AMD does 64-bit better than Conroe

HOUSTON, does Conroe and EM64T have a problem? That's the question that Xbitlabs asks itself. There have been a number of rumours out there on whether Conroe liked Windows XP 64-bit or not. Now, Xbitlabs finally delivers an answer to that. After going through the theory of EM64T and Conroe, the site went to the core of the matter by testing the Windows XP Professional x64 Edition on the platform. In 64-bit work mode, AMD turns out to be more efficient than Intel Core by 6 epr cent - not that much, but still.

GDHardware reports on the BFGTech Geforce 7950GX2 video card. You already know the story, two 7900-class GPU each on their own PCB, running at lower-than-GTX speeds, but seen by the system as one video card. What's more is that you can get two of them to run, effectively turning that into a Quad-SLI system. With a total of 1GB memory running at 1.2GHz, twin DVI-I dual link, and a core clock speed of 500MHz, this is a monster when it comes to performance and size. It still managed 27fps in Oblivion Lost at 2548x1600 pixels with HDR on

ITreviews tests the Freecom Toughdrive XXs which is a hard disk based microdrive worth 6GB. Obviously, it is slightly cheaper than a similar sized flash drive. Transfer rate is good. 1GB of file can be transferred in less than 150sec and is virtually silent in use. It features an anti shock frame and has been drop tested to two metres, which is kind of high. The Freecom Toughdrive has been neatly design and at £75seems to be good value for moving DVD-sized files around. Freecom also provides you with compression and encryption software.

Hongkong based HKEPC has some crunchy news for us. They have more information regarding the pending launch of a 4GB Solid State Disk from Samsung compatible with Windows Ready Boost. The drive is said to be able to service up to 5k requests per second. Then they have words about the Final Spec of the G965 which should support Direct X10 and Shader Model 4.0, although there is confusion whether the Q96x and the 946GZ, two lesser-able integrated chipset will support them in HW or SW mode.

Frostytech reports on the Zalman VF900-Cu VGA Heatsink. Made up of Copper and cast aluminium, the product is manufactured by an expert in the subject - Korean based Zalman. The pack also includes eight memory heatsinks, thermal compounds and much more. The price is right but at 80mm the fan is unlikely to be at ease in a SLI configuration. The VGA heatsink was tested on a FX5900 card and proved to be much much better - both in terms of thermals and noise - than the stock HSF of the same video card.

PCstats revisits the Powerware 5125 1000VA UPS, which like any insurance, comes handy when things go wrong. That particular UPS comes with a two year limited warranty, as well as a $25000 computer load protection warranty. Sold as a Line-interactive 1KVA UPS, its load can be upgraded to 2.2KVA with the use of electronic battery modules should you want to. A few other features distinguish it from plain vanilla models, like the hot swappable batteries and the x-slot communications port. µ