Peripherals Linux Reviews & Articles

There have been 192 Linux hardware reviews and benchmark articles on Phoronix for peripherals. Separately, check out our news section for related product news.

Enermax Marathon Enlobal Fan

From magnetic-barometric enlobal bearings to magnetic flux, we have all of the details covered in this word-premiere coverage of the Enermax Marathon. We followed it in the review by taking it for a bath, and dismantling her blades.

10 July 2006 - Add A Comment
Thermaltake ITBU CL-P0303

Over the years we have seen some interesting cooling contraptions designed by Thrmaltake from the Beetle CL-P0086 to the BigWater SE and Volcano. In this article, we are taking our first look at their server cooling offerings in the form of the ITBU CL-P0303. Thermaltake is renowned in the enthusiast market, but do they deserve the same for their ITBU server cooling solutions? To start with, the CL-P0303 is designed for Xeon Dempsey 2U systems with an LGA-771 socket, while making this design possible are copper fins, dual heatpipes, and a near silent fan. Today we are strapping the Thermaltake ITBU CL-P0303 on top of Intel's fastest Xeon Dempsey to take it for the ride of its life.

2 July 2006 - Add A Comment
SteelPad 5L

The last time we had looked at a SteelPad product was back in 2004 when trying out their newly unleashed QcK+. However, this morning up for testing we have their new SteelPad 5L. What is unique about this mouse pad is that it is composed of five layers -- plastic, cloth, soft polyisoprene, hard plastic, and rubber elements. However, just how well is this pad? We will find out today.

22 June 2006 - Add A Comment
Sytrin AirCon PAC-500 Preview

Want to take your overclock to the next level? What we are previewing today is an exclusive product that will be on limited display during Computex Taipei 2006, and for those that are fortunate enough to see this product first hand should be awed by its abilities. We have had one of these hand-made prototypes in our labs for many weeks now, and while the design is not yet finalized, it certainly will have the capabilities to make your system go from warm to cold.

3 June 2006 - Add A Comment
Razer Armadillo

With spending a great deal of time preparing for the new Computex launches and coverage to come next week, we have been a bit busy around here but managed to spend some time with Razer's Armadillo. While the Armadillo is not nearly as fascinating as the Razer Copperhead, Krait, or Tarantula, it certainly is an interesting little piece of hardware.

20 May 2006 - Add A Comment
Razer Krait

Since Razer's first product, the Boomslang, they have been on an almost unstoppable winning streak with their various gaming peripherals. The last Razer mouse that we had the opportunity to caress was the Razer Copperhead, and today we took up the opportunity to examine one of their recent creations, the Krait. What new features do the Razer Krait bring to the mouse pad? For one, its rare in the fact that its a gaming mouse yet they reverted to a traditional three button design, compared to other mice that now sport five or even eight buttons.

12 May 2006 - Add A Comment
Everglide S-500 Headphones

Taking a break from the usual hardware roundabout, this morning up for your reading pleasure we have up our Everglide S-500 Professional Gaming Headphones review. The Everglide S-500 utilizes optimal noise isolation, enhanced audio positioning, gaming frequency response, and they are designed for comfort.

16 April 2006 - Add A Comment
Thermalright V-1 Ultra

A name that is synonymous with computer enthusiasts and overclockers when it comes to cooling manufacturers is Thermalright. While Thermalright has experimented with GPU and Chipset coolers in the past, their product efforts primarily focus upon AMD and Intel CPU cooling solutions. Up on the review block today we have the Thermalright V-1 Ultra GPU cooler, which appends a third heatpipe over the V-1 original.

7 April 2006 - Add A Comment
SilverStone Sugo Pack

What do we have up on the review bench today? Well, it is certainly like nothing else we have seen in the past -- in fact, it is simply a bag. However, this is plain and simply not an ordinary bag we have seen in the past for transporting computer parts but is rather an engineering masterpiece. This solution is made by SilverStone Technology and is dubbed the Sugo Pack. Do not let its name fool you, as the bag simply is not limited to SFF enclosures.

3 April 2006 - Add A Comment
Thermaltake BigWater SE + Volcano

Hitting the Internet this morning is our overclocking expedition with Thermaltake as we see how far a single-core Intel Pentium 4 processor can be pushed when using a BigWater SE and Volcano 4005. Just how well can Thermaltake push the limits when it comes to liquid cooling? The results in front of us today are certainly surprising.

