The next step up from the original Kone gaming mouse, the Kone[+] improves in every area to give you more control and options than ever before.

We hope to bring our readers a review in the very near future so keep your eyes peeled.

ASUS and Sennheiser Deliver World’s First Total Audio Solution Optimized for First Person Shooters — Xonar Xense

Perfectly Matched Combination Revolutionizes Immersive Sound
for Serious Gamers

The new ASUS Xonar Xense One and Sennheiser PC350 Xense Edition package is the result of cooperation between ASUS and premier personal audio maker Sennheiser. Xonar Xense is a perfectly matched combination of cutting edge audio card and superior quality headphones that reinvents immersive sound for serious gamers. The gaming audio set creates unbeatable sonic experiences in PC gaming that are sure to be appreciated by hardcore gamers keen on competitive online play.

Working Together to Produce Immersive Acoustics

The Xonar Xense audio card from ASUS and the Sennheiser PC350 headphones were co-developed and tuned to augment each other¡¯s strong suits. During the year-long tuning period for Xonar Xense, ASUS engineers tried some 1,000 headphone combinations in pursuing the best match for the new audio component, and the Sennheiser PC350 proved perfect. Unlike random audio card/headphone combinations, Xonar Xense features a holistic design from the ground up, crafting a balance of the two components. There is no quality gap between audio card and headphones, so no quality is lost in transition.

Spatial Awareness with Precision Sound

Gamers experienced in first person shooters know the importance of accuracy, as auditory cues are vital in getting the jump on opponents. This is something Xonar Xense addresses with first person shooter-optimized surround that amplifies even minor ambient effects. Xonar Xense provides listeners with excellent noise reduction and accurate positioning of audio, and these advantages can make or break a successful play session.

Introduction

Solid State Drives, or better known by their moniker ‘SSD’s’ have been around for a two years; with differing models available from a myriad of manufacturers. However what is interesting that we have seen no products from the traditional hard drive companies I.E Western Digital and Seagate. Over the past twenty four months we have had drives from Samsung, Corsair, G-Skill, OCZ and Patriot. So much so that SSD hardware has become viable products in their own right.

In the beginning the aforementioned drives had the onboard J-Micron controller, which brought its own set of problems such as drive stuttering and one had to offset the drive partition by 64 bytes in order to compensate for this. Later the more efficient Samsung controller card was used on the Corsair P64 model with critical acclaim; this promised much faster read/write speeds. However Solid State Drives still remained in the province of the enthusiast. Manufacturers decided to try and bring prices down to appeal to laptop owners with lower priced ‘budget’ drives with the Patriot PS100 but with very mixed results.

Last years champion of the SSD drives were any manufacturer that used the Indlinix ‘Barefoot’ controller card; such as the OCZ Solid Two drive, which managed to achieve the coveted ‘Overclockers Tech Gold award!  However there is a ‘new kid on the block’ sporting the much hyped Sandforce based hardware. One such manufacturer that has taken advantage of this new technology is OCZ with their new product the ‘Agility Two’ drive.

Company back ground

Founded in 2002, San Jose, California-based OCZ Technology Group, Inc. has built on its expertise in high-speed memory to become a dominant player in the manufacturing and distribution of solid state drives (SSD’s), a disruptive, game-changing technology that is replacing traditional rotating magnetic hard disk drives (HDDs). SSDs are faster, more reliable, run cooler, and use significantly less power than the HDD’s’ used in the majority of computers today. In addition to SSD technology, OCZ also offers high performance components for computing devices and systems, including enterprise class power management products as well leading edge computer gaming solutions.

]]> http://www.overclockerstech.com/ocz-agility-2-ssd-review/feed/ 2 http://www.overclockerstech.com/down-but-not-out/ http://www.overclockerstech.com/down-but-not-out/#comments Thu, 29 Jul 2010 03:19:11 +0000 Lvcoyote http://www.overclockerstech.com/?p=3870 Our loyal readers may have noticed we lost some content on our web site, this was due to our site getting hacked.  Unfortunately the lost content is not recoverable without redoing all the reviews manually.  Some will get redone and others probably will not, the staff is working feverishly to redo the reviews that will be replaced.

Rest assured some additional security measures have been implemented to prevent this unfortunate incident from happening again!

Taipei, Taiwanー23th July 2010ーG.Skill International Co. Ltd., manufacturer of extreme performance memory and solid-state storage with solid quality, has today released the world’s only hand-picked, hand-tested, ultra-high capacity DDR3 memory kit for workstations: 48GB (4GBx12) of 1,900MHz CL8 1.65V with G.Skill’s popular Ripjaws series heatsink.

Designed exclusively for EVGA’s best in class Super Record 2 (SR-2) motherboard, which features dual Intel Xeon LGA1366 CPU sockets and 12 DDR3 memory slots, G.Skill has been able to match its masterpiece of 48GB DDR3 precisely to this board, making it performance for performance-hungry workstation users. Furthermore, based on G.Skill lab’s internal test results, advanced users capable of understanding sophisticated BIOS adjustments will be able to reach 2,000MHz CL8 with the G.Skill Ripjaws 48GB DDR3 kit.

Combed with the Intel Xeons 4-6 cores CPUs and EVGA’s support for Nvidia’s 4 way SLI technology, G.Skill’s DDR3 48GB (4GBx12) 1,900MHz CL8 Ripjaws is the best memory solution for building the ultimate super-computer for applications such as 3D rendering, data modeling, scientific research and other professional applications.

48GB 1,900MHz CL8 hits the upper limits of DDR3 technology for Intel’s Xeon CPUs, and as such, all G.Skill 48GB DDR3 kits are 100% hand-tested by G.Skill’s most senior R&D team to ensure the best stability, reliability, compatibility and performance. The 48GB Ripjaws will be available at G.Skill’s retail partners worldwide in August, or contact G.Skill directly. Stay tuned for the latest news about further developments in ultra-high capacity kits at www.gskill.com.

About G.Skill

Established in 1989 by enthusiasts, G.Skill is a leading memory manufacturer based in Taipei, Taiwan. The company’s top priority is Quality. All of our products undergo a series of the most rigorous tests and strict quality control processes. In addition to a committed, qualified IC testing house to examine our products, all G.Skill products are 100% tested to ensure the highest yield, reliability and quality

Introduction 

We are in an era where personal computers are becoming smaller with each passing generation; except for those whom like to cool or use their systems in ever more esoteric ways. As a result Intel has dropped the gauntlet with the Atom processor and with the formation of MITX as the de-facto standard for all small form factor systems, then we are in for some interesting times! The idea behind these systems is for low power consumption making them a green alternative to the larger computers but with the obvious sacrifice of speed and in some cases durability. 

The obvious applications for the above hardware are to use in a NAS (Network Attached Storage) box or a HTPC (Home Theatre PC) We all know that HTPC cases get very hot, due to the amount of power that is used in such a small confined space and with little airflow. However with each generation of the Intel Atom processor, then the power requirements are lowered ergo the heat.  

One company that has been amongst the forefront of the computer world is Asus. Previously known for their range of motherboards, graphics cards and more recently their netbook range; then it would be fair to assume that the aforementioned business has made an impact in the I.T industry and with their knowledge of producing quality ‘netbooks’ it is with hopes that this can be translated into the ‘desktop’ environment with the use of the Intel Atom processor.  

This GPU isn’t an integrated chip like AMDs 785G, this has a full blown GPU on it! What 5000 series you say? Well it’s not confirmed yet, but this has featured a 5770 GPU embedded onto it.

ETA? No idea, maybe this year, keep your eyes peeled!