Asetek PR, MSI gets Mega, Albatron drops AGP, Halo 2 on the Way

Hey gang, time to ring in the new weekend! I can't believe we are at the end of Summer already. The kiddies are going back to school and soon things should start cooling down some. That also means the hardware front should be kicking into high gear in anticipation of the holiday season. With so much change in the hardware world in recent months, things should be very interesting. There will be a lot of work for us to do, but that's what we're here for!

Press Release

25 NEW WaterChill and VapoChill products launched!!!

asetek Inc. - the leading manufacturer of vapor phase CPU cooling systems and water cooling solutions for PCs – has launched a whole bunch of new products. Exactly 25 NEW products have seen the light and are released Wednesday the 25th August 2004.

Particularly the NEW WaterChill Hard Drive Kits for both PC enthusiasts and professional are noticeable! As one of the of the first manufacturers of a water cooling solution for hard drives it is with pride that asetek present two different solutions - one for the hard drive bay [3 1/2'] and one for the CD-ROM [5 1/4']. Through an amazing 34 - 42 percentage temperature reduction in hard drive temperature - even in tightly packed PC/server systems - the WaterChill Hard Drive Kits represents maximum value for anybody giving priority to system stability and low noise.

Please visit Asetek's website for more information.

Designtechnica Reviews the MSI Mega 865:

"The small form factor (SFF) market is picking up steam and many companies are jumping on the bandwagon. What was considered a niche product, the small form factor PC has now grown to appeal to gamers, media enthusiasts and office users. MSI sells a number of SFF systems under the Mega PC product line. The system in particular that we are reviewing today is the MSI Mega 865 which is geared towards media enthusiasts that are interested in adding DVR type capabilities into their system, although it makes a great gaming system as well. Featuring Intel's 865G ICH5 chipset, the MSI Mega 865 has the ability to be a very powerful and feature rich system – provided you use high-end performance components. The MSI Mega 865 has a starting price around $300, but its total cost depends on what type of components you use in the system."

Albatron Mars PX915P/G Pro Socket 775 Motherboard & Albatron Trinity PCX5750 Video Card @ Club Overclocker:

"Today we have a new motherboard to show off from Albatron called the Mars PX915P/G Pro. This Socket 775 motherboard does away with the AGP slot we've all come to know, and replace it with a PCIX slot. Although we had to pick up a new CPU for this review, we do get to keep using regular DDR and not DDR2."

Akasa AK-P460FG BL PSU @ Systemcooling:

"The Power supply can be viewed as the heart of our computers, since every component relies on its ability to deliver adequate power to all the loads within the system. Today these loads are many: Multiple hard disks, multiple optical drives, as well as our ever more power-hungry CPUs all drive the need for more power. Not only do these devices require large amounts of power, they can also radiate considerable waste heat. A power supply capable of delivering that much power can also expel a good deal of waste heat in its own right. The standard solution to the two aforementioned problems, up until recently, was simply to add more fans. This works well enough, but it introduces something else no one wants: Noise. Akasa took a long look at this problem and built the AK-P460FG BL as their answer."

Nexus NX-4090 400watt PSU Review @ mikhailtech.com:

"Opening up the unit reveals a couple decent sized capacitors but relatively puny heatsinks. Their size (as well as that of every other component) is no doubt limited by the thickness of the fan which spans most of the top. Speaking of which, it's a 120x25mm blower (model name D12SM-12) made by Yate Loon Electronics and rated at 12V, 0.3A, and 1650RPM providing 56CFM at 39dBA. By default the fan runs at a fraction of its voltage, referred to by Nexus as its "idle mode". At this level it's rated at 16.2dBA which is inaudible beyond a couple inches. It speeds up in a linear fashion as the temperature rises (and increases in noise as well as airflow), though having used it for almost a week now I haven't witnessed any apparent changes in airflow."

Logitech Quickcam Pro 4000 @ HardwareHounds.com:

"Webcams are becoming more and more popular as time goes on. Whether this is due to the fact that the webcams have gotten better or because more programs are incorporating the option of video, webcams are here to stay.  Today we are going to take a look at the Logitech Quickcam Pro 4000, a webcam that we have been using for the last few months and are quite impressed with."

Halo 2 preview @ Bytesector:

"At Microsoft's X'04 Canada event, we were treated to a preview and multiplayer demo of, arguably, the most anticipated Xbox title of the year. Heck, it may even be the most anticipated game coming out this year; maybe even more sought after than Rockstar's surefire blockbuster, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. For those of you living under a rock, the game is Halo 2. The Halo franchise has definitely proven itself to be a lasting cultural phenomenon. The first installment has sold over 4 million c..."

ASUS Extreme AX600XT/HTVD @ Viper Lair:

"ASUS put together a comprehensive packaging that covers a wide audience, depending on what you need. For gamers, the ASUS Extreme AX600XT/HTVD provides very good performance with many of today's popular titles, without sacrificing image quality in doing so. Many games are playable at 1280 resolution, with image quality cranked up high, though 1600 is something I would reserve for the higher-end cards."

XYZ Computing Review: Arctic Cooling VGA Silencers:

"Arctic Cooling's VGA Silencer is an aftermarket video card cooler that is designed to not only cool your card better than ever before, but do it without producing extra noise. Considering the tremendous amount of heat that newer GPUs are producing this product could have a very positive effect on 3D capability and system performance. "

That's all for now.  Don't be a stranger!