Patriot’s second generation SSDs

NO SOONER HAD OCZ announced its second generation Core SSDs, the competition was announcing their second generation MLC-based products. Patriot was one of those cases, paper-launching the Warp V2 that, according to Tweak Town, is now flooding the market. They actually have the 128GB version on test, and you can see some marked improvements over the first generation drives... Read it here.

If you remember Iiyama, you’ll remember they made these great professional 21- and 22-inch CRTs. Well, they’ve shifted focus a bit by moving into the budget LCD market with the Prolite E2208HDS, a full HD (1920x1080) panel with a bargain basement price tag: just £144. Of course, you get what you pay for, but full HD for that price gives you some bragging rights, don’t you think? Thrusting Reviews has the article, right here.

Anandtech is looking at the bottom of DAAMIT’s 4xxx bin and pulling out an HD 4350. Built to provide basic gaming and HD support for your HTPC, according to Gary. We can’t take that claim seriously if the card has one single DVI and one D-SUB. However, it does perform well enough to be considered an upgrade for an existing HTPC... Give it a look.

PC Perps has a review of a Galaxy KFA2 GeForce GTX 260+ 896MB. This is quite refreshing, a company that calls its products something sensible. The ‘+’ is there to mark the 216 shader core version that’s been making the rounds under various guises, but it also means the card is factory overclocked, coming in at 656MHz. Performance is great, says Ryan, and the pricing is becoming more attractive by the day... Catch a glimpse, here.

ECS is keeping its PR offensive in full swing. Legion Hardware is testing the P45T-AD3, a new yet very very cheap P45-based motherboard with a twist... it’s strictly DDR3 (which you can take up to DDR3-1600). Call it “ahead of its time” but putting out a cheap motherboard for expensive components is beyond us. Still Steven thinks it has its virtues... Right here.

Samsung laptops have a reputation for their long(er)-lasting battery life. That’s more or less the company’s trademark, and they’ve kept their word when it comes to their own Netbook – the NC10. Currently on display at Laptop Mag, the great Chaebol claims their Netbook will go on and on for over seven hours on one charge of its six-cell battery. Pricey, tho’, but you better judge for yourself.

NEC another company known for its pro displays handed XS Reviews one of its Multisync units, the 24WMGX3 to be more precise. We’ve always loved MVA panels and this one doesn’t disappoint: great colour depth; wide viewing angles; massive connectivity; and, even a remote. You pay for what you get, there’s no doubt about it... £650... *kerchinnng*. Wibble this way, please.

Real World Technologies has an in-depth look at the architectural differences between Athlon and the Core 2. Aaron tries to explain what they are and how they impact performance to such a great extent: Branch prediction; L2 Cache; Instruction Fetch and Data Cache are the names of some of the culprits. Give it an engineer’s look, over here. µ