Today at Computex, AMD took the wraps off of two highly anticipated processors: the Athlon II X2 250 and the Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition. Both are based on AMD's 45nm SOI process with the key difference being the amount of L3 cache. The Phenom II X2 550, codenamed Callisto, gets the full 6 MB cache of the Phenom II family and will serve as AMD's new flagship dual-core processor. The Athlon II X2 250, on the other hand, is based on the new native dual-core Regor die that omits the L3 cache completely and targets the mainstream segment. Benchmark Reviews was fortunate to receive samples of both processors and today we can officially share with you our results. In this review, we focus on the Phenom II X2 550 BE HDZ550WGIBOX.

AMD Phenom II X2 550 BE AM3 Processor @ Benchmark Reviews

BALDWIN PARK, CA (June 3, 2009) – CyberPower Inc., www.cyberpowerpc.com a global leader in high performance gaming PCs, has announced a new ground-breaking line of high-performance desktop gaming systems known as the Fang series. Each model in the Fang series will include special features and designs to fit the needs of both enthusiasts and gamers. The Fang series was co-developed with Intel and other leading manufacturers to offer one of the most unique and advanced gaming platforms in the world. The Fang series with Venom incorporates a special BIOS designed to allow for higher overclocking. The BIOS supports real time readings of CPU speed and additional options for QPI signal and CPU Clock Skew features, all of which improve overclocking capability. CyberPower kicks its Fang line off with the flagship Black Mamba and the Cobra Venom – a pair of overclocked gaming beasts. The Black Mamba features Intel’s latest i7 Extreme 975 processor and the most sought after motherboards among overclockers, EVGA’s X58 Classified or Gigabyte’s X58 Extreme. Keeping the blazing fast overclocked CPU cool is an upgraded Asetek water cooling. Cooler Master’s Storm Sniper, featuring Storm Tactics, provides the housing and keeps everything secure while providing ample room; even for 3-way SLI + PhysX technology configurations.

When I first heard of the ViBook I had doubts that I would truly enjoy its presence. I mean, most monitors already have the ability to extend their workspace with a second monitor. Then I realized that two monitors aren't always enough. What if I needed 3, 4, 5 or even 6? No laptop is going to come with that many DVI or VGA ports nor will you likely have 3 video cards installed onto your PC. You will more than likely have 6 or 8 USB ports at your disposal and that's where the ViBook really shines. You won't need to fiddle with any screws or wiggle a cable to make sure all the pins line up. The USB connection is simple and always works.

Village Tronic ViBook Review at CCE Reviews

Think excitement - Think Spedo! At least that's Thermaltakes' spin on it. But what's in a name anyway? Well, a lot less than what's packed inside this Spedo... Spedo Advance Package gaming chassis that is. Name aside this case at first glance appears to have a lot going for it. It has a laundry list that would rival St. Nicks naughty/nice list in length, items such as Advanced Thermal Chambers (A.T.C. 3) and Cable Routing Management (C.R.M. 3). Is all this stuff needed or is this a gimmick? Benchmark Reviews will take a closer look at the outwardly impressive Spedo Advanced Package full tower case (model VI90001W2Z) and see if this is eye candy or the real deal. My hopes are high as this is really the first case that I've reviewed that has many of missing elements on my cons list of previous chassis reviews.

Thermaltake Speedo Advance Package VI90001W2Z @ Benchmark Reviews

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Today, a new interesting infrared receiver solder guide for the PC is finished. Who like to control the PC or HTPC comfortable from the sofa, can solder different IR receiver types for commercially available universal remote controls. There are some self building guides in the ocinside.de modding section for several years and today a new special infrared receiver soldering guide for the PC is published.

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In use the Sapphire Radeon HD4770 512MB graphics card performed admirably. It is not the ultimate gaming solution (and doesn't claim to be), but for about $100 it is definitely impressive. It can put up solid numbers in games with the settings turned up and it won't make your electric meter spin out of control in the process. Click here to read more

Indilinx has been tapped to add their 'Barefoot' controller into the design, and a new generation of Solid State Drives has delivered top-level speed and performance. The Patriot (Fusion) Torqx 128GB MLC SSD is one such product, built from a proven architecture that has done well for others of the same controller family. The Patriot Torqx Solid State Drive adds 64MB of Elpida DRAM to the buffer has permanently solved stuttering problems, making raw performance the last bottleneck. An Indilinx 'Barefoot' internal controller commands the bank of Samsung K9HCG08U1M DRAM modules, allowing the Torqx SSD to offer an impressive capacity with top-speed performance. Benchmark Reviews tests the reaction time and bandwidth performance for the PE000143-PFZ128GS25SSDR 128GB model against over two dozen other products in this article.

Patriot Torqx MLC SSD PFZ128GS25SSDR @ Benchmark Reviews

HDTVs are rapidly becoming the norm rather than the exception.  With such new-found popularity, there are more TVs than ever to choose from.  The wise consumer contemplates overall value rather than just size and brand name.  Benchmark Reviews seeks out the value in HDTVs with this review of the 27-Inch 1080i Widescreen Olevia 227V-S11 LCD HDTV; a steal at just over $400.  Olevia is quickly making High Definition the standard with their affordable line of HDTVs, and they aren't skimping on quality in the process.

Olevia 227-S11 27-Inch LCD HDTV @ Benchmark Reviews

G.Skill has certainly impressed me with their latest offering. I've finished the benchmarking a few weeks ago and switched my laptop from the G.Skill FM-25S2S-64GB to the Falcon and have noticed and incredible boost in performance. Videos no longer stutter and there's no lag between MSN conversations, the JMicron controller made it feel like I was back in the 56k days! Since many of us can't afford an Intel X25-M SLC SSD, the G.Skill Falcon is a great alternative with significantly improved sequential and random performance over their original design.

