New for Monday November 24th 2008 – Blah
NEW CONTENT (Memory) – Intel Core i7 Memory Analysis – Can Dual Channel Cut it?
QUOTE: “DDR was Intel’s only reprieve, well after its introduction due to Rambus agreements. However, since that time Intel has not only used DDR, but improved on it. Now that we have seen Intel’s pattern with memory we see that not only are they banking a huge amount on their DDR3 technology, but also increasing the bus from 128-bit or dual channel to 192-bit or tri channel memory.
Today’s question we pose; does Core i7 really need three channels of memory or can it perform happily on two channels without severely impacting the performance of the system? – Let’s find out!”
For more information, please visit - http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/1665/intel_core_i7_memory_analysis_can_dual_channel_cut_it/index.html
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If you’re on a budget, that generally means that you have to compromise on your graphics card, but this R4670 performs beyond it’s price bracket, offering the best bang for buck since the 6600GT appeared.
“It’s performance is astonishing when you consider the $80 price tag, $65 after rebate . I wish I had an 8800GT to hand, because I wouldn’t be surprised to see the MSI R4670 match or beat it right across the board, and consider that the 8800GT’s are still twice the price or more, and it’s a no brainer. Pretty much everyone is feeling the pinch and counting the pennies, so it’s nice to know that if you do have to compromise and get a low priced card for your gaming, your not going to be missing out on much this time around. If you’re the casual gamer and used to buying budget priced cards, then the MSI R4670 might just give you an inkling on what you are missing out on with higher end cards.”
Link: http://www.viperlair.com/index.php/reviews/msi-r4670-512mb.html
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Hardware Bistro has just posted latest review; GlacialTech Altair A381 HTPC Case. Thanks
Quote: “HTPC or Home Theatre PC which is not a new stuff as it have been in the market quite some time ago. What is HTPC? Basically it is a device which combines the functions of computer and digital video recorder. Today, we are going to bring you a HTPC case from GlacialTech; Altair A381 which was just released in Sep 2008. Wonder how this A381 looks like and how it performs? Let us go through together.”
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Article Name: Silverstone NT06 Evolution Heatpipe CPU Cooler Review @ Tweaknews.net
Article Url: http://www.tweaknews.net/reviews/silverstone_nt06_evolution/
Article Snippet:
“In conclusion, SilverStone has a great product in the NT06 Evolution cooler. Its cooling performance is surprisingly good when coupled with a quiet, low-flow fan and very good when airflow increases. I like its compactness and relatively low mass and it looks pretty good as well. With a lower cost and an improved mounting solution, the NT06 Evolution would be a excellent value, but these issues drop it back a bit in this regard.”
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Title: ATI HD 4870 1GB vs. NVIDIA GTX 260/216 896MB @ Techgage
Link: http://techgage.com/article/ati_hd_4870_1gb_vs_nvidia_gtx_260216_896mb/
Quote: In the $250 – $300 price-range, there exists two graphics cards that want to see your dollar, but which one deserves it the most? To find out, we’re taking a thorough look at each. In addition to general performance comparison, we’re also taking a look to see which excels where power consumption and temperatures are concerned, in addition to overall pricing.
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TITLE: SilverStone Fortress FT01 Case SST-FT01B-W @ Benchmark Reviews
DESCRIPTION: SilverStone has a long history of designing and building fantastic looking products, and the Fortress Series is no exception, especially the SST-FT01B-W model. Benchmark Reviews has investigated a few SilverStone products up to now, and we’ve always come away impressed by their good looks, thoughtful design, and premium build quality. Things are definitely looking up; let’s take it home and see what it can do with this premium computer case.
ARTICLE URL: http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=247&Itemid=61
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Asus P6T Deluxe Intel X58 motherboard review
http://www.techspot.com/review/129-asus-p6t-deluxe/
Having just recently examined the new Intel Core i7 processors, the timing seems perfect to also show you in detail a motherboard designed to take advantage of these CPUs. The Asus P6T Deluxe sports the new Intel X58 chipset and is one of the first production Core i7 motherboards available in the market.
Because of the added cost inherent of moving to a new platform, building a new Core i7 computer is going to be quite steep. The base model Core i7 processor will set you back an initial $284, which is not too bad, but combined with a $300 motherboard and a triple-channel DDR3 memory kit, that should add up to around $800 just for the guts of a Core i7 system.
Yet, given the blazing fast performance offered by this new platform, justifying the price tag may not be too difficult for those who can afford it. After all, a few years ago you could end up paying $1,000 for a ‘top of the line’ Pentium 4 that heated up like crazy. Today’s cheaper alternative winds up being the Core 2 Duo which is no slouch, so stepping into Core i7 territory right now can be considered a luxury.
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Date: 11-23-2008Â By Ben Sun
The 4870 from MSI performs better than the ATI reference card across the board, mainly due to the improved clock speed over the original. The card is available online for a retail price of $299.99 making it a decent buy. The card plays games extremely well and the slight overclock makes it a good buy versus the reference model. The ATI HD 4870 1GB is a decent competitor to the GeForce GTX260 card with some games playing better on one or the other. Video cards of this generation have never had as much performance for the price or the features for the price that the HD 4870 and GeForce GTX 260 have. Hopefully, the days where single video cards just release at $599 for the high end are over.
