The Case Review: The Antec Three Hundred
Ok, well, I got the motivation to write another article tonight. This time, I’m going to review the new Antec Three Hundred Case.
Hmm… well, one look at this case, and the first thing that occurred to my mind was how similar this case was to the Antec 900. Although it seems as though Antec is going through another evolution of the Antec 900, the real evolution is the Antec Twelve Hundred case, just so that there is no misunderstanding.
The Antec Three Hundred has similar internal structures as the Antec 900, with enough room for 6 hard drives, an NVidia 8800 series GPU, and one 120mm fan with another one 140mm fan. This case also includes fan filters, which is a large plus because there will be minimal dust in your case to have potentially harmful damages to your internal components.
The one con in this case is the look. Although this case was created to be a more affordable gaming case than the Antec 900, the gaming look that Antec created is not quite there. It would be unfair to compare this case to the Antec 900, but there are just too many similarities to completely ignore the influences of the Antec 900 case.
So, overall, this case is very nice; just not my example of a gaming case.
Icarus
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More News on the ATI 4800 Series
Hey guys, Icarus again, here with more news on the ATI 4800 series GPU’s that are coming out in a few weeks. Woohoo!
Anyways, according to TechPowerUP! News, the ATI Radeon 4850 will have a 512MB GDDR3 version and a 512MB GDDR5 version. Each version will start at $229 and $249-269, respectively. This will put even more pressure on the current price-to-performance king, the NVidia 8800GT, so this will have interesting impacts on NVidia and how carefully they must put out their new products.
The ATI Radeon 4870, with 1GB GDDR5, is, in my opinion, released to counter the recent NVidia 9800GTX. With 1GB of GDDR5, 850MHz core speed, and its starting price at $329-$349, NVidia will have some very tough competition against its current high-end GPU, the 9800GTX(although that’s being replaced by the 9900 series.).
ATI is also releasing the ATI Radeon 4870X2 GPU. This will have 2GB of GDDR5 clocked at 1730MHz. This is, in my opinion, released to further bash on the extremely-expensive NVidia 9800GX2, and this new ATI GPU is also starting at $499. With ATI’s recent success in its 3870X2 in the field of scaling between the 2 GPU’s, this will put a lot of pressure on NVidia to make sure that the 9900GX2 will scale a lot better than its somewhat-failure, NVidia 9800GX2. This will indeed, be a very exciting and close race.
Well, that’s all for tonight. Good night!
Icarus
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Computer Cases: Which One would Suit My Needs the Best?
Hey guys, Icarus here again. I’ve talked about budget gaming computers and workstations and such, and made a list of components for you of what I would suggest. But since I made this blog to teach and inform you all about computer hardware, I’m going to teach you how to pick your own components. Today, it’s the case.
So, there’re so many cases out there. I’m almost certain that there’re way more cases out there than motherboards, Intel and AMD chipsets combined. So, which one should I get?
Well, first consider your needs, such as:
1. Do I need to be able to move this case around constantly for LAN parties, work, etc.?
2. How much space will I need for i.e. dual-GPU set-up, many harddrives?
3. Am I going to use air-cooling or water-cooling?
4. Do I care about noise, or would I need a quiet case?
5. Would I want to organize my cables, or just leave them be?
Those are just some of the key factors you must consider when picking out a case.
Notice that, no where in that list, looks and aesthetics of the case are in there. Why? Because that should be the VERY last thing you should consider. There’re many cases out there with awesome looks but horrible interior, such as sleek looks but horrible air-cooling. So remember, looks come LAST.
Now, once you narrow down the choices to a list that fits on a piece of paper, now consider your budget. Which ones fit in your budget? Which one seems to give you the most positive aspects for its price?
Now, after you do that, you can consider looks. I myself don’t really care about the looks, but I know that there’re many of you out there who have different opinions, so I’ll leave the looks up to you.
Seems overly simple right? Well, it really is that simple. It’s just that there’re so many choices, like motherboards, out there that it seems as though the list of cases is endless. But don’t worry, once you follow these simple steps, it won’t be hard anymore. It’ll be easy and fun.
