Month 29
Intel P35 Express Motherboards Round Up
Thanks to advancements in design and fabrication process, the upgrades you're likely get this quarter won't be as expensive as the ones early birds had to make early this year - though they are about the same in performance. So what's the catch? Well, there's always one, isn't? If you want to use Intel's latest and greatest processor, you'll have to shelf out the bucks for a new motherboard which supports these processors - that would be Intel's Generation 3 series of chipsets - the G31/33, P35 and X38 chipsetsToday, we will be looking at seven motherboards based on the P35 chipset. Three of them only suppports DDR3 memory, while the rest still uses DDR2 memory modules. They are the ASUS P5K3 and P5K Deluxe, Gigabyte P35T-DQ6 and P35-DS3P, and MSI P35 Diamond, P35 Platinum and P35 Neo.
Month 26
GeForce 8600 Series Round Up
Although they're fast and offer high image quality, not everyone can afford or want to use the GeForce 8800 series. For them, NVIDIA made the GeForce 8600 series. This time, we're taking four GeForce 8600GTS and three GeForce 8600GT for a test drive. We're going to take a look at the ASUS EN8600GTS/GT Silent, the Gigabyte NX8600GTS/GT with Silent Pipe, MSI NX8600GTS OC Edition and Leadtek PX8600GTS/GT TDH Extreme.Month 25
A Look at GeForce 8600GTS and 8600GT
With the release of the GeForce 8600GTS/GT and 8500GT, NVIDIA can say they have a complete lineup of DirectX 10 solutions from top to bottom. The GeForce 8600 series is particularly interesting, since it's basically the only series with two SKUs (on the lower end) - the premium GTS and more affordable GT. However, reviews are not all roses for these series. If performance is slower with AA, why bother with the GeForce 8600 series at all? Well, the GeForce 8600 series shares much of the characteristics that can be found on the GeForce 8800 series - pretty good shader performance, angle independent anisotropic filtering and of course, DirectX 10 support.Month 24
A Look at GeForce 8800GTS
It's a long time coming, but we finally brace ourselves and took a look at NVIDIA's latest and greatest - the GeForce 8 series GPUs. This time, we're took the GeForce 8800GTS 640 and 320 MB versions and see what they have to offer, in terms of performance and image quality against the encumbent previous generation of cards, the GeForce 7950GT and Radeon X1950 Pro.GeForce 8800GTS 320 MB Round Up
After looking at what the GeForce 8800GTS 320 MB and 640 MB has to offer, we think the time has come to take a look at various GeForce 8800GTS 320 MB cards. These cards offer high end performance at basically mid range prices. Today, we're going to take a look at the ASUS EN8800GTS, Gigabyte NX8800GTS, Leadtek PX8800GTS TDH and MSI NX8800GTS OC Edition.Month 23
SATA Hard Drives on J-Micron and Intel controllers
After searching the web for answers and asking Gigabyte about our storage problems with the Gigabyte P965-DS3P, we finally found a fix for the problem. Since we still have a pair of 160 GB Hitachi Deskstar 7K160 and Western Digital Caviar SE 1600AJS in our labs, we've decided to take for a spin on Intel's ICH8R to see how it compares to J-Micron's controller.Month 22
80 and 160 GB SATA Hard Drives Round Up
If you're in the market for a new hard drive, you may want to look at this. We tested 6 drives with capacities of 80 and 160 GB from Hitachi, Seagate and Western Digital. They are Hitachi's Deskstar (HDS721616PLA P220 and HDS728080PLA PF20), Seagate's Barracuda 7200.9 (ST3160211A and ST380211AS) and Western Digital's Caviar SE (WD800AAJS and WD1600AAJS). See which drive we think has more value as far as gaming is concerned.Radeon X1950 Pro Round Up
If you're looking to buy a graphics card now, you might be tempted to wait for the next generation of cards. But sometimes you may not have a choice on the matter. So, your best bet is to get a card that still have enough power to run the latest games and don't break your wallet. The Radeon X1950 Pro has proven to be quite the performer from a price / performance point of view. Today, we're going to take a look at three Radeon X1950 Pro cards on the market. They are the Gigabyte Radeon X1950 Pro, MSI RX1950 Pro T2D256E and Sapphire Radeon X1950 Pro.Month 21
