Monday Reviews

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Memory manufacturer Crucial have been making ATi based graphics cards for some time now, and their 9800 Pro card we looked at last year was the winner of two awards. Competition has become stiffer since then though, and suddenly it feels like everyone is selling Radeons. Last time we looked at a Crucial card, it came in a brown OEM cardboard box and a minimal package. This has all changed!

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With high end PCI Express videocards in short supply, those of you looking for the best performance may want to cast an eye towards nVIDIA's GeForcePCX 5900 series. The videocard in question is the Albatron Trinity PC5900, which is obviously based on the GeForcePCX 5900 GPU. The Trinity PC5900 videocard is powered with 128MB of DDR RAM, and supports both analog and DVI monitors.

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The first things that caught my attention on the board were the sexy, black PCB and the OTES cooling shroud. The board is layed out well and I am a big fan of the method they chose when mounting the IDE sockets. They have them setup so the cables attach in manner that is parallel with the motherboard instead of the traditional perpendicular setup.

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With the ability to output to two monitors, as well as TVs via S-Video, this wouldn't be a bad choice for media professionals who normally rely on these features. Otherwise, those of you serious about gaming, you're better off looking towards a VPU/GPU more suited for the task of playing over 1024x768.

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The two 512MB sticks of Crucial Ballistix DDR-400 offer some serious performance, and do it in the face of some worthy competition from Corsair. The low latencies no doubt contribute to the dominance experienced during testing, and overall provided some impressive scores... Crucial has developed a solid reputation for quality memory products, and it is about time they extended their reach into the field of performance DDR. They obviously did their homework, as their first offering is right up to speed with the proven competition!

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Abit is one of the handful of board makers to so far offer a Socket 939 motherboard based on the VIA K8T800 Pro chipset. The AV8 is a feature rich board aimed squarely at enthusiasts. Will it stand up to previous Abit boards? We will find out, but first here is a look at the specifications of the AV8.

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For those wanting the latest DDR2 technology out of their systems, then Corsair's Twin2X1024-5400C4 PRO is the DDR2 to get. Its stability is nothing short of spectacular. It worked like a dream throughout the entire duration of our testing. If you want to be sure that your DDR2 memory won't be the limiting factor in your overclocking, then we strongly suggest you order yourself a few sticks of Corsair's DDR2 Twin2X XMS2 Pro Series. Not only will you have one of the fastest DDR2 out there but also the coolest. A must have for the real enthusiast.

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A couple of weeks ago I reviewed the HIS Excalibur AIW 9600XT TURBO, a All In Wonder card based on the Radeon 9600XT with both FM and TV and good performance. But what if you don’t need the speed and want an AIW-card that not only is cheaper but also quieter and which would fit perfectly into a SFF system? HIS has the answer for you with their HIS Excalibur AIW 9600, the card I am reviewing today.