Overclockers are always looking for the best CPU cooler made, and Benchmark Reviews has taken a new approach to determining this for them in every Cooling article we publish. Most enthusiasts are already very familiar with the Vendetta 2, TRUE, and HDT-S1283, but the landscape is going to change with the Xigmatek Thor's Hammer S126384 CPU cooler. Benchmark Reviews compares the top coolers using the Yate Loon D12SH-12 and Kaze SlipStream 120 on an overclocked and over-volted Intel Core i7-920 Processor. Click to read more

The Tuniq Potency 650W power supply is a no nonsense unit that will get the job done on a basic computer system without wasting your money on bells and whistles. It has decent features and specifications, was able to power the test configuration without issue, and it remains cool and quiet during operation. Click here to read more

System memory is one of the most over-looked hardware components in computer systems, and with applications demanding greater memory overhead it is best to use as much memory as allowed. But not all memory is made the same; and even memory of the same speed can have different consumer targets. In this article, Benchmark Reviews tests the performance of an entry-level triple-channel product for the Intel Core i7 platform. The OCZ 6GB 1333 MHz DDR3 memory kit OCZ3P1333LV6GK will be compared against several other products and benchmarked for bandwidth and gaming performance. Are the higher speeds worth the money, or can this memory kit overclock to their level? Click here to read more

"WiFi has become almost as ubiquitous as the iPod and in doing so has developed into a common technology we come to expect in our day-to-day lives. However, as with other common technologies there has been little attempt at catering to non-mainstream consumers or creating truly unique products (wireless frequency improvements aside). Alfa Network, a relative newcomer, has decided to introduce a truly unique product within the flooded networking market, the Alfa "AWUS036H" or 802.11g USB 2.0 Adapter." Click to read more

Often, when a product is marketed for a certain special feature, it suffers in other aspects. The ATP EarthDrive is not one of those products. In addition to being the world's first recyclable USB drive, it also performs well. With read speeds just shy of 30 MB/s and write speeds of 10 MB/s, the EarthDrive is similar to other USB drives we've reviewed in the past. Its small size also makes it easy to work with. Also, it's waterproof! Click to read more

Cooler Master's Silent Pro M is quite a different product, I would not go as far as to say it is unique, but it does target quite a different audience than the majority of the power supplies we have taken a look at. The Silent Pro M is definitely not the power supply for multiple graphic card systems, but for the typical high end system, or even small form factor media setups, the Silent Pro M is a great choice. Click to read more

Our friends from TestFreaks have started today their first official contest. They have four phones to give away along with a couple other things. Things you’ll need to do to win: 1. Tell in at least 200 words ‘Why you hate your current phone’ 2. Tell in at least 200 words ‘Why you want a new phone’ 3. Tell in at least 200 words ‘Why you want a particular phone’ 4. Do a video telling one of those things, at least 30 seconds in length 5. Do something creative on video to an old phone, smash it, destroy it, run it over etc Basic rules: -Must be 18 years of age to enter -Must be US Resident -Contest runs for February 15th 2009 until March 15th 2009 -Must be on the network to use to the phone of your choosing -Entries will be judged by TestFreaks, Samsung and Pantech based on originality, creativity and humor! -Have fun with it! Read on to learn more…

Nearly every enthusiast who has overclocked a computer system has wished that processors weren't restricting them from the hobby they love. Even I can still recall the good old days (less than four years ago) before Intel and AMD locked the clock multiplier on their processors and overclocking was a combination of factors and no limited to the stability of a motherboard. Intel believes that their Core i7-965 Extreme Edition (EE) processor series is worth the $1000 price tag, but AMD begs to differ. Perhaps the timing is right then, and consumers won't hastily spend unnecessary cash on an expensive unlocked processor when AMD offers their Black Edition Phenom II X4 940 CPU for just $220. Benchmark Reviews compares the field, and tests the X4 940BE HDZ940XCGIBOX against the Intel Core i7-920. Click to read more

OCZ wasn't going to let us down with a sub-par memory card, and they didn't. The OCZ Gold Series SDHC card exceeded the claimed expectations of a Class 6 memory card. We peaked out at 11.5MB/s write and 20MB/s read. These numbers are similar to the original OCZ Class 6 SDHC card, but it does have a slight advantage from the tests I've done Click to read more

The T-Mobile G1 helped introduce what could possibly be the most explosive handheld operating system for developers - Google's Android platform; promising OpenGL graphics, full open-source development, and high customizability. However, we have not yet seen the release of T-Mobile's fully paid Market making developers shy away from releasing high-quality applications. Handango and developer OmniG Software have decided to circumvent this by releasing games without using T-Mobile's Market application - the first being Snow Rally City Stage. Click to read more

