Latest Content
Intel Core i5 661 Processor 02-08-2010

Codenamed Clarkdale, the new LGA 1156 i3 / i5 chips are built on the Westmere 32nm process, joining the previous 45nm Bloomfield and Lynnfield releases in the Nehalem family. Another new idea Intel implemented in these chips is adding a GPU core directly on the processor alongside the CPU. Three new chipsets were also introduced that allow you to run one of these GPU-equipped processors without a discrete video card. Intel Turbo Boost and Hyper-Threading make an appearance in the i5 series as well. All of this and more just ahead as we take a detailed look at the Intel Core i5 661 processor.

Silverstone Grandia GD05 HTPC Case 02-04-2010

A visit to SilverStone's website reveals they currently offer four different series of HTPC cases and a whopping thirty-two models! The GD05 we have for review today is part of SilverStone's Grandia series of "mainstream" HTPC enclosures. These are designed for the multimedia PC builder on a budget, that still accommodate a standard micro-ATX board, full-size power supply and video card. The last case of this type we reviewed here at OCIA.net was the GD02 almost two years ago. While there have been two revisions between that one and the GD05, they all share a similar chassis and seem to differ mainly in style. Join me as I take a closer look at the SilverStone Grandia GD05.

NZXT Hades Crafted Mid-Tower Case 01-29-2010

Last week we took a look at the NZXT Tempest EVO, and today we have up for review the latest in their Crafted series, the Hades. Not since the Lexa Blackline have we seen an NZXT case with red lighting. Whether this switch from the all too common blue LEDs has any significance in the naming of this case or not, red is definitely becoming more and more popular with the various case manufacturers. The Hades is a nine bay, mid-tower design that like many in NZXT's Crafted series, has sculpted front and side panels. Black is the only color available and there is no side window, however there are several other features NZXT has incorporated into this case that are worth a closer look.

Thermaltake SpinQ VT CPU Cooler 01-27-2010

Nowadays CPU coolers come in every imaginable size and shape. While some still retain the same basic format, many now sport heatpipes and exotic coatings, even the processor OEM coolers. And some are just downright strange looking, like the Thermaltake SpinQ. The SpinQ VT is slightly different from the original SpinQ in that it tilts the cylinder vertical. The number and dimensions of the fins remain the same, as does the 80mm centrifugal fan, other than LED color. And despite Thermaltake's advertised spec that the fins are now copper as well, the SpinQ VT weighs in at almost 175g less than the SpinQ.

NZXT IU01 USB Expansion 01-22-2010

In addition to their current case lineup, NZXT produces several different types of accessories, from cables to power supplies, cooling fans to fan controllers, and other case accessories as well. The item we have for review today falls into that last category, the IU01 USB Expansion module. As NZXT points out, the IU01 addresses an issue common to most gaming PCs, a lack of substantial power and expandability from front panel USB. While it is not uncommon for motherboards to have several USB headers, cases often only have one or two sets of front panel USB ports to connect to them. Some USB devices may also have higher voltage requirements than can be provided from the motherboard through a traditional USB port. This is where the NZXT IU01 can really help.

  Latest Tech News
Tuesday News Update posted on 01-26-2010

NZXT Tempest EVO Case • Rbmods.

"NZXT has updated their Tempest case, now dubbed the Tempest EVO It is of course geared towards gamers and enthusiasts. NZXT claims that the Tempest EVO allows for expiation and compatibility with future hardware."



Intel Core i5 750 and Core i7 860 CPU • Technic3D.

"The Intel Core i5 750 and Core i7 860 CPUs arrived Technic3D. We will check the LGA1156 CPUs from Intel against the Intel Core i5 661, i7 920 and the AMD Phenom II 965 on Windows 7. 4,0 GHz OC-Performance and more see you in the following Review."



Titan Skalli TTC-NC05TZ/NPW (RB) CPU Cooler • ThinkComputers.

"Today, I will be looking at a cooler from a company I previously haven't experienced, the Titan Skalli. Titan Technology Ltd. has been around for over 20 years, founded in Taiwan in 1989 under the name “Sogic Computer Co”, but only recently have they entered the serious enthusiast market. The Skalli is a small-footprint dual heatpipe cooler with a non-standard 100mm fan. Will the Skalli keep my i7 870 nice and cool? Read on to see!"



Xigmatek Balder SD1283 CPU Cooler • Tweak News.

"Xigmatek's Balder SD 1283 CPU cooler has it all covered. It's got outstanding cooling performance, a distinctive look, an innovative direct touch design and mounting solutions that are second to none. Xigmatek has done a great job with the Balder, offering the PC enthusiast community top-notch performance in a well-engineered product with excellent fit and finish"

Hump Day News posted on 01-20-2010

Axus Fit 300 Hard Drive Raid Enclosure • Technic3D.

