I'm hunting for a 4U (or maybe a 2U) rack mounted case for an article I plan to write here. If anyone knows a good, and reputable shop, drop a line. I'd prefer a Canadian reseller, to save on the shipping and taxes, but let me know anyhow. TIA.

Another review of this great heatsink. It's expensive, but worth it, IMHO...

"Naturally the MCX462 comes with a price that reflects this. Retailing for about $72 in the socket 462 configuration, it's obvious that this is not a heatsink for just anyone. Rather, this is a cooling solution built to satisfy the needs of a breed of performance user who recognizes that proper cooling of an overclocked system is what can most influence megahertz."

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"For overclocking, a DIMM should have topgrade memory chips with a 6layer PCB (printed circuit board). It should also support 4 clock lines. All those features reduce interference between adjacent traces and improve reliability. They also ensure a higher operating speed than would be possible with lower quality chips or PCBs."

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Personally, I wasn't thrilled about the PR rating too much, but so long as AMD doesn't fudge numbers, it's ok.

"There is both good news and bad news with AMDs resurgent use of the performance rating method (for, no matter how they tried to hide it, the model numbering system is merely a performance rating). The good news is that AMDs modeling system is not at all out of hand; rather, it is quite the opposite, where many would say that it is somewhat conservative..."

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"When most people think of Comdex, they think of computer hardware. However, Comdex is also famous for the wild parties companies put on every year. And this year was no exception. The Tech Zone puts on their party hats to bring you some of the best parties coverage at Comdex 2001."

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"This board is an incredible buy for those who want the best performance without overclocking. Epox has done a great job conitinuing the standards of perfomance set by the 8K7A, and I think it'll be interesting to see how Abit's latest creation the KR7a fares against it."

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"The new GeForce 3 Ti 200, though not as powerful as its predecessor Geforce3 board, is basically is a rehash of the Geforce3 chipset. The core of the 6564 runs at a cool 175 MHz while the 64MB of DDR memory runs at 200 MHz clock speed, which is effectively 400 MHz DDR. This is quite different to its predecessor which ran at 200Mhz core clock speed . But it pretty much beats the crap out of your GeForce2 cards in the market, and at the same time, it also does not leave you feeling that you have just wasted all your life savings with just a graphic card, which is basically what a lot of people would prefer, though there are those hardcore enough to plunk down the cash to be the first in the neighbourhood to own the hardware."

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"VRZone has posted a roadmap of the ALi chipsets. Among the highlights are : M1672, M1687, M1563, M1564?"

"Prolink is relatively unknown to North American consumers they usually sell their products to OEM's rather then the general public. Their PixelView GF2 Ti is evidence that they're trying to gain a foothold on the retail market, and specifically the value area. The card is rather plain, while it does come with TVOutput capabilities (courtesy of Conexant's Bt869KRF chipset) it does sport Samsung 4ns RAM clocked at 440 MHz! That extra memory speed should give the PixelView the edge over it's competition."

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"An editorial on how to determine if a memory failure is really due to the motherboard or the DIMM itself. This is based on the usage of the memory test utility Memtest86. ECS K7S5A users particularly should be interested in this because of several reported memory problems with their motherboards."

KVMs are the way to go, unless you like to bombard yourself with all that radiation from running multiple monitors from multiple PCs.

"The first thing that caught my attention was the USB support. Most KVM's today control computers through the PS/2 ports for the keyboard and mouse, and this KVM also supports this traditional method. However, you can also control a USBenabled computer through one of its USB ports from the KVM, even if your keyboard and mouse aren't of the USB breed!"

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Another copper heatsink review coming your way via AtlantaOC. Personally, I think aluminum is pretty much finished now, with all these hot CPUs and all.

"The Dynatron 1206BM0 has 60 fins equaling 1.73 square feet of surface area. Compare this to SK6 fin surface area of approximately 1 square foot and 36 fins. More surface area equals more cooling area. Since the fins are so closely spaced, a powerful fan is required to push enough cool air down through the densely packed fins to dissipate enough heat."

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"We all know that computers like to get nice and warm and we all know what happens when they get TOO warm. To that end G33K has come up with the brilliant (read: insane) idea of building his own version of the digidoc."

