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Reviews Around The Web
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Choose Web Reviews from this Maker:
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Monday, January 14, 2008
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Asus offers a myriad of CPU coolers, ranging from fanned, to fans with LED's, to the silent fan-less models. Most of the coolers are universally compatible with AMD and Intel processors. So, with this many options, what type of cooler will we have in this review? Well, I'm sure you already have a pretty good idea just from the name in the title, but I will still name it fully here. The CPU cooler in the spotlight this time around is the ASUS Triton 75. The Triton 75 is a fan-less CPU cooler that helps dissipates heat away from the core roughly 10% faster than other coolers. The fan-less design allows the end user to choose whatever brand of 120mm fan they want.
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In some regards the D2X represents the rather pathetic state of the soundcard industry as a whole - we've had PCI-Express for nearly four years now and the only performance card worth buying on the interface has to use a bridge chip. At least Asus has got off its backside and done something about it. As for the Xonar D2X itself, I still prefer not to use any of the extra Dolby or DTS features and leave the core audio sounding as good as it should - and it certainly sounds excellent. But because I prefer to have the audio sounding as it was intended without the use of any Dolby or DTS 'features', a lot of this extra value is lost on me. I really wish Asus would launch a no-frills card that sounded just as good - without having to pay for the DTS and Dolby licences or extra OEM software included in the bundle - it would work out far cheaper.
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The ASUS EN8800GTS 512MB is based on the NVIDIA G92 GPU, which is the leaner, meaner version of the ground-breaking NVIDIA G80 GPU that powered graphics cards like the GeForce 8800 GTX and the GeForce 8800 Ultra. The ASUS EN8800GTS 512MB looks set to blaze a new trails in both performance and value for money. It not only boasts the smaller, cooler and faster G92 GPU, it also comes with the VP2 PureVideo HD video processor. As such, it offers significant advantages in performance and features over the older GeForce 8800 graphics cards. But just how much faster is the EN8800GTS 512MB compared to the new GeForce 8800 GT or the higher-end GeForce 8800 GTX? Let's find out in this comprehensive review of the ASUS EN8800GTS 512MB.
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The most promising physical technological improvements have been, and still are, the implementation of heat pipes. Manufacturers have designed heat pipe specific CPU coolers using various numbers of pipes. Some makers design theirs with only a couple heat pipes while others seem to add as many as they can fit on a CPU cooler. Some look like CPU coolers and others look like engines with copper headers. While all these variations have their own appeal, ASUS has chosen to design coolers with a more isometric feel in their lineup. We've seen a few of their coolers here at VH before and they were always worthy of recommendations. We have a new one on hand that is actually an updated version of the original Silent Knight CPU Cooler. Today, the Silent Knight II CPU Cooler is on the work bench and looks quite promising.
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Friday, January 11, 2008
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It feels like Blu-ray vs. HD DVD discussion has been ongoing for ages, but neither Blu-ray nor HD DVD gained any significant market share from PC market. However, prices are getting lower each month. Recently, Asus released BC-1205PT BD Combo, Blue-ray reader with DVD burning features, but is it time for Blu-ray on your desktop yet?
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Monday, January 7, 2008
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This is the closest that an AMD/ATI-based graphics card has got to competing with Nvidia at the same price point for some time now, but there are still cases where even this factory overclocked Radeon HD 3870 from Asus disappoints me a bit. It pains me to say that because the Radeon HD 3870 is a truly fantastic product that we are big fans of at bit-tech.
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Friday, January 4, 2008
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For the latest games you need a killer fast DirectX10 compliant videocard and a computer loaded with Windows Vista. Enter ASUS and a very strong contender for your cash - the PCI Express x16 ASUS EN8800GT TOP/G/HTDP/512M/A videocard. GeForce 8800GT-class videocards tend to overclock well, so it's no surprise that many come pre-overclocked from the factory floor. The Asus EN8800GT TOP videocard is tweaked to 700 MHz core and 1000 MHz memory, up from the default 600 MHz core / 900 MHz memory settings. Heck it's even faster than a Geforce 8800GTS's 650 MHz core and 970 MHz default clock speed! Oh Asus, how you spoil us gamers!