"The Axus Fit 300 External Hard Drive Enclosure for Raid arrived Technic3D. The heart of FiT is adopted with hardware RAID technology which offers high performance. eSATA connectivity with Raid see you in the following Review"



Speedlink Zone Wii Induction Charger • XSReviews.

"The Wii mote has become part of our everday culture, with the home console being the most widely know and used of the current generation. Bridging the gap between those gamers who just wern't comfortable with a standard control, and wanted something more familiar, you'd be hard pressed for someone to not recognise these strange controllers on sight.

Despite the joys of wireless there is always the downside of powering them with AA batteries. Speedlink however, believes they have an alternative: The Zone Induction charger. These wirelessly charged, rechargeable packs and station should make those batteries a thing of the past. Let's see if they live up to the challenge
"



ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO AMD 785G Motherboard • ThinkComputers.

"Some weeks back I looked at an mATX AMD 785G economy motherboard, supporting AM3 processors with DDR3 memory. It was a very impressive board with a very impressive price. Performance and stability easily met my expectations, and it will be the standard for any other 785G board that I get my grubby little hands on. Today I will be looking at a full ATX 785G motherboard by Asus, the M4A785TD-V EVO. It is definitely nicer than the mATX board I just mentioned, with much nicer cooling and CrossfireX support. It supports DDR3-1800 memory (requiring CPU overclocking). All this at a surprisingly economical pr ice. Read on to check out the Asus M4A785TD-V EVO!"



SandForce SF1500 Enterprise SSD Processor • Benchmark Reviews.

"The SandForce SF1500 SSD processor is an Enterprise-class Solid State Drive technology that powers products such as the OCZ Vertex-2 Pro. With a potential top-speed of 260 MBps read and write bandwidth, the SandForce SF1500-based SSD series will push SATA-II to the limit. In this article Benchmark Reviews investigates the technology behind the SandForce SF1500 SSD processor, and tests bandwidth speed and IOPS performance."

Weekend Roundup posted on 01-17-2010

Dessert Menu of the Day.



» Design Your Own HIS Radeon HD 5870 Video Card Contest • Legit Reviews
» Thrustmaster Ferrari Motors Gamepad F430 • RBMods
» LanCool Dragon Lord PC-K58W Computer Case • Benchmark Reviews
» Mionix Naos 5000 gaming mouse • XSReviews
» ASUS AT3N7A-I Motherboard • iXBTlabs
» Steelseries 9HD Mousepad • OCAholic
» Sapphire PI-AM3RS785G AMD Socket AM3 DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard • OCInside
» CES 2010: Intel • ThinkComputers.org
» CES 2010: Nvidia • ThinkComputers.org
» Gigabyte GA-P55-UD6 • OCAholic
» ATI's Radeon HD 5670 - DirectX 11 for $100 • Techgage

Thursday News posted on 10-29-2009

Dessert Menu of the Day.

» XFX Radeon HD 5770 Video Card • Benchmark Reviews
» ECS P55H-A Motherboard • t-break
» LGA1156 Plaform and DDR3 Memory • iXBTlabs.com
» NOVINT Falcon 3D Force Feedback Gaming Controller • TweakTown
» Cooler Master Storm Mouse Pad • Bjorn3D
» Scythe Kabuto SCKBT-1000 • Au-Ja.de
» XFX HD 5870 • Neoseeker
» Ozone Smog gaming mouse • testseek.com
» Gigabyte GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 Super Overclock Video Card • Legit Reviews
» NZXT Zero 2 Computer Chassis/Case. • TechwareLabs
» ASUS EAH5850 Overclocking • LostCircuits
» be quiet! BQT SFX-350W PSU • Technic3D
» AMD Athlon II X3 435 AM3 Processor • eTeknix.com
» Lian Li PC-V351R • techPowerUp!
» Gigabyte GA-P55-UD3R Intel P55 Motherboard • PCSTATS.com
» Kingston SSDNow V Series 40GB Boot Drive • Futurelooks
» HIS Radeon HD 5770 1GB Video Card in CrossFire • TweakTown
» Xigmatek Balder SD1283 • DeXgo
» iBUYPOWER Paladin XLC V2 • PureOverclock
» Silverstone RV02 Raven 2 Case • Ninjalane
» NZXT Lexa S • Bjorn3D
» Nexus RX-1K 1000 Watt 80+ Inaudible Power Supply • PCShopTalk
» Cogage TRUE Spirit LGA1366 CPU Cooler • Legit Reviews
» Storm Sentinel Advanced Gaming Mouse • I4U News
» Kingston SSDNow V Series 40GB Boot Drive Desktop Upgrade Bundle • TestFreaks
» Seagate FreeAgent Go Dock+ Portable HDD Docking Station • TweakTown
» Kanguru's e-Flash eSATA/USB thumb drive • The Tech Report
» Logitech G27 Racing Wheel • Rbmods



Competitions & Giveaways.

