Hardware Canucks Christmas Wishlist

Zac's (Eldonko) List


Christmas time kicks ass, simple as that. Prices on pretty much everything are at a yearly low and we are bombarded with sales that are often too good to resist. Personally, I don’t ask for much, but I also would not turn down that perfect tech gift... I tend to like the party game type of gift, something that I can get a laugh with, or of course the high end tech gadget or piece of hardware. But we all know that asking for computer hardware is tough, since you have to be so specific that you pretty much have to provide a NCIX link to exactly what you want. Kind of defeats the purpose, doesn’t it? Nonetheless, I did a little thinking (ok, maybe a lot of thinking..) on a few things I may enjoy but would not necessarily buy myself, and came up with this 3 part list!


For Geeks on a Budget
Product: Shocking Thumbwars
Price: £14.95
Details: Shocking Thumbwars

Tired of boring party games? Ever thought of shocking your friends? Call me twisted, but I must say yes to both of those questions. The Shocking Thumbwars game by hotbox.com is a 3-in-1, head-to-head party game, that gives the user a shocking experience. The first game is 50/50 which is a race to tap the button 50 times (loser gets a nice jolt), the second is Rebound which is a pong-like challenge that involves knocking a light sequence back and forth (you will be shocked to miss) and the third is Endurance which is a test to see who can take the most shocking (no one really wins this one). For about $25 (plus shipping) you have this nifty gadget for hours of amusement. Grab it @ Firebox.


For the Hardware Geek
Product: Biostar TPower x58 Motherboard
Price: $350+
Details: BIOSTAR

I'm thinking most of us are just itching to go to i7, even if our 775 systems can run anything we throw at em with ease. Well I am no exception. It is a tough choice which board to get, everyone has one out (or coming) and there are few results up thus far. I chose the Biostar TPower X58 because of the success of the TPower P45 s775 board. Benchers are still shattering FSB World Records with the TPower P45 and Biostar really earned my respect putting out such a great product at half the price of boards comparable in performance.

For that reason, this is my first choice for X58 at this time. Plus the simplicity of the color scheme on this board makes it a pleasure to look at! As far as I know, the board is not available in Canada yet, and it is hard to say what the price will be (maybe $350-$400?). Maybe we will even see the TPower X58 by Xmas though, here’s hoping anyway..

For the Geek Who Has it All
Product: Mountain Mods Ascension
Price: $439.99+ (USD)
Details: MountainMods.com-Computer Cases-Ascension

This is the section where I really had to dig deep and do some thinking. If I could have something (regardless of price) that I don’t really need it what would it be? I seriously could make a page long list for this, stuff from cascades, to copper GPU pots, to an AMD system (haha just joking AMD fans). Using watercooling and constant hardware upgrades / changes hardly make cases practical for me as I haven’t used on in three years. However, I must admit that I miss the fun of a new custom case build and am fairly jealous of some of the builds I see going on lately.

This brings me to the absolute coolest case I can think of, the Ascension – Duality by Mountain Mods. Now don’t get me wrong, this is no regular wimpy case, this is a case that eats regular-sized cases for breakfast; and best of all Mountain Mods allows full customization! The Ascension – Duality is completely modular, can fit four PSUs and two motherboards, and has plenty of space for running two full water loops and full-sized rads! By the time you get it in your hands it would be probably $700+, but if you have the money is it worth it? Hell yes.