Wed Hardware Reviews

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The DOMINATOR TWIN2X2048-8888C4DF memory kit that we have reviewed today is by far the fastest production memory available from any company. Corsair has raised the bar when it comes to performance memory. Not only did they increase the frequency of their flagship part they also lowered the timings and temperatures at which the modules operate. To make things better they have room to overclock. Being able to hit 1.2GHz at default voltages with C4 timings is very impressive. If you want to have the ultimate memory kit for your dream machine the answer is simple - Corsair PC2-8888 modules are what you need...

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Back in July we took a look at the PC-3200 version of OCZ's Special Ops ram and we were very impressed. The ram performed great, not to mention the awesome paint job on the heat spreaders. Today we are taking a look at some DDR2 from OCZ, called the "Special Ops Urban Elite". This time OCZ has outfitted the heat spreaders with Urban camo instead of the regular camo we saw on the previous version. The RAM is PC6400 running at 800Mhz so we will see how far we can push these modules.

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Using the 2:3 ratio (DDR633) the best I could muster was 3-4-3-10 @ 235MHz. This is uncharted territory for me; I was barely able to run the Corsair at 210MHz with the stock timings, let alone these aggressive numbers!

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We discovered last week that not every Intel motherboard is expensive; Gigabyte came out with 2 new boards supporting Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Extreme processors for $90 and $120 respectively. Foxconn always has an entry-level solution, so it's no surprize that their P965 board is targeted to the mainstream market. However it does tout some overclocking features and as always, should be a rock solid performer. How does it compare to the popular Gigabyte solutions though?

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In regards to the board itself, I am pleased with the layout. At first I didn't think I'd enjoy the vertical ram slots or even the way the socket bracket is, but I've come to prefer them over previous methods. However, one thing I found about the ram slots is that for whatever reason, it makes it harder to install modules. More times than not, installing ram can be a mindless process... I've done it many times. However here I actually felt that I needed to be careful so as to not accidental snap the modules pins. You need to grip the module well and carefully push it down and secure it. A few times I thought I had the modules turned around the wrong way, but I didn't. This is not a big deal, but was the first time I encountered this problem with a board.

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The KA3MVP Extreme is a good example on how motherboard makers solve the lack of features in the ATI chipset. Both on the SATA-front and on the LAN-front ECS has added some third-party solutions. Even so the motherboard only got a single Gigabit controller, something that probably won't bother that many people. I did actually have some issues installing the drivers for the Agere controller though so for this article I choose to use the Realtek controller.

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There are people on this planet that will spend over $1000 dollar on a graphics subsystem. But there are far more people around that just want to spend about $200-250 on an excellent, allround graphics card. If you fit in the last category, The XFX 7900GS might very well be the card you're looking for...

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For CrossFire, there's a little more appeal to not having a dongle. It's not the dongle itself that's the problem, it's the expense of a CrossFire Edition master card. Take the X1900 GT, which at the time of writing weighs in at around £120-150, depending on bundle, cooling and what not. A CrossFire edition card to go with that could be £220 or more. So we must ask if the sacrifice made with dongle-less CrossFire is worth the ~£100 saving? It all depends on whether you want the most from your multi-GPU solution, or if all you really need is a boost that's good value for money. If you're after the latter, we reckon a pair of X1900 GTs might be the wiser option.