Featured Reviews
SouthWing SF605 Bluetooth Car Kit Review
The SouthWing SF605 Bluetooth car kit by SouthWing is an elegant solution to recent hands-free legislation passed in various states. Conversations are clear on both ends with noise and echo cancellation ensuring your words are heard on the other end along with a powerful built-in 2-Watt speaker so you can hear what is being said regardless of road noise. Read on to see if this Bluetooth device that just clips on your sun visor is right for you.
Picking The Right Memory Kit For Intel Core i7 Platforms
Now that the new Intel Core i7 platform is on the market and consumers are looking into building systems for the holidays Legit Reviews takes a look at four different memory speeds to see if going with faster memory is worth the extra cost. We run the kits at 1066MHz, 1333MHz, 1600MHz and 1866MHz on five different benchmarks to see if any difference can be noticed by just changing the memory speed in the BIOS.
Antec Veris Fusion Black HTPC Case Review
For the many consumers looking to build that Home Theater PC this holiday season, be sure to check out the Antec Veris product line. The Veris Fusion Black offers an elegant, quiet and power efficient solution that makes this HTPC case stand out from the crowding market. Read on to see if the Antec Veris Fusion Black Media Center case is right for you!
CyberPower Gamer Infinity GTX System Review
CyberPower is one of the leading computer system manufacturers here in the United States and today we look at their Gamer Infinity GTX PC system to see what it is all about. This is without a doubt a customized high-end gaming machine that has quality and power written all over it. With an Intel Core i7 965 processor inside that has been overclocked to 3.6GHz it is certain that this gaming PC is going to to be faster than any other system we have looked at.
Tagan A+ Curbic Mid Tower Case Review
The Curbic is the latest mid tower chassis from Tagan and is part of their A+ case line. The Curbic is an entry level mid tower, but you can't tell that with the sweet looking front mesh grill or side fan. Tagan designed this case to be friendly on the pocket book, but still packed with all the features you would expect in a top dollar case. Read on to see if the Tagan Curbic computer case can offer you want you want for under $60.
AMD Phenom II X4 Processor Breaks 5GHz on LN2
AMD recently invited some key members of the press down to their Austin, Texas headquarters to take a look at Phenom II. This processor has been known under the code name ‘Deneb’ for many months now, but Phenom II is what the processor will be launched as. While we were at AMD they showed off overclocking performance of the Phenom II X4 processor and you'll be shocked to see what they hit.
Legit News
The billion mouse mark
Computer peripheral powerhouse Logitech is working to get some PR mileage out of a milestone event -- since letting the first one scamper into the retail market in 1985, the company has now shipped 1 billion computer mice. Pretty impressive, even if all the economic recovery plan numbers have sapped "billion" of some of its impact. "It's rare in human history that a billionth of anything has been shipped by one company," Logitech's general manager Rory Dooley told the BBC. "Look at any other industry and it has never happened." OK, members of paper clip and toothpick industries, among others, might want to quibble, but we'll let it slide.
That billionth mouse, by the way, is getting the celebrity treatment (if the celebrity is Dick Cheney). The unit, christened Billie, rolled off an assembly line in Suzhou, China, and was immediately sent on a roundabout secret journey to an undisclosed location. Logitech is inviting folks to follow online clues to deduce Billie's whereabouts and win a prize.
Posted by | Thu, Dec 04, 2008 - 12:14 AM
G.Skill Announces PI Black 2GHz Triple-Channel Memory Kits
G.Skill recently launched the World’s Fastest DDR3 2000HMz 6GB (2GB x 3) PI Black series memory products designed for Intel Core i7 processors / Intel X58 Express Chipset. Launching at the Taiwan event held by Intel, ITMonth, G.SKILL pre-launched ultra-speed PI Black DDR3 2000MHz 6GB triple memory kits for overclocking enthusiasts. Legit Reviews recently looked at the Kingston HyperX 2000MHz 3GB memory kit with 9-9-9-27 timings, bit this kit by G.Skill offers twice the memory density and tighter 8-8-8-21 timings!
