Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category
Looking for a new gaming case but don’t have the cash to throw down for a top of the line?
NZXT has just released their line of Tempest Gaming Chassis that appear to be pretty fully loaded. They’ve got a pretty decent feature list as well:
- Mounting area for dual radiator solution
- Dual Intake, Exhaust, Side, and Rear Fans
- E-ATX Design
- Pre-Drilled cable routing behind motherboard
- Bottom mounted PSU
- 8 HDD dual fan cooled cage
For that low of a price, it seems like it could have a lot of potential. Plus it looks pretty slick as well. If we have a chance to get out hands on one, we’ll post a review up on the site for it.
I had a chance to get my hands on this pretty sweet PC tower the other day; It’s called the H-70 (Middle Tower ATX Series). This baby supports up to full ATX (Advanced Technology Extended). On the front panel, it has two really useful features. It comes with a fan controller and thermal display, and front air ventilation and detachable air filter. This is great for people into overclocking, because you can up your fan power when you are stressing out your hardware to keep it cool, and stop it from overheating. You’ll also be able to know when the computer is about to overheat with the thermal display that tells you how warm your system is running. Not only are they extremely useful features, but they blend well with the casing, and look pretty sleek.
There are many other useful thermal solutions in addition to the ones I’ve just mentioned built into this tower. There are two fans; A 140mm fan in the front, and a 120mm one in the back. This helps the air circulate through the tower, so you aren’t getting the same warm out you pumped out back in. Also, there is an air duct and PCI Express air hole in the side panel of the casing. This will help keep your video card cool. As mentioned, there is a fan control in the front, but there is also one in the rear of the tower, as well, in case you are working in the back, and need to shut off the fan or something.
There are two things that every good gaming rig needs out of a case: style and functionality. We gamers view and treat our computers in the same way that most treat their cars. Just from looking at the pictures of the CoolerMaster Cosmos S Case I pretty much began to drool. The case is more mesh than metal, allowing for a friendlier feel and a much cooler enviroment for to support the plethora of overclocked devices you’d fill it up with. The side panel is mounted with a 200mm fan specifically to benefit your dual or quad sli video card setup and you can even bump some of the fans out of the case almost entirely to make sure you’ve filled up every last inch inside.
On top of the system, you’ll find a concealable fully illuminated control panel and additional plugs as well as three fans on the top of the case. And if that’s not enough cooling for you, it has seamless integration for a liquid cooling unit. All it’ll cost you is $299 for the case and you’re extended ATX or ATX motherboard won’t be asking you for another present for a long time.
After the announcement of the Ministation external HDD with TurboUSB technology last August, Buffalo Technologies released this week a new device with capacity 500GB which is close to double of their last offering of 320GB. TurboUSB is a technology that promises faster data transfers over a USB (versions 2.0 and 1.1 are both supported) connection; according to the company, their technology can outperform others by more than 60% which is pretty good if you need to transfer lots of data fast. Moreover, the HDD’s Shock Resistant technology protects data from bumps, drops or turbulence while the SecureLockWare software prevents other people for accessing your data without proper authorization. Finally, the MiniStation TurboUSB external HDD is designed with a convenient wrap around USB cable to keep things tidy when you travel and the Memeo AutoBackup Software for the Microsoft Windows operating system.
Style and function in a computer case is hard to find. Sunbeamtech, however, managed to combine the two in their UFO Acrylic cube computer chassis. The company that over the years has continued to provide us with high quality computer products has managed another hit with this case. Keep reading about the features that make the UFO Acrylic cube case stand out over the competition.
First of all, the characteristic that makes this case stand out is the transparent design that gives you a full view of your computer’s internals while it glows a beautiful UV-Blue in the dark; long gone are the days that computers only came in the boring beige color. This Acrylic case is definitely not designed to minimize space requirements even though it tries. However, it will certainly catch the eye of anyone visiting your bachelor pad.
The UFO Acrylic case has room for two 5.25-inch drives and two 3.5-inch internal drives. Moreover, it supports all ATX and Micro ATX motherboards. On the front, it has two USB 2.0 ports, a speaker, and microphone ports. In addition, it has space for two 120mm fans necessary for keeping any modern computer properly cooled for maximum performance when performing some serious number crunching. A nice touch is the small door on the side of the case which makes it easy to install a CD-ROM drive. The door gives easy access to the inside area of the case for securing the drive using the necessary screws. This nice feature alone that makes the case worth considering for purchase, especially over previous Sunbeamtech offering in the same space.
