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HDTune shows some interesting parameters that others do not, and gives some good latency numbers for various file access sizes. LINKED INDEX Introduction ~ Test Bench & Protocol ~ Card Settings RAID 5 Explained ~ Initial Tests ~ AS SSD HDTune ~ Win 7 & AIDA ~ IOMeter 08 Vantage and Final Thoughts FOLLOW THE DISCUSSION IN OUR FORUMS

WIN7 EXPERIENCE INDEX The Win7 Experience Index (WEI) represents Microsofts method of rating computer systems and, more specific to our usage, provides a storage evaluation through a graduated rating system up to 7.9 on pc components and the system as a whole. This benchmark is built into Windows and anyone can use it by simply typing: Go to Win Orb/All …

Iometer 2008.08.18 For the enthusiast crowd and enterprise, I have included IOMeter which allows for configurable cache sizes.  We have set the test file to 8gb, so you can see the results without cache leverage. There are going to be a few screens displayed so your patience is appreciated as a few shots are just showing the massive amounts of …

PCMARK VANTAGE HDD SUITE In PCMark Vantage the data simply cannot be manipulated, and a result is provided based on the transfer speeds observed in eight simulated user activities. This is also a widely accepted opinion held by many reviewers and storage enthusiasts. Through Vantage, the user gains large benefits in the write-back feature of the  RAID card as the …

Getting my head around OS X wasn’t easy and then diving into the programs needed to do my everyday stuff was another task that had to be learnt. Quite a big deal was being made for Office for Mac 2011 and as a happy Office 2010 for Windows user, I was looking forward to checking out the Mac version. There …

We’ve seen little innovation in laptop design in the last few years. Most companies seem to think that using a brushed aluminum finish or adding Intel’s latest mobile CPU is all they need to do to freshen a product line. Still, Acer’s not the first company to introduce a laptop with dual screens; the short-lived Toshiba Libretto W100 comes to …

Many of our readers may be unfamiliar with the Xigmatek brand. Xigmatek is a relatively new company that began by offering excellent thermal management products to enthusiasts. Xigmatek was launched as a branch of parent company ‘Micro Technology’ in 2005 and they quickly expanded to offer more solutions for the DIY market such as computer cases and power supplies. Xigmatek’s …

Good and well applied thermal paste is certainly a must for every avid overclocker. It is also a necessity if you like to have a quiet PC. Simply put, without thermal paste your CPU Cooler won’t do much and as such will be working as hard as it can and your CPU temperature will stick rocket. Here at eTeknix we …

The performance memory market has continued to push the performance envelope over the last few generations of hardware, each new development ushering in more speed and better performance.  But beyond speed, memory has not yielded much material to the marketing departments. We all know that the marketing departments are tasked with getting products on the market and into your hands. …

Just a quick note to pass on that Crucial M4 SSDs were made available for public purchase this morning and can be bought from Crucial direct by following this link! You may remember our original review which can be found here. Of particular interest just might be the pricing as we are seeing great prices for the 64GB, 128GB and …

Many graphics cards are rebranded reference designs. Sapphire doesn’t play that game, and releases their HD 6950 Flex 2GB to prove it. This card has a trick, the ability to run 3 monitors right out of the box. Tricks are great, but does the card have the muscle to satisfy gaming enthusiasts? Full story at TechwareLabs.

Sapphire have decided to re-release two of AMDs last generation range of cards “ the HD5830 and HD5850, but this time around they are offering them with a modified cooler and heavily reduced pricing. When we say heavily reduced, we really do mean it. The HD5850 Xtreme has been reduced from an original price of£250 to£99 inc vat and the …

Recently G.Skill announced their latest Sniper memory which is designed specifically for PC gamers and system modders. They have underwent extensive compatibility tests to ensure high performance operation on a variety of Intel and AMD platforms. This new Sniper series is a new ultra low voltage design which runs at 1.25v, saving power over the course of a year, while …

Case fans are one of those things that are essential but rarely discussed. It is much more important to have a good CPU cooler than good case fans. That in itself is not quite strictly true. Ok yes without a CPU cooler your processor will overheat within seconds but without a case fan you will struggle to remove any heat …

 It is a fact that most of us PC hardware enthusiasts are so concerned with what is happening at the high end of the graphics card market, that lower end cards like the GTX550 get forgotten among the more outrageously powerful, and sometimes outrageously expensive, cards out there. However, the lower end cards are what sell the best to the …