Quad SLI gets benchmarketed

TWEAKTOWN TRUMPED world+dog by posting its GX2 in the local time zone, some 10 hours ahead of the western world. Today the Aussies have done it again by posting their Quad SLI results.

Pulling an all-nighter, Shane managed to squeeze over 22000 marks in 3DMark 06 with the quad SLI setup, and Crysis, at 1600x1200 with Very High settings became very playable (42fps average). This would all seem really really exciting, if it weren’t for the differences between a single GX2 and a dual GX2 (ie: Quad SLI) being almost negligible for the most part. Unreal Tournament 3 is one of those cases where you’re better off in the bang-for-buck department with an 8800GT, for example. Read the raving reviewer’s report here.

If you can draw yourself away from the Nvidia frenzy today, you might want to take a look at some other reviews, such as this Zonet ZNS8021 USB 2.0 Leather eSATA enclosure at Dragon Steel Mods. 2.5-inch HDD prices are dropping fast as capacity is shooting upwards – unfortunately you won’t be able to upgrade your aging notebook with these drives as this mimics the move from IDE to SATA on HDD. The solution really is plugging external storage. Oh, by the way, did we mention you can also plug it into your Xbox and PS3? Get your daily dose.

Computer Shopper also managed to post a review of the 790i Ultra-based motherboard from XFX. Weighing in on your wallet at approximately $350, the mobo matches what Intel has to offer on the high-end (X48). However, Nvidia has their ESA on their side, which makes life a bit more user friendly for us enthusiasts. Read the review here.

Lenovo has moved onto a different type of laptop: the IdeaPad (Ideas, come from Thinking, we presume). The Lenovo Ideapad Y510 is on test at Laptop Mag and it’s a far cry from the usual stuff that comes out of their workshops. Although it doesn’t boast really high-end features, it does have a different look and feel to it. Something you might want to take a look at, over here.

If you are in dire need of trebling your desktop, then Matrox and TechGage have something you want. It’s called the TripleHead2Go Digital Edition and it just splits your video signal across 3 panels of choice – providing you with three times the screen real-estate – lengthwise. It’s USB powered, which makes life a lot simpler and will also support analogue video signals... good for work, good for play, thinks Greg.

Nordic Hardware has had its go at Intel’s soon-to-be-released-yet-available QX9770 Extremely Expensive edition CPU. Brutal performance with callous disregard for power saving. Price wise it is really for those able to drop $1500 without batting an eyelid. You might be better served with a QX9650 though, as it’s much cheaper and offers comparable performance. QX9770 wins on anything, except on price... Read it here.

Some other Aussies also did a comparison of Conroe vs. Penryn. It makes sense, since many will have some questions at the back of their heads just begging to be answered. The 45nm shrink and the added cache has given Penryn a clear advantage over its predecessor – both in power and performance. Wolfdale rules. µ