BlacX duel hot-swap drive bay Supports USB 2.0 and ESATA
Monday, December 26, 2011
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Dvico Fusion Dual HDTV DVB-T Tuner Review
This is a PCI card which I purchased from The Glow Lounge to complete my Windows Media Center PC (for which I shall be writing a 'how to' at a later date) to place in my living room to take over from my dvd player, VCR, standard definition freeview tuner and hi-fi. It cost around £105 which you may think is a bit expensive but I shall explain the reasons for my choice later.
What's In The Box?
PCI Card x1
Drivers CD x1
MCE Remote control x1
Infra Red Cable x1
Small Form Factor Bracket x1
Instructions x1
Analogue Input Cable x1
Video Studio 8 x1
USB Cable x1
Audio Cable x1
Installation
Installation, as with most PCI cards, is a relativley painless process providing you follow the instructions provided. One thing to consider in the placement of the card in your computer is that it can become quite hot, bearing this in mind I placed the card at the bottom of my system so that it was away form the graphics card because I didn't want the graphics card and tuner to mutually exchange heat and potentially damage each other.
One thing that I do, and it is only my preference, is ignore the driver CD that comes with any card such as this and download the latest drivers from the manufacturers website for 2 reasons; 1) sometimes the card or whatever has been sat on the shelf for months and in that time the manufacturer has already released several updates. 2) when downloading the software from the manufacturer's website you choose only the software you need as opposed to all the junk that is usually installed with the drivers CD, I'm talking about things like infuriating toolbars or adware that comes bundle with software that helps to slow down your PC. Like I said this is only my preference.
This is by no means the cheapest DVBT (Digital Video Broadcast Terrestrial) tuner card out there I but chose it because it had certain functions which I thought were essential to merit the move from a standalone digital terrestrial tuner to a Windows Media Center based television. The first requirement is that it had to be a dual tuner so that I could watch one program while recording another. The second requirement is that it had to be a HD (High Definition) card, so that it would still work when HD television starts to be broadcast in the UK, and of course when I upgrade to a huge HD television or projector!
One thing that surprised me about this card is the quality of the remote control that comes with it. Usually with things like this the design of the remote control seems to be an afterthought and is adequate at best, this is definitley not the case with the Dvico card. The remote control is chunky, well built, and actually feels like a proper remote! I have to confess I don't use the remote that comes with the card, I use the remote that comes with Logitech S510 Cordless Desktop purelybecause the scroll wheel on the remote makes it quicker to navigate menus. If I hadn't already bought this cordless desktop then I would definitley be happy with the remte that Dvico supplies.
I have used the TV software that came with the card briefly but did not find it as good or as intuitive to use as Windows Media Center 2005, whilst I think that in the absence of Windows Media center the supplied software would do the job. One thing I have yet to try out is the analogue capture functions of the card but if the performance of the other features of the card are anything to go by then i'm sure it'll do precisely as it says on the tin!
I've been using this card with Windows Media Center 2005 for about 3 months now and I can say that this card has performed without a hitch.
Key Features
Watch One Channel While Recording Another
Watch DVB-T Digital TV Programs on Your PC
Picture in Picture (PIP) & Multi-view Function
Record TV programs to hard drive as DVD/ MPEG2 format
Scheduled recording from Hibernation/Stand-by/PC-off mode
Pause and replay live TV shows (Time-shifting function)
Analog video capture and recording in digital
High-resolution still image capture
Compatible with Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
Low CPU consumption with DxVA SW decoder
EPG (Electronic Program Guide)
Supports digital Teletext & Subtitle (excluding U.K.)
Low profile form factor for slim PC
Supports HD-to-DVD or Divx format conversion
Supports power up as PME
Supports logical channel number
Full function infrared remote contro
l
Specifications
I/O Connections 1 x Antenna Input
1 x USB Port
1 x SVHS/ 1 x Composite Video Input
1 x Internal Stereo Sound Port
1 x IR Remote Control Port
Minimum System Requirements Windows ME, Windows XP, Windows 2000
1 x USB2.0 Port and 1 x PCI Slot
DxVA based VGA Cards
Pentium3 800MHz ( ATI Radeon Series )
Non-DxVA based VGA Cards
Pentium4 1.6GHz with 128M memory
Drivers Cypress FX2 drivers
Conexant CX2388x drivers
DViCO's own tuner/BDA driver
DViCO's own dual HDTV decoder( full s/w mode & DxVA mode)
Conclusion
Not the cheapest digital Tv tuner card on the market, but if you're serious about building a decent Home Theater PC (HTPC) with a lot of features, then this card is well worth the consideration. The only thing letting this card down is the bundled TV software, but if you're planning to use Windows Media Center 2005 then you won't have a problem.
