Daily Reviews Summary 10/03/09

Thecus has been on a roll in 2009 launching one product after another. Some of the new products are just updates of previously released ones like the N7700 SAS and N8800 SAS, while others are redesigned from the ground up. The Thecus N5200 Pro was an amazing product but its time has now come to pass. The successor to the N5200 Pro is the N5500, another 5 SATA bay NAS server."

The N5500 is powered by an Intel Core2Duo processor and 1GB of DDR2 memory. The N5500 as you may have guessed from the model name is a 5 drive NAS server, just like the model it’s replacing. New from Thecus this year is the AJAX software interface that makes setup and configuration changes much easier.

The Samsung SyncMaster 2443BWX is just about what I am looking for in a monitor. It combines a large, high resolution screen with respectable specifications, sleek and simple aesthetics, and a good range of motion to make getting comfortable with it rather easy. I also like that it doesn't include items that really just add cost and clutter to a monitor, like USB ports or speakers.

Since 1990 ABS Computer Technologies has been one of the largest system integrators building high end solutions for customers who need the highest performance machines with the most reliable components. ABS also has a line of components for those who like to build their own systems, and today we look at one of those components, the Tigas super tower chassis.

The ABS Tigas has a price tag of $499 plus shipping; this officially makes it the single most expensive case ever reviewed at Legit Reviews. Is it worth the price tag? Well that decision is yours and yours alone; budgets may vary. Now, is the Tigas a very well built, classy looking case that has the features that any enthusiast would want in a case for storage, interior space, and the almighty quiet factor? Oh yeah...

The Corei5 was just introduced about 2 weeks ago and iBuyPower was gracious enough to send me over a complete system for review. The Corei5 is the new budget CPU and I've put it up against my current system with a C2Q9650 in it that also has double the ram and a better performing video card. Will that make a difference, or is the new architecture of the Corei5 better overall? So I'm looking at this in terms of an upgrade from my own system, or any other C2Q system really, So read on..

The available standards for smaller PC cases such as the Mini-ITX, Micro-ATX and Mini-DTX standards are nothing new, but lately things have started to happen in this segment. Previously VIA was more or less the only manufacturer for CPUs and motherboards for the ITX standard. However, the last year or so, we have seen new low powered (but powerful) CPUs coming out from Intel and new powerful integrated graphics chips from NVIDIA have also been released.

Today I am checking out the Gateway NV5214u multimedia notebook. This machine is a full-fledged notebook with a large screen, full size keyboard and an optical drive. If you are looking for a new notebook that can work and watch all the movies you want, the Gateway NV5214u may be just what you need.

Cooler Master recently released their SNA (Slim Notebook Adapter) 95. The SNA 95 is a universal notebook adapter that comes with a total of nine different connectors that gives you the flexibility to charge a wide range of different devices.

Gigabyte's GA-MA790FXT-UD5P motherboard is based on the AMD 790FX and SB750 chipsets and offers up much in the way of dual videocard gaming and generally fast socket AM3 AMD processor support. At its heart is AMDs 790FX chipset which supports HyperTransport 3.0 at 5200 MT/S. The Gigabyte GA-MA790FXT-UD5P supports DDR3 memory at speeds of up to 1066/1333MHz, and 1666 MHz when overclocked.

Asrock is one of our new sponsors! They are well known for their motherboards that have always been a bit cheaper than the rest, but does this mean they don't perform well? Personally I don't think so but today we are going to look at the M3a785gmx motherboard and compare it vs a well performing Asus board. I think we will be able to see what type of performance we can expect from this Asrock board.

Toughpower power supply series is around for a while now and Thermaltake has just added two new models to this series: 700 W (W0295RU) and 800 W (W0296RU). These two models are 80Plus Silver certified, promising an efficiency of at least 88% at typical load (i.e. 50% load), using an internal project totally different from other power supplies from the same series. In fact, these two models are manufactured by a different company, FSP, while other Toughpower models are manufactured by CWT. This is the first 800 W power supply from Thermaltake, but you have to pay attention because they now have two 700 W models on the same series, with the "old" model (W0105RU) presenting lower efficiency than the new one (W0295RU).

NZXT isn't quite known for their fan controllers, but you may have come across their original Sentry fan controller. NZXT has now released an updated, full color, touch screen Sentry 2 to blow its predecessor out of the water. The NZXT Sentry 2 supports up to five fans and five temperature readouts in only a single 5.25" drive bay. Some fan controllers support only 3 pin or only 4 pin connectors, but the Sentry 2 supports both! Read on further to see what else it has in store.