AMD Phenom™ II X4 940

Processor	AMD Phenom™ II X4
Model	940
OPN Tray	HDZ940XCJ4DGI
OPN PIB	HDZ940XCGIBOX
Operating Mode 32 Bit	Yes
Operating Mode 64 Bit	Yes
Revision	C2
Core Speed (MHz)	3000
Voltages	0.875-1.5V
Max Temps (C)	62'C
Wattage	125 W
L1 Cache Size (KB)	128
L1 Cache Count	4
L2 Cache Size (KB)	512
L2 Cache Count	4
L3 Cache Size (KB)	6144
CMOS	45nm SOI
Socket	AM2+

AMD Phenom™ II X4

Processor	AMD Phenom™ II X4
Model	920
OPN Tray	HDX920XCJ4DGI
OPN PIB	HDX920XCGIBOX
Operating Mode 32 Bit	Yes
Operating Mode 64 Bit	Yes
Revision	C2
Core Speed (MHz)	2800
Voltages	0.875-1.5V
Max Temps (C)	62'C
Wattage	125 W
L1 Cache Size (KB)	128
L1 Cache Count	4
L2 Cache Size (KB)	512
L2 Cache Count	4
L3 Cache Size (KB)	6144
CMOS	45nm SOI
Socket	AM2+

AMD Phenom™ X4 Quad-Core

Product Details

Processor	AMD Phenom™ X4 Quad-Core
Model	9450e
OPN Tray	HD9450ODJ4BGH
OPN PIB	HD9450ODGHBOX
Operating Mode 32 Bit	Yes
Operating Mode 64 Bit	Yes
Revision	B3
Core Speed (MHz)	2100
Voltages	1.0-1.125
Max Temps (C)	70'C
Wattage	65 W
L1 Cache Size (KB)	128
L1 Cache Count	4
L2 Cache Size (KB)	512
L2 Cache Count	4
L3 Cache Size (KB)	2048
CMOS	65nm SOI
Socket	AM2+

AMD 790GX M3A78-T

Manufacturer	ASUS
Model	M3A78-T
Chipset	AMD 790GX
Socket	AM2+
ATI Hybrid Graphics Support	Yes
Graphics	ATI Radeon Graphics
Graphics Brand	ATI Radeon HD 3300
Memory Type	4x DDR2
Form Factor	ATX
HDMI	Yes
DVI	Yes
VGA	Yes
FireWire	Yes
LAN	Gigabit
SATA 2	5
eSATA	1
USB 2.0	12
RAID	0/1/5/10
HD Audio	Yes
SPDIF Out	Yes
TV Out	No
Overclockable	Yes
PCI Express x1	2
PCI Express x16	2
Hyper Transport	HT3
PCI Express	PCIe Gen1

AMD 780G M3A-H/HDMI

Manufacturer	ASUS
Model	M3A-H/HDMI
Chipset	AMD 780G
Socket	AM2+
ATI Hybrid Graphics Support	Yes
Graphics	ATI Radeon Graphics
Graphics Brand	ATI Radeon HD 3200
Memory Type	4x DDR2
Form Factor	ATX
HDMI	Yes
DVI	No
VGA	Yes
FireWire	No
LAN	Gigabit
SATA 2	6
eSATA	0
USB 2.0	12
RAID	0/1/10
HD Audio	Yes
SPDIF Out	Yes
TV Out	No
Overclockable	Yes
PCI Express x1	2
PCI Express x16	1
Hyper Transport	HT3
PCI Express	PCIe Gen2
AMD Business Class	No

amd-phenom-ii-x4-940-black-edition

Key Specs

Socket Type: AMD Socket AM2+
Number of Cores: Four
Operating Frequency: 3GHz
Front-Side Bus: HyperTransport 3.0
L2 Cache: 2MB

Like the original AMD Phenom, the new 45-nanometer (nm) Phenom II CPU doesn't have the raw speed to dethrone Intel's fastest processor offerings. This inexpensive quad-core processor's performance is competitive in its price range, however, particularly when you consider the low costs of the supporting motherboards and DDR2 memory that it's teamed with. Best of all, the Phenom II doesn't have the heat, power consumption, and errata/performance issues that plagued the original Phenom at launch.

We tested the top-end Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition, a 3GHz CPU with an unlocked clock multiplier that sells for $275. At launch, AMD will also offer the Phenom II X4 920, a 2.8GHz chip with a locked multiplier selling for $235. Both chips fit in AMD's AM2+ socket and will work in existing motherboards, provided the manufacturers supply required BIOS upgrades. We tested using an upgraded MSI DKA790GX Platinum; the Gigabyte MA790GP-DS4H and Asus M3A78-T are also among the early boards to get the necessary BIOS upgrade.

The Phenom II is essentially an optimized version of the original Phenom, with the same basic architecture. The biggest difference is that the 758-million-transistor chip is now based on a smaller 45nm production process, compared to 65nm for the original Phenoms. This results in cooler, lower-power operation and enables both higher clock speeds and more overclocking headroom.

There are performance tweaks throughout the CPU that increase the instructions per cycle that the CPU can execute. All four cores are on a single die, and they share the CPU's built-in memory controller. Each core has 128K of L1 cache and 512K of L2 cache, and there's 6MB of shared L3 cache, up from 2MB of L3 cache for the original Phenom.

For the optimal experience, AMD recommends its "Dragon" platform, consisting of a Phenom II, a 790GX-powered motherboard, and a Radeon 4000-series GPU. With this setup, you can use AMD's Fusion for Gaming and AMD Overdrive utilities to either manually or automatically overclock both the Phenom II and the Radeon in order to maximize performance. With some multiplier and voltage tweaking in AMD Overdrive, we were able to run the Phenom II 940 at 3.6GHz, and determined tweakers could probably squeeze even faster speeds from the chip. With first-generation Phenoms, we were lucky if we could pull off even 10 percent overclocking.

