nMedia HTPC 1000-Series Case

Posted on March 27, 2009 by Sean Potter | Cases, HTPC
nMedia's HTPC 1000-series cases is a shining example of this design philosophy. The folks at nMedia were kind enough to send us an evaluation unit to try out. The 1000-series comes in either black or silver, and features a hidden optical bay, card readers, optional LCD output, and much more.

Sapphire Radeon HD4550 Videocard

Posted on January 28, 2009 by Sean Potter | Videocards
The folks at Sapphire were kind enough to send their Radeon HD4550 card at the same time, which will be on the table today. The Radeon HD4550 features 512MB of DDR3 memory, a 600MHz core clock, and 80 stream processors. It's not quite as beefy as the Radeon HD4650, but it can be found for an average of $30 less.

Sapphire Radeon HD4650 Videocard

Posted on November 9, 2008 by Sean Potter | Videocards
The folks at Sapphire were recently kind enough to send us an overclocked sample of one of these mid-range cards, the Radeon HD4650. Sapphire's overclocked Radeon HD4650 features 512MB of GDDR3, 320 Stream processors, and a 700MHz memory clock. BIOSLEVEL.com will look at how this card fairs against its older brothers, as well as nVidia's mainstream offerings from the 9x00 family of GeForce cards.

NorthQ NQ-3709BL/NQ-3710RL Silent Tornado Fans

Posted on October 30, 2008 by Sean Potter | Cooling
NorthQ, who's BlacKMagic 850W PSU we previously looked at, has taken the game to a new level. They have a series of case fans built from aluminum frames. The Silent Tornado fans, as they're called, promise extreme performance with a good bit of silence.

QNAP TS-509 Pro Turbo NAS

Posted on October 9, 2008 by Sean Potter | Networking, NAS, iSCSI, NFS
Shortly after QNAP released the TS-409U Turbo NAS, the TS-509 was announced. The TS-509 Pro picks up where QNAP's TS-409 Pro left off. The TS-509 Pro adds a fifth drive bay, as the name may entail. Also included with the TS-509 Pro are: dual gigabit ethernet ports, five USB 2.0 ports, two serial connections, and a single eSATA port. While the form factor is different from the TS-409U, both units promise relatively similar features, with a few subtle differences.

Noctua NT-H1 Thermal Compound

Posted on September 15, 2008 by Sean Potter | Cooling
Noctua, whose NF-P12 120mm case fan BIOSLEVEL.com previously reviewed, brings a pro-grade thermal compound to the table, NT-H1. The NT-H1 compound aims to minimize thermal resistance and provide long-term stability. BIOSLEVEL.com will put the compound to the test.

Seventeam ST-850P-AF 850W PSU

Posted on September 11, 2008 by Sean Potter | Powersupplies
Much like NorthQ's Black Magic powersupply I previously looked at, the ST-850P-AF also features a 135mm cooling fan. The biggest different between these two units aside from individual components is that the ST-850P-AF does not feature modular connectivity. Will the stability of the ST-850P-AF prove that the unit should be carried in more U.S. retailers such as NewEgg? Or will the powersupply not quite live up to my expectations?

NorthQ Black Magic Flex 850W PSU

Posted on September 7, 2008 by Sean Potter | Cases
NorthQ sent me the Black Magic Flex 850W power supply to satisfy my power-hungry CrossFire system. Tthe Black Magic promises to stand up to my power requirements and do so quietly with a 135mm fan. The Black Magic also features a modular connection system, allowing me to only use the cables I really need.

Sapphire Radeon HD4850 Toxic

Posted on August 27, 2008 by Sean Potter | Videocards
With the Radeon HD4800-series videocards only having been released a few short months ago, Sapphire has already released a factory-overclocked version of the HD4850. Under Sapphire's Toxic branding, the new card promises better performance with cooler temperatures with a quieter Zalman cooling solution.

QNAP TS-409U Turbo NAS

Posted on July 15, 2008 by Sean Potter | Networking, NAS, iSCSI, NAS
The TS-409U is a powerful embedded Linux system featuring a 500MHz System-on-Chip (SoC) CPU and 512MB of DDR2 memory. It fits in a 1U rackmount space, and has four SATA II hotswap bays supporting RAID 0, 1, 5, and 6. On top of this, the TS-409U is a multi-functional all-in-one NAS server supporting various functions from webserver, to MySQL server, to an iTunes server.