RV635 tested

THE MAINSTREAM GRAPHICS part, the RV635 hit the web today and Expreview has the first review we are aware of. The HD3670 is the successor to the HD2600 series, more specifically to the XT flavour, clocking in at 800MHz. Surprisingly the 55nm RV635 core seems to be sucking more, rather than less, power and performance gains so far have been marginal. Expreview hopes it’s just the fact it’s an engineering sample and crappy Catalyst performance, it’s happened before. Read it here. Oh, the card will cost about $100.

The Professor is in, at 3DProfessor.org that is. After its earlier showing of the Fire GL V8650 card – that all but smashed any CAD/CAE records on Earth, its little sibling, the V8600 gets its 15-minutes of fame. The Professor seems to think its hit the workstation sweet spot at around £900 and whole-heartedly recommends this beastie over the competitor’s offering. Get your report card here.

Guru3D’s experts drool all over a Galaxy GeForce 8800GT (HDMI) card. Not that we haven’t read enough reviews on the 8800GT, but this one in particular sports a custom cooler. Priced up at $250 everything is just peachy for Galaxy – everything except the noisy cooler (which they’ve promised to replace). Hilbert thinks it’ll get you near GTX performance with a bit of tweaking.

Iiyama used to be a really nice brand, back in the daze of CRT. They were one of the first manufacturers to go short neck. Now they’ve gone 22-inch LCD’s for a budget price at IT Reviews.co.uk . The Prolite E2200WS-B is a 1000:1 1680x1050 widescreen for a wonderfully cheapo price (£190) which makes up for the lack of extras. Worth the buy, if you’re looking for a simple, functional panel.

Benchmark Reviews have a NZXT Rogue on display. It’s a SFF system for micro-ATX mobos with all the panache of an enthusiast’s rig (ie: LEDs). It even has a carry strap so you can lug the kit to your favourite LAN Party. The mobo plate is removable, but the installation impedes the use of bigger heatsinks for your CPU if your sliding in/out – something the reviewer considered to be a letdown. You can stick any graphics card to your liking, though. Give it a look.

If you own an 8800GT and you’re bitchin’ about the whinin’ fan, give this article a gander. OCIA has a review on the ThermalRight HR-03 GT VGA cooler. It’s a passive solution that you can couple a fan to, but even in passive mode, it matches stock fan performance. The price might be the biggest no-no in VGA fan history. Zahn thinks you’ll buy this for anywhere between $50-$60 – which just took your card into a whole new price range... µ