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I'll have to say that I'm jealous. 333mhz DDR?

"The XP333R is based on the latest revised ALi MAGiK 1 chipset (C version) which promises improved performance and stability across the board (no pun intended). New technologies supported by the Iwill are ATA133, which improves the maximum peaktransfer rate of supported hard disks. Excitingly, the onboard HighPoint HPT372 IDERAID chip is also compatible with the ATA133 standard allowing (in theory) obscenely fast hard disk access."

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I know it's a little off topic, but I'm sure many of you got devices that need batteries. Heck, if my remote ran out of power while I'm watching pr0n, I certainly will be pissed.

"So, I had IT the device that changed my life and I'm serious about that claim. I have so many portable devices at home and in the Envy News testing labs that alkaline batteries hide in stores when I approach them. The idea and employment of a 1Hour Battery Recharger changed EVERYTHING when it came to my efficiency at Envy News, and life in general."

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We got another P4 mobo review, courtesy of TecCentral. The review is in German, but multiple languages are available. and weren't working for me when I checked, but it may be up later on.

"We have reviewed the new Enmic ´4VBX+ Mainboard. That based on the Via P4X266 and tested this board with an other Intel 845 chipset Mainboard. More you can read in our 12 pages long review."

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I don't care what people say, but bigger is better, and more satisfying! Uh, so I was told...

"In looking at the MCX462 the first thing that strikes you is the fan. That is a Delta SHE 80x80x38mm job that moves 68.5 CFM. This fan is our personal favorite here at the Penthouse Labs. It gives excellent flow while not requiring the user to purchase earplugs. There is another Delta fan that is more powerful (Delta EHE.) The EHE moves 80 CFM but does so at 52.5 decibels. Thats a level that people who work at airports would even complain about."

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Got a couple more reviews from a new site link today, TemplinTech. One HSF is pretty good, but the other I wouldn't bother with, imho. Worth a read.

""There is no joint between the fins and the fairly thick base plate rather they are a solid unit, which shows evidence of some very advanced manufacturing, the rounded cutouts in the outer walls are a particularly nice touch. The clip itself is very similar to the one used on Globalwin Heat sinks in that it has a pivoting head, and engages 2 lugs on the socket, however the pivoting head is of a better design and with a little work can be engaged and disengaged without any tools at all."

Direct Link:

"Jetmotor is more aiming is at the OEM audience. The temperatures are respectable but they are nothing special. If you want a cooler that can run your chips at a safe temp then this is one of the many options out there."

Direct Link:

Well, 8 Balls are always better than, hmm..., that statement is turning queer. I better stop before I begin singing to N'Sync tunes.

"Arkua Tech produces aluminium based coolers, as well as copper/aluminium hybrid coolers, where the cooler are mostly aluminium, but also have a copper core inserted in the middle. This allows for the copper to absorb heat from the processor faster, as well as utilising the heat dissipation superiority of the aluminium fins to disperse the heat accumulated by the cooler."

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Comdex is wrapping up, and various sites are submitting their impressions as they leave Las Vegas. The cool fellas at Amdmb.com has a nice write up of the events...

"My first meeting on Monday was with AMD at the convention center meeting rooms. While there wasnt a lot of AMD specific information that was new at the show, they did provide some glimpses at other companys motherboards as well as the Athlon XP 2000+ and an Athlon Thoroughbred core processor. I wasnt able to get a look at either of the processors (they were installed in machines and running demos) but the fact that there were samples running at all tells me they are relatively close. If I had to take a guess, I would expect the 2000+ processor to be here around January and the Thoroughbred just a few months later."

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Heh, I was wondering WTF that thing was when Scott emailed me. Anyhow, he has a couple reviews over there. One product that sucks, and one that does not...

"The long awaited Zen is here, but what the heck was all the fuss about??? All I've heard about the Zen is how awesome it was, but unfortunately our review turned out to be a "product warning". The Zen has got to be one of the worst products I've seen targeted towards Overclockers and computer enthusiasts in a very long time."

Direct Link:

Want an alternative to the generic white goop or even the expensive Arctic Silver II thermal compounds? If so, take a look at Paul's review of the Cooling Flow thermal grease. It just may be what you have been looking for!"

