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AOpen's GeForceFX 5900XT packs in 128MB of DDR RAM, supports dual monitors, has TV-Out capabilities and comes with a bundled copy of PowerDVD 5. Factor in the $239 CDN ($175 US) price tag (which is one of the lowest priced FX 5900XT's we've seen), and pretty much everything else can be forgiven if the card does seem a little vanilla. Oh, did I happen to mention that AOpen boosted the default core clock speed from 390 MHz to 420 MHz too?

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With its Prescott compatibilities this board can run any skt 478 processor, many of which can compete with the other, more exciting processors out there. For this reason we gave skt 478 one more try when we chose to build our most recent test computer. As far as price/performance this platform is tough to beat.

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Gigabyte has brought to the table a great 865PE board that will fill the bill for any family looking to upgrade, especially if they are looking to add a rig to an already existing home network. The wireless lan being included saves a few dollars, and the performance can only be beaten by the 875 boards, and only some of those at that. The board is extremely user friendly, all the way down to the documentation it comes with. This board will not disappoint anyone!

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Hightech Information Systems, HIS for short, isn’t the most famous graphics card manufacturer in the world. They have, however, been around since 1987 and are Hong Kong’s leading graphics board maker. In 2002, they partnered up with ATi and adopted the “Excalibur” coin for their ATi based video cards. The term Excalibur came directly from the sword of King Arthur. If you don’t know the story, read the book or catch the movie coming out this summer in North America.

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AMD has finally released the Socket 939 version of their Athlon64 processors, which includes the Athlon64 FX53 (Socket 939), the Athlon64 3800+ and the Athlon64 3500+ with the two latter running the dual memory controller but being restricted to the smaller 512 kB L2 cache of the Newcastle die. However, the entire family of Socket 939 processors is capable of running unbuffered memory, which shaves off one bus cycle on each initial memory access.
Aside from the price advantage over the Socket 940 processors, is there any gain in performance caused by the lower latency memory access? Moreover, does the cache reduction hurt the performance and if so, what are the critical applications?

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By now, you probably have heard about Corsair bringing back 2-2-2 to the world of memory. Well, now it's Bjorn3D's turn to play with some of these new modules from Corsair. For those who haven't heard, these modules are from Corsair's new XL memory line.

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Like their recent FX 5950 Ultra graphics card, it's underwhelming. The window of opportunity to make A7N8X-E great was missed by a mile, maybe ASUS were asleep. You can tell their focus is elsewhere, is that maybe a sign that yours should be too?

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Going by AMD's performance ratings, Socket 939 Athlon 64s are faster than their Socket 754 counterparts at the same clock speed. For example a Socket 754 2.4GHz A64 with 1mb cache is a 3700+, a Socket 939 2.4GHz A64 with 512kb L2 cache is a 3800+. Basically, AMD think that the benefits provided by the dual channel memory controller out weigh the negatives from having less L2 cache. This is the second reason why AMD have gone for the smaller cache dual channel A64s.

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The XL memory uses Samsung's TCCD chips, which are actually DDR500 chips, but Corsair has built them on the PCB marked 3200XL, and designed to run at 400Mhz with 5-2-2-2 timings. They only come in 1GB kits, with or without the "Pro" series of LED light indicators. Read on to find out more about this awesome RAM.

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With the ever increasing hope to cover all ends of the market share we have seen graphics card entering the market lately that range from high-end to low-end. The Gigabyte FX 5700LE that we're reviewing to today is one that perhaps would be on low end of the scale, but it does have more MHz left in than meets the eye. After running it through a battery of benchmarks we came away very satisfied with just what this card was capable of doing.

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The Ultra Dual Channel Kit is clearly a budget kit as it’s quite affordable and comes in a very nice box you’ll never use again. If you don’t plan on overclocking your FSB very much then this kit would be an ideal low budget decent performance alternative to the Corsair, TwinMOS, OCZ modules.

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It overclocked well and the stock reference cooler isn't the loudest in the world. Should you wish to partake in a little next generation graphics action, you could do worse than give XFX that considerable chunk of change.

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The tiny button that you see on the back panel is for clearing the CMOS which can come in handy if your overclocked system fails to boot up after you’ve fitted all your components and have the casing closed. Instead of re-opening the casing, simply press that button for a couple of seconds and you’re up and running again.

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The EPIA MII features some new technology that is fairly innovative. One such feature is built right into the VIA C3 processor, the Via Padlock Advanced Cryptography Engine (ACE). Via Padlock is an encryption and decryption engine designed to be used with the US Government approved Advanced Encryption Standard.

