Dual Core Yonah tested against AMD X2

TWEAKTOWN has a review of the Highpoint Rocket RAID 2220 PCI-X SATA II Controller which is a 8-channel, server grade type of storage component. Up to 16 HHDs can be added and the card, even if it seems quite small is hot swappable and is destined to the server sector. Highpoint of course have made their name by having their controllers on quite a few motherboards out there. It supports redundancy, does provide with an audio alarm in case your drive fails. But we would rather wait for a PCIe version to come forward though.

Techgage tests the beautiful looking Zalman CNPS9500 CPU cooler. Korean manufacturer Zalman is not an unknown name. It does a pretty decent job when compared to other coolers out there. The test carried out by techgage for example yielded a full 7/8 degrees decrease in temperature without/with load when compared to stock AMD cooler. It is big though but as silent as it can be. It is made up of copper though which explains why it is better than its aluminium counterparts.

Anandtech has published the second part of the Intel Yonah Performance review. Yonah is Centrino x2 actually. They tested it against an Athlon X2 3800+ and a Pentium M 760. Yonah holds its own pretty well against desktop competition, which bodes very well for the near future. AMD will has an answer to Conroe and Yonah's threat as they prepare DDR2 coming and much more. Athlon X2 are already past history.

Matbe checks the DHS2 which is Alienware logoless version of a Media Centre. It is expensive, based on Intel's hottest processor and includes some nice stuff like a Gyration Ultra GT keyboard/mouse bundle two tuners and a 250GB HDD. But Matbe encourages you to have a look at alternatives like buying a decent laptop and a separate HDD based recorder for a much smaller investment. It might be near silent and offering more IOs that you will ever need but the asking price should be lowered.

Casemod Gog has a test of the Sapphire X1800XT PE. Those letters of course brings to mind the X850XT from Sapphire. It comes ladden with high end specs like that 512MB GDDR3 memory running and the R520 core running at 1.5GHz/700MHz respectively. It comes with AVIVO build in and of course, it is overclocked a little higher than normal. This is a two slot card with two DVI ports and a HDTV/Svideo composite out what you would expect from a card with that stature. Other than that, the card comes with a great fan and should perform well. Availability and pricing though might be problematic.

BIOSmagazine has a look at the Sony VPL-CX20 Ultra-Portable Projector. It is one of the most compact 2000 ANSI lumens projector on the market. it does carry a premium since it is a Sony and the rest of its features will get you looking for more, much more. Only XGA resolutions, poort contrast ratio and HD incompatibility makes you wonder why Sony has integrated those in that particular product. Perhaps next time. In the meanwhile, shop elsewhere or wait for an updated version. µ