AMD FX 57 sounds death knell of single core

MIKHAIL TECH proposes a basic system buyer's guide for August 2005. The budget is still at $400 and shipping is not included. Nothing much has changed - still the Sempron 2600+ and still the Biostar NF325-A7 motherboard making the bulk of the system. For the first time, the 128MB 128-bit Geforce 6600 gets included. The rest is the change.

GamePC checks one of the last single core power processors from AMD. The FX57 will soon belong to the realms of much-beloved-single core processors. It is a slight speed bump - 2.8GHz and is based on the Sandiego core. Not much overclocking; gaming benchmarks show why the FX57 is a must in the absolute gamer's paraphelia. Demon Slayers do yourself a favor and buy one of those.

PlanetAMD compiled a list of the ultimate system series, which is basically the fastest X86, Windows computer you can get for your money. Firingsquad did something similar some times back. The rig apparently cost $11,000. They did not go for the 7800GTX in SLI though and they still stick to a single LCD display; the CPU alone cost nearly six grand. As for performance, speed increase of 20x have been recorded. Bloody impressive.

Hardwaresecrets is a newcomer in these columns. Uncomplicating the complicated is their tagword. Gabriel Torres, one of their writers, brings us an article on the inside of a hard disk drive. Basically, they disassemble or dismantle a hard disk drive and shows us what's inside. Just in case you were wondering what's making that strange noise inside your box.

Bjorn3D looks at the Gigabyte Geforce 7800GTX graphic card. Gigabyte promotes both ATI and nVidia stuff so they don't lose on either side. The GV-NX78X256V, as it is known, does carry a hefty price premium as compared to the lowest 7800GTX known, around $100. Overclocking improved performance by around 10% which is not that bad. With now-standard dual DVI, VIVO and single slot solution, the 7800GTX looks like the right heir to the FX5900.

Tweak PC sent us links to their review of the Sunbeam Trio tower casing. It features three tachyometers, a door, a side window plus some other goodies. I know that it's not expensive and that it has loads of space inside. Apart from those obvious things - which you can see from the photos on the side - the fact that the site is in German hides most information from me. Use google translator is you want to know more.

Direct to DVD camcorders are on the loose now that the technology has sufficiently evolved to become mainstream. PC Magazine reviews four models - three from Sony and one from Hitachi. The two Japanese giants have have placed their bets on two slightly different types of DVDs. The DVD RAM and the DVD+R respectively. Now you even get dolby digital on those camcorders but quality isn't as good as DV and editing the DV footage is still problematic.

Fortunately Greek website Gognet does not have its reviews in Greek. The reviewer checks the OCZ PC2 4200 Pro Value 1GB Dual Channel Kit. It is supposed to be the entry level model from OCZ. Nevertheless, this one comes with lifetime warranty as well as an orange copper heatsink. Apart from the nagging habit of having paragraphs and lines ending with smilies, there is much to learn about the value of the value series.

G.Skill has a look at more memory chips this time and wonders which potato was used. The F1-4400DSU2-1GBFC memory module is under scrutiny. Yellow heat spreaders are introduced and you get a lifetime warranty, a standard in this category. James Underwood, the reviewer is more than satisfied with the module's performance. DDR600 is achievable at 2.7v without much pain. A competent answer to the demise of TCCD memory, he says.

Phoronix tests the Foxconn TV544 and TP544 ATX tower casings. According to the reviewer they are probably amongst the best non modded casing out there. Both of them are tool-less cases with firewire and USB ports in front. They are bundled with Fortron PSUs which according to Phoronix are much better than other cheap brands. Anyone sees a ressemblance between those cases and HPs?

Bjorn3D pits the HIS X800XL against the X800XL, in a duel at 512MB level. The HIS card comes with the IceQII cooling and 256MB memory. The Sapphire card comes with VIVO, twin DVI and the ATI Rage Theater, one good thing. Both cards are dual slot ones. Performancewise, they match each other's performance; the 512MB version though costs as much as the X850XT. Tough choice.

Tweaktown reviews another 512MB X800XL, this time from GeCube. It gets compared to a 256MB model from the same family. Unlike other hardware websites, TT finds it justifiable to charge $100 for 256MB, Dual DVI and VIVO. The Uniwise cooling solution used is quiet and does its job. Even then, it does make sense to invest in something more long lasting. Games which will really make use of half a gig of memory next year will probably run slowly on that one at very high settings. µ