AGP Graphic cards alive and kicking

TRUSTEDREVIEWS pulls out a roundup of AGP Graphic cards. AGP cards are still relatively popular, especially at the lower end of the market. That said, Andrew used a FX51 CPU, hardly entry level, to power the test rig, as well as 1GB of memory. Four cards were tested with one from ATI. Only one of them, the BFG 7800 GSOC, was a mid/top of the range card. The good card of the lot was the 7600GT which was surprisingly fast. The Leadtek card is a safe bet, however, betting on AGP platform is not a good idea.

Want to push Conroe's further? Then why not try the Core2 Extreme X6800, tested at GamePC. The most powerful Core2 member shows its strength and versatility in a number of paragraphs whose outcome is already known in advance. Compared to the processor that $1000 would have bought you one year ago, the X6800 us a bargain. The E6700 is still better value and the price/performance increases as you go further down the line. Overclocking Core2 Duo processors actually makes them even more desirable. GamePC says that AMD should get a 4GHz Dual Core to match the X6800; a tribute to Intel's work.

The Tom and Jerry of the laptop world are introduced to the online community by French website Clubic.com. On one side a 19-inch Alienware Laptop with 2GB memory, a Turion 64 and two Geforce Go 7900 SLI. On the other side, a Turion x2 coupled with a 12-inch LCD screen, all in a laptop from MSI. Obviously, comparing those two might not be a good idea as they aim at two different markets. One wonders why Alienware did not used a Turion x2 in its laptop though.

Hexus writes on the ATI Sturgeon Crosfire Xpress 3200 AM2 reference motherboard. Why the word Sturgeon? I have no clue. Seagate already uses the Barracuda, and Shark peripherals do exist. Anyway, this one is based around the RD580 and the SB600 couple. All in all, there's really not much to complain about - although Hexus points out to a few shortcomings on the layout. The BIOS is tweakable and the whole thing is mature enough to deliver above average performances.

More Crossfire Xpress 3200 motherboards, this time from ECS and MSI at Techreport. The KA3 MVP and the K9A models, both of which have appeared in this column a few days ago, but at Anandtech. They are both quasi similar apart from a few differences like the fact that the BIOSes are different, the ECS has twice the number of xATA ports and the K9A has two GbE ports. Both have their own shortcomings though. Be warned, if you're not an overclocking God, go for the ECS.

Technibble tells us how to install laptop RAM. There's a few overexposed photos with a few words of wisdom - don't rub your hand with your plastic coat before doing the operation, for example. The bit I like most - If your computer does not boot, look at the troubleshooting section at the end of this guide. In other words, you've just lost your laptop mate.

If you want to send in reviews, hardware or software, don't hesitate, just bring them in. I am particularly fond of exotic hardware that you won't find elsewhere. Even if the review is not in English, as long as it is interesting and entertaining. Send it in. Also I would be glad if someone could point me to a recent directory of hardware websites. µ