I did have a slight problem installing the infrared cable that came with this card, this is due to the fact that the rear slot openings on my case (thermaltake armor) are slightly smaller than usual, meaning that installation of the infrared jack plug was rather tricky. Once installed the infrared function worked perfectly.
johnsreviews rating: 9/10
For more reviews or technical help go to www.johnsreviews.com
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Nvidia Gaphic Card Geforce 8800GTX Review
If you want the fastest graphic card on the planet then buy the Nvidia graphic card Geforce 8800 series, if you want the fastest gaming system on the plant then buy the two Nvidia Geforce 8800GTX graphic cards and put them together using the SLI.
The Geforce 8000 series has a new chip, 90 nanometre, with over 680 million transistors, it is considered to be the largest graphics chip ever built. The fastest 8000 version is clocked at 575 MHz while the GTX version clocks at 500 MHz.
The Geforce 8800 series graphic cards are the first to use the Direct 10 chip. "It is also the first to support the 'unified' marchitecture." It uses the same "pipeline calculates vertex, pixel and geometry Shader information".
"Geforce 8800 GTX has a core working at 575MHz. GDDR 3 memory works in a rather odd 384-bit mode and it has twelve chips, totally of 768MB of memory. While we all expected 1024 would be the next step, Nvidia decided to go for 768MB due its different memory controller. Nvidia clocked the memory at 1800MHz with a totally bandwidth of respectable 86.4 GB/s and a fill rate of 36.8 billion a second."
The Geforce 8000 series unified parallel Shader is designed to support 128 individual stream processors running at 1.35GHz in terms of speed. The speed numbers came from Nvidia. Because it support direct x 10 it will only work with Window Vista operating systems.
This card is hot, literally it has two power 6 pin connectors means that the card gets 2x75 watts from the cables plus an additional 75 watts from the PCIe bus. This brings total power consumption to an amazing 225 Watts.
The Nvidia graphic card Geforce 8800 GTX "has a dual slot cooler - massive and heavy but it does the job. The card always worked around 55Celsius in 2D mode and a bit higher in 3D."
The test of two cards
The first card tested was the EVGA Geforce 8800 GTX with a brand-new ACS3 Cooler.
"The ACS3 cooler is actually more efficient that Nvidia's reference cooler as the card works at 55C in 2D mode while the Nvidia reference cooler cools the card to 60 Celsius only. This is what makes the difference between EVGA card and the rest of the cards based on the reference cooler design." The box the card come in is super small.
Second card was a Leadtek Geforce 8800 GTX card with the SLI or Scalable Link Interface for linking two graphic cards together. The Leadtek card supports HDCP or High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection and the driver CD also includes Vista drivers.
The driver for both card has a couple of new features, One new featured includes support for 16X Anisotropic filtering. The big news is that Nvidia finally supports FSAA 8X and 16X. Nvidia's Luminex is a marketing name for incredible image quality that includes support for 16X Anti-alasing, 128-bit HDR (High Density Resolution) and support for 2560x1600 resolution with a high frame rate.
Bench marketing The cards where tested using the following:
"Foxconn C51XE M2aa Nforce 590 SLI motherboard
Sapphire AM2RD580 with SB600 board for Crossfire
Athlon FX 62 2800 MHz 90 nanometre Windsor core
2x1024 MB DDR2 Corsair CM2X1024-6400C3 memory
Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 500GB SATA NCQ hard drive
Thermaltake Mini Typhoon Athlon 64/X2/FX cooler and Intel CPU's
OCZ 700W GameXstream power supply"
The two nvidia graphic card where test on the 3Dmark03 a "single EVGA G80 card, EVGA eGeforce 8800GTX ACS3 575/1800MHz scores 30485. it is just slightly faster than the 7950 GX2 card, 2500 slower than Crossfire and more than 10000 faster than a single fastest X1950XTX card."
When the EVGA-Leadtek 8800GTX SLI 2x 575/1800MHz combo scores 49390, almost 50K a perfect score for the 3Dmark03. With the SLI it is sixty two percent faster than a single card. A single Geforce 8000 graphic card is fifty four percent faster than an X1950XTX. With the Vertex Shader test the Geforce 8000 graphic card is twice as fast as the ATI's faster card.
