W.I.L. Hardware Tech-News Highlights for October 2005

Systems

ExtremeTech’s “Best Bang for the Buck” PC comes in at $1657 (includes 19” LCD monitor) – link.

The ExtremeTech Fall 2005 “Killer Gaming Rig” – link.

The $500 gaming machine from Tom’s Hardware Guide – link.

Systems from Hush and HFX prove that powerful PCs can also run quietly, with either an AMD or Pentium M inside – link.

Shuttle’s Pentium-M-based SD11G5 SFF PC is a landmark product for its performance and lack of noise, but is a bit pricey – review 1, review 2.

Aopen to launch Mac Mini lookalike PC – link.

Low power, “ultra-compact” fanless Via Eden-based x86 boxes run Linux – link.

CPUs, motherboards, chipsets

Illustrated, step-by-step, CPU overclocking guide from X-bit labs – link.

AnandTech’s October CPU price guide – link.

Looking for the CPU Price/Performance sweet spot produces no definitive winner – link.

– AMD

Second generation of integrated graphics from nVidia for the AMD64 platform, the GeForce 6150 and GeForce 6100, are intended for home multimedia PCs built according to the digital home concept … not gamers – link.

AMD’s Socket 939-based Sempron 3000+ is a major success – review.

ULi’s M1575 South Bridge for ATI Crossfire brings SATA2 and Fast USB to the ATI Chipsets – review.

ECS’s KN1 SLI Extreme specs include eSATA and SATA2 support, two Firewire and twin SPDIF connectors. It comes with excellent performance and a good array of features like BIOS corruption backup and extra board cooling – review.

Gigabyte’s GA-K8N51GMF-9 adds to the growing list of Geforce 6100/nForce4xx-based motherboards. It uses the higher end nForce 430, but still packed in a mATX form factor. Includes 4 SATA2 and 4ATA connectors, Realtek audio solution, GbE, two Firewire but no DVI ports – review.

AMD’s Phil Hester speaks: next generation architecture, sort of – link.

AMD’s Socket M2 processor roadmap leads to FX-62 and Athlon 64 X2 5200+ – link.

Via introduces low-cost chipset for AMD64 platforms, featuring S3 Graphics’ graphics core with DirectX 9.0 functionality as well as advanced I/O controller – link.

– Other

Pentium M dual core in January 2006 | Summary of the Intel mobile roadmap – link.

Startup puts a twist on PowerPC – link.

Graphics

Contemporary graphics card naming guide helps sort out the names that hardware vendors have introduced of late – link.

Radeon X1000: ATI’s Brand-new graphics architecture explored – link.

ASUS’s passively cooled GeForce 6600 GT-based graphics card is quiet but runs hot – review.

Memory, storage

Samsung demos 512Mb DRAMs made using 70nm process – link.

Adton touts (very expensive) Flash-based Serial ATA HDD – link.

Maxtor Ships HDDs with Serial ATA-300 support – link.

Hitachi 7K100 and Seagate 7200.1 100GB 7200rpm laptop HDDs compared – link.

Promise’s FastTrak TX4300 SATA RAID controller might suit your needs if your are building a fast and reliable storage subsystem – review.

HD DVD vs. Blu Ray FAQ – link.

2 DVD±RW dual layer burners, the Pioneer DVR-110D and Toshiba SD-R5472, reviewed – link.

Cases, power supplies, cooling

SilverStone’s SG01B MicroATX case is an excellent case that is thoughtfully designed and looks good, but it could be a little cheaper – review.

Antec’s P150 mid-tower case with a Neo HE 430 PSU provides an aesthetic foundation for a quiet PC – review.

Scythe’s Katana heatsink is a good value choice for a silent midrange system. It is very lightweight, but installation is awkward – review.

Super Coolers from Scythe, Thermaltake and Zalman face off – reviews.

Antec’s Phantom 500W Hybrid PSU has a variable speed fan which kicks in only when the temperature rises to a user determined limit. Expensive ($199) but of high quality and efficiency and comes with a three year warranty – review.

Arctic Cooling’s NV Silencer 5 Rev 3 graphics card cooler is an absolutely silent and gore-geously performing piece of hardware, but will not work on all SLI motherboards – review.

4 liquid-cooling systems for the masses – link.

Miscellaneous components and periferals

A brief introduction to sampling audio – link.

Linux-based Sharp Zaurus SL-C3100 PDA reviewed – link.

Multi-talented MP3 player which also serves as a FM radio, digital voice recorder, or plain old memory stick, from X-Micro, the Video MP3 400, arrives. Runs on just one AA battery – review.