"Home Theater Personal Computers, or HTPCs as enthusiasts abbreviate them, may soon once again be all the craze. Very recently the ultra-compact NVIDIA ION platform offered up HD video and Blu-Ray content over native HDMI, and leaves the entertainment center with plenty of room left over for other components. But for those wanting just a little more, such as discreet graphics for intense CrossFire or SLI gaming, you'll need an HTPC case with full-size ATX motherboard compatibility. nMediaPC knows there's still a market for home theater PC enthusiasts, which is why the HTPC-8000 case was designed. A stained-wood case with old-time looks is modern enough to deliver LCD-based programmable Media Center Edition (MCE) display. Benchmark Reviews explores the nMedia HTPC-8000 media center computer case and delivers the verdict on HTPCs." More from Benchmark Reviews...

"CoolIT Systems is teaming up with Bigbruin.com to sponsor a give away! Up for grabs is one of their award winning Domino A.L.C. (Advanced Liquid Cooling) CPU Coolers.  The contest was scheduled to end on August 14th, but it will now run until August 21st." More from Bigbruin...

"Aug. 13, 2009 – Zune HD, the next generation of Microsoft Corp.’s portable digital media player, is available now for pre-order and is set to hit store shelves on Sept. 15. The player, available in 16GB and 32GB capacities, is the first touch-screen Zune and includes powerful playback technology to give you a different way to experience media on the go. Combined with unparalleled PC software and online services such as Zune Pass, Zune provides a rich and meaningful connection to music, videos, podcasts and more." More & Pre-Order at Zune.net...

"Corsair®, a worldwide leader in high-performance computer memory, power supplies and flash memory products, including solid-state drives, today announced the 128GB Flash Voyager GT, the world’s fastest 128GB USB flash drive. The newest Flash Voyager GT is based upon a revolutionary design that employs a unique dual-controller architecture to achieve SLC-levels of performance using MLC NAND flash memory. The 128GB Flash Voyager GT is able to achieve read speeds of up to 32MB/sec and write speeds of up to 25.6MB/sec, with the limiting factor effectively being the speed of the USB 2.0 bus and operating system overhead." More from Corsair...

"With each new release from AMD they are able to fine tune their processors a bit more than before. We are talking about more than just adding a few exta clock cycles or a bump in speed. There are more subtle changes that result in a product that meets consumers needs much better. AMD has not forgotten that many of their consumers are overclockers and we will be of course taking a look at how the newly announced Phenom II 965 Black Edition does in the overclocking arena but first lets take a look at the shiny new CPU." More from TechwareLabs...

"Back in April, Benchmark Reviews covered the release of AMD's flagship quad-core processor, the Phenom II X4 955 BE. Nearly four months later, we have that opportunity once again. Today, we look at the new king of the mountain over at the AMD, the Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition processor model HDZ965FBGIBOX. Coming in at 3.4GHz, it not only bests the previous flagship model by 200Mhz, but also happens to be the highest clocked CPU on the market. In today's review, we find out how well that extra clockspeed translates to performance." More from Benchmark Reviews...

"Noctua makes excellent products and the NF-S12B FLX is no different. It is certainly a unique fan in terms of aesthetics, design and engineering. This is especially evident in the attention to detail that Noctua has paid to the fan - for example, the beveled blade tips. Using the included noise-reduction adaptors, you can make the fan run almost silently without compromising performance too much - not that it is loud by any means even at the normal setting." More from Overclockers Online...

"Corsair Labs recently conducted testing to determine whether the use of high-performance DDR3 memory for Core i7 platforms also requires the use of more effective CPU cooling products.

The results clearly show that using high-performance memory results in increased CPU temperatures, due to the higher CPU VTT voltages and Uncore clock speeds required by the IMC (Integrated Memory Controller) in the Core i7 processor. The average load temperature of a Core i7-920 processor cooled by the Intel HSF (heatsink and fan) was 11°C higher when utilizing 2000MHz C8 Dominator GT memory compared to 1333MHz DDR3 memory. The same PC cooled using the Corsair H50 CPU Cooler maintained average CPU core temperatures up to 24°C lower than the stock Intel HSF, and was able to stably cool an overclocked CPU while also maintaining a 2000MHz DDR3 memory frequency.

Standard CPU cooling solutions are inadequate for effectively cooling a Core i7-based PC using memory at frequencies above 1600MHz. Using high-performance memory running at 1866MHz or above (set by the XMP profile), the stock Intel Cooler was unable to stably cool the test PC, resulting in system crashes (BSODs) or processing errors."

More from Corsair...

"The ASUS ENGTS250 1GB GTS 250 video card's heatsink is unique and not only gives the card a different look, but also makes it appealing in situations where low noise and low heat production are a must. I can see it being a good fit in a desktop or an HTPC setting where decent 3D performance may be desired, but where serious game play is not a priority." More from Bigbruin...