Direct Link:

"With the mobile computer market expected to grow rapidly nVidia is making a wise move by becoming the supplier of the best 3D performing mobile GPU in existence. nVidia has been in the zone lately and should hit the mark again with the NV17M GPU. The main hope is that this GPU is paired up with the Mobile Duron and Mobile Athlon to create a truly powerful system."

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"Compugeeks.com's latest contest is sponsored by CPU Watercool (Canada)....we will be giving away one $10.00 Gift certificate to CPU Watercool Canada EACH week. For five weeks!!"

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"So youre thinking about getting your feet wet and diving into water cooling, eh? We've got just what you need! Today we are going to take a look at the Colorado kit from www.waterchill.com. This is a really good elementary water cooling kit to get started with. Speaking of getting started, shall we?"

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"PC PowerZone has posted a new guide on how to build a plugin style illuminated fanbus. A very cool mod that has attracted much attention so here's how to build it!"

"Using the Athlon XP 1800+ processor and a standard Tai Sol Copper Bottom HSF I was able to get the FSB to overclock to 171 MHz or 342 MHz DDR. This ties the previous winner in the category the Epox 8KHA+. I wasnt able to break the 1.7 GHz level at the high of a frontside bus, but lowering it down the 166 MHz I reached the top speed on the board of 1743 MHz. That is 10.5 x 166 MHz. Not a bad performance at all."

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I just got this message from our friends at ...

"Just wanted to remind everyone that the Overclocker Cafe' is having a drawing for a AMD 1.0GHz AVIA with "Y" code TBird this Sunday. The address for our contest page is located at this addy, .

As I'm sure you can tell, we have moved (forced to move like at shotgun wedding in a bad dream!) servers after some bandwidth issues we had a couple of days ago. The domain should resolve itself in a few days back to overclockercafe.com"

"OCZ already produce the best performing cooler we have seen here at OcPrices.com the Dominator². It therefore seems only fitting that another OCZ cooler should be the one to topple it from that throne and by a significant margin. Enter the appropriately named Goliath."

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"Right, got my arse in gear this afternoon so I finished rewriting all the pages to reflect digitalexplosion's new look. Also, there's new instalment in my homegrown watercooler series. This time I've made a watercooled hard disk. Check it out and let me know what you think..."

"The trend of CPU coolers these days seems to be focused mainly on one material copper. Although copper is a much better heat conductor than aluminium, it won't make the heat sink perform better than aluminium heat sinks if it's not accompanied by a good design. Furthermore, copper coolers are extremely heavy and will therefore not appeal to some users.Theoretically, an aluminium heat sink with a good design should perform as well as, if not better than, a copper heat sink of a plain fin design. Well, this is where Bitspower, a cooler manufacturer from Taiwan come in."

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"Mickey's back and he's starting off with the OCZ dominator 2. Watch out cause we're not going to be as quiet as we were....."

. Thanks for the short snip Martin ;)

"When I reviewed the T.I.T.I Dr Thermal TIV77 back in September, I found it to be an excellent Thermoengine clone, with a great clip design and stellar performance for the sound level. Their new TIS86 series continues on the good points of their previous design, and incorporates new ones as well. Unlike the TIV77, the TIS86 goes down the more conventional 60mm HSF route, allowing them to bolt on what seems to be everyone’s favourite powerfan at the moment, the YSTech 40CFM screamer"

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"Case modding. As a website, its what we are all about... well that, and overclocking. As most case modders already know, there is only one way to do things: yourself. Sure, you can buy a premodded case, along with many other "pre modded" things, but hey, what fun is that? Half the fun of case modding is doing the job yourself, and then being able to say that you did it all on your own. You simply cannot claim that with pre modded cases. This theory not only works with case modding, but case badges, as well. Today we will be taking a look at the DoItYourself (DIY) Case Badge Kit from MultiPlayCity.com."

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hmmmmmmmm, so, because they degrade the image quality slightly for more FPS people are complaining? Doesnt everyone drop there image quality for more FPS with game settings anyway? Or is it more the fact that ATI lied about how they optimised these drivers? The Register has an opinion of their own.

