HD 4850 X2 reviews sneak in

DAAMIT HAS SPRUNG a surprise on the gaming masses who’ve had their attention drawn to the Core i7 launch. The HD 4850 X2 has been officially launched to a fanfare of reviews popping up across the world wide wibble.

First reviews show the 4850 X2 performing more or less on par with a GTX 280, depending on how well GPU scaling works, and how much the game engine is ATI-friendly. If your fanboi-ism doesn’t get the best of you, you’ll be more than happy to know that DAAMIT is pricing the card just below the GTX 280 and forcing the Green Goblin’s hand.

Naturally, the reviews posted into site in no time…

Custom PC

Elite Bastards

OC Modshop

Benchmark Reviews

Driver Heaven

OCC

Hexus

TechPowerUp

Back in i7-land there are a few more reviews that are worth noting (if you haven’t gone blind with the other 50+ we’ve linked to)… There’s Xbit Labs’ and Sharky Extreme’s reviews. But then come the chipset reviews… yes, what is a new chip without a new motherboard to go with it? Well Guru3D has at the stuff that sits under the Core i7 processor: an Intel Extreme Series DX58SO. This little article will give you some valuable insight on what to be looking for when picking up an X58 mobo. Gone are the days of the ICH, now it’s all about the Quick Path Interconnect. Give it a looksee.

Display-happy Jarred over at Anandtech is attaining LCD bliss over a couple of full HD BenQ displays. These are the E2200HD (22-inch) and E2400HD (24-inch) models, where BenQ opted for the less-common (in PCs) 1920x1080 on both. HDCP infection courtesy of HDMI, in case you’re wondering. Good pricing, it seems, and adequate performance for most purposes… Give them a look.

Hardware Central is testing a Simpletech [re]Drive. This kit gives a nice spin on external HD aesthetics by wearing a little bamboo on the outside. It provides backup software as is the habit in these devices, but complements it with an online backup service (2GB) on Fabrik Ultimate Backup. It’s also a clever kit, as it senses your PC shutting down, and powers down by itself. Simple, innit?. µ