DailyTech - 6/29/2009 Daily Hardware Reviews

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Hardware 6/29/2009 Daily Hardware Reviews
Brandon Hill (Blog) - June 29, 2009 7:39 AM

8 comment(s) - last by Phattio.. on Jul 1 at 12:03 AM

ASUS Eee PC 1008HA Seashell Netbook @ Techgage.com

DailyTech's roundup of hardware reviews from around the web for Monday

Notebooks
ASUS Eee PC 1008HA Seashell Netbook @ Techgage.com
MSI GX723 Gaming Laptop @ Driverheaven
HP Pavilion dv2 Ultra Portable @ t-break

Motherboards
Gigabyte MA770T-UD3P Mainboard @ Xbit Labs
ZOTAC IONITX-A-U Atom N330 WiFi N Motherboard Kit @ BmR

Graphics
ASUS GeForce GTS 250 @ Ultimate Hardware
Galaxy GeForce GTX260+ @ Hardware Bistro

Displays
Samsung SyncMaster T240 @ PureOverclock

Storage
Synology DS-409+ Network Attached Storage Device @ ThinkComputers.org

Networking
TRENDnet TV-IP512WN Wireless N Internet Camera Server @ PCShopTalk

Peripherals
iStar xAGE-N99 Hard Drive Docking Station @ OCModShop
Logitech G19 Gaming Keyboard @ TweakTown
Epson WorkForce 600 MFP @ The TechZone

Cooling
NZXT Cryo S Notebook Cooler @ Virtual-Hideout
Evercool Transformer 4 CPU Cooler @ Overclockers Online

Consumer Electronics
Panasonic Viera TX-P42G15 42in Plasma TV@ Trusted Reviews

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graphics cards

By buzznut on 6/29/2009 1:59:12 PM , Rating: 2

Well, stale is right. 250GTS=9800gt=8800GT~same performance as an 8800gtx. nVidia has been selling us the same performance for at least 3 years.

Larabee looks like the most interesting thing on the horizon. Going from an 8800GT to an HD4850 provided almost no real world performance gain. The incremental tiny increases in performance we are getting for our dollars does not seem to warrant a purchase between one generation and the next. Granted, those are two midrange cards but that's where a lot of us gamers are at; we just can't justify a $400 video card purchase when we have families to feed.

Chasing the next big thing is just not worth it anymore. The most compelling purchase right now happens to be the HD4850 at $100.

RE: graphics cards

By QueBert on 6/29/2009 3:20:35 PM , Rating: 3

I'm confused, the 4850 is a lot faster than an 8800gt. No real world performance gain? A 4850 should give you a good 30% more FPS over an 8800GT. the 2900XT measures up well against an 8800. Slower in a lot of benchmarks, but not too much so, and on par in others. If a person went from an 8800 to a 4850 and saw no performance gain, something's wrong with their PC.

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RE: graphics cards

By dragonbif on 6/29/2009 5:47:49 PM , Rating: 2

Not true! I went from a 8800gt to a 4750 (then a 4780x2) and there was no performance gain in fps! But then I did trun on all the shadows and little AA increased the size of my LCD. So in the end I had about the same fps as before. =) I found that when people get a new GPU they make changes to their settings or let the game pick their settings and they think that there is no performance gain.

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RE: graphics cards

By 4wardtristan on 6/29/2009 8:36:10 PM , Rating: 2

i went from a 2900xt to a 4850 1gb and noticed anywhere from 30%-60% increase in performance across the board.

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RE: graphics cards

By Dark Legion on 6/30/2009 2:12:30 AM , Rating: 2

Or your graphics may not be your bottleneck. If another part is limiting your performance, there will be no difference if you switch graphics cards.

quote:
I found that when people get a new GPU they make changes to their settings or let the game pick their settings and they think that there is no performance gain.

Those people are the same people that wouldn't measure their framerate; their performance could go from 60fps to 120fps, but they wouldn't know the difference because both are already smooth framerates, and they don't check the actual numbers.

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RE: graphics cards

By therealnickdanger on 6/30/2009 7:48:59 AM , Rating: 2

Also, as AnandTech's awesome article on triple-buffering pointed out, if you have double- or triple-buffering enabled, your framerate will be synched to your refresh rate. 60Hz LCD will be locked to 60fps before and after your graphics upgrade. If you don't know about this and use FRAPS (for example) to measure your fps, you won't see an increase at all.

Legion is correct about the graphics card not being the only bottleneck. If your CPU or bus can't feed the GPU fast enough, then the GPU won't give you any more power. Speaking of power, if your power supply is too weak, then the GPU will also operate in "limp mode" and won't operate to its full potential either.

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Excitement

By christojojo on 6/29/2009 11:46:33 AM , Rating: 2

Anyone else hoping for something interesting to make graphics cards exciting again? IMO, I still think they are cool but they don't seem as cutting edge as they used to. I feel guilty of saying that even with the upping of transistors, smaller dies sizes, etc.. It seems like the urge to get the latest and greatest is wearing off for me. I don't have that "game" that really needs it and since I am not a graphical artist nor hobbyist I just feel the market is getting stale.