Four Intel P965 Motherboards Examined
We begin the new year by looking at some motherboards worthy of Core 2 Duo. This time around, we managed to get our hands on four motherboards from three manufacturers: the ASUS P5B Deluxe WiFi, Gigabyte P965-DQ6 and P965-DS3, plus the MSI P965 Platinum. .Month 17
Hitachi Deskstar 7K160
With all the new games coming out this fall, chances are you'll find yourself running out of hard drive space if you want to play them all. Those looking for a new hard drive (or several if you want to use a RAID array), will probably found lots of alternatives out there. Chances are one of them is the Hitachi Deskstar 7K160. We took some time out this month to look at what Hitachi GST have to offer.GeForce 7950GT and 7900GS
These two series of cards are the latest updates of the GeForce 7900 series from NVIDIA. Set to replace the GeForce 7900GT series, the GeForce 7950GT and 7900GS is siblings with different focus - value for the GeForce 7900GS and features, price / performance for the GeForce 7950GT. We take a closer look to see how do they sit with a standard and higher clocked GeForce 7900GT.GeForce 7900GS Round Up
The last quarter of 2006 saw three new additions to the GeForce 7900 series, the GeForce 7950GT, 7900GS and 7900GTO. The GeForce 7900GS is most definitely the most affordable and sought of. Today, we're going to take a look at various flavors of GeForce 7900GS from three manufacturers: the ASUS EN7900GS, Gigabyte GeForce 7900GS TurboForce and Leadtek PX7900GS TDH Extreme.Month 15
GeForce 7900GT Round Up
For those who want to play games with all the settings turned up high and AA / AF enabled, the NVIDIA GeForce 7900 series is worth a look if you want a card from the green camp. Out of the various GeForce 7900 series available, the GeForce 7900GT is definitely the price / performance leader. You can expect at least GeForce 7800GTX performance for sub USD 400. We managed to get our hands on four cards to see what they can offer: the ASUS EN7900GT TOP, Gigabyte GeForce 7900GT TurboForce (GV-NX79T256DP-RH), Leadtek PX7900GT Extreme and the reference clocked MSI NX7900GT (VT2D256E).Month 14
GeForce 7600GT Round Up
If you're looking for an affordable mainstream card, the GeForce 7600GT is probably your best choice. It's performance is comparable if not better than the GeForce 6800GT, particularly if you're running at derault settings without AA and AF. As we promised earlier this month, today we will take a look at four offerings from different manufacturers: the ASUS EN7600GT, Gigabyte GeForce 7600GT (GV-NX76T256D-RH), Leadtek PX7600GT Extreme and MSI NX7600GT (T2D256E).GeForce 7900GTX Round Up
If you're looking at various GeForce 7900GTX cards, you probably notice most of them are similar - right down to the cooling solution used. There are slightly higher clocked versions from different manufacturers, however users have reported some problems with these cards. While comparing reference clocked cards may not be the most interesting in the world, we muster ourselves to finish this round up.Are there any differences between the ASUS EN7900GTX, Gigabyte GeForce 7900GTX and Leadtek PX7900GTX TDH? Read the article to found out.Month 11
Radeon X1900XTX Round Up
Unlike the GeForce 7900GTX, the Radeon X1900XTX from various vendors are basically the same card. They all use the reference design and all are running at the same core and memory clock. It's only in the last weeks did we see ATI permitting some vendors to release slightly higher clocked cards. While they are faster, you probably won't be seeing much of a difference in real world gaming situations. In this article, we took a spin three Radeon X1900XTX from ASUS, Gigabyte and Sapphire and discover they all have the same performance. The question is, what differentiate one product from another? Read the article to found out.Month 10
Deeper with the GeForce 7900GTX
