G92 is on the squeeze

THIS WEEK is 8800GTS/G92 review week, and we know that because next week the card will hit the market (hopefully in the form of retail kit on shop shelves).

All manner of benchmarketing will fill the cyberether until then. Here are two prime examples: TechSpot and TechARP have put some perspective on the upcoming 8800GTS (G92 core). Simply put, it still falls behind the 8800GTX powerhouse, but has a lead on the 8800GT. Maybe that lead won’t make it a big seller, but the pricing – so close to the 8800GT window – may cause some hesitation between these two. Willing to pay a small premium for a 10-15% performance boost? Get an 8800GTS. Graphzilla has nothing to fear but itself.

Custom PC picked up an XFX GeForce 8800GT with 256MB o’RAM. Skimpier on the amount of memory, it’s also cheaper on the clock (700MHz base, vs 900MHz on the 512MB versions). It won’t hold Crysis, not even at lowly resolutions. However its high OC-ability might tempt users. It lags behind HD3850’s at stock settings, but maybe you can edge it upper and onwards with a little OC skills.

Tom’s Hardware talks encryption on laptop drives. With data insecurity being a plight for mobile users – or simply daft government officials who leave MoD laptops on park benches – Tom’s picks up a Momentus 5400 FDE.2 and runs it through its paces. Guess what? Its encryption works well, doesn’t impact performance to any measurable degree, and can be “mastered even by less experienced users”. ie: People who had no business owning a laptop with sensitive data in the first place. So there. IT departments start procuring brand new laptops for everyone!

Anandtechies got their hands on the soon-to-be-released Asus Maximus Extreme. The Maximus Extreme is part of the Republic of Gamers initiative/franchise and is targeted at no-holds barred enthusiasts with money burning a hole in their pockets. So if you’re in the mood to get ROG’ered by ASUS... that’ll be $350 please.

Tweaktown answers an age old question: what’s best a very high-end gaming card, or a couple of mainstream ones working together? (spoiler: they’re still as stumped as we are). They take two HD3850’s against a single 8800GTS of the new G92 flavour. Well take a look at what they discovered here. The big shocka? 8800GTS draws as much power as two HD3850’s!

ArsTechnica has come up with its particular brand of Yuletide shopping guide. Again, if you want to gift someone with something absolutely anti-social (here hon’, I bought you this 8800GT card for “your” home PC), or just build yourself a system for this holiday season, just click on the link and let yourself be guided by Joel Hruska.

Last but not least, 59hardware.net – a French hardware site – took it upon itself to help you choose the ideal CPU cooler. However, the main object of the review is that these coolers are all heat-pipe derived. Prices go from €15 through €49.90 here. They actually award three “performance crowns” - one for the least noise, the other for cooling performance and the last for the best price/performance/noise combo (or, being the french lot that they are: "The one that stole our hearts"). Check out who came ahead, here and here in anglais. µ