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HTPC cases have been shrinking faster than a super model of late, which
is fine for those who don't mind smaller power supplies, mATX
motherboards, notebook drives, and low profile add in cards. If you
prefer the extra performance and flexibility of full sized ATX, your
case choices have been a bit skinny also--till now--join us as we have
a l... |
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First up for review in our Mevo Series is SageTV v5.0. SageTV LLC
(formerly Frey Technologies) was one of the first companies to release
functioning PVR software. I spent some time evaluating SageTV back
when they were still releasing increments of Version 1. What has
changed between then and now? Are we any closer to the ultimate HTPC
Fron... |
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Lian-Li and the words "Budget
Case" tend to appear in the same sentence about as often as a
super model asks you out. If you're building an HTPC on a budget, but
love Lian-Li's quality, there is hope for you on both “scores”. The
answer is the Lian-Li PC-9300--an earlier model from a few year... |
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Lets Move the Page Shall we? |
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Posted by: Franz on 4/15/08 @ 07:56:06AM |
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| "AMD recently released two new ATI TV Wonder HD tuners, both of which have been in our lab for the past few months. In that time, we've put them through numerous tests to see what each one was made of. While the 600 PCI left a bit to be desired, the 650 Combo USB proves to do a lot of things right." |
Posted by: Franz on 3/2/08 @ 02:32:44PM |
Hardware/HTPC-SFF |
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Franz: Now, I am not a fan of all acrylic cases, mainly because they show every bit of dirt and dust bunny that the house. This one is no different, all be it a HTPC case. That might suit someones fancy.
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| "Construction of the case from the kit required no large amounts of time, skill or patience. Easy and quick to put together and no surprises is just what I like to hear with any build kit. Lots of room for up to eight hard drives, the ability to take extended PSUs, VGA cards and oversized coolers c..." |
Posted by: Franz on 2/17/08 @ 06:46:22PM |
Hardware/HTPC-SFF |
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Franz: Looking at smaller CPU coolers for the case that I put a system in recently, since who really wants to run a stock cooler, just because it fits. This little gem just might fit the bill.
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| "We just finished a review on one of AeroCools newest SSF case
and now we have the oppurtunity to review one of their new heatpipe
CPU cooler. The AeroCool SilverWind combine 15 circular horizontal
fins with a solid 104 fin aluminum heatsink block and a variable
speed fan ..." |
Posted by: Franz on 2/17/08 @ 06:43:11PM |
Hardware/HTPC-SFF |
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Franz: While this review compares beginner's WC to top dollar Air Cooling, this WC kit from Swiftech seems to be a good place to start dabbling in the black arts of water cooling. It comes with all of what you should need to WC today's CPU's, and with only two major parts, it should be hard to mess things up.
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| "There is a fine line between effective watercooling and relying on people believing that it is by definition better than air. Chilling by water is much more involved than a simple HSF combo, which normally holds people back from taking the plunge. With several components (radiator, reservoir, water ..." |
Posted by: Franz on 11/4/07 @ 07:40:46AM |
Hardware/HTPC-SFF |
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Franz: All I can say is that I thought this was just gonna be another normal old case that would bore me to death. But I stared flipping pages and stated seeing things that made me go, "Wow, that's NZXT?" Yeah, take a look, it's a LANer too, it even has its own carrying strap. Very cool.
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| "NZXT have been champions of the gamer case market for a while now. In order to keep a top position, you need to keep pumping out interesting cases designed for every user. To fit this bill, they’ve releases the Rogue. Featuring a box shaped design and LAN carrying strap, it should be able to keep NZ..." |
Posted by: Franz on 11/2/07 @ 06:42:53PM |
Hardware/HTPC-SFF |
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Case Reviews |
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Posted by: Franz on 10/14/07 @ 06:03:10PM |
Hardware/HTPC-SFF |
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News Catch up |
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Posted by: Franz on 10/6/07 @ 08:06:46AM |
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Franz: Man, this little WB is just that, LITTLE. And it performs quite well for its size, given the real lack of surface area that other blocks have.
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| "TTIC has been around since the late 90's, though it's only since few years that they jumped into the desktop CPU cooling market.
