It has been quite some time since we looked at a Razer product last. Today we are taking a look at their imperator mouse with features such as a moving thumb button, and 5600DPI according to the specifications. We are going to compare this mouse vs some high end mice on the market so lets take a closer look.

Razer Imperator Gaming Mouse @ Rbmods

Today we have on our testbench two NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 accelerators. Just the graphics cards alone will cost you $1000. Is this something that can be justified? Performance aside, what's going on with power and heat when running two of these cards?

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 SLI @ techPowerUp

With the price and availability of ITX systems coming down, the A330ION motherboard from ASRock is a decent choice for a quiet, Home Theatre PC or web-connected computer.  The A330ION board supports four SATA devices internally as well as two eSATA devices, a bunch of USB ports and HDMI, DVI-D and even a VGA port.  If you have some extra DDR3 and a hard drive lying around, it makes a cheap system that can get a lot of little jobs done. . .

ASRock A330ION ITX Mini-Motherboard - BCCHardware.com

Today I will be reviewing an external HDD enclosure from Icy Box called “IB-318STU3-B” (wonderful name). It has a USB 3.0 interface which should boost the data transfer speeds significantly, at least according to the specs. Only months ago, the third revision of the USB standard appeared. I’ve seen it called both “USB 3.0” and “USB SuperSpeed”.

 

What is clear is that the new version includes several improvements compared to USB 2.0. The most important update is of course the increase of the data transfer speed (theoretical) to 4.8Gbps (600MB/s) compared to USB 2.0’s 480Mbps (35MB/s). This is really a huge difference.

 

Another important change is the maximum power output of USB 3.0 of 900mA (500mA in USB 2.0), which will allow USB 3.0 ports to power a number of devices and accessories to laptops. In real world, this means fewer AC adapters to accessories like external harddrives, notebook cooling pads etc…

Review of Icy Box IB-318STU3-B USB3 HDD enclosure

"Danamics assures us that Cyberdyne Systems had no part in the liquid metal technology used in the LMX, but the Sodium Potassium Alloy used within the cooler is still pretty exciting stuff. As you’d expect the liquid metal is extremely effective at transferring heat, and unlike water doesn’t require any moving parts to circulate. We compare it today to the Corsair H50, the CoolIT Domino and Thermalright's IFX-14 heat sink."

Danamics LMX and LMX Superleggera Liquid Metal CPU Cooler Review @ ITShootOut.com

NZXT has been making quality computer cases since 2004. They have become a popular brand among computer enthusiests, and for good reason. NZXT cares about style and functionality. Here at Benchmark Reviews, we also care about style and functionality, and when NZXT agreed to let us review its new Hades (HADE-001BK) mid-tower Chassis, we happily agreed. The Hades boasts such features as up to nine 5.25" bays, or five 5.25" and four 3.5" bays. It touts room for up to 5 cooling fans and large video cards, and it also features a cable management system; all for around $100. Will the Hades live up to the NZXT reputation of quality? Stay tuned to find out!

NZXT Hades Computer Case HADE-001BK @ Benchmark Reviews

Latest Chassis Pushes Sonata Line's Celebrated Features Forward With Distinct Style

FREMONT, CA--(Marketwire - April 7, 2010) - Antec, Inc., the global leader in high-performance computer components and accessories for the gaming, PC upgrade and Do-It-Yourself markets, today announced the Sonata Proto, the newest addition to Antec's critically acclaimed Sonata line of Quiet Computing™ enclosures. Based on the worldwide best-selling Sonata III 500, the Sonata Proto combines improved noise reduction and powerful cooling with a modernized aesthetic and affordable price.

Nowadays it rarely seems that anyone use anything but onboard audio. Sure the sound is good and you get some of the effects you may want, but I can tell you there is still nothing like a good add-on sound cards.

ASUS Xonar DX Dolby Gaming Sound Card

With different jobs comes different needs. I am not an professional photo enthusiast or am I video studio producer but I do know the pain when it comes to storage. We write a lot of articles and go trough a lot of video footage and images. Having them in one place is the best way to manage and manipulate. Finding the right storage for the job could be a big pain since there are hundreds of enclosures. Some offer a hard drive with in and some don't. Today we are going to take a look at FreeAgent XTreme by Seagate.

UMLan Article Release: Seagate FreeAgent Xtreme - Review

There comes a time in the lap top life time when you will be looking to replace that hard drive of yours. Overtime the hard drive could wear out and you will start experiencing problems like crashing and blue screens. Let me tell you, no one wants to go trough the aggravation of recovering a lost hard drive as it is a painful and long process. It is highly recommended to change your hard drives every two to three years or at least reload your OS for a quicker response from opening and operating programs.

