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Daily Reviews Summary 03/20/08
Posted by Philipp Esselbach on: 03/20/2008 12:33 PM [ Print | 0 comment(s) ]
First Look: Nvidia's nForce 790i Ultra SLI chipset Review
Bit-Tech published a first look at Nvidia's nForce 790i Ultra SLI chipset
First Look: Nvidia's nForce 790i Ultra SLI chipset Review
OCZ Technology PC2-8000 Platinum Edition 4GB DDR2 Kit Review
Bigbruin.com has posted a review on the OCZ Technology PC2-8000 Platinum Edition 4GB DDR2 Kit
OCZ Technology PC2-8000 Platinum Edition 4GB DDR2 Kit Review
Bit-Tech published a first look at Nvidia's nForce 790i Ultra SLI chipset
Nvidia is pushing hard on the platform front with its technology portfolio ESA, EPP 2.0 and SLI are all core Nvidia products associated with the nForce 790i Ultra SLI motherboard and this launch. While some are open standards, so no royalties are claimed when using them, it doesn't mean all is well for the ultra-high-end user.
To say the cost of upgrading to use the nForce 790i (Ultra) SLI is significant is certainly an understatement: on top of one of the most expensive motherboards ever sold, you'll need super expensive performance DDR3 memory (with EPP 2.0) to make the most of it. Then there's the fact that running at over 1,600MHz limits the board to just
two DIMM slots, so running 4GB in 2x2GB has just gone from selling organs to selling your children as well.
There is a value add with all manners of SLI support, but you can get that with plenty of other nForce 7-series boards, although in this case the north bridge is tweaked to use SLI better. ESA is entirely optional if you want to invest in it or not and again provides an upgrade feature choice that said, we expect this more to be jumped upon by companies that build complete systems, rather than end users.
It was designed to be too expensive and a niche product, so don't get your knickers in a twist. While you may care about that because you want the latest and greatest, Nvidia doesn't. And you can bet your cotton socks that the top Futuremark slots will all consist of nForce 790i SLI boards going forwards that's prime marketing material above all else.
Be wary of what's coming out in the next few months too: there's no telling what else Nvidia will launch in the summer on the Intel front, because it has promised a chipset that sports Hybrid SLI support, and would you want to spend all that money on a new board and not have access to these new technologies? Well, maybe not in actual fact, because those running a 30" monitor (an expensive likelihood with this) aren't likely to care about the significant power savings offered by Hybrid SLI. The first incarnation of Hybrid SLI might be one to skip then. Does the nForce 790i Ultra SLI then become an investment for the constantly-upgrading early adopter? Quite Probably. But how many of
those are there?
To say the cost of upgrading to use the nForce 790i (Ultra) SLI is significant is certainly an understatement: on top of one of the most expensive motherboards ever sold, you'll need super expensive performance DDR3 memory (with EPP 2.0) to make the most of it. Then there's the fact that running at over 1,600MHz limits the board to just
two DIMM slots, so running 4GB in 2x2GB has just gone from selling organs to selling your children as well.
There is a value add with all manners of SLI support, but you can get that with plenty of other nForce 7-series boards, although in this case the north bridge is tweaked to use SLI better. ESA is entirely optional if you want to invest in it or not and again provides an upgrade feature choice that said, we expect this more to be jumped upon by companies that build complete systems, rather than end users.
It was designed to be too expensive and a niche product, so don't get your knickers in a twist. While you may care about that because you want the latest and greatest, Nvidia doesn't. And you can bet your cotton socks that the top Futuremark slots will all consist of nForce 790i SLI boards going forwards that's prime marketing material above all else.
Be wary of what's coming out in the next few months too: there's no telling what else Nvidia will launch in the summer on the Intel front, because it has promised a chipset that sports Hybrid SLI support, and would you want to spend all that money on a new board and not have access to these new technologies? Well, maybe not in actual fact, because those running a 30" monitor (an expensive likelihood with this) aren't likely to care about the significant power savings offered by Hybrid SLI. The first incarnation of Hybrid SLI might be one to skip then. Does the nForce 790i Ultra SLI then become an investment for the constantly-upgrading early adopter? Quite Probably. But how many of
those are there?
