OCZ

HIS Radeon HD 2600 Pro IceQ Turbo 512MB

2007-09-09T11:31:00.000-07:00

If you have ever been in the market for a graphics card, you are undoubtedly familiar with the constantly changing graphics card market. About every 8-10 months, new GPUs are introduced by NVIDIA and ATI, and after their introduction, dozens of graphics cards built by their add in board partners come to market. Because these add in board partners all use the same graphics chips supplied by the two major graphics card companies, they have to use their marketing savvy to create extra value and incentive for consumers to buy their products.
Over the years we’ve seen companies bundle the hottest new games, add new video connections, new cooling units, and even build their cards on unique colored PCBs. All of these strategies help to differentiate products from one another, and a company that has been doing this since their first line of X800 graphics cards is HIS, short for Hitech Information Systems. HIS has become widely known for using premium cooling solutions and pre-overclocking their graphics cards to provide a considerable amount of value and performance to gamers and enthusiasts alike.
Today we’ll be looking at one of the newest additions to the HIS product line, the ~$130 HIS Radeon HD 2600 Pro IceQ Turbo 512MB PCI Express graphics card. Join us as we take a closer look at the card and see how it stacks up to the competition in the $100-$150 graphics card space.

Model Name HIS HD 2600 PRO IceQ Turbo 512MB/256MB DDR2 PCIe
Chipset Radeon HD 2600 PCIe Series
ASIC Radeon™ HD 2600PRO GPU
Pixel Pipelines 120 stream processing units* (Unified)
Vertex Engines 120 stream processing units* (Unified)
Manu. Process (Micron) 65nm
Transistor Fill Rate
Memory Size (MB) 512 / 256
Memory Type DDR2
RAMDAC (MHz) 400
Engine CLK (MHz) 650
Memory CLK (MHz) 1050
Memory Interface (bit) 128
Memory Bandwidth
Max. Resolution 2560*1600
Bus Interface PCI-Express x16
VGA No
2nd VGA No
DVI Yes
2nd DVI Yes
TV-out No
HDTV (YPrPb component output) No
Video-in Yes
TV Tuner No
FM Tuner No

When we opened the HIS Radeon HD 2600 Pro IceQ Turbo’s box we found that the card shipped with a DVI to VGA adapter, an S-Video Cable, HDTV output cable, and an HDMI adapter. The HDMI adapter is a new addition to the Radeon HD 2000 series of graphics cards and allows you to output 5.1 audio and video to a HDMI ready television. Also included in the bundle is the standard user manual and driver disk, along with a paper that gives you access to Half-Life 2: Lost Coast and Half-Life 2: Deathmatch through Valve’s Steam service.

Corsair VX450W 450W Power Supply

2007-09-09T11:27:00.000-07:00

It’s a fact that extremely large, high-wattage power supplies tend to get the most press online, as the vast majority of PSU manufacturers are caught up in the never-ending competition of trying to get the highest wattage products out there. While this competition has fostered innovation in this market, in addition to pushing down prices of lower-wattage power supplies, the negative effect that it’s had is that most people believe that ultra-high wattage power supplies are an absolute necessity with today’s mid-range to high-end systems.
This is a myth which power supply manufacturers are happy to let people to buy into, since they can see increased sales on high-dollar power supplies which are overkill in many circumstances. While it doesn’t hurt to get a power supply with an available wattage level higher than what is needed, in some cases we’re seeing people purchase power supplies with 4-5x the maximum power load level than their system requires. In the vast majority of system configurations on the market, even newer ones, you’ll be hard pressed to push past 400W of actual power usage. Unless you’re dealing with a couple of Radeon HD2900XT or 8800 Ultra graphics cards, it’s unlikely that you’ll even get close to touching 700-800W.
We’ve always held power supplies which are relatively low-wattage but extremely efficient at their rated level in high regard. Power supplies which simply do their job without the need for gimmicky features, simply providing clean power with close to inaudible noise levels, all without charging you an arm and a leg. Companies like Antec and SeaSonic have held down this market quite well over the past few years, although newcomer Corsair’s power supply units have been surprisingly solid. Their first units, the HX series, were a hit with an interesting modular cable configuration and ultra low noise levels for high-powered configurations.
Corsair is taking much of the same technology which was prevelant in their HX-series power supplies and bringing it down to a lower price point. Earlier this month, they introduced the VX-series power supply lineup. This simple linup consists of 450W and 550W units, and are targeted at single processor, single graphics card systems who want near inaudible noise levels, solid power, and a reliable manufacturer name. We recently got our hands on the 450W unit for a trial run. Extending Corsair’s legendary reputation in performance and quality, the new Corsair VX family of power supplies features the industry’s most efficient power management and ultra-quiet design for mainstream users. Unlike most power supplies in the market, the Corsair VX incorporates a single +12V power rail that delivers continuous power under heavy loads. This conservative design ensures reliable operation in today’s most demanding system configurations and adds compatibility for future platforms. The unique combination of rock solid performance and incredible value puts the Corsair VX family of power supplies in a class of its own. Ideal for home theater PCs and ENERGY STAR PCs, the VX line maximizes energy savings and minimum noise generation thanks to double-forward switching circuitry design. Each Corsair VX power supply is backed with an industry-leading 5-year warranty and 24/7 on-demand customer service.

Specifications
450W Rated Warrage
Single "Ultra-Quiet" 120mm Cooling Fan
Up to 85% Efficiency Under Wide Load Range
99% Active Power Factor Correction
ATX12V 2.2 Standards Compliant
Single High-Wattage +12V Rail
High Quality Japanese Capacitors
5 Year Warranty, 100,000 Hour MTBF
1 x 24-pin/20-pin Primary ATX Connector
1 x 8-pin/4-pin Secondary ATX Connector
1 x 6-pin PCI Express Power Connector
6 x Serial ATA Power Connectors
6 x 4-pin Molex Power Connecotrs
2 x 4-pin Floppy Drive Power Connectors
Extra Long Cables to Support Full-Size ATX Chassis
Looking over the specifications, the VX450W has just about everything we would expect from a PSU of this caliber, although there are some interesting aspects which should be noted here.
The power supply’s rated 85% efficiency is a great selling point, as the industry’s focus on “green” power supplies has taken root with consumers. Corsair claims that their unit is efficient between 81-85% across all voltage levels, which means very little power is wasted and turned into excess heat. High-efficiency power supplies also consume less power themselves, which is good for your power bill. Corsair claims that a typical system using this power supply will use around 225 watts on load (which is a fairly solid estimation), and at this level, the power supply will be 85% efficient.
Corsair has opted for a single +12V rail on this model, which supports up to 33A and 396W off a single line, which an interesting design choice. There have been countless arguments online regarding the merits of single vs. dual (or quad) +12V lines for high-end systems. Our feeling is that for single GPU based systems, running everything off a single highly-rated +12V rail will be just fine, and our tests have shown that this does not present any issues.
Since the power supply is targeted at mid-range systems, only one 6-pin PCI Express graphics card power connector is included by default. If you want to run a multi-GPU system with this power supply, it’s certainly possible using Molex to PCIe power adapters, although if you’re going into multi-GPU territory, Corsair’s higher-wattage HX series are likely a better choice. While it only officially supports one graphics card, you’ve got a full server-grade set of Primary (24-pin) and Secondary (8-pin) +12V ATX connectors, meaning the system can handle single, dual, and quad-core based systems without issue. This unit can also be used for multi-processor systems, if need be, although this isn’t the market which Corsair is targeting here. Also note that the unit does not have EPS12V certification.

