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Gainward GeForce GTX 580 “Phantom” 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card

Posted by: lanpartyx on: April 22, 2012

In: enthusiasts | Gaming | Hardware | Overclocking | Reviews
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The world’s fastest GPU has arrived with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580. Experience blockbuster games like Call of Duty®: Black Ops and Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X® 2 in their full glory with everything cranked to the max. Not only does the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 rip through the latest games, it also runs quieter than the previous generation. And as you have come to expect from the GeForce GTX GPU, the GTX 580 packs support for all the premium GTX gaming technologies such as NVIDIA Surround, 3D Vision, PhysX and SLI. With all these features and more, it is easy to see how the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 obliterates the competition.

Instead of fans on its obverse side blowing air onto the PCB, there are three fans on its reverse side, drawing air from the aluminum fin array, and onto the PCB. The PCB also seems to be a non-reference design.

Features:-
- Core Clock: 783MHz (Fermi GF110)
- 64 TMUs (GTX 480 had 60 TMUs)
- Innovative thermal design: Vapour Chamber (Quieter than previous generation)
- Memory: 3072MB GDDR5
- Memory Clock: 4020MHz (Effective)
- Memory Interface: 384-Bit
- Processing Cores: 512
- Shader Clock: 1566MHz
- Bus Type: PCI-Express 2.0
- Display Connectors: 2x Dual-Link DVI-I & 1x Mini-HDMI 1.4a (Includes HDMI & VGA Adapters)
- SLI Ready (Upto 3-Way SLI Supported)
- HDCP Capable
- DirectX 11 Support
- OpenGL 4.0 Support
- PhysX Enabled
- CUDA Enabled
- 3D Vision Enabled
- NVIDIA Surround Enabled
- Lower power consumption compared to GTX 480, only 244 watts
- Warranty: 2 Years

Tags: 11, 2033, 3D, 3GB, 5760x1080, 580, Afterburner, beast, Benchmark, Benchmarks, Build, Card, Computer, Computers, Gainward, Graphics, GTX, Hardware, Heaven, Mark, Metro, MSI, NVIDIA, Overclocked, Overclocking, Part 1, Part 2, PC, Performance, phantom, Results, Review, rig, Screens, Singularity, SLI, Surround, System, Triple, Unigine, Video, Vision

Asus Xonar D2X 7.1 PCI-E Sound Card

Posted by: lanpartyx on: April 22, 2012

In: enthusiasts | Gaming | Hardware | Reviews
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With the introduction of Windows Vista, the whole audio architecture landscaped has been changed. This has resulted in teething problems for gamers – with the possibility of losing all surround sound or hardware accelerated Direct3D and EAX while gaming in the Windows Vista environment. To circumvent this problem, the Asus Xonar family of audio cards utilizes an Asus exclusive technology – the new DS3D GX extension in the Xonar D2X driver; to provide full support for surround sound and hardware accelerated features by translating DirectX to the DS3D GX. While other solutions like OpenAL requires special installation and game support, DS3D GX doesn’t. Gamers can enjoy DirectX gaming with hardware enhanced surround sound and EAX effects automatically and immediately after installation. Asus Xonar D2X audio card, dedicated to be the best audio card for gaming and home entertainment, provides unprecedented 118dB In/Out SNR audio quality and features for games, music, and movies. Combining 192k/24-bit ultra fidelity input and output with a suite of Dolby and DTS sound technologies and abundant valuable software, the Xonar D2X is well designed to upgrade your PC to a powerful and high-quality Home Entertainment Centre, which you will never have with onboard audio or other sound cards.

- PCI-Express Interface
- Vista Gaming with DirectSound & EAX support
- Hi-Fi class audio quality with SNR up to 118dB
- Dolby HomeTheater Technologies & DTS Connect
- Valuable Cakewalk and Ableton Live music production software bundled
- Unprecedented SSNR NR Up to 118db reaching the limit of PC audio sound quality clarity
- Full duplex High-definition audio processing at 192KHz/24Bit for all Input and outputs and Inputs
- Versatile Dolby/DTS Audio Technologies for Game, Music, and Video
- Accurate 3D sound positioning and hardware acceleration for PC gaming
- Real-time DDL and DTS Connect encoders for amazing gaming and surround sounds over your Home Theater System
- Requires floppy power-connector
- Vista Ready

Tags: Asus, Card, D2x, PCI-E, Sound, Unboxing, Xonar

CoolerMaster Cosmos II Case Review

Posted by: lanpartyx on: January 29, 2012

In: enthusiasts | Gaming | Hardware | Reviews
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It’s been a long road for the Cosmos II, but it’s finally here. The long-awaited successor to Cooler Master’s blockbuster Cosmos was supposed to ship in September—around the same time as our2011 Dream Machine, which used a prototype version of the Cosmos II as its chassis. Well, after some trips back to the drawing board, the Cosmos II is finally ready for prime time. It’s real. And it’s spectacular.