First Look: Nvidia's nForce 790i Ultra SLI chipset Review
OCZ Technology PC2-8000 Platinum Edition 4GB DDR2 Kit Review
Bigbruin.com has posted a review on the OCZ Technology PC2-8000 Platinum Edition 4GB DDR2 Kit
Rated at 5-5-5-18, the OCZ Technology PC2-8000 Platinum Edition 4GB DDR2 kit is quite impressive in terms of timings, speed, and capacity. Running at 1000MHz it was able to outperform competition in the form of DDR2 from Patriot and DDR3 from OCZ Technology. While overclocked to 1080MHz it was even able to outperform the DDR3 kit running at 1333MHz.
OCZ Technology PC2-8000 Platinum Edition 4GB DDR2 Kit Review
Sunbeamtech UFO Acrylic Cube Case (ACUF-T) Review
HardwareLogic posted Sunbeamtech UFO Acrylic Cube Case (ACUF-T) Review
With a history of well received items, Sunbeamtech has had their share of success with many well known items, the most popular being the Tuniq coolers and cases. Will their eye for detail continue on with their latest case offering? HardwareLogic looks into (and through) this alien attempt at a completely clear case...
Sunbeamtech UFO Acrylic Cube Case (ACUF-T) Review
Glacialtech Altair 380 Media Center PC Chassis Review
TechwareLabs has published a review of the Glacialtech Altair 380 Media Center PC Chassis.
Today we have a quick look at a relatively new player in the chassis market, Glacialtech. On the review bench we have the Altair 380 a Media Center/HTPC focused chassis that is tall on features and extras. Matt explains why the Altair 380 is an ideal choice to fit into your living room and wraps up the review with a few suggestions.
Glacialtech Altair 380 Media Center PC Chassis Review
EVGA nForce 790i Ultra SLI Motherboard and Chipset Review
PC Perspective posted a review on the EVGA nForce 790i Ultra SLI Motherboard and Chipset
To be fair, this isn't the most expensive Intel motherboard you can buy - after all there is the Skulltrail platform. But other than that, the two 790i motherboards top the Newegg.com Highest Price list in the Intel Motherboards section. Yes there are other motherboards from companies like ASUS and Gigabyte that are in this same $300+ range and we have hard time recommending those to anyone but the most hardcore PC enthusiast but we continue to want to think of these NVIDIA boards as a good value.
EVGA nForce 790i Ultra SLI Motherboard and Chipset Review
Kingston HyperX 2GB PC3-14400 DDR3-1800 Review
ASE Labs posted a review on the Kingston HyperX 2GB PC3-14400 DDR3-1800
Even though my previous reviews on Kingston Technology products were about their flash division, Kingston still is very much an enthusiast RAM company. Their HyperX series now comes in DDR3 at very high speeds. While DDR3 is still very new, Kingston offers a kit that runs at a scathing PC3-14400 which is 1800MHz DDR. The KHX14400D3K2 is on the bench for review.
Kingston HyperX 2GB PC3-14400 DDR3-1800 Review
MSI X48 Platinum Motherboard Review
Viper Lair posted a review on the MSI X48 Platinum Motherboard
Overclocking the old fashioned way was actually very easy, despite the E6750's 333MHz FSB. With little effort, we were able to reach 490Mhz on air, which is the exact same result we hit on the MSI P35 earlier this year. Default voltage wasn't enough for this though and we were required to increase the voltages to the max allowable for CPU and chipset.
MSI X48 Platinum Motherboard Review
Zebra P110m Card Printer Review
Bios Magazine posted a review on the Zebra P110m Card Printer
A dedicated card printer is a niche product, but for organisations that have a specific need they're invaluable. The P110m is a fine example. It's extremely well built, is a snap to use, and produces great quality results on a relatively wide choice of Zebra cards (almost every colour card is available, in addition to snazzy translucent ones). The only real downsides are that prints are in monochrome only and it can't print on both sides of a card. Some may also have a need for lamination capability, which unfortunately the P110m doesn't support. These features are available on other Zebra models, but of course you're going to have to pay for the privilege.
