A Couple X850 XT Reviews and more

Subject: Graphics Cards | April 14, 2005 - 10:34 AM | Ryan Shrout
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There were quite a few of them in my inbox over the last two days:

• 3DGameMan reviews the HIS branded X850 XT PE and VIVO models


• Bjorn3D takes a look at the Sapphire model X850 XT in PCI Express format


• GamePyre looks at the VERY budget 6200 TurboCache card from NVIDIA


• Gamer's Depot looks at an

nForce4 Intel Edition Review

Subject: Chipsets | April 14, 2005 - 10:29 AM | Ryan Shrout
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Xbit Labs has finally decided to take the NVIDIA nForce4 Intel Edition chipset for a spin.

Although the performance of the new NVIDIA solution with the DDR2-667 is very attractive, it is not its primary advantage. The major pride of nForce4 SLI (Intel Edition) is its rich functionality.

AMD to move to 1207 pin Socket?

Subject: Processors | April 14, 2005 - 10:25 AM | Ryan Shrout
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The Inquirer is saying that another website seen here is pointing towards future AMD processors using the M2 1207 pin socket.  I may have some more information for you on this soon. 

Chips codenamed Manila, Orleans and Windsor are scheduled to be released in Q1 of next year - these are claimed to be Semprons, Athlon 64s and Athlon 64FX dual core chips.

This web site also suggests that they will support "Presidio" and "Pacifica" security and virtualisation tech, and DDRII-667.

Turion Prices Added to AMD.com

Subject: Processors | April 14, 2005 - 10:23 AM | Ryan Shrout
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AMD has made some updates to their pricing page this morning including adding in the Turion processor line up.

AMD Athlon™ 64 FX-55

$827

Intel Moves Dual Core Launch to this Monday!

Subject: Processors | April 14, 2005 - 10:21 AM | Ryan Shrout
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It looks like in response to AMD's upcoming dual core Opteron launch, Intel has moved their dual core Pentium launch up a bit.

CHIP COMPANY Intel plans to reveal its next generation dual core CPU line next Monday on the 18th of April. Our knowledgeable sources confirmed that Intel moved the date forward and decided to get it over with soon. Or beat up AMD ahead of its dual Opteron launch on the 21st, if you're absurdly cynical.

Cedar Mill to lower Power Dissipation?

Subject: Processors | April 13, 2005 - 05:07 PM | Ryan Shrout
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X86-Secret is telling us today that they learned the new Cedar Mill processors will run at power levels closer to that of the Northwood than the Prescott.  Take the Babelfish with you!

 Indeed, serious to the die-shrink, CedarMill passes from 115W (for Prescott), with "only" 86 Watts. That is to say approximately same thermal dissipation as Northwood.

Turion Photographed for Sale

Subject: Processors | April 13, 2005 - 05:03 PM | Ryan Shrout
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The Asian news is on top of things today.  Here are some photos of the sale of Turion processors.  Thanks to HardOCP for the heads up on this one. 

As for Turion 64 for Mobile of the AMD64 architecture adoption which the AMD announces formally in March with new model CPU, electric power consumption is lined up the ML series of the 35w and the MT series of the 25w.

Dual Core Opteron Benchmarks Hit

Subject: Processors | April 13, 2005 - 05:01 PM | Ryan Shrout
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We knew it would happen soon, and the Japanese website HKEPC has gotten it first.  I can't understand a word of it, but the benchmarks seem to be readable. 

Hardware MPEG2 TV Tuner Roundup

Subject: Graphics Cards | April 13, 2005 - 04:59 PM | Ryan Shrout
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Tech Report has taken a look at three MPEG2 TV Tuner cards, one from ATI, one from NVIDIA and one from Hauppauge.  Take a look!

PCs ARE SLOWLY creeping into every room of the house, particularly the living room, where home-theater PCs (HTPCs) have become popular among enthusiasts seeking to integrate multiple audiovisual devices into a single system.

MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum Review

Subject: Motherboards | April 13, 2005 - 04:57 PM | Ryan Shrout
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The guys at PC Stats have reviewed the new MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum motherboard. 

MSI's new K8N Neo4 Platinum motherboard is based around the nForce4-Ultra chipset, this board can use any Socket 939 Athlon64/FX processor and can be stuffed with up to 4GB of PC3200 DDR RAM.

