Radeon X1900GT and Geforce 7900GT face off

THE GUYS at HKEPC test the X1900GT - or GTO - and the GF7900GT. Apart from the 900GT moniker that they both share, these cards are aiming for the same mid range market, the juiciest one. After having elaborated on the technological aspects, we see that the card is a 256MB version with a core running at 650MHz and memory at 1.44GHz - both overclocked from ATI overdrive panel. The card is definitely hot but there performance is not as hot as one would expect. Even if the 7900GT is generally slower, it matches the 1900GT. We will wait to see how it translates in terms of pricing and availability.

Over at Xtremesystems, there's a 80-page thread running called Yonah T2600ES competitions. A Frenchman going by the name of Tyrou has managed 3.46GHz - revision C0, that's up from 2.16GHz - a 60% overclock. Pi still stays at 17.34s. He managed to increase CPU voltage to 1.648v. Oh and he uses a couple of X1900 CrossFire to reach more than 19K in 3DMark 2005. On page 80, you will find some graphs by guess2098 where he compared Super PI 32M, 3DMark 05, CPU Mark 99 and 3DMark 06 for Yonah at various speeds and the FX60 at 3GHz.

The Magic-Pro K8N-GM Pro motherboard is reviewed at HKgolden - it is in simplified Chinese. It uses the Geforce 6150 chipset and is overclocked to 525MHz, which is 100MHz higher than others. Although you won't find it in US or in UK - if you can, then send me an email, the Magic Pro motherboard is quite enticing. It apparently comes with HD Audio compatibility, DVI, GbE LAN, RAID 0/1 and 5, with NCQ SATA RAID, all in a mATX format. Interestingly the board comes with two PCIe slots - x1 and x16 as well as a number of SATA ports.

PCPerspective tests the Thermal Eureka VC8000BWA Aluminium Case. It is a full tower weighing just under 9Kg. With a see-through side panel and two 120mm fans, it is targeting pimp-my-case amateurs. Add in a black cover, an all aluminium finish and 12 drive bays. Interestingly, it accepts eATX and comes with a number of IO ports. The casing is even equipped with the necessary holes for water cooling tubes. It is one of the rare cases I've seen to come with a manual. It is tool less and has plenty of space inside.

Another motherboard test, this time, coming from Asrock. The 939SLI32-ESATA2/A/ASL is checked at IT-review. ATX format, SLI compatibility, ULI chipset, eSATA2, two PCI express ports, PCI slots and more ports than you can shoot at. The board is compatible with FX60 processors and the ULI chipset can compare directly to the creme of the creme as it held its ground against none other than the DFI Lan Party SLI-DR with even better results on Cinebench and BF2. Clearly one to go for if you are cash strapped.

Hardwarezone reports on the Lite-on SHM-165H6S Internal DVD writer. The DVD writer market has matured to the point that it no longer makes sense to buy a DVD ROM or a CD writer or a combo anymore. Lite on is one of the best optical drive manufacturers around and does a lot of outsourcing for better known PC companies like Dell or HP. The 165H6S is DVD RAM compatible, does lightscribe and has a buffer size of 2MB. That said Hardwarezone was mildly pleased by the performance of the drive. It is not bad but slightly better than mediocre. µ