New PowerStrip, Crytek on PS3.0 & VIA's KT880
Good afternoon folks! Jeff is all packed up and is enroute to his new home in North Carolina, so he won't be around for the next few days to cover his normal news shift. Don't fret though! I will be here to make sure you get your daily dose of hardware goodness! So far today, the news is coming in at a decent clip - take a look at what we've got for up to this point...
PowerStrip Beta for Win64 @ EnTech Taiwan:
"A PowerStrip 3.50 beta has been released, with support for over 100 graphics controllers under 64-bit Editions of Windows. This release is backwardly compatible with all Win32 operating systems, and additionally features updated support for a variety of new drivers and chipsets such as the XGI Volari."
VIA's KT880 chipset @ TechReport:
"WAY BACK in November of last year, we declared VIA's KT600 chipset a viable alternative to NVIDIA's well-worn nForce2 chipset. Serial ATA RAID support and superior peripheral performance made the KT600 a more attractive platform than the nForce2 from a features standpoint. However, the KT600's single memory channel was no match for the dual-channel nForce2 in our application benchmarks, where the nForce2 easily won the majority of our tests.
Simply being a viable alternative to the nForce2 wasn't good enough for VIA, it seems. The company has rolled out a new KT880 chipset for Socket A processors, and this one features a dual-channel memory controller. Can the new KT880 snatch the Socket A performance crown from our reigning champion, the nForce2 Ultra 400? Read on to find out."
Designtechnica Reviews the ATI Radeon 9800 XT 256MB:
"The ATI Radeon 9800XT brings speed and stability to older favorites as well as the newest gaming titles. At a current price of $400 or more, the card might be too expensive for most users to consider, but as is often the case with computer hardware, today's king of the hill is in tomorrow's bargain bin. This may very well be what we see with the 9800XT in the next few weeks. The price for the 9800XT certainly will be reduced in the coming weeks with the release of a new generation of graphics cards, although how much we can't be sure."
CryTek Comments on Shader 3.0 @ PC Perspective:
"We managed to get an exclusive interview with CryTek's CEO to get the real story on what Shader 3.0 means to FarCry and our gaming experience."
ABIT KV8-MAX3 Reviewed @ VR-Zone Hardware:
"The first thing one will notice about the KV8-MAX3 is the OTES cooling technology on the board's I/O panel. OTES technology was first launched with ABIT's overclock GeForce 4 Ti 4200 video card and now has made it onto ABIT's flagship MAX line of motherboards. OTES cools the PWM power regulation mosfets and capacitors, components that can get extremely hot through prolonged use and overclocking."
PMI PC4200 Dual Channel Memory Kit @ ByteSector:
"Here in the Bytesector Labs we are testing the newly released PMI 512MB PC4200 Platinum dual channel memory kit (2x256MB DIMMs). The PC4200 modules are rated to function at 533MHz with memory timings of 3.0-4-4-8 while using a voltage of 2.7V. Attached to the memory modules is the platinum copper heat spreader that definitely gives this memory a sleek look while helping to protect and decapitate heat from the memory's ICs. Along with memory is a piece of paper outlining the installation procedure and a PMI's Lifetime Warranty that definitely shows PMI commitment to its consumers and faith in its quality of products."
Gigabyte GA-8TRS300M (ATI 9100IGP chipset) Review @ Hardwarezoom:
"Upon closer inspection, there is a system fan connector near the BIOS battery. The ATI IXP 200 is actually the south bridge, there is no heatsink on this chip so it gets pretty hot during operations. The two yellow connectors will gives you 4 USB 2.0 ports, however you will need to purchase the bracket separately. The chip with a silver colour label is the BIOS, and as you can see, this board does not feature Dual BIOS."
That's going to have to do it for now. We'll be back a little later with more of the good stuff though, so check back soon. Peace.
