Xeon W5580 test-fest

THE TECH REPORT has posted its review of the new Xeon W5580. Outrageously expensive, the processor does deliver a massive performance jump over the previous generation.

Anandtech also managed to grab an X5570 from Intel and put it through its paces. Everyone agrees, it smashes many a record.

Bit Tech also ran the numbers on the new Xeons, also with the insanely expensive W5580. What can we say? It's Chipzilla resetting the food chain.

Tom's Hardware Store is pitting the Athlon 5050e against Intel's own low-power CPUs. The ageing Athlon X2 architecture is no longer a match for Intel, but then again, Patrick thinks it's time for a serious low-power processor.

Thrusting Reviews has a go at the OCZ Apex SSD. The drive appears to have a buggy performance - as had been noted by other site reviews - so it goes from very fast to very slow on the drop of a hat.

Modders Inc has a Synology DS209+ NAS Diskstation on the bench. Dewayne is pretty impressed with the amount of features it packs, but you do pay the price.

Legit Reviews has a trio of Corsair Dominator GT DDR3-1866C7 for the Core i7. 6GB in all, they require some extra-extra headroom for the cooler system, in order to deliver blistering fast performance.

Laptop Mag has published its take on the top 10 notebooks in the universe (ermm... right now and only those available in the USofA). This isn't about the high-end stuff, but the kit that really is worth its buckage.

Fujitsu's LifeBook U820 is on test at i4U/Digital Trends. The superlative of miniaturisation is again an Atom-based machine, but with a 5.6-inch touchscreen, tablet-convertible and with a decent battery-life to boot. Performance is a tad sloooow.

Futurelooks has a NZXT Performance Power (PP800) PSU. It's a high-powered kit but very affordable, says Eric. You can run serious SLI gaming rigs and save a few pennies.

Eliot down at Fudzilla has one of the new 790GX motherboards from MSI, the DKA790GX. Reasonably priced (as most MSI producs are) it allows you to build a decent setup at a fairly low price and still have some good overclocking headroom.

Extremetech has a four-way shootout with in-ear headphones. Not everyone likes in-ear buds, as their orifices might be a bit slim, but it's usually a great experience. Give it a read.

Anandtech has a Video Card Buyer's Guide for Spring 2009. ATI and Nvidia share the podium through and through, so it really is a matter of "green" or "red".

Not many router reviews out there, but TweakTown did this article on the Asus WL-500G Premium v2 Multi-function Wireless Router. It can work as a media server (just attach storage) and shape your traffic a bit better than usual.

Benchmark Reviews is playing around with the RAM drive concept with the Acard ANS-9010 DDR2 SATA RAM-drive. It brings some improvements like a CF slot to put in a memory card for backup, and plug 'n' play, but it still looks cobbled together. µ