Western Digital Scorpio WD2500BEVS 2.5-inch SATA HDD

2007-09-09T11:24:00.001-07:00

Most of you probably already know that 2.5" notebook hard drives typically aren't as big or fast as hard drives found in desktop machines. In case you aren't aware, most laptops are sold with 5400RPM hard drives that range from 60GB to 100GB. In contrast, most desktops are currently sold with 7200RPM hard drives with capacities of up to 1TB. Just like desktop hard drives, though, laptop hard drives have gotten quite a bit bigger and faster over the last couple years.
While desktop hard drives hit 1TB (1,000GB) a while ago, laptop hard drives recently reached 250GB. At least one manufacturer will have a 320GB laptop hard drive available soon, but that still doesn't get us anywhere near 1TB in our laptops. Thankfully, though, if performance is your main concern, you can get a 7200RPM laptop hard drive now if you chose to do so.
Today, we have one of the largest laptop hard drives on the market in our labs, the 250GB Western Digital Scorpio WD2500BEVS. At 5400RPM, it may not be the mobile speed king, but this 2.5" SATA hard drive offers a plethora of nice features, like an 8MB cache and WD's WhisperDrive and ShockGuard technology. Plus, the benchmarks might just surprise you about how well a 5400RPM drive can perform. Read on to see how well the Scorpio WD2500BEVS performs compared to a 100GB 5400RPM 2.5" hard drive and a 500GB 7200RPM 3.5" drive.

PHYSICAL SPECS Capacity: 250 GBInterface: SATA 1.5 Gb/sSpindle Speed: 5400 RPMCache Buffer: 8 MBHeight: 9.5 mmLength: 100.2 mmWidth: 69.85 mmWeight: 0.117 kgPERFORMANCE SPECS Seek Times Average Latency: 4.20 msRead Seek Time: 12.0 msTrack-To-Track Seek Time: 2.0 msTransfer Rate Buffer To Host (Serial ATA): 1.5 Gb/s (Max)Buffer To Disk: 600 Mbits/s (Max)Acoustics Idle Mode: 24 dBA (average)Seek Mode 0: 26 dBA (average)Power Requirements Read/Write: 2.50 WattsIdle: 2.00 WattsStandby: 0.25 WattsSleep: 0.10 Watts

FEATURES Massive capacity - Whether they are in an external drive or a notebook computer, WD’s 250 GB 2.5-inch drives offer the most available capacity for space-hungry operating systems like Windows Vista™, plus plenty of room left over for photos, music, and video. Fast and efficient - With 5400 RPM spin speed and 12 ms access time, even the most demanding customer will appreciate the performance achieved by WD Scorpio drives. Quiet - In a notebook drive, silence is golden. WD’s exclusive WhisperDrive™ combines state-of-the-art seeking algorithms to yield one of the quietest 2.5-inch hard drives on the market. These algorithms also optimize the way a drive seeks for data, which significantly improves power consumption. So now silence (and longer battery life) is golden. Reliable and Rugged - WD's ShockGuard™ technology protects the drive mechanics and platter surfaces from shocks. WD's SecurePark™ parks the recording heads off the disk surface during spin up, spin down and when the drive is off. This ensures the recording head never touches the disk surface resulting in improved long term reliability due to less head wear, and improved non- operational shock tolerance. Tested for Compatibility - We perform tests on hundreds of systems and a multitude of platforms in our FIT Lab and Mobile Compatibility Lab to give our customers confidence that our drives will work in their systems. 3 Year Warranty

If you are already familiar with desktop hard drives, not much (other than the physical size) will surprise you about the appearance of the Scorpio WD2500BEVS. As you can see in the images above, the drive has a white label with black informational text on the top and green PCB on the bottom.
The Scorpio WD2500BEVS is a SATA drive, and as such, it features the same SATA power and data connectors that you are used to seeing on desktop SATA drives. For those of you wondering, yes, that does mean you could install this drive in your main desktop rig at home if you so desired. The benefits of installing a drive like this in a desktop system are that it requires considerably less power than a 3.5" drive, it is relatively quiet, and it is physically small, which means it doesn't take up much room.
The Scorpio WD2500BEVS achieves its quiet acoustic profile by way of Western Digital's exclusive WhisperDrive technology, which is essentially a set of seeking algorithms optimized to yield a low noise level. These algorithms will also help extend your laptop's battery life since they also affect the way the drive seeks for data, improving (lowering) power consumption. In addition to WhisperDrive, the Scorpio WD2500BEVS also boasts two technologies, ShockGuard and SecurePark, to keep your data safe.

Gigabyte GA-N680SLI-DQ6

2007-09-05T23:49:00.000-07:00

Gigabyte has almost always been a well respected brand amongst PC enthusiasts, but it seems the company has come on very strong in the last year or so. Gigabyte has released a number of highly praised motherboards is recent months, like the GA-P35T-DQ6 and GA-965P-DQ6 2.0 that were all lauded for their feature sets, performance, and overclockability.
In this article, we're going to showcase yet another Gigabyte-built mobo - the GA-N680SLI-DQ6 - that seemingly out does every other current desktop motherboard in a number of key areas. How do four Gigabit LAN controllers, 10 SATA ports, 100% solid capacitors, and a unique wrap-around, passive, cooling apparatus strike you? And did we mention the board is based on NVIDIA's nForce 680i SLI chipset and has three full length, PCI Express x16 slots for multi-GPU action?
As you'll see on the pages ahead, Gigabyte has gone all out with the GA-N680SLI-DQ6. If you're a fan of Intel processors and also want to run a pair of GeForce cards in SLI mode, you're going to want to flip through the next few pages to see just what the GA-N680SLI-DQ6 is made of...

BIOS
2 4Mbit flash ROM
Use of licensed AWARD BIOS
PnP 1.0a, DMI 2.0, SM BIOS 2.3, ACPI 1.0b
Chipset
NVIDIA NFORCE 680i SLI MCP (Northbridge: C55XE, Southbridge: MCP55PXE)
Marvell 88E8052/88E8056 chip (10/100/1000 Mbit)
Marvell 88E1116 phy (10/100/1000 Mbit)
Realtek ALC888 DD audio codec
T.I. TSB43AB23 1394 chip
Processor
LGA775
Support Intel Core 2 Quad/Core 2 Duo/Pentium D/Pentium 4 Processor
Supports 1333/1066/800/533 MHz FSB
Internal I/O Connectors
1 24-pin ATX power connector
1 8-pin ATX 12V power connector
1 4-pin PCIe 12V power connector
1 floppy connector
1 IDE connector
10 SATA 3Gb/s connectors
1 CPU fan connector
1 system fan connector
1 power fan connector
1 front panel connector
1 front audio connector
1 CD In connector
1 S/PDIF In connector
3 USB 2.0/1.1 connectors for additional 6 ports by cables
2 IEEE 1394a connectors for additional 2 ports by cables
1 TPM connector
1 LPT connector
1 Power LED connector
1 Chassis Intrusion connector
Form Factor
ATX
30.5cm x 24.4cm