UMLan Article Release: Seagate Momentus - Review

As the technologies change so does the demand for storage. With more applications comes a greater need to store information. There are many different types of media available out there for the average user but not all of them might seem to worth a buck sort of speak. The Solid State Drives are pretty pricey and USB sticks just don't provide enough storage now a days. The biggest USB stick storage available on the market today is 128 GB stick. This goes roughly for 300$ and very expensive if you ask me.

UMLan Article Release: Seagate Barracuda - Review

As we have seen the HD 5570 is no gaming barn burner but it is certainly bringing more gaming power to entry level graphics. Combine this with all of the latest ATI features such as DX11, 7.1 audio, native HDMI, ATI Stream and ATI CrossfireX the HIS HD 5570 brings a lot to the table.

News - HIS HD 5570 Fan 1GB Review at Overclockers Online

I really like the LiteON eHAU424. It's very easy to use and the USB interface literally makes it plug-and-play. The read and write performances are great and exactly as advertised. The device as a whole seems solidly built, just as I'd expect from any Lite-On product. The only thing I didn't like about the drive is that it is somewhat large and features an external power brick that you have to haul around. However, the drive's elegant looks make up for it.

News - Lite-On eHAU424 External DVD Writer Review at CCE Reviews

Today we are unboxing the Patriot Viper Series DDR3 6GB Triple Channel 1600MHz Low Latency Memory Modules.

This set of memory is aimed at Core i7 users in mind, with tight timings and lightning fast speed and is manufactured by a very well known brand in the memory business. It comes with stylish blue heatspreaders and is perfect for x58 based systems too.

Patriot Viper Series DDR3 6GB Triple Channel 1600MHz Memory Modules Unboxing Video @ eTeknix.com

With the establishment of the Extraordinary League of 80Plus, new efficiency standards have motivated many a manufacturer like Antec to continue designing and producing better power supplies. With the release of their CP, Signature, and TruePower series, they’ve offered 80Plus PSUs for every kind of user. They’ve got something for the professional right down to the guy who’s pressing the confirmation button for some extremely power hungry nVidia GTX480 video cards. Finally, we have a bitter sweet real need for the Antec TruePower Quattro 1200 Watt power supply!

A Futurelooks News Flash - Antec Quattro TPQ-1200 Modular 1200W ATX Power Supply Review

The ultimate PC for Adobe CS5 employs up to 3 Quadro FX cards,Intel i7 Processors, and up to 24GB RAM

Union, New Jersey – April 12, 2010 - MAINGEAR Computers, award-winning builders of custom computers for PC gamers, enthusiasts, and creative professionals, unveils the Quantum SHIFT Workstation, an everyday super computer that exceeds the demands of the most power hungry graphics professionals.  Fully optimized for Adobe CS5, the SHIFT employs up to three NVIDIA Quadro FX graphics cards to enable a GPU accelerated Adobe Creative Suite that allows you to design with creative precision.  SHIFT’s unique vertical heat-stack design ensures that your Quadro equipment remains cool and quiet no matter how intense your tasks may be.

"The new motherboard series from Gigabyte is a good example of the splendours and miseries of the P55 chipset. On the one hand, LGA1156 is a decent general-purpose platform. On the other hand, any effort to make anything original out of it results in compromises. However, solving issues like that is a good chance for motherboard makers to show what they are capable of."

iXBT Labs Review: Gigabyte P55A-UD6 Motherboard

HIS sends their HD 5870 iCooler V Turbo into the race for the best custom designed HD 5870. In addition to the new iCooler V heatsink you get improved clock speeds over the AMD reference design and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 as game bundle.

HIS HD 5870 iCooler V Turbo @ techPowerUp

Solid State Drive technology is unfamiliar to many consumers, and so long as there are different ways an SSD can operate there always be questions that need answering. Benchmark Reviews offers various SSD tests, but proving performance speeds and matching manufacturer claims is only part of the story. Each SSD processor has unique behaviors, with some working well with TRIM and offering improved performance in AHCI mode, while others include Garbage Collection (GC) and work best in IDE mode. In this article Benchmark Reviews demonstrates how SSDs are tested by the manufacturer, and illustrates how real-world performance is different for end-users.

Benchmark Performance SSD Testing: AHCI vs IDE @ BmR

"After taking Vantec's NexStar 3 USB 3.0 external HDD enclosure for a test run, I'm left completely sold. There's no way I'd want to go back to using a USB 2.0 enclosure for file storage if I can avoid it. The increase in speed is incredible, and the best part is that there's no learning curve – if you know how to use any USB device (and who doesn't these days), you already know how to use USB 3.0."

Vantec Nexstar 3 Superspeed USB 3.0 HDD Enclosure Review @ Tweaknews