Compatible with the cutting-edge Intel Core i7 Processors and X58 Express Chipset, the G.SKILL Triple Channel kits provides outstanding performance and stability at an ultra-fast 2000MHz with an incredibly low CAS Latency of 8-8-8-21. This has been tested and verified by world famous overclocking enthusiast, Coolaler, during the 2008 Taipei ITMonth. PI Black heatsinks ensure cool and reliable running during this extreme performance and a rigorous, 100% hand-tested regime assures G.SKILL Triple Channel kits have a solid-quality, superb compatibility and ultimate reliability.
Posted by | Wed, Dec 03, 2008 - 08:11 AM
Windows 7 beta To Be Released on January 13, 2009
Windows enthusiasts were buzzing on Tuesday over a Microsoft blog posting that makes it seem as if a beta version of Windows 7 should be ready by next month. In a blog posting on Microsoft's Technet site, Keith Combs suggests those wanting to get their hands on the beta version should register to attend one of a dozen or so upcoming MSDN developer conferences.
That blog, and another Microsoft blog, make it clear that attendees will get a DVD with Windows 7 beta 1 on it. Some of the events are in December and the bloggers make it clear that those attending the earliest events won't get their DVD at the conference. In the comments section of his blog, though, Combs said the DVDs should be ready by mid-January.
Posted by | Wed, Dec 03, 2008 - 07:33 AM
AMD updates chipset schedule for next year
AMD plans to launch a new entry-level IGP chipset, the 760G based on RS780 architecture, in January 2009. The chipset will support DirectX 10 and Shader Model 4.0, but will not support Unified Video Decoder (UVD) and Hybrid CrossFireX technologies nor HDMI and Display Port connections, according to sources at motherboard makers. The 760G will replace the 740G chipset and will be accompanied by a new SB710 southbridge.
The company will also launch upgraded 790FX and 790GX IGP chipsets that include AM3-computability and will be paired with the SB750 southbridge. An RS880 IGP chipset will be launched in May or June next year paired with the SB710, and in July or August, AMD will launch an 770 chipset also paired with the SB710 which adds support for AM3-based processors.
Posted by | Wed, Dec 03, 2008 - 07:30 AM
December 3 News from Around the Web
Fractal Design Newton 1000W (FD-PSU-NEWT-1000W) PSU Review on Technic3D and other reviews from around the web can be found by visiting our forums!
"The Fractal Design Newton 1000W (FD-PSU-NEWT-1000W) arrived Technic3D. See you in the following Review from Technic3D the next Big PSU with modular cable management, 135mm Fan, 4x 12V rails, 6x Serial ATA connectors and 2x PCI-e 6+2 Pin."
Posted by | Wed, Dec 03, 2008 - 07:27 AM
OCZ Announces CrossOver USB Flash Drive
OCZ Technology today introduced the CrossOver USB 2.0 Flash drive, the latest line of flash media that also doubles as a microSD and microSDHC card adapter. For the on-the-go student, gamer, or professional, the OCZ CrossOver flash drive eliminates the need for card readers and transfers your important multimedia files to and from your computer, phone, and camera.
“With the proliferation of smart phones and MP3 players, the demand for microSD and microSDHC and the ability to easily transfer content to these cards has significantly increased,” said Alex Mei, CMO for the OCZ Technology Group. “OCZ is excited to introduce our new Crossover USB drive that to addresses this growing need, combining the benefits of a USB drive and a MicroSD adapter that allows consumers to transfer music and images directly from their microSD cards to their computer or onto the Crossover itself without another reader, making it easier than ever to manage multimedia between devices.”