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The MII10000 reviewed today is practically the same as the M10000 other than the included CompactFlash, Cardbus and Firewire capability. The Firewire should remain an EPIA staple whereas the Cardbus and the CompactFlash wouldn't be missed by most of its targeted audience. Other than that, if you are in the market for a cheap

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nVidia sent us their FX6800 reference card clocked at 325/700 which they say will be priced around $350. Along with other cards, we’ll compare this card against its main competitor- the Radeon x800 PRO which is ATI’s lowest end card in their new line-up as well. Coming back to the price, it would be interesting to see how this card compares to the high-end older generation of nVidia and ATI cards as well as they are somewhat similarly priced.

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Chaintech's Apogee 5700UA is without a doubt an excellent mid-range graphics card featuring excellent cooling, great overclocking utility, the latest technology with DDR3 SDRAM, and a nice software bundle. In the race for the high-end cards, ATI seems to have the lead with the X800 Pro and X800 XT Platinum Edition but not everyone has $400-500 laying around to burn through and that much power is simply overkill for the vast majority of users out there. In the mid-range market with the 5700 Ultra against ATI's Radeon 9600XT, Nvidia seems to be the one to come out on top in the vast majority of cases. In addition to that we were able to find Chaintech's Apogee 5700UA for $188 at the very respected dealer Newegg with free shipping, which considering all of the features of the Chaintech card is an excellent deal. To sum it up, if you're looking for a mid-range graphics card and want something that can handle most of today's games and more target towards a gamer this is a great card to go with.

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Hightech Information System Ltd better known as HIS has released some great graphics cards in the past. In and effort to keep up with the competitors inroads in lucrative low-end market a new video card was brought to the market bearing the moniker "9550". In this case it happens to be the HIS 9550 VIVO model. So come on along as we check it out and see just how well it performs as we benchmark it.

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There are many reasons why system integrators love motherboards built with nVIDIA's nForce2 chipset as much as they do; it's an extremely powerful and totally loaded core logic, and it boasts many features too. Until recently though, there wasn't a Pentium 4 chipset that offered a similar level of versatility, that is until ATi released their Radeon 9100 IGP Northbridge. Like the nVidia nForce2, the ATI Radeon 9100 IGP is no slouch when it comes to integrated chipset performance, and easily puts Intel's integrated solution, the i865G to shame on the graphics front. Definitely not too shabby for ATi's first stab at a core logic chipset! The Radeon 9100 IGP is especially good for those of us who are looking to build a lean machine. The integrated DX8 Radeon 9100 IGP is not the fastest thing we've ever used, but it does deliver playable frame rates at 640x480 in most games. That's a feat that no other integrated videocard can do.

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Intel has brought a ton of new technology to the table and so far it starts where the previous technology left off. How far will this new technology will go and the performance benefits from it have yet to be fully understood...

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Corsair Micro, a name that illustrates a picture of RAM sticks, heat spreaders and the letters: X, M, and S. Recently Corsair has brought a new series of RAM modules to the table. We like to call these their XL series. XL stands for X-treme Low latencies. When you place that over a strongly built foundation of XMS, you get something like this. TwinX1024-3200XLPRO . TwinX meaning the two modules you receive in a package were already individually tested to work with the other, the 1024 standing for 2x 512MB modules, and the 3200XLPRO standing for PC3200 with X-treme Low latencies and activity LEDs. Today we have a review of the TwinX1024-3200XLPRO.

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The reason you should want this ram - clearly is adaptability and versatility! Whether you are running a stock system using DDR400, the Corsair XMS 3200 XL modules will provide you with the best possible performance, or if you are running an overclocked P4 the XMS3200 XL will accommodate speeds up to DDR500 (and beyond we are sure) at tighter timings than other modules on the market today

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For memory manufacturers to innovate, and grab our hot little wads of cash, they have to embrace the enthusiast community. For without overclocking, all DDR would be essentially alike. Toss overclocking into the mix and things like CAS latencies, and DDR speeds start to take on a very important role. As with many devices used in computers, there is a tendency to crank up the numbers to make the product seem better.... DDR vs. DDR-2, 4X AGP vs. 8X AGP, 533MHZ FSB vs. 800MHZ FSB... and well, you get the idea right? Thankfully, memory manufacturers have come to their senses, and are focusing more on lower CAS latencies, than simply higher DDR speeds. In the following pages, PCstats will be testing out a pair of Mushkin's Enhanced Special PC3200 2-2-2 DIMM's. Each stick is 512MB in size, and when run in dual channel mode that equals a nice whopping 1024MB of system memory. As this Mushkin memory is capable of running with a CAS latency of 2-2-2-5 at! 200 MHz (at 2.5V), it means that it will work super-well on both AthlonXP/Athlon64 and Intel Pentium 4 based systems.