Rear Panel I/O
1 PS/2 keyboard port
1 PS/2 mouse port
1 serial port
1 IEEE 1394a port
1 S/PDIF out port (optical)
4 RJ-45 port
4 USB 2.0/1.1 ports
6 audio jacks
Expansion Slots
2 PCI Express x16 slots
1 PCI Express x8 slot
1 PCI Express x1 slot
3 PCI slots
H/W Monitoring
System voltage detection
CPU / System temperature detection
CPU / System / Power fan speed detection
CPU warning temperature
CPU / System / Power fan failure warning
CPU / System smart fan control
Other Features
Supports @BIOS
Supports Download Center
Supports Q-Flash
Supports EasyTune (Note 2)
Supports Xpress Install
Supports Xpress Recovery2
Supports Xpress BIOS Rescue
Memory
4 DDR2 DIMM memory slots
Supports up to 8 GB memory
Support Dual Channel DDR2 800/667/533 unbuffered DIMMs
Supports 1.8V DDR2 DIMM
Supports DDR2 667/533/400 DIMM
Supports ECC type DRAM

nForce 650i SLI Shoot-Out: MSI P6N SLI vs Abit Fatal1

2007-09-05T23:39:00.000-07:00

bank account's ability to fund another upgrade. That's when we fall back on the always practical approach to maximizing our bang for the buck. Thankfully, this usually doesn't equate to buying products we're too ashamed to put in a modded case. Many companies cater to the more value conscious crowd while still bringing in enthusiast-oriented features.
One example of a product that offers a lot of bang for the buck yet maintains a fair amount of enthusiast-oriented features is the NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI chipset. MSI and Abit both offer nForce 650i SLI motherboards that pack a lot of great features in, at very reasonable prices. Of course, most gaming enthusiasts probably drool over the $200+ nForce 680i SLI boards, but they simple cost too much for many of us. For $50-75+ less, you can buy an nForce 650i SLI board and enjoy most of the essential features found on the 680i SLI board. For a detailed look at the differences between the various nForce 600 Series motherboards, check out the table below.

The main difference between the 650i SLI and 680i SLI that seems to concern gaming enthusiasts is that the 650i SLI's PCI express slots have x8 electrical connections instead of x16 in SLI mode. The simple fact of the matter, though, is that SLI in dual x16 mode hasn't proven to offer significant benefit over SLI with dual x8 PCI express slots. As you can see in the tablet, the 650i SLI also lacks a third PCI express slot. In addition to the reduction in PCI express lanes, the 650i SLI chipset also lacks official support for SLI-ready memory with EPP (although some 650i boards like the Abit board in this article do support it) and most of the networking-related special features.
For most users, even enthusiasts, however, these extra features and capabilities are unlikely to be missed. In this article, we'll compare the MSI P6N SLI Platinum to the Abit Fatal1ty FP-IN9 SLI and get a better idea of just how well the 650i SLI chipset performs.

AMD 690 Chipset Update: More Power, More Performance

2007-09-05T23:36:00.000-07:00

Back in February of this year, we took a look at the AMD 690 series chipset and praised it for its affordability, power efficiency, and strong performance relative to its competition. Since then, the 690 series chipset has gone on to be somewhat of a success for AMD with over 35 different motherboards based on various flavors the chipset currently and more on the way.
Not content with the status quo, engineers at AMD have taken the 690 series chipset and optimized it further through some BIOS and software level enhancements that result in marked performance gains in a number of situations and also introduce some new features. We've got a motherboard from Gigabyte on the test bed that feature the latest updates and thought we'd compare its performance to the unaltered board we evaluated when the chipset was first introduced in an attempt to see just how much the platform's performance has changed.

CPU Support:
AMD Sempron, AMD Athlon 64, AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core and AMD Athlon 64 FX
PCI Express Interface:
1 - x16 Graphics
4 - x1 PCI Express links
2D Acceleration Features:
Highly optimized 128-bit engine, capable of processing multiple pixels per clock.
Supports a maximum resolution of 2048x1536 @ 32bpp
Game Acceleration including support for Microsoft's DirectDraw
3D Acceleration Features:
Full DirectX 9.0 support
3D Texture support, including projective 3D textures
Anti-aliasing using multi-sampling algorithm with support for 2, 4 and 6 samples
New generation rendering engine provides top 3D performance
Support for OpenGL format for Indirect Vertices in Vertex Walker
Motion Video Acceleration Features:
Enhanced MPEG-2 hardware decode acceleration
MPEG-4 decode support
Hardware acceleration for WMV9 playback
Supports top quality DVD and time-shifted SDTV/HDTV te levision playback with low CPU usage
TV Out:
Integrated TV encoder from ATI's Xilleon products with on-chip -DAC with integrated AVIVO engine
Supports Macrovision 7.1 copy protection standard (required by DVD players)
Supports the formats of YPbPr component out
SurroundView:
SurroundView feature allows support for up to three independent monitors for systems equipped with an additional ATI discrete graphics card

Multiple Display Features:
Dual Independent displays including two digital outputs
Resolution, refresh rates, and display rates can be completely independent for the two display paths
Both display controllers support true 30 bits per pixel throughout the display pipe
Supports both interlaced and non-interlaced displaysIntegrated HD Audio controller for HDMI audio data
Display Support:
Supports a maximum resolution of 2048x1536 @ 32bpp
DVI/HDMI:
Supports a TMDS interface, enabling DVI or HDMI 1.2
1650 Mbps/channel with 165MHz pixel clock rate per link
HDCP 1.1 support on data stream with on-chip key storage
Supports HDMI audio together with Realtek's driver providing single control for user on all audio adjustments
Supports HDMI audio enhancements, such as equalizer, 5.1 channel, surround sound effect, karaoke and head phone virtualization
Universal Connectivity:
A-Link Xpress II i/f to AMD Northbridges; providing high bandwidth for high speed peripherals
10 USB 2.0 ports
SATA Gen 2 PHY support at 3.0Gb/sec bandwidth
4 ports SATA AHCI controller supports NCQ and slumber modes
ATA 133 controller supports up to UDMA mode 6 with two drives (disk or optical)
HPET (high precision event timer), ACPI 3.0 and AHCI support for Windows Vista
UAA (Universal audio architecture) support for High Definition Audio and MODEM
PCI v2.3 (up to 6 slots)
LPC (Low Pin Count), SPI (New Flash Bus), and SM (System Management) bus management and arbitrations
Legacy PC compatible functions, RTC (Real Time Clock), interrupt controller and DMA controller

Asus Blitz Formula and Extreme P35 Motherboards

2007-09-05T23:30:00.001-07:00

If you're a PC hardware enthusiast - and chances are pretty good that you are if you're reading HotHardware - Asus is a company that needs no introduction. Asus' track record for building quality products targeted squarely at power users is well known and documented, so we'll forego the history lesson here and get right to the point.
A couple of motherboards recently landed in the lab that filled a large void in the marketplace. Just after the introduction of Intel's new Core 2 Duo and Extreme processors with 1333MHz front side bus frequencies, if you wanted a motherboard that officially supported one of the new CPUs, that also had a balanced (and flexible) PCI Express lane configuration for better multi-GPU CrossFire support, you were basically up a creek. NVIDIA's nForce 680i SLI chipset supported the new processors, but we all know there is a large contingent of enthusiasts who prefer using Intel processors with Intel chipsets. Them's the breaks. Unfortunately, the P35 chipset was the only game in town with true 1333MHz FSB and CrossFire support, and like the P965 that came before it, its PCI Express lane configuration was unbalanced. With the P35, the first PEG slot got a full 16 lanes of PCI Express connectivity, while the second slot got only 4. In addition, those 4 lanes powering the second slot were connected to the Southbridge, which then in turn has to interface with the Northbridge over another link, adding latency to the equation. This setup works fine for single-GPU configurations, and admittedly works fine for CrossFire, but it doesn't offer optimal performance.
Asus saw the need for an enthusiast-class motherboard based on the P35 chipset, but with a more flexible PCI Express configuration. And leveraging what they undoubtedly learned from designing the PW564-WS , engineered the Blitz Extreme and Blitz Formula motherboards, complete with a PCI Express switch that allowed them to connect the P35 Northbridge's PCI Express lanes to a pair of PEG slots. Asus didn't stop there, however, and also outfitted the Blitz boards with a hybrid air / liquid cooling apparatus and a number of other features that are sure to please.

