MSI K8N Neo2, Power Color 9800 Platinum and More

Good evening friends, welcome back :)  Along with Jeff, I was also having issues with my internet today.  Though I am on a totally different ISP then my counterpart, I was unable to access anything HH related today (e-mail, web-page or forum).  Yet, when I called in to complain, I was magically able to access everything after they "ran some tests."  Nevertheless, I am now able to access my e-mail which means I have a pile of news and all that glorious spam that accumulated throughout the past 36 hrs ;)  So, go grab a comfy chair and toss in some music, here is your news for the evening....

 MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum @ Viper Lair

"The Socket-939 is a step in the right direction for AMD, and the MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum would make a fine choice if that is the path you're looking to take. Whether the FX or non-FX version of the Athlon 64 is your cup of tea, this motherboard can swing both ways."

 Power Color 9800 Platinum Edition @ Tweak Town

"After doing a little digging, we quickly discovered that the 9800 Platinum Edition is nothing more than a Radeon 9800 Pro GPU which is cut-down a little to help reduce the retail price for consumers. The 9800 Platinum Edition only uses a 128-bit memory bus compared to the 256-bit on the "true" 9800 Pro and the memory speed is a little slower on the Platinum Edition by around 40MHz (80MHz DDR) which gives the "true" 9800 Pro the ability to push about 2GB more bandwidth per second."

 GALAXY Glacier GeForce 6800 128MB @ HEXUS.net

"GALAXY has gone about the design of its GeForce 6800 line in stark contrast to most manufacturers and partners. Recruiting Arctic Cooling, purveyors of high-quality cooling, was the first step towards a non-reference design. The oversized VGA silencer carries the two-fold benefit of reducing core temperature and fan speed. GALAXY's obviously confident enough with Arctic Cooling's efforts to warrant a 15/25MHz (depending on whether you consider 325MHz or 335MHz the default 6800 speed) increase over reference models. GALAXY Technology also adds in some super-fast Hynix DDR1 RAM, rated to a nominal 900MHz, yet chooses to go with NVIDIA's 700MHz RAM speed recommendations."

 OCZ PowerStream 470W Power Supply Unit Review @ 3DX

"Without a doubt the OCZ PowerStream owned the competition. The Antec 550 True Control was tweaked to its maximum allowable adjustable settings and the OCZ PowerStream was tested at its default settings – we never adjusted the Fine Tune adjustments – we never had to! Even though the Antec was rated for 550 Watts, the OCZ PowerStream provided much better power levels even when under immense load."

 LG GSA-5120D External DVD Writer @ Hardware Zone

"Continuing on the good form of their internal 12x DVD writer, Hitachi-LG Data Storage Incorporated stepped up their product tempo by releasing the external version of this writer, the GSA-5120D. The writer comes in a charming color and packaging which makes it look as good as its specifications."

 Thermaltake Combo Cool DIY Series PIPE101 3 in 1 Heat Pipe Cooler @ The Crucible

"With all things considered the Thermaltake PIPE101 heat sink is an excellent choice. It is a real heavy weight when it comes to performance, though it also carries a heavyweight price tag. The performance with a low speed fan is a little disappointing, but for those that can handle the noise this puppy can really cool. I was quite impressed with the PIPE101 it is a real top performer, as is to be expected with a heat pipe heat sink."

That's all I have friends.  Catch us back here in the AM :) - Cheers