The release of Intel’s new Nehalem-based Core i7 CPU has brought the demand for tri-channel memory to the desktop for the first time. In this short number, we’ll explore what it is, how it works, how to buy it, and how to avoid getting burned by Windows.

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Icrontic is proud to offer the Office Hours series of articles. Each week we’ll take a look at a common problem in Windows or often-used software and nail down a quick fix for it. This week, the good doctor explains how to get those fussy RealTek, VIA, SigmaTel, and ADI high-def audio solutions working on Windows XP.
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Tagan is a producer of power supplies, cases, and storage chassis for single and dual drives.  Icrontic was offered the opportunity to test the IcyBox IB-NAS4220-B, a network attached storage (NAS) chassis that supports two SATA drives and offers a long list of features. (more…)

Twitter is, as you probably know, a very popular microblogging service that asks one question that you can answer in under 140 characters: What are you doing right now?

There are various tools that help make Twitter much more useful, and then can turn it into a powerful platform for sharing content, PR work, keeping in touch with friends, and more. Creative programmers have come up with a variety of applications, both web-based as well as desktop software, to utilize the Twitter platform for some cool tricks. (more…)

In 2004, a group of gamers formed a company based on the idea that there wasn’t a company out there that catered specifically to PC gamer’s unique hardware needs. Calling the company NZXT, their stated mission is to design ”unique products catered for hardware enthusiasts and gamers.” They now design cases, mice, power supplies, and other accessories. Today I’ll be looking at the “Tempest” case. (more…)

Icrontic is proud to offer the Office Hours series of articles. Each week we’ll take a look at a common problem in Windows or often-used software and nail down a quick fix for it. This week, the good doctor explains how to recover access to directories that give an “access is denied” error.
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There are usually two types of people looking for aftermarket video card cooling; those who want to overclock the card for additional performance, and those who want a quieter solution from the often times audible stock cooling solutions prevalent on many of today’s offerings. Whatever the case may be, Thermalright is there to help with its new T-Rad² GPU cooler. (more…)

Icrontic runs on the heavily-modified marriage of vBulletin and Wordpress. Wordpress is a light, extensible, and semantic content management system. vBulletin is the most popular forum software out there. After wading up to my neck in plugins and documentation for both, I’m here to tell you that Jelsoft, the maker of vBulletin, should be embarrassed.

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Just recently awarded “Best Power Supply Manufacturer of 2008” by Custom PC, Corsair is a familiar name to those who have been building computers for any length of time. Known for years as a major player in the enthusiast computer memory industry, the company branched out in 2006 and began selling branded power supplies. While their TX- and VX-series supplies are single rail, their modular HX series is a multi-rail configuration, and today we will be looking at the mid-range 620W HX620W model. (more…)

Icrontic is proud to offer the Office Hours series of articles. Each week we’ll take a look at a common problem in Windows or often-used software and nail down a quick fix for it. This week, the good doctor explores how one might delete a file that Windows believes cannot be deleted.
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Thermalright is at it again. Today, we’ll be taking a look at the third iteration of the hugely popular TRUE heatsink—the TRUE Copper. As you have probably already guessed, the TRUE Copper is a 100% copper version of the “Ultra Extreme”. (more…)

Lian Li has been known for years as a designer of quality aluminum PC enclosures. Many an enthusiast has built a performance rig inside a Lian Li tower case. This summer, Lian Li released two new HTPC enclosures that follow the company’s design principles of simplicity and efficiency. These offerings, the Lian Li PC-C36 MUSE and PC-C37 MUSE, offer similar layouts with slightly different feature sets. (more…)

A note from the editor: The content trapped behind the jump is potentially NSFW and does not represent the views of Icrontic, its editors, its owners, or even the author. People just like to read ridiculous talking points get run through the mud. Someone has to deliver the goods.

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Icrontic is proud to offer the Office Hours series of articles. Each week we’ll take a look at a common problem in Windows or often-used software and nail down a quick fix for it. This week the good doctor explores the impact that a broken Cryptographic Service has on Windows XP.
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My goodness, this game is good. I’m hesitant to say that I like — even love — this game because I didn’t buy into the hype of Far Cry 2 until, well, four days ago. I just couldn’t get excited about it. I was a huge fan of Far Cry when it was released, but that game’s bread and butter, the Crytek team, went on to develop Crysis without Ubisoft. To me, Crysis was the true successor to Far Cry. It was superior in every way to whatever Far Cry 2 could possibly accomplish, but Ubisoft has done a decent job with the property without Crytek. Is it a better shooter than Crysis? The two can hardly be compared. (more…)