Zebra P110m Card Printer Review
Abit AX78 Socket AM2 Motherboard Review
3D Game Man posted a review on the Abit AX78 Socket AM2 Motherboard
The Abit AX78 Socket AM2 Motherboard is based on the AMD 770 / SB600 chipset and supports the AMD Dual and Quad Core processors. It accepts up to 8GBs of Dual channel DDR2 1066/800/667 un-buffered non-ECC memory. This motherboard also comes with passive cooling using just heatsinks and a heatpipe, so it's completely silent. It's also Crossfire ready, has 7.1 CD HD audio, RAID controller and much more. This motherboard has major bang for the buck. Watch the video to find out more and check out the bloopers at the end.
Abit AX78 Socket AM2 Motherboard Review
HIS HD 3870 IceQ3 512 MB Review
techPowerUp posted a review on the HIS HD 3870 IceQ3 512 MB
The HIS Radeon HD 3870 IceQ3 uses the proven HIS IceQ3 cooling solution. It also comes with higher clocks out of the box which are among the highest we have seen so far from all manufacturers. The recent price drops from AMD make this card a solid choice for the sub-$200 segment.
HIS HD 3870 IceQ3 512 MB Review
Apollo Radeon HD 3850 512 MB Video Card Review
OCIA.net has posted their review of the Apollo Radeon HD 3850 512 MB Video Card.
Today I will be looking at the Apollo Aposonic Radeon HD 3850 512MB. It is a mid-range DX10 card, Crossfire ready, sitting in the notch between the geForce 8600GTS and the 8800GT. Will the HD 3850 make me turn my back on nVidia? Read on and see.
Apollo Radeon HD 3850 512 MB Video Card Review
OCZ Reaper HPC DDR2 1066 2 x 2 GB Review
OCC has published a new review of the OCZ Reaper HPC DDR2 1066 2 x 2 GB
I wanted to see how far I could get the memory to go, so I started playing with numbers. The highest overclock I could get was 1167MHz, but to get there I had to loosen the timings all the way to 5-8-8-22. At these timings, the scores were lower than the stock speeds so they were not usable as an overclock. The sweet spot that I found for the best performance was at 1120MHz with the stock timings of 5-5-5-18. This gave a slight improvement and was thoroughly stable. These are the scores I am going to use for overclocked benchmarking later in this review.
OCZ Reaper HPC DDR2 1066 2 x 2 GB Review
E-TEN Glofiish X800 Smartphone Review
TweakTown posted a review on the E-TEN Glofiish X800 Smartphone
A little while ago we took a look at the Glofiish X650 from E-TEN and although it had a wide range of good features, the package as a whole had us feeling it was a bit overpriced. The reason for this is the X800, the bigger brother to the X6x0-series, as it’s not much more expensive than the X650 and still manages to add a wide range of extra functionality which we think you’d want in the first place if you’re spending this kind of cash on your Smartphone.
The main difference between the X800 and X650 is the fact that the X800 supports 3G and HSDPA data transfers. This alone makes it a much more useful device for those that need fast wireless data access on the move.
E-TEN Glofiish X800 Smartphone Review
Tuniq Miniplant 950 Watt Power Supply review
The Guru of 3D posted a review on the Tuniq Miniplant 950 Watt Power Supply
Recently Tuniq (part of Sunbeamtech) released a trio of power supplies. The Ensemble comes in 1200 and 1000 Watt versions, and their "lower" specced Miniplant is "only" a 950 Watt animal. Despite the fact that the PSU can suck up 950 Watts, this actually is an energy friendly product .. it has everything to do with it's high efficiency topping out at 80%+, no worries though, we'll explain and demonstrate that over the next few pages. According to the specs it's rated at ~87%, which is quite notable and surely important as Energy consumption of our PC's has grown massively over the past year or two. Right, let's head to the next page where we'll discuss some of the features after which we'll dive into a photo shoot, test and verdict.