Three is a number not normally associated with processors, although it's actually gaining momentum thanks to Intel's triple-channel memory architecture that caters to the 3GB sweet-spot for Windows XP. Dispite this, a triple-core processor just doesn't seem natural to many of us, because we're so used to seeing everything come in twos. But three isn't a bad thing at all, because AMD's Phenom II X3 720 BE processor is actually quite good. Benchmark Reviews compares the 2.8GHz Black Edition AM3/AM2+ CPU against the Intel Core i7-920 and other AMD processors. You might be surprised by how well the odd man out can fit in. Click to read more

The Lian Li PC-C36 Muse HTPC case is a very well made case that has a lot of nice features. Its brushed black anodized aluminum construction is not only clean and elegant, it looks at home in the typical home entertainment center. It's clear Lian Li never intended this case to house one of the more powerful graphics cards, but that's not really an issue in the HTPC market segment. Click to read more

The Dragon platform is AMDs last hope for success in a time when financial ruin is destroying every business on the planet. Perhaps the timing is right then, and consumers won't hastily spend uneccessary cash on a Core i7 processor that performs exactly the same as a much less expensive Phenom II CPU. Benchmark Reviews compares the field, and tests the AMD Phenom II X4 810 AM3/AM2+ CPU against the Intel Core i7 940. One costs over $100 more than the other, and you would be surprised by what you aren't getting for the extra money. Click to read more

With its four heatpipes and excellent design, the performance is great and it really is silent! I especially liked the fact that the base had fins of its own; this way, not everything is dependent on the heatpipes. Installation was extremely easy due to the push-pin type mounting technique. Also, the cooler's low weight and small size made it a pleasure to work with. Click to read more

Aside from a few issues, the Leadtek Limited WinFast GTX260 EXTREME+ is a very impressive video card. It provides strong performance in 3D games, it has the ability to handle any multimedia tasks with ease, and it is so quiet that it is well suited for use in just about any type of system.  It could be the card to provide some gaming muscle to your desktop, LAN rig, or HTPC! Click here to read more

So the war is over, Blu-ray has won, even though it really wasn’t much of a war, more of an argument than anything. So now all of our hi-def videos will be on the Blu-ray format, and if we wish to watch it on our PCs we’ll need to buy some hardware. Prices have been falling quite a bit on Blu-ray drives, below $100 which is nice, but I highly doubt that they’ll ever fall to the prices we see today for DVD drives due to Blu-ray licensing fees. Sure eventually they’ll fall in price but not until a new format is released most likely, the greed of the Blu-ray consortium companies will keep the prices high and force us to pay up for the privilege of watching Br movies on our computers. That’s capitalism, and it makes the world go round, so we’ve just got to deal with it I guess… Click here to read more

Benchmark Reviews has been on the web for over a year now.  In that time I've had the pleasure of reviewing some very nice higher end computer items, including mid and full tower cases.  While I love the high end market I realize for every high end part sold, there are probably 100's of mid to lower end parts sold.  So who's buying these parts?  Everyone is that's who.  So where do they get their pre purchase information from?  Hopefully here at Benchmark Reviews.  Cooler Master recognizes there is an audience at this price point and so should we.  Today Benchmark Reviews will look at the Cooler Master Elite 330 RC-330-KKN1-GP Chassis. A mid tower computer case that appears to be big on features but small on price. Click to read more

Thermaltake was pushing the boundaries of innovation when they created the SpinQ, focusing on achieving the unique look rather than performance. The performance isn't but for its price, there are competitors who can do much better. Nonetheless, the SpinQ is one of the most visually entrancing coolers I've seen, making it the perfect upgrade for someone who doesn't care about the big OC numbers, but someone interested in modifying their computer's appearance to make coworkers point and stare. Click here to read more

Although the P5N7A-VM's stock performance would normally be more than enough for most home theater PC or basic home desktop tasks, overclocking could be beneficial. The P5N7A-VM offers very basic overclocking functionality, but it was more than enough to allow me to overclock the Q6600 to 3.0 GHz (9x333) with a stock Intel heatsink. Click here to read more

Today, we at Benchmark Reviews will be presenting our findings for the Corsair TR3X6G1600C8D memory kit which is a 6144 MB kit of 1600 MHz DDR3 SDRAM DIMMs based upon Corsair's high performance Dominator family of memory.  This kit has been verified to operate at 1600MHz at latencies of 8-8-8-24 at 1.65V VDIMM.  These statistics put the TR3X6G1600C8D in the mid-range of DDR3 performance statistically, but as we're all aware a number of memory modules on the market can solidly produce much higher performance figures than their ratings might allude.  We plan to use a variety of tests both at stock and overclocked performance speeds to give our readers a solid overview of just what this kit has to offer. Click here to read more