Posted by | Tue, Dec 02, 2008 - 05:20 PM
NVIDIA Launches QUADRO FX 4800 Graphics Card
Today, mechanical computer-aided design (MCAD), digital content creation (DCC) and broadcast applications received a major performance boost with the introduction of the NVIDIA Quadro FX 4800 ultra-high-end professional graphics card. With advances in GPU architecture, added graphics memory and 30-bit color, the Quadro FX 4800 gives professionals the right toolset to dramatically push the boundaries of realism, performance and quality. The NVIDIA Quadro FX 4800 is available today and has a MSRP of $1,999 USD.
"In this increasingly competitive landscape, it's imperative that professionals deliver better, faster and more cost-effective results," said Jeff Brown general manager, Professional Solutions, NVIDIA. "NVIDIA is not only addressing this challenge, but is raising the ultra-high-end visualization bar by creating specialized solutions to meet the direct needs of professionals - whether it be a geophysicists or MCAD designer."
Posted by | Tue, Dec 02, 2008 - 02:59 PM
Redstone sells Midway Games stake at a huge loss
Billionaire media mogul Sumner Redstone and his holding companies have sold his family's 80.3 million shares in Midway Games Inc. for less than a penny each, according to a Monday securities filing. The sale means a loss of hundreds of millions of dollars, which Redstone is expected to use to offset taxable gains his holding company, National Amusements Inc., is realizing from selling assets in its attempts to restructure $1.6 billion in debt.
According to the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Redstone and companies National Amusements and Sumco Inc. on Friday sold their entire 87.2 percent stake for $0.0012 per share, about $100,000 in total, to Mark Thomas. Midway, best known for its "Mortal Kombat" video game, had 92.1 million shares outstanding as of Oct. 31. Thomas takes on $70 million in debt on the books of Chicago-based Midway, according to the filing. Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter estimated Redstone lost around $600 million on his investment in the video game publisher.
Posted by | Tue, Dec 02, 2008 - 11:45 AM
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 55nm Update Coming Next Month
Expreview has one of the first pictures of the upcoming 55nm GeForce GTX 260 cores on hand today. The core is marked GT200b, so the die will change from the 65nm “G200-103-A2″ to the “G200-103-B2″. The “B” means latest 55nm processing technology, and the picture they have posted shows that the production cycle happened during the 33rd week of this year (August 11th to 17th), only 5 weeks after G200-103-A2 which was manufactured in the 28th week. Looks like NVIDIA has been working on this one for many months.
The first of new GTX260 graphic cards will hit the market in January next year. The number of its stream processors will maintain as 216, and its memory frequency is unchanged as well. The reference and non-reference versions cards will be on sale at the same time. Thanks to application of new processor and the circuit designed by manufacturers themselves, the price will hopefully keep declining. The GTX260 card is already available at $264 at the lowest right now.
Posted by | Tue, Dec 02, 2008 - 11:42 AM
Asustek to replace Atom with Celeron in Eee Box to boost sale
While its nettop products have not sold as well as expected since debuting four months ago, Asustek is introducing a Celeron version of the Eee Box priced at NT$7,988 (US$240) in order to increase shipments for this year, according to market sources. The company is replacing the Atom processor with a Celeron 220 processor and upgrading its hard drive from 80GB to 120GB, while cutting the overall price, the sources explained.
According to the latest Eee Box price quotes, a system featuring a Celeron 220 processor and 120GB hard drive is selling for NT$7,988, with the price bumped up to NT$11,900 when bundled with a 19-inch LCD monitor. A system with an Atom processor and 80GB hard drive, keyboard, mouse, and Eee Stick is selling for NT$9,999, the sources added. According to estimates from Asustek, the company expects to ship 100,000-200,000 units of the Eee box this year and over one million units in 2009.
Posted by | Tue, Dec 02, 2008 - 11:33 AM
December 2 News from Around the Web
Hardware Canucks posted their SilverStone Fortress FT01 Mid-Tower Case Review! Find this and other reviews from around the web by visiting our forums!