Hope this guide helps. See you all later!
Icarus
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Motherboards: Which One should I Buy???
Hey guys, Icarus here again. Today I want to talk more about motherboards, because a friend has recently asked me this seemingly-simple question: If I’m buying a motherboard, which chipset should I choose? What should I look for on a motherboard? What should be my priorities?
Well, let me tell you, there’re many answers to that question, but only one summarizes it well enough: It depends on what you want to do with your computer. However, here’s something you have to consider even before choosing a chipset for your motherboard: your budget.
If you have a small budget, you can’t go with a motherboard like NVIdia’s enthusiast chipsets, because you won’t have enough money to buy all of your other components! Just think logically. If you have a smaller budget, go with Intel’s P35 chipset. If you have higher budgets, then start considering the Intel X38 chipset, and on and on and on.
So, after you have your budget, here’re some categories that you must consider when you’re thinking about what you’re going to use your computer for:
1. Gaming: Well, in a gaming computer, you need some storage, and a bit of everything else. However, the most important things you need are graphics power and a speedy CPU. For graphics power, you may go with an NVidia SLI chipset or Intel’s P35, X38, or X48 chipsets for Crossfire and CrossfireX. Depending on your budget, the cheapest chipset you can get is Intel’s P35 if you still need a dual-GPU setup(which, I don’t think you should get if you’re going with an Intel P35 chipset)
2. Work: Well, you’ll need lots of storage, CPU power, RAM, and a bit of everything else. The key factors are in storage, CPU, and RAM. That means you won’t need an NVidia chipset motherboard, because you won’t be using SLI. That points you to an Intel chipset, and all 3 chipsets, the P35, X38, and X48 are all extremely stable with many SATA ports for those numerous harddrives and have enough power to let that CPU and RAM do its magic freely.
Rather simple isn’t it? Well, it is! It just seems hard because motherboards have many components, and it all seems mind-boggling. All you need to do is sit down, think for a bit:
1. What is my budget?
2. What will I be using this computer for?
Answers to these questions should and will lead you to the right motherboard.
I hope that explanation helps you get on the right track for the right motherboard for you. If you have any other questions on motherboard selection, please feel free to leave a comment. Good night!
Icarus
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The New Enthusiast Motherboard: EVGA 790i Ultra Motherboard
All right, today, I was looking around the Internet for new hardware, and I saw the EVGA 790i SLI motherboard, so I will talk about that today.
I’m basing this review solely on what information is provided out there because I’ve never actually used this motherboard. However, I would love to get my hands on one because reviews out there are saying awesome things about this motherboard.
However, the reviews out there do not put money into play. This motherboard right now is selling for a minimum of $300, and $319.99 at TigetDirect. That’s VERY EXPENSIVE. I mean, we all know that this motherboard is only for enthusiasts, but $300 for a single component in our computers is, frankly, absurd.
The 790i, from the structural view, is just a 780i SLI motherboard with a different Northbridge Fan, heatsinks around the CPU area, and DDR3 RAM instead of DDR2 RAM. For now, I would avoid this motherboard if you don’t have the money to; with 3 PCIe 2.0 slots, 4 DDR3 RAM slots, and massive potential for massive overclocking, this motherboard is ONLY for those hardcore computer enthusiasts who have the money and the knowledge to push this motherboard to its very edge.
You’d also need at least 2 videocards to utilize the minimum SLI, and at least 1 stick of quality DDR3 RAM. Now there goes about $700 minimum, if you use 2 8800GT’s and 2GB of DDR3 1333 memory. That’s enough to build a quality mid-range computer.
So, now you ask, right now, is this motherboard really worth the cost? Yes, if you have the money. Definitely no if you don’t. When I say “have the money”, I mean over $1500 for your budget, plus knowledge in overclocking. That’s a LOT of things in hand for one single component.
Well, that’s all for tonight. Have a great night everyone!
Icarus
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