Vrzone.com Article: Sim Lim Sq Walkabout: Week 16, 2008

Printed On: May 16, 2008, 4:22 pm
Category: Editorials
Type: Sim Lim Square
Posted By: tUx
Date Posted: April 19, 2008, 5:40 am

Cheap notebooks for the budget-conscious

With laptops getting cheaper over the months, some hardware shops have even brought in selected budget models.

At Best Bytes, they have brought in a few Acer models.

 

 

This Acer TravelMate 6252 laptop goes for only $899! It runs on an Intel Celeron CM540 Mobile processor clocked at 1.86GHz and has 1MB of L2 cache. It also has a DVD writer, a 120GB hard disk, 1GB of memory and even a webcam. However, the laptop comes pre-loaded with Linux only. If you need 2GB of memory, it can be done for just $60.

 

 

Two models of the Acer Aspire 2920 are also available at Best Bytes at $1039 and $1235.

Both run the same hardware of an Intel Core 2 Duo T5550 processor (1.83GHz, 2MB L2 cache), 160GB SATA hard disk, DVD writer, 12.1" TFT LCD and both have webcams too. The difference is that the former has only 512MB of RAM and runs on Linux, whereas the latter has 1.5GB of RAM (after free upgrade) and runs on Microsoft Windows Vista Starter edition.

 


 

Over at Best Bargain, they have also started to sell a series of laptops from HP.

 

 

 

The HP Pavilion dv9608 (AMD Turion TL-58 @ 1.9GHz, 1GB RAM) priced at $1029 is more of a desktop-replacement model with its large 17-inch TFT LCD, yet it won't burn a hole in your pocket. For users looking for more portability, the Pavilion dv6604 (Intel T2310 @ 1.46GHz, 1GB RAM) and dv6653 (Intel T5450 @ 1.67GHz, 2GB RAM) are also available for $888 and $1239 respectively.

 


There are also other models based on the same chasis, but slightly different specifications like the dv6626 (Intel T5250 @ 1.5GHz, 1GB RAM) at $1089 and the dv6633 (Intel T2330, 1.6GHz, 2GB RAM) at $939.

 


New processors: AMD Phenom X4 9550 and Intel Core 2 Duo E7200

AMD Phenom X4 and Intel Core 2 Duo E7200

 

 

 

The AMD Phenom X4 is a quad-core 2.2GHz processor with a total of 4MB of L2 and L3 cache combined. No pricing is available for it when this article was published.

The Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 is a low cost dual-core CPU targeted at the mainstream consumer. It has half the cache of its E8000-series siblings, and also runs on a comparatively slower system bus of 1066MHz, instead of 1333MHz. However, when E7200 retails for a little over $200, you can't really complain much!

 


 

 

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 and Q9550 available!



 



 

 

Stocks are available for Q9450 and Q9550 this week, especially for those hunting for Q9550 chips. They are going for $525 and $827 respectively at Cybermind Computer House.

 


It's SLI week! New ASUS nVidia boards!

ASUS P5N-T Deluxe

 

 

 

The ASUS P5N-T Deluxe runs on the nVidia nForce 780i SLI chipset, supporting Intel's latest LGA775 processors. This board runs on DDR2 memory.

 

 

Tri-SLI for you sir? Tri-SLI can only be done on cards that support Tri-SLI.

 

 

The P5N-T Deluxe comes with a pretty beefy passive cooling system for the main motherboard components.

 

 

According to ASUS, this is a 'new' 8-phase PWM that feeds power to the CPU. 8-phase PWM has been a standard on ASUS' high-end boards for quite some time already.

 

 

 

A small portion of the heatsink extends out to the back I/O shield for better cooling performance.

The ASUS P5N-T Deluxe retails at $479.

 


 

ASUS P5N-D

 

 

Also available is a cheaper Intel SLI board - ASUS P5N-D.

 

 

As you can see, the board is pretty much stripped down. The essentials are all there, but there aren't many extras like additional SATA ports.

 

 

Beneath this large heatsink lies the nVidia nForce 750i SLI chipset. Due to the large size of the heatsink block, you could easily mount a fan on it for overclocking purposes.

 

 

4-phase PWM here... And it has a 4-pin ATX12V connector.



 

 

Pretty standard options on the rear I/O.

For $289, this won't break the bank for someone looking for a simple SLI setup.

 


 

ASUS Striker II Extreme

 

 

 

We find nVidia nForce 790i Ultra SLI goodness in probably the highest end nVidia board on the market today. This board utilises DDR3 memories to increase memory bandwidth, which in turn gives some interesting performance gains over a DDR2 system.

 

 

Standard as on all high-end ASUS boards, 8-phase PWM on the Striker II Extreme. Not only are the MOSFETs are cooled with taller heatsinks, a 'Fusion Block' system sits on top the northbridge, making it perfect for enthusiasts who are on water-cooling setups.

 

 

A heatpipe cooling system which means business. 

 

 

Same set of options and design you would find on all ASUS RoG boards at the back.

If you're wondering about the price... Well, this board costs a bomb at $829...

 


Other new products this week: OCZ, Gigabyte, Corsair

OCZ

 

 

 

Here are some memories that would surely tempt the enthusiast (and leave a big hole in your wallet later).

These are 1600MHz DDR3 memories, that run low latency 7-6-6- timings. OCZ's special heatspreaders are slapped on this pair of memory to ensure better cooling under overclocking.

If you need to know the price, it is just below the $900 mark.

 


 

Gigabyte

 

 

The Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H could probably be one of the best value-for-money boards around, not only for users who want a mATX system, but also those who are looking to build a HTPC.

This board supports the latest AMD Phenom processors, and is equipped with the AMD 780G chipset, which has an integrated ATI Radeon HD3200-based graphics architecture.

Not only that, it supports ATI's Hybrid Graphics Technology, allowing the user to combine both onboard GPU and a single PCI-E card's GPU for increased performance. However, the PCI-E card used must be Hybrid CrossFireX certified.

 

 

Five SATA ports on the board opens up your storage options and capacity. And we have four USB 2.0 headers on the board itself, which allows for another eight USB ports.

This board goes for only $159 at Cybermind Computer House.

 

 


 

Corsair

 

 

 

The Corsair HX series are flying off shelves due to reduced pricing by Corbell Technologies. The HX series comes with 5 years' warranty.

One of the other reasons why it is attracting buyers is its 80Plus certification. All new batches of the HX power supplies are now 80Plus certified, which means the efficiency rating of the power supply at 20%, 50% and 100% loads are above 80%.

 

 

 

 

The HX series is modular. No more messy interiors caused by wires that cannot be tucked away.

The HX520 and HX620 can be found at PC Themes for $138 and $168 respectively. However, Fuwell (5th floor) does have a few pieces of HX620 at $168 too. Hurry before stocks run out again!

 


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