In this issue, we're covering the video-integrated Asrock 939NF4G Geforce 6100 motherboard, a hefty 550W Akasa AK-P550FF power supply, the nForce 4 SLI Foxconn NF4SLI7AA motherboard and taking another look at Gigabyte's water cooling friendly Aurora aluminum computer case. Remember, you can find all of PCSTATS excellent Beginners Guides right here to help you solve those post-Christmas new computer questions.

ASRock 939NF4G-SATA2 Geforce 6100 Motherboard Review

The ASRock 939NF4G-SATA2 is a microATX form factor motherboard that is well suited for compact mini-tower desktop computer chassis. It's based upon the value oriented nVidia Geforce 6100 Northbridge and nForce 410MCP Southbridge, and most notably though, the Geforce 6100 incorporates Geforce 6-series integrated graphics which are accessible by a 15-pin Analog VGA jack at the rear I/O. The integrated NV44 GPU is DX9.0c compatible, and includes support for Pixel Shader 3.0. It shares 128MB of the installed system memory....Continue Here>>

Akasa PowerPlus AK-P550FF 550 Watt Power Supply Review

This Akasa PowerPlus AK-P550FF 550Watt peak power supply uses Active Power Factor Correction to increase efficiency, resulting in less wasted power for a given workload. Dual-PCI Express video card power connectors are also featured, making this PSU certainly suitable for SLI (or Crossfire) systems. Label specs indicate that the Akasa PowerPlus AK-P550FF delivers 13A, 18A, 16A and 8A respectively on its four 12V rails, for a total of 55 Amps. The 3.3V rail can provide 33A, the +5V 24A, the -12V line 0.5A and the +5Vsb line 2A. Those are some hefty numbers, as you'd expect from a 550Watt power supply. Continue Here>>

Foxconn NF4SLI7AA-8EKRS2 Motherboard Review

Based around the versatile nVIDIA nForce4 SLI Intel Edition chipset, the Foxconn NF4SLI7AA-8EKRS2 motherboard which is the focus of this review boasts support for Socket 775 Pentium 4/D/XE and Celeron D processors running on a 533/800 and 1066 MHz Front Side Bus (FSB). Its four 240 pin DDR-2 RAM slots accommodate up to 4GB of DDR2-667 memory. Integrated peripherals include a two port Serial ATA II/RAID controller, IEEE 1394b Firewire, dual Gigabit network cards and 7.1-channel audio.Continue Here>>

Gigabyte 3D Aurora GZ-FSCA1-AN Aluminium Case

Gigabyte seems to have a hand in every conceivable PC market these days, and cases are now no exception. Today we'll be looking at the company's first stand-alone computer chassis, the high-end Gigabyte 3D Aurora aluminium case which is designed to especially accommodate watercooling systems. Let's see how it measures up...Continue Here>>

PCstats Weekly Tech Tips: Data Compression Files and programs are only going to continue to increase in size. Eventually, you'll run out of hard drive space and face the proposition of upgrading or deleting files to make room. If you can't afford to buy a new HDD, or swap one out for a larger model, you're not completely out of luck... there's always the data compression option to consider. To compress a drive, it must first be using an NTFS file system. (IMPORTANT: Back up your data before attempting this tip! There is always a chance something could happen during either step which would leave the HDD inaccessible.) If you are using a FAT32 partition never fear, converting is very easy. Load up a command prompt (Start -> Run then type "cmd" and press the OK button) and type "CONVERT x: /FS:NTFS" (where x is the drive letter). That will convert the hard drive file system over to NTFS and then can be compressed. From there double click on the My Computer icon, right click on the drive you want to compress and go to properties. In the General tab, select the "Compress Volume to save disk space" check box and press the OK button. That will allow Windows to automatically compress the hard drive which should open up more storage space. Please note that compression and decompression of files/programs can slow down the PC a bit.