The Phenom II 940 doesn't threaten Intel's new Core i7 CPUs or its even faster Core 2 Quad CPUs in the performance department. However, it's much more competitive than earlier Phenom chips. For instance, in our Sony Vegas MPEG2 rendering test, which utilizes all four cores at full capacity, the original Phenom X4 9850 took 4 minutes and 22 seconds to finish while the Phenom II X4 940 executed the same test in 3 minutes and 43 seconds—exactly the same amount of time it took to run the same test on a Core 2 Extreme QX9770 CPU paired with DDR3 memory. For comparison, Intel's low-end Core i7-920 processor finished the test in just 2 minutes and 50 seconds.

Asus Rampage II Extreme

Key Specs

Form Factor: ATX
Chipset: Intel X58
CPU Socket: LGA1366
PCIe Slots: Three PCIe x16; two x1
PCI Slots: 1
RAM Slots/Multichannel Support: Six/triple channel
Maximum RAM: 12GB
Onboard Graphics: No

The Asus Rampage II Extreme motherboard is the newest entry in the company's Republic of Gamers line, offering slick looks and extensive support for overclocking. This pricey ($399) board based on Intel's X58 chipset supports Socket 1366 Intel Core i7 CPUs and is aimed at performance fiends for whom raw speed and configurability are more important than cost.

If you like to show off the insides of your PC, you'll be happy to know that the Rampage II Extreme's design screams performance. The black board is accented by gunmetal gray heat sinks with Ferrari red highlights, plus an LED-lit chipset cooler that looks a lot like an engine block cover. The board boasts three PCI Express (PCIe) x16 slots (which run in x16/x16 with two graphics cards or x16/x16/x8 with three cards) and supports both Nvidia SLI and ATI CrossFireX. Asus's other X58 board, the P6T Deluxe, has a board layout that restricts you to single-width graphics cards; the Rampage II Extreme can support three double-width cards.

The board also sports a pair of PCIe x1 slots and a single PCI slot. Six memory slots support DDR3 DRAM at up to 1,800MHz, and there are seven (yes, seven) SATA hard drive connectors as well as IDE and floppy ports. External expansion is robust as well, with 12 USB 2.0 ports (six of which are on the back panel), two FireWire ports, two Gigabit Ethernet ports, and an external SATA (eSATA) port.

Like the MSI X58 Eclipse, the Rampage II Extreme bundles an EAX-compatible PCIe x1 sound card, offering better, cleaner sound quality than typical onboard sound solutions. But while MSI includes an actual low-end Creative X-Fi card, the Asus solution is based on the ADI AD2000B audio codec. Its X-Fi support is provided by the drivers, enabling EAX 4.0, Crystalizer, and other typical Creative functions through software. Sound quality is excellent; with a Core i7 CPU, any additional CPU usage by the drivers is going to go unnoticed.

The Rampage II Extreme includes an external LCD Poster status module that lets you view boot status and error messages. It connects directly to the motherboard, rather than using USB the way the external display included with the P6T Deluxe does, so it starts working before the operating system loads.

Intel Desktop Board DX58SO Extreme Series

Key Specs

Form Factor: ATX
Chipset: X58
CPU Socket: LGA1366
PCIe Slots: Two PCIe x16; one PCIe x4; two PCIe x1
PCI Slots: One
RAM Slots: Four (triple-channel)
Maximum RAM: 16GB
Onboard Graphics: None

The DX58SO may be officially billed as the Intel Desktop Board Extreme Series DX58SO, but its code name—"Smackover"—and the robotic skull surrounding the Intel logo on the chipset’s heat sink are good indicators that this new motherboard is aimed squarely at the enthusiast crowd. With support for dual graphics cards, extensive overclocking options for both processor and memory, and a full load of ports, Intel’s new board is ready to capture the eyes of enthusiasts who’d typically embrace performance brands like Asus and MSI.

This ATX motherboard is one of the first to use Intel’s new LGA1366 socket and X58 Express chipset, supporting the new Core i7 processor series. The DX58SO officially supports memory speeds of up to 1,333MHz, though overclocking options will let you use 1,600MHz or faster memory. The board has four DIMM slots, accommodating up to 16GB of RAM. For best performance, you’ll want to populate three of them to enable triple-channel access, which significantly increases memory bandwidth.

Intel’s BIOS has deep overclocking options, letting you adjust the maximum multipliers by processor core and increase the host clock frequency, which replaces the front-side bus as the tweaking value of choice for enthusiasts looking to up the speed of ratio-locked processors like the Core i7-920 and Core i7-940. When using the multiplier-unlocked Core i7-965, you can adjust Intel’s dynamic overclocking feature and increase the maximum multiplier depending on how many cores are in use. For instance, you might run at 3.86GHz when only one or two cores are stressed but drop to a stock 3.2GHz when all four cores are in use. You can make many overclocking adjustments on the fly from within Windows, using the Intel Desktop Control Center software.

The DX58SO does away with most legacy ports. Not only is there no PS/2 keyboard port or IDE hard drive connector, but the floppy connector is AWOL as well. The board is generously equipped with six Serial ATA ports (though one will be blocked if you use a long, double-wide graphics card like the GeForce 9800 GX2). And the DX58SO has loads of modern expansion ports, with a whopping eight USB 2.0 connectors on the back panel, along with Gigabit Ethernet, FireWire, digital and analog audio, and two external SATA (eSATA) ports. The motherboard has four additional internal USB connectors, as well as internal FireWire, Consumer Infrared, and HD audio ports. The board’s eight-channel HD audio comes courtesy of a RealTek ALC889 codec.

The DX58SO includes two PCI Express