CPU
LGA775 socket for Intel Core 2 Extreme / Core 2 Quad / Core 2 Duo / Pentium Extreme / Pentium D / Pentium 4 / Celeron D Processors
Support Intel next gen 45nm Multi-Core CPU
Compatible with Intel 06/05B/05A processors
Chipset
Intel P35/ICH9R with Intel Fast Memory Access Technology
Front Side Bus 1333 / 1066 / 800 MHz
Memory (Blitz Extreme)
Dual channel memory architecture
4 x DIMM, max. 8GB, DDR3-1333*/1066/800, non-ECC and un-buffered memory
The chipset officially supports the memory frequency up to DDR3 1066MHz/DDR2 800. Due to the tuning by ASUS exclusive technology, this motherboard natively supports up to DDR3 1333/DDR2 1066MHz. Please refer to www.asus.com or user manual for Memory QVL
Memory (Blitz Formula)
Dual channel memory architecture
4 x DIMM, max. 8GB, DDR2-1066*/800/667 MHz, non-ECC and un-buffered memory
The chipset officially supports the memory frequency up to DDR2 800 MHz. Due to the tuning by ASUS exclusive technology, this motherboard natively supports up to DDR2 1066MHz. Please refer to www.asus.com or user manual for Memory QVL
Expansion Slots
2 x PCI Express x16 slot, support dual graphics solution
3 x PCI Express x1, PCIex1_1 (black) is compatible with audio slot
2 x PCI 2.2
CrossFire
Support ATI CrossFire graphics cards (both at x8 mode)
Storage
Southbridge
6 x SATA 3.0 Gb/s ports
Intel Matrix Storage Technology supports RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10.
JMicron JMB363 PATA and SATA controller
1 x UltraDMA 133/100/66 for up to 2 PATA devices
2 x External SATA 3.0 Gb/s port (SATA On-the-Go)
LAN
Dual Gigabit LAN controllers, with AI NET2
High Definition Audio
SupremeFX II Audio Card
ADI 1988B 8-channel High Definition Audio CODEC
Noise Filter
Coaxial, Optical S/PDIF out at back I/O
IEEE 1394a
2 x 1394a ports (1 x back I/O, 1 x onboard)
USB
Max. 12 USB2.0/1.1 ports(6 ports at mid-board, 6 ports at back panel)
BIOS
16Mb AMI BIOS, PnP, DMI2.0, WfM2.0, SM BIOS 2.4, ACPI2.0a Multi-Language BIOS

Overclocking Features
Crosslinx Technology
Extreme Tweaker
Loadline Calibration
Intelligent overclocking tools:
CPU level Up
AI NOS (Non-delay Overclocking System)
AI Overclocking (intelligent CPU frequency tuner)
ASUS AI Booster Utility
O.C Profile
Overclocking Protection:
COP EX (Component Overheat Protection - EX)
Voltiminder LED
ASUS C.P.R.(CPU Parameter Recall)
Special Features
Fusion Block System
LCD Poster
EL I/O
Onboard Switches: Power / Reset
Q-Connector
Q-Fan Plus
ASUS EZ Flash2 / CrashFree BIOS3
ASUS MyLogo3
Back Panel I/O Ports
1 x PS/2 Keyboard port(purple)
1 x Optical + 1 x Coaxial S/PDIF Output
2 x External SATA
2 x LAN (RJ45) port
6 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports
1 x IEEE1394a port
1 x Clr CMOS switch
Internal I/O Connectors
3 x USB 2.0 connectors supports additional 6 USB 2.0 ports
1 x Floppy disk drive connector
1 x IDE connector for two devices
6 x SATA connectors
8 x Fan connectors: 1 x CPU / 1 x PWR / 4 x Chassis / 2 x Optional
2 x thermal sensor connectors
1 x IEEE1394a connector
1 x S/PDIF output connector
1 x Chassis Intrusion connector
24-pin ATX Power connector
8-pin ATX 12V Power connector
1 x En/Dis-able Clr CMOS
1 x EL I/O Shield Connector
Manageability
WOL by PME, WOR by PME, Chasis Intrusion, PXE
Accessories
Fusion Block System Accessory
DIY Pedestal
ASUS Optional Fan
3 in 1 ASUS Q-Connector Kit
UltraDMA 133/100/66 cable
Floppy disk drive cable
SATA data and power cables
2-port USB2.0 module
IEEE1394a module
EL I/O Shield
Thermal sensor cables
Cable Ties
User's manual
Software
The hottest 3D Game: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
Support DVD:
Drivers
ASUS PC Probe II
ASUS Update
ASUS AI Suite
Futuremark 3DMark06 Advanced Edition
Kaspersky Anti-Virus
Form Factor
ATX Form Factor, 12"x 9.6" (30.5cm x 24.5cm)

Intel P35 Express Comparison: ASUS & Gigabyte

2007-09-05T23:26:00.002-07:00

We first took a look at Intel's P35 Express chipset back in May, when it was released into the wild to supplant the still relatively youthful P965 and usher in the era of DDR3 memory and 1333MHz FSB Intel processors. The P965 is a tough act to follow. Despite its intended mid-range market placement, Intel didn't hamper the P965 in any way except for the lack of official Crossfire support. With its excellent feature set and good performance, the P965 presented an excellent value and became many people's first choice for all of their single-GPU needs. For the P35, Intel has wisely chosen not to change the formula. Actually, the P35 Express is an even better value than the P965 was with its official support for 1333MHz FSB processors, DDR3, as well as the yet to be seen 45nm next generation of Intel processors.Besides 1333MHz FSB and DDR3 support, the P35 Express also improves upon the P965 in a number of other areas. One of the biggest improvements in terms of performance is thanks to a newly tweaked memory controller which produced good results in our initial look at the P35. Thanks to its use of the new ICH9 south bridge, the P35 is also able to improve upon the P965 in terms of available features, as you can see in the chipset diagram below.

We have looked at quite a few P965 boards in the past in several reviews and two motherboard comparisons (1, 2) and it's now the P35's turn to receive the same treatment. In our initial look at the P35 Express, we used an ASUS P5K3 Deluxe as our guinea pig. We didn't get a chance to take an in-depth look at the P5K3 Deluxe at that time since we wanted to focus on exploring the new features of Bearlake and DDR3, but we did promise we'd take a better look at it and we're not about to break our word. However, we've decided to make things a bit more interesting and instead of a standalone article, we've decided to pit another P35 Express based board up against the P5K3 Deluxe. Luckily, there are plenty of contenders to choose from. Despite being just a couple months old, the P35 already has very good representation in the retail market, with a surprisingly large selection of P35 based boards available at a wide range of prices. The P5K3 Deluxe is positioned as a premium product, with a price tag to match, weighing in at about $250. We've decided to match it up against another heavy weight, the Gigabyte GA-P35T-DQ6, weighing in at $240. Both of these boards represent the best that the P35 Express chipset has to offer and then some. Both boards implement DDR3 and they both go above and beyond the P35 specs, each with a couple of extra tricks up their sleeves. First we'll take a detailed look at each of the boards and then we'll introduce them to our test bench for a look at performance.