Because of their advanced knowledge of heatpipe technology they have already accomplished quite a bit, now TTIC is exploring a very
new world, water coolin..." |
Posted by: Franz on 9/7/07 @ 07:38:44AM |
Hardware/Modding/HTPC-SFF |
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Franz: How about having the ability to slap a 8800GTS into a SFF and NOT have to cut ANYTHING? Yup, I think Silverstone hit a home run with the Sugo SG02. Take a look, the HHD's are out the way and the thing can even take a standard PSU.
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| "With motherboards getting smaller and smaller, small form factor PCs are all the rage. It’s possible to fit a whole lot of computing power into these tiny spaces, and people are taking notice. However, most SFF cases require you to make sacrifices in the way of graphics card length, or the size of p..." |
Posted by: Franz on 9/7/07 @ 07:31:57AM |
HTPC-SFF |
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Catch Up for a few days |
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Posted by: Franz on 8/26/07 @ 07:26:58PM |
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HTPC-SFF Goodies! |
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Posted by: Franz on 8/5/07 @ 05:43:43PM |
HTPC-SFF |
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Franz: This is a nice little case for a HTPC, be it a bit expensive. Then it does have many very well thought out features to help organize and cool the innards, and a LCD to display the functions.
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| "All in all this is a very smart little case, the lack of fan in the hard drive chamber did have me concerned that the drives would run too hot, but while they were a little warmer than with active cooling it was nothing to be alarmed about. Also excess heat is able to escape through the vents at the..." |
Posted by: Franz on 7/29/07 @ 09:18:04AM |
Hardware/HTPC-SFF |
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| "In this article we test and compare 8 different VGA coolers from Zalman, Gigabyte, Vantec, Coolermaster, ZEROTherm, Arctic Cooling
and Titan. The models range from completely passive no-noise solutions to multi heat pipes equipped cooling monsters. Read on to
find out which one(s) offe..." |
Posted by: Franz on 7/23/07 @ 01:38:03PM |
Hardware/HTPC-SFF |
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Franz: Got a neat review on a wireless media keyboard/mouse combo from mother Microsoft. Would be great for those that want that type of control for their HTPC's.
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| "If you have a media PC, chances are you are looking for the perfect keyboard and mouse to compliment it. Microsoft's prime offering is the Wireless Desktop 7000, which uses Bluetooth technology and is perfectly suited for Windows Vista." |
Posted by: Franz on 7/23/07 @ 01:15:01PM |
HTPC-SFF |
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Franz: Well, nothing like a good comparo review to get the thinking juices flowing. AND if you are in the market for some DDR3 133Mhz RAM, then look no further.
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| "After taking a look at these four DDR3 kits it's clear that the Kingston HyperX PC3-11000 is the clear choice as it overclocks the highest at tight timings and won more benchmarks than any other kit. The fact that it's also the lowest priced kit of the ones that are available doesn't hurt anyth..." |
Posted by: Franz on 7/15/07 @ 08:25:07PM |
Hardware/HTPC-SFF |
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Franz: Gotta have that LCD display for your HTPC? Or any other case that you plan on putting a media center in? Well check out this display from Silverstone, it comes with a remote and software as well. Pretty cool.
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| "Media center PC’s are all the rage these days, with people swapping out their stand-alone DVD players for slim PC’s. Unfortunately, a PC doesn’t have its own screen like a DVD player. And that’s where SilverStone come in, or should I say SoundGraph" |
Posted by: Franz on 6/25/07 @ 08:16:35AM |
Modding/HTPC-SFF |
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Franz: This is one sweet looking case for the HTPC market. It's not huge or boring like most are. Actually, it's pretty short but it still has plenty of room and goodies to play with.
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| "As computers become more and more versatile and advanced, home theater PCs
are getting more popular by the day. We have been tracking the evolution
of HTPCs ever since desktop cases morphed into their latest manifestation
– computers which are easy to use with only a remot..." |
Posted by: Franz on 6/25/07 @ 07:40:05AM |
HTPC-SFF |
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Franz Goes Without Highspeed For a Few Days |
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Posted by: Franz on 6/16/07 @ 06:07:03PM |
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Cooling Porduct Reviews to Gaze Upon |
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Posted by: Franz on 6/12/07 @ 07:50:35AM |
Hardware/HTPC-SFF |
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Franz: I can't wait for the day when I know longer have to worry about Serial cables running all over my PC. As is there are still at least 2 in the current one I run and that is because I can't part with a certain HDD, and my DVDRAM/RW drive needs one. With that said, I will definitely be looking for one (or several) of these new SATA DVD drives. Goodbye ribbons!!