"Nvidia Graphic card EVGA eGeforce 8800GTX ACS3 575/1800MHz scores is eighty four percent faster than the ATI's X1950XTX in Shader model 2.0 test and seventy one in Shader model 3.0 / HDR testing."
List of computer video games used in the test
"Doom 3 scores around 135 FPS at first three resolutions and drop to 125 at the 20x15, SLI even then scores 135 so this is clearly CPU limited. EVGA eGeforce 8800GTX ACS3 575 / 1800 MHz is almost 80 percent faster at 2048x1536. Doom 3 with effects on scores 130 FPS at first two resolutions and later starts to drop but is still faster than 7950 GX2 cards all the time. SLI doesn't drop at all at first three resolutions only slightly drops at 20x15.
FEAR scores are up to sky with the weakest score of 95 FPS at 20x15, faster than Crossfire in the last two resolutions and from GX2 and X1950XTX at all times. It is up to 66 percent faster than X1950XTX and 68 percent from the Gainward 7950 GX2 card. SLI is again 68 percent faster than Crossfire a massive difference.
Quake 4 runs up to forty seven frames faster on G80 and SLI gets the score better but not much. G80 is always faster than GX2 and Crossfire. Quake 4 with FSAA and Aniso runs some forty percent faster than ATI's fastest card and 30 per cent in Crossfire versus SLI G80.
Far Cry with effects on performance is matched with both G80 and X1950XTX while the SLI can outperform both in 20x15.
Serious Sam 2 is faster on ATI in first two resolutins by three frames while EVGA eGeforce 8800GTX ACS3 575 / 1800 MHz wins by eight, or fifteen frames at higher resolutions. SLI is 23 per cent faster than a single G80 and 43 percent faster than X1950xTX.
Serious Sam 2 with FSAA and Aniso on always scores faster at EVGA eGeforce 8800GTX ACS3 575 / 1800 MHz card but not that much, some nine to ten percent while the SLI is 54 per cent faster than a single card and sixty eight percent than ATI's card."
In Short
The Nvidia Geforce 8000 series graphic cards are amazing beating out the latest ATI card in virtually every test. The card is pricey, expect to pay around 0 or more for one of them. It is a very long card and it does get hot but the card can be consider the fastest graphics card on the market right now, it is also very stable as well.
Stating from the beginning if you want the fastest graphic card on the planet then buy the Nvidia graphic card Geforce 8800 series, if you want the fastest gaming system on the plant then buy the two Nvidia Geforce 8800GTX graphic cards and put them together using the SLI.
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Monday, November 28, 2011
Issues About Choosing a Hard Drive Dock Station
Have an older IDE hard drive laying around after a system upgrade? Looking for a good solution to easily connect and use your internal hard disk drive? If you're like many in todays modern techno-family, then you have extra hard drives lying around your home. Additionally, with the low cost of hard drives today, there really is no reason not to have extras for archive purposes. IDE/SATA hard disk dock is really a fine solution. There're so many brand (NewerTech, Thermaltake, Unitek, NexStar) docking stations that we can't make a right decision. Today, I want to list some issues about hdd docking station. Let's start by one of the most important questions on "how many interfaces does a featured dock have?"
Transfer Interfaces
Most of hdd dock has USB 2.0 port, and it's the standard configure. Although it's a little than firewire 800 or eSATA interface, it can meet our main need. Once mounted, you can watch the data just fly off the platters since you get the option of either Firewire 800 or eSATA. When you go with the latter, you're getting near internal mount speeds of 3.0Gb/s. Even at 1394b rates, data access was darn impressive in our tests. If you want to transfer video to your computer, 1394B is going to help you easily, particularly as you use a MacBook.
First Impression and Price
There is nothing to be said against it that NewerTech products have always struck me as a variety of maker's units that get conglomerated under one "brand" label, which isn't necessarily bad, but it gives that brand name less power in my opinion. However, we need also regard the price factor. Actually, if you want to get a full-interface hd dock, Voyager Q or NexStar is a fine solution. If transfer speed is not your first priority, usb2.0 or firewire800/400 mac hdd dock can meet demand.
External Hard drive Dock not Recognize?
First check the manual list and make sure your hard drive is compatible with your hdd dock station. And then right click "my computer" and select "Manage" when that Windows opens select "disk management" on the left side, you should see your hard drive there, activate and format the partition and it should appear as any other hard drive when it's plugged in. If you have access to a secondary PC or laptop, try connecting your drive to it using a different USB cable. Also try unplugging your drive from the power outlet for a few seconds and then connecting it again. If it's still not being recognized, you need to download the latest hard disk dock driver.
