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Link to article (Overclockersclub.com)The laptops these days keep getting smaller and smaller and the components inside them get more and more powerful. While the components in the laptop are getting more efficient as the years pass, they still generate a lot of heat and when they are confined to such a small space, the heat really builds up, which is bad for the components and can be uncomfortable for the user as well. Only small fans help the laptop by itself expel the hot air out of the casing. People have noticed this heat issue and have been designing products to assist your laptop cool itself down. Over the years these have become more advanced and feature rich.
The NZXT Cryo LX is one such laptop cooling device. This laptop cooler has three 120mm fans housed in it, more than some computers have, and is tilted upwards to make the keyboard more comfortable to type on than if it were flat on your desk. As a bonus feature, there are some USB ports on the back. USB is used for a lot of today's electronics and it always seems like there just aren't enough ports. With the Cryo LX, you can plug in up to four additional USB devices, as long as they don't pull too much power. Join me now as I take an in depth look at the NZXT Cryo LX.
Link to article (Overclockersclub.com)iPods have exploded in popularity over the past several years and coming with them has been a slew of accessories, ranging from battery packs to speaker systems. Like all products, however, there are ones that perform above and beyond what they are supposed to do and there are others that are just a waste of money. It is really helpful to know which ones are good before you go out and buy them, and this is the goal of this review.
The mStation 2.1 Stereo Orb is an iPod dock sporting 2.1 audio (2 main speakers and 1 main subwoofer). Having 2.1 usually means that sounds should be crisper with bass that hits harder than the similar units that integrate all sounds into one speaker. Unlike many iPod docks, however, this one only plays music from an iPod or other auxiliary source (via a headphone jack), but allows the docked iPod to be connected to your computer (and thus iTunes or whatever other program you use to maintain your iPod). Let's take a look at how these features really work and if they are worth it!
Link to article (Overclockersclub.com)Headsets are a hard thing to shop for. Unlike a graphics card, which has a definite speed and feature set, headsets are pretty subjective. Yes, you usually see the dynamic range of the headset, if they are closed or open ear, and if they have an inline volume control. After that, however, you get some features that you really have no idea what effect they will have. Does it really matter if the connector is gold plated? What does having a neodymium magnet driver mean? And are these features worth an extra $30 or $40? That makes reviews like this one essential tools in aiding you with your purchase decision, and I will do my best to help you out. Headsets are very helpful in a lot of situations, and more and more games have built-in VoIP support, which makes it even easier to communicate and strategize with your teammates. A headset should be in every gamer's toolbox.
The Razer Piranha headset boasts several features that everyone should like. Some of these features are the 18-22,000 Hz dynamic range (well outside the human audible range), the ability to use it with either 1/8th inch inputs/outputs or USB, and an inline volume control. Some other features that it boasts are braided fiber cable protection, 32 Ohm impedance, and a single-sided cable for "hassle free usage." These are the features that make people wonder if they're really necessary or not. Let's take a look at how the Razer Piranha stands up to some testing, and see if these specs really make for a great product.
Link to article (Overclockersclub.com)Video cards are getting faster and more powerful every time you turn around, and while it is great to have the greatest and best, not everyone wants to spend upwards of five hundred dollars to buy the ultimate in performance. Many people would rather sacrifice a portion of that performance for a significantly cut price. Video card manufactures are keen to this and have always produced cards that are slightly less powerful than their flagship brethren. For nVidia, the 8600 series is this card.
The XFX 8600 GT Fatal1ty card aims to provide an amazing experience, complete with Direct X 10 (if you are running Vista), at a lower price than the full blown 8800 series. Carrying the name of arguably the most famous professional gamer, Fatal1ty, The XFX 8600 GT Fatal1ty does not leave much out, packing many similar features as the higher class cards, such as PureVideo HD, HDCP capability, and full 128-bit HDR. Other 8600 GT cards have done well in the past with our benchmarks, so lets see how the 8600 GT Fatal1ty stacks up!
Link to article (Overclockersclub.com)Almost every component in a computer generates some amount of heat and usually this heat can, and will, hinder the performance of your computer. Usually when you hear about heat, you think of the CPU, the graphics card, or even sometimes the north bridge. But for most people, the hard drive does not come to mind right away. After all, they aren't performing millions of calculations every second. However, hard drives do spin at amazing speeds; up to ten thousand revolutions per minute, which is faster than most car engines. This spinning, coupled with the seeking for data, can generate large amounts of heat that can wind up slowing your read rate, increasing the CPU usage while accessing the drive, and, in extreme cases, cause your drive to fail. The Ultra Aluminum Hard Drive Cooler aims to help with this problem.
The Ultra Aluminum Hard Drive Cooler is a lightweight heatsink that attaches to your hard drive, giving the drive additional area for the heat to go and additional surface area for the heat to radiate off of. As the cooler's name implies, the heatsink fins are constructed of aluminum, while the cooler also utilizes an additional four heatpipes that arc across the unit. The cooler is passive, so no additional noise should be present from using this device. Let's take a more in-depth look at exactly how well the Ultra Aluminum Hard Drive Cooler performs!
Link to article (Overclockersclub.com)One thing that has always plagued computers is heat. The physics behind the computer is where this heat comes from, and if too much heat is present, you will see your computers performance drop, and even in extreme cases, become unusable. To battle this problem of heat, a heatsink is used. These heatsinks transfer the heat from the computer's main chip, the CPU, to itself, which has a larger surface area, allowing the heat to dissipate faster. Most heatsinks nowadays are growing larger and larger and attempting to get more and more air flowing over them. Recently, the idea of the heatpipe, a hollow pipe filled with a liquid that has a low boiling point, was introduced and a lot of heatsinks then added these to their spec sheets. What CoolerMaster did with the Hyper212 was shrink the heatsink's size but increased the number of heatpipes that run through the heatsink. While the Hyper212 does not hold the record for the number of heatpipes, it does have more than most, coming in at four. They also allow for two fans to be attached to the heatsink to add additional airflow, where most heatsinks only have one. Will these changes allow the CoolerMaster Hyper212 to outperform its larger brothers? Let's find out.
Link to article (Overclockersclub.com)Most people that use notebooks love them, even though they have several obvious flaws. Two of the most notable flaws that most notebooks have are the heat generated by them and the poor quality of the speakers. What TITAN aims to do is to address two of these flaws with one product, its G5T Notebook Cooling Pad. The G5T uses USB audio to power two speakers, both of which the notebook rests on to elevate the bottom of the notebook, allowing for increased airflow under the chassis.
