X100 performer does it all

LG HASN’T BROKEN into the UMPC market (and maybe rightly so, let the dust settle and so on) but the firm has got something of a contender in the X100 ultra-portable. It’s an ultra-sleek 10-incher weighing in at 1Kg and uses the U7600 Core 2 Duo CPU running at 1.33GHz and it even has a 8400M (128MB dedicated).

Sure, it costs a lot more than a regular UMPC, but it kicks Atom all the way to kingdom come. That’s a lot more performance than your Wind or EeePC, and it even comes with a six-cell and three-cell battery. The three-cell battery provides a disappointing two hours of lightweight processing, tho’, so forget about a full workday’s worth of laptopping. Shortcut to down under, over here.

Zotac and its budget Geforce 9600GSO got their 18 pages of fame at TweakTown yesterday. Shane readied his 9600GT to see how it compared in a face-off, and the results weren’t at all bad. The GSO falls into file about 10 per cent behind the GT, but it’s got (somehow) better power features, as idle consumption sits a solid 25W under the GT. Price-wise the GSO is a better deal, but it’s a perception issue. You get 10 per cent more performance (on the GT) for 20 per cent higher price. Pick your poison.

PC Perps has a review of Super Talent’s MasterDrive MX (almost sounds like a gaming console). This 60GB unit carries a $350 price tag and was tested under Vista. Ryan didn’t care much for the write performance, which was crap, but the read performance was great – on par with the OCZ units they’ve previously handled. Gamers needn’t worry, as its read performance they need, but other pros that work with heavy files should be careful. Read on.

Think Computers is testing Asus’ P5E64 WS Professional workstation mobo. This X38-based motherboard is pretty self-explanatory, it’s targeted at the workstation market and comes with a G.P. diagnostics card (POST readout), and is compatible with Asus SAS card (not included) that’ll improve your storage options. You can also run serious Quad-Fire on this mobo(each slot is spaced enough for you to stick dual-slot coolers), contrary to its predecessor the P5K64. It’s a solid mobo, they guess. Catch the review, here.

OCC is on the Q9300 case. This generation of 45nm Intel processors has gained a rep for its easily overclockability at low voltages, which, in OCC’s case meant a 456MHz FSB with just 1.31v (that’s 3420MHz total). Its main competitor is the previous quad-core champion, the Q6600 that it barely bests and hardly justifies the $85 dollar difference. The Q6600 is the better processor, right now, as its dirt cheap. Read their article, here.

TechARP has grabbed a cheap $121.99 E7200 processor and put it through the usual paces. As you might know, the E7200 is the 2.53GHz, cache-stripped (3MB), 1066MHz FSB product of the Wolfdale species. The E7200 tops its 65nm brethren, clock for clock, in Adrian’s tests, and its cheaper than the E6000-series. A great value processor, it seems. Adrian’s article, right here. µ