Aeneon DDR3-1600 4GB XMP RAM AXH860UD20-16H - “Windows Vista has given the hardware industry a good reason to feed Microsoft’s pig of an Operating System nothing but the finest high-performance hardware. The very first thing I noticed during testing was the incredibly sluggish performance compared to Windows XP.  Windows Vista caches start up programs so boot times are decent, and it indexes every single file for faster searches, but if you want a genuinely fast Operating System, you had better be prepared to change your idea of what “sufficient hardware” is.  Programs and games alike suffered from poor performance, and at the end my testing I was very much convinced that the 2 GB of system memory used in Windows XP was simply not enough to enjoy (or cope with) Windows Vista.  It was time to step it up, and the first thing that needed to be done was to upgrade the RAM.  Installing 4 GB worth of Aeneon DDR3-1600 XMP RAM worked like magic, and would end yet another great era: the usefulness of 2 GB RAM kits in a modern Operating System.”

Evercool NP-901 Royal Notebook Cooler - “…the Royal Notebook Cooling Pad (Model: NP-901) from Acoustic PC. This sharp baby was created for laptops from 14” to 17” wide screen, has storage drawers for peripherals, and is fitted with USB 2.0 ports to mount externals. The Royal is made of 100% aluminum for maximum heatsink style cooling, and sports a smart, 8 cm silent fan that pulls exhaust air away from your laptop instead of pushing outside air into it, thus eliminating a significant amount of dirt and dust contamination and helping to prolong the life (and health) of your notebook.”

Hurricane 1200W Power Supply - “In December, we took a look at the flagship of the Seventeam Electronics fleet, the Thundering 1200W. Recently, the folks at Seventeam asked us to take a look at the modular version of this mammoth beast, the Hurricane 1200W. Join me on a tour through our torture park as I find out just what this massive unit is made of and if it performs any differently from its brother. Will the platform earn a recommendation this time around?”

Cyber Snipa Sonar 5.1 Pro - “CyberSnipa has its cross-hairs on surround sound gaming headsets, but do they hit the mark?  Yes and no is the definite answer.  The Sonar 5.1 Pro Surround  Sound Headset offers a decent all-in-one headset with 8 speakers, plush velvety comfort, and a USB connection.  But it only offers mediocre sound quality. There’s little for me to do but tell you that it is a surround sound headset, with a lot of speakers, a microphone, but it the Sonar is also a USB sound card in its own right. Just plug it in, and you are ready to play.”