Do I even need to go over the installation of the unit? Simple enough that even I had no problems. Just plug it in and chill baby! To test the unit, we're going to use two separate methods. We will measure the temperature of both the cooling plate and the beverages that we cool on it, and of course we will also have to test those beverages to see if they do indeed get "Chilled". Cool IT states that the cold plate "chills to 45 degrees". So we used a thermal probe to measure the temperature of cold plate after it had been running for a few minutes.
A nice little white box is found inside the case which contains all the screws and other hardware used to mount components into the chassis. GIGABYTE included wire lock downs, HDD mounts and even a lint free cloth to wipe down the case. I promptly found out the cloth is also great for cleaning my glasses, so I really liked this included goody.
SiS 672FX is a low-end chipset with several limitations. Its memory controller allows only single-channel mode, meaning that this chipset accesses the memory at half the speed other chipsets available for the socket 775 chipset can. It also only supports DDR2 memory up to DDR2-667, at least officially. On our tests we configured our memory modules at 800 MHz and they worked just fine. This chipset also only supports two memory sockets. Another limitation is that this chipset does not support the new 1,333 MHz FSB, but it accepts all 1,066 MHz-based socket 775 CPUs.
The OEM for this OCZ ModXStream 780W PSU is FSP. The ModXStream is offered in the 780W and in a 900W configuration. The unit utilizes a 120mm clear fan with blue LEDs for cooling. It also offers four 12V rails providing 20A each (Max across all four rails is 60A) and has a 3 year warranty backed by OCZ's exclusive PowerSwap replacement program.
While the MX Revolution was a full-sized desktop mouse, the VX was portable mouse that was on the large side, as notebook mice go. This meant that it was comfortable and big enough for day-to-day use, but not as travel-friendly as some road-warriors would have liked. Because of this Logitech has recently released a third addition to the line, a smaller sized VX, the VX Nano Cordless Laser Mouse. If the name did not give it away, it is pretty easy to notice that they all share a number of design features, including the metal scroll wheel, the black/grey coloring, and additional buttons.
The black Samsung DVD-RW and black card reader fits with the case aesthetics, and therefore don't require stealthing because the door keeps them hidden. The external appearance still doesn't look that special though, compared to the customisation a Dell, Alienware or even Vadim receives: underneath the case seems very ordinary.
To open the drive you have to slide the plastic front backwards fully and slide it forward fully. To close it you have to do the opposite: slide forward fully and slide backwards. There's even a cover that slides in front of the connector when it's retracted so no dirt can enter the drive.
The initial impression of the SD14 is that this is a big, heavy camera. Admittedly I’ve been a little spoiled by the lightweight Olympus E-series DSLRs I’ve been using recently, but by any standards the SD14 is a substantial piece of kit. It measures 144 X 107.3 X 80.5mm and weighs 750g including the battery, which is about the same size and weight as semi-pro cameras such as the Canon EOS 30D or the Pentax K10D, and much larger and heavier than any of the 10-megapixel mid-range or entry-level cameras such as the Sony A100, Nikon D40x or Canon EOS 400D. It is a bit smaller and lighter than the D200 though. Fortunately that size and weight translates into solid construction and excellent build quality. The body is high-density plastic over a metal chassis, but it is very well made with close tolerance on all joints and control mountings. Sigma has been making some of the best third-party lenses in the world for over 40 years, and that experience shows in the construction of the SD14.
The rear panel looks different from the standard ATX type of layout. On the SG03, the PSU opening is next to the motherboard rear I/O panel, and has only four lower PCI expansion slots and one up high above the motherboard I/O. The right side panel is just plain with no distinct features. The top of the case has a power button on the top right corner, and something we don't mention much is the underside of an enclosure: on the SG03 this is how you gain access to the HDD.
The case is designed to hold a micro ATX motherboard, one optical drive, one full size power supply, two hard drives, and even two full size video cards like the 8800GTX. This surprises me quite a bit because most SFF cases can’t support the longer PCI-E video cards that are being made these days.
