HardwarePower Supply Summer Buyer's Guide
There's a big difference between a power supply that runs your system "okay" and a high-quality unit that provides higher efficiency, lower noise, and more stable output. We have recommendations for people interested in the latter....
Introduction It's summer time and PCs are working in warmer environments than they're used to. With our PSU buyer's guide for the summer season we want to focus on some of the quality power supplies we've tested (or are in the process of testing). It's important to pay attention to heat, particularly if you're in a home without AC, as increasing environmental temperatures can create problems. Users may not want to get the absolute quietest power supply available if it's going to be in a relatively hot environment, as these may create instabilities due to a lack of sufficient cooling. Of course, if you do have AC or live in a colder region, we'll have some silent and near-silent recommendations. In terms of recommendations and budgets, we need to clarify a few things before we begin. We pretty much won't even touch power supplies that cost less than $50; it's possible to get an okay power supply for a truly budget price, but you will get a lower efficiency model and you're taking something of a risk. We don't feel the risk is excessive, so for truly entry-level systems you can go ahead and look at the ultra-cheap options out there (i.e. cases that come with a PSU). However, keep in mind that lower efficiency means your initial savings will almost certainly disappear... [ Read more on www.anandtech.com ]
HardwareAMD SB750 arrives on the Foxconn A79A-S...
Our first AMD SB750 equipped motherboard arrived this weekend courtesy of Foxconn. We have been working around the clock to dispel or verify the rumors about how a simple update to the SB700 SouthBridge could unlock the overclocking potential of the Phenom processor series. It turns out changes to the SB750 are actually significant and include a new low...
HardwareVendors to IT: No economic stimulus package for you
The U.S. economy appears to be going from bad to worse. But that doesn't necessarily mean IT managers are seeing a buyer's market on technology products. In fact, some vendors are raising prices.