Asus Crosshair

2007-09-05T23:24:00.001-07:00

For almost as long as there have been PC enthusiasts, it seems that Asus has been there catering to them with feature laden, high-performance products. Nowhere is it more apparent that Asus caters to enthusiasts than with their motherboards. Yes, some of their notebooks and graphics cards are cutting edge as well, but the company has released literally hundreds of enthusiast-class motherboards in their history.
Over the years we have evaluated a myriad of Asus-built mobos here at HotHardware, and with the exception of only a couple of designs, they have all been stand-out products in their respective classes. In this article, we'll be shining the spotlight on yet another stand-out product from Asus, the CrossHair. The Asus CrossHair is the first member of the company's flagship "Republic of Gamers" series of desktop motherboards. It's based on NVIDIA's nForce 590 SLI chipset for AMD socket AM2 processors and sports a number of features an innovations that make it truly unique. There is a lot to cover in this article, so what do you say we get down to business and see what the CrossHair is really made of?

CPUSupport AMD Socket AM2 Athlon 64 X2 / Athlon 64 FX / Athlon 64/ SempronAMD Cool 'n' Quiet TechnologyAMD64 architecture enables simultaneous 32-bit and 64-bit computingAMD Live! Ready
ChipsetNVIDIA nForce 590 SLI MCPNVIDIA LinkBoost TechnologyFront Side Bus 2000 / 1600 MT/s
MemoryDual channel memory architecture4 x DIMM, max. 8GB, DDR2-800/667/533, ECC and non-ECC, un-buffered memory
Expansion Slots2 x PCI Express x16 slot with NVIDIA(R)SLI technology support, at full x16, x16 speed1 x PCI Express x43 x PCI 2.2
SLISupport two identical NVIDIA SLI-Ready graphics cards (both at x16 mode)ASUS two-slot thermal designASUS PEG Link
StorageNVIDIA nForce 590 SLI MCP supports:* 1 x Ultra DMA 133 / 100 / 66 / 33* 6 x Serial ATA 3.0Gb/s* NVIDIA MediaShield RAID supports RAID 0, 1, 0+1, 5 and JBOD span cross Serial ATA drivesSilicon Image 3132 SATA controller supports* 2 x External Serial ATA 3.0Gb/s port on back I/O (SATA On-the-Go)* Support RAID 0, 1, and JBOD
LANDual Gigabit LAN controllers support NVIDIA DualNet technologyNVIDIA nForce 590 SLI MCP built-in dual Gigabit MAC with external Marvell PHY* Support Teaming and fail-over functions* Support TCP/IP Acceleration
AudioSupremeFX Audio Cardfeaturing ADI 1988B 8-channel High Definition Audio CODECSupport Jack-Sensing, Enumeration, Multi-streaming and Jack-Retasking8 channel audio portsCoaxial, Optical S/PDIF out on back I/O port* ASUS Array Mic* Noise Filter
IEEE 1394aTI 1394 controller supports 2 x 1394a ports
Overclocking Features* ASUS AI NOS (Non-delay Overclocking System)* AI Overclocking (intelligent CPU frequency tuner)* AI Clock Skew* ASUS PEG Link - automatically performance tuning for graphics cards* ASUS O.C. Profile: overclocking configuration-sharing tool* ASUS C.P.R.(CPU Parameter Recall)* Extreme TweakerASUS AI Booster UtilityAdjustable FSB/DDR2 ratio.Fixed PCI/PCIe frequencies.

USBMax. 10 USB2.0/1.1 ports
Special FeaturesLCD PosterEL I/OOnboard LEDOnboard switches: Power / Reset / Clr CMOSQ-ConnectorQ-Fan PlusASUS CrashFree BIOS3ASUS EZ Flash2ASUS Music AlarmASUS MyLogo3
Back Panel I/O Ports1 x PS/2 Keyboard port1 x PS/2 Mouses1 x Optical + 1 x Coaxial S/PDIF Output2 x External SATA2 x LAN (RJ45) port4 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports1 x IEEE 1394a port1 x onboard LED switch1 x LCD Poster
Internal I/O Connectors3 x USB 2.0 connectors supports additional 6 USB 2.0 ports1 x Floppy disk drive connector1 x IDE connector for two devices6 x SATA connectors1 x CPU / 7 x option Fan3 x thermal sensor connector1 x IEEE1394a connector1 x S/PDIF output connectorChassis Intrusion connectorFront Panel Audio connector24-pin ATX Power connector8-pin ATX 12V Power connectorSystem panel connector1 x EL I/O Shield Connector
BIOS8Mb AWARD BIOS, PnP, DMI2.0, WfM2.0, SM BIOS 2.3
ManageabilityWOL by PME, WOR by PME, Chasis Intrusion, PXE
Accessories1 x SLI bridge1 x ASUS Array Mic1 x ASUS Optional Fan1 x ASUS Q-Connector Kit (system panel; Retail version only)3 x thermal sensor cables1 x UltraDMA 133/100/66 cable1 x Floppy disk drive cable6 x SATA cables7 x Cable Ties3 x SATA power cable for 6 devices1 x 2-port USB2.0 module1 x IEEE1394a module1 x EL I/O ShieldInterVideo Media Launcher (OEM version only)User's manual
Support DVDDriversASUS PC Probe IIASUS UpdateASUS AI BoosterFuturemark 3DMark06 Advanced EditionNVIDIA MediaShield RAIDKaspersky Anti-VirusForm Factor ATX Form Factor, 12"x 9.6" (30.5cm x 24.5cm)

Twin2X4096-6400C5DHX

2007-09-05T04:48:00.000-07:00

General:

Storage Capacity:4 GB ( 2 x 2 GB)
Upgrade Type:Generic
Compatibility:PC
Memory specification compliance:PC2-6400
Memory speed:800 MHz

Memory:

RAM type:DRAM
RAM technology:DDR II SDRAM
Form Factor:DIMM 240-pin
Memory Speed:800 MHz ( PC2-6400)
CAS Latency:CL5
Features:Dual-path Heat Xchange (DHX)
RAM / Chips Organization:128 x 8

Corsair TWIN3X2048-1333C9 G

2007-09-05T04:38:00.000-07:00

Features :

The Twin3X2048-1333C9 is a 2048 MByte matched pair of DDR3 SDRAM DIMMs. This part delivers outstanding performance in the latest generation of dual-channel DDR3-based motherboards. It has been tested extensively in multiple DDR3 motherboards to ensure compatibility and performance at its rated speed. This memory has been verified to operate at 1333MHz at low latencies of 9-9-9-27.

Specifications:

2048 Megabytes of DDR3 Memory- Two matched CM3X1024-1333C9 modules
Implemented using 64M x 8 DDR3 SDRAMS
100% tested at 1333 MHz in high performance DDR3 motherboards
Each Module pair is tested together at 1333MHz
Tested and packaged in pairs- Packaged together immediately following system test
SPD programmed at:- JEDEC standard 9-9-9-27 values at 1333 MHz
Legendary Corsair reliability and service
Lifetime Warranty

Corsair XMS3 DHX TWIN3X2048-1600C7DHX G - Twinx 2 Go

2007-09-05T04:32:00.000-07:00

Twin3X2048-1600C7DHX G est une paire de barrettes DDR3, qui profite du système de refroidissement DHX (Dual-Path Heat Xchange) développé à l'origine pour la gamme Dominator. Ce kit a été testé à 1600MHz avec des temps de latence de 7-7-7-20 sur un large éventail de carte mères compatibles DDR3 pour assurer une compatibilité maximale et des performances sans compromis.

