Highest Reputation Content

#89363 Cogage TRUE Spirit and Arrow Review

Posted OliverRC on 07 February 2010 - 09:58 PM

Introduction

As time has progressed us nerds have needed more and more out of our hardware, we strive for more cores and faster clocks but the age old computer problem of heat has never really gone away. Sure with birth of Conroe (Core 2) and Phenom we are able to harness more per clock cycle but there are always the enthusiasts who will push CPU's (and GPUs) to their limit in an effort to suck out every last bit of computational goodness.
With the new Core i7's we have seen a large number of people buying the entry level chips and overclocking them as far as their cooling will let them. A common popular overclocking (OC'ing) i7 has been the Core i7 920 and more specifically the D0 stepping model. Now the i7's aren't exactly 'cool' CPU's and do run quite warm especially when really stressed.

Well all this bring me to the topic of this review, "It's all about my temps baby!!". With high performance parts comes the problem of heat. To solve this us g33ks turn to fans for better airflow, bigger heatspreaders for more surface area, water cooling for very serious cooling and DICE (Dry Ice) or LN2 (Liquid Nitrogen) <LINK>for those complete overclocking nutters.

With CPU's we normally turn to aftermarket coolers to help alleviate our heat woes and that is why I am doing this. May I present you to my 2 review volunteers, the Cogage True Spirit and the Cogage Arrow:

Cogage TRUE Spirit

http://www.pcbuyersguide.co.za/picture.php?albumid=115&pictureid=1531&thumb=1

Heatsink Spec:<?xml:namespace prefix = o /><o:p></o:p>

Dimension: L133 x W53.44 x H163.8mm
Weight: 670g
Heat-pipes: 4

Fan Spec:

Dimension: L120 x W120 x H25m
Rated Speed: 1000 ~ 1500RPM±15%
Noise Level: 19.6 ~ 37.4 dBA
AirFlow: 35 ~ 66.5CFM

<TRUE pic=""><o:p></o:p>Cogage Arrow
</TRUE>

http://www.pcbuyersguide.co.za/picture.php?albumid=115&pictureid=1529&thumb=1

<TRUE pic="">Heatsink Spec:<o:p></o:p></TRUE>
<TRUE pic=""></TRUE>

<TRUE pic="">Dimension: L147 x W123 x H160mm</TRUE>
<TRUE pic="">Weight: 825g (including Retention hardware and Fan)</TRUE>
<TRUE pic="">Heat-pipes: 8mm Sintered Heat-pipe x 4</TRUE>
<TRUE pic="">Compatibility with LGA 1366, LGA 1156, LGA 775</TRUE>

<TRUE pic="">Dimension: L120 x W120 x H25m</TRUE>
<TRUE pic="">Rated Speed: 1000 ~ 1500RPM±15%<o:p></o:p></TRUE>
<TRUE pic="">Noise Level: 19.6 ~ 37.4 dBA<o:p></o:p></TRUE>
<TRUE pic="">AirFlow: 35 ~ 66.5CFM</TRUE>

<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">
Overview
</ARROW></TRUE>

<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">Now not many of you know of the Cogage brand, well I can probably say none of you do. Cogage is an extremely new brand which was only formed June 2009. Cogage is formed of an engineering team who is directed by Thermalright. The Cogage motto is to offer coolers with great performance at reasonable prices. </ARROW></TRUE>

[Official Cogage Site]

<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">Un-Boxing</ARROW></TRUE>
<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic=""></ARROW></TRUE>

<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">This is was more like a porn shoot of computer hardware, both products come in stylish boxes which make good use of the Blue & Black which all gamers/pc enthusiasts love. </ARROW></TRUE>
<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">The packaging is very well thought out with both products. One thing that I am most impressed about is that the packaging does a great deal to protect the heatsink from external damage, there is a good deal of padding from the cardboard but everything in the boxes fits snugly so that nothing moves about whilst it being tossed through the air at the post office. </ARROW></TRUE>
<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic=""></ARROW></TRUE>
<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic=""></ARROW></TRUE><TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">It was clear from the minute I got products that a lot of effort was put into design of the boxes as they protect their cargo well but also give the coolers that sense of quality and pedigree too.</ARROW></TRUE>
<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic=""></ARROW></TRUE>
<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic=""></ARROW></TRUE><TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">The True Spirits box was interesting with its fold out design and view port window.</ARROW></TRUE>

<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">Un-Boxing of the Arrow:<o:p></o:p>

</ARROW></TRUE>

<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">
Unboxing of the TRUE Spirit:<o:p></o:p>

</ARROW></TRUE>

The Two Together:

http://www.pcbuyersguide.co.za/picture.php?albumid=115&pictureid=1519&thumb=1 http://www.pcbuyersguide.co.za/picture.php?albumid=115&pictureid=1521&thumb=1 http://www.pcbuyersguide.co.za/picture.php?albumid=115&pictureid=1523&thumb=1 http://www.pcbuyersguide.co.za/picture.php?albumid=115&pictureid=1525&thumb=1 http://www.pcbuyersguide.co.za/picture.php?albumid=115&pictureid=1527&thumb=1

<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">Installation

</ARROW></TRUE>

<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">The True Spirit went on first, the Spirit comes with a back plate so it is necessary for one to take the whole motherboard out. Installation was very straight forward, simply attach the backplate and then mount the cooler. Once cooler is sitting peachy on the CPU one just has to tighten the retention bracket and viola you are done. It was actually pretty painless which is not something I would have expected with all those funny looking screws and bits of metal but in actuality it was probably easier to install then the stock cooler.</ARROW></TRUE>

<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">Once the screws have been all tightened up the cooler is super secure, there is no moving this thing around. An earthquake could hit my PC and the cooler would stay on. So for all those worried about it "falling off" whilst carrying your computer to a LAN, don't. The retention brackets and backplate are more than capable of holding the heatsink and fan on.</ARROW></TRUE>
<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic=""></ARROW></TRUE>
<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic=""></ARROW></TRUE>
<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">The Arrow went on next, the mounting mechanism works slightly differently to the Spirit but again installing the cooler onto the motherboard was not particularly difficult although it was a little tricky tightening the bolts because you have to screw them to the brackets through the gap between the two heatspreaders. Overall the installation went smoothly except for the fact that my flat mate decided to kick over my bottle of Acetone. The Arrow I was supplied with came with a single 120mm fan, I would have liked to see a 140mm and a 120mm fan included as this cooler is huge and can have 3 fans mounted.</ARROW></TRUE>

<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">Again I was impressed with how secure the cooler actually was, I always thought that these big coolers looked like they might just fall off, but with the backplates and the retention brackets it seemed liked this huge cooler is more secure than the stock cooler.</ARROW></TRUE>

<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">Just to reiterate, the Arrow is a huge heatsink when putting it all back in my case I actually had a little of a struggle trying to get the 8 pin CPU plugs in because the cooler occupies such a large area.</ARROW></TRUE>

Installation of the TRUE Spirit:

Installtion of the Arrow:

http://www.pcbuyersguide.co.za/picture.php?albumid=115&pictureid=1570&thumb=1 http://www.pcbuyersguide.co.za/picture.php?albumid=115&pictureid=1571&thumb=1 http://www.pcbuyersguide.co.za/picture.php?albumid=115&pictureid=1572&thumb=1 http://www.pcbuyersguide.co.za/picture.php?albumid=115&pictureid=1573&thumb=1 http://www.pcbuyersguide.co.za/picture.php?albumid=115&pictureid=1574&thumb=1 http://www.pcbuyersguide.co.za/picture.php?albumid=115&pictureid=1575&thumb=1 http://www.pcbuyersguide.co.za/picture.php?albumid=115&pictureid=1576&thumb=1 http://www.pcbuyersguide.co.za/picture.php?albumid=115&pictureid=1577&thumb=1

<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">
Testing and Results

Test Machine:<o:p></o:p>
</ARROW></TRUE>

<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">CPU: Core i7 920 (D0)</ARROW></TRUE>
<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">MOBO: Asus P6T Delux v2</ARROW></TRUE>
<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">RAM: Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1600Mhz CL8 (With Cooler)</ARROW></TRUE>
<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">GPU(s): 2 x GTX260 SLi</ARROW></TRUE>
<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">PSU: Coolermaster SilentPro 850Watt</ARROW></TRUE>
<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">Case: Coolermaster CM690</ARROW></TRUE>

<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">To record temperatures I used RealTemp 3.40 and to stress the CPU I used Prime95 x64. Prime95 was able to completely 100% load all 8 threads on the CPU . I used the" In-Place large FFT's" torture test to load the CPU.</ARROW></TRUE>

<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">For each cooler I ran it once at the CPU's stock speed (well a little high due to my memory clock) which was 2.8Ghz and then again at a 20% overclock which was 3.2Ghz. Prime95 was run for approximately an hour for each LOAD test to ensure stable temperatures had been reached.</ARROW></TRUE>

