Sonoma Desktop mobo appears

MINITECHNET has a review of the Unicorn ENDAT-6540 which is a mini ITX board from one unknown vendor. First time I heard about the unicorn brand. The 6540 is meant to compete with the likes of the VIA Epia or the AMD Geode systems. It harbours an Intel Celeron 650MHz ULV, uses an Intel i815E B-step chipset with a 100MHz USB. Check the website for more details.

Direct from Papa Shultz is an exclusive review of the Elitegroup PF 88 Extreme, the first Athlon64/Pentium4 hybrid motherboard with two chipsets at the same time, the SIS656 and the 756. While it will obviously carry a price premium, it does allow you to swap processors easily and maintain your system intact. And guess what. It is ready for Dual core processors. Isn't life beautiful sometimes? They also have a short article on building your dream DIY notebook using what is commonly known as a carcass; which requires as much knowledge as assembling a barebone. Not for the faint hearted.

Bigbruin has a guide to password and safety. My advice is to print it and stick it somewhere near your desktop. The author Ken Dennis states the obvious and the less obvious. His best advice is to use a mnemonic device. Hi my name is desire athow, and I work for theinquirer! becomes HMNIDA,AIWFTI!. K3wl.

Mews of the Screws shows you how to overclock the an ATI an ATI X800XL card to its limit. They've tested a Club3D and a Sapphire card - they used RivaTuner which is also ATI compatible. Club3D was able to go up to a shocking 466/1120. Amazing value for money.

Bit-tech has also posted a review of three heatsinks one from Gigabyte, the other two from Coolermaster. They tested it on an Athlon 3200+ rig and found out that the lightest and quietest HSF was the winner, shaving 14degrees from the temperature of the stock heat sink.

VR-zone has an exclusive preview. They have inlabs the Aopen i915GMm-HFS Sonoma board - yep a Pentium M desktop motherboard based on the new i915GM chipset. it supports Dual memory channel and dual PCI-E Gigabit Lan as well as S VIdeo, HDTV, DVI and Azalia HD audio. Also in the pack, Firewire, SATA and SATA II. And before I forget, it is a mATX board. No benchmarks for now. Check out later. µ