To retain modest pricing, it's common to see lower-end graphics cards equipped with either DDR2 or DDR3. That design choice, though, can have a major effect on performance, something that's proven twice over with AMD's Radeon HD 5550 and HD 5570, both of which have just been upgraded with a move to GDDR5 memory.

"Today I am going to be looking at a product from a manufacturer that whilst they are a household name is less well known for their involvement in the computer hardware industry. The manufacturer is Toshiba and the product is one of their Store Steel external hard drives, this one in particular is 320GB."

"For improved sound on a tight budget, the Xonar DS is an excellent choice. With 7.1 channel sound and DTS support, it's a big step up from most onboard audio solutions."

"Once I started pushing the card I was able to slide up to 990MHz stable with temperatures around 65 degrees. Even with that, I would consider this card to be a good overclocker, but where the v2 is special, is with the voltage tweak ability. Once I pushed that into effect, I bumped the voltage on the core to 1.349v and was able to get the card up to 1035MHz on the GPU and 1275MHz on the DRAM. Yes, a 5870 just hit over 1GHz stable, and only around 70 degrees! I expect some pretty awesome performance jumps in the OCC Benchmarks."

Performance is often attributed to expensive objects of desire. In the automobile space, it's generally accepted that a higher performing vehicle will incur a significant markup over the average fuel-efficient family offerings. Computing is much the same. Retail OEM machines are pre-built at predetermined price points, often targeting the humble office/Internet-centric user. Performance isn't a primary concern for these systems, nor are upgradability or customisation. On the other hand, you have the expensive 'gamer' orientated machines which cost several thousands of dollars! This is where Benchmark Reviews steps in. We've sat down and created three enthusiast machines without the dreaded price gauge of many pre-built setups - the 'Enthusiast PC Build' for Q3 2010!

Remember that old machine you used to play alot on in the mid 80´s to late 80´s? Commondre 64 was the big deal then with alot of famous games with superb gameplay and feeling in the games. Speedlink has taken advantage of this and reawaken the Commondore 64 games by creating a joystick similar to the Tac2 joystick in the past that was the most wanted joystick on the market. Included with this they have bundled 99 Commondore 64 classic games for you to play with this Tac2 "wannabe" joystick.

Axle’s HD 5450 LP 512MB didn’t break any records or shine in any benchmarks, but this card will still probably be the bread and butter of the stable of ATI cards. The vast majority of people consider gaming to be casual games such as Plants vs Zombies or Peggle which even this card can handle with ease. Passive cooling and all of the benefits of the HD 5000 series make this a great card for a home theater PC as well.

Axle's Radeon HD 5670 comes with 1 GB of GDDR5 memory, which is twice that of the reference design. The thermal solution has also been changed to one that runs cool and quiet, thanks to a fan design by Arctic Cooling.

"Hi Tech Legion and Diamond Multimedia have put together a month long contest which includes some great prizes. Come celebrate Independence and enter the contest to win one of these prizes. The contest will run for four weeks and each week a prize will be given away to one or multiple winners. Week 1 winners - Darkstar/Diamond Mini Mobile Speakers, DXMage - Diamond Extreme Sound 5.1 Sound Card. Logon to Hi Tech Legion and find out how to win this weeks prize."

"HTPCs and media centres are growing in popularity as our houses become far more linked in terms of media. However, these systems can still be too expensive for some, or too big, too complicated; what's a guy to do? One option it seems is to get yourself a network media player. Today we're reviewing one such device, the AC Ryan Playon!HD."

The NZXT Vulcan is a mATX gaming case capable of holding large multi-GPU configurations with a convenient carrying handle. We tear it apart and fill it with hardware, to see if it lives up to its promise or turns up to be nothing but smoke and hot ashes

Are you craving a racing game but can't ignore your innate desire to just blow things up? If so, Bizarre Creations' Blur might be just what you're looking for. It two awesome things, destruction and speed, and results in a title that's full of eye candy, a good online mode, and a difficulty level that's sure to challenge even the most hardcore racer.

"When I saw the initial prototype pictures of this case floating around the web last year, my first thought was 'why would anyone buy that'? Then after seeing it first hand at CES, the look started to grow on me and by the time I have now finished working with it, I have become a bit more enamored with it. Unlike most cases on the market, you find a few things that just don't "fit" as they should. Things like holes being punched slightly off center, or the expansion brackets bowed out so you need to tweak them back into place to mount your video, sound, and NIC expansion cards. Side and front panels that just do not fit quite right! Those were things I did not find with the Level 10."

The Intel P55 platform has been with us for a good while now, and it is a real sleeper, having the memory controller integrated with the CPU gives it a nice performance advantage over competing products, even higher priced ones. If it has any serious shortcomings, it's the number of PCI-e lanes that it supports. With a maximum of 16 lanes of PCI-e 2.0 available for graphics cards, there is no room for expansion, if additional devices require PCI-e 2.0 connectivity. Guess what the most common support chips for SATA 6Gb/s and USB 3.0 require? You got it, PCI-e 2.0. ASUS works their way out of this problem on the P7P55D-E Pro motherboard with a PCI Bridge from PLX Technology that takes some spare PCI Express 1.1 lanes, converts them into the required PCI-e 2.0 version, and serves them up to the latest NEC and Marvell controllers. Benchmark Reviews was intrigued by this latest combination and we're pleased to present a review.

After our journeys were complete at COMPUTEX Taipei 2010, we had a couple days to do the tourist thing before we embarked on our next adventure. This time around, we hopped on the tour bus and made our away around to three Taiwanese electronics companies: GETAC, who makes rugged computers, GIGA-TMS, who work on RFID technology, and Champtek, who also create products based on RFID technology. On these tours, we were able to go behind the scenes and see where these gadgets and other technology tidbits are designed and made.

Looking for a CPU cooler that both looks great and still outperforms the competition? Your wait is over, as the Cooler Master V6GT combines a new thinking in CPU cooler design, yet doesn't compromise on cooling performance. It also packs a range of great features as standard, such as the use of a Double-V heatpipe design, twin 120mm DynaLoop^TM PWM fans, a built in LED strip on the top and of course support for multiple CPU sockets.

"REVOLUTION85+ is an 80 Plus Silver power supply series from Enermax featuring modular cabling system, resonant switching and a synchronous design with DC-DC conversion. The manufacturer promises that units from this series are capable of delivering their rated power at 50º C, and up to 99% of the power can be pulled from the +12 V rails. Power supplies from this series are available in 850 W, 920 W, 950 W, 1020 W, 1050 W and 1250 W flavors. The 920 W and 1020 W are new addition to the series and have four +12 V rails, while the other models have six +12 V rails. Let's see how the new 920 W model performs in our tests."

Pocket-packed messenger bag updates the traditional flimsy collapsing laptop bag, with an easy to access shape holding design

Sierra Madre, California - (June 24, 2010) – Booq, a leading brand of premium laptop carrying cases and laptop backpacks for creative professionals, expands its stylish Mamba line with the addition of Mamba catch S/L. For years, messenger bags have been designed with flimsy exteriors that lose shape, collapse, and look sloppy when not packed to their limit. Whether travelling light or packed to the max, booq’s water-repellent ballistic nylon and innovative no flap design holds form and keeps you looking sharp. Available at booqbags.com and retailers throughout the country, booq combines sophisticated design and functionality to deliver high-quality bags and cases for the next generation of ambitious professionals.