<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">Coolers were all mounted with ThermalRight ChillFactor (including the Stock Cooler)</ARROW></TRUE>

<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">Before I start and then everyone starts looking at my temps and starts wondering WTF I have been doing let me be upfront about 2 things. Firstly it's been very hot and humid in Durban recently and Secondly after doing the battery of tests I think my CPU is reading temps too high or is one of Satan's i7s.<o:p></o:p></ARROW></TRUE>
<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic=""></ARROW></TRUE>

<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">Stock Cooler

</ARROW></TRUE>

<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">What a fail this was, even after remounting it couldn't handle stock speeds at 100%. I had to stop the tests because it was hitting 100°. I seriously was tempted to do some cooking on the cooler, at least I know now that I will never be out of a cooking surface . I didn't even attempt the overclock out of fear that the devil would come forth through the flames of my poor i7 920.<o:p></o:p></ARROW></TRUE>
<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic=""></ARROW></TRUE>

<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic=""><o:p></o:p>[FONT="]
[/FONT][FONT="]<o:p></o:p>[/FONT]
Cogage True Spirit
</ARROW></TRUE>

<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">Stock Speeds (2.8Ghz) - IDLE </ARROW></TRUE><TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic=""></ARROW></TRUE>

http://www.pcbuyersguide.co.za/picture.php?albumid=115&pictureid=1582&thumb=1

<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">Stock Speeds (2.8Ghz) - LOAD</ARROW></TRUE><TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic=""></ARROW></TRUE>

http://www.pcbuyersguide.co.za/picture.php?albumid=115&pictureid=1583&thumb=1

<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">Overclock (3.2Ghz) - IDLE </ARROW></TRUE><TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic=""></ARROW></TRUE>

http://www.pcbuyersguide.co.za/picture.php?albumid=115&pictureid=1584&thumb=1

<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">Overclock (3.2Ghz) - LOAD</ARROW></TRUE><TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic=""></ARROW></TRUE>

http://www.pcbuyersguide.co.za/picture.php?albumid=115&pictureid=1585&thumb=1

<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">Cogage Arrow
</ARROW></TRUE>

<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">Stock Speeds (2.8Ghz) - IDLE </ARROW></TRUE>

http://www.pcbuyersguide.co.za/picture.php?albumid=115&pictureid=1578&thumb=1

<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic=""></ARROW></TRUE><TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">Stock Speeds (2.8Ghz) - LOAD</ARROW></TRUE>

http://www.pcbuyersguide.co.za/picture.php?albumid=115&pictureid=1579&thumb=1

<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">Overclock (3.2Ghz) - IDLE </ARROW></TRUE>

http://www.pcbuyersguide.co.za/picture.php?albumid=115&pictureid=1580&thumb=1

<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic=""></ARROW></TRUE><TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">Overclock (3.2Ghz) - LOAD</ARROW></TRUE>

http://www.pcbuyersguide.co.za/picture.php?albumid=115&pictureid=1581&thumb=1

Comparisons

http://www.pcbuyersg...&pictureid=1586

http://www.pcbuyersg...&pictureid=1587
<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic=""></ARROW></TRUE>
<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">
Conclusions
</ARROW></TRUE>

<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">Overall I was pleased with the results, I was very impressed with both products. I am a little concerned about my temperature readings as they were much higher than other reviews but there was never any system instability and therefore I suspect that the sensors are reading temperatures a bit high or my CPU was hired by Satan to warm-up earth before his arrival.</ARROW></TRUE>

<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">Onto the Cogage coolers. Both coolers were a massive improvement over the stock cooler which couldn't even manage stock speeds. I was also happy that I was easily able to reach a 20% overclock with both coolers. The Spirit seems to be very efficient with it not being much worse than the much larger Arrow, but after saying this I do believe that with a 140mm and 120mm the Arrow would be able to be cooler much further.</ARROW></TRUE>

<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">It's hard to choose a winner between the two, I would say on a price vs. performance the True Spirit is brilliant, it easily handled my extremely hot CPU and is very affordable. In contrast the Arrow also performs very well although I suspect it could benefit from a bigger fan which could easily be corrected by a trip to a computer store. From a brand perspective I think Cogage is AWESOME, these coolers are well priced, the quality is great, the performance is easily on par with other much more expensive brands, packing is great and I generally enjoyed the whole experience of working with their coolers.</ARROW></TRUE>
<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic=""></ARROW></TRUE>

<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">Arrow<o:p></o:p></ARROW></TRUE>
<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">

<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">Appearance: 9</ARROW></TRUE>
<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">Quality: 9</ARROW></TRUE>
<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">Performance: 8</ARROW></TRUE>
<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">Value for money: 8</ARROW></TRUE>
<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">Overall: 8.5</ARROW></TRUE>

<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic=""><o:p></o:p>True Spirit<o:p></o:p></ARROW></TRUE>
<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic=""></ARROW></TRUE>

<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">Appearance: 9</ARROW></TRUE>
<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">Quality: 9</ARROW></TRUE>
<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">Performance: 9</ARROW></TRUE>
<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">Value for money: 9</ARROW></TRUE>
<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">Overall: 9</ARROW></TRUE>

<TABLE> <TBODY> <TR> <TD>Cogage True Spirit</TD> <TD>_______
</TD> <TD>Cogage Arrow</TD></TR> <TR> <TD>http://www.pcbuyersg...&pictureid=1588 </TD> <TD>
</TD> <TD>http://www.pcbuyersg...15&pictureid=61 </TD></TR> <TR> <TD align=middle>9.0</TD> <TD>
</TD> <TD align=middle>8.5
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">I would just like to thank Wootware very much for sending the coolers up and letting me doing this review for them. Hope you enjoyed the review.</ARROW></TRUE>
<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic=""></ARROW></TRUE>
<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">For any inquiries about the Cogage products please don't hesitate to contact Ratwiz.</ARROW></TRUE>

Hardware Sponsored by WootWare
http://www.pcbuyersguide.co.za/imgs/sponsors/wootware.jpg

<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic=""></ARROW></TRUE>
<TRUE pic=""><ARROW pic="">PS: There have been concerns about the temperatures I have recorded. Members of the ThermalRight team feel my temperatures are too high. I have mentioned that there might be a problem with my CPU thermal probes, regardless both coolers were FAR superior to stock cooler and I would highly recommend both products. I am considering remounting the Arrow just to confirm that it isn't a bad mount.</ARROW></TRUE>

#89587 My new Mod! Project Atari 2600

Posted DAE_JA_VOO on 10 February 2010 - 02:36 PM

Hey guys!

So, as you may have noticed, I've been really quiet lately in the modding scene. Things have been really busy, and I ran into some problems with my last project. So now I'm back, and I really plan on modding LOADS this year. I can't promise that that'll be the case, but that's my intention. I've actually already started on a Lian Li PC-V2000 mod for my i7 rig, but that mod still requires some resources.

This mod, however, can start right away!

A few months ago, a friend of mine posted a thread about a super old Atari 2600 console that he wanted to get rid of. Of course, I snapped it up, and I'd like to publicly thank him

Thanks Anakha, I appreciate it so much!

Here's the Atari he sent me:

The Back:

As you can see, the console took a bit of a beating in the post:

The controllers:

Some GAMES!!!

Space Invaders!

So, while trying to get my hands on one of VIA's Pico-ITX motherboards a while ago, i received an email from one of VIA's reps offering me one for a project. How lucky is that! VIA offered to send me one of the boards for a mod project.

I've been lucky enough to be sponsored by another company too. A great bunch over at [url=http://www.logicsupply.com/]Logic Supply[/url]. This US based company sells an amazing variety of tiny stuffs like the Pico board that i have here. Check them out

Anyway, Logic hooked me up with a 160GB SATA notebook drive, 1GB of So-DIMM RAM, and a fantastic PSU, designed SPECIFICALLY for this motherboard. The PSU is the [url=http://www.logicsupply.com/products/gp_87]Serener 120W DC-DC Power Converter[/url]. They also sent me a power brick.

Here's the RAM:

The HDD:

The PSU:

Everything!

I put it all next to a Rubik's Cube so that you can get an idea of the size:

So that's the start. The plan is to mod all of that goodness into the Atari, while preserving the look and feel of the Atari. It should be a whole lot of fun :blink:

There isn't much to this project, it's just a quick small fun project

I hope you enjoy it

Big big thanks to my sponsors!

