PC Curb

Gigabyte produce lots of computer products including cases, motherboards, keyboards, mice and water cooling system equipment and more. Gigabyte have a good reputation from customers because they produce reliable products for competitive prices.

If you are in the market for a new case you should consider buying a Gigabyte. Here are a few of the newest case released from them:

The first is 3DAURORA 570S. It features a sleek design with an aluminum shell. It has a decent sized side panel that allows the included blue LEDs to shine through and illuminate the components inside.

Second is the 3D Mercury. It is quite a large case but makes up with for this by having a better cooling ability than most cases. It comes all ready to go with liquid cooling if the customer decides against using fans.

Several companies are manufacturing the 320GB drive, and the customers are vying to buy it because of its small size, power efficiency as well as low acoustics. Everyone is hunting for more space and a 320GB hard drive can store approximately 72 hours of digital video and thus it is like a magic wand in the hands of tech buffs.

Its features include innovative perpendicular recording technology that always provides greater performance as well as durability. The best part is that it has great reliability and a quiet operation mode.

The weight of these devices is within the 5-7 ounces. The benefits range from carrying office files to work to carrying media in your pocket for entertainment purposes such as music, photos and videos. These devices often come with protection against scratches and dirt. Equipped with FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 interfaces, these drives come as the ultimate storage devices.

This high performance, low power, portable storage device offers all kinds of benefits for business as well personal applications. They are the perfect solution in today’s tech-savvy world where everyone is scurrying for more space and storage. The performance of a 320GB drive is lightning-fast coupled with very quiet and cool operation. The acoustics are more advanced and thus bring noise to its optimum level.

These drives are ideal for family use, photo editing, graphic design or even gaming. The new portable 320GB storage device is all set to create ripples in the electronic industry. Several companies are in the race of manufacturing it and cashing in on the craze. So shop around and grab one, you won’t regret it.

When i first heard about this, I thought what the hell? why would anyone want to put any added stress on their PC? After doing a little research and speaking with a few friends of mine, i gave it a go. Using Prime95 stress testing software, I was able to see how hard my PC runs. It was possible to adjust the settings for a mild run, up to torture level. This alllowed me to test my CPU’s cores, ram and ability to manage heat. If you want to try this out and see how hot your system is running, you can download Speed Fan. It is a great program to view your case temperature, CPU temperature, CPU fan speed etc. You can even try leaving the torture test running for awhile to heat your room up on a cold day, it works…

Prime95 and Speed fan can be downloaded for free from the following links:

Prime95

Speed fan

CPU-Z

For most people, price is the biggest factor to consider when building a new PC. People are looking to have high quality computers but are scared of the high prices. We’ve done a little research on the web and realised there isn’t much information (eg. tips and ideas) on how to build a fast, cheap computer that will play the latest games. How much your able to spend determines what brands and parts are used in the construction of the PC. And for some, personal opinion and brand loyalty play a huge part in the decision. Here we will show you how to build a Gaming PC for the cost of a PlayStation 3.

Intel System:

• Generic ATX Case, most provide adequate cooling, and power supply. ($49.00)
• Intel Core 2 duo E4500 2.2Ghz 2mb Cache, will overclock well with after market cooler. ($145.00)
• Palit Nvidia 9600GT 512mb, good choice for price. ($249.00)
• 80 gb SATA Hard drive, adequate disk space. ($55.00)
• 2gb ddr2 800mhz generic ram, good ram for good price. ($50.00)
• Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L, quality all round motherboard. ($115.00)
• 20x SATA DVD Burner, best choice for price. ($37.00)
• Total cost of $700.00 (price may vary from place of purchase).

AMD System:

• Generic ATX case, most provide adequate cooling, and power supply. ($49.00)
• AMD Athlon64 X2 Dual-Core 5000 2.6ghz 2×640 Socket, quality item. ($139.00)
• Palit Nvidia 9600GT 512mb, good choice for price. ($249.00)
• 80 gb SATA Hard drive, adequate disk space. ($55.00)
• 2gb ddr2 800mhz generic ram, good ram for good price. ($50.00)
• Gigabyte GA-M52S-S3P, perfect choice motherboard. ($105.00)
• 20x SATA DVD Burner, best choice for price. ($37.00)
• Total cost of $684.00 (price may vary from place of purchase).

