finally have had a chance to play with as we like to retain SSDs in order to include them in future testing. This article displays the Gigabyte P67A-UD7 motherboard running 3 RAID 0 configurations, these being the OCZ Revo x2, OCZ Revo and LSI 9260-8i MegaRAID card running 8 x Micron C300 SSDs. In total, there are 18 SSDs and one hard drive active in the system, two of which are mPCIe cards and one even being a USB 3 SSD.
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Grado GS1000i Statement Series Headphones Review
KitGuru posted a review on the Grado GS1000i Statement Series Headphones

Grado have five ranges of headphones. The In Ear Series, The Prestige Series, Reference Series, Statement Series and Professional Series. The mainstream Prestige Series headphones, such as the SR80i and SR125i offer great quality audio for very reasonable prices, once you get to the Reference Series you will certainly feel the bank balance start to dwindle. We are looking today at the second highest model in their range, the GS1000i which received the ‘i’ (improved) updated tag in recent years. They retail for around £950 in the UK, so they are certainly not an impulse buy. The best question is however, are they really worth the money?
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Lenovo ThinkPad EDGE 13: Bleeding Edge
InsideHW.com has reviewed Lenovo ThinkPad EDGE 13 notebook

Since acquiring IBM’s famed ThinkPad brand five years ago, Lenovo has done their best to restore this legendary brand to its former glory. It’s undeniable that they’ve done little wrong in this regard, but there’s always been that impression of a lack of innovation that would truly give ThinkPad the push it deserves…
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Intel Core i7 990X Hexcore 1366 Review
Overclock3D have just published a new article titled: Intel Core i7 990X Hexcore 1366

Today we look at possibly the last hurrah for the LGA1366 socket, the Intel 990X. Did you win the lottery this weekend? This is for you.
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