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| "Long ago it seems, when I bought my first SATA HDD and yet, it is only now that I get to play with my first SATA DVD drive. Why you ask? Well it's actually taken this long for SATA CD/DVD drives to catch up to IDE drives in terms of performance and price. QuietPC have sent me the Samsung Writemaste..." |
Posted by: Franz on 6/12/07 @ 07:31:40AM |
Hardware/HTPC-SFF |
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Franz: Got one for the HTPC/budget builders out there that want a decent mobo for their Conroe's and want it cheap and mATX. Check out this review on the ASRock Conroe 1333-DVI/H from Legit.
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| "When it comes to motherboards, the mATX format is not something that most people are just biting at the bit to get their hands on. While it has its place, it certainly is not mainstream. Even though that is true, it has not stopped ASRock from putting a lot of time into developing these tiny motherb..." |
Posted by: Franz on 6/9/07 @ 04:46:22PM |
Hardware/HTPC-SFF |
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Franz: Here's a good one for all of you that have the thought to build a file server/ web-server/ media host/
bit-torrent client/ NAS box all with leftover parts and a bit of Linux. Yeah, I read the whole thing, and it gets pretty in depth but that is how I like my instructions when I read them. Got me thinking about building one if I can find some spare cash for a few good HDD's.
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| "After showing that one of the known pitfalls of Linux isn't as bad as most expected, it's about time to get things into gear and show one of the strengths of Linux. It's a known fact that Linux (or any other flavour of 'Nix) is a great OS to run on that low power, the-day-before-yesterday's-gen..." |
Posted by: Franz on 6/9/07 @ 04:02:01PM |
Hardware/HTPC-SFF/Software |
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PSU Review Round Up |
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Posted by: Franz on 6/9/07 @ 03:53:26PM |
Hardware/HTPC-SFF |
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Franz: Nothing like a lot of power with no noise. This 8600GTS has a silent heatpipe cooling system, and it comes with Supreme Commander to boot.
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| "While most of us wait.....and wait.....and continue to wait for DirectX 10 games to arrive, NVIDIA continues to saturate the market with videocards covering every price range supporting the highly anticipated graphics platform. As AMD/ATI struggle to find their way with their much hyped R600 arrivin..." |
Posted by: Franz on 6/4/07 @ 07:34:27PM |
Hardware/HTPC-SFF |
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Franz: For those that ever wondered what an average HTPC setup would be like running Linux and Myth TV, the people over at Phoronix give us a nice once over. Now if I could just find some more storage for all the good stuff that I'll probably have to save now.
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| "With more and more people assembling MythTV boxes as alternatives to Windows Media Center or going out and buying a TiVO, for this introductory article we will share some recommendations of hardware we had used on a recent MythTV build along with other information to consider when building your next..." |
Posted by: Franz on 6/4/07 @ 07:11:16PM |
Hardware/HTPC-SFF/Software |
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Franz: I'm gonna put this review up for you HTPC people that might be looking at a new cooling solution. Then again, this CPU heatsink is a MONSTER, might be a pain to shoehorn into some of the smaller cases.
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| "Arguably the most interesting comparison to be made was the performance difference between the Noctua NH-U12F, which was using only one NF-S12 fan at 600RPM, and the GeminII. The GeminII trailed the NH-U12F by almost six degrees, which doesn't bode well for the GeminII's cooling efficiency. Even t..." |
Posted by: Franz on 5/29/07 @ 05:57:09PM |
Hardware/HTPC-SFF |
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News Catchup for the Week |
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Posted by: Franz on 5/27/07 @ 10:02:31AM |
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Franz: So what's next for the AMD crew? Well, the fellas over at bit-tech got a look see at some of the new CPU specifications and toys that are due out shortly. I hope for AMD's sake, that they are a lot less of a flop than the 2900's.
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| "It still looks like AMD has something exceptionally powerful on paper, and finally a true competitor to Intel's Core as we peer through the glass, nose pressed against the surface, but until we get hold of one to test all bets should remain off. Intel's 1333MHz FSB quad core CPUs and eventually 45..." |
Posted by: Franz on 5/19/07 @ 04:35:20PM |
Hardware/HTPC-SFF |
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Reviews of Random Access Memory |
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Posted by: Franz on 5/19/07 @ 04:22:01PM |
Hardware/HTPC-SFF |
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| Jul, 2008 |
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