Link-: http://www.gamepyre.com/reviewsd.html?aid=1032&p=1
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Title: Intel Core i7 Nehalem 965 XE review @ ModReactor
Direct Link:
http://www.modreactor.com/english/Reviews/Intel-Core-i7-Nehalem-965-XE-3.2GHz-review.html
Quote: “The long awaited new generation of Intel processors – Core
i7, based on the new Nehalem core are finally available. Farewell
FSB, hello QuickPath. Still we need to find out how does the new
architecture fares to the older quad and dual core processors in
various applications an are the great expectations of the user
justified (or rather – is the top model Core i7 965 XE worth the
obscene price tag).”
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Title: MSI N280GTX SUPER OC review   @ ModReactor
Direct Link:
http://www.modreactor.com/english/Reviews/MSI-N280GTX-SUPER-OC-review.html
Quote: “It’s not that MSI N280GTX Super OC is no good. Thing is it’s
just not for everybody. On the other hand we speak of class in which
all that matters is performance, class the customers of which are
interested less in the price than in obtaining the very best. If you
are one of those people, that’s probably your card – unquestionably
the fastest single core NVIDIA model on the market.”
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NEW CONTENT (Storage) – Intel X25-M 80GB 2.5-inch Solid State Disk
QUOTE: “The testing for the new Intel X25-M has been completed for a couple of weeks now, but I have been putting off writing the article. Reviewers are faced with tough decisions from time to time; generally it is because we had found a fatal flaw and try to work with a company to correct the issue. This time the flaw is simply that the drive is too good. Intel is saying that their first entry into the consumer SSD market is able to read up to 250 MB/s, while other products are claiming a maximum of 175 MB/s. Honestly, who in their right mind would want to send over a consumer SSD for us to review knowing that it would be compared to the Intel X25-M? – Where do I sign up for unemployment because my job is gone?
The good thing is that Intel has left us a couple of back doors and has not totally disrupted the market. The first and foremost is price. We are starting to see 128GB MLC based drives with decent performance break the 300 Dollar barrier. The new Intel X25-M just showed up at Newegg for a little over twice that amount for the 80GB version we are looking at today. I may be saved after all, but information about rapid price drops are starting to leak out. The last I heard from the rumor mill is that the X25-M will get a new price of 530 USD before the year is out; still a lot more than some of the others, but clearly not out of range for enthusiasts.”
For more information, please visit - http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/1664/intel_x25_m_80gb_2_5_inch_solid_state_disk/index.html
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InsideHW.com has posted article about Adobe Photoshop CS4. You can read a clip from review:
“New edition of one of the best, if not the best, application for processing raster graphics attended for photographers but also for graphic and web designers, is finally tested on InsideHW. One of most important technical novelties is that Photoshop CS4 will be delivered only as 64-bit version. Adobe made this decision after preliminary tests that showed that performances of 64-bit applications are better for 8% to 12% comparing to 32-bit version. True power and advantages of 64-bit version are hidden in fact that it can use large amounts of memory…â€
If you are interested to read some more, we present you link:
http://www.insidehw.com/Software/Multimedia/Adobe-Photoshop-CS4.html
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Lian Li PC-9 Computer Case:
Link: http://www.rbmods.com/Articles/LianLi/Pc-9_case/1.php
Quote: We’ve had the opportunity to review a lot of cases here on rbmods.com, but one manufacturer seems to stand out amongst the crowd in terms of quality and reputation: Lian Li. But as the competition gets tougher, everyone needs to elevate their new products to new levels. Today, we get a chance to look at one of the newest products from Lian Li, the PC-9 computer case. Will this case continue the Lian Li’s tradition of excellence? Read on to find out in this review.
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| ECS A790GXM-A Black Review |  |
Author: Ben Sun Date: 11-23-2008
The AMD chipset platform is constantly changing with new releases from AMD and NVIDIA to satisfy any need that may arise. The 790GX chipset is geared at providing the best integrated graphics performance on this platform and it succeeds at that admirably. ECS’s board performed well within the range of the other 790GX boards I’ve tested and has the features that you would want from a motherboard with this chipset including Side Port memory, HDMI port, and integrated graphics in the form of the HD 3300 which make it a compelling HTPC motherboard. One feature which is missing from this board is 1MHz CPU Clock frequency adjustment, meaning that you have to adjust the frequency by 5MHz at a time instead of 1MHz at a time. This makes the overclocking a little harder compared to the many boards on the market that have 1MHz stepping.
Review Link: http://www.motherboards.org/reviews/hardware/1835_1.html
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Comfort counts when you\’re on the PC for hours editing documents or playing World of Warcraft and the Logitech Desktop Wave Pro is designed exactly for that purpose.
Full Article:
http://www.tbreak.com/articles/19/1/Logitech-Desktop-Wave-Pro/Page1.html
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