[/quote]

btw, excuse the ridiculously shallow depth of field in some of the photos, I'm still getting used to the new 50mm Prime lens on my girlfriend's camera

#87748 First news of GTX 360 and GTX 380 surfaces

Posted OliverRC on 09 December 2009 - 09:24 AM

nVidia GF100/Fermi SLI-powered Maingear PC pictured

Continuing to raise hype about the upcoming launch of their first NV100-class hardware for the consumers, nVidia's Twitter page posted an image of Tom Petersen, Director of Technical Marketing showing his latest baby - a Maingear SHIFT machine powered by an Intel Core i7 processor, 6 or 12GB of Kingston DDR3 memory and two GeForce GTX 300-series cards paired together in SLI mode.

http://www.pcbuyersg...=1&d=1260342986

Tom Petersen, Director of Technical Marketing at nVidia shows his new rig: presumably a Dual GTX380-powered Maingear SHIFT X58 machine

Continuing to use more codenames for one architectural part than the number of "CUDA cores", the Twitter status cited the following quote: "Fun Photo of the Week: Tom Petersen, Director of Technical Marketing at NVIDIA, proudly showing off his new Maing".
But unlike the Twitter post that was cut by the 140 character limitation, the GeForce GF100 boards aren't longer or shorter than their predecessor - according to nVidia, the upcoming GeForce GTX 300-series boards are identical length as their previous flagship, GeForce GTX 280 at 10.5 inch [26.7cm].

http://www.pcbuyersg...=1&d=1260342986

Closeup of the two GF100-based cards shows there isn't a lot of room for air, but thanks to vertical positioning, should not be a thermal challenge for the system

As a sidenote, there are two rumored boards, GeForce GTX 360 and GTX 380, even though nothing has been finalized yet [clocks are still being finalized at the moment]:

http://www.pcbuyersg...=1&d=1260342986

Rumored Comparison of two upcoming boards from nVidia

All in all, if you belong to nV camp, January can't come soon enough. If you sit firmly in the AMD's Radeon camp, you'll be happy to know that AMD is also preparing an answer in the form of super-charged Radeon 5870, probably carrying the name HD 5890. This will be hot as always, and with Intel out of the picture for at least 2010 and 2011, these two giants are everything that 3D industry has.

Do note that with the release of GeForce GTX 300 series, nVidia should release a driver that enables 3D Vision on SLI systems as well.

[Source: BrightSideOfNews]
[By: Theo Valich]

Attached Thumbnails

#70482 A Tribute of thanks

Posted Zizzy on 24 February 2009 - 08:03 PM

A tribute of thanks to the members of PcBg

Thanks to...

TitanKing for keeping this forum together. Not only for that, thanks for making PcBg the best forum on the world wide web. Thanks for keeping in mind the members of your beloved forum when making decisions.. always. I will always remember you as the guy for posting new and interesting news on the forum, always keeping us up to date. Also one that loves his YouTube videos and his Linux.

Maximus for always answering with all your might to a thread. You always give the perfect answer if some one asks and you know. I will always remember you for those huge posts and all the little ones in between. Thanks also for giving people rep when they deserve it.

RockSpider for being the 'uncle' to us all. Dude thank you so much for always thinking of what will best suit me when you write me a PM. Writing to me in Afrikaans, even though I keep on replying in English, you still bear on forward replying in my home tongue. I will always remember you as the guy giving the most insightful posts. The one that never replies with less than at least 4 sentences (respect for that). Thanks for handing out rep when you saw that I helped some one, but dit not get it a thanks or rep+. Uncle, your rep shows your colours!!!

Pollynator for being considerate and having an open mind to everything. Thank you so much for putting in effort to help who ever needs to be helped or asked for a favor. Will always remember you as the guy that I first made friends with over here at PcBg. Another thing I will remember you for is for always dreaming, dreaming big. :blush:

Oh and your awesome Sig creating (although you never did mine.. mmmm). :w00t:

Razer for helping okes that needs some insight on buying or on any hardware. You are always there to give an insightfull post of advice. And when one does not follow it, you go and do it for them. I will always remember you as the guy that does what he wants. The bad boy (

only kidding). One thing I will never forget is that infraction you gave to me as a joke. And for pointing out my mistakes if I write something like 'meliscious hardware'.

I will NEVER forget that you are the upgrade master of this forum.

buddha for all your funny comments. Thanks for bringing in a relaxed vibe, for not always being serious and making inapropriat jokes at times. I will never forget those uber good insightful posts you give for the times that you decide to be serious. I will never forget your chillaxed vibe. Oh and broodmother of DotA.

Grami for being one of the friendliest members around the forum. Dude I will never forget that you always spoke your mind on everything. Never shy to stand up if you thought PcBg might take offense, dude TOTAL respect for that. Another guy that I made friends with early off.

IonFlux for being most understanding towards me. You always find stuff funny what I find funny, you will always respect what I respect and always say and give thanks to the same things I would. I will never forget that you were the dude same age as me, maybe even the future of PcBg.

VirtualForce for all the joke threads that you have created. I will never forget that you liked ranting with rant threads, for joking in joke threads and for waiting out to get your amazing system. You are always thankful for people helping and gives people thanks or rep when they deserve it. I will never forget the threads you create for game patches and I will never forget our Quake addict.

1Day for being the total OC master. I do not know where you are these days, but thanks for all the OC tips and I will never forget you for that.

Steel for always being nice to everyone. Thanks for always giving people what they deserve. I will always remember you for never spamming around, not even once. For always appreciating anything some one does for you, SO MUCH and for helping around.

Ruder for the insight and huge posts about hardware. Always knowing avery little thing there is to know. I will never forget how you dominated the rep when you became a member. You are the one that gained the most rep in the shortest amount of time. I'm sure everyone envied you.

Bloodrayne for always handing out thanks and does not stop. Handing out thanks and groaning here and there, where ever it is needed. I will always remember you as one of the girls on this forum. I will most definitively not forget that you are the biggest Fable fan.

Scorpio for always bringing in interesting stories and questions from all over. I will never forget the trip that you had with buddha and VF (I think, correct me if I'm wrong). And definitively will never forget you for being the first female member.

Zerocoil for all his mature posts. I will never forget you taking that joke that everyone pulled on you (the one where you turned into a Zerocoiles).

Wolvebain for helping me out quite a lot. Thanks for always helping out and going out of your way to help. Dude, where are you these days?

flarkit for all the good threads that you have started. I will never forget that you were the member that became a mod the fastest off all the members I know.

tifutu for always being friendly and nice. Thanks for all your good and long posts and all the little jokes in between. Will never forget that urge that you have for upgrading.

Silencer1 for that AMD hotfix. I will never forget you for that and thanks so so much. That helped me so much!!! I know that he probably will never read this.. EVER.

calvin&hobbs for joking around (when appropriate) and helping where you can. Dude I will never forget all the threads that you created that has a "?" in it or starts with a [H]elp.

DiSSaRRaY for sharing your knowledge everywhere you can. I will never forget how much you actually changed since you joined. Started off spamming quite a lot and got better and better (dude I respect that so much).

Doug_Dread for all your awesome random threads. Dude I love them. Thanks for being so kind to all and also for stating your opinion when you need to. Will never forget that whole thing with your wife (you did great staying so cool through it all, bloody well done).

weirdwolf for being a really nice and awesome guy. You do not have enough posts for me to judge more, but I am sure you will become a regular and shape into a beautiful thing. I will always remember you for the etching on your case and for being a big Bleach fan!

Amalcamus for all those awesome photoshops. You make me dream big of cars. I will never forget that.

DaMaN for... Do I need say anything??

DOT.IT for.. well nothing. But I will remember him for being world number 3 in C&C Generals online.

Guys there are so many more members and I love all of you guys. I am so sorry if I did not name you on the list, but most of these things counts towards most of you guys. I want to thank all of you for making this my internet "happy place". I love this forum and there isn't one member here that I dislike. I hope no one dislikes me either. :sideways:

As you guys might have thought, this message is quite random. Yes this is a farewell message. Due to circumstances I cannot stay here anymore (I would like to keep the reason private tho, might be health, might be telkom, might be a mod that p!ssed me off), but you will never know. I really wish that I could have stayed here longer since it is an amazing place, and I hope you guys can go on and build PcBg even stronger. And as you are reading this, I am making a joke. My health is fine, telkom didn't do anything (but still sux) and I love all the mods. hehe sorry for that, but I couldn't resist.

The actual reason for this thread is because of my "Once upon a time" thread. It didn't get hits anymore (even after all the positive feedback, I know weird hey) and I wanted to write about PcBg members' personalities. So I decided to rather say thank you to all the members and tell them why I like them so much.

Thanks guys for being part of PcBg, never change!

Friendly Regards,
Zizzy

#66498 PCBG best (RPG's)

Posted Ionflux on 08 November 2008 - 05:30 PM

PCBG 2008 best RPG's!!

Winner The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion

Its that time of the year. Although its a first time for PCBG. I really like the rpg choices that everyone made. Thanks to everyone who participated in voting for the best rpg(+1 rep to all who participated). Now its time to vote and find out what should be nr1. Note, you can still add your favorite RPG's to the list here. This is just for 2008.