» We want you! - win an Asus 4870 X2 Top graphics card! • Driverheaven
» Win a 32GB iPod touch • HEXUS.net



OCZ AMD Black Edition 4GB Kit DDR3-1600/PC3-12800 OCZ3BE1600C8LV4GK Memory • ocinside.de.

"OCZ published a new memory kit with a feature to get high memory performance without manual settings. We are talking about the brand-new OCZ AMD Black Edition PC3-12800 CL8 kit. When the 4GB AMD Black Edition kit is used in conjunction with an AMD Black Edition CPU on an AOD capable motherboard, the RAM settings can be downloaded by the AMD OverDrive software over the Internet and adjusted automatically.
"



Enermax Staray • PureOverclock.

"The Staray is Enermax's latest mid-tower case, and comes in at a budget price with some flashy aesthetics. The simple lines of Staray give a very good first impression, and there are some great features here that you would normally find in a premium chassis, yet offered at a much more affordable price. So let's dive in and see if it is quality on the cheap or just cheap quality"



NZXT Beta - a cheap NZXT gaming case • TweakPC.de.

"Even gaming cases are getting more and more cheaper. So manufacturers like NZXT must realise inexpensive cases for gamer. We took a look at the NZXT Beta."



QPad HeatoN mouse mat • XSReviews.

"With the growth of online gaming, and the increased exposure through wider audiences sitting down and picking up a controller, or mouse and keyboad, one industry that's built up nicely in the past few years, is professional gaming. This has seen the first celebrities in that world begin to emerge, and unsurprisingly with it, product endorsement. Jonathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel is probably the most well known to date, but there are lot of others on the up and up. Today we take a look at a product, part designed and endorsed by Emil "HeatoN" Christensen. It's the largest plastic mouse mat ever released, and its backed with QPad technology. Let's see how it fairs."



BFG Tech EX-1000 1000W Modular Power Supply
• Bigbruin.com.

"The BFG Tech EX-1000 1000W modular power supply is a quiet, well built unit that almost really impressed me. If I had tested in our old format I wouldn't have seen the ripple issues, and would have been left with the "semi-modular" design as my biggest beef. With all things considered, I would still recommend it, especially in situations where it wasn't to be used under a constant 1000W load."



Tuesday News posted on 10-27-2009

Dessert Menu of the Day.

» Kingston 40GB V Series Boot Drive SSD • Legit Reviews
» ASUS EAH 5850 • LostCircuits
» GIGABYTE EX-58 EXTREME2 motherboard • TweakTown
» Thermaltake Toughpower XT 750W PSU • JonnyGURU.com
» NZXT BETA EVO Classic Series PC Case • Bona Fide Reviews
» NZXT M59 Classic Series Mid Tower Gaming Chassis • Modders-Inc.com
» Seagate FreeAgent Go 320GB Portable Drive • eTeknix.com
» Western Digital 320 GB Scorpio Black Notebook Hard Disk Drive • Tech ARP
» Gigabyte GTX 275 SOC & Nvidia 3D Vision • Driverheaven
» GIGABYTE HD 5850 Video Card • motherboards.org
» 3Rsystem Iceage 120 Boss II Dimpled-Fin Heatsink • Frostytech.com
» AMD Athlon II X2 240e 2.8 GHz Energy Efficient Processor • PCSTATS.com
» Mushkin 996659es 2x2GB ES3-12800 Memory Kit • PCShopTalk
» Seagate Cheetah 15K.7 SAS 15,000RPM Hard Drive • Benchmark Reviews
» NZXT Sentry 2 Single-bay Touch Screen LCD Fan Controller • TweakTown



Competitions & Giveaways.

» Win an AMD Athlon II X3 435 CPU • eTeknix.com
» CoolIt Systems Domino ALC Contest • Overclockers Online



ASRock ION 330 NetTop • BCCHardware.

"When it comes to HD Video performance, this unit shines like the sun after a rainy week. It decodes any 720p or 1080p video without issues and is an H.264 behemoth. The included DVDRW drive also gives it an edge over much of the competition, and ASRock even has a model of the ION 330 with a slim-line Blu-Ray drive as well. . ."



Antec Mini Skeleton • Overclockers Club.

