DDR1 to DDR2 converter comes to wife, sorry life

HKEPC gets to test a DDR to DDR2 converter from none other than Gigabyte. With the iRAM some months ago, dual GPU card and some exciting cooling technologies, Gigabyte is showing the way to the rest of the Tier 1 manufacturers. The GC-DDR21 features some exciting technology plus a featured guest in the form of the new GA-PT880P combo motherboard - which supports both DDR1 and 2. Surprisingly, there is not much to differentiate the two, even when the converter is thrown in.

One sector where AMD Dual core processors absolutely trouce Intel is the price of the platform itself. Motherboards supporting X2's start from under $100. Techreport has a look at some motherboards which support Dual Core, Intel's version. You will probably be astonished to know that TR chose the Abit AL8, the cheapest board in the roundup as their favourite one. Not only it is 33% cheaper than other boards, but it does has the ICH7R south bridge as well as Abit uGuru chip onboard. See how other manufacturer fare.

Newcomer Blue Hardware checks the smallish Terratec Grabster AV250 which is a video acquisition peripheral supporting PAL/SECAM and NTSC formats with a USB 2.0 interface. Terratec produces some award winning sound cards and the AV250 deserves no less respect. You need no power socket and the software provided does the job nicely. Ideal for those looking for batch process those old VHS tapes.

AMD is pushing value for money even further, Presence PC checks both the X2 3800+ and the Sempron 3400+. Florian Charpentier, the reviewer likes the first one but not the second one. Reviewers, as you would probably know by now, are seldom satisfied by what they see, marred by the "yeah but" syndrome. Both the 3800+ and the 3400+ are very good products but the first one could be cheaper and the second one more performing.

GDhardware reviews the Sapphire PI-A9RX780 motherboard. Sapphire is better known for its graphics cards. But it has been getting some very good reviews lately in the motherboard department as well. First thing that you will notice is the white PCB colour. Sapphire yet has to come out of a matching video card. Notable features include a Realtek Sound chip, Integrated video and six SATA2 ports. The board is an excellent overclocker and has some good audio.

Vincent Chang, from Hardwarezone, looks at the Asus Extreme N7800GTX TOP card, the taiwanese manufacturer fastest card. Asus uses an Arctic cooling solution - which means that it is a dual slot solution - as well as hand picked parts to make your graphic experience an unforgettable one. With a core/mem speed of 520/1350MHz under overclocked condition, you might want to settle for the default, guaranteed speeds. This 7800GTX is up to 12% faster than the reference card. But there will be a price to pay.