Official

Here are the nominees:

1. Titan Quest

Spoiler

2. Oblivion

Spoiler

3. Dungeon Siege II

Spoiler

4. Diablo II

Spoiler

5. The Witcher

Spoiler

6. Neverwinter Nights II

Spoiler

7. Overlord

Spoiler

8. Fallout III

Spoiler

9. Hellgate London

Spoiler

10. Dark Messaih of Might and Magic

Spoiler

Thanks for voting!
-----------------------------------------
Current results:

Results so far[5]:

League1 average rating: 30-75%

1. Oblivion 60.00%
2. Titan Quest 45.00%
3. Dungeon Siege II 35.00%

League2 average rating: 20-30% == [Diablo II  vs The Witcher]

4. Fallout III 30.00%
[Diablo II  vs The Witcher]
5. Diablo II 30.00%
6. The Witcher 20.00%

League3 average rating: 15-20%

7. Dark Messaih of Might and Magic 15.00%

League4 average rating: 10-15% == [Overlord  vs The Neverwinter Nights II]

8. Overlord 10.00%
-[Overlord  vs The Neverwinter Nights II]
9. Neverwinter Nights II 10.00%

League5 average rating: 0-10%

10 .Hellgate London 10.00%
http://www.pcbuyersg...15&pictureid=61

#69542 WWII Sniper possibly sniped over 700 enemy soldiers

Posted Maximus on 04 February 2009 - 09:54 PM

I just noticed this bit at Wikipedia and thought I'd share it with you guys. This guy seriously kicked a$$!:

Source: http://en.wikipedia....wiki/Simo_Häyhä

http://www.pcbuyersguide.co.za/attachment.php?attachmentid=8470&stc=1&d=1233777113

Simo Häyhä (December 17, 1905 – April 1, 2002), nicknamed "White Death", was a Finnish soldier, and is the most successful sniper in history.

Early life, World War II service

He was born in the municipality of Rautjärvi near the present-day border of Finland and Russia, and started his military service in 1925. Before entering combat, Häyhä was a farmer. During the Winter War (1939–1940) between Finland and the Soviet Union, he began his duty as a sniper against the Red Army. Working in temperatures between −20 and −40 degrees Celsius (−4 and −40 degrees Fahrenheit), and dressed completely in a white camouflage suit, Häyhä was credited with more than 500 confirmed kills against Soviet soldiers.

The unofficial Finnish frontline figure from the battlefield of Kollaa places the number of Häyhä's sniper kills at 542. A daily account of the kills at Kollaa was conducted for the Finnish snipers. Häyhä used a Finnish variant, M/28, of the Soviet Mosin-Nagant rifle (known as "Pystykorva" rifle, meaning "spitz"), because it suited his small frame (5 ft 3 in/1.60 m). He preferred to use iron sights rather than telescopic sights to present a smaller target (the sniper must raise his head higher when using a telescopic sight), to prevent visibility risks (a telescopic sight's glass can fog up easily), and aid concealment (sunlight glare in telescopic sight lenses can reveal a sniper's position). Another tactic used by Häyhä was to freeze the snow in front of him so that the shot wouldn't puff the snow, thus revealing his position. He also kept snow in his mouth so that when breathing he wouldn't reveal his position.

Besides his sniper kills, Simo Häyhä was also credited with as many as two hundred kills with a Suomi M-31 SMG, thus bringing his credited kills to at least 705. However, the latter claim has never been substantiated. All of Häyhä's kills were accomplished within 100 days, prior to injuries caused by an enemy bullet. Häyhä's record of an average of 5 kills a day, almost one kill per daylight hour of the short winter day, is unique, and he was called unstoppable by the Soviet Army.

Before his injury, the Soviets tried several ploys to get rid of him, including counter snipers and artillery strikes. Their best effort left the back of his coat torn away by shrapnel but left Häyhä himself untouched.

However, on March 6, 1940, Häyhä was shot in the jaw during close combat. The bullet tumbled upon impact and left his head. He was picked up by fellow soldiers who said "half his head was missing". He regained consciousness on March 13, the day peace was declared. Shortly after the war, Häyhä was promoted straight from corporal to second lieutenant by Field Marshal Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim. No one else has ever gained rank in such a quick fashion in Finland's military history.

Later life

It took several years for Häyhä to recuperate from his injury. The exploding Soviet bullet had crushed his jaw and blown off his left cheek. Nonetheless, he made a full recovery and became a successful moose hunter and dog breeder after World War II.

When asked in 1998 how he had become such a good shot, he answered, "Practice." When asked if he regretted killing so many people, he has said "I did what I was told to as well as I could." Simo Häyhä spent his last years in a small village called Ruokolahti located in the south-east of Finland next to the Russian border.

http://www.pcbuyersg...=1&d=1233777113

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#87808 Local Steam content server coming to WebAfrica!

Posted DAE_JA_VOO on 10 December 2009 - 05:17 PM

Now THIS is awesome:

Quote

STEAM content Server coming!
A steam content server is in the process of being setup and will be the 2nd service offering to be included in the FreeZone.

Steam is a digital distribution, digital rights management, multiplayer and communications platform developed by Valve Corporation. It is used to distribute a large number of games and related media entirely over the Internet. There are approximately 788 software titles available for which Steam allows users to purchase any of these games entirely digitally. Instead of receiving a box, disc, or even CD key, purchased software is immediately attached to the user’s Steam account.

Web Africa ADSL subscribers will be able to download content, such as full games, from the Web Africa hosted Steam server without utilizing any bandwidth from their accounts!

I got this in an email from WebAfrica.

FREE steam content downloads!

#85593 10 Reasons NOT to Date a Girl Gamer

Posted VirtualForce on 28 October 2009 - 08:18 AM

10 Reasons NOT to Date a Girl Gamer

1.It would be embarrassing if she were better at video games than you. Here you envisioned long co-op jaunts crusading against alien invasions, teaching her to play Portal by romantically holding her hands over the controller, and getting cozy while sniping from a bunker in Call of Duty, but here she is, curb-stomping your face over and over in Gears of War multiplayer. You don't even have to wait to wear that pink sweater she bought you for your birthday to be emasculated.

2. If you are better at video games than her, you will fight every time you give in to her pleas to play together. There are plenty of girls out there that play games. But playing does not imply winning. Ever. Even girls that identify themselves as gamers can be totally inept at video games. She may love playing the easy level campaigns at a nice slow pace, but when you catch her at every spawn point on the multiplayer board and snipe her before she even moves, she'll start to cry. For some reason.

3. You will never, ever get to play single player campaign again. It'll always be "oh, we never get to do anything together, let's play co-op" and then she'll insist on using Convenant weapons because "they are purple and pretty."

4. She will always be misled by beginner's luck on beat-em-ups. Girls don't understand the relationship of button-mashing with beat-em-ups; that is, if you do it, you win. A few button-mash wins will cause them to think they're skilled players, but once she starts trying to learn the moves, you'll crush her every time, and she'll cry again (see #2).

5. She does it for the dudes. Maybe this girl actually likes to play video games. And maybe someday I'll live in a bouncy castle and eat hamburgers for every meal. But she does it mainly because guys think it's cool, and is actually terrible at video games (see #2 and #4). This girl probably also "likes" football, baseball, basketball, paintball, beer, violent movies involving zombies, and firearms, but knows absolutely nothing about them.

6. She says she's a gamer, but what she means is about ten years ago, she used to make a Sim of herself WooHoo with a Sim of her crush, and then set his Sim house on fire. This girl is not actually a gamer, and is, in all likelihood, insane.

7. She says she's a gamer, but the only games she plays are on PopCap and other websites. Not only will she waste your time by getting you addicted to some niblet of a game like Kitten Cannon, she actually thinks this is gaming, which means she's just a terribly confused human being.

8. She'll really put the RPG in MMORPG. Running around as a naked night elf damsel-in-distress who's had her armor stolen and getting attention from the Stormwind sausagefest will be all well and good in the game, but ask her to do it in the bedroom and then there's just something WRONG with you.

9. If your girlfriend is playing video games with you, there is no one to bring you sandwiches and energy drinks. And if she stays the night and you both are awake until 3 AM playing Call of Duty, there is no one to wake up and make pancakes. Already you're out two meals. Do you want to starve to death?

10. If your girl gamer fits none of these descriptions, that means she is probably also a supermodel and a rocket scientist, and is therefore a perfect human being. You do not deserve her and will eventually break up, but video games and sex will be inextricably linked in your mind forever after all those games of Strip TF2, and you won't be able to turn on your console without getting a boner. Happy gaming!

Written by GamerPaper's favorite girl gamer, Casey Johnston!