1 April 2006 - Add A Comment
Razer Mantis Speed/Control

The Razer Mantis Speed and Control mats are composed of Fibertek by Everglide, oversized to ensure the mouse real estate is not lacking, and a rubber base ensures a reliable grip on the smoothest surfaces. Will the Razer Mantis continue in the company's legendary success with the eXactMat, Diamondback, and Boomslang products? Today on our desks, we have both the speed and control versions of the Razer Mantis, which claims to be a precision mousing surface. Today, however, we will find out for ourselves precisely as we pair it up with their infamous Coperhead.

20 February 2006 - Add A Comment
Logitech MX518/MX1000

Logitech is certainly no newcomer to the mouse industry, as they have been making input devices to satisfy everyone from gamers to general-purpose users for years. The mice we have our hands on today for testing is their MX518 and MX1000 models. The MX518 is their battle-tested optical performer while the MX1000 is their premiere laser cordless mouse.

30 January 2006 - Add A Comment
Sytrin KuFormula VF1 Plus

The Sytrin KuFormula VF1 Plus is one of the finest air solutions we have EVER laid our eyes on, and it is certainly a prime example of how a relative newcomer can shake the PC cooling industry with fresh thinking. During our testing, when this video cooling solution was maxed out on a GeForce 7800GTX, we had seen an incredible 12-21 Celsius drop in the core temperature! This product is definitely worth looking into with its near universal support for both ATI and NVIDIA products.

29 January 2006 - Add A Comment
Scratch-Less Disc CD-R

With the pictures we take this holiday season, for anyone it would be a tragedy to lose the photographs they had backed up to a CD or DVD. Often data on these discs are simply lost due to carelessness when one simply sets down the CD/DVD and it turns out to be scratched. For this holiday exclusive, we have a few photos and a write-up on how a new company is attempting to make scratched discs a thing of the past.

25 December 2005 - Add A Comment
SilverStone PP02 Acoustic Cover

When one seeks to quiet their computer system while retaining from eliminating any of their cooling components they often turn to noise dampening products for their fans as well as turning down the fan speed. One of the areas often overlooked by enthusiasts is the noise emitted from the power supply. With us for this review, we have the SilverStone PP02 Power Supply Acoustic Cover, which is a simple yet unconventional product for silencing your system.

21 December 2005 - Add A Comment
Sharkoon Rainbow TC

When it comes to computer case fans we generally avoid doing any articles on the subject matter due to general lack of innovation that comes by traditional case fans. Today, however, we are going to be looking at a fan that is unlike any of its competition thanks to a unique feature that allows the case temperature to be projected onto the fan blades as they spin. This fan is the 80mm Sharkoon Rainbow TC.

20 December 2005 - Add A Comment
Swiftech H20-220 APEX Ultra

Swiftech has come out with a new revision to their H20-APEX water cooling kit and is named the APEX Ultra with its Apogee waterblock and new MCRES-Micro reservoir. For today's review, we are experimenting with the new H20-220 kit that is designed for high-end usage and had no problems pushing the CPU past the 4GHz marker.

9 December 2005 - Add A Comment
SilverStone Nitrogon NT03

Is bigger always better? With us today is the SilverStone Nitrogon NT03, which is only 72mm tall but is able to pack the cooling performance of a heatsink twice its size; in fact, the heatsink is able to cool Socket 478. LGA-775, 754, 939, and 940 CPUs and for our testing today we threw it up against a roasting hot Intel Pentium D.

4 December 2005 - Add A Comment
5-Way Radiator Round-Up (Part 2)

For those of you who had missed out on part one of our water cooling round-up, we are presently in the midst of a 5-way radiator comparison with the Hardware Labs Black Ice Xtreme I and II, Danger Den Dual Heater Core, CoolingWorks CoolRad 12T, and Thermaltake 12cm Big Radiator. Posted today we have the second part of this article that consists of the chilling results.

28 November 2005 - Add A Comment
5-Way Radiator Round-Up (Part 1)

The final contenders for the Phoronix Radiator Round-Up have been narrowed down to the talented folks at Danger Den, Hardware Labs, CoolingWorks, and Thermaltake. Just how well do these various 120mm water cooling radiators perform when they attempt to be tamed by a raging DFI nForce4 Ultra-D with Athlon 64 Venice? Today we have a presentation of the opponents in our two-part radiator challenge.