La performance de la DDR3
Système de refroidissement DHX permettant de maintenir une température de fonctionnement idéal même aux fréquences les plus élevées.
Testées pour des timings de 7-7-7-20 à 1600 MHz
Garantie à vie par Corsair

ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe- nForce590SLI

2007-09-02T22:52:00.000-07:00

CPU-Sockel : Sockel AM2 - 940 Pin
Bauformat : ATX
Chipsatz : NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI
Grafikkarten Bus : PCI Express
PCI Express (x16) Steckplätze : 2
PCI Express (x4) Steckplätze : 1
PCI Express (x1) Steckplätze : 1
PCI Steckplätze : 2
ATA/ATAPI (40-polig IDE) Anschlüsse : 1
max. Bus-Transferrate : 133 Mb/s
Serial ATA (7-polig SATA) Anschlüsse : 8
1. SATA Controller : NVIDIA nForce5
1. SATA Max. Übertragungsrate : 300 MB/s
2. SATA Controller : Silicon Image 3132
2. SATA Max. Übertragungsrate : 300 MB/s
Raid Level : 0 / 1 / 5 / 0+1 oder 10 / JBOD
FrontSideBus / Hyper Transport Spec : 1000 MHz
Speicher Bänke : 4
Arbeitsspeicher Typ : DDR2-800
max. Speicherausbau : 8192 MB
Serieller Anschluss : Ja
Parallel Anschluss : Ja
SoundChip : -
Sound Channels : 7.1
Analoger Audio Eingang/Ausgang : Line-Out 4x (Klinke) / Line-In 1x (Klinke)
Mikrofon 1x (Klinke)
Digitaler Audio Ausgang : Koaxialer Digitaler Ausgang
Optischer Digitaler Ausgang
LAN Chipsatz : NForce 590SLI MCP built-in
Anzahl der LAN (RJ-45) Ports : 2 x
LAN Geschwindigkeit : 1000 MBit/s
USB Type : USB 2.0
USB Anschlüsse extern : 4
USB Anschlüsse intern : 6
Firewire Schnittstelle : Ja
Passive Kühlung : Ja

ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe - nForce570SLI

2007-09-02T22:51:00.000-07:00

CPU-Sockel : Sockel AM2 - 940 Pin
Bauformat : ATX
Chipsatz : NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI MCP
Grafikkarten Bus : PCI Express
PCI Express (x16) Steckplätze : 2
PCI Express (x1) Steckplätze : 2
PCI Steckplätze : 3
ATA/ATAPI (40-polig IDE) Anschlüsse : 1
max. Bus-Transferrate : 133 Mb/s
Serial ATA (7-polig SATA) Anschlüsse : 6
1. SATA Controller : NVIDIA nForce Raid5
1. SATA Max. Übertragungsrate : 300 MB/s
2. SATA Controller : JMicron JMB363
2. SATA Max. Übertragungsrate : 300 MB/s
Raid Level : 0 / 1 / 5 / 0+1 oder 10 / JBOD
FrontSideBus / Hyper Transport Spec : 1000 MHz
Speicher Bänke : 4
Arbeitsspeicher Typ : DDR2-800
max. Speicherausbau : 8192 MB
Serieller Anschluss : Ja
Parallel Anschluss : Nein
SoundChip : ADI 1988B
Sound Channels : 7.1
Analoger Audio Eingang/Ausgang : Line-Out 4x (Klinke) / Line-In 1x (Klinke)
Mikrofon 1x (Klinke)
Digitaler Audio Ausgang : Koaxialer Digitaler Ausgang
Optischer Digitaler Ausgang
LAN Chipsatz : Nvidia DualNet
Anzahl der LAN (RJ-45) Ports : 2 x
LAN Geschwindigkeit : 1000 MBit/s
USB Type : USB 2.0
USB Anschlüsse extern : 4
USB Anschlüsse intern : 6
Firewire Schnittstelle : Ja
Passive Kühlung : Ja

1GB DDR3-RAM, PC1375, Kingston HX, CL7

2007-09-02T22:48:00.001-07:00

Herstellerlink.de :
Kingston
Speicher
Speicher Größe :
1GB
Speicher Anzahl :
1 Modul
Speicher Sockel :
DIMM
Arbeitsspeicher Typ :
DDR3-SDRAM 1375Mhz (PC3-11000)
Anzahl der Pin :
240
Voltage (min./max.) :
1.5 bis 1.7 Volt
Geschwindigkeit
CAS latency (CL) :
7.0
Ras to Cas delay (tRCD) :
7
Row Precharge (tRP) :
7
Precharge delay (tRAS) :
20
Sonstiges
Chips Configuration :
128x64
Speicher-Besonderheiten :
Unbuffered
Herstellergarantie :
10 Jahre
Herstellerproduktlink :
nicht vorhanden (Produktlink melden)

Nvidia Gainward GF8800GTX 768 MB 2xDVI Aktiv

2007-09-02T22:45:00.002-07:00

Die Gainward GF8800GTX verfügt über 768 MByte GDDR3 Speicher, der über eine 384 Bit breite Schnittstelle angebunden ist. Die GPU taktet mit 575 MHz, der Speicher mit 1800 MHz. Der GeForce 8800 GTX ist die erste DirectX 10 GPU (Shader Model 4.0) und verfügt über 128 Unified Shader Einheiten, die mit 1350 MHz laufen, ist HDCP-geeignet und unterstützt Dual-Link DVI und HDTV-Ausgabe. Die Karte besitzt zwei 6-pin PCIe Stromstecker und benötigt ein leistungsstarkes Netzteil.
Anbindung: PCIe x16
Grafikchip: GeForce 8800 GTX
Taktfrequenz: 575 MHz
Shader Version: 4.0
Pixelpipelines: -
Vertex-Shader: -
Speicher: 768 MB
Typ: GDDR3
Zugriffszeit: -
Taktfrequenz: 1800 MHz
Speicheranbindung: 384 Bit
RamDac1: 400 MHz
RamDac2: 400 MHz
Eingänge: -
Ausgänge: 2 x DVI-I Ausgang 2 x Dual Link 1 x S-Video Ausgang
Über Adapter: -
Treiber: Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista
Zubehör: Anleitung, 2x DVI auf VGA Adapter, Komponentenadapter,
Stromadapter, Software (Treiber CD, PowerDVD 6, muvee)
Besonderheiten: SLI-fähig, 2 Slotblenden
Kühlung: aktiv
Weitere Info`s: Unterstützt DirectX 10, OpenGL und HDCP. 128 Unified Shader Units mit 1350 MHz Takt

SAPPHIRE HD2900XT 512MB

2007-09-02T22:44:00.000-07:00

Die Sapphire HD2900XT ist die aktuelle Highend PCI-Express Grafikkarte mit ATI Grafikchip. Eine 512-Bit Speicheranbindung, 1,65 GHz GDDR3 Speicher und eine auf 740 MHz getaktete GPU sorgen für eine ordentliche Portion Grafik-Power. Direct X10, HDCP, Avivo Technologie, 128 bit HDR und weitere Features sind bei dieser Karte einfach Standard.
Anbindung: PCIe x16
Grafikchip: Radeon HD2900XT
Taktfrequenz: 740 MHz
Shader-Version: 4.0
Speicher: 512 MB
Typ: GDDR3
Zugriffszeit: -
Taktfrequenz: 1650 MHz
Speicheranbindung: 512 Bit
RamDac1: 400 MHz
RamDac2: 400 MHz
Eingänge: -
Ausgänge:
2 x DVI-I Ausgang davon 2 x Dual Link
1 x ViVo
über Adapter:
2 x VGA Ausgang
1 x HDMI
1 x Komponenten Ausgang (3x Cinch)
1 x S-Video Ausgang
1 x VideoCinch Ausgang
1 x S-Video Eingang
1 x VideoCinch Eingang
Treiber: Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista
Zubehör: Anleitung, Treiber CD, PowerDVD 6, 2x DVI auf VGA Adapter, DVI auf HDMI Adapter, CrossFire Brücke, ViVo Kabel-Peitsche, 1x S-Video auf Komponenten Adapter
Besonderheiten: Karte belegt 2 Slots
Weitere Info`s: DirectX 10

