DailyTech - 7/2/2008 Daily Hardware Reviews

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Hardware 7/2/2008 Daily Hardware Reviews
Brandon Hill (Blog) - July 2, 2008 10:35 AM

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8 comment(s) - last by Omega215D.. on Jul 2 at 3:16 PM

Corsair HX1000W Modular Power Supply @ PC Perspective

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

Notebooks
Toshiba Satellite U300 @ InsideHW
Dell Vostro 1500 Laptop @ SpicyGadget.com

Processors
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Linux Performance @ Phoronix
AMD Phenom X4 9950 and 9350e Quad-Core Processor @ Legit Reviews

Motherboards
ASRock K10N780SLIX3-WiFi nForce 780a SLI Motherboard @ ThinkComputers.org
ECS P45T-A Black Edition @ t-break

Video
ATI Radeon HD 4850 vs. Nvidia GeForce 9800 GTX+ @ Legion Hardware
MSI R4850-T2D512 (Radeon HD4850) @ CPU3D
Sapphire Radeon HD4850 512MB Graphics Card @ Hardware Canucks

Cases
Thermaltake XaserVI Mx Case @ Rbmods

Cooling
Sunbeamtech Core Contact @ Pro-Clockers
ThermalTake ProWater 850i Liquid Cooling System @ Virtual-Hideout

Power Supplies
Corsair HX1000W Modular Power Supply @ PC Perspective

Storage
Corsair Voyager GT 16Gb and Voyager 4Gb USB Stick @ Madshrimps

Peripherals
Apple Wireless Keyboard @ TheTechLounge
Lubix UBHS-NC1 Stereo Bluetooth Headset @ ASE Labs
Motorola H680 Bluetooth Headset @ Legit Reviews

Consumer Electronics
Fujifilm FinePix J50 @ Trusted Reviews
Olympus E-420 @ Trusted Reviews
LG 42PG6000 42in Plasma TV @ Trusted Reviews

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AMD 9950

By JasonMick

(blog) on 7/2/2008 10:53:01 AM , Rating: 4

Well, in the article on the 9950 after reading a couple early promising benchmarks on the chip, in which it overclocked relatively well to 3.1GHz with stock cooling, I was ready to say it was a decent option, albeit with slightly higher price and higher power consumption than its competitor, the Q6600.

But after reading about the CoolnQuiet performance debacle associated with the chip and the overclocking troubles they encountered at Anandtech during the review, my opinion is definitely changed.

AMD needs to address these issues and fast if it hopes for these chips to be competitive.

Further I found it disappointing that the 9350e was beat by a voltage-lowered 9550 @ stock clock speed and $20 cheaper. That's sort of invalidates the need for the 9350e entirely imo.

Should be interesting to see how AMD reacts.

RE: AMD 9950

By ajfink on 7/2/2008 11:03:36 AM , Rating: 2

It raises questions about higher-priced low-power chips in general. If you can buy a higher-clocked but less expensive processor and simply underclock it and drop the voltages and attain almost the exact same energy profile, why would consumers buy these low-power processors for their HTPCs and such when that alternative exists?

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RE: AMD 9950

By sirokket16 on 7/2/2008 11:12:14 AM , Rating: 2

Some people are deathly afraid of adjusting their voltages. A lot of people I know would buy a chip like this would pay a bit more to not have to do any BIOS tweaking.

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RE: AMD 9950

By therealnickdanger on 7/2/2008 11:13:08 AM , Rating: 2

quote:
Should be interesting to see how AMD reacts.

Didn't you catch the reviews of the HD4850 and HD4870? Seems like they are reacting to at least some things extremely well. ;-)

Yeah, I just don't know about AMD anymore. They had their moment in the spotlight, but Intel seems to have had a business-culture revival. It's remarkable how well they are proceeding with CPU advancements, Nehalem looks to be a KILLER, and they are getting even cockier about Larrabee (sp?). AMD better do whatever they are planning to do fast!

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RE: AMD 9950

By Clauzii on 7/2/2008 12:24:06 PM , Rating: 2

AMD is probably more busy putting together Fusion (CPU+GPU on same DIE). But yes, I'm also dissapointed by the Phenoms. I'd expected more :(

I can only hope that some of the calculating engines of a ATI GPU gets molded in to the nextgen Phenoms for a clear boost in calculations. That would at least solve some of the speed issues compared to Intels right now.

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RE: AMD 9950

By FaceMaster on 7/2/2008 12:16:23 PM , Rating: 2

I agree. AMD is coming back really strongly and these new chips are going to blow Intel away!

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The Game...

By Performance Fanboi on 7/2/2008 11:58:19 AM , Rating: 2

With AMD's new offerings on the GPU finally able to provide some real competition and decent price/performance it looks as though they are mainly attempting to stay in the CPU game with minor product refreshes/speedbumps and aggressive pricing until the cash flow from GPU sales makes them a little more solvent. Once the ATI buyout is paid off I expect to see AMD more able to develop CPU's that will compete Intel better as well as help push their chipset business. In the meantime gotta love the never ending pricewar.