Core blimey guvnor

A SITE NAMED LesNumerics.com (or DigitalVersus in the UK) has a run-down of current graphics cards, including most HD-class Radeons up to the 3850 and everything upwards of an 8600GT. IT puts things into perspective if you’re looking to upgrade. There's also a handy “what to check before upgrading guide” for the newbish consumer.

Three thousand dollars for a "workhorse" laptop. That’s what Tosh is asking for its Qosmio G45-AV680. Weighing in at a husky 11 pounds, this laptop offers you 1900x1200 / 1080p hi-def and all the other features you’d expect from that price tag. At $272 per pound, its pricey, but Laptop Mag thinks it’s a fine piece of machinery.

Putting some sense into graphics, ASUS attempts to conquer the mid-range with its EAH2600XT at ITReviews. The 2600XT shines through the HD38x0 & 8800GT fog of war, and although it will stay distinctly below these in performance, it’ll provide you with HD goodness at a very affordable price… £65 no more, no less - according to the site.

Macworld has a stab at the Samsung SyncMaster 206BW flat panel. Following Sammy’s tradition in numbering, the 206BW is the 20-inch wide-screen member in its affordable line of flat panels - that means solid specs, basic features and a good price tag. Save for a below average viewing angle it’s all good, thinketh James Galbraith.

If you haven’t picked up a decent camera in ages, and if you have the stamina, you can go through the DPReview.com review of the Olympus E-510 evolt. 32 pages-worth of it. It’s a 10 MP SLR that’s packed full of features, which will surely come in handy when the camera begins to wobble after the 10^th round of eggnog, come Yule.

PCApex gives their readers a run-through of new thermal pastes from Artic Silver, Tuniq and AI Technology. Artic Silver 5 is the coolest of the three and Tuniq’s TX-2 is barely better than the “generic grease” Ollie used. They’ve got a 3D Graph to boot, that elegantly demonstrates how much the paste really helps.

If you’re on the market for a new top-of-the-range mobo for your Intel quad-core, check out Bit-Tech’s review of two new mobos from ASUS: The ASUS Maximus Formula & ASUS Maximus Extreme – these are brand-new X38’s, and as you can imagine, they carry a premium. The Extreme overtakes the Formula hands-down, tho’ but both have enough features to carry you through 2009.

If you have been gobsmacked by some bit of kit, or just plain addicted to typing random URLs, please send us your review links, whatsit guides and tiddly-bits to this address here.

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