Source : GamerPaper

#80680 Inside Sony's Blu-ray factory

Posted Rynoster on 01 August 2009 - 10:07 AM

Were you ever curious as to how a Blu-ray disc is manufactured? NEWS.com.au took a rare look into one of Sony's DADC factories and took some snapshots detailing the disc's journey from plastic crystal pieces all the way to the finished product.

Posted Image

Rounds to flats ... each Blu-ray disc begins its life as a collection of small polycarbonate granules delivered to the factory by truck and stored in a silo.

Posted Image

Clean room ... to reduce contamination, technicians must enter the production room through a chamber that blasts loose dust off their bodies with air jets.

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Go with the flow ... the polycarbonate granules are piped around the factory until they arrive in this hopper above the moulding machine that measures them out evenly.

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Under pressure ... the mould compresses the melted plastic into a disc and creates the first layer of data. Then the disc is removed by a robotic arm for the next step.

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Shiny ... the disc is then coated in a vaporised layer of silver 90 angstroms thick, in a process called sputtering. An angstrom is one 100 millionth of a centimetre.

The electromagnetic field around the sputtering machine is so strong that it affects pacemakers.

Posted Image

Toward the light ... the sputtered disc is then coated in a layer of UV resin and cured with light, before moving on to have the second layer of data embedded.

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Under observation ... Sony Digital Audio Disc Company (DADC) technicians monitor of the of three Blu-ray machines. In full production, each machine can make up to 16,000 discs a day.

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Hard layer ... finally, the disc is given another coating of UV resin and a final protective layer before being checked for any tiny bubbles between layers by this machine.

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Runtime ... the final stage of the production process is to check the data integrity of each disc through playback and scanning.

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All made up ... the discs, having been checked for errors, are then loaded into the printer that will add the artwork to their surface.

http://www.news.com....,6669750,00.jpg
Master plates ... the artwork for every disc printed at the Sony plant is stored in this rack, ready to be loaded into the printer for another run.

http://www.news.com....,6669752,00.jpg
Silkscreen-style ... the artwork is broken down into black, cyan, magenta and yellow layers that are applied separately, building up to the final image which is blasted with ultra-bright light to set the ink .

http://www.news.com....,6669744,00.jpg
Insert here ... the finished discs are then taken to the assembly packing line where they are matched with a plastic case, cover and any inserts.

http://www.news.com....,6669747,00.jpg
Flip and close ... the assembly packing line places the disc and insert into the box. At full production the machine can package 4500 Blu-ray discs per hour.

http://www.news.com....,6669779,00.jpg
Time to hang up the boots ... from the factory in Huntingwood, the discs start going out to retail stores all over Australia. About two thirds of them are films and the rest games.

#71586 PcBg members signatures

Posted Ionflux on 16 March 2009 - 03:07 PM

Hey guys, just for the fun of it I took the logo and made some names for some of the members, please remind me if I forgot someone. If you want to you can use it on other forum to attract members to pcbg. Its kinda basic. I hope you like it. Still working on them so these are kinda beta :whistle:

Attached Thumbnails

#61071 PcBg Guides & Reviews

Posted Zizzy on 12 June 2008 - 12:30 PM

Hey guys, I thought that we should make one thread where all the pcbg reviews and guides are listed. Only guides and reviews done by pcbg members may be listed here. Then we make this thread a sticky, so if you know you are looking for a review or a guide, you can just come have a look here and see if it's listed? Also, we can add the ratings of the threads, this will also encourage people to use the rating a thread option more.

I added a few reviews and guides I could find and remember of. We can add from here on... (If you guys think this is a good idea and that this should be stickied).

Guides

Overclocking
Overclocking the Asus P5N32-E by Zizzy (N/A)
Zizzy's Guide to Overclocking by Zizzy (N/A)

Benching
1Day's Guide to 3DMark 2006 Benchmarking by DiSSaRRaY (N/A)

PC Gaming
GG-Client Guide by Zizzy (*****)
Supreme Commander Strategy Section by Pollynator (N/A)
Command and Conquer 3 Tactics: Secure income (basics) by Zizzy (N/A)
Command and Conquer 3 Tactics: Secure income (advanced) by Zizzy (N/A)
Enhancement Shaman Guide by volt4g3 (N/A)
ut99, ut2k4, ut3 n00b guide by IonFlux (N/A)
How to play Left 4 Dead Co-Op by DiSSaRRaY (N/A)
How to play Counter-Strike 1.6 on Windows XP 64 bit by Zizzy (N/A)
SkullHozer's Guide To CS 1.6 (Steam) by SkullHozer (N/A)
Howto Install The Elder Scrolls 2: DragonFall by IonFlux (N/A)
ARMA 1 Editor Guide by IonFlux (N/A)
ARMA 2 Navigation Guide by IonFlux (N/A)
COD Modern Warfare 2 Steam Install Help Guide!! by =Force= (N/A)

Console
Xbox 360 RRoD (RLoD, 3 Red Lights) by Zizzy (N/A)

Hardware
The BIOS Guide by Zizzy (*****)
Extending my wireless LAN by Razer (N/A)
ASUS P5K BIOS Flash - Guide by Nones (N/A)
Cloning your hard drive by RockSpider (N/A)

Other
The Signature Guide by SkullHozer (*****)
How to set up your ADSL by Razer (*****)
Guide to updating Razer Deathadder firmware by Razer (N/A)
n00b's intervention into making netwrok cables by Razer (N/A)
Indoors Wireless Internet project log by Razer (N/A)
Outdoors Wireless LAN project log by Razer (N/A)
Rivatuner Setup for OSD by RockSpider (N/A)
What steps to follow in upgrading (CPU & GFX) by Zizzy (N/A)
Jailbreak the iPhone by calvin&hobbs (N/A)
How To Change/Install Themes In Google talk by IonFlux (N/A)
Find your missing drivers by Rynoster (N/A)
Anime series: Filler guide by Zizzy (N/A)

Total Guides: 33

Reviews

CPU

GPU
1Day Review EVGA 9800GX2 by 1Day (N/A)
Sparkle GeForce 8800GTS 320mb vs Sapphire Radeon HD 3870 512mb by Zizzy (N/A)
Zotac GeForce GT 240 AMP! Edition Review by TitanKing (N/A)
Club3D HD 5850 by C4rn4g3 (N/A)

Motherboard
1Day review DFI Lanparty DK X48 by 1Day (N/A)

RAM
Corsair XMS2 2GB DDR2 800MHz 5-5-5-18 by BloodRayne (N/A)

HDD
Mushkin EuropeSeries2 60GB SSD MLC 220/180 by Razer (*****)
Mushkin EuropeSeries2 60GB SSD MLC 220/180 - Part II by Razer (N/A)

Cases
My quick CM Stacker 830 review by Maximus (N/A)
Ikonic EN2 Chassis Review by Johnny (N/A)
Ikonik RA 2000 – High End Gaming Chassis by TitanKing (N/A)
Cooler Master 840 and Cooler Master 600W Silent Pro PSU Combo. by TitanKing (N/A)

Mice
Logitech G5 Review by Zizzy (N/A)
The new ROCCAT Kone[+] by TitanKing (N/A)
Razer Deathadder Review by Razer (N/A)
A4Tech X7 Oscar Lazer Mouse review by BradleyKZN (N/A)
Prestigio Ultimate Gaming Mouse Review by TitanKing (N/A)
The Fantastic 4 Gaming Mouse Review by TitanKing (N/A)

Other Hardware (PC related)
Zalman FG 1000 FPS GUN by Revilo (N/A)
PcBg Review: Little flash gem! by Razer (N/A)
Cooler Master GX 550W PSU Review by TitanKing (*****)
Cooler Master 840 and Cooler Master 600W Silent Pro PSU Combo. by TitanKing (N/A)

Coolers
Zalman CPNS9500-AT review by snail (N/A)
Deepcool IceBlade Pro by BradleyKZN (N/A)
Cogage TRUE Spirit and Arrow Review by Pollynator (*****)
Noctua NH-D14 Review by Zizzy (N/A)

PC Gaming
PcBg review: Just Cause (PC - DVD) by Razer (N/A)
Medal of Honor - Airborne (Mini Review) by VirtualForce (N/A)
Crysis Warhead (reviewed) by IonFlux (N/A)
Mass Effect Review by Zizzy (N/A)
Fallout 3 (reviewed) by IonFlux (N/A)
Need for Speed: Undercover by RockSpider (N/A)
Mirror's Edge (Some thoughts and mini review) by VirtualForce (N/A)

Console Gaming
[PS3] Conan review by Razer (N/A)
Lost Planet Review (Xbox 360) by Zizzy (N/A)

Other Hardware
SonyEricson K800 vs Nokia N73 vs SonyEricson W800 by Zizzy (N/A)
Sony Ericsson C902 Review by Zizzy (N/A)
Nokia N81 8GB reviewed by IonFlux (N/A)
Isonic IS-E8HD Review by TitanKing (N/A)
Isonic MP-113 Review by TitanKing (N/A)
Zioncom QR-130 PCBG Review by TitanKing (N/A)
HD M-6500 PCBG Review by TitanKing (N/A)
Isonic Net-Book CE269 Review by TitanKing (N/A)
Zotac MAG HD-ND01 Review by Maximus (N/A)
TViX HD M-6500A PCBG Review by TitanKing (N/A)
Tvix HD M-5100SH (1080p, HDMI, and H.264) PCBG Review by TitanKing (N/A)

Other
HS-M Weapon of Choice M4 SSK Review by TitanKing (N/A)

Total Reviews: 46

You can post your guides here, with links, and then it can be added by me or any of the moderators.

