March 3rd, 2008
Tweaktown reviews the Palit GeForce 9600GT Sonic Edition graphics card and gives it an impressive final rating of 96%. Here is an excerpt of the conclusion:
This card is just truly kick ass, and Palit have gone out of the way to offer something that stands out from the competition. There is no doubt that this card has the potential to sell well, and with the aggressive pricing we see from Palit the card would suit everyone from a person who enjoys gaming to someone who wants to be display-proof to someone who’s just looking for an awesome card to suit their HTPC which is also capable of doing a bit of gaming.
This card really sets the benchmark for the 9600GT and it’s going to be hard to beat. Palit have done an excellent job of the card and no doubt it’s going to be the card of choice for anyone who wants a card that offers an all round experience that covers everything from outputs to out of the box performance. The Palit 9600GT Sonic is probably going to be the card for you!
Read the full review of the Palit GeForce 9600GT Sonic at Tweaktown.
Posted in Graphics
February 9th, 2008
Bit-Tech reviews the XFX nForce 780i SLI motherboardand gives it a final rating of 7/10, writing in the conclusion:
The nForce 780i SLI suffers from stuff that just hasn’t been updated; no solid aluminium capacitors, no re-FABed chipsets on a cooler process, no updated BIOS flashing utilities, no overclocking safe guards and not even a CMOS button.
Even though the XFX nForce 780i SLI performs well, is stable and looks good, it just simply lacks in features I’d expect an enthusiast board to have. I can’t help but want to look elsewhere to the Tier One manufacturers for a quiet solution that is better kitted out.
Read the full review of the XFX nForce 780i SLI motherboard at Bit-Tech.
Posted in Motherboard
February 6th, 2008
BCCHardware reviews the Noctua NH-U12P CPU Cooler and gives it a final rating of 10/10, having nothing negative to say about it. Here’s an excerpt of the conclusion:
At the end of the day this is a great cooler, and not only is it quiet, but it performs spectacularly, and if you’re looking for a new cooler you really need to consider this cooler, you won’t be disappointed. Thanks to the silent performance and great cooling, the Noctua NH-U12P has easily gained our “Top Pick” award.
We don’t hand out a perfect 10.0 score very often at BCCHardware.com, but after using this cooler for a couple weeks I had no other choice, and wasn’t able to come up with anything negative for this review. This is definitely a quiet cooler that can still perform with the best Air-Cooling solutions on the market today, and if you’re looking for something that can cool the hottest CPU’s and not have the it drive you crazy with noise, the Noctua NH-U12P deserves your consideration.
Read the full review of the Noctua NH-U12P CPU Cooler at BCCHardware.
Posted in Cooling
February 5th, 2008
Neoseeker reviews the ASUS EAH3870 TOP Edition graphics card and writes in the conclusion:
If the 8800 GT did not exist, then the HD 3870 would be rocking every PC gamer’s universe. For around $250, you can get the power previously reserved for video cards in the over-$400 range, not that long ago. For $250 USD, the HD 3870 delivers the performance that generally bests the HD 2900 XT, and is comparable to the 8800 GTX. Not that bad at all! The Asus EAH3870 TOP can deliver a solid gaming experience, for a fair price.
But it’s not all roses, because this card’s primary competition, the 8800 GT, does exist — and herein lies the problem for the HD 3870. While the HD 3870 did shine in a few of the benchmarks, such as Call of Juarez, both of our 8800 GT’s tested seemed to just out-edge the HD 3870, most of the time. At maximum resolutions with AA, often both 8800 GT cards we tested would have about 10 frames a second advantage over the Asus EAH3870 TOP. Ten frames a second is not a huge deal — but when two cards are priced fairly similarly, this difference can make or break a choice between two closely-matched cards.
Read the full review of the ASUS EAH3870 TOP Edition graphics card here.
Posted in Graphics
February 4th, 2008
Hardwarezone reviews the Leadtek WinFast PX8800GT 256MB graphics card, giving it a final rating of 4/5. Here’s an excerpt of the final thoughts:
As we have seen in our benchmarks, the performance of the 256MB version has some way to go to threaten the 512MB. Higher resolutions like 1600 x 1200 and above and anti-aliasing will leave this card stumbling. At the very least, we found that the 512MB version will have a 5% lead over the 256MB edition, with this margin shooting up to more than 100% in certain more intensive settings and games. Had we tested a stock clocked 256MB edition, this discrepancy should increase further. Unfortunately, this includes one of the best games of the year, Crysis though older games like F.E.A.R should run smoothly at max settings.
Given the roughly US$50 difference between the 256MB and the 512MB variants, we find ourselves leery of recommending the 256MB version. After all, games would only get more demanding and benefit from a larger memory and so would your screen display. If you’re the kind that upgrades only after a couple of years, then the 512MB is definitely the clear winner. If it’s just for the short term, perhaps the 256MB has a case, only if you aren’t inclined to run at the more intensive settings. With the 256MB variant out now, at least you’ll get a choice.
Read the full review of the Leadtek WinFast PX8800GT 256MB graphics card here.
Posted in Graphics