As popular as the TJ07, TJ09 are, they are massive cases. Measuring in at over 600mm deep, they were clearly designed with EATX motherboards and full-length expansion cards in mind. Not everyone needs beautiful monstrosities like this. After all, that extra unused real-estate does add to the cost of the chassis. Two years after the release of the popular TJ07, SilverStone has released a smaller, more affordable all-aluminium case; the Fortress FT01. Some of the unique features found in the Temjin series as well as the Sugo line of cases can be found in the FT01.
Posted by | Tue, Dec 02, 2008 - 07:25 AM
Hitachi and Intel To Build SCSI and FX Solid-State Drives
Intel Corporation and Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (Hitachi GST) today announced plans to jointly develop and deliver Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) and Fibre Channel (FC) enterprise-class solid-state drives (SSDs) for servers, workstations and storage systems. The two companies will work together exclusively to deliver enterprise SSDs with SAS and FC interfaces, with the first products expected to be available in early 2010.
"The new solid-state drives for the enterprise include a number of architectural breakthroughs and improve performance and energy usage models that will change enterprise computing," said Randy Wilhelm, vice president and general manager, Intel NAND Solutions Group. "Intel and Hitachi GST share a common objective in delivering SAS/FC products based on solid-state technology that will help enterprise customers meet the skyrocketing demands for performance while reducing space, power and cooling costs."
Posted by | Tue, Dec 02, 2008 - 06:18 AM
Super Talent to Begin Shipping 'The Godfather' USB Flash Drives
Super Talent today announced that the firm has signed a licensing agreement with Paramount Licensing Inc. granting rights to manufacture and market USB Flash drives based on Paramount Pictures movie title, “The Godfather.”
Super Talent Director of Marketing, Joe James explained, “The introduction of movie-themed USB drives marks the beginning of a new era for the Flash industry. These drives will capture the spirit of ‘The Godfather,’ and will be a sure hit with millions of Don Corleone fans."
Posted by | Mon, Dec 01, 2008 - 07:04 PM
Corsair Power Supply Survey - Make a Difference!
Corsair is conducting a power supply survey to try and figure out what people are looking for in when buying a power supply these days. They ask you ten questions to see if they can figure out what consumers are wanting in their next power supply. The survey is pretty technical as they ask the importance of things like low ripple/electrical noise and 50C operating temperature ratings.
The Corsair HX1000W features six PCI-Express connectors, both 6-pin and 8-pin compatible, to power multiple high-end graphics cards and two EPS12V connectors for dual CPU configurations. The truly independent dual transformer, dual rail design allow for optimum load balancing resulting in greater performance and stability. Industrial-grade 105°C primary, secondary and solid state capacitors provide up to four times the lifespan of traditional components.
Posted by | Mon, Dec 01, 2008 - 07:00 PM
False Rumor - Intel Core i7 TLB Bug
A rumor was going around today that the Intel Core i7 series of processors have a TLB Errata much like the first AMD Phenom processors did last year. Legit Reviews has contacted Intel about this nasty little rumor today and confirmed that it's nothing to get worked up about and was fixed via a BIOS update way before they were launched. All of our review numbers have the correct BIOS update installed, so there isn't a performance impact or anything like that with the Intel Core i7 series. Go back to Cyber Monday shopping!
The “AAJ1 Clarification of TRANSLATION LOOKASIDE BUFFERS” document is a SPEC CLARIFICATION, and is simply a pointer to a previous document written in April 2007. SPEC CLARIFICATION AAJ1 was initially added due to an issue on the Intel® Core 2 Duo processor which was previously corrected with a BIOS update; this issue does not impact the Nehalem Family of CPUs. There are errata on the Intel® Core i7 processor that relate to the TLB. These all relate to improper translations or error reporting, and all of those that impact functionality have been fixed via BIOS updates prior to Core i7 launch.
