Different SLI cards now possible

CONSIDER IT as a sign of times. ATI Crossfire touted its capacity to mix and match cards as one of its main advantage over Nvidia's SLI. Now http://www.ocworkbench.com/2005/nvidia/Forceware%2081.82/g1.htmNvidia has made it possible with the new Forceware 81.84 beta drivers. Amongst other improvements is the fact that you need not reboot when using monitor and there's incraesed performance for Dual core CPU's.

AMDzone in the meantime has a review of UT2004's 64-bit patch. It seems though that 64-bit games in 64-bit environments have still some road to go before they become mainstream.

The Shuttle XPC SD31P is given a review at Xtremeresources. Based on the I945G chipset, it supports Dual Core Pentium processors and comes feature-filled; Envy24 PT audio, 8-in-1 card reader, ICE heat pipe module, SATA2 support and Intel Matrix etc. But be aware though that it does not have any PCI slots.

VNUnet - house of PCworld et al, reviewed the Evesham Decimator 78FX a couple of days ago. Two 7800GTX, a FX57, 1GB RAM and 500GB of stripped storage makes it a wonderful gadget to play with. Add in some few well though design features and audio handled by Creative's top components and you have a world class PC.

Hardwarezone tests the Gigabyte GA-K8VT890-9 which is based on the uninspiring K8T890. With everybody talking about ULI lately, we are quick to forget that VIA's chipset have been the main competition to the Nforce wave for the past few years. The Gigabyte board aims at mid level markets with 8-channel audio and GbE LAN - no Firewire here. It is outclassed by Nforce4 Ultra boards - but then you get what you paid for.

Madshrimp checks the Antec Sonata II ATX case. It is a fairly spacious case with 9 drive bays, advanced air duct and a standard 120mm fan. Other specs include a washable air filter, a double hinged door design as well as the usual front mounted ports. The casing comes with a three year warranty and apart from the useless air duct provided does its job efficiently.