X-bit labs

X-bit Watch: "...When I run out of shotgun ammo, I really begin to get scared...".

Category: Other

by Grigoriy Gubankov

[ 04/30/2003 | 05:33 PM ]

Here we go with another web-creams for you.

Asetek is quite a well-known company among hardware enthusiasts for its VapoChill system, one of the first cryogenic processor cooling devices that have ever become widely known (and even spread in noticeable quantities) in hardware community. Some time ago Asetek decided to enter a bit more mainstream market of hardcore-cooling and introduced a water-cooling system branded as WaterChill. WaterChill is intended for use with all mainboards designed for the Intel Pentium 4 and AMD Opteron processors as well as for those Socket A motherboards that feature four mounting holes for heat-sink. HardTecs4U has got their hands on that product and compared its thermal performance to other water-cooling systems, including several products from Koolance (you can read our review of Koolance PC2-C system here), Thermaltake Aquarius, as well as with devices by Innovatek and Pentalpha. The outcome was that the WaterChill system is definitely not the best, but also not the worst. Read all the details here (that is in German, translated version goes here). 

Probably quite a lot of you are waiting for the Doom III game to come. Those, who were lucky enough to try out the Alpha release leaked into the WWW last year enjoyed their time playing the new terrific creature by id Software and now are looking forward to get the full version of the Doom III. GameSpot succeeded in having a conversation with id’s lead designer, Tim Willits, who shared his passion about the Doom III with us. He also told quite a bit about game experience and some other information about the upcoming fever. Read it all here. 

TweakTown has launched a rather unusual monthly column. They call it "GGG Guide", where "GGG" stands for "Gizmos, Gadgets and Goodies". In these "GGG" articles TweakTown discusses certain hardware stuff too small for making a big review, but still worth mentioning somewhere. In their first release the boys tested smaller gadgets, including LED lighted rounded cables, an USB webcam on flex wire, a mobile HDD rack from Vantec and so on. Check all of their GGGs here.

HEXUS.net has reviewed Mini-ITX barebone from Hush Technology. Such name of the company is not only a coincidence because cooling system of this SFF does not feature any active components at all, so the system is nearly completely noiseless (little noise comes from Seagate Barracuda HDD). Of course, performance of such personal computer, for example, in games cannot be considered even as low, as it equipped with VIA C3 933MHz CPU and graphics, integrated into VIA CLE266 chipset. But it is quite suitable to act as a music and DVD player since it is equipped with TEAC DVD/CDRW drive and looks nice. Those, who are interested go here.