ASROCK 4Core1333-FullHD

2007-09-02T11:41:00.002-07:00

LGA 775 for Intel® Core™ 2 Quad / Core™ 2 Extreme / Core™ 2 Duo / Pentium® XE / Pentium® D / Pentium® Dual Core / Pentium® 4 / Celeron® / Celeron® D, supporting Quad Core Kentsfield processors
ATI™ RS600 + SB600 Chipsets
Compatible with all FSB1333/1066/800/533MHz CPUs
Supports Dual Channel DDRII800/667/533 with 4 DIMM slots, maximum capacity up to 8GB
Integrated ATI™ X1250 graphics, supports H/W T&L, DirectX 9.0, Max. shared memory 512MB
1 x PCI Express x 16 slot
Untied Overclocking : During Overclocking, FSB enjoys better margin due to fixed PCIE/ PCI Buses
Hybrid Booster - Safe Overclocking Technology
Dual VGA Output: Support DVI-D and D-Sub ports by independent display controllers
Supports HDCP function with DVI-D port, to enjoy better quality with High Definition HDCP Encryption contents
Supports 1080p Blu-ray (BD) / HD-DVD playback with DVI-D port
Supports PCIE Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb/s
Supports 2 x IEEE 1394 ports (one port on back panel, one header on board)
4 x SATAII 3.0 Gb/s, support RAID (RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 0+1, JBOD and RAID 10) , NCQ, AHCI and "Hot Plug" functions
Chipset embedded HDMI Audio which supports HDMI signal through DVI-D port by using DVI to HDMI adapter (not bundled)
7.1 CH Windows® Vista™ Premium Level HD Audio (ALC888 Audio Codec)
Windows® Vista™ Premium 2007 Logo Ready
ASRock DVI_1394 I/O: 1 x VGA/DVI-D Port, 1 x VGA/D-Sub Port, 1 x IEEE 1394 port

MSI P35 Diamond

2007-09-02T11:39:00.000-07:00

Top Performance with Rich FeaturesTaipei, Taiwan (Tech Messenger) -- Micro-Star International (MSI), one of the leaders in motherboard manufacturer launches its latest P35 Diamond motherboard based on Intel® P35 Express chipset and the new-generation DDR3 structure. The new MSI P35 Diamond motherboard includes several exclusive features and the newest technology for upgrading future models offering its consumers to experience the advantage of “Ready for PC2008”.

45nm & DDR3 Ready Guarantee the Outstanding PerformanceThe new MSI P35 Diamond motherboard supports the latest Intel® FSB1333 and the upcoming 45nm multi-core processors which include the hottest Core 2 Quad/Duo/Extreme and other Intel processors based on Core architecture. In addition, it supports the next generation DDR3 memory structure as well, providing more advantages in performance and possibilities when overclocking. The current frequency of DDR3 starts from 1066 MHz and goes higher, at the same time consumes less power than DDR2, saves up to more than 25% power in the same frequency. Based on these several advantages and innovative design by MSI R&D, the P35 Diamond motherboard is one of the top motherboards which gain incredible performance with high performance DDR3 memory modules.

Exclusive Cooling Solution “Circu-Pipe”The new MSI P35 Diamond series is also equipped with exclusive fanless cooling design called “Circu-Pipe”. “This original and unique heat-pipe design is the revolutionary innovation to maximize the efficiency of temperature-reduce inside of the system” said Vincent Lai, marketing director of MSI. The Circu-Pipe offers a heat reduce efficiency of more than 20% after 2 hours full-load operation compared with the former heat-pipe design. Its fin-typed heatsink around the heat-pipe not only reduces the heat efficiently but also saves space to make sure the MSI P35 Diamond will not cause any structure conflict or problems from larger CPU cooler or graphic cards.

P35 Diamond
Intel® P35 Express Chipset Based
Supports LGA775 Intel Core™ 2 Quad/Duo/Extreme Processors
Supports FSB 1333/1066/800MHz
Supports Dual Ch. DDR3-1333/1066/800
2 PCI Express x16 slots ( 1 runs x4 speed) supports ATI CrossFire
4+1 SATA2 3Gb/s support Matrix RAID
2 eSATA2 Support Matrix RAID @ back I/O
Supports 7.1Ch. X-Fi Xtreme Audio
Supports MSI SkyTel VoIP function
Supports Gigabit LAN

ASUS EAH2600XT/HTDP/256M

2007-09-02T11:31:00.002-07:00

This graphics card is based on a 65nm RV630 GPU and includes 256MB DDR3 memory on 128-bit memory interface, and 120 stream processors shaders. The card features 800/1400 MHz core/memory clock speeds, 35.2GB/s memory bandwidth, and integrated HD encoder. Comes with TV-Out and dual DVI connectors. DirectX 10 API and pixel shader 4.0 technology support. CrossFire and HDCP capable.

G.Skill F2-6400CL4D-2GBHK

2007-09-02T11:29:00.001-07:00

G.Skill er ikke den mest kjente produsenten her til lands, men er regnet som en av de ledende aktørene innen entusiastrettet minne i det store utland. Produsenten har høstet mye ros for sine "high-end"-moduler.
Dagens testobjekt går under det kryptiske navnet F2-6400CL4D-2GBHK, og er et 2 GB-sett (2 x 1 GB) spesifisert til å operere ved DDR2-800-hastighet (800 MHz effektivt) med tilgangstidene 4-4-3-5 2T ved 2,0 - 2,1 Volt.
Modulene inngår i G.Skills HK-serie, som ifølge produsenten selv skal rette seg mot den mer prisbeviste entusiasten.

GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3P

2007-09-02T11:25:00.001-07:00

General
Tipo de producto: Placa base
Factor de forma: ATX
Anchura: 30.5 cm
Profundidad: 24.4 cm
Procesadores compatibles: Pentium 4, Pentium Extreme Edition, Pentium D, Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Extreme
Compatibilidad con procesadores de 64 bits: Sí
Socket del procesador: LGA775 Socket
Soporte multipolar: Dual-Core
Tipo conjunto de chips: Intel P965 Express / Intel ICH8R
Velocidad máxima del bus: 1066 MHz
Tipo BIOS: Award
Controlador de almacenamiento: ATA-133, Serial ATA-300 (RAID)
Conectores de alimentación: Conector de alimentación principal de 24 espigas, conector ATX12V de 8 espigas, conector de alimentación auxiliar de 4 espigas
Procesador
Cantidad instalada (máximo soportado): 0 ( 1 )
Memoria
Tecnología de RAM admitida: DDR II SDRAM
RAM instalada (máx.): 0 MB / 8 GB (máx.)
Velocidad de la memoria RAM soportada: PC2-4300, PC2-6400, PC2-5300
Características de la RAM: Sin memoria intermedia, dos canales DDR
Audio
Audio salida: Tarjeta de sonido
Códec de audio: Realtek ALC888
Modo de salida del sonido: Sonido envolvente de 7.1 canales
Cumplimiento de normas: High Definition Audio
Telecom / conexión de redes
Conexión de redes: Adaptador de red - Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet
Características
Configuración manual: Frecuencia de CPU, voltaje interno de procesador, voltaje de la memoria, frecuencia del bus de memoria, relación del FSB (CPU:memoria), frecuencia de ranura PCI Express x16, voltaje de chipset
Monitorización de hardware: Temperatura interna de CPU, temperatura del chasis, tacómetro de ventilador de CPU, tacómetro de la caja del ventilador, voltaje del sistema, protección contra sobrecalentamiento de la CPU, tacómetro de ventilador de la fuente de alimentación
Características de hardware: DualBIOS, Q-Flash, C.O.M. (Corporate Online Management), refrigeración de chipset mediante heatpipe, soporte para tecnología ATI CrossFire