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Saturday, November 26, 2011
Unboxing: Thermaltake Black Widow BlacX Duet Hard Drive Docking Station
An update on my RAID adventures which lead to an explanation about why I bought this product. Some information about mixing SATA I drives with SATA II drives on the same stack of motherboard ports (bad idea). Sorry about the focus on the close ups I didn't use the macro mode when I should have. Its hard to see how it looks without a nice rotating screen like on a real camcorder. I did a lot better on my next video.
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Sunday, November 6, 2011
World of Warcraft Gaming Computer Recommendations - Build Custom WoW Gaming PC
More than 12 million players worldwide play World of Warcraft - are you one of them, or would you like to try it for yourself? Then you will need to know what computer is good (or better) to play it the way it was meant to be. We are not talking about an average PC where you set settings to low-mid and run around, we look at the computers that let you maximize WoW display settings and resolutions. World of Warcraft may be quite an old game but it still does shine when you turn all of the settings to the max. Have you ever caught yourself on top of the Stormwind Harbor enjoying water view? With the right computer you definitely will!
A lot of people play WoW on regular basic computers or cheap laptops, and World of Warcraft actually lets you do that because it has really low minimum system requirements. It can be even run on netbooks on low settings. And we can't blame you, at the end there are people who don't care about graphics but just enjoy the gameplay itself, storyline, communication, dynamics and atmosphere. But ask yourself why some old black and white movies had been rebuilt in color? Because they are interesting too and probably they look better in color! Same goes for World Of Warcraft - it looks and plays so much better on powerful computers with maximum settings and resolutions. You will catch yourself simply enjoying beautiful scenes, landscapes, sunsets - you will see this game in completely new perspective.
Now what is it about a computer that will let you enjoy WoW as we have indicated above? First of all it should be a gaming computer - not some regular desktop from popular retail store or cheap notebook. And gaming computers are really different from all that no matter how many times you hear the opposite. Regular computer manufacturers try to lower the costs by installing cheap hardware, crappy onboard graphics, stock coolers, even those cases they use do not inspire anyone let alone hardcore gamers. Gaming computer is built and optimized for maximum performance, that comes at a price sometimes, but so do Mercedes and BMW compared to well known minivans:O) It pays off to have a great custom built computer what it comes to PC games.
Lets start from the beginning - most important hardware parts that will affect your gaming and WoW experience in particular - CPU (central processing unit - processor for short) and videocard (or GFX, graphics accelerator, video adapter). These two parts will have the greatest impact on FPS (frames per second) when resolution and all settings are set to maximum.
CPU - processor affects speed of the computer overall, no matter what you do. There are some processor intensive applications like video editing and gaming, so it pays of to have the best CPU you can afford. I general any modern dual core processor will be good for World of Warcraft, but we have some recommendations as to what would be more efficient and will not hit your pocket hard. Right now you can select between great AMD and Intel offerings.
AMD has many dual and quad core processors that are really cost efficient and will be a great option for WoW. For example Athlon II X2 240 with 2.8Ghz would be our minimum recommendation, it's great for mid-high settings and monitors up to 22", and it's really cheap, can be paired with inexpensive motherboard and either DDR2 or DDR3 memory - lots of options to build low priced computer. If you want to really play on max settings in any WoW game zone and biggest raids - you will need one of the Phenom II processors, and while there are some dual and triple core editions we would recommend Phenom II X4 945 or better to stick with. Those quad cores are not expensive and can be a base for really great gaming machine under 00 that will play any game.
Intel - still offers Core 2 processors that are great for WoW but are a little outdated. If you want really cheap computer - stick with AMD, if you want something little more expensive - go for new i3/i5/i7 CPU line. Most affordable would be Core i3 530 that can be paired with mid range H55 motherboard and DDR3 memory. It is just a dual core but has hyper threading making it virtual Quad and Turbo-Boost that increases CPU frequency based on the load, works especially good with single threaded applications and WoW. To make sure you will never see FPS drop below 30 you can pick i5 750 which is less than a 0 more but it's a real Quad Core processor that will not let you down in any scenario (get P55 chipset motherboard with it). And finally Core i7 - the king, excellent performance in all applications and games, probably an overkill for WoW but it's a great investment since it will not be outdated for quite some time.