These PC set ups will cost you no more than a PlayStation 3, and will out perform the game console by far. Price doesn’t include assembly of the unit and we advise professional installation if you are not capable of doing it yourself. Note; Price doesn’t include a Operating system, and if you don’t have a valid copy of windows XP/Vista you may need to purchase one. (Prices sourced from ZIP Computers)

For some people this area is the least important, for others its everything. Whether your a hard core gamer, web surfer or general PC user you can usually get away with using a cheap set of speakers plugged into the motherboard. This provides adequate sound and media that is needed for day to day computing. If you wish to take your audio to the next level, there are a number of ways to go about it. Upgrading the sound from your computer doesn’t have to cost a fortune, a simple set of $80 – $150 speakers will provide your with quality sound. You would be surprised with what you can get for that price. Speakers that we recommend in this price range are, the Creative I-Trigue® 3400 2.1 (2 speakers 1 sub woofer) with titanium speakers for $139.00. The Logitech X-530 5.1and X-540 5.1 surround sound at $129.00. As you can see $130.00 will get you a good set up.

If you wish to take it a little further, purchasing a sound card for your PC will boost its performance even further. Cards such as the Creative Sound Blaster Audigy Value at $59.00 and the X-Fi Xtreme Audio at $99.00 will get you great sound. Running these cards with a set of Logitech G51 for $219.00 or the Inspire T7900 7.1 system at $149.00 will get you the best sound you could ask for. If you have a little more cash to spend, around 600 dollars on audio equipment, we recommend the Logitech Z-5500 Digital 5.1 audio pack. At $469.00 this may be out of your price range, but provides you with fantastic sound, for games, TV, music and movies. Used with the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Gamer at $199.00 will allow you to run your speakers at there full potential.

If you wish to use your PC for a main entertainment unit, and have $1000+ to spend, you can choose to run your set up how i do. Running a sound card in your PC, hooked up to external AMP, i currently use a Pioneer mini system. Running the sound through this unit will provide you with awesome audio, and capable of using a CD player, DVD player, TAPE deck, VCR and Record player through the system. If you have the money to purchase a home theater system/mini system and a great set of speakers, this is truly the best way to go.

Updated list as of 14 September 2008:

http://www.pccurb.com/pc-curbs-top-8-graphics-cards-reviewed/

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ATI or Nvidia? Nvidia or ATI? these are the questions that a lot of people ask. Some users are biased and choose to go with brand loyalty, they never really experiment or even recognise any other brands or products. Both manufacturers have produced some powerful cards in the last year. Here are the ones that made it into the top ten:

1. Nvidia 9800gx2 1g Gddr3 ($849.00)
2. ATI 3870×2 1gb Gddr3 ($630.00)
3. Nvidia 8800 ultra 768mb Gddr3 ($649.00)
4. Nvidia 9800gtx 512mb Gddr3 ($419.00)
5. Nvidia 8800gtx 768mb Gddr3 ($729.00)
6. Nvidia 8800gts 512mb Gddr3 (g92) ($399.00)
7. Nvidia 8800gt 512mb Gddr3 ($279.00)
8. Nvidia 8800gts 640mb and 320mb Gddr3 (g80core) ($349.00)
9. ATI 3870 512mb Gddr4 ($279.00)
10. Nvidia 9600gt 512mb Gddr3 ($190.00)

(Price’s are only a guide, brands and place of purchase vary in price)

Many people have heard about the new Nvidia 9900 series cards that are said to be released sometime during July, and have decided to hold onto their cash until then. Personally, if i was in the market for a new card, i would seriously think about waiting until this one comes out. It is scheduled to be released in July, priced at $500+, along with ATI’s new 4000 series.