Gigabyte MA770T-UD3P: Budget AMD Socket AM3 / DDR3 Motherboard

Nowadays, DDR3 memory is slowly being the de facto standard of system RAM. One of the major hindrances of building an inexpensive AMD rig with DDR3 is the price of the motherboard.

X-bit Labs took a close look at the Gigabyte MA770T-UD3P (US$80) mainboard:

“According to the results of our test session, despite its modest price, this mainboard may become a good choice not only for inexpensive unpretentious platforms, but also for computer enthusiasts. It has adequate specifications meeting today’s needs, and flexible configuring options together with overall predictable behavior are just as good as those of more expensive Socket AM3 products. In other words, during our test session, we didn’t reveal any serious issues that could give anyone the reason to underestimate Gigabyte MA770T-UD3P. Especially, since it performs and overclocks just as good as Gigabyte MA790FXT-UD5P, for instance, that belongs to a much higher price range.” [X-bit Labs | Gigabyte MA770T-UD3P]

Gigabyte MA770T-UD3P Specs:

• AMD socket AM3 processors support (Phenom II X4, Phenom II X3)
• AMD 770 / AMD SB710 chipsets
• 4 x 1.5V DDR3 DIMM sockets, up to 16GB of system memory
• 1 x PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot
• 4 x PCI Express x1 slots
• 2 x PCI slots
• 1 x IDE
• 6 x SATA 3Gb/s,with SATA RAID 0, 1, 0+1
• 8 x USB 2.0 ports at back panel
• 1 x Gigabit LAN
• 7.1 HD Audio
• ATX form factor, 30.5 cm x 21.0 cm

If you are looking to build a new AMD rig with a socket AM3 processor and DDR3 memory, it’s worth looking for the Gigabyte MA770T-UD3P.

Technorati Tags: amd, socket am3, ddr3, 770, chipset

ATI Radeon HD 4890 Graphics Card Reviewed

The ATI Radeon HD 4890 is one of many graphics cards in AMD’s Radeon HD 4000 series. It features:

• 55nm fabrication process
• PCI Express 2.0 x16 bus interface
• 256-bit GDDR5 memory interface
• Microsoft® DirectX 10.1 support
• Shader Model 4.1 support
• 800 stream processing units
• OpenGL 3.0 support
• ATI CrossFireX™ Multi-GPU Technology

HardwareZone reviewed the PowerColor PCS+ HD 4890 Battle Forge Edition card, and gave it a 4.5 out 5 rating:

“To sum up, the PowerColor PCS+ HD 4890 BF Edition is a very capable card. It offers decent performance and its cooler does the job. What we don't like, however, is that the cooler isn't that much less noisy than the reference model, and also the high power consumption figures (which is to be expected since it's overclocked). Even so, it is still one of the better Radeon HD 4890 cards around, and is definitely great value for money if your heart's set on a Radeon HD 4890.” [HardwareZone | PowerColor PCS+ HD 4890 Battle Forge Edition]

If you are interested in looking at what Nvidia has to offer in competition with the HD 4890, you could take a look at the GeForce GTX 275.

Technorati Tags: amd, ati, radeon, hd, 4890, directx 10.1

Shuttle XPC SX58H7 – Core i7 in a Mini PC

The Shuttle XPC SX58H7 Pro Station (around US$867) aims to bring the Small Form Factor PC to the extreme gamers, demand enthusiasts, and mainstream PC users.

Features:

• Intel Core i7 processor support
• I.C.E Technology CPU heat-pipe
• Intel X58 and ICH10R chipsets
• 4 x 240pin DDR3 DIMM slots, 4GB per DIMM(Max 16GB), Triple channel DDR3 1066/1333/1600(OC)MHz support
• Realtek ALC888 7.1 channel High Definition Audio
• 2 x Realtek RTL8111C Gigabit LAN
• 3 x 3.0Gb/s bandwidth SATA (RAID 0,1,10,5)
• 2 x 3.0Gb/s bandwidth eSATA in back panel
• 1 x UltraDMA 133 channel master from JMicron JMB368
• 2 x PCI-E x16 slots
• 6 x USB 2.0 ports
• 500W power supply
• Dimensions: 325(L) x 208(W) x 189(H) mm

Register Hardware gave the SX58H7 an 80% rating:

“… you pay a premium of £200 for the privilege of building your Core i7 system in a small, compact, quiet chassis that's half the height of a regular mid-tower. That’s a high price to pay for a regular desktop PC but it’s worth considering as the end result is very smart and effective. LAN party gamers – yes, both of you – should form a queue here. … The Shuttle SX58H7 is brutally expensive but that’s a fact of life with Core i7 hardware. However, the price is offset by low noise levels, stylish design and excellent cooling.” [RegHardware | Shuttle XPC SX58H7 Core i7 mini desktop PC]

Do you want something small, yet powerful enough to go side-by-side with its bigger desktop counterparts? The Shuttle SX58H7 could just be for you! (Of course, you have to pay the price to get it.)