Direct URL:

"The questions were raised by Kyle Bennett of [H]ard|OCP fame and rightfully so. The Silver Mountain looks like the original Kanie Hedgehog dressed in Silver. Being a Hog lover from the beginning (the heatsink version), Kyles statement concerning the inconsistency of the manufacturing process of the original Hog was well documented by the reports of wildly fluctuating temperatures between different Hedgehogs. We personally experienced the phenomena ourselves."

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"OcPrices have a review of the AVGS Ice Hole 80mm60mm adapter. The AVGS ICE Hole Adapter makes it possible for you to attach a 80mm fan on a 60mm heatsink, and with its build in lights, it looks seriously cool too."

Direct URL:

"OcPrices have reviewed the CoolCaseMods UV fans and Cold Cathode Light Kit. The CoolCaseMods kit feature UV fans and a cold cathode light that will make any modded case look its best."

Direct URL:

"Leadtek is one of the first graphics manufacturer to release their GeForce 3 Titanium series and VRZone has done a review on their WinFast GeForce3 Titanium 500 featuring 3.8ns memory chips. What it appears when Ti 500 is just an overclocked version of the normal GeForce3, i found that there are some slight performance differences between them when they are running at the same speed (240/500)."

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"Just a quick heads up. The Overclocker Cafe' just posted up the new NVidia Detonator drivers v22.80 for Win 9X/Me and Win2000/XP up in our download area. I suppose the NEDs are like the weather here in Virginia; if you don't like it, wait 15 minutes and it will change."

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"If you haven't noticed it, the Arkua 6158 falls sharply towards the rear of our list of reference coolers as a direct result of the fan. Since we know for a fact that the actual heatsink body is identical to the 6258, you can see what a large impact fan power can have on a heatsink. Now this isn't always the case with each and every heatsink, but the volume of air moving through a heatsink has always been significant factor in how it performs overall."

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"The reborn card by Lenten USA, inc. is a device that does much more than its name implies. The card is billed as a device for Schools, libraries, PC training centers, etc, Its purpose is that anyone can use a computer with this device installed and create documents, delete files, install viruses, or anything else damaging or unwanted, and at the end of the day restart the computer and everything is back to normal."

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"So I made the jump right to 170 MHz. Great, everything was so sweet. I also tried 175 MHz (I know I was pushing it) but got no POST. I didn't think it would do 175MHz& Anyway, backing it down slowly, I went back to 170MHz. It seemed stable and it did pass a whole night of Q3 loops with Prime95 running in the background. 20MHz higher then rated, that's very good considering that it was already certified to run at 150MHz."

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"Thermaltake have always managed to introduce innovative and colourful cooling products into the marketplace which serve the needs of performance users and case modders alike. The active memory cooling kit is designed for use on DDR and SDRAM, and will cool up to four slots."

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"Anyone with even just a passing interest in overclocking will have heard of the original Thermoengine. This cooler took the industry by storm last year, becoming the benchmark against which all other coolers were compared. Thermosonic have changed their name to Arkua, and sent me not one, but 3 new coolers to review: The notsoimaginatively named 6228, 7228 and finally the 7528. So how do these babies differ from their predecessor?"

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"Over the last few years we have seen bigger and better heatsinks come from different manufacturers. One of the first was Alpha's PEP66T that was one of the best socket A coolers at the time. Then other manufacturers like Thermalright and others came out with orb's and copper based coolers. Now it's time for change again; Swiftech with their 80mm cooler MC462A and Alpha with their PAL8045T also with a 80mm cooler."

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"LiquideOc have writen a review about one of the most intresting game out right now. Its a new game from Sierra called Alien Vs Predator 2. Alien vs. Predator 1 was the most intense and terrifying game of 1999 but can Alien vs Predator 2 terrify us again like the first game did?"

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The 104th issue of ZZZ online is out. You may use the following info for the news posting:

Read in the latest issue of ZZZ online about:
holowall
musical armchair
glowing bicycle
wearable computers

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"What can be more fun than 4 days of fast cars and fast babes? How about 4 days of fast cars and fast babes in Las Vegas? Ya! That's the ticket!"

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"TecCentral have reviewed the new Epox 8KHA+. This Mainboard based on the new Via KT266 Chipset. Can it win vs. the asus a7v266e ?? More you can read in our 13 pages long review."