"Razer™, a leading manufacturer of high-end precision gaming and lifestyle peripherals, has joined forces with Blizzard Entertainment, a premier developer and publisher of entertainment software, to co-develop StarCraft® II gaming peripherals powered by Razer technology. With the upcoming launch of StarCraft II, Razer and Blizzard Entertainment are collaborating on bringing gamers a quality tournament-grade mouse, keyboard and headset specifically designed to maximize the StarCraft II gameplay experience." 

"In this article we take a closer look at the overclocking aspects of the Core i7 platform. Core, uncore, QPI, memory, bclk... all have been analyzed with performance scaling tests to you help extract the most performance from your setup." More from Madshrimps...

"Lian-Li Industrial Co. Ltd Ltd has launched the the Tyr PC-X1000 chassis designed as a stylish midi-tower chassis. The Tyr PC-X1000 follows in the prestigious footsteps of its predecessors, namely  the PC-X500 and the PC-X2000. Both of a controversial design with side mounted ODD bays. The PC-X1000 however has three traditional front mounted ODD bays as well as three front mounted 140mm fans down the front of the case.  Similarly, the PC-X1000 has specific heat zones to isolate and extract heat more efficiently. The lower region is for HDD’s and the PSU, the central region is for the motherboard and all daughter cards including graphics. The topmost zone is for ODD’s and additional HDD’s. Some unique features include the completely tool-less design, the best side panel case entry latch and special mounting bays for 2.5”SSD drives. The Tyr PC-X1000 is destined to become your next power-user Chassis allowing unprecedented high performance components to be encompassed in a stylish minimalistic midi-tower chassis."

More from Lian-Li...

"Looking for the best case to wrap around that new powerhouse you call a computer? Look no further. Join Tom As we take a look at the Element G by Thermaltake. Designed with gamers in mind, will it keep your system ultra cool, while providing some flashiness that every gamer loves, or will it be as big a failure as the iButton? Read on to find out." More from TechwareLabs...

"Video Cards are more powerful than ever before. But thats just not good enough for Palit. Today, Chris S takes a look at the Palit 4870 Sonic edition in both CrossfireX and single card mode. How will it stack up against the competition? Join us and find out..." More from TechwareLabs...

"The new Amoris 6010 gaming case from Maxcube is a very nice mid-tower chassis, especially considering that it's a first effort from a relative newcomer. It has a distinctive look and an innovative front door design that is both functional and aesthetically pleasing. A full-featured top I/O panel, great cooling and very good tool-free hardware mounting solutions make this case a pretty good value at just under $100 US." More from Tweaknews...

"With the plethora of good performing tower coolers that are out on the market, how does one set their self's apart from the rest of the pack? Every fan attached to a heatsink has a dead spot in the center where the fan blades attach to the hub. How do you eliminate or reduce the size of the dead spot? CoolerMaster has the answer with their latest cooler in the Hyper Series: the Hyper N620. CoolerMaster choose a unique design with the cooler that is designed to handle two fans configured in a push/pull configuration that takes the dead spot out of the cooling equation by offsetting the fans from one another. This configuration leads to a quite different shape of the finsink as compared to other tower style coolers." Read more from Hightech-Hardware...

"Network Attached Storage (NAS) systems have found their way into homes just as they did with the office space years ago. Prices for NAS server products have dropped to the point where it's more expensive to buy the drive that goes in them than the actual storage device itself. Patriot, a company based around memory technologies, has recently began to sell the Patriot Corza Network Storage Server PCZ35SNAS2 to retailers for under $100. This dual-bay SATA NAS can accommodate either SSD or hard disk storage media, and offers RAID-0/1/JBOD configurations over a gigabit Ethernet network connection. In this article, Benchmark Reviews tests the transfer speeds for the Patriot Corza NAS against some of the biggest names in the industry, and determines just how much value you can get from this network storage appliance."

More from Benchmark Reviews...

"Sometimes there's more to a memory module than meets the eye : Corsair Dominator and Mushkin Redline modules have always looked better than nice, and now they have the performance to match. We put these two against the OCZ Blade, a real high end kit based upon Elpida's "hyper" chips, and against our 8 previous triple channel kits, in order to get a good view of the Core i7 memory landscape to date." More from Madshrimps...

"The Corsair P64 is the smallest drive in the family but don't be fooled. The capacity is more than enough for your notebook or netbook. The numbers may claim that the drive isn't the fastest but the difference has been hard to notice in day to day use. The drive has been completely stutter free since day one and that's the biggest improvement and best reason to pick Corsair's Performance Series over everyone else in the market. Truly, the only change I can recommend is for Corsair to step up and stand by a much longer warranty than the two years it is currently offering."

More from CCE Reviews...

"After several months of use, the Syncmaster 2233SW is a simple and cost effective 21.5" monitor that has the additional resolution bump up to 1920x1080. In fact, the 2233SW can be mistaken for a larger monitor thanks to its higher resolution and thin outer bezel."

More from Tweaknews...