Philipp

PC Stats has posted a review on the Samsung SD-616 16X DVD-ROM One of the latest drives to make itself know is this offering from Samsung, the SD-616 DVD-ROM. It´s one of the newer DVD drives on the market and is rated at a speed of 16x DVD, and 48x CD. To test the SD-616´s performance, I have pitted it against one of the most popular DVD units on the market today, the very fast Pioneer DVD-106S, which is also rated at 16x DVD, but with a slower 40x CD speed. Read more

3D Game Man has posted a video review on the Lian-Li RH58 Aluminum 10,000rpm Removable HD Rack Check it out

Dan´s Data has posted a review on two Pentium 4 motherboards. I´ve had a look at Abit´s BW7 and Asus´ P4B. They´re new and feature-packed, one of them works with the new Socket 478 CPUs, they make P4 computers cheaper than ever before, and nobody sensible should buy one. Because they´re i845 SDR memory boards. In the review, I look into why SDR-memory i845 is a big step, um, in some direction other than forward, for Intel, and push the relevant numbers around. Read the review and you´ll also get the chance to see an alarmingly bent motherboard, and an interesting brand new Socket 478 CPU cooler that´s better than the standard Intel one. Read more

Hardware Extreme has posted a review on the Lite-On LTR16101B CD-Burner You just can’t beat the price on this drive. At $118, it’s the cheapest 161040 CD-RW drive I’ve seen so far in my “expeditions”. A combination of good reading and writing speed make this drive another winner for LiteOn. Read more

A new version of Tweak XP is out. Thanks CestLaVie. Tweak-XP - The tweaking eXPerience. The First Tweaking And Tuning Utility Especially For Windows XP. Unlike other tweaking utilities, Tweak-XP bundles more than 22 different utilities in one: tweaks, tools, hardware optimizations and a lot more - too much to list here... Download update patch from version 1.14 or higher to version 1.17 Download Tweak XP 1.17

SAN JOSE, Calif.--Windows XP will help pull the PC market out of its tailspin in 2002, as the new operating system will give consumers plenty of reasons to upgrade, according to one of Microsoft´s key executives. "The timing is incredibly good for the PC industry right now," Jim Allchin, group vice president at Microsoft, said during a speech at the Intel Developer Forum on Tuesday. "We should have a very good next year, and when I say we, I mean the industry." Read more

Digit-Life has put up a IDE Hard Discs roundup. Today we will examine new models from Seagate, Maxtor and Samsung. Let me introduce the participants. Read more

Finally. My AOL Internet connection is working Quote: Hey! Where you going in the UK? I'm up here in Oxford right now! http://www.multimap.com/map/photo.cgi?cl...e=0&gridn=0

OC Workbech has posted a review on the ABIT TH7 II motherboard. ABIT TH7 II is ABIT´s second generation overclocking P4 board. Softmenu III and the "ABIT Engineered" really push the board to be a top notch overclocking board of 2001 ! With the price slash of P4 and users who prefer Intel over AMD for it´s excellent multimedia instruction capabilities, this board is created for the user in mind and definitely an excellent choice. Read more

Microsoft has released the german version of Internet Explorer 6.0. Thanks Lemmi. Download

OCA has posted a review on Max Payne by Remedy Entertainment. Installation is pretty straight forward, however Max Payne comes with some steep system requirements. Which is actually refreshing for a change. Hell, we build systems to take on the biggest baddest games and applications, but hardly ever see any that make our PC´s even break a sweat. Well, Max Payne will do that. One thing I like is how the game actually suggests a 3dMark2001 score for your machine in order to properly run this game. A score of 900 is an absolute minimum, while a score of 2200 or higher will guarantee smooth gameplay throughout. Read more

