Neat hardware revealed for all

TIME FOR YET ANOTHER batch of neat hardware items that crossed my inbox, in no particular order, with the usual lack of rhyme or reason. All have the aforementioned 'neat' XML tag, so you can tell all your geek friends about them and not look stupid.

The first one up is the new Kingmax Super Stick, claimed to be the world's lightest and thinnest USB memory stick. They also claim it is high fashion, but I'll ignore that one for now. Anyway, the Super Stick really is small, it is 39mm x 12mm x 2mm, the 2mm bit being amazingly thing. This thing is tiny, and weighs only 5g. The specs are 20MBps transfer rates, USB2.0, and comes in 256MB to 2GB sizes. It is also waterproof. Neat.

Antec has a new take on cases, called Take 3 and Take 4. They are both studio oriented rack mount cases meant for really low noise. Take 3 is a 3U case with 2 external 5.25 bays, 1 external and three internal 3.5 bays, and a 450W ATX power supply. The Take 4 is a 4U variant that adds an internal and external 3.5 inch drive bay, but is otherwise the same.

Both takes have separate compartments for the CPU and the PS for maximum cooling. They also come with Antec TriCool fans, one 92 and one 120mm each. They also have vibration damping for the drives so the noise doesn't transmit out. All cases have the full compliment of USB and Firewire front ports also.

Next up is OCZ, proud owners of a new European subsidiary. A bit ago, they introduced a new heatspreader called XTC for Xtreme Thermal Convection, if you checked the link, it looks like a perforated heatspreader. The basic idea is to let air move around rather than get trapped between the chips and the metal spreader. In theory at least, it sounds like a good idea, and it looks good too.

Last up is a new GeForce 6 series mobo from Epox called the EP-9GF6100-M. This is a µATX sized mobo for S939 A64s is based on the NVidia 6100 series IGP chipset. While it won't set any speed records in Quake 3, it will be more than good enough for home use, and the form factor makes it nice for SFF cases. The nice thing is it is sold as a mobo, not built into a case, so you can make a system to your liking. I might just put one in the Hornet case I have as an upgrade to my aging 754/3000+ box.µ