Archive for the ‘Computers’ Category
New PC PSU – Silencer 610 EPS12V
The PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610 EPS12V power supply that I ordered from NCIX Canada has finally arrived. This solid piece of engineering will be replacing my unstable Antec 400W SmartPower power supply that came with the Antec SOHO case that I bought when building my first PC. I was hoping to also upgrade the PC’s memory to 2GB of Corsair XMS RAM, but in the state the economy is in right now, one has to be consider the more important priorities.
Chilling the CPU – Artic Cooling Freezer64 Pro
This post has been overdue since Christmas of 2007. Since I have some free time I thought I would complete it. Last Christmas I ordered an Arctic Cooling Freezer64 Pro heatsink-fan (HSF) for my main PC. This replaced the original Masscool unit that I got with the OEM AMD Athlon64 3500+ CPU. My reason for upgrading to the Freezer64 Pro was due to inadequate cooling being provided by the Masscool unit. Additionally, the old HSF did not securely clamp onto the motherboard. Do you see that lever? Well, for the the life of me I could not get it to snap in securely and I was not about to force it and damage the CPU. My make-shift solution was to jam a metal plate between the fan frame and heatsink fins which kept the lever pushed down.
I was not comfortable with this make-shift setup from the day that I did it because the last thing I wanted was for the CPU to overheat and die. I knew that the temperature protection mechanism built into the motherboard would automatically take measures to prevent this, but I could not live with a potential hard shutdown during some CPU-intensive task. Anyway, ambient temperatures got very high in the summer which made it easier for the CPU to hit 40°C.
OpenDNS – a more secure, fast and reliable DNS service
I have been using OpenDNS for quite some time now ever since I came across it while browsing the internet. Setup is quite easy: just manually change your DNS IPs at your PC’s network card or your router and you are ready to go! For more customizations and control you can sign up for a free account – there are many features available for activation. Watch episode 223 of DL.TV to get a quick taste!
I have to say that after manually setting my DNS information, webpages felt like they were loading faster even though I’m using a slow laptop. I was quite surprised at how reliable this free service was. At first I did not think that changing your DNS server could help speed up web browsing, but after reading the “How it works” article, I got a fairly good idea of what was really happening.
Head on over to OpenDNS.com and take it for a test drive. It may or may not be better than what you have now, but it does not hurt to try. Furthermore, it is absolutely FREE and easy to set up!
Give your desktop a facelift – InterfaceLIFT.com
We have all been in the situation. Our desktop looks like it could do with a visual eye candy boost. When it comes to wallpapers, there are very few sites that offer great high resolution images without having to download additional software. I found the following site some time ago and thought I would share.
InterfaceLIFT.com comes to the rescue! They carry hundreds of stunning wallpaper, visual styles and icons (for Mac OSX, Windows and Linux). Just head on over right now and take a look at their selection and you will be amazed. You can download almost any wallpaper image for any screen resolution you may have without having to worry about stretching.
I have used many of their wallpaper on my computer screens. The high contrast and colourful ones really make my Windows desktop feel richer. You don’t have to worry about downloading any spyware junk as other similar websites seem to force on you (McAfee SiteAdvisor Report: InterfaceLIFT.com). Enjoy and share the wealth!
The nVidia GeForce 9800 GX2 is here!
The nVidia GeForce 9 series of graphics cards is here and nVidia is kicking off the show by flaunting its dual-GPU monster – the GeForce 9800 GX2! This release comes in to compete with AMD/ATi’s Radeon 3870 X2 and packs quite a punch.
The last time nVidia made a dual-GPU graphics card was the GeForce 7950 GX2, which was not a big hit in terms of performance compared to single-GPU alternatives that quickly succeeded it. However, the GeForce 9800 GX2 is based on the same double PCB architecture as the GeForce 7950 GX2 and, although is not clocked as fast as a single GeForce 8800 Ultra, it definitely makes up for two GeForce 8800 GTSes.
Imagine running two of these cards in a quad-SLI configuration! Hopefully, with improved drivers, multi-GPU setups should be able take more advantage of this raw GPU processing power. In addition to its great performance, the GeForce 9800 GX2 is also the first nVidia graphics card to support nVidia’s HybridPower technology, which essentially should allow for dynamic power management depending upon 2D or 3D load.
Read reviews of the GeForce 9800 GX2 at the following links:
AMD/ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2
I realize that this piece of news has been out for a while, but I still wanted to write about it. If you did not already know, ATI will be soon releasing their newest graphics card: the ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2, which they hope to be of competition to nVidia’s GeForce 8 series.
This new graphics card, codenamed R680, is simply a combination of two RV670 GPUs (two Radeon HD 3870s) on the same PCB. This makes for a gigantic card that will definitely demand much ATX case length and cooling… not to mention power consumption. Do you remember when nVidia released their GeForce 7950GX2?
Do not let Ruby’s eyes fool you. ATI has packed a lot of punch into this card, even allowing it to out-perform exisiting ATI Crossfire configurations! However, it does seem that the nVidia 8800 Ultra remains the overall performance victor, although many review sites will have varying opinions. This may change when better drivers are released for the 3870 X2.
You can check out the initial reviews from the following sites:
- AnandTech.com – ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2: 2 GPUs 1 Card, A Return to the High End
- [H]ard|OCP – AMD’s ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2
- Hexus.net -ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2: Getting back in the game
- HotHardware.com -R680 Has Landed: ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2
- PC Perspective – Asus AMD Radeon HD 3870 X2: AMD R680 Dual GPU Arrives
- Tomshardware.com – ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2: Fastest Yet!
The nVidia GeForce 8800GT is here!
This story is probably a few days (or even a week) old by now, but I thought I should publish something, not really to announce its launch (since many have done a great job with this), but to throw my opinions in.
If you are a hardcore gamer, you know that when it comes to getting the best in the graphics department, your graphics card is more than likely the most important component in a computer setup. So far nVidia was leading the graphics card wars against AMD/ATi with their GeForce 8×00 series of chipsets. Even though AMD/ATi tried to compete with their Radeon HD2×00 series of chipsets, nVidia’s GeForce 8×00 chipsets were performing better overall when compared to similar AMD/ATi Radeon offerings of the same class. The GeForce 8800 Ultra is still nVidia’s top-of-the-line graphics card for extreme gaming, but the manufacturer recently released a sibling of the 8800 Ultra which performs quite close to its bigger brother, but comes at almost half the price!
The GeForce 8800GT sits at the sweet spot for gamers on a upper mid-range budget. Several sites such as TechReport.com and TomsHardware.com have full reviews on the performance of this card when compared to other nVidia and AMD/ATi offerings. You will definitely come to the conclusion that this card is indeed a great performer for the money!
I was considering upgrading my own graphics card (a Radeon X800XL) to a GeForce 8800GT and probably get another to match the first and activate SLI! My desktop motherboard is an ASUS A8N SLI-Deluxe running on a AMD Athlon64 3500+ socket-939 CPU. However, this upgrade would also require upgrading the PSU and CPU, but since socket-939 seems to be completely dead, it will take some time to find those components. Furthermore, my gaming rig has a permanent home in The Bahamas, whereas I am away in Canada at university most of the year, so upgrading that now may be pointless.
I do plan on building a Small Form-Factor gaming system sometime soon and this time, I’m going with Intel over AMD. It is definitely a better investment since Intel sockets are usually backward compatible with a lot of their older CPUs. By then, there may be a new graphics card to replace the 8800GT, but I believe this little power-house will be around for a while. Let’s hope!