Despite being essentially another extension to the GeForce 7 archictecture, the GeForce 7900GTX is an exceptionally good card. It offers performance similar or faster than a GeForce 7800GTX 512 MB and priced much lower. In most texture dependent games, it's way faster than ATI's fastest offering, the Radeon X1900 XTX. Thanks to our friends at Leadtek, we managed to spend some quality time with a GeForce 7900GTX. Find out why we like this card, even if its just a faster version of the GeForce 7800GTX.Month 09
Deeper with the Radeon X1900 Series
After a long wait, the long awaited R580 is finally released to market, under the name Radeon X1900. We've managed to get our hands on a sample, the high end Radeon X1900 XTX. Naturally, we put it to the test on our test rig. What we find is very interesting, that we have to break it down into several articles. In this first article, we put the Radeon X1900 XTX to the test to see what kind of performance we can expect from and whether or not ATI's claim of no penalty high quality anisotropic filtering and 6x anti aliasing is true.Deeper with the Radeon X1900 Series - Part 2
In this article, we will be looking at new features of the Radeon X1900 series, namely adaptive antialiasing and HDR rendering. Adaptive antialiasing is ATI's implementation of transparency antialiasing. Just like on the GeForce 7 series, you can choose between multisampling or supersampling antialiasing. ATI is traditionally better in this regard, so imagine our suprise when we see that's not the case.Month 06
Round up of GeForce 7 Series
After nearly a month off, we were a little bit skeptical when samples of GeForce 7 series (the GeForce 7800GT and GTX) came to our lab. Thankfully, new games are becoming less system limited, so we can see just how much better or faster the GeForce 7 series compared to the GeForce 6800GT. Today, we're taking a look at three GeForce 7800GTX and two GeForce 7800GT: the ASUS EN7800GT TOP, Gigabyte GeForce 7800GTX TurboForce, WinFast PX7800GTX TDH, ASUS EN7800GT and Gigabyte 7800GT.Deeper with the GeForce 7 Series
Admittedly, we we're a bit disappointed after our last round up. We ask ourselves: Is this all the GeForce 7 series has to offer. In this article, we delve deeper with the GeForce 7 series. Transparency antialiasing image quality and performance is the focus in this articles, with some tidbits of HDR performance as well. Find out, why we we think for the time being you're still better off by buying a higher clocked GeForce 7800GTX or sticking to that GeForce 68000GT or Radeon X800XL.Deeper with the GeForce 7 Series - Part 2
In this short article, we examine the best compromise between image quality and performance with 2xQ SSAA transparency antialiasing on the GeForce 7 series. In the past, 2xQ does offer a better image quality close or better than 4x on NVIDIA cards. Of course, with performance levels of 2x, and image quality close to 4x AA, 2xQ has a lot of potential.Month 05
A Direct Comparison of Radeon X800XL and GeForce 6800GT - Part 2
In this second part, we put these cards to the test running newer games such as F.E.A.R, Quake 4 and Serious Sam II., but this time with updated drivers and a faster processor - the Athlon 3500+. We also took the time and effort to see just how well these cards scale - does a faster processor provide gains in frame rates. We measure gains on minimum, average and maximum fps to see which card scales best and under what conditions.Month 04
Round Up and Comparison of 6800GT
Of course, after doing a round up of several X800XL cards, it's only fair to do the same thing with 6800GTs. If you're contemplating buying a new graphics card, read on to see which card fits you better. Overall, all these cards offer the same level of performance, just different features at very reasonable prices..Round Up and Comparison of X800XL
With most games being system limited, we think that the only reason you would want a faster card is to use them with AA and AF. In retrospect, ATI lines of cards offer the best looking AA and AF available. Of all ATI's available line up, the X800XL fits the bill of a mainstream graphic cads that can push high frame rates with AA and AF and not burn a hole in you wallet. Today, we're looking at four cards: the ABIT RX800XL 256EDVIO, ASUS EAX800XL 2DTV256, GeCube X800XL Uniwise and Gigabyte X800XL Silent Pipe.A Direct Comparison of Radeon X800XL and GeForce 6800GT - Part 1