Technorati Tags: shuttle, sff, intel core i7, x58, barebone

GeForce GTX 295 Reviewed

The GeForce GTX 295 (around US$520) is a dual-GPU graphics card from Nvidia that features:

• 240x2 Stream (Shader) Processors
• 576 MHz Core Clock
• 1242 MHz Shader Clock
• 999 Memory Clock x2
• 1792 MB Memory
• HDCP support
• Two Dual link DVI

The Guru of 3D took a close look at the Point of View GeForce GTX 295 single PCB, and gave it the Guru3D Top Pick stamp of approval:

“Much like any of our GeForce GTX 295 reviews, we can only conclude that the GTX 295 single PCB graphics card pwns. Really it's a 480 shader processor encounting raw fricking compute monster, I liked the first model when it was released, and I like this version just as well. … Either way, we liked the GTX 295 ever since it was introduced, and this revised model does not make that conclusion any different. If you want to be a total freak and go quad-SLI, you can mix and match the old GTX 295 with this new one, not a problem either.” [Guru of 3D |GeForce GTX 295 single PCB review]

Great graphics card to have, if you’ve got money to burn! Need more down-to-earth gaming graphics card suggestions? Head on to cedled’s Game!

Technorati Tags: geforce gtx 295, dual GPU, point of view

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Intel Core 2 Duo E8600 Overclocking

Tom’s Hardware built an Intel machine with an MSI Intel P45 motherboard and Intel Core 2 Duo E8600 processor, and then overclocked it up to 4.2 GHz.

System Setup:

• 3.33 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo E8600 processor
• MSI P45D3 Neo-F motherboard
• 2 x 2GB DDR3-1600 Corsair TR3X6G1600C8D memory
• 300 GB Western Digital VelociRaptor SATA/300 16 MB Cache HDD
• Fortron Everest 1010, 1010 W power supply unit

“Although the 4.26 GHz setting provided the most performance, the 3.9 GHz overclock turns out to be the winner of this efficiency analysis. The clock speed increase provides a nice speed bump when compared to the 3.33 GHz stock speed without bumping power consumption up to excessive levels. If you are looking to get the best performance paired with the lowest effective power consumption, the fastest possible speed without a voltage increase should be your goal.” [Tom’s Hardware | Overclocking Core 2 Duo: Power Versus Performance]

Although an Intel Core i7 and/or AMD Phenom II based system would be the ideal setup for future-proofing your build, the Intel P45 and Core 2 Duo E8600 combo is still a great one to have, especially if you are into overclocking.

Technorati Tags: intel, core 2 duo, e8600, p45, overclock

MSI Wind CS120 Nettop Reviewed

The MSI Wind CS120 ($320) is an Intel Atom-based small-form-factor nettop. Nettops are great desktop computers for light computing, such as web surfing, and word processing.

Features:

• Intel Atom 230 1.6GHz processor
• Intel 945GC / Intel ICH7 chipsets
• Gb LAN
• DDR-2 533MHz SDRAM, SO-DIMM
• 802.11 b/g wireless LAN (optional)
• 160GB HDD, Support two SATAII devices
• Slot-loading DVD Super-Multi drive
• 4-1n-1 card reader socket, SD/MMC/MS/XD card reader (optional)
• D-Sub VGA x 1, USB 2.0 × 6, Mic-in × 1, Headphone-out) × 1
• Audio x 6 (7.1 channel)
• 65Watt Adapter
• Dimensions: 300mm(H) × 65mm(W) × 240mm(D)
• MS Windows XP Home

PC Magazine gave the Wind CS120 3 out of 5 stars:

"Cheap, quiet, and power efficient, the MSI fulfills the role of Web terminal, plus it runs Windows so you can use those old programs that you must still run. Just don't expect it to keep up with your "real" desktop or laptop." [ PCMag.com | MSI Wind CS120 ]

If you need a second (or third) PC that will be used mainly for web surfing, the Wind CS120 is a great nettop to consider. Other nice options are the Asus Eee Top (with built-in display), Asus Eee Box, and Apple Mac mini.

By the way, you'd still need to purchase supporting peripherals for the Wind CS120, such as mouse, keyboard, and display.

IceRocket : msi wind cs120 nettop