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"VRZone has posted a guide on how to unlock the Athlon XP using a simple and fast method. I am able to select any multiplier ratios between 6.0X to 12.5X and the motherboard is able to follow the multiplier settings i have set and boot up normally."

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"The 1900+ processor is fairly consistent at being 56% faster than the 1800+ processor. As the frequencies of these two processors differ by about 5% as well, this is a solid showcasing that the Palomino core is scaling well with motherboards and computer applications. The life of the current Athlon XP processor may not exceed that of the Athlon Thunderbird with the upcoming die shrink in the middle of next year, it will be considerable when compared to other products from Intel."

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"The larger 70mm Arkua coolers have garnered a lot of attention from the cooling community, but not all motherboards will accept something quite so large. Never fear, the Arkua 6258 is here! Measuring 60mm x 60mm the 6258 closely resembles the trendsetting Thermoengine. However with a fin section only 25mm high and a solid copper core they are very different."

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"All I know is that there is no better eyecatcher than effect lighting & even the totally uninitiated who think that overclocking means their watch is running 10 minutes fast will stop and look at a PC with cold cathodes and a window, in absolute awe!"

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"It's been quite a while since I last undertake a major modding project. The last one being the AOpen HX08 Tower Case Mod Project way back in April 2000. Eversince then, it's just been a little mod here and a little mod there plus, time spent running the site and everything that has to do with it. Anyone that has been to the Cool Case Gallery will agree that at some point of time, you're probably saying; "Wow! I wish I had the time to do that!" or "Damn! I gotta start this newfound hobby of mine!" Now that it has reached and surpassed the 2000 submission milestone, I'm thinking that it's about damn time that I do something...and fast! :O)"

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"Thermaltake memory has come bundled with heatsinks attached for some time, as //ajor found out in his Thermaltake DDR memory review. It seemed to make little difference however, as the memory performed very poorly compared to the likes of Crucial and Corsair offerings. Fortunately they have taken their memory cooling endeavours to all new heights, with the introduction of a fan (!) onto their RAM sinks."

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"Now that we have a template drawn, it is time to cut. You can use a Dremel, jigsaw, die grinder, etc. to cut your hole. I used a Makita grinder with a cutting wheel. You can think of it as a Dremel on steroids. Lots and lots of steroids."

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"PC PowerZone have announced the winners of their latest competition and also updated the 'Silver Dream Machine' with the project reaching completion."

PROJECT URL:

COMPETITION URL:

"Thermal Integration actually entered into a deal with ThermoSonic, and provided them with this design. Now it seems that after seeing the reception of the Thermoengine the teacher/master, Thermal Integration, wanted a piece of the heatsink market with a product of their own. Let's see how they managed with the design."

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"With ram prices hitting an alltime low, it certainly isn't a bad idea to think about doing the upgrade from SDRAM to DDR keeping in mind you have a motherboard that supports DDR. Usually you would go with the generic memory because of its low price, but with the prices so low even on the brand name stuff why not go with that."

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"That addictive "new motherboard smell" greeted us as we opened up the 4B2A box to discover a USB bracket, some drive cables and a really well written manual. Epox's manual is clearly written and remarkably full of useful info to properly tweak the EP4B2A into yielding the most from our 1.5GHz socket 478 Pentium 4 chip."

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"I don't know if it was the appearance of the fandapter or what that made people start to look away from the high speed 60mm fans to the lower speed (and less noisy) 80mm fans. All while not really taking a hit in the air flow department. So far, the only players that have stepped up to the plate have been the Swiftech MC462 and the Alpha PAL8045. Both of these products are VERY FINE heatsinks. Even though these two products are the closest comparisons it is still comparing apples and oranges with these two and the Volcano 7. Thermaltake is attempting to address the performance / noise issue with the first temperature controlled, variable speed heatsink/fan. This is to be a true "active cooling solution."

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"The deluge of Copper and/or Copper content HSFs continues at a mind boggling pace with new heatsinks being released on an almost daily basis. It is no longer good enough for HSFs to just perform adequately, now they must have superior performance, dictated by higher and higher CPU speeds and the higher temperatures they generate."

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