Posted by | Mon, Dec 01, 2008 - 04:37 PM
Windows Market Share Dives Below 90% For First Time
Microsoft's Windows operating system took its biggest market share dive in the past two years dropping under 90% for the first time. Apple's Mac OS X had its biggest gain in the same two-year period holding an almost 9% market share. Even with the downturn, Microsoft's Vista was up just over a percentage point and now holds a 20% market share.
In November, 89.6% of users who connected to the Web sites that Net Applications Inc. monitors did so from systems powered by Windows, a drop of 0.84 of a percentage point from October. The decrease was the largest slip by Windows in the past two years and easily bested other recent down months, including May 2008 and December 2007, when Windows lost 0.51 and 0.63 percentage points, respectively.
Posted by | Mon, Dec 01, 2008 - 04:24 PM
ASUS Introduces Redesigned Eee PC 1002HA Netbook
ASUS today announced the newest member of the award-winning Eee PC family – the Eee PC 1002HA. Featuring a redesigned chassis with a brushed aluminum LCD cover and palm rest, the 1002HA is a sophisticated, lightweight, easy to use netbook that brings a touch of elegance to every day computing. The Eee PC 1002HA will launch in the US on December 1st, 2008 with an MSRP of $499.
The 1002HA was designed for maximum mobility, and weighs just 2.6lbs. while measuring 1-inch thick. To make the netbook as light as possible without sacrificing rigidity, ASUS chose to use brushed aluminum for both the LCD and the palm rests, which results in a beautiful look that allows the 1002HA to feel exceptionally solid despite its thin stature.
Posted by | Mon, Dec 01, 2008 - 08:43 AM
December 1 News from Around the Web
Clio 1000 Full Tower Case Review @ High Tech Reviews and other reviews from around the web can be found by visiting our forums!
This is the first time we have had the chance to review a case from Clio Electronics. The case they sent us to review is the Clio 1000 Full Tower. This case has certain features that are truly unique to this case. For example how many other case do you know of that uses eight - 180mm multi-colored LED fans to cool the inside of the case? It also has room for two additional fans at the rear of the case. So come on along and check this hurricane force case out.
Posted by | Mon, Dec 01, 2008 - 07:23 AM
AMD Phenom II Processors Launching on January 8th, 2009
Digitimes is reporting that after AMD launches the 45nm AM2+ Phenom II X4 900 series CPUs on January 8 next year, that they will be introducing six 45nm AM3 CPUs in February. These CPUs will be the quad-core Phenom II X4 925 and 910 with 6MB L3 Cache, the quad-core Phenom II X4 810 and 805 with 4MB L3 Cache, and the triple-core Phenom II X3 720 and 710 with 6MB L3 Cache, according to sources at motherboard makers.
In April next year, AMD will launch 45nm CPUs under its Athlon brand, which does not include the L3 Cache feature. The company will launch the quad-core Athlon X4 600 family and triple-core Athlon X3 400 family, the sources said. The 45nm dual-core Athlon X2 200 family will be launched in June next year, added the sources.
Posted by | Mon, Dec 01, 2008 - 06:44 AM
Black Friday is Here - Did You Go Out?
Black Friday is here and I couldn't get motivated to go out till 8:45am, but I'm glad I waited as everything I wanted was still in stock by the time I got to Best Buy at 9am. It seems that the lines are shorter this year here outside St. Louis, Missouri. As you can tell from the picture below the $6.99 movies and $5.99 CDs were untouched for the most part and there wasn't even a check-out line! Be sure to head to our free forums to post your pictures or tell your Black Friday story.
"I usually go out for the "mania" of the day, but I just wasn't as into it as usual. My wife and daughter went to a movie last night and came by Best Buy on the way home around 10pm and people were already lining up. I personally didn't see anything I HAD to have, and the couple of things I saw that I might pick up are on sale for the weekend and online (though out of stock atm) anyway." - DaIceMan
Posted by | Fri, Nov 28, 2008 - 09:45 AM