Overclockers New Zeland has put up a Hyundai 256MB OEM SD-RAM review The marking on the chip is: HY5728820AT-H. A quick search in Hyundai site revealed it has a 2nd generation die, rate @ 133Mhz, Cas3, with a density of 128Mbits produced at Ichon (A factory´s name). ... ...being an OEM ram, it does not have manufacturer´s name. We can see this ram is rated at 100Mhz @ Cas2 and 133Mhz @ Cas3. I am not complete sure about what the rest mean though, however they are very similar to Crucial PC-133. Read more

Tweakers Asylum has posted a review on the Dynatron DY1206BH-638 HSF These new HSF combo´s will have to be able to handle CPU speeds beyond the 1.5ghz range and with overclockers looking to push their chips ever further, that number will only increase. So, today we bring you a high performance cooler manufactured by a company called Dynatron. Seeing their advertisements a few times, I went ahead and contacted them about their products and they were kind enough to send over a sample, The DY1206BH-638 Copper Super e-CPU Cooler with a 7000 RPM fan. So what can you expect from the Dynatron DY1206BH-638 HSF Combo? Let’s find out! Read more

Thanks to CestLaVie for this one: Technical beta testers that downloaded Windows XP Home or Professional Edition from Microsoft´s servers last weekend might want to be careful about giving out copies of the CD-ROMs that they generated: Microsoft has embedded a security check into each CD that uniquely identifies each tester, so the company will be able to tell if another user installs Windows XP using that tester´s CD-ROMs. Read more

3D Spotlight has updated their weekly price guide. 3D Spotlight´s price guide list has been updated this week with the latest prices for peripherals including motherboards, soundcards and videocards. This week we have a few newcomers: The 2Ghz version of the Pentium 4 seems to be already available for $599. Also Creative´s new Audigy series is available, the X-Gamer and MP3+ cards are selling for about $90, in the case of the Platinum and Platinum EX, they cost about $180 and $220, respectively. Read more

NeoSeeker has posted a review on the ATI Radeon VE video card. The convenience of working on a large desktop spread of over two inexpensive monitors, cannot be underestimated. Whether you are a system administrator, multi-tasking between telnet sessions, research, and troubleshooting other projects, or a web designer/graphics artist working on multiple images, ftp and and e-mail, these products are indispensable. The ATI Radeon VE is a prime example of this move to inexpensive solutions for work place productivity. Read more

Just updated the Windows XP FAQ. The FAQ content the follow Q&A: What Is Windows XP? How many different versions of Windows XP are there? Based the Home Edition on the 9x kernel like Millennium? What is the status of Windows XP? Does Windows XP expire? Where can I apply for the Windows XP beta program? Is there another way to get the Windows XP beta? How many CPUs support Windows XP? What are the requirements to run Windows XP? How can I lock my computer? Which versions of Windows XP Beta 1 are available? In which languages is Windows XP Beta 1 available? Can I upgrade to Windows XP Home Edition from Windows 2000 Professional? Can I upgrade to Windows XP Professional from Windows 2000 Professional? How can I disable the message that new programs are installed? What does (Checked) means? How can I remove the "Comments?" text from the bar? Windows XP lock up during the setup (Voodoo 3)? Is there a MultiLanguage Version of Windows XP? Which languages support the MultiLanguage Version of Windows XP? Can I fool a application into thinking that Windows XP is Windows 95/98 or NT 4.0? Is there a compatibility list for Windows XP? Has Windows XP a copy protection? Where can I enable a high MP3 bitrate? Can I force Windows XP to clear the pagefile on shutdown? How can I speedup the Windows XP start menu? What is the current timetable for Windows XP? How can I remove Windows Messenger? Is there a Product Activation FAQ? How can I backup the XP registry? Is the Final Version of Internet Explorer 6.0 included in XP? I can´t get over 60Hz refresh rate in games. Any solutions? Read more

Everything USB send some news about Plextor´s first USB 2.0 CD-RW drive USB 2.0 connectable and capable of speeds up to 8x8x20x (write/re-write/read) and with Plextor´s BURN-proof. Connected to USB 1.1 bus, users write/re-write/read at 4x4x6x, the typical speed for USB 1.1 burners. Read more

