4 HW reviews of interest to the FS community, and 1 comparo
New nVidia part, 8800GT
New NV 8800 GT, slightly cut down GTX
https://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2209197,00.asp
Net-net – close to the top end perf for much less power draw and $250 price point. A quote:
“This is, by far, the best bang-for-the-buck we've seen in years. It's a killer card, likely destined to be remembered with the same fondness as the GeForce 4 Ti 4200, Radeon 9700 Pro, or GeForce 6800 GT”
New ATI part, 3870 and 3850
RV670, a better R6000
https://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2219902,00.asp
Net-net - A better 2900, slightly faster at 50% power draw. Quote:
“With the Radeon HD 3870, AMD has shown that their ATI division still has what it takes to compete blow-for-blow with Nvidia—something they haven't been able to do for over a year. Both the 3870 and GeForce 8800 GT cards are very competitive, and which one you pick really comes down to price.”
New AMD CPU review
Phenom
https://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2218301,00.asp
Net-net – closed the gap but still behind Intel. Quote:
”Our initial impression based on these off-site benchmarks is that the Phenom 9500 and 9600 chips will be competitive choices in their price range, but not slam-dunk performance leaders.”
New Intel CPU review
Penryn
https://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2208241,00.asp
Net-Net - still the fastest desktop CPU and eminently overclockable but pricey. Quote:
"If you've got a fast Core 2 today, you probably won't want to upgrade. But if you've been waiting, then the QX9650—or one of its mainstream siblings in early 2008—may be just the ticket"
Now, I know some will see the QX9750 review from Intel and wonder what is up. RobAins on flightsim.com has already posted good results with that CPU here
so I can only speculate that somehow Extremetech got settings such that bad perf resulted.
Intel vs AMD
Penryn vs Phenom
https://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2218441,00.asp
Net-Net - Intel retains its lead. Quote:
"The QX9770 will give Intel bragging rights. But we'd like to see how mainstream 45nm CPUs will perform. But that will have to wait until 2008."