Cheapo four-to-one KVM reviewed

MISTIX tests a product from Switch Viewer. Until someone effectively solves the wires problem, stuff like the USB Audio Switch KVM 4-port USB Multi user will do the job. You can control up to four computers at once plus a number of other components like printers and camera. It also allows four different audio channels and four microphone inputs to be present.

What's a processor without a good motherboard? Next to nothing - except an expensive piece of jewellery. You can expect qute a few owners of the DFI Lan Party nF4 SLI-DR to upgrade to the latest FX57. It is one of the best motherboards for the AMD platform and it is reviewed at MVKtech. BIOS features are exceptional, so is the sound sector thanks to the Karajan sub system. Add Dual GbE LAN, nVRAID on SATA and ATA and SLI and you have one of the most overclockable and most desirable boards of any platform.

Another motherboard review, this time from PCStats. The MSI K8N Neo3-F is a socket 754 entry level motherboard. It introduces PCI Express to entry level boards and also pops in an Advanced Graphics riser, which is an AGP 8X slot. With a GbE NIC and 5.1 channel audio codec, MSI has done a good work at the entry level.

All reviewers will tell you that money is made at the midrange and bottom end rather than at the top of the revenue tree. Which is why cards like this Connect3D X700Pro PCI-E card is of utmost importance to ATI. It has a small cooler for the GPU and no heatsink for the memory chips. Hence, while it is overclockable and shows good performance, it could have been much better had it been fitted with something more upmarket.

ClubOverclocker inspects the Gigabyte GA-8i945P Pro which is the mid range offer featuring the 945P chipset, which supports DDR2-667 memory as well as Dual Core Pentium D. Other features include Intel's Matrix Storage technology as well as support for four SATA ports. A reliable yet uninspiring product which does its job at a minumum fuss. The same card reviewed at Techniz is also reviewed here. The Connect Radeon X700 Pro 256MB PCIe reviewed there has an improved heat sink fan. It is a good card which is competitive even with much more expensive cards - they tested it against the BFG 6600 overclocked card. ClubOC was not able to overclock it that much though.

Overclocker Cafe checks the Inno3D Geforce 6200A AGP version which sports a core frequency of 350MHz and a memory frequency of 500MHz. The 128bit DDR memory is 64-bit interface so don't expect any miracles. It is passively cooled and comes in an AGP flavour rather than the PCIe Turbocache version. Almost playable on Doom, it is silent and will satisfy HTPC builders. Definitely not a gamers card though.

One last card video review. Driver heaven puts the MSI NX6600 against the Powercolor Bravo X700. Both occupy the same coveted market segment and it is interesting so see how they compete. Both cards get kudos. MSI has a first class bundle as alwayus while the Powercolor has great results and a passive cooler which is a disadvantage for overclockers but nice for those with sensitive ears. µ