Downtime Reviews

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Would I recommend this Crucial PC2-5300 DDR2 memory? You bet I would! I feel very confident that the only reason I couldn\'t push this RAM further than a 265MHz FSB had nothing to do with the RAM at all. With better cooling on the CPU and North Bridge, I feel I might have been able to get all the way to a 300MHz FSB!

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It has been quiet from Crucials side for awhile as the other companies have pushed out high performing memory out on the market. We got a sample though of their new Ballistix Tracer that is the follower to the popular Ballistix memory that was released awhile back. It will be interesting to see how this new Tracer version performs compared to some Mushkin and OCZ ram that are very well known as high performers.

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One of the features I really like is the EVP, that's basically OCZ saying "We know you are going to tweak this RAM to get the best performance possible, and that's OK with us." Features like this show how enthusiasts, gamers etc. have shaped the industry. It wasn't to long ago that doing things like modifying voltage etc would void your warranty. These days manufacturers are providing end users with the tools needed to overclock and tweak their hardware without having to worry about voiding the warranty.

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With the release of dual core processors, there is again a bandwidth crunch and DDR2 memory is the only source capable of filling the void. Corsair is quick on the ball, and today we have some very quick PC2-8000 compatible memory to test as a result. According to Corsair, with compatible supporting hardware, its 240-pin DDR2 Twin2X1024-8000UL memory can run at.....1000 MHz! Amazing!

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Today we have a fresh look at what could quite possibly be the very last AGP based video card ever reviewed on BFR. Are we sad? No, not really. AGP has managed to stay around in the graphics market for quite a while, mainly due to business reasons, and we think a final goodbye is well overdue.

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A couple days after our fair well to AGP with the HIS X700 review we get back to the lovely PCI Express bus. What better way to do it then with a review of the HIS X800GT Turbo. This card features the R423 ASIC, 8 pixel pipes, 6 vertex engines, and 256MB of GDDR3 memory. The reason why the card is the "Turbo" version is because it comes with HIS's iTurbo overclocking software which overclocks the X800GT's core and memory frequencies with a single click.

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ATI has known all along that the biggest thorn in their side in mid-priced range is 6600 series video cards, but up until now ATI had either been aiming to high or to low to make much of dent on this particular cards sales. Well it seems that they have finally got things sighted in now with the release of the X800 GT video card. The card we are looking at today is made by HIS Tech which means it is not nearly as bland as it would be if it came directly for ATI, HIS has added things like their patented IceQ II cooling system that will cool their card 11 degrees cooler than the same card from someone else. It also offers a second benefit of being 20 dba quieter, which is a huge amount and can be greatly appreciated if you like to game late at night. So come on along and check out HIS Tech's latest hit.

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While we have a lot of praise to bestow upon the MSI NX7800GTX-VT2D256E, there isn't much we can say that we haven't already done so for the 7800 GTX in general. It's fast, occupies one slot, and with it, you can really crank up the image quality settings without sacrificing performance. Another thing we liked about the MSI card is it's a great overclocker, which is an achievement in itself given how close to the ceiling the hardware is already running at.

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The Foxconn 945P7AA-8EKRS2 supports 533/800/1066 MHz FSB Pentium 4/D and Extreme Edition processors and can be equipped with up to 4GB of non ECC DDR2-667 memory. The board has plenty of onboard expansion ports, such as an additional IDE/RAID controller, dual Gigabit NICs, IEEE 1394a and Intel's Azalia audio controller.

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While the chipset was announced a months ago, nForce4-SLI Intel Edition motherboards are just now hitting the market. MSI Computers new P4N Diamond looks well... like a real gem of a motherboard! Obviously based on the nForce4 SLI Intel Edition chipset, the motherboard supports Socket 775 800/1066 MHz FSB Pentium 4/XE, Pentium D and Celeron D processors as well as a maximum of 4GB of DDR2-667 memory. The way nVIDIA implemented SLI on its NF4 SLI Intel Edition chipset is a bit different than with the AMD version. With the NF4 SLI Intel Edition the first physical PCI Express x16 slot gets lane 0 and all the even numbered lanes thereafter while the second physical PCI Express x16 slot gets all the odd numbered lanes.

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Motherboards like the Epox 5NVA+ SLI support Socket 775 Pentium 4/D/Extreme Edition as well as Celeron D processors. The four DIMM slots can accommodate up to 8GB of unbuffered non ECC DDR2 memory running at 400/533/667 MHz, while operating in dual channel mode with 1.8V. Epox also bundles a few on board goodies with the board such as Gigabit LAN, a 7.1 audio controller, IEEE 1394 and my personal favorite a Port 80 diagnostics card. If you need something the motherboard does not support, there are two free PCI Express x1 slots (three if you count the second PCI Express x16 slot when only running one videocard) and two open 32 bit PCI slots for legacy hardware. Of course, we must not overlook the two PCI Express x16 slots which will support SLI set-ups with the appropriate videocards either!