In this first part, we look at the image quality and performance in 3D games from both cards. While it's a close call, we believe the Radeon X800XL offers the better image quality than the GeForce 6800GT. Performance wise, the two are evenly matched, with the Radeon X800XL scoring points for better minimum fps and the GeForce 6800GT has a higher average fps.Month 03
ABIT AN8 Fatal1ty SLI
If you're looking for the best socket 939 PCI Express motherboard from ABIT, it's more than likely that the AN8 Fatal1ty is it. With this board, ABIT has up the stakes from the AN8 Ultra by bundling a hardware monitoring panel dubbed µGURU Panel. Read on to see more about this board and why we're recommending it for gamers who want extra performance.Gigabyte GeForce 6600GT Silent Pipe
Not everyone can buy or want to use the faster GeForce 6800 series. For them, the GeForce 6600GT is the way to go. Gigabyte sent us a sample of their NX66T128VP - the GeForce 6600GT with Zalman cooling. Naturally, we put this graphic card to the test and discover not only does it offer the same features of the reference GeForce 6600GT, but runs silent and runs faster! If you're looking for a graphics card to built your SFF PC, this card is definitely worth looking at!Month 02
Round Up and Comparison of X700 Pro
If you're looking for a good mainstream card, the Radeon X700 Pro is worth the look, especially for PCI Express systems. We test three cards in this round up: the ASUS Extreme AX700 Pro 256 MB, the Gigabyte X700 Pro 256 MB and the MSI RX700 Pro TD128E. Find out which one we recommend and the reasons why.Round Up and Comparison of GeForce 6600 series
Looking for a GeForce 6600 board for your SLI setup? Or maybe you just want a good mainstream card with Shader Model 3.0 support? NVIDIA has taken the by storm with their GeForce 6600 cards, available in AGP and PCI Express flavors. But if you're looking to get some SLI action, PCI Express is the only way to go! We test four cards in this round up: the ASUS EN6600 GT TD 128, the Chaintech SE6600G 128, the Gigabyte 6600GT and the MSI NX6600 VTD128R.A Direct Comparison of Radeon X700 Pro and GeForce 6600GT
In this article, we put the two cards head to head. While most people agree performance matters a lot, it's not the most important thing. That's why we compared the image quality (in 3D games) of both cards. Read on and see why we feel that the Radeon X700 Pro and Catalyst drivers is a better combination for gamers.A Direct Comparison of Radeon X700 Pro and GeForce 6600GT Part 2
Newer games means you have to get the newest drivers. This is a must for all gamers out there - newer drivers promises more compatibility with new games. This time, we put our two boards again in three games: Brothers in Arms to represent newer games plus Homeworld 2 and Star Wars: Knights of The Old Republic.Round and Comparison of Socket 939 PCI Express motherboards
So, you're looking for a new system. It seems that the industry have accepted PCI Express as the new standard. Of course, for a new system you have to get one of those PCI Express equipped motherboards. An added plus will be the possibility of using dual graphics cards plus SLI. We tested several boards both SLI and non SLI for the Socket 939 AMD platform, they are ABIT AN8 Ultra and AX8 3rd Eye, ASUS A8N SLI Deluxe, Gigabyte K8NF-9 and MSI K8N SLI Platinum.Month 01
ABIT AV8 3rd Eye
Many of us are faced with a difficult question: Should we buy PCI Express peripherals now or wait for a while? We all know that PCI Express is the way to go, but what should we do with our old AGP graphics card? Luckily, for those of us using socket 939 processors, there's the ABIT AV8 3rd Eye. We take a closer look at this board, come and read why we recommend this board for an AGP socket 939 platform.Gigabyte K8NSC
The NForce3 250 Gb chipset is one of the most sought chipset to use with an Athlon 64 system. Gigabyte's K8NSC is a NForce3 250 Gb equipped motherboard you don't want to ignore when browsing for good AGP socket 939 motherboards. It's good, fast and affordable - qualities we all value from any motherboard.Go to top