A different take on Phenom tips up

ANOTHER DAY, another Phenom review – but this time a different take. A Phenom 9900 is an intriguing bit of kit, bugs et al. OverClockers Club is running one (retail?) on an Asus 790FX-based mobo with Windows Vista. They think the 9900 will be a great processor once the chipset has matured – and unlocked the Phenom’s OC’ing potential. Reality check: Spider isn’t the name of the CPU, it’s the name of the platform...

DDR3 memory is still expensive, even more so when it’s targeted at the enthusiast crowd. Kingston has let Benchmark Reviews have a go at their latest offer in this segment, the Kingston KHX13000D3LLK2/2G (or HyperX PC3-13000 for its mates). It’s a 2x1GB pack rated at 1625MHz/7-7-7-20 @ 1.9V which, albeit the aging heatspreader technology, performs above and beyond the call of duty.

Patriot is also raking in the DDR3 enthusiasts. They’ve sent out a sample of their Patriot DDR 1866MHz CL8 memory (2x1GB) to ChileHardware. Nuestros hermanos think that while DDR3 has a long way to mature, and that users may find comfort in the cheap-as-chips DDR2 memory flooding the market, DDR3 is offering performance and overclockability for enthusiasts.

Still mulling over the HD3850s, that’s what BigBruin is doing right here. They received an ASUS EAH3850 TOP and checked under the hood. It comes factory overclocked at 730MHz (although as usual with Asus, the hardware monitor slightly above that). Although they only face it off against its aunts and uncles, they pose little threat to the newcomer. They think it’s a great deal for under $200.

Take a look at the lightest notebook money can buy, here at ITReviews.co.uk. It’s a Tosh R500-10U, and carrying on the Rx00 legacy, this little computer weighs only 760g. Although it’s light like a feather, sports an SSD drive and has but a 12.1-inch display, the battery life if pretty sucky (they’re talking around 2 hours). Considering the SSD drive, it’s a steal at around £1740.

Proving there is still life for AMD in the notebook business (sorta), TechGage reviews another Tosh, the Satellite P205D-S7479. It’s a pretty decent 17-incher, weighing in at 3.13Kg... not bad for a DTR. This Satellite offers some decent performance, gaming and entertainment features. Battery life is pretty much what you expect from this type of machine. However, considering it’s not a Qosmio it’s the cheapest, closest thing Tosh has to one.

Frenchies at Focus Numerique (Digital Focus in English), has a nice one for us LCD users. They got their hands on a LaCie Blue Eye Pro – a 350euros colour calibration device – and explain the principles of color profiles. Naturally if you’re into graphics design, professional photoshoppery, and all sorts of graphics-industry related apps, you find this ultimately necessary, but if you’re “just” the extremely hardcore user who wants to have 20/20 colour vision, then you’ll start saving up money for one of these. Oh, they have tutorials for both Mac and PC users...

And by the way... Have a merry, funky Christmas everyone. µ