Tuniq Miniplant 950 Watt Power Supply review
Noctua NT-H1 thermal compound review
Elite Bastards posted a review on the Noctua NT-H1 thermal compound
Basic installation instructions are provided on the rear of the packaging, as well as some more information about the paste itself. Noctua are (naturally) claiming excellent performance for their NT-H1 paste right from the off, with no long 'burn-in' times recommended, as well as ease of application and excellent stability.
Noctua NT-H1 thermal compound review
HardwareLogic posted Sunbeamtech UFO Acrylic Cube Case (ACUF-T) Review
With a history of well received items, Sunbeamtech has had their share of success with many well known items, the most popular being the Tuniq coolers and cases. Will their eye for detail continue on with their latest case offering? HardwareLogic looks into (and through) this alien attempt at a completely clear case...
Sunbeamtech UFO Acrylic Cube Case (ACUF-T) Review
Glacialtech Altair 380 Media Center PC Chassis Review
TechwareLabs has published a review of the Glacialtech Altair 380 Media Center PC Chassis.
Today we have a quick look at a relatively new player in the chassis market, Glacialtech. On the review bench we have the Altair 380 a Media Center/HTPC focused chassis that is tall on features and extras. Matt explains why the Altair 380 is an ideal choice to fit into your living room and wraps up the review with a few suggestions.
Glacialtech Altair 380 Media Center PC Chassis Review
EVGA nForce 790i Ultra SLI Motherboard and Chipset Review
PC Perspective posted a review on the EVGA nForce 790i Ultra SLI Motherboard and Chipset
To be fair, this isn't the most expensive Intel motherboard you can buy - after all there is the Skulltrail platform. But other than that, the two 790i motherboards top the Newegg.com Highest Price list in the Intel Motherboards section. Yes there are other motherboards from companies like ASUS and Gigabyte that are in this same $300+ range and we have hard time recommending those to anyone but the most hardcore PC enthusiast but we continue to want to think of these NVIDIA boards as a good value.
EVGA nForce 790i Ultra SLI Motherboard and Chipset Review
Kingston HyperX 2GB PC3-14400 DDR3-1800 Review
ASE Labs posted a review on the Kingston HyperX 2GB PC3-14400 DDR3-1800
Even though my previous reviews on Kingston Technology products were about their flash division, Kingston still is very much an enthusiast RAM company. Their HyperX series now comes in DDR3 at very high speeds. While DDR3 is still very new, Kingston offers a kit that runs at a scathing PC3-14400 which is 1800MHz DDR. The KHX14400D3K2 is on the bench for review.
Kingston HyperX 2GB PC3-14400 DDR3-1800 Review
MSI X48 Platinum Motherboard Review
Viper Lair posted a review on the MSI X48 Platinum Motherboard
Overclocking the old fashioned way was actually very easy, despite the E6750's 333MHz FSB. With little effort, we were able to reach 490Mhz on air, which is the exact same result we hit on the MSI P35 earlier this year. Default voltage wasn't enough for this though and we were required to increase the voltages to the max allowable for CPU and chipset.
MSI X48 Platinum Motherboard Review
Zebra P110m Card Printer Review
Bios Magazine posted a review on the Zebra P110m Card Printer
A dedicated card printer is a niche product, but for organisations that have a specific need they're invaluable. The P110m is a fine example. It's extremely well built, is a snap to use, and produces great quality results on a relatively wide choice of Zebra cards (almost every colour card is available, in addition to snazzy translucent ones). The only real downsides are that prints are in monochrome only and it can't print on both sides of a card. Some may also have a need for lamination capability, which unfortunately the P110m doesn't support. These features are available on other Zebra models, but of course you're going to have to pay for the privilege.