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Corsair® Launches Energy-Efficient High-Performance Modular 850W and 750W Power Supplies Professional Series HX850W and HX750W offer the performance and features that enthusiasts demand, including up to 90% energy-efficiency Fremont, CA, May 27th, 2009 – Corsair®, a worldwide leader in high-performance power supplies, and computer and flash memory products, today announced the launch of the new Corsair Professional Series HX850W and HX750W modular power supply units. The Corsair Professional Series power supply units have been designed by Corsair and engineered to the highest quality standards to meet the demands of enthusiasts that expect the very best. The Corsair Professional Series HX850W and HX750W PSUs utilize advanced DC-to-DC circuitry and meet 80 PLUS SILVER certification standards for up to 90% energy-efficiency, reducing wasted energy and lowering the amount of excess heat generated. “Our new Professional Series HX850W and HX750W power supplies build on the phenomenal success of the award-winning Corsair HX620W PSU, offering even higher levels of performance, efficiency and reliability, including an industry-leading 7 Year Warranty” said Jim Carlton, VP of Marketing for Corsair, “The HX850W and HX750W have the power to handle the latest multi-core, multi-graphics PCs, and include the features that enthusiasts demand, including a comprehensive modular cable set and super-high efficiency.” In addition to super-high efficiency, the Corsair HX850W and HX750W power supply units utilize a low-noise, temperature-controlled 140mm cooling fan, which use a specially modified fan-speed curve that prevents the fan from ‘spinning up’ until the PSU reaches 70% of the rated load. This ensures whisper-quiet running in typical PC configurations, even when gaming or performing processor-intensive tasks. The Corsair Professional Series HX850W and HX750W PSUs both include powerful, single +12V rails and are qualified to deliver their full rated power output at an ambient temperature of 50°C, ensuring stability and reliability even under the most stressful conditions. A powerful +12V rail is essential for supporting today’s high-end components, which is why the HX850W can supply up to 99% of its total wattage (840W) on the +12V rail. The Corsair Professional Series HX850W and HX750W are available immediately from retailers worldwide and are backed by an industry leading 7 year warranty and comprehensive customer support via telephone, email, forum and the Tech Support Express helpdesk.

Carlsbad, Calif. –May 27th, 2009 – Razer™, the world’s leading manufacturer of high-end precision gaming and lifestyle peripherals, today announced the release of the Razer Sphex™, the first Gaming Grade Desktop Skin with a distinctive ultrathin form factor. “The Razer Sphex is a gaming surface that doesn’t compromise tracking ability or durability even with its slim figure,” says Robert “Razerguy” Krakoff, President of Razer. “We wanted to offer gamers a simpler and less expensive gaming-grade mouse mat alternative, while retaining extreme precision and a smooth consistent glide comparable to traditional gaming mouse mats.” Expect a review of this new mouse pad from us very soon! Until then feel free to check out pictures here

Sheer performance is not the focus of the N3200 Pro; rather the N3200Pro positions itself as an affordable RAID 5 solution for the home. Where the unit shines isn't with performance, although with a RAID 5 configuration the unit is capable of about 20 MB/s read and 10 MB/s write, but with features. The N3200 Pro shares the same features as the more expensive N4100 Pro and N5400 Pro, and not to mention the built in iTunes, print and media server are a great addition.  In terms of price, the unit rings in at the mid $300 range; it's not cheap, but affordable. For a large household with an incline towards digital media the N3200 Pro NAS could definitely come in

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"Last weekend Madshrimps was the main guest at Alternate; two of our experienced overclockers demoed their skills during live overclocking sessions. On Friday CPU speeds over 8Ghz were reached, on Saturday video cards were tortured. Read on to find out if world records were broken." CLICK HERE to read more from Madshrimps Reviews!

"Taipei, Taiwan – May 25, 2009 - A-DATA Technology Co., Ltd., a worldwide leading manufacturer in high-performance DRAM modules and Flash application products, presenting its entire XPG™ - Xtreme Performance Gear product line and latest XPG Series DRAM modules with superior conductive technology in Nangang Exhibition Hall during Computex Taipei 2009. As the success of presenting the leading XPG Xtreme series DDR3-2133X v2.0 DRAM module in the industry at CeBIT 2009, A-DATA presenting its XPG Plus Series v2.0 and Gaming Series v2.0 DRAM module with superior thermal conductive technology and characteristics heat sink design at Computex 2009."

"Antec has followed the motto 'If it's not broke, don't fix it', for some time now with their Performance One series of cases. The core function and style of the case is retained but they have made a few tweaks to improve on it. There is greater airflow with the improved vents in the front door and drive bay covers. As with its other siblings, the P183 is made of quality materials and is therefore quite sturdy and strong.

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"We have seen many laptop coolers here at Bigbruin.com, and this would be the fourth from Hiyatek. Most of them operate in near silence, which is a bonus. That being said, the fan on this one doesn't seem to be doing anything useful as the drop in temperatures experienced with the HY-CF-6288-1 could be recreated just by using a wire rack we had lying around."

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"21 May 2009, Taipei, Taiwan – Aduzai Co. Ltd., a Taiwan based video production company, was commissioned by DFI Inc. to create a HD quality video for one of their latest motherboards and to help to promote it internationally. The video was launched on the  FirstZoom.tv portal as well as on many other video portals, including YouTube.  The video depicts the many features that are available on the LANParty DKX58 motherboard from DFI that usually go unnoticed when looking at a specifications sheet or pictures of this motherboard. " THE VIDEO!