Hewlett-Packard will soon announce two handheld computers that run Microsoft´s upcoming "Merlin" operating system, CNET News.com has learned. Sources also said Microsoft will announce the new handheld OS on Sept. 6 and officially call it Pocket PC 2002. The new handhelds will be part of HP´s Jornada 560 series, the sources said. One will come with 32MB of memory and the other with 64MB. Both devices will use Intel´s StrongARM SA-1110 processor and will have active-matrix screens that can display 16-bit color. Read more

Accelenation has posted their review on the Tiger Tyan MP dual Athlon motherboard. The reason the Tiger MP has me going is because it is the first Dual Athlon board that is truly affordable. At ~$220 online, this board is well within the range of pricing for desktop motherboards. What´s more, the Tiger MP hasn´t sacrificed very much to get to that price. Don´t get me wrong, if you want a high-class workstation board, the Thunder K7 is still a better option, but for the average dual processor user, the Tiger MP is much more attractive. Read more

TacoNuts has posted a review on the Enermax Temperature-Monitoring Drive Rack Using physical temperature readouts on your system versus software readouts has its advantages. You can know what the temperature of your video card is at peak usage, like playing your favorite FPS game. You can have a good idea what the core of your CPU is while crunching numbers with your Folding@Home screen saver. Read more

Microsoft has released the Internet Explorer 6 Administration Kit. Thanks Mark. Using the newest version of the toolkit for distributing Microsoft Internet Explorer 6, you can easily customize, deploy, and manage your installations of Internet Explorer 6. Internet Explorer Administration Kit (IEAK) 6 includes the Internet Explorer Customization Wizard and the IEAK Profile Manager, which enable you to build and maintain custom browser packages that are tailored to meet the needs of your users. You can easily specify user setup options and control most browser and component features. Download

Microsoft has released Internet Explorer 6. Thanks Jarvis. Internet Explorer 6 offers a feature-rich platform for building Web-based applications and developing informative content for users. Version 6 of Internet Explorer provides full support for Document Object Model (DOM), level 1 and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), level 1, which enhance support for standards-based Internet technologies and improve the ease and speed with which developers can take advantage of these technologies. Internet Explorer 6 supports standards that ensure pages run quickly, consistently, and without errors or crashes in the browser. Improvements to the programming model, such as enhanced DHTML features, further enrich the Windows Web development platform. Download

PC Stats has put up a review on the IWill KK266-Plus Motherboard Iwill´s latest kick at the KT133A chipset is a surprising one. After all, why invest more time and effort into such an aging chipset? Their immensely popular KK266 line of motherboards has already won over the hearts of performance users and overclockers a like with it´s superb performance, stability, and astonishing ability to reach ungodly bus speeds... Whatever the reasons, the KK266Plus has the heredity to be one super fine motherboard, and since my KK266-R has become quite comfortable in its´ Lian Li case, it won´t be pried out without a serious fight! So place your bets, and let´s see how the brothers-KK266 duke it out! Read more

StorageReview has posted a review on the Plextor PX-W2410TA CD-RW It seems like only yesterday that 12X burners hit the scene with a force, knocking 50% off of 8X write times. At the time, the question was asked, "How much faster can they get?" 16X came knocking on the door. However, with 16X writes came high spindle speeds at the innermost tracks. Since all burners to this point wrote at constant speeds (thus varying spindle speed), it didn´t seem possible to increase burn speeds any further. Drive manufacturers, however, pulled an old trick from their sleeves by introducing variable write speeds. Some chose the Partial CAV path; others chose something called Zone CLV. With their implementation of 24X writes, Plextor is among the latter. What is Zone CLV? How does it allow for higher writes? What else does Plextor bring to the table with their latest burner? These, among other questions, will be answered. Read more