DailyTech - 8/19/2008 Daily Hardware Reviews

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Hardware 8/19/2008 Daily Hardware Reviews
Brandon Hill (Blog) - August 19, 2008 11:42 AM

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13 comment(s) - last by Clauzii.. on Aug 24 at 12:35 PM

ThinkPad T400 Preview @ Notebook Review

DailyTech's roundup of hardware reviews from around the web for Tuesday

Notebooks
ThinkPad SL400 @ Geek.com
ThinkPad T400 Preview @ Notebook Review
ThinkPad T500 Preview @ Notebook Review

Motherboards
ECS P45T-A Intel P45 Express Motherboard @ PCSTATS.com

Memory
Kingston HyperX PC3-14400 2GB Memory Kit @ HardwareLogic

Video
Leadtek WinFast PX9800 GTX+ @ Bjorn3D
ATI RADEON HD 4870 X2 2x1024 MB @ Digit Life
ASUS EAH 4850 TOP Videocard @ Rbmods
Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 X2 Video Card 100251SR @ BmR
ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 2GB Video Card @ ThinkComputers.org
ASUS Radeon HD 4870 TOP 512MB Graphics Card @ TweakTown

Networking
TRENDnet 300Mbps Dual Band Wireless N Gigabit Router @ TweakTown

Storage
Super Talent PICO-C Gold 8GB USB Flash Drive @ Futurelooks
Icy Dock 3.5 Inch Screwless External Enclosure @ ASE Labs

Cooling
Thermaltake DuOrb Heatpipe CPU Cooler @ Bigbruin.com

Power Supplies
Corsair TX750W Power Supply @ Overclockers Online
Corsair TX750 750Watt Power Supply @ Ninjalane

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PSUs UNDER +600 Watts?

By Clauzii on 8/19/2008 1:30:05 PM , Rating: 2

Nobody makes that anymore? The last I don't know how many reviews are filled with BIG powersupplies. I thought the world needed to use LESS power, but maybe I'm wrong, and can expect to see no winthers in DK anymore :O

RE: PSUs UNDER +600 Watts?

By ajfink on 8/19/2008 1:44:07 PM , Rating: 3

There are tons of power supplies with lower wattages. Finding them at decent levels of quality can be a little more trying, but they're out there.

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RE: PSUs UNDER +600 Watts?

By mmntech on 8/19/2008 1:51:20 PM , Rating: 1

PC Power & Cooling makes PSUs under 600W. They've always been very highly rated.

Am I the only one who thinks Lenovo needs to spruce up their laptops? I know they're intended for business but they're still as ugly and chunky as they were 10 years ago.

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RE: PSUs UNDER +600 Watts?

By gyranthir on 8/19/2008 2:15:14 PM , Rating: 2

They are business laptops, no real frills, but they get the job done, are stable, nearly bullet proof, and run basically forever.

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RE: PSUs UNDER +600 Watts?

By jtesoro on 8/20/2008 1:33:49 AM , Rating: 3

I believe the sameness of physical design is intentional. I read that they tried changing the looks sometime ago and they got a lot of flak from corporate IT heads because of it. Apparently it would result in more people noticing that they had an "older" laptop and asking why someone lower than them in the org hierarchy had a newer unit than they did. This would result in additional explaining and/or expense and the IT guys didn't want it.

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RE: PSUs UNDER +600 Watts?

By Operandi on 8/20/2008 12:42:17 AM , Rating: 2

Seasonic, Forton-Source and PCP&C (Silencer) all make plenty of units that are sub 600 watts and you can't go wrong with any of them.

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RE: PSUs UNDER +600 Watts?

By HOOfan 1 on 8/19/2008 3:28:12 PM , Rating: 2

Several reviewers have commented that reviews of lower PSUs get no hits. Unless perhaps they are reviews of low power PSUs that fail magnificiently with sparks and flames and smoke.

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RE: PSUs UNDER +600 Watts?

By smilingcrow on 8/19/2008 3:32:00 PM , Rating: 3

Try SilentPCReview as they review powers supplies of varying wattage even under 300W at times. (Yes, they do exist)

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RE: PSUs UNDER +600 Watts?

By jtesoro on 8/20/2008 2:24:48 AM , Rating: 3

I still think people buy much much larger power supplies than they need. More people should check out power supply calculators to get a better idea of the most suitable rating for their setup. What I use: http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorli...

Consider a well spec'd PC such as this:

Regular desktop motherboard
C2D E8500 @3.1666 GHz
2 Sticks of DDR3 SDRAM
ATI Radeon HD 4870
1 SATA hard disk
1 DVD-RW drive
2 USB devices (mouse, keyboard)

At 90% load, the above just uses 289 watts! Now let's push up the specs a "little" bit:

High-end desktop motherboard
C2 Extreme QX9650 @3.0 GHz
4 sticks DDR3 SDRAM
2x ATI Radeon HD 4870 in crossfire
2 SATA hard disks
1 DVD-RW drive
1 Blu-Ray drive
TV Tuner card
4 USB devices (mouse, keyboard + 2 more)
Extra 120mm fan

Now even after doubling most things to come up with a setup with lots of extras on it, it still comes out at just 556 watts. And that's with ALL components running at 90% peak load (which is unlikely to happen).

So I definitely recommend calculating like this. Even if you intentionally over-spec your power supply, you'll likely still end up saving some money.

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RE: PSUs UNDER +600 Watts?

By Clauzii on 8/24/2008 12:35:10 PM , Rating: 2

Tests show that an overrated PSU is less efficient, thereby wasting power??!

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RE: PSUs UNDER +600 Watts?

By semo on 8/19/2008 4:37:03 PM , Rating: 2

if you need a good power supply then you need good quality components. it just so happens that high quality components handle more power (those Japaneses caps don't come cheap).

think of it that way: when you buy a 1kW power supply you are buying a quality part with a high power rating as a perk

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RE: PSUs UNDER +600 Watts?

By Vinny141 on 8/19/2008 5:28:15 PM , Rating: 2

Johny Guru does the best Power Supply reviews.
http://www.jonnyguru.com/

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RE: PSUs UNDER +600 Watts?

By Operandi on 8/20/2008 12:48:53 AM , Rating: 2

Component values determine power handling. The higher quality Japan sourced caps will probably provide more power (under ratted) but primarily they just last longer.

All the Seasonic M and S12s for example share the same topology and all use Japanese caps, the higher wattage units just use bigger values.

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