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Reviews Around The Web
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Choose Web Reviews from this Maker:
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Friday, January 4, 2008
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As you all know, availability is still tight for the GeForce 8800 GT, but we thought it was time to round a few cards up for a benchmark fest. We've got factory-overclocked GeForce 8800 GT cards from Asus, EVGA, and MSI in house, the EN8800GT TOP, the e-GeForce 8800 GT KO, and the NX8800GT, respectively. At their most basic level, all three of these cards are quite similar, but each company does put their own spin on the GeForce 8800 GT in an effort to differentiate their product from the competition. Which one does the best job remains to be seen. Come on by the site and check them out...
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Friday, December 21, 2007
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We're writing to let you all know that we've just posted a new article at HotHardware in which we evaluate the features and performance of three DVD+/-RW drives, the Asus DRW-2014L1T, the Lite-On LH-20A1H, and finally the Plextor PX-810SA. Each drive has a somewhat different feature set and rated speeds, but they're all equipped with a SATA interface. Head on over to the site and check them out...
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Tuesday, December 18, 2007
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At first, I was not sure if I wanted to complicate the review with both socket 775 and AM2 results but in the end I am very glad that I did. I really could not believe the performance delta that some of these heatsinks exhibited across the two platforms. It really pays to look around for reviews using your socket. It is not safe to assume that a heatsink will perform as well on AM2 as it does on 775. The results may surprise you.
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Monday, December 17, 2007
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As two different platforms do not treat memory in the same way, let's swap motherboards and user a new test system. In this second part of our DDR2 roundup we continue our stress test with a DFI 680i based board. Find out how different nVidia's 680i chipset clocks your ram in the following review, and see if the latest memory kits can threaten our previous champions.
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Friday, December 14, 2007
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Arctic Silver dominated the TIM (Thermal Tranfer Material) industry for many years. They may have invested more in R&D then all their competition combined. Many ask is there anything else out there? Today we hope to answer this question...
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Wednesday, December 12, 2007
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NVIDIA is updating its product stack again this morning, this time with a newly designed GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB card based on the 65nm G92 GPU. This new GTS features 128 stream processors, up from 96 in the original GTS, but its memory bus width has been cut down to 256-bits. This new configuration gives the GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB an interesting performance profile. We?ve got a couple of retail-ready GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB cards in the labs from Asus and XFX and put them through the wringer with some current DX10 titles. Head on over to the site and check them out...
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When it was first released the GeForce 8800 GTS was a very attractive product. It included all of the features present on the more expensive GTX and was smaller, which meant it could fit in a standard PC case. In the year since the product first appeared two launches have occurred which had an impact on how appealing the GTS was. The first of those launches was the Nvidia 8800 GT. This new card brought functions such as PCI-Express 2.0 and High Definition video acceleration into the mainstream market, two features which were missing in the GTS. The next launch was ATI's Radeon HD 3870. Although the 3870 was not as fast as the 8800 GTS the lower price point, PCI-Express 2.0 support and HD acceleration made it worthy of consideration for many people. Today we are taking a look at Nvidia's refresh of the 8800 GTS which is designed to bring the performance and specifications up to where they should be for the suggested price range.
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Monday, December 10, 2007
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We've been given an indication of the pricing which is going to accompany the new 8800GTS; when it came to figuring out what exactly it would compete against in the red corner, we soon after came to the following conclusion. The HD 3850! Oh, but not just one of them, rather two working together in Crossfire. So it was clear what we had to do; grab a pair of HD 3850 cards, stick them into our beloved P35 motherboard and let them go at it. Two setups enter with one setup to come out on top.
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We take a look at three different external storage drives, compare them against a DIY option and take them out for a spin in our lab to determine the right one for you. Intrigued? Keep on reading for the results and our thoughts.
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Thursday, December 6, 2007
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While all of the rage recently has been around Intel's X38 Express Chipset, there is still plenty of life left in Intel's P35 "Bearlake" Chipset. The Intel P35 is only a few months older, but it contains most of the same features as the flagship X38 aside from the PCI Express 2.0 support and a Hardware Memory Prefetcher. We have previously reviewed Intel P35 motherboards such as the ASUS Blitz Extreme and Gigabyte P35-DS3P, but in this review, we are going back and looking at two more of these Intel Bearlake motherboards. At hand today we have the ASUS P5K-E WiFi and Gigabyte P35-DS4 motherboards, both of which are similar in many respects and use the P35 + ICH9R combination with DDR2 memory.
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Thursday, November 22, 2007
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I decided to test each product on my main PC, a pretty hot overclocked Core 2 Duo. In the testing, each thermal paste was applied carefully and the CPU and waterblock were thoroughly cleaned between applications. To measure CPU idle temperatures, the machine was cold booted (30 mins between tests) and left another 30 minutes once into Windows to settle. Load temps were recorded after a cold boot (again, 30 mins between tests) and 30 mins of stress testing on both cores, performed using the Folding@Home application set to 100% CPU usage. According to my trusty desk temperature monitor, ambient temperature during the evening of testing remained consistant at 19c, occasionally fluctuating to 18c at times. Using this procedure, I was confident of some accurate results.
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Tuesday, November 13, 2007
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Recently, we have been seeing an influx of nonmetallic materials hitting the market and they are all claiming to be able to beat the king. Our recent review of the MX-2 product from Arctic Cooling showed that there was more than just a little truth in these claims. The MX-2 compound is completely non-conductive material and was able to keep a processor cooler than the Arctic Silver 5 compound used as a comparative product. Today we have two more products to add to the list of those who want your TIM dollars, A.I. Technologies and Tuniq (a subsidiary of Sunbeam). Both have TIM products that are making the same bold claims we have already been hearing, so it is time for a little direct comparison. After taking a look at the two newcomers, we will go forward in a head to head... to head... to head (whew) competition and see just how these products all compare to each other.
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Wednesday, November 7, 2007
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In this large group test we compare over 30 CPU heatsinks with different fan speeds, giving you the data on both thermal and decibel performance. Want to upgrade your stock cooler? This roundup will help you out.
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Thursday, October 18, 2007
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Since we have already tested over a dozen motherboards on AMD 690G/690V, and they have become widespread in stores, it's high time for the roundup. We separated motherboards into two groups: multimedia PC & media center solutions (HDMI, FireWire, etc.) and cheaper OEM products with just basic multimedia features.
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Wednesday, October 17, 2007
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Today manufacturers offer a plethora of different kind of coolers. But the cooling power of the most efficient cooler can be hindered by the stuff between the core and the cooler's base. Silver based compounds have been around for a while, but still manufacturers come up with new ideas and products.
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