Sunbeamtech has taken extra care to nicely package the UFO case inside its box in order to minimize the chances of damage during shipping. You can expect your new computer chassis to arrive in mint condition, ready to assemble and use.
In terms of performance, Sunbeamtech claims that the UFO Acrylic Cube case is designed to increase the cooling of motherboard components. Independent testing has shown this to be a correct claim although if maximum cooling is desired, a higher-end case would be a better investment. In fact, making sure that your Power Supply Unit (PSU) has an additional fan at the bottom will help reduce heat buildup on the chassis.
The UFO Acrylic Cube case is not only stylish and functional but also affordable. The suggested price is $79 and yo might be able to find it for less online. If you are considering upgrading to a transparent computer case and you don’t want to break your budget then Sunbeamtech’s offering is worth a good look.
Supplied by: Sunbeam Tech
Recently, the Austrian-based Noctua released their latest generation of computer fans the NF-P12 claiming it to be one of the quietest fans in the market. Those of us who have to spend our days next to a computer know that having a quite fan can lead to higher productivity and peace of mind. There are several fans in the market today that can provide low noise operation but there is still room for improvement. Consider for example, that most state-of-the-art workstations today sport 2-3 fans on the PC case plus one over the CPU, one over the GPU and the power supply. In other words, noise from all these fans adds up pretty quickly warrantying a look at Noctua’s product. (more…)
External hard drive storage is very common these days with HDDs having capacities as large as 1TB. These external drives are very convenient for moving large amounts of data between computers fast and also for performing backups of sensitive data or just storing one’s vast collections of digital video and music. These high performance drives perform best when stored in specifically designed enclosures. This article presents the major features and advantages of Antec’s MX-1 actively cooled hard drive enclosure. (more…)
The PC case market is certainly competitive with manufacturers always trying to outdo each other. Most PC cases are comparable over a small set of features such as the number of fans and extension slots, easy access to the computer’s internals, and aesthetic design that can make a PC look modern and differentiate it from the original beige-colored designs. GMC’s R-2 Toast PC case, offers many features, a nice design, and a vertically positioned optical drive that you won’t find on any other PC case today.
However, before we talk about the optical drive, let us look at the overall technical specifications for this PC case. First, the R-2 is a mid-tower ATX case which unfortunately comes in only one color, white. It comes with two 80mm fans situated in the back panel providing enough cooling power to house middle-level CPU and peripheral component configurations. Additional cooling is provided by a PCI express air hole on the side panel which is designed to meet Intel’s CAG 1.1 specification. The side panel is also perforated in order to improve the airflow and improve the cooling performance. GMC preferred to create a functional side panel rather than a stylish one so they forwent the need to make it see-through.
You can have the latest and fastest computer hardware sitting underneath your desk, but if you seriously want to impress your friends then you definitely need to put it in a case that looks good and provides the best technology. Apevia makes a number of different PC cases that range from basic to high-end. The X-Testar Jr PC case is one level ahead of the competition for more than one reasons.
First of all it comes in two types, G and S. Both are mid-tower sized PC cases. One of the main differences between the two is that type G cases have a large side panel window while the type S cases have a larger LED fan without the see-through window in the same place offering additional cooling power. In fact, both types support up to 3 cooling fans of which two are included; the only exception is the frontal fan which is optional and you will have to pay extra for one. In addition, these cases support the most recent technology in motherboards including Standard ATX, Baby AT, and Micro ATX.
Computer modding is for many people both a hobby and a passion. Those who take this hobby seriously know that getting the best performance from an overclocked CPU entails using the best equipment possible. Sunbeam Tuniq’s TX-2 thermal paste is one of the best thermal pastes in its class for computer modding applications.
For starters, thermal paste is used to improve the heat conductance between two adjacent surfaces such as the CPU (and/or GPU) and its heat sink. The easier that heat flows between the two, the better the CPU is cooled and the faster it can run. And the more frames per second you can get out of your favorite 3D, 3rd person shooting game.