Magic Pro mobo is fastest integrated board around

HKEPC reports on the Magic-Pro K8N-GM Pro motherboard, a mATX model with DDR400 support. It comes with the Geforce 6100/nForce 430 chipset with SM 3.0 support through the 6100 core and overclocked at 475MHz. The Magic Pro comes with both DVI and D Sub ports. Other features include Realtek's ALC850 and 10/100 Ethernet port. The Magic-Pro performs better than any/most Geforce 6100 and even outperforms the 6150. Any saw this brand on sale in the UK, let me know.

Tekbunker tests the Zalman VF900 video cooler. It comes with a Dual Heatpipe as well as RAM heatsinks and a fan speed controller. A very short article. In conclusion, the RAM heatsinks are crap. The cooler itself is worth it as it is quiet and cools efficiently. It does not push out the air outside the case though.

Another cooler tested is the Aerocool Dominator, a CPU cooler. It uses heatpipe technology with a very large 140mm fan and a smallish heatsink on top. The cooler comes in a very large box and comes pre-assembled for LGA sockets. Performance-wise, the Aerocool is better than either the Scythe or the Spire Diamoncool 2 but still lags behind the TT Big Typhoon. It is quiet and is rather light as well.

PCStats tests the Foxconn 975X7AA-8EKRS2H motherboard. Why the hell does Foxconn chooses such indecryptable names is a big mystery for me. Anyway, this mobo is a 975x model with Intel ICH7R southbridge. It supports processors up to 1.066GHz FSB. The motherboard comes with more than a few accessories, with support for Crossfire, eSATA and two GbE network jacks as well as 7.1 channel sound module. But that's not all, add in Firewire, an additional SATA 2 RAID controller and a nice price and you have a winner.

Hardwarelogic checks the DFI RS482 Infinity motherboard which is a mATX model with ATI's Radeon Xpress 200 chipset. The chipset has a X300, DirectX 9.0c compatible. The ALC850 is in charge of audio and we also have one GbE LAN. Other featues include Firewire support and SATA1 controller. Great thing that this motherboard offers is D-Sub, DVI and S-Video out with full analog IOs. The BIOS as well is pretty impressive.

Madshrimps has a roundup of some of the low and midrange PCI-e video cards available on the market. FRAPS and other games are used. The models on test are the X800GTO, the X1600XT, the X1300Pro and the 6600GT. No plain vanilla or LE versions. Madshrimps also overclock all of them. The X1600XT silent overclocks to an amazing 1.52GHz. There are a few missing candidates like the 7300GS and the 7300GT. So a refresh is badly needed in a few days. µ