DDR3 offers no improvement over DDR2

PC PERSPECTIVE published a review of updated 690G BIOS that brings all the nice things we wrote about here. The motherboard of choice was GigaByte MA690GM-S2H, consumer-unfriendly named product, but Ryan's results painted a rosy picture for a low-cost product such as this one. OverClocker's Club followed with a review of almost the same board, with single number difference - GA-MA69G-S3H.

SysOpt showed up with a review of Gigabyte's DDR2-DDR3 combo motherboard based on Intel's P35 chipset.

OverClocker's Club came up with a review of ECS G33T-M2, micro-ATX motherboard based on Intel's G33 chipset.

When it comes to the DDR2 vs. DDR3 dilemma, Kyle from HardOCP got a chance to scope out the possibilities of Corsair DDR3 memory, and saw DDR3 reaching 1GHz DDR clockspeed (2GHz, as marketers like to call it). However, until Intel moves away from its 64-bit FSB bandwidth, the figures we'll continue to see will suck. Some still bizarrely talk about incredible bandwidth, but we're very sorry to report that bandwidth just isn't there. Seeing 8.7 GB/s of memory bandwidth with memory at 2GHz just does not make any sense. Single channel and Dual-Channel just do not make sense before Nehalem shows up.

Just as a comparison, our Intel DDR2 scores were marginally worse, with DDR2-1300 and FSB at 1.30GHz - bandwidth floundered at 8.56GB/s. You can pretty much raise the bandwidth just by raising Intel's FSB - the higher you go, the more bandwidth you will have. Bear in mind that theoretical bandwidth for dual-channel DDR2-1066 is 17.06GB/s (you can't technically achieve that, but you should get to 9.5-10GB/s with FSB set to 500MHz QDR or more…). In AMDs world, we cracked 11GB/s with DDR2-1200 (HyperTransport and RAM were synced at 300 each).

Right, if you want to know what is the ideal hardware combination based around graphics card with GeForce 8000 series chips on it, Legion Hardware came up with CPU scaling performance article. Sadly for CPU manufacturers such as AMD or more importantly, Intel - this article proved that you do not need to spend shedloads of money on a CPU - having a powerful graphics card and ton of system memory is far more important these days.

Phoronix posted article about Linux 2.6.23-rc2 performance. For every penguin fan, release of new kernel version is Christmas come early, so if you're penguin lover, you don't want to miss on this one. XSReviews came up with a review of PNY GeForce 8800GTS 320MB card. Dark point for all 8800 boards, especially this model is the random slowdown due to texture mismanagement. Until Nvidia delivers the fix (hopefully between end of August and mid-September), we don't see that buying 8800 is a reasonable call.

HardwareLogic came up with the review of Flexiglow Cyber Snipa PC Gamepad 2, improved version of a previous gen. Seeing PC gamepads isn't all that often, and personally I have just used ones supplied with Microsoft Xbox 360. But Flexiglow looks like an interesting proposition…

HardwareCanucks reviewed QNAP TS-109 Pro NAS, network storage setup for small offices.

BootDaily showed up with a review of Alienware m9750, allegedly ultimate notebook from Alienware. Sadly for Dellienware, hardware specs leave a lot to be desired for, especially given the fact that the notebook was powered by GeForce 7950GTX card, and you have an SLI option.

The crew from Fudzilla.com went into overdrive and published three reviews, Acer Aspire 5520 notebook and two products from MSI - P35 Platinum motherboard and MSI's NX8600GTS graphics card.

IT-Review.net tested Cooler Master Real Power Pro 1000W, a power supply that arises sceptic views with the "Real Power" claims. However, whatever happens, CoolerMaster has you covered - retail package features a bottle opener. Logitech had its field day with I4U and XVZ Computing - these sites reviewed Logitech Cordless Mediaboard and Cordless Desktop Wave.

For the end, we leave you with something unusual. TrustedReviews reviewed Nokia's 7373 cellphone. After all the Iphone and other smartphone reviews, this one will definitely raise an eyebrow or two. Sadly, this "fashion phone" does not follow the line of top multimedia features that Nokia is known for.

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