AMD Athlon 64 X2 to be the name for Desktop Dual Core?

Subject: Processors | April 13, 2005 - 04:56 PM | Ryan Shrout
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Might we already know the name of the new, upcoming Athlon 64 dual core desktop parts?

The flagship AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ will have both its cores operating at 2.4GHz, the same frequency as the AMD Athlon 64 4000+, and we'll be surprised if this doesn't obliterate the already impressive Pentium Extreme Edition 840 we reviewed here.

Get your heatsink pimped out & More

Subject: Cases and Cooling | April 13, 2005 - 11:40 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Come on, you know you want it!  A nice big chunk of gold, sitting in the middle of your case, LED lights glinting off of it, as everyone stares in envy.  Mikhailtech reviews the Aerocool GT-1000, and finds that not only does it look good, but it will do so in just about any system, SocketA, S939 & S754 or the P4 478 & LGA775.    Plus, it cools your CPU too!

"As you may have guessed, the entire heatsink is gold plated. This is more of a cosmetic feature, but it doesn't hurt performance either.

VIA Releases new Hyperion 4.56 Drivers

Subject: Chipsets | April 12, 2005 - 10:16 AM | Ryan Shrout
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VIA has released new chipset drivers for in the form of a Hyperion v4.56 release.  Catch them over at VIA Arena.

VIA Hyperion drivers are suitable for any VIA chipset and all Microsoft Windows 32 bit Operating Systems. Please read the information about all VIA chipset driver choices, however, so that you chose the drivers that can best be recommended for your system.

VIA Releases Linux Open Source Driver Source Package

Subject: General Tech | April 12, 2005 - 10:14 AM | Ryan Shrout
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VIA Releases Linux Driver Source Packages

Freely available driver source code eases the development of tailor-made applications for the latest Linux distributions

Taipei, Taiwan, 12 April 2005 - VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator and developer of silicon chip technologies and PC platform solutions, today announced the extension of its open source support with the release of driver source codes for specific VIA hardware.

Of particular interest to the growing number of Linux enthusiasts and customers utilizing VIA EPIA mainboards, is

Shuttle XPC ST20G5 XPRESS 200 SFF

Subject: Systems | April 12, 2005 - 10:12 AM | Ryan Shrout
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Tech Report has written up a review of the Shuttle XPC system based around the ATI Xpress 200 chipset for the AMD platform. 

Unfortunately, the box isn't perfect. The ST20G5's USB and Gigabit Ethernet performance are disappointing, and our sample's VGA signal quality had some issues above 1024x768 at 75Hz. The BIOS also needs a little work, most notably support for higher HT link speeds and 0.5x CPU multipliers for overclocking.

Intel Moves up Release of Dual Core Extreme Edition

Subject: Processors | April 12, 2005 - 10:10 AM | Ryan Shrout
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In a move that will definitely confuse many, Intel has decided to move UP the release of the dual core Extreme Edition processors and the corresponding 955 chipset.  Being as I don't even have a sample of the product yet, its really hard for me to even tell you if this is good or bad, but weighing in the difficultly Intel had getting parts out to the press, I can't imagine this being a very wide release at all...

Intel will move up the launch date of its dual-core series Pentium Extreme Edition 840 CPU

Some Graphics Card Reviews

Subject: Graphics Cards | April 12, 2005 - 10:08 AM | Ryan Shrout
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I have a few video card reviews that were sent into me this weekend for posting, so I'll finally get them up today.  Enjoy!

• Beyond3D reviews the ATI All-in-Wonder X800 XT and the Abit RX700 Pro


• HardwareZone reviews the Gigabyte branded GeForce 6600GT in SLI mode


• PCStats.com has a review of a

Cases for Spring & More

Subject: Cases and Cooling | April 11, 2005 - 11:52 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Sooner or later we will all be using BTX cases, but the change is coming slow.  Currently we have several of the innovations being touted for BTX being incorporated into our current ATX form factor, though we are still waiting to see if the "You got chocolate in my peanut butter" idea will work as good for tech as it did for snacks.  In this Enermax case that PureOverclock reviews, a wind tunnel to isolate the CPU fan is the biggest innovation brought from BTX, although maybe not for DFI users.  Read on to see w