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In our opinion, this is a required purchase if you're sitting on the 200MHz bus. Spending your money on faster ram is pointless if your setup can't handle the high clock speeds. Buying faster ram, while tweaking the timings is also pointless as well, as they still can't match what we've seen of the TWINX-3200XL Pro today.

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The card itself is a monster- pretty much your standard FX6800 Ultra reference design with two power connectors on the back and two DVI connectors along with an S-Video connector on the front. You’ll definitely lose the PCI slot next to your AGP slot due to the mammoth cooling solution. The card is very noisy until Windows is loaded and the fan enters a lower speed mode which is still not very quiet.

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The "5700P Turbo" is a 128MB version of the 5700 non-Ultra by Albatron. It has a nice swanky heatsink, but is missing things we would normally see in a decent midrange bundle. No, this is a pure budget card.

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If you have an older video card and you don’t want to spend $300+ on a new one, then you’ll find the 5900XT to be a very appealing solution, as it comes with good performance at a great price. Chaintech’s edition of this budget power card is priced very competitively around ~$170 if you shop around a bit.

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Are you the type of person that try’s to get the very last bit of toothpaste out of the tube? The guy that tries to squeeze that last MHz out of that system you have worked so hard to build? Well if you are - then you're just the guy or gal we're looking for. Have you heard about the new Corsair XMS 3200XL Pro memory that has just released that will run at 2-2-2-5 timing at 200 MHz? Do think perhaps this might make that boat anchor come alive a bit more. Then check out our review and find out what we did as we tested some in both an Intel and AMD based systems.

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The AK89 Max is based on the Nforce3 150 chipset, as many are aware this chipset is being retired to make way for the new NVIDIA Nforce3 250 chipset. AOpen has made some significant improvements to this board since its initial inception and we were intrigued to review this product before the Nforce3 250 boards arrived.

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With the exception of the lack of RAID, 10/100 networking, and a passive North Bridge cooler, it's tough to ignore the performance and stability of the PX875P Pro. If you're in the market for a Pentium 4 motherboard, and don't need all the frills some high-end boards may provide, this board is certainly worthy of being on your short-list given its cost.

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In November of last year VIA announced the release of the EPIA MII motherboard. Touted as the Digital Home Platform for totally connected home entertainment is sports cardbus and compactflash ports in addition to the already wide array of features available to the EPIA.

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Tonite we will have a closer look at a AMD64 board that Gigabyte sent us. We decided to run it vs a XP system to really see the speed difference. We will bench this with the latest programs to be able to figure out if this motherboard is anything worth having. You should definately stay tuned if you are interested in or thinking of getting a AMD64 system.

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The bottom line is that there's absolutely nothing better for default performance. RAM equipped with Winbond's BH-5 chips is currently hot property amongst enthusiasts. Corsair's TwinX-3200XLPRO now easily displaces it as our A-listed module(s) for users who want blisteringly fast performance out of the box.

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Most of the computer hardware community has been focusing on Pentium 4 and Athlon64 CPUs, but we shouldn't count out the trusty ole AMD K7 just yet. In fact there are probably still more users with AMD Athlon or AthlonXP based systems than there are Athlon64's! And as there are no killer applications or 64-bit operating systems (or games) on the market, why should an average user upgrade, other than perhaps for bragging rights?

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Chenming made quite a splash when it introduced the AL-301 case. It was small and light-weight enough that it could easily be used for a Lan-Party case and yet it was well built and had enough features to make most of us happy. Well this time we are looking at the ATX 602-SL an "Entry Level Server Case", which has been redesigned by Chenming USA to not only be far easier case to use but structurally more solid. So take a moment a lets check it out..

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Performance is where ASUS has put a lot of effort into the drive, and it shows up in the results. The ASUS drive took the lead in most categories, from CD reading to DVD writing. In the CD arena it is moderately faster than most of the other drives with its biggest improvement being in the CD Writing and ReWriting performance.

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So, after all of the testing and overclocking and game playing I've done with Albatron's FX5700P Turbo, what do I think of it? Well, I think it's a damn fine card! It'll overclock past 5700 Ultra core speeds with relative ease and it comes with some pretty decent memory. The RAM sinks are a nice touch, as is the fairly substantial GPU heatsink. Add to that the fact that it does not need an external power connection and you've got yourself a winner!

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It's a tidy, polished implementation of a well trodden concept, with the odd rough edge here and there. But nobody else does a Pentium 4 SFF box quite like Shuttle, with the SB61G2 v3.0 one of the best. A price of just under £200 inc VAT in the UK should see good sales.