G.SKILL F3-10600CL8D-2GBHK

2007-09-02T11:22:00.001-07:00

G.Skill F3-10600CL8D-2GBHK (2GB DDR3 Kit)

-----------------------------------------------------

Da die Zeit nur sehr kurz bemessen war, die wir für diesen Review zur Verfügung hatten, sind die Testergebnisse nicht so ausführlich, wie ihr es von DriverHeaven gewohnt seid; aus demselben Grund mussten wir auf die graphische Darstellung der Testresultate verzichten.Der "Kampf" um den schnellsten und leistungsstärksten RAM-Speicher geht in die nächste Runde!Kaum ist die DDR2-Generation in vollem Gange, werden auch schon DDR3-Module gefertigt und ausgeliefert. Kein Wunder, denn immer wieder erscheinen aufwändigere, systembelastende und speicherfressende Applikationen /Spiele/...Ein Zeichen aufzuhorchen und zu reagieren! Und das mit erstaunlicher Wirkung! Speichergiganten, wie G.Skill, SuperTalent und Corsair, gehen mit der Zeit, sodass bereits stark an den DDR3-Boliden gearbeitet wird - mit beeindruckenden Ergebnissen. In unserem Test stellen wir euch G.Skills neustes Meisterwerk vor: Das Modell F3-10600CL8D-2GBHK aus der DDR3-1333-Serie!Hinter dem langen Modellnamen versteckt sich ein 2x1GB Dual Channel Kit mit einem Takt von 1333Mhz (PC3-10600) und einer CL von 8-8-8-21

Technische

Daten:

# Modell : F3-10600CL8D-2GBHK (1GB x 2)

# Überblick : PC3-10600 (DDR2-1066) 8-8-8-21 Dual Channel

# Kapazität : 2GB (1GB x 2)

# Takt : 1333MHz DDR3 (PC3-10600)

# Latenzzeiten : CL 8-8-8-21

# Spannung : 1.65 V

# Error Checking : Non-ECC

# Registered/Unbuffered : Unbuffered

# PCB : 6 Layers PCB# Type : 240-pin DIMM

# Garantie : Lifetime

[Vergleich: SuperTalent arbeitet mit Latenzen von 8-8-8-16 und 1.8V]

AMD Athlon64 X2 Dual-Core Processor 6000+

2007-09-02T11:17:00.001-07:00

AMD has just launched a new dual-core processor working at 3GHz speed. Now the top AMD processors run at a higher frequency than the top Intel Core 2 processors. But will this be enough for them to regain their performance leadership? Find out now!

AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Dual Core Processor (3GHz, 2x1MB, 1GHz Bus, Socket AM2 - MPN: ADX6000CZBOX)
Price Range: $169.90 - $297.00 from 30 Sellers
Rebates & Special Offers:

$5.00 Bonus available
Description: This is an AMD Athlon processor with a frequency of 3GHz, 2GHz FSB, and 2MB L2 cache.

AMD’s major hopes for regaining their success as the processor manufacturer are closely connected with the promising K8L micro-architecture that is due to come in the second half of this year (for details see our article called AMD's Next Generation Microarchitecture Preview: from K8 to K8L). So far AMD Athlon 64 X2 processors can only compete with Intel CPUs in the budget and mainstream price range. AMD has been pursuing very aggressive pricing policy for the last few months, offering their dual-core processors at very attractive prices.

However, this doesn’t prevent AMD from manufacturing the expensive products for hardware enthusiasts as well, such as the Quad FX platform that we have reviewed recently, which includes Athlon 64 FX-7X processors. Although AMD Quad FX platform lost to the competitor solution from Intel, the quad-core Kentsfield CPU, from almost all standpoints, it proved once again to all users out there, that AMD still bears huge engineering potential.

Today AMD made one more step of similar nature: they announced new dual-core Athlon 64 X2 6000+ processor. And although this CPU turns out the today’s fastest AMD processors for Socket AM2 systems, we are not expecting it to hit any tremendous heights. The working frequency of the new Athlon 64 X2 6000+ got only 200MHz higher than that of the Athlon 64 FX-62, which loses to top Intel Core 2 processors in almost all the tests. So, the 200MHz seem to be hardly sufficient for successful competition against the today’s performance leaders.
Therefore, the new AMD announcement is primarily curious from the technological rather than performance standpoint, as the company managed to increase the working frequency of its mass 90nm processors with K8 micro-architecture to 3.0GHz. And of course, Athlon 64 X2 6000+ can be of certain interest to the owners of older Socket AM2 systems, as a great upgrade option, although not the best one from the price-to-performance prospective, because of the $459 price AMD is asking for this new processor.

Intel 8-Core Media Creation PC

2007-09-02T11:14:00.000-07:00

O AMD-jevem konceptu 4 x 4 smo nekajkrat pisali takoj po Intelovi predstavitvi mikroarhitekture Core 2 in predstavitvi prvih štirijedrnih procesorjev. Koncept 4 x 4 je predvideval uporabo platform (matičnih plošč, pomnilnikov in procesorjev) iz sveta delovnih postaj strežnikov, s čimer naj bi drastično izboljšali vse znane rezultate predvsem v igrah – saj naj bil bi sistem »ultimativni« igričarski PC … No, tudi Intel ni zanemaril takega scenarija in tako smo dobili na test Intelov 8-jedrni sistem. Testni sistem sestavljajo matična plošča Intel S5000XVN (na veznem čipovju 5000X), na kateri sta dva vmesnika LGA775. V njiju smo namestili par štirijedrnih Xeonov X5365, sistem pa začinili še s 4 x 1 GB pomnilnika FBDIMM ... Ironično, pri vsem sta nas še najbolj presenetila odlična izdelava in koncept hladilnikov procesorjev, ki so popolnoma bakreni, čeprav izredno težki, a z robustnimi ventilatorji – nekaj, kar na namizju Intel ne ponuja, v »prvi ligi« pa je očitno to privzeta ponudba. V paketu je bil še močan, 850W napajalnik, ki je pogoj za stabilno delovanje sistema, saj je vsak procesor odgovoren za porabo do 150W (skupaj že 300), precej pa lahko odpade še na zmogljivo grafično kartico (reža PCIE x16) ter pomnilnik in diskovje …
PROTI: Sistem, katerega cena naj bi se gibala v več tisoč evrih, je bolj koncept kot izdelek, ki se prodaja v dvo- ali večmestnih količinah. Kot je koncept poimenoval Intel, gre za delovno postajo za ustvarjanje medijske vsebine, kar pomeni, da bo bolj kot za igričarje primeren za resne aplikacije, še zlasti grafične, video, matematične in 3D-modeliranje… Za igričarje sistem danes ne ponuja očitnih prednosti, ki bi upravičile tako naložbo, in ker v Sloveniji ne poznamo niti enega igričarja, ki bi bil pripravljen tako neracionalno razmetavati denar, smo se omejili na splošni vtis, ki ga je sistem pustil, in nismo merili razlik v (danes še vedno veliki večini eno- ali dvonitno pisanih) igrah.