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X2
- The Threat Rolling Demo |
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DirectX 8 space simulator |
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X2 - The Threat is a space
simulator published by Enlight Software. The game
first materialized in the form of a demo that played several
scenes from the game, which, at the time was still upcoming.
It has since gone gold, making it a viable piece of software
for anyone looking to explore the space simulator genre.
Perhaps the fact
that we enabled all of the game's graphical options
influenced the demo's result. However, there isn't
much difference between the three tested platforms, though
ASUS' SK8N actually takes a first place finish here.
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Quake III: Arena |
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Classic OpenGL |
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Wrapping things
up, the classic Quake III benchmark demo 'four' shows the
SK8V claiming another victory, if only by a hair, over the
SK8N.
If the K8T800
chipset didn't show any performance advantage over NVIDIA's
nForce3, we'd certainly question ASUS' decision to
manufacture a second Socket 940 motherboard, especially in
light of the interface's waning life span. Given a
combination of higher performance and an attractive feature
set, though, the SK8V is simply a better gaming platform
than the SK8N, and as such, compete much more readily with
boards from MSI and Gigabyte.
These benefits
aren't free, of course, as the ASUS SK8V is available online
for roughly $10 more than the SK8N. Then again, when
you're talking about a $200 motherboard coupled with a $700
processor and $200 worth of memory, $10 is a negligible sum.
The name of the game when it comes to ultra high-end is
performance, after all.
Compared to its
competition today, the SK8V is, without question, the
Socket 940 motherboard to own. And while AMD has
notoriety for missing projected launches, we can't help but
to look into the future and see an impending transition to a
Socket 939 interface. In the past, AMD has claimed
that it will continue supporting the existing Socket 940
infrastructure. However, it has also said that at any
given time, there will only be one speed grade of Athlon 64
FX processor on the market, indicating that once the first
Socket 939 Athlon 64 FX hits store shelves, we won't be
seeing any new Socket 940 flagships.
Because it's
impossible to tell for sure when that move will happen,
ASUS' SK8V reigns as the most impressive Socket 940 board
we've seen. Despite our qualms with ASUS'
implementation of quality onboard audio, we couldn't ask for
much more than what the SK8V delivers. The board is
well deserving of our Editor's Choice recognition.
HotHardware's PC Hardware Forum is brimming with the good
stuff
Are you in?
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