Monday News

Recently, AMD launched a new-flag ship processor. Its PR rating is 3000+ and runs at 2.17GHz (the same clockspeed as an Athlon XP 2700+). This microprocessor uses the new Barton core which has a major enhancement. The improvement from the ThoroughBred core to the Barton core is the doubling of the L2 cache from 256K to 512K. This increases performance, and also enlarges the die size by 20%. The last benefit a larger die size allows is better heat dissipation. This increase in L2 cache also raises the manufacturing price. New technology always comes with a hefty price tag and this continues the tradition. Nonetheless, some processor releases offer negligible speed increase, yet a very large price increase. Today we are going to look at how the 3000+ scales against some older ThoroughBreds.

With LCD Displays and CRTs having dual-source input capabilities, I often wonder about the use of KVM Switches. In this case, KTI Networks included USB Switching in the same product and all the cables you’d need for the job in the retail packaging. Tack on the fact that it can be used on any platform and cost far less than the competition... Here’s a snip:

“Keyboard, video, mouse - the three items that every computer needs to interact with a living being. However, what if you have two or more computers, and only have room for one set of these I/O devices? Enter the KVM switch - plug all three into a small box, and plug extra leads into each machine. Ideally, this was an expensive but cost-effective solution for server administrators, but lately KVMs have appeared for the home-office/enthusiast market. The USB Pocket KVM Switch throws-in USB switching in the event your keyboard or mouse does not have a PS/2 port.”

The packaging is actually really classy, most mouse pads that arrive here either have no packaging at all or just a plain brown envelope, included in the package is the Steel pad itself, a set of pad surfers and a cord grabbing device that could double as a weapon for hitting your opponents over the head with if they beat you at UT2003.

Tired of looking down at your laptop of desktop replacement portable all day long, only to come home to headaches caused by severe neck strain? The massive massage bills every month getting you down? Neck strain begone! The iMac-ish Lapvantage Deluxe Dome will put an end to this daily painful ritual and the unnecessary healthcare expenses. Of course, you could always jam a bunch of books under the laptop too, but then it wouldn’t look as good as this... Here’s a snip:

“A novel solution to an age-old problem, the Lapvantage Deluxe Dome offers the possibility of lifting your laptop to new heights. Not only does it reduce back and neck strain by lifting its screen at the same level as your eyes, but the laptop underside receives adequate airflow and cooling, and its ports are more easily accessible.”

With Radeon 9500 Pros out and NV35 on the horizon, it’s hard to justify and recommend to others the purchase of a Ti4200. However, there are cases where a manufacturer will include a great bundle at a reasonable sticker price. XFX is one such company, and if you’re a GeForce3-era owner looking for a bit of extra oomph without fear of losing ground to ATi or gouging your wallet, the Ti4200 Turbo 8x makes a whole lot of sense... Here’s a snip:

“The Ti4200 series has been one of the best sellers in NVIDIA history, and there is a good reason for that. It has one of the best price-to-performance ratios and tweaker’s are able to do many things with it including some very decent overclocking. That is what XFX had in mind with this card with the larger-than-average heatsink, placing the components on an eight-layer PCB for better shielding, and a fantastic in-box software and hardware bundle.”

Have you ever played CS, and you're about to make a nice kill but missed because your mouse cord got tangled up? For most gamers, who can't afford a top of the line cordless mouse, cord drag is a problem. This is true when your desk is cluttered with everything from computer hardware to coke cans. The answer to this problem is the Mouse Bungee.

I decided that I wanted to create a Smoked Acrylic case, utilizing green Acrylic rods which would provide me with the uniqueness that I was looking for and enhance the look of the hardware by removing the casings to expose the insides