Videocard - second in importance, sometimes first, depends on the game you play. Videocards create picture you see on your monitor, more complicated images require more power form your videocard. Some integrated adapter is fine for Windows and internet browsing but it will not play any real game the way it should be. You will need separate videocard to use high resolutions and settings. There are many popular videocards on the market, for WoW you can pick one of the older ones since thay can be cheap and still offer excellent World Of Warcraft gaming experience. From bottom to top our recommendations are:
ATI Radeon 4650 512Mb DDR3
Nvidia GeForce GT 220 512Mb or 1Gb DDR2 or DDR3
ATI Radeon 4670 1Gb DDR3
Nvidia GeForce GT 240 512Mb DDR5 (better than 1Gb DDR3)
Nvidia GeForce 9800GT 512Mb DDR3 (older but with super performance - your best pick for now)
ATI Radeon 5670 1Gb GDDR5 (can have some issues with drivers but good performer)
Nvidia GeForce GTS 250 1Gb DDR3
ATI Radeon 5750 1Gb GDDR5
Anything more expensive would probably not give you much of a benefit for the money you pay. When you set Shades to the Ultra it will stress even most expensive videocards so everyone plays with High anyways, all other settings can be set on maximum as well as resolution with up to 28" monitor if you pick one of the last cards on the list.
Memory - If you have at least 4Gb of RAM you don't have to worry about too much. Even if you have only 2Gb and still using Windows XP you are good to go if you are on a tight budget. Windows Vista or "7" will be much better with 4Gb RAM if you want to have something left for WoW. Just watch for the memory type that is compatible with your CPU and motherboard. Like all i3/i5/i7 will require DDR3 memory, some AMD processors work with DDR2, they are about the same price now so you'd better pick DDR3 since it's newer and faster. Memory varies be speed, like DDR2 can be 667Ghz, most popular 800Mhz and faster 1066Mhz which does not work with all processors and motherboards. If you get DDR3 then you'd better go with 1600Mhz as the most cost efficient, popular, supported RAM. If you are thinking about 6 or 8Gb, then keep in mind that WoW does not need it, you have some other apps that will use that much - go for it. Of course if you pick i7 CPU with X58 board then you should get 6Gb triple channel memory kit for the best performance.
Motherboard - not so important as long as it's more or less modern. Just watch for CPU and RAM compatibility. For AMD processors better pick some AM3 board with DDR3 memory support, good chipsets are 785G, 790GX, 890GX, 790X. Some cheaper ones are GeForce 6100/6150/7025, or AMD 740, 760, 780G. For Intel - it all depends on CPU you pick. For Core 2 you better go with P55, or if you don't have a lot to spend you can get P43 or G41 - really cut down in features but will do for now. Core i3 and i5 Dual core better work with H55, Quad Core i5 and i7 LGA1156 need P55, Socket LGA1366 Core i7 need X58 chipset. Some motherboards like AMD 785G or 890GX have pretty good onboard video that can play WOW but don't expect too much from it, it can be fine for some time if you are saving for the new videocard for example.
Hard Drive - modern drives do not differ too much, get one with SATA interface and 7200RPM speed, and it will be fine. There are some "green" HDDs with 5400RPM but they are better for storage not for gaming. SSD (solid state) are still too expensive and not popular. WD VelociRaptor model with 10000RPM is an excellent choice if you can afford it, really cuts down loading times.
Power supply - depends on you CPU and videocard. Always make sure that you get reputable brand, or at least read some reviews if you are not sure or want to save some money. There are good cheap PSU out there but you have to be careful picking one. More expensive ones are usually better, some good brands are: Antec, Corsair, Thermaltake, Cooler Master. If your videocard does not require extra 6pin PCI-e power connector then you should be good with 400-500W minimum, better videocards work good on 500-600W power supplies. For all videocards listed above you do not need more than 600W even with i7 CPU but you can surely pick any PSU you like with more power if you think you may need it.
Case - some think it's not important - they didn't see real gaming cases. Advanced chassis for gaming computers not only looks good with LEDs and side windows, but it also cools good. There are usually bigger than average fans (120-200m), there are more of those fans, perforated panels for better ventilation, advanced PSU and fan placement, hideouts for professional cabling and much more.
CPU Cooler - one more thing that makes gaming computers different - use of aftermarket coolers. Good CPU cooler works quieter and more efficient than stock ones. Aftermarket cooler will prolong life of your processor making it work on lower temperatures and will allow overlocking - speeding up CPU without harm to it as long as temps are within limits. For example Core i7 920 with cooler Xigmatek Dark Knight can work on 3.6Ghz frequency instead of 2.66Ghz default. It makes a lot of difference!
DVD, Blue-Ray, Wireless, card readers - all those parts do not affect your WoW gameplay, unless of course your wireless adapter drops connection all the timeï
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