"Although this case was extremely great, I did have one major problem with it. The built in PSU failed to power my system. The PSU is only 90W so I guessed it wouldn't be able to do much. I even pulled out the HDD and optical drive to be powered by a second PSU. This however, didn't solve the problem. I ended up running the entire system off of a spare PSU. This problem would be minor, if it wasn't for the fact that the Skeleton doesn't accommodate for a PSU other then the built in one. To me this pretty much ruins the part of having a Mini ITX system, especially if you need a second object sitting on your desk"



In Win Maelstrom Full Tower Chassis • ThinkComputers.org.

"In Win is a company mainly known for its power supplies or unique mid tower cases. Today we got the opportunity to review In Win's first Full Tower Case, the In Win Maelstrom. This airflow giant can boast a total of 10, 120mm fans to go along with the airflow design built into the case. In Win has added many sound/vibration reducing implantations into this case such as the acoustic absorbers and patented hard drive rails. Read on further to see what In Wins first Full Tower Chassis has to offer"



Weekend News Roundup posted on 10-24-2009

Dessert Menu of the Day.

» HEC Compucase Cougar 1000CM Modular PSU • Overclock3D.Net
» TRENDnet TEW-654TR 300Mbps Wireless N Travel Router • TweakTown
» ROCCAT Kone Gaming Mouse & Taito Gaming Surface • DriverHeaven.net
» AMD Athlon 2 X3 435 • Bjorn3D
» CM Storm CS-S Battle Pad H2 • Overclockers Online
» Gigabyte - GA-G41M-ES2H Micro ATX motherboard • TechwareLabs
» Seagate FreeAgent DockStar NAS Device • HotHardware.com
» Kingston 256GB SSDNow V+ Series SSD • Legit Reviews
» Sunbeam's Core-Contact Freezer • Rage3D.com
» Gigabyte Radeon HD 5870 1GB Crossfire • Overclock3D.Net
» SilverStone RV-02 Raven • Bjorn3D
» Bluetooth Mini Mouse • DragonSteelMods
» QNAP TS-219P Turbo NAS • Computer & Consumer Electronic Reviews
» AMD Athlon II X2 240 2.80 GHz • techPowerUp!
» Sapphire + Gigabyte ATI RADEON HD 5850 Crossfire Benchmarks • motherboards.org
» Vantec NexStar Vault HDD Enclosure • Virtual-Hideout
» NZXT Panzerbox LAN Case • Overclocker Cafι



Competitions & Giveaways.

» Sapphire 5850 1GB GDDR5 1GB GPU Contest • Bjorn3D



NZXT M59 Classic Series Mid Tower Case • ThinkComputers.org.

"NZXT has added another case to their Classic Series of cases, it's called the M59 and it is quite inexpensive at under $60. You would think a case with that price tag would be really cheap, but the M59 has features like 2 included fans, 2.5-inch SSD bays, a side panel window, all black interior, a wire management system, and an eSATA port. A lot of these features cannot even be found on more expensive cases. Let's see if NZXT has a winner in the M59"



Sapphire Radeon HD5750 1GB Graphics Card • Bigbruin.com.

"The Sapphire Radeon HD5750 1GB graphics card does a lot of things better than you might expect from a 'mid-level' card. This isn't a top of the line gaming card, but it is does offer enough muscle to make games enjoyable even with the settings turned up pretty high. On top of the performance, it ran cool, quiet, and didn't tax the electric meter mush at all."



Kingston HyperX Fan RAM memory cooler • testseek.com.

"This is clearly a product built for gamers, overclockers and other true enthusiasts from the PC genre. The Kingston HyperX Fan is a product which makes your system look cooler and which actually makes it cooler in the true sense of the word. Maybe it's not the most useful product in the world, considering its limited compatibility, but if you want to spice up your system a bit; it's a must have…"



G.Skill Ripjaws 4GB DDR3-1600 • PureOverclock.

"We're looking at a set of G.Skill Ripjaws 4GB DDR3-1600 modules that are designed for use in the LGA1156 socket Core i5/i7 platform. We've seen in the past that G.Skill modules typically great performance at excellent prices, particularly in the more "mainstream" market, so let's find out if G.Skill has produced another winner with these Ripjaws sticks"



Sharkoon SATA QuickPort Duo • XSReviews.

"While storage space has stayed well ahead of software in terms of increasing capacities, because of duplicated and backed up data, most people now have a plethora of different storage solutions to hold their ever important information. There's pen drives, optical media, portable hard drives and more. However, the cheapest option of them all tends to be a run of the mill hard drive, with a docking point of some sort. This can also be a great way to utilise an older, smaller drive that you no longer have use for. With that in mind, lets commence today's review of the Sharkoon SATA QuickPort Duo"




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