22 November 2005 - Add A Comment
Razer Copperhead

Well over a year ago we tried the Razer eXact Mat here for testing, and we were pleasantly surprised by the phenomenal quality of this metal mouse surface, back with us today is Razer as we view their latest product - the Copperhead. This optical mouse features a Razer Precision 200 DPI laser engine, 1000Hz Ultrapolling, and 32Kb of onboard memory. Today we will see how the Razer Copperhead can fair under our usual Linux gaming.

10 November 2005 - Add A Comment
Vantec LapCool 3 (LPC-401)

Do you own a laptop? Do you have a hard time keeping it on your lap because it's too hot? Well we sometimes do. Most of our reviews here are geared toward enthusiasts and overclockers, however, desktops are not the only things that need after-market cooling these days. For our mobile readers out there, today we have Vantec's LapCool 3 laptop cooling pad.

2 November 2005 - Add A Comment
Prime Cooler Water Cooling Preview

Prime Cooler, who has been in business since 1998 but isn't widely recognized in the United States, recently unveiled their initial line of water cooling components. These products range from a lift pump with water tank to a triple 120mm fan radiator, and today we have an exclusive preview of what's to come from these Prime Cooler Water Cooling components. Continue on as we dive into these frigid waters.

20 October 2005 - Add A Comment
SunbeamTech X-1300 Gaming Mouse

With the Razer Copperhead, and its 2000 DPI laser engine, and the Logitech G5, with its 2000 DPI laser, receiving much of the attention lately when it comes to computer mice, many smaller competitors such as the SunbeamTech X-1300 Sensor-X Gaming Mouse haven't received much mindfulness. With us today we have the X-1300 optical mouse that features a 1300/650 DPI switch and a sleek ergonomic design.

14 October 2005 - Add A Comment
Cable Organizer LAN Solutions

Taking a break from our usual computer-oriented articles, we have a few products with us today that are designed for assisting in the cable management process for more than just a simple desk but is able to adequately cover a working environment, or for our purposes some LAN party wire management. The items of focus are the Cable Organizer Cable Management Kit, Dropover-Lite, and Flexiduct Cord Protectors.

2 October 2005 - Add A Comment
Metadot Das Keyboard

Designed by Daniel Guermeur, the Das Keyboard has been receiving a fair amount of attention since its design was publicized. Although the keyboard may look nice in theory and on paper, is the weighted key switches and blank keys anything worth compensating for the premium price? Today we have the Das Keyboard with us and we'll share a wealth of pictures as well as our opinion on this innovative typing solution.

1 October 2005 - Add A Comment
Silencing The SOHO (Part 2)

Due to the requests and user input from some of our readers, we have a new addition to our Silencing The SOHO article. In part two of this article, we'll be looking at several additional products for keeping your system cooling and quiet. These additional products expand from our active LGA-775 cooler we used in the first article to some additional heatsinks for Socket 478 as well as Socket 462/754/939. We also take a look at a relatively simple fan controller from Sunbeamtech and finishing off this piece with a golf ball textured fan from the folks at Sharkoon.

22 August 2005 - Add A Comment
CaseBuy EZ Power Supply Tester 2

Nearly eight months ago we presented a review of the CaseBuy EZ Power Supply Tester, and today we'll be looking at CaseBuy's latest revision to this tiny device. Among other improvements, the EZ Power Supply Tester 2 now supports testing 24-pin motherboard cables, SATA, and even 8-pin P4 connectors.

21 August 2005 - Add A Comment
Hiper Clavier Aluminum Keyboard

Almost nothing in an enthusiast computer is left un-modded these days. Whether it is functional mods done to heatsinks, motherboards, processors, or aesthetic mods done to cases and fans, almost everything you can imagine can be done to a computer. However, modders sometimes find it hard to find the perfect matching peripherals for their newly decked out system. Today we have a product from Hiper Group that just might solve some of your peripheral matching dilemmas, the Hiper Clavier Aluminum Keyboard.

17 August 2005 - Add A Comment
SunbeamTech Chameleon

When it comes to lighting a computer case, the usual products used are simply LED fans or CCFLs (Cold Cathode Florescent Lamp), or more recently EL wire. However, there has been another type of lighting device on the market for quite some time and that has been LED laser beams. Up for review today, we have our hands on the SunbeamTech Chameleon.

10 August 2005 - Add A Comment

192 peripherals articles published on Phoronix.