Zebra P110m Card Printer Review
Abit AX78 Socket AM2 Motherboard Review
3D Game Man posted a review on the Abit AX78 Socket AM2 Motherboard
The Abit AX78 Socket AM2 Motherboard is based on the AMD 770 / SB600 chipset and supports the AMD Dual and Quad Core processors. It accepts up to 8GBs of Dual channel DDR2 1066/800/667 un-buffered non-ECC memory. This motherboard also comes with passive cooling using just heatsinks and a heatpipe, so it's completely silent. It's also Crossfire ready, has 7.1 CD HD audio, RAID controller and much more. This motherboard has major bang for the buck. Watch the video to find out more and check out the bloopers at the end.
Abit AX78 Socket AM2 Motherboard Review
HIS HD 3870 IceQ3 512 MB Review
techPowerUp posted a review on the HIS HD 3870 IceQ3 512 MB
The HIS Radeon HD 3870 IceQ3 uses the proven HIS IceQ3 cooling solution. It also comes with higher clocks out of the box which are among the highest we have seen so far from all manufacturers. The recent price drops from AMD make this card a solid choice for the sub-$200 segment.
HIS HD 3870 IceQ3 512 MB Review
Apollo Radeon HD 3850 512 MB Video Card Review
OCIA.net has posted their review of the Apollo Radeon HD 3850 512 MB Video Card.
Today I will be looking at the Apollo Aposonic Radeon HD 3850 512MB. It is a mid-range DX10 card, Crossfire ready, sitting in the notch between the geForce 8600GTS and the 8800GT. Will the HD 3850 make me turn my back on nVidia? Read on and see.
Apollo Radeon HD 3850 512 MB Video Card Review
OCZ Reaper HPC DDR2 1066 2 x 2 GB Review
OCC has published a new review of the OCZ Reaper HPC DDR2 1066 2 x 2 GB
I wanted to see how far I could get the memory to go, so I started playing with numbers. The highest overclock I could get was 1167MHz, but to get there I had to loosen the timings all the way to 5-8-8-22. At these timings, the scores were lower than the stock speeds so they were not usable as an overclock. The sweet spot that I found for the best performance was at 1120MHz with the stock timings of 5-5-5-18. This gave a slight improvement and was thoroughly stable. These are the scores I am going to use for overclocked benchmarking later in this review.
OCZ Reaper HPC DDR2 1066 2 x 2 GB Review
E-TEN Glofiish X800 Smartphone Review
TweakTown posted a review on the E-TEN Glofiish X800 Smartphone
A little while ago we took a look at the Glofiish X650 from E-TEN and although it had a wide range of good features, the package as a whole had us feeling it was a bit overpriced. The reason for this is the X800, the bigger brother to the X6x0-series, as it’s not much more expensive than the X650 and still manages to add a wide range of extra functionality which we think you’d want in the first place if you’re spending this kind of cash on your Smartphone.
The main difference between the X800 and X650 is the fact that the X800 supports 3G and HSDPA data transfers. This alone makes it a much more useful device for those that need fast wireless data access on the move.
E-TEN Glofiish X800 Smartphone Review
Tuniq Miniplant 950 Watt Power Supply review
The Guru of 3D posted a review on the Tuniq Miniplant 950 Watt Power Supply
Recently Tuniq (part of Sunbeamtech) released a trio of power supplies. The Ensemble comes in 1200 and 1000 Watt versions, and their "lower" specced Miniplant is "only" a 950 Watt animal. Despite the fact that the PSU can suck up 950 Watts, this actually is an energy friendly product .. it has everything to do with it's high efficiency topping out at 80%+, no worries though, we'll explain and demonstrate that over the next few pages. According to the specs it's rated at ~87%, which is quite notable and surely important as Energy consumption of our PC's has grown massively over the past year or two. Right, let's head to the next page where we'll discuss some of the features after which we'll dive into a photo shoot, test and verdict.
Tuniq Miniplant 950 Watt Power Supply review
Noctua NT-H1 thermal compound review
Elite Bastards posted a review on the Noctua NT-H1 thermal compound
Basic installation instructions are provided on the rear of the packaging, as well as some more information about the paste itself. Noctua are (naturally) claiming excellent performance for their NT-H1 paste right from the off, with no long 'burn-in' times recommended, as well as ease of application and excellent stability.
Noctua NT-H1 thermal compound review