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After a longer than anticipated delay the new Phenom processors saw the public light last November, but unfortunately for AMD not even then things got back to plan. Put in simple terms, instead of getting a full pack of competitive products, we only got two moderately clocked Phenom processors (9500 and 9600) that are characterized for offering quad-core processing on a budget rather than outpacing competing Intel Core 2s. As part of the Phenom launch, AMD also unveiled a new platform (used by the ASUS M3A32-MVP we are testing today) built around the AMD 790FX chipset and the semi-new socket AM2+. This new platform still uses DDR2 memory but adds HyperTransport 3.0 support and split power lanes (which benefits power savings). The socket AM2+ is backwards compatible with Athlon X2s and Semprons, so it can serve as a middle platform if you can't upgrade CPU and motherboard all at once.
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Wednesday, December 26, 2007
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The Asus M3A32MVP Deluxe WiFi motherboard was just awesome to work with. The board sets up easy, and has the Asus name to back it, which means absolute quality. Overclocking on this board was certainly easy due to the way that Asus implements its BIOS. There was never a time that we had to use the Clear CMOS at all. If the overclock fails, all you do is reboot. This board overclocked to very good levels, and certainly with a little more time and tweaking this board could likely take us even higher...
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Monday, December 24, 2007
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If you're on the lookout for a DDR3 motherboard, the P5E3 Deluxe proves to be a superb choice. It's one of the most feature-packed offerings on the market, with it's passive cooling, on-board WiFi, high energy efficiency and even a remote control - all while being a solid overclocker as well.
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ASUS... It is simply incredible how much this IT giant from Taiwan knows the ways of marketing and promotion. However, quality marketing has to be supported by quality products in order to be effective. In this era which we have to call "Core era", ASUS has shown both. However, whenever we claimed that a certain ASUS motherboard was the ultimate Intel Core2Duo solution, that very same ASUS made us change opinions with the first upcoming model (month after month, so to speak). In a word, fascinating!
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Friday, December 21, 2007
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The performance of the ASUS EAH3850 TOP Overclocked Radeon HD3850 was impressive and definitely exceeded my expectations. In addition to a card that offers strong performance, the bundle of accessories provided by ASUS is also a positive feature... you get a full copy of "Company of Heroes - Opposing Fronts", so you are able to take advantage of the full DirectX 10 potential of the card right out of the box.
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Wednesday, December 19, 2007
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In particular, laptop/notebook users have often been out of luck in this respect. Most laptops do not come with 5.1 outputs (much less 5.1 digital output) and the internal sound options usually aren't upgradeable. Thus, those who have wanted a professional sound option for their laptops have usually be left less-than-satisfied. ASUS wants to change all of that with their new XONAR U1 Audio Station. This USB soundcard aims to provide high quality Dolby Digital audio as well as EAX and DirectSound 3D support for systems where other sound upgrades aren't an option. A slew of other features is also provided - let's see if the Xonar can deliver on all of this.
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The 3850 seems to be a bit of a silent card in the sense that we haven't heard too much about it since its release; everyone is so wrapped up in the 8800GT that people are beginning to forget what exactly AMD have on offer. This is great news for NVIDIA but not so great for AMD. What we'll have a look at today is the 3850 TOP against a stock clocked 3870 also from ASUS. We'll also throw in a stock clocked 8800GT which comes in at a slightly higher price point.
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Tuesday, December 18, 2007
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It seems like audio has taken a backseat in the computer world, especially when it comes to laptop audio. Asus has decided to do something about that this year with new desktop solutions and a new laptop solution called the Xonar U1. All I can say is, thank you! But is it time to celebrate, or do we have a new doorstop? Let's find out!
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