#89663 National Geographic best pictures of the year

Posted Rynoster on 11 February 2010 - 09:55 AM

#87243 Deepcool IceBlade Pro

Posted C4rn4g3 on 25 November 2009 - 12:31 PM

imgs/sponsors/hardware_sonicinformed.jpg

I decided that enough was enough and that im getting myself my first aftermarket cooler. I didn't have a big budget and the cooler I wanted wasn't available so I searched around and came across the Deepcool Ice Blade Pro. An advantage of this cooler is that it comes with an i7 bracket. Here are the technical specs for the cooler

You will see its a very heavy cooler, but thankfully it comes with support brackets to aid support.

Another advantage of this cooler is the CTT or core touch technology, which is basically open heatpipes that touch the IHS of the CPU. This aids greatly in cooling performance and does help to dissipate heat alot quicker too.

Features
Posted Image

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Universal solution,compatible with Intel LGA 1366, Intel LGA 775 and AMD AM2/K8.
Patented CTT technology high efficient in heat transfer.
Nickel plated fins, Heatpipe 4 pcs ensures the high performance of heat dissipation.
PWM fan, big air flow and air pressure dissipate efficiently.
Blue LED fan, super silent solution.
Preferable item for overclockers.<!--
De-vibration design. -->

Application for:

Intel LGA1366 Desktop CPU
Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770 (LGA775)
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 (LGA775)
Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 (LGA775)
Intel Pentium Dual-Core E2220 (LGA775)
Intel Pentium D 960 (LGA775)
Intel Celeron Dual-Core E1400 (LGA775)
Intel Pentium 4 all Series (LGA775)
Intel Celeron D all Series (LGA775)

AMD Phenom X4 9850 (AM2+)
AMD Phenom X4 9100e (AM2+)
AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ (939/AM2)
AMD Athlon 64 FX-62 (939/940/AM2)
AMD Athlon 64 4000+ (754/939/AM2)
All Sempron series (754/939/AM2)

Technical Parameter:
                                   <table id="prod_norm" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1"><tbody><tr>                     <td class="td1">Fan Dimension</td>                     <td class="td2">120×120×25mm </td>                     <td class="td1">Started Voltage</td>                     <td class="td3">7VDC</td>                 </tr>                 <tr>                     <td class="td1">Overall Dimension</td>                     <td class="td2">125.5×104×157mm</td>                     <td class="td1">Rated Current</td>                     <td class="td3">0.25±10%A(MAX)</td>                 </tr>                <tr>                     <td class="td1">Heatsink Material</td>                     <td class="td2">Al Fin+Heatpipe 4 pcs CTT</td>                     <td class="td1">Power Input</td>                     <td class="td3">3.0W</td>                 </tr>                 <tr>                     <td class="td1">Weight</td>                     <td class="td2">929g</td>                     <td class="td1">Bearing Type</td>                     <td class="td3">Hydro Bearing</td>                 </tr>                 <tr>                     <td class="td1">Rated Voltage</td>                     <td class="td2">12VDC</td>                     <td class="td1">Fan Speed</td>                     <td class="td3">900±150~1500±10%RPM.</td>                 </tr>                 <tr>                     <td class="td1">Operating Voltage</td>                     <td class="td2">10.8～13.2VDC</td>                     <td class="td1">Max Air Flow</td>                     <td class="td3">60.29CFM</td>                 </tr>                 <tr>                 <td class="td1">Noise</td>                     <td class="td2">21.4~32.1dB(A)</td></tr></tbody></table>
http://www.pcbuyersg...&pictureid=1437

http://www.pcbuyersguide.co.za/imgs/sponsors/buy_prophecy.jpg

INSTALLATION

I found that installation for the i7 was a breeze, and thanks to the brackets, it manages to clear all caps and has no interference with anything. Removal of the motherboard was required for installation though but its not too big of a problem as it was very quick. All that is needed for i7 installation is eight screws and three brackets so as you can see, its very simple.

PERFORMANCE

The cooling of this cooler is very impressive, even on hot days doing very well to cool the CPU. What I am surprised about was that the fan is 1500rpm at its max, and the PC was still whisper quiet! Even more surprising was the cooling power of the fan, doing better then some faster fans. This is due to the fans design and works really well!

Previously, on stock Intel fan at stock speeds and voltages, running 3Dmark06 temps were consistently at 60 degrees for the highest core and the lowest was 57. With this cooler, at 3.35ghz and 0.1volts extra, the highest core was running at 54 degrees and on a fairly hot day as well!

Another test I feel I should mention is SuperPI. Previously, SuperPI 1M @ 4.2ghz was going well over 70 degrees with the stock cooler and some forced air as well! With the Deepcool, it never went over 50 degrees without the forced air. Bearing in mind that this was with all cores and threads running max, which is really amazing. This result blew my mind away and really showed me what the cooler is made of. I can only imagine what kind of performance the cooler is capable of with another fan attached!
I also checked the smoothness of the base and found it very smooth indeed!

NOTES

This cooler is rather large, and has a 120mm fan and has support for another, so make sure that it will fit into your case

You need to make sure that you don’t over tighten the screws otherwise it might crack your CPU or motherboard

PRO’S AND CON’S

Pros’

Excellent cooling performance
Very silent
Easy installation
Price
Can add an extra fan

Cons’

Might not fit into some cases
Quite heavy

CONCLUSION

imgs/gold.png

Score – Gold Award:
9/10

http://www.pcbuyersguide.co.za/imgs/sponsors/buy_prophecy.jpg

#84003 PCBG (Gauteng) Spring LAN

Posted RockSpider on 30 September 2009 - 10:12 PM

Back by popular nagging - another PCBG LAN !!!!

As it's been quite a while, I was thinking : maybe you guys want to get together for one of our discombobulated, chaotic "I'm gonna stab you in the face" LANs ?
If not, I will understand ....

Unlike the previous one (Brrrrrr LAN) this one will not attempt to be structured or give PcBg members any particular seating privileges etc. There will be space for 16 peeps on a strictly 'first come, first served' basis.

All I ask, is that you please show up on the day if you have indicated in this thread that you will attend (no maybe's will be considered). Do not say that buddies or mistresses or illegitimate children will attend and then have them bail at the 11th hour. You will be hit with the LAN BAN stick.

As regards the games to be played : nobody has to play any game that they don't like or completely suck at. This is a completely informal get together with the idea being for everybody to have fun. Remember that one person's idea of fun, might be another's definition of pain.
So while a bunch of peeps are chasing each other's tails in GRID, the rest could be squealing with glee in COD or UT3.

Place : Rock's dungeon in Edenvale.
Time : Saturday, 10th October 2009, from 9:00am onwards
Cover : R 50.00 per head, coffee / tea available in copious quantities.
Bring : Power adapters, cables, headphones, PC's, mice, munchies and a cheerful attitude.
Take : Happy memories, tons of backups and just the equipment you brought.
Config : IP range - 192.168.000.002 to 192.168.000.250, workgroup - WORKGROUP

So .... who wants in ?

#82616 Car out-Smarts SAPS detective

Posted Doug_Dread on 02 September 2009 - 04:25 PM

I was sitting on my patio this afternoon, when a Chevy stops in the street and a portly guy gets out and calls me to the gate. He identifies himself as a SAPS detective, looking for an address because he's following up on a hi-jacking and can't find the house.

With a look of contempt on his face he explains that some fool reported his Smart car hi-jacked, then points at his Chev and then my Mazda in the driveway and says "These are 'smart' cars, many cars are 'smart', how am I supposed to find this car if they don't tell me what kind of car it is?"

Holding desperately onto my sober expression, I tell him Smart is a kind of car and try to describe it for him, but no Oprah lightbulb moment happens. He then says "Oh, but they didn't say what colour it is and I also need a description of the hi-jackers." Not being able to help him with the address nor description of the hi-jackers, I bade him farewell.

Good luck to some poor sod getting his Smart car back.

