Back Issues

Issue: 96
January 09
Atomic takes on the global financial crisis!Yes, you heard right, we’re trying to help you save a few pennies, with our in depth round up of sub-$200 graphics cards. I mean, yeah, we’d all love to have two 4870X2 cards in our dream rig, but in these trying times it pays to make sure you’re ...

Issue: 95
December, 2008
This month’s issue of Atomic is packed with in-depth tech goodness. It’s a wonder it’s not printed on PCB, it’s so damned hardcore!We have analysis and discussion on the long-awaited, much-anticipated Nehalem CPU, from Intel. We take the Core i7 Extreme model of the chip through its paces, and, ...

Issue: 94
November, 2008
Another month, another Atomic, another action and tech-packed issue of your favourite PC and gaming magazine!Issue 94 kicks into gear with an in depth look at all the intricacies of modern PC parts, with a guide to building a PC for the modern enthusiast. From CPU choice to power supply and ...

Issue: 93
October, 2008
Welcome to a brand new Atomic.Just a quick flick through this month’s mag should reveal that we’ve taken to Atomic with a big, sleek stick. We’ve moved things around, gussied the place up, and – we hope – made a good magazine even better, and a whole lot sexier.Aside from dashing good looks, ...

Issue: 92
September, 2008
There's a new generation of graphics cards out in the market, and this month we take both ATI's 4-series and NVIDIA's 200-series for a serious spin around the block. Both of these two new families offer serious performance, but who offers the best in terms of multi-card setups and all important cost? We find out. If you're looking to upgrade your PC for the latest in graphical performance, you must read our head2head.

On top of that we've got a range of older 9-series cards from NVIDIA on review, a mess of out-of-the-box PC systems, and all the usual in gaming and performance peripherals.

Speaking of gaming, we take a look at a near-complete build of the latest Star Wars epic, The Force unleashed. It's a helluva game, too, so be sure to read our preview. But the real jewel in the gaming crown this month is our hands on look at the controversial Fallout 3. The series is already a classic, but this latest entry looks to be the best of the lot - the only question is if we'll see it on these shores. Read our full preview, plus news and views on why it's being effectively banned in Australia.

Plus much more!

Issue: 91
August, 2008
Welcome to another brand-spanking new issue of Atomic!

It’s almost impossible to know where to start with cool stuff this month – it’s ALL cool stuff! But if you put a gun to our collective heads and forced us to fess up, we’d probably have to say that Ron Prouse has once again done us proud with a new and outstanding tutorial on how to build your own modular PC benching rig. We do a lot of testing, and we know a lot of you do too, and Ron’s come up with a wonderfully sexy Perspex creation that any ‘clocker or enthusiast would be proud own.

We also round up and take the measure of the pre-built gaming PC market. We’ve got five machines ranging from $2,000 budget wonders up to a super huge, water-cooled and overclocked $6,000 beast. So, if you are in the market, what’s the best price point to get serious performance without breaking the bank? We’ll let you know…

There’s a neat little feature on modern security technology From Chris Taylor, which any right-minded geek would want to know about. There’s more techy goodness in X-Ray, too, where Ashton Mills takes a look at the memristor technology and what it means for future computing. On top of all that, there’s our usual mess of reviews, covering mobos, cases and the new GTX280 from NVIDIA – is the it power house that everyone’s been expecting? Only one way to find out!

And much more!

Issue: 90
July, 2008
It’s a bold Atomic world this month, as we delve into the secrets of console hacking! In our special cover feature, Jake Carroll, quite possibly the brainiest man alive, takes us on a special journey that will leave you with the power to unlock the secrets of your Xbox, PS3, or handheld console. From hardware hacks to software mods, this is a must-have guide for anyone who wants that little bit more access and control over their favourite lounge-room hardware.

But that’s not all! Leigh Dyer gets into his own bit of hand-holding, with a guide to how Windows users can get the most out of Linux. In this first part of the article he walks us through installing Ubuntu, and where and how it differs from Windows. Good stuff! We’ve got a couple of gaming laptops on the slab, as well, including the latest from maestro PC makers AlienWare. Surely if anyone can make a kick-arse gaming laptop that actually does what it promises on the tin, AlienWare can.

Our Head2Head is another chilly exploration into PC cooling, and this time Josh Collins gets his hands wet with some liquid solutions to keeping your PC running smooth. Plus there’s the usual range of latest motherboards, new graphics cards and bleeding edge RAM solutions. All made to work up a sweat in our vigorous testing. Finally, we take a stroll through the blood-soaked lands of Hyborea, with our review of the latest MMORPG hit, Age of Conan.

