Intel Core Duo motherboard fails to impress

[Alpine]

Hardware Roundup While XFX 7900GTX bags yet another good review

VIRTUAL Hideout tests the MSI RX1600Pro-TD256E Video card. It is crossfire ready and runs at 500MHz only. It has one analog and one DVI port plus a rather small HSF which does cool the modules memory though. That card won't break your bank and will be just enough for most games - except of course if you are after the highest resolutions and graphics-intense ones, in which case you should go and get yourself a real card. Unfortunately, there was no overclocking involved.


Ultimate hardware tests the AMD Sempron 2600+ processor - Palermo core. Featurewise, you get the AMD64 technology, HT and 256Kb cache. It actually runs at 1.6Ghz and is manufactured using a 90nm process. The CPU is compared with the Sempron 3100, Paris core. Surprisingly, the reviewer uses the 3DMark 2001 SE benchmark - which is nearly six years old. As one can expect, with 3DMark 03 and 05, the difference in performance is very small and depends more on the card rather than on the CPU itself.

Vr-zone checks the Asus N4L-VM DH mATX motherboard. It is one of the few motherboards that support the new Intel Core Duo processor. The mobo supports 65nm processors, Intel HDA - with Dolby's master studio, Intel Matrix RAID storage technology as well as quick resume drivers. It lacks DVI ports though and for the time being wins the day by being one of the very few motherboards out there to support Intel CD. Hopefully, Intel will encourage Core Duo's platforms to multiply and prosper.

Hardwarezone reviews the Asrock 939Dual SATA2 which is based on the M1695, not the latest M1697. Asrock is one of the most innovative motherboard manufacturers out there and it is no surprise that they get the most innovative product award. It comes with Realtek's 8-channel Audio Codec, a 10/100Mbps LAN solution, five SATA/PATA connectors and PCIe/AGP slots. Plus of course the Future CPU slot which will allow you to plug in AM2 based CPUs. A superb model indeed.

Think computer tests the GEIL Ultra-X nForce 4 Edition PC 3200 400MHz CL2 5-2-2 DDR memory modules. These come with a lifetime warranty and a platinum copper heat spreader. GEIL even include some thermal compound made of silver and copper. Guess they want you to do some overclocking. The modules had some issues with some motherboards - notably the DFI SLI-DR model, but overall, they overclock well and offer a great price/performance ratio. Gamepc tests the XFX Geforce 7900GTX Extreme Edition. That's not the XXX edition, which has a 700MHz/1.8GHz clock speed. The EE seems to be the better placed since it is cheaper and not that bad when it comes to overclocking and performance. Of course, they are overclocked from the onset and they use the same default Nvidia cooler solution. As you might guess, the card is extra big and comes with Dual DVI ports. GamePC overclocked the cards and put them in SLI. benches include the XTX and the XT from Radeaon as well as the 7800GTX.

The INQuirer