The Cosmos II, which Cooler Master bills as an “Ultra Tower,” is 20 percent larger than the original Cosmos—it’s more than 27 inches tall, 26 deep, and 13.5 inches at its widest; and it weighs a staggering 47 pounds empty. The chassis frame is steel, while the shell is plastic with aluminum cladding on the panels. The build quality is outstanding, with nary a sharp edge, uneven panel or flimsy component. The sliding doors on the top and front panel slide smoothly, the side hinges are solid and easy to use, and the handles won’t fall off. Our review unit is all black, but Cooler Master also offers a silver model.

Yes, it looks this good in real life.

The Cosmos lineage is strong with this one, from the hinged side panels to the top carrying handles, to the slide-out hard drive trays; but the Cosmos II is a thoroughly modern product, with massive cooling potential, strong cable-management chops, and wide-open spaces.

The Cosmos II has three toolless 5.25-inch drive bays, two front-panel 3.5-inch hot-swap SATA bays, and a whopping 11 internal hard drive trays: five in the main compartment and six in the case’s bottom section, which also contains the PSU and two 12cm fans that blow air directly across the lower hard drive cages. The two lower hard drive cages and the primary hard drive cage are all removable. Take out the lower two, add an included bracket, and you can install a 240mm radiator in their place. Or you can remove the upper hard drive cage to improve airflow to the main compartment.

You’ll never say, “Gosh, I wish the Cosmos II had more room inside.”

The main compartment has ten PCIe expansion slots, plus one on the side, and it supports motherboard form factors as large as XL-ATX. It can accommodate CPU coolers up to seven inches tall, and 12.2-inch GPUs with room to spare. The motherboard tray contains eight rubber-grommeted cable-routing cutouts to the right of the motherboard, two non-grommeted cutouts above it, and two grommeted cutouts in the divider between the PSU and main compartments, for PSU cables or water-cooling tubes. There’s more than an inch of space behind the motherboard tray for cable routing.

The case’s front panel includes two USB 3.0 ports (with an internal header), four USB 2.0 ports, an eSATA port, and two audio jacks. The case’s power and reset switches are above the front-panel connectors, along with a sleek fan controller that can power up to nine fans on four different channels.

The Cosmos II ships with five fans: a 20cm front intake fan, 14cm rear exhaust fan, 12cm top exhaust fan, and the previously mentioned two 12cm hard-drive bay fans in the lower compartment. The front-panel fan can be swapped for a 14cm fan, the rear fan can be swapped for a 12cm, and the top panel can accommodate a 20cm fan, two 14cm fans, three 12cm fans, or a 240mm radiator. All the intake fans have removable dust filters. The hard-drive tray in the main compartment can accommodate a 12cm fan for increased drive cooling, and two 12cm fans can be mounted to the left side panel for GPU cooling. Each fan, save the rear exhaust fan, are controlled by the front-panel fan controller.

The nine 3-pin connectors are color-coded and labeled, with three for the top fans, three for hard-drive fans, two for GPU fans, and one for the front fan. The fan controller also has nine two-pin LED controllers for Cooler Master’s LED fans, although only the 20cm front fan actually has has an LED. This all leads to a terrifying bundle of cables coming from the front panel. Thank goodness Cooler Master includes plenty of cable-routing options and tie-downs behind the motherboard tray.

Aside from the plethora of fan-control wires, building into the Cosmos II is a snap. The cavernous interior leaves plenty of room for all your high-powered components, and with plenty of support for both air- and water-cooling setups, you’ll be able to keep even the hottest rigs chilly. It doesn’t have the water-cooling potential of, say, Silverstone’s TJ11, but its price tag is $250 less.

Our gripes are minimal. First, the sheer size of the beast means you need a very tall desk (if you’re putting the Cosmos II under it) or a very sturdy desk (if you’re putting it on top). Second, we’ve seen cases with better fan-control wire routing. Lastly, we could do without the loud beep the fan controller produces each time you change the fan speed.

These minor quibbles aside, the production version of the Cosmos II is a great case, and we foresee it being very popular with those who need plenty of room for high-performance components, have the space in their office for the Cosmos II’s bulk, and don’t mind forking over $350. It’s an unabashedly prestige case, but sometimes that’s what we need.

Tags: chassis frame, CoolMaster, Cosmos II, Hardware, Mod, wide open spaces

Sneak Peek at the new Asus Rampage IV Extreme

Posted by: lanpartyx on: January 29, 2012

In: enthusiasts | Hardware | Reviews
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Asus’ ROG (Republic of Gamers) is set to release Rampage IV Extreme, its flagship motherboard for the upcoming release of Intel’s LGA2011 (Sandy Bridge E) processors. The Rampage IV Extreme has the standard red/black color scheme and comes packed with OC features and goodies.

The motherboard supports both the LGA-2011 and LGA 1366 CPU coolers by switching out the standard LGA-2011 bracket with a custom Asus bracket, which provides support for LGA-1366 coolers. As you look at the CPU socket, you’ll quickly notice the four DDR3 DIMM slots (two per channel) on either side of the socket for a total of eight DDR3 DIMM slots (DDR3-2400 OC). The CPU and memory VRM areas are located along three sides of the socket, all cooled by heatsinks that are connected by heat pipes. These VRM heatsinks share heat with the one over the X79 PCH, which is actively cooled by a fan.