Issue: 89
June, 2008
****** on sale 14th May ******

It's that crazy time of the month again, when a new Atomic hits the streets and we get all arm-wavey and excited, like a drowning man on speed. This month is packed with stuff for enthusiast geeks of nearly any stripe!

A quick flick-through reveals more gold than the human eye can quite take in in one glance! There's Logan Booker's exploration of what Vista's first Service Pack brings to the beleaguered OS – it's an improvement, but is it enough to make XP fans finally upgrade to Vista? Then Josh Collins shoots the breeze with a metric mess of fans and CPU heatsinks, in his ongoing effort to bring about some kind of global cooling apocalypse. Incidentally, his Head2Head is also useful for those looking for the best in cooling solutions for their PC. Handy.

There's all the usual reviewing goodness, including more on the 9800GX2 line – we're just not quite sure this is everything it's cracked up to be. Gamers can look forward to a packed section, with more of Logan – this time taking a look at actioner Prototype – plus our huge review of Grand Theft Auto IV. Worth the hype? Our sore thumbs don't think so, but you'll find our full judgement inside.

Plus much more!

Issue: 88
May, 2008
****** on sale 14th April ******

Please note Atomic's 'on sale' date has been delayed due to a delivery problem - it will be in all stores as of Monday 14th April.

It’s another month and another smashing issue of Atomic to rock your gaming and hardware socks off! We’ve got a world first look at the upcoming Dawn of War 2, with dev and designer interviews, screenshots and gameplay details. It’s an awesome looking game. It’s a game-tastic issue, this month, as we also have a full version of Pirates of the Burning Sea to give away – you can even check out our review of the game (hint: pirates = cool!), plus more strategy titles besides.

Over in hardware land, we’ve got some controversial reviews of the new 9-series range of graphics cards from NVIDIA. Has the darling of the gaming community gone a series too far? On top of that, there’s mobo reviews, new RAM to drool over and the latest monster screen from Dell. On the feature front we’ve got a guide to making your name as an amateur game developer, and Dan Rutter takes a look at some real world hacks and how they work. Finally, if you want to better yourself – or just build cool stuff – there’s Ron’s latest crazy project: he’s building his own race car cockpit.

All that, and much more. Don’t miss it!

Issue: 87
April, 2008
If you look up ‘packed issue of coolness’ in the dictionary you’ll find a picture of this month’s Atomic. True story!

Our cover feature this month – and boy did we enjoy the photo-shoot – is all about DDR3-RAM. We’ve rounded up the best of the bunch, benched them until silicon and PCB ran in the gutters, and found for you the best in performance and bang-for-buck. IF you’re still waiting to upgrade your RAM, and maybe your whole system, this could be the article for you.

On top of that, we’ve got an exclusive look at NVIDIA’s first card in the 9-seriesm the 9600 GT; it’s a great card offering hella performance at a tidy price. And that’s just one of five brand new cards we’ve put through the labs!


And so much more!

Issue: 86
March, 2008
It’s a hardware lover’s dream, this issue, as we rack up exclusive reviews and benching of one of the hottest – and craziest – hardware platforms we’ve ever seen. We saw Intel’s Skulltrail at CES, and just had to have one of our own to tinker with; it’s a glorious, dual quad core CPU beast, and we put it through its paces. Is it da bomb, or just a bomb?

We also take a long look at GIGABYTE’s latest X48 offering, and DFI’s brand new LANParty mobo. And the mobo madness doesn’t end there, as we’ve also got in-depth buyer’s guide letting you in on what the performance experts look for in a motherboard. We’ve also got more power supplies put to the Big Willy test, a couple of super quiet PC case offerings, and honking huge PC from Alienware. The Head2Head this month takes a look at the rather contested state of next gen optical drives – HD-DVD players and drives are dropping in price, while more and more companies are making the exclusive switch to Blu-ray – but which format is actually the best, and who’s going to win in the long run? We have the answers…

Issue: 85
February, 2008
Another month churns over on the calendar and with it another packed issue of Atomic!

To kick this month's issue into top gear is the flagship feature; an extensive Head to Head of some of the best (and worst) luxury 'big' cases out there on the market. Everything from the high-end renowned Lian Li case gods through to the well featured and competitively priced Gigabyte cases. We pull them apart, throw them about and test every metal edge for geek-hand friendliness. Eight cases total and only one winner - place your bets now!


But that's not all, check these out...