HD 4870 #1

The overclocking may not have been great, but the Visiontek HD 4870 still managed to impress Overclockers Club.

For the Visiontek HD 4870 I was only able to get a limited overclock on the GPU of 30MHz before it became unstable. This seems to be a pattern with the HD 4870 cards as I achieved the same GPU overclock on the PowerColor HD 4870 I reviewed earlier. On the memory I was able to push out 180MHz for a total speed of 1080MHz, or 4320MHz effective (1080MHz x 4). While this is not a high overclock, this was near the limit of what the Overdrive will allow the GPU to max out at. So the final overclock speeds which the benchmarks will be run at are 780MHz on the GPU and 1080MHz on the memory.

HD 4870 #2

InsideHW have the Force3D ATi HD4870 graphics card. I've never heard of Force3D before, but if it's an HD 4870, it's probably good.

Radeon HD4800 series of graphics cards is real refreshment in these days. Every new generation of GPU brought a big shift in performances and ATi this time showed us that top model graphics chip (RV770) doesn't have to be expensive. Based on experience from previous HD3850 and HD3870 models, we expected that new model HD4870 will dominate in middle-high class, with lower price and higher performances than other competitors. But, we were wrong. Tests showed something quite unexpected. Still, before benchmark results let's see what new GPU offers.

Software and Peripherals

Writing About Family Gaming @ XSReviews .:. Kensington SlimBlade Media Mouse Review @ CoolTechZone .:. Kensington Ci75 Wireless Notebook Mouse Review @ CoolTechZone .:. 3DConnexion SpaceExplorer 3D Controller review @ Metku

P45

The Gigabyte EP45-DQ6 Motherboard is doing well on the review circuit.

From the very beginning many of us could have figured the P45 chipset was going to be the chipset of chance as it is price considerably cheaper than the older X38 and the X48. And from the early reviews the P45 overclockers pretty well. We have seen able forum post and web reviews with front side buses reaching the 600MHz range on Core2Duo processors. But for the non-overclockers out there another advantage over the older P35 is the two 8x PCIe slots when attempting to using ATI video cards in Crossfire mode. Today, we will take the EP45-DQ6 through a ring of benchmarks and see what type of FSB numbers we can achieve.

9600GSO

I hope this is the last of the confusingly named NVIDIA hardware, the Palit GeForce 9600GSO Sonic 768MB, reviewed at PC Freaks & Geeks.

As we all know Graphics are an integral part of a gaming system, and to get the ultimate gaming experience you must own a GPU to match the recent influx of graphic demanding games. Today PC Freaks & Geeks are going to be taking a look at a Graphics card from a company called Palit. Established since 1998, Palit have made their mark as one of the top PC component manufacturers. The product we are going to be getting up close and personal is from their 9600 range of cards, introducing the Palit 9600GSO Sonic 768mb. Will it be a winner and worth the small price outlay? Or should you save up your hard earned dough and wait for something better? As ever our review should provide a useful guide to making this decision.

630i

Big Bruin got a good first impression of the ECS GF8200A Black Series GeForce 8200 Motherboard, but did it last through the entire review?

The BIOS might not offer the most exhaustive set of tweaking options, but you do get more than you might expect. Couple the overclocking potential with onboard reset and power buttons, as well as other desirable features for desktop and HTPC usage, and the GF8200A definitely has an appeal that can cover a wide array of users.

Memory and Storage

Mushkin Ascent 2x2GB PC3-12800 DDR3 Kit Review @ Hardware Canucks .:. OCZ SSD 32GB Solid State Hard Disk @ Overclock3D .:. Patriot PVS22G9200ELK 2GB DDR2 PC2-9200 memory kit review @ Elite Bastards .:. Corsair XMS3 DHX 1600MHz 4GB Memory Kit @ Tweaktown

P45 #2

Another ECS board, the ECS P45T-A Black Motherboard is at VH. You got to like the price.

In short, this inexpensive motherboard is fast, stable, and features a ton of opportunities for expansion. While the lack of firewire is indeed a disappointment, I believe that this can be taken as a non-issue for gamers. Considering the features present, the speeds attained, and the stability of the system overall during the testing procedures, I feel that this motherboard is a good buy if a user is looking to assemble a low cost, reliable gaming machine. It's just a shame that this product doesn't have what it takes to break free of just what it was meant to do, but given the fact that it costs just shy of $110 - or rather, is shockingly cheap, I would say this is a good candidate for the great value award!

ByteSized

Sans Digital MobileSTOR RAID Enclosure (MS2UTN+) @ TechwareLabs .:. nVidia Hybrid SLI Technology Article @ OCIA .:. Xigmatek HDT-SD964 CPU Cooler @ Tech-Reviews .:. Silverstone Decathlon DA850 @ Pro-Clockers