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With AGP/PCI locks and with the ability to adjust clock multipliers, we should soon see motherboard clock speeds well past the 300 MHz mark, assuming the rest of the hardware can reach those heights of course."

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In the world of computers and technology, more specifically pc memory, it is hard to speak about quality performing memory without mentioning our newest sponsor. Corsair Memory has been testing and producing the worlds fastest, highest quality ram for years, and today's review sample proves to continue their great legacy. With many thanks to Anna at Corsair Memory I can proudly present to you today's review, the PC4000 Twin X Pro 2x512 (1GB) Dual Channel Kit.

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Chaintech's FX5500 is a great little video card with lots of spunk. The 256MB DDR will help boost your system so that you can play newer games (look how well it did with Jedi Knight II). It's a solid card which performed quite well in our benchmarks. Considering the extra RAM and the fact that it's a 128-bit card, I had expected it to outperform the 128MB 64-bit 9600SE in each test… granted Radeons have consistently performed better than NVIDIA chips in certain benchmarks.

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Today we review an external passive water cooling kit, the Xice-e900, a good choice for those of you who want to eliminate the noise that any modern PC generates doing away with all those noisy fans. Does it work well enough? Check the review to know...

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Innovatek has definitely stepped their kit up a notch or two, since I last reviewed one. The XXS kit is put together for ease of installation by a novice, while keeping the enthusiasts in mind with the flexibility and the quality components. The quality Water Blocks, Pump, Radiator and Tubing truly allow for great performance and variation of design.

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Now before you discredit this card as a slow piece of hardware, let me clarify one thing. This card is neither meant or intended to be a screamer in any way shape or form. What this card is offering is a very cost effective solution to a person needing the great 2D quality ATI is know for, allow the user to have fully functional VIVO capabilities and do some very minor gaming from time to time. For me to judge this videocard on gaming performance alone would be a very ignorant and completely unfair. Not every card is made to perform in the enthusiast market.

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Sapphire's Radeon X800 Pro has proved its self as an excellent video card for the gaming enthusiast, with a great bundle, outstanding performance, in a smaller, more power efficient, and cooler package. Never the less it comes up whether or not this is the right card for you. If you're currently using a card such as Radeon's 9800 Pro, you probably don't need to upgrade once more to the X800. While there is a definite improvement, it'd probably be wise to wait for the next generation of video cards. However, for those using more dated technology who want to keep up with such graphically intense games as Far Cry or those building a new system, Sapphire provides a wonderful solution with the Radeon X800 Pro featuring a game bundle that simply can not be beat.

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Asus has done a great job as usual packing the board with features. Switching to a PCI 802.11g card is a great improvement over the proprietary connector they had previously. The board is feature rich with enhanced audio connectors, Firewire and USB ports a plenty, and SATA RAID and GiGE to boot. They also include plenty of documentation, and all the connectors you will need. The bios is also one of the best with a plethora of settings, and lots of overclocking options. Performance right now also looks good, and stability was great with the 3800+ and the FX53.

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During the Socket 940 FX's reign of terror, many computer enthusiasts saw how much kick ass power the FX 51 had as well as the FX 53. Most people shuttered hearing the early FX chips had to use Registered/ECC RAM because that type of RAM is slower than the regular unbuffered RAM. Today we will be examining the Socket 939 FX 53.

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They thought it couldn't be done, they laughed at the idea, but Corsair did it! Again we're seeing Corsair Memory push limits above and beyond the competition. Corsair has released its fastest memory to date along with the fastest memory on the planet. Striking a deal with Samsung, Corsair was able to obtain memory modules capable of hitting extreme low latency.

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We have another FX5950 Ultra card for you guys today. Chaintech sent us a sample of their fastest card. We will compare this sample to one we got from MSI awhile back and also vs a normal 5900XT card to see the difference in performance. We will test the card in heavy gaming and also overclocking tests.

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The most unique feature of the IC7 MAX3 is the inclusion of the OTES cooling system. This system comprises an air duct with an exhaust fan that pulls hot air away from the capacitors and MOSFETS.

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The GeForceFX 5700 Ultra is already a pretty decent mainstream videocard, but that hasn't stopped nVIDIA from trying to sweeten the deal by including GDDR3 to the mix. GDDR3 (Graphics Double Data Rate3) is a new type of DDR memory, one which has been specifically developed for use with graphics card. As PCstats tests out the Albatron GeForceFX 5700 Ultra GDD3 videocard, we'll take a closer look at GDDR3, and what it means to gamers and overclockers.