ECS mobo integrates mobile Athlon 64 CPU

HKEPC has published two exciting reviews. First up, there's a look at the Gigabyte iRam. They plug in four 1GB Geil PC3200 memory modules to get a 4.2GB HDD and they benchmark it on PCMark to get more than 60000 marks. Imagine four of those cards running in RAID-0 mode. The iRam positively trashes the competition with transfer rates between three and 20 times faster.

The other one has more implications for the mere mortals that do not have £££ to spend. ECS has released a motherboard with an integrated Athlon 64 2800+ CPU onboard. Now that's news. The ECS 760GX-M 2800+ comes with the 760GX chipset, an AGP and three PCI slots. Actually though, the CPU was found to be a socket 754 AMD XP-M 2800+ processor. HKEPC found it to be remarkably similar to a socket 754 Sempron 2600+ processor running at 1.6GHz.

Anandtech looks at a really exceptional piece of hardware that is an 8-core Opteron server, the Fire V40Z from Sun. While you don't get the performance of two single core running concurrently, the power at your disposal cannot be ignored. And Sun is definitely a Tier 1 company. Anandtech are eying a 16 core Opteron 875 server from PogoLinux for a test it seems. They also test Solaris 10 and find much to love with Sun's new OS.

Some URLs away, Linux and dual Core CPUs are also tested, everything from the Pentium D 820, 840, 640,660 as well as the 3500+, 3800+ and the X2 4200+ are grilled. Multiple scenarii are offered and though Intel dual core CPU's do lag AMD's offering - sometimes significantly , the latter is twice the price of the former. If ever someone has the guts to make the Dual core run a DDR system, it could well be a winner.

Xbitlabs reviews the Coolermaster CM Stacker PC case which they say is for wealthy PC enthusiasts - those who would like to experiment with freon-based coolers. Heavy and sturdy, loads of space inside but no sound proofing and no PSU. And the price asked? A cool $200. They also check 20 DVD media - dvd+r/r, +rw and -rw.on four DVD burners. brands that are lesser known incude Digitex and RIDATA. If you are a budget buyer though, you won't find yourself buying most of those brands.

Techreport has posted a pair of reviews, the first one is the Foxconn NFPIK8AA motherboard. It is a nforce Pro based server board to be paired with a socket 940 Opteron. Too late though as AMD is preparing socket 939 Opteron 175 series which will bring dual core without the need for socket 940 and without the need for registered ECC memory. The board is fine and proves once more that Foxconn is now a force to be counted with.

They also find it difficult to accept the steep price of the Western Digital Caviar which they tested here. With a smaller warranty and a not so convincing performance, they wonder how the drive could carry a 33% premium on those from other brands. At least, they say, it doesn't look plain. No NCQ here. µ