8800GT reviews leak on the Intraweb

THIS EDITION OF Hardware Wibble is going to be a big one, with over 20 reviews collected from all around the web.

We're starting with something in the light of the upcoming Monday announcements (reviews of 45nm Yorkfields and GeForce 8800 GTs). Virtual-Hideout published a review of Radeon HD 2400XT and 2600XT, two video cards that are just about to become low-end spectrum. With GeForce 8800GT and Radeon HD 3800 series coming to life, both 8600GT/GTS and 2600XT are going to end up in low-end segment. Virtual-Hideout also tested Mushkin DDR3 memory and Lapinator vs Lapinator 2 comparison.

Now that you know performance of these parts, take a look at two leaked reviews. Originally, TweakTown broke the NDA with MSI's GeForce 8800GT (we wonder was somebody from TT on Nv Editor's Day, given nVidia's broken policy about NDA's and beloved hacks), but their server collapsed. If you want to try to see this review, you can check here. But the review which was still available was the one from Boot Daily.

Our own review is coming out later today, and belongs in "something completely different" category.

To end the graphics category, Dave from OCC tested a part of hope for those owners of AGP motherboards. Sapphire HD2600Pro AGP is a card that will offer you DX10 taste until you save up for the real deal. And by looking at Crysis on my 42" Philips plasma at 1080p resolution just leaves you drooling. Forget PS3 or Xbox 360, this is a game and a half.

If you're wondering what motherboard you should get for your new computer, and running low on budget, you might want to check out how ASrock combined older P965 Northbridge chip with ICH8DH Southbridge chip. Benchmark results only go to show that i965 Express chipset is much more mature and higher in quality than newer P35 and X38 chipsets. We wonder what Intel guys were thinking with X38, but now you can see that P35 isn't best thing since sliced bread either.

TweakTown tested a cooler from a company with an interesting name - Rosewill RCX-Z4. However, this cooler did not do so good, at least according to the final score.

When it comes to cooling, you'll often hear the term heat-pipe. Since not all heatpipes are the same, guys from Phoronix took their time and started cutting heatpipes from various manufacturers. You can see the results of their investigation here.

Second memory kit of the day (after Mushkin's kit earlier) is a review of patriotic memory, marked PC3-15000. This memory is clocked all the way to 1.87 GHz at 8-8-8-24 timings, and you can see the results themselves. Guys at Benchmark Reviews have quite a smart approach to the whole dilemma of how to review memory modules, and this approach may pay off. In meanwhile, seeing that Intel-based motherboard finally passed 10GB/s in read bandwidth is really worth mentioning. There might be some hope for DDR3, but at the end of the day, you're buying memory for your Nehalem/Deneb system, because those two will make sparks fly in terms of DDR2 vs. DDR3.

Bit-Tech joined the DDR3 reviewage with their take on Corsair and Super Talent DDR3 modules, working at 1.8 and 1.87 GHz. However, clock does not always end up being an advantage.

What is ideal power supply for new generation of computers? When it comes to hits of Yuletide, good thing is that lower power consumption will be the key. Intel 45nm processors were promised to consume less power, AMD's K10 is proving that Amato's Law is alive and kicking, RV670 and G92 both come with excellent power control - so you might ask yourself why go through all the hassle and shell out hefty money for 1KW and beyond. Hardware Canucks bring the low-down on two 850W power supplies from Antec and Silverstone.

HardOCP also addressed the matter with two additional power supplies. Kingwin ABT-800MA1S Mach 1 power supply is an 800W rated one, but a 750W one stole the show. Guys also reviewed Corsair's latest power supply, TX750W.

In the neverending world of portable storage (there is probably more different USB sticks on market than Chinese people), RBmods found some Intelligence, or at least that's how manufacturer is trying to put it. PQI's Intelligent Drive i810 claims to be smallest USB drive on the world, but at the end of the day, is that "intelligent", or does size really matter here?

If PQI is not suitable for you, you might want to consider ATP Petito, another small drive with 2GB of capacity. And if you want the fastest out there, OCZ came up with ATV in Regular and Turbo mode. This rugged stick is not playing the compact game, but rather offer your data protection known from Corsair Voyagers, with a twist. XSreviews benchmarked the fastest version, named Turbo 4GB.

If you want to see how iPod nano 4GB in its 3rd generation cracked wide open, you don't want to miss out autopsy at Tech Republic.

Logitech is hoping that its G9 rat is enough of a improvement over G5 that people will consider the switch, or to give you just enough reasons why you should retire your old rat and pay a hefty price premium to get the G9. Is 3200dpi, instead of 2000 dpi (G5) a reason enough?

We end the Wibble today with a review of somewhat unusual product that is doing an usual job: cooling down the processors of today. CoolerMaster showcased Sphere last year at Computex as a concept, and this year came to retail. Hardware Logic brings the low-down. Sadly, Hardware Logic has been a matter of foul play between an unnamed hack and HL's owner, Rich Caporali. Rich contacted us to state that a certain person is asking around

This whole sad affair reminded me of my departure from the wonderous backstabbing world of Croatian IT journalism, filled with fake egos and " endangered species". When I left my previous post to start working for the INQ, several people sent out e-mails to different companies, including our usual suspects, claiming that I am contacting those offices and asking for work, and stating "how pathetic I am". This would perhaps even stick if persons who they contacted haven't worked with me for seven years, and the fact that I was in my future hometown of San Francisco at the time. Ah, talk about drama in the world of ICT hacks... personally I wish Rich, and all other fellow hacks all the best in their careers, regardless where they are. This industry is one of rare industries that is making such a positive impact on the world, thus these games and trickery won't lead anywhere.

After all, isn't Ron Dennis from McLaren Mercedes F1 team crying that his spinners can't control the information that is leaking from his team like there's no tomorrow?

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