The Razer DeathAdder Gaming Mouse ships in Razer’s signature satin-black box adorned with their famous “tri-serpent” logo and letters in bright green and silver. A photo of the mouse is printed with a glossy finish which makes it stand out from the background. Specs in English and nine other languages and system requirements are on the back. The right side panel shows a technical comparison between the DeathAdder and an average mouse. While it is more than up to the task of general-purpose computing—web browsing, checking E-Mail, doing spreadsheets and such—the specs of the DeathAdder leaves little doubt of its extreme gaming performance pedigree.
Performance meets silence," states Cooler Master on the Cosmos' packaging. Ah, the mantra of the modding junky and power user. The goal may not be as lofty an ambition as traveling the stars, but it often seems just as difficult to achieve. As one who was driven to learn the ways of water by the unholy scream of high RPM fans, it's a goal I am all to familiar with. At first glance the lack of front, side and obvious top fans hint at how Cooler Master might achieve "silence", but the only hint of "performance", comes from the louvered top-rear section of the case. Sitting between the rails and looking like afterburners on a tail end of a Lucas inspired star fighter, they give the impression the case is about to jump to light speed.
A few months ago, we took a look at a couple of Ultra’s latest power supplies and were impressed by the quality and stable voltages. Ultra has recently released a new 600W PSU, the X3, which they say they “pulled out all the stops” for. Will it prove to be a winning design? Let’s find out as we take a closer look at this power supply.
Zaward uses a solder-free process to attach the aluminum fins to the copper heatpipes, which makes the product environmentally friendly. Each heatpipe has a black rubber cap on it, which not only makes it more aesthetically pleasing, but helps to prevent other components from being scratched by the crimped tip during the installation process. There is a small amount of thermal compound spread around the base to allow better thermal contact with the second heatpipe.
The Antec 850 True Power Pro Quattro has the smallest fan of any of the power supplies we have tested which might be a problem considering how dense everything is packed inside the case, but we shall see how well it handles our tests onces we get started.
This case is like a lot of other Mid-Towers on the market today, and does not offer a lot of room for oversized cards such as the 8800GTX, and when using a card like the 8800GTX your going to end up blocking a couple slots for hard drives, which isn't a problem for most 1-2 hard drive configurations, but if you plan on putting more than 2 in the case, you might be out of luck. . .
Ultra Products has came up with a little solution that will not only allow you to easily add USB devices to your computer easily, but it will also allow you to connect the Hub to a second computer so you can share the devices between the two computers.
All in all, the Cosmos is a solidly built and attractive case which performs well enough in heat testing and runs near silently. This alone puts it high in the upper echelons of PC cases, but it’s price point is a little awkward and shaving just a little off the cost would instantly make it a much more attractive case. Pound signs aside though, the Cosmos is a worthy addition to the Cooler Master range and a good buy for anyone who can spare the dough.
I had high hopes for the Propeller, considering how much I liked XClio's 188A chassis, but it wasn't to be. When considering a budget case, there are some shortcomings one can ignore. The Spartan interior is roomy, but doesn't have many amenities or innovative features. I know how to use a screwdriver; I can deal with that. Especially considering the Propellers low cost. On close examination, it lacks the kind of fit and finish I like to see in a chassis, but for $65 and a 360mm fan, I can live with it.
Let's take a look at that specification. The FX33 has an 8.1-megapixel 1/2.5-in sensor, a Leica-branded 3.6x zoom lens with a wide-angle end equivalent to 28mm, a 2.5-in 207k pixel LCD monitor, the high-performance MegaOIS optical image stabilisation system and an improved Venus Engine III image processor delivering a maximum ISO of 1600. It also features Panasonic's new Intelligent Auto function, which is supposed to produce better results more easily. It doesn't have any manual exposure functions, but then it's not the sort of camera that needs them.
