The Itanium is an architecture that will be around for the next 20 years
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5GHz Yorkfield CPU-Zedded
CHINESE HARDWARE SITE Hardspell posted some benches taken from the OcpIT.com forums. This item is a high-end combo: a Gigabyte X48-DQ6 with a QX9770 CPU. The mobo has a silent cooling system for its southbridge, northbridge and backside (not the toosh) of the mobo as well as a very advanced power system. A full roster of benchmarks where the QX9770 is pitted against a QX9650 is available. Apparently they also got the CPU to run at 5GHz (and said the mobo had crap OC-ability), and for all the fancy digital power regulation, there are no consumption measurements.
Speaking of very fast computing, Computershopper.com gave the Mach V from Falcon Northwest a spin, and they can’t get enough of it. Sporting an OC’d QX9650 and a Geforce 8800 Ultra to boot, it’s a formidable gaming machine if you’re willing to drop about $6000.
USB Drives are tough little thingies, but take a look at these two that RBMods.com put through some medieval torture. Usually, freezing then boiling the drives is a big no-no, but it did serve to make the necessary arguments about the products. Now you can take them on a cruise of the Antarctic.
True to form, Pininfarina designs a Spire case, complete with flip-down access panels and electric blue aluminium – worthy of the most popular of supercars. The chaps as Futurelooks grabbed hold of one and opened it up. Apparently it also has the same supercar noise levels. It’s also super heavy weighing in at 40lbs (9.19Kg) without any handles to grab hold of it. This small detail aside, it’ll win on looks and pricing.
ABit got Bit-Tech.net a sample of its enthusiast IX38 Quad GT motherboard. Feature-laden but accessory poor, this IX38 mobo is getting a run for its money from its younger cousin (P35). However there’s a remark at the end that the board “overclocks very well” (although we failed to see any specific OC’d benchmarks). Pricey.
On the other hand Extremetech published its take on another X38-based mobo: the Asus Maximus Extreme. Asus has the rep for quality construction, and the Extreme seems to live up to the rep. The Extreme has a built-in waterblock for the northbridge and rubber mounting pads to raise to board to improve airflow. Again, all the fancy OC potential goes untested, which is a shame. No SLI here either. You’ll have to drop around $360 to get this...
Still on the OC’ing theme, you might on the market for some thermal paste, and XSReviews might have what you need. They squirt out the Noctua NT-H1 paste and beat Artic Silver 5 on the head, not by much, but enough to proclaim it the winner in a 3-way matchup. Spreading the paste seemed to be harder (we recommend using an old credit/debit card to spread the paste, works wonders).
8800GT’s start arriving in the 256MB flavour. Legitreviews has posted a review of the XFX 8800GT 256MB XXX Edition. This essentially cuts down the memory to 256MB (different memory vendor too) but has a default OC. The performance really takes a big hit once you go over a certain resolution/graphics detail, so these 256MB versions seem to be great for sub-1600x1200 gaming. Oh. You get a free copy of Lost Planet to boot. µ
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I hope you enjoyed your beer, because that Spire case doesn't weigh 40 pounds or just over 9 kilos.

Either you got the kilos wrong, or the pounds. I'm pretty sure you got the pounds wrong - haven't really seen any popular consumer cases weighing in past 20 kilos.

Try using 2.2 to convert kilos to pounds once you sober up. :)

Nothing personal - I love my beer too.
I bought the black version of that case last year. No mention of the two negatives I ran into, so wonder if they fixed them.

1. front door post & hole hinge method. corner was squared so door would only open 2". I took a file to the squared corner and all was well.

2. usb/audio/firewire front panel poorly mounted. it's held in place with plastic clips and can be pushed into the case somewhat easily. some superglue fixed that one.

Cheer,
John
my thermaltake armour weighed 16kg on delivery. load it with drives & fans it hits 20Kg easily.

admittedly, the armour I have is the rolled steel, not aluminium version.
I got my Spire Pninfarina ONE YEAR AGO back in my *cof* third world country *cof*. And i even could chose which color i want: Blue, red or the silver one (which i got).

Glad to see my one-year-old case is still being reviewed as a new stylish product here in the civilized countries.

In fact, case does not only looks awesome, it is very sleek and clean to get all cabling mess organized and, to complement their review, i do not find it heavy. Do not try, however, to put a 14Kg monster under a thin glass surface.
... maybe thats the point. Try to write nonsense before you fall in love again.

*with everything installed, the case tipped the scales at just over 40 lbs*

Cheers
If you check the review, the case itself is 13.5kg, add 3.5kg for a good PSU, and it's now pretty close to 40lbs. Load it up with a pair of drives, a pair of GPU's, and a big cooler for the CPU, it'll be getting close to 50lbs.

While that's certainly a big PC, it's nothing compared to the 25lb Compaq Portable 386 my dad was using 20 years ago. It's strange to me that for most of that time, the desire was for ever smaller portables, yet we now have a couple of "laptops" that weigh nearly as much as that old dinosaur.
Dont mind the knobs Paul, hardware roundup 'wibble' has improved no end since Theos never ending power supply reviews.
looking at the link, it is neither 9 kg or 40lb... kind of bizarre reporting it has to be said. It says 13.5kg or 30lb (us).