#77155 Zizzy's Guide to OverClocking

Posted Zizzy on 11 June 2009 - 07:29 PM

Zizzy’s Guide to OverClocking

  Well this isn’t one of those long posts which literally take you an hour or more to read, this is quite a basic overview of how to overclock.

  **I will take no responsibility for any hardware being damaged in attempts to overclock. You overclock at your own risk and will have to live with the consequences yourself IF you damage hardware. These are just guidelines and not rules.**

  Let us start with the basics. Where do I overclock? Well if you don’t know the answer to this, then you should really take your first go slowly and little at a time. You overclock in your BIOS (Basic Input Output System). *Here is a list of boards and their BIOS configs*. Getting into your BIOS is simple, before POST and actually before anything starts up hit ‘delete’, ‘F8’ or ‘F2’ button  to enter the BIOS (depends on your mobo which button to hit). Now that you are in the BIOS, you are ready to go, just find the allocated place to the overclocking settings. This is usually set to auto, set it to manual. All the different mobo’s has different layouts, names and settings, so I cannot tell you exactly what to do or which settings to set.

  Example used from this point forward is with a 3.0GHz processor (E6850).

  Teaching the basics

  Bus speed x multiplier = Processor speed
  Example: 333MHz x 9 = 3.0GHz

  As you can see, you can use common sense on how to overclock the CPU speed. Up the bus speed and/or multiplier. You can easily do this in the BIOS. What is FSB? Well it is NOT the same as your BUS speed. FSB (Rated FSB) = bus speed x4. What does this mean? Well the higher it is, the faster it is, the faster messages get’s carried through your North Bridge to where they should head. So let’s take this example:

400MHz x 9 = 3.6GHz
450MHz x 8 = 3.6GHz

  Which one is better? Well technically the bottom one would be your better overclock. Why? Well quite simple. Your FSB will be 200MHz higher with a 450MHz bus speed than with a 400MHz bus speed. Will I see a difference in speeds with those 2 overclocks? To be honest, no. They simply score the same. The bottom overclock will run things faster, but by split seconds to the eye.

  RAM speeds change when you change the bus speed. Why? Well in your mobo there is an ratio you can set between bus speed : RAM speed.When the CPU clocks are set to auto, the ratio will set itself up to stock bus speed : stock RAM speed. When you disable the auto setting (which you need to do to overclock) you will have to set this ratio to what you prefer. Some mobo’s limit you with 1:1, 1:1,5 and 1:2 which isn’t that great. Other mobo’s you can enter the RAM speeds yourself (damn that is by far the best) or you can enter any ratio between those 2 (which is just as good I guess).

  Example of an quick OC showing all the things mentioned above.

http://www.pcbuyersg...=1&d=1244741223

http://www.pcbuyersg...=1&d=1244741223

  Getting to it

  Guessing you are asking yourself, so how do I do this the best I can since I know the basics now? Well let’s get to that part.

  I would start by getting my CPU up by 100MHz. All the Core 2 Duo’s + is capable of this for sure. Rather don’t just set your multiplier up by 1 for a first try, this is too big of a risk (the overclock would be too big for a first try). How do I get it up by 100MHz exactly? Well all you do is take the amount you want to move your CPU speed up by (in this case 100MHz) and divide it by your multiplier (let’s take it as 9). This means you should increase your bus speed by 11. All set and done, save changes and restart. Congratulations, you have just overclocked your CPU.

  So now what do I do? Well you keep going and going. :happy:

Usually you can read up on where your chip should be able to overclock to. Take those speeds and set your speed about 100-200MHz (CPU MHz) below that. This should work. After that you take it up 25MHz (CPU MHz) at a time until it crashes on a 3D Mark 06 run (3D mark is your best first test for stability).

  How do I test if my overclock is stable?? And why would you mention 3D Mark 06 as the test to run when taking the bus speed up bit by bit?

  Well here you go. If you crash on restart after overclock, well then the OC is definitively too steep for your CPU. If you past POST after the OC, then you are not yet fine. The screen might freeze when OS loads or restart while running. Now coming to 3D Mark 06. This is your test 1 of 2. You run this test after every little OC, if you past and you want to OC more, go ahead until you are satisfied or 3D Mark crashes. Ok so now you are happy with your OC because you set it 1-2MHz below a crash on 3D Mark or you are just happy with your OC (no crashes on 3D Mark). Now comes test number 2. Run Prime95 for about 2 hours. Bad news, if you crashed on 3D Mark and you set your bus speed 1-2MHz lower to become stable on 3D Mark, you will NOT be stable on Prime95. You will have to lower by at least 50MHz (CPU speed). Now you have to go through the whole procedure again, but with Prime95 as your test. Luckily you know round about where your clocks should be.

  Ok so what now? Well you can decide to be happy with your OC or you can ask yourself the following question. Why can’t I clock further? So here is where overclocking actually starts.

This might be the max your CPU will reach but it’s not likely.

Reasons why you might not be able to clock anymore:

Heat
CPU hit max bus speed with current volts
RAM

  1) Heat

  If this is your problem and you are getting crashes because of heat, then you are pretty much limited to your OC that you reached without crashing, which won’t be a bad OC. How to solve this? Well you will need to get an aftermarket cooler, if you already have one, you reached MAX or will need to get an even better one.

  2) CPU hit max bus speed with current volts

  Ok so you have reached your max OC right before crash, but your temps still look good when you reach a crash. What you can do here is up the volts. This is dangerous, but these days CPU’s can handle it easily. What you do is, you will have to change the VCore voltage. Take it up a notch (the smallest bit you can) from the current volt (stock volt). Increasing volt will increase your temperature. Now you have to go through all the steps again. If you reached a max OC and your temp still looks fine at crash point, take it up a notch again and repeat. The stage where heat is your limiter will come sometime.

  I am not going to give any ‘values’ here. If you want to know what ‘good’ temps are for your CPU, look it up or ask here. Voltages for all different CPU’s differ, so I can’t give advice on that. Just make sure to look up what volts are the ‘dangerous’ volts for your CPU and don’t exceed it.

  3) RAM

  How does RAM limit my OC? Well easy, let’s say you have RAM running at 800MHz stock. Let’s say your bus speed is in a ratio 1:1 with your RAM. Now you might get stuck at 460MHz x 8. This means that your RAM will now be running at 920MHz (RAM speed is [bus speed:RAM speed] x2). If your RAM cannot handle it, you will experience crashes. How do I test if this is the limit of my OC? (Check your temps first, if it looks fine, then your limit factor will be RAM or VCore.) Well lower your ratio, if you can’t do that keep the ratio the same, lower the bus speed and up the multi so that your CPU runs at the same speed it did with the previous multiplier (so now your bus speed will be lower and your multiplier higher). If there are no crashes after this, you know your RAM is your limiting factor. If you are limited to 1:1 ratio (at the lowest ratio) you will be forced to overclock with the new multiplier. If you can change the ratio to whatever you want, you can just change that and go forth with the OC.

  If you reach any limits after this, you have maxed out your OC. Congratulations.

  What about?

RAM timings
RAM speeds
GFX overclocking

Well RAM timings is something I will not go into, I do not know enough about it, but great timings to have is 4/4/4/12. I run my timings at 5/4/4/12 (closest I could get). If you want higher MHz you should loosen timings a bit (loosen means higher in this case, like 4/4/4/12 loosened would go to 5/5/5/15 or whatever you actually prefer). Try keeping your RAM speed as high as possible as this always helps with SuperPI and actually everything. If you can set the ratio between bus speed and RAM MHz, or you can set the frequency of the RAM to whatever you like, then try and find the highest you can run it at with the best suited timings. You can also choose between T1 and T2 timings. T1 timings are much faster, but there are a lot of mobo’s that does not like it and won’t run at it. Have a look see if you can run T1 timings.

GFX overclocking, well it’s too damn easy. Hehe. You can figure that one out for yourself. Download RivaTuner and go nuts!!

What do I need?

Prime95 (testing for stability)
Real_Temp (Keeping an eye on those temps)
SuperPI (benching, seeing improvement)
MemTest (testing the RAM)
CPU-Z (displays all the needed info on your CPU)

  Extra bit of info

  It is best to download a program when it comes to the little increasing in bus speed. It gets really frustrating to restart your PC after every OC change. Use a program until you find a stable OC and then change the settings to that in the BIOS and run stability test again. These apps usually comes with your mobo, or you can try THIS program.

  Another thing, everyone uses different mobo’s. To enable overclocking best, there will be a few changes to be made with settings. You will have to find those settings on your motherboard board yourself, do a search on the internet. Here are 2 boards with the settings you need:

Hopes this helps some guys out there. May the spirit of the OC Gods be with you.

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#74914 Why to delay/stop that socket LGA1366 - Intel Core i7 upgrade

Posted Wolvebain on 12 May 2009 - 08:36 PM

I have been asked a few time about the worth of upgrading to socket LGA1366  - Intel Core i7 [mainly by a particular good buddy of mine with alwayz the l33t`est rig `round].. So I have decided to share my view and thoughtz on the subject here, for him & otherz to digest and decide...

When considering an upgrade, I usually do the basic COST-BENEFIT analysis [a word that should never be sylabricated!]...

If Moore'z Law still holdz true [which it doez], NT [new technology] will become cheaper to fab as time goes on as compared to the initial costz... this meanz that I, as the consumer will be able to pay less for an item a year later as compared to when it is released...  An example of this was the cost of DDR-II RAM modulez price decrease [and performance increase] over time; and it can be seen with DDR-III currently...

Put that into perspective of the socket LGA1366 - Intel Core i7 architecture and itz current age & cost, it doesn't seem logical to get it now for me [not to even mention the state of the global economy & its impact on me].

On the benefitz side... Granted, the socket LGA1366 - Intel Core i7 architecture is superior to itz socket LGA775 - Intel Core 2 predecessor... but right now, is there any official stable platform that can truly & successfully harness all of the new the socket LGA1366 - Intel Core i7 architecture?  Windows 7 sayz it can, but it is not officially released [I'd actually wait for an offical release or SP1 before using it as an excuse for an upgrade]... applicationz [& games for the gamerz] aren't being built to & successfully harness itz potential either... ``Core i7 a waste of money for gamers, says Nvidia`` can bare testament to such matterz...

Another benefit, to me, would be the longevity of the architecture… If the socket 754 – AMD64 architecture taught me anything, it was to wait & research.  I applied the same lesson learnt to my purchase and uBer long adoption of the LGA775 architecture; and it payed-off in gold. The new the socket LGA1366 - Intel Core i7 architecture on the other hand seems, to me, to be another socket 754 – AMD64. The LGA1156 – 32nm Lynnfield has already been officially published by Intel in their Roadmap [Intel's 2009 roadmap: full speed ahead to 32nm @ arstechnica.com]

Then there’z the whole future proofing [as much as possible, if possible] aspect.  Just with USB3 and FireWire S3200, never mind Intel Larrabee GPU & otherz, with their abilitiez & benefitz, it makez me want to wait a bit longer to have these technologiez incorporated in my next upgrade…

In conclusion, personally, I would rather wait a while longer before upgrading my current system.

::Edit::

Intel Roadmap link: http://download.inte...map/roadmap.pdf

#84834 Crytek Releases CryENGINE 3

Posted Rynoster on 15 October 2009 - 11:02 AM

Frankfurt a. M. (Germany), - Crytek GmbH ("Crytek") is excited to announce that their latest all-in-one development solution CryENGINE 3 is now available for all developers. CryENGINE 3 is the first game development platform for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, MMO, DX9/DX10 that also is truly Next-Gen-Ready - with scalable computation and graphics for all major upcoming platforms. It provides the complete game engine to create AAA quality next generation games, and includes the redesigned CryENGINE 3 Sandbox level editor, a production-proven, 3rd generation "What you see is what you play" (WYSIWYP) - tool designed by and for professional developers.

CryENGINE 3 also introduces CryENGINE 3 Live Create. It allows developers to work with a single editor, but see and play the results in real-time on PC, PS3 and Xbox360, hooked up to a single dev PC. The engine takes care of the conversion and optimization of assets in real-time; enables instant, cross-platform changes to any part of game creation and as a result materially increases the speed, quality and significantly reduces the risk of multiplatform development.

"With CryENGINE 3 we are releasing the best development solution available today and tomorrow. With its scalable graphics and computation it is next-gen ready and with new features like CryENGINE 3 Live Create the best choice for game developers and companies developing serious games applications alike. It is the only game engine solution that enables real-time development and can ensure teams are able to maximise their own creativity, save budget and create greater gaming experiences." said Cevat Yerli, CEO & President of Crytek.

"We're delighted to launch CryENGINE 3 and we look forward to seeing what developers achieve with our all-new technology. CryENGINE 3 isn't just about providing our trademark highest-quality graphics and our out of the box AI and physics for the first time on consoles – it also delivers real benefits to all disciplines in games development. Programmers will create awesome new effects and gameplay; art, design and audio teams can play as they create with the fastest, entirely real-time WYSIWYP pipeline ever, materially reducing development time and risk – even producers, project managers and suits will love CryENGINE 3! Of course, our international team of more than 20 dedicated support staff are available right now to help our licensees make the most of CryENGINE 3; at their studio or at one of our support centres around the world." added Carl Jones, Director of Business Development CryENGINE.

CryENGINE is the underlying technology for Crytek's critically acclaimed games Far Cry, Crysis, Crysis Warhead and NC Soft's recently released MMORPG blockbuster AION. It has already been licensed to a number of major game companies around the globe, including several recent serious games training and simulation projects. CryENGINE 3 is the underlying technology for the highly anticipated Crysis 2.

News source
More info

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#78679 VirtualBox 3.0.0 for Linux Brings 3D and OpenGL 2.0 Support

Posted TitanKing on 01 July 2009 - 11:38 AM

Source: Softpedia, VirtualBox, the popular, amazing, open-source, virtualization software from Sun Microsystems, reached version 3.0.0 a few minutes ago. This major update brings lots of new features, many bugfixes and improvements over previous 2.x versions. The big and breathtaking news is that users can now use Direct3D 8 and 9 games or applications!

Moreover, with VirtualBox 3.0.0, support for OpenGL 2.0 (only for Linux, Solaris and Windows guests) has been implemented. Another important feature is the new SMP (Symmetrical Multiprocessing) guest support with no more than 32 virtual processors. Without any further introduction, let's have a look at the main fixes/additions in VirtualBox 3.0.0 for Linux:

Support for Linux kernel 2.6.31;
Support for Guest Additions in Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11;
Fixed CentOS 64-bit support;
Better performance for PAE guests on Linux kernel 2.6.29 or higher;
Better network I/O;
Revamped settings dialog;
Added a minimalistic toolbar for seamless and fullscreen modes;
Ability to create or remove more than one host-only network adapter;
Lots of fixes for 3D support;
Windows 7 Remote Desktop Protocol client support;
Fixed TX checksum offloading for Linux kernel 2.16.8 or higher;
Time synchronization handler provided by the new vboxadd-service module;
Added guest properties, which offers information about logged in users, operating system or network;
Added USB high-speed isochronous endpoints support, with read-ahead buffering for input endpoints;
Fixed USB dongles issues;
New registration dialog that uses Sun Online accounts;
Various clipboard fixes;

...and many more!

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#74686 Is today's music still memorable?

Posted Maximus on 09 May 2009 - 12:43 AM

Let me start this off with a small story about myself...

I'm a child of the 80's and grew up with a huge and diverse range of POP music and then Rock music in the late 80's and early 90's. I'm definitely no music expert and probably can't really tell good music from bad music; but surely good music, as is beauty, is probably be in the ear of the beholder? I ended up enjoying a huge variety of music in the early to mid 80's and I particularly enjoyed POP music from A-Ha, Pretenders, Madonna, Belinda Carlisle, Pet Shop Boys, Roy Orbison, Depeche Mode, Bangles, Richard Marx, Alphaville, UB40, Bad Boys Blue, Rod Stewart, Cyndi Lauper, Fine Young Cannibals, Elton John, Cutting Crew, Chris DeBurg, Air Supply, Berlin, Sinéad O'Connor, Tina Turner and many more...

In the mid 80's to early 90's I started enjoying Rock more and pretty much enjoyed most of the mainstream bands: Bryan Adams, U2, Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, Chris Isaak, Guns'n Roses, Metallica, Journey, Queen, Midnight Oil and Twisted Sister.

In the 90's more awesome rock bands came along and continued to do so to this very day. However, one thing I notice is that I can't get rid of my love for what I perceive as "classics"; all my favourite 80's POP and Rock music. It's what get my nostalgia and memory juices flowing... it's in these years that I had my first "real" kiss, when I became a man and stood up for myself against school bullies, when I tried my first cigarette, when I stopped being a kid and became a young man. Aaah, what great memories!

This brings me to my final part and the question I would like to ask you guys... Do you personally think that the music produced by todays hip-hop and pop culture artists would carry the same sentimental value for todays youngsters in their later years than what the music did for us in our youth? Perhaps I am just getting old and don't understand today's music and perhaps I'm going through what my parents did when they grew "older". But, my parents also have their "classics", it may not be the same as mine, but in their young days there were just as great and memorable bands to them. Everything these days seems to be variations of the same music, artists copying from artists, industries copying from industries, everyone trying to make a quick buck with a short lived song that will make an instant hist, only to disappear into the nether world of nothingness where no one will ever listen to them again... or will some teenage boy in 20 years time reflect back at what great song 50cents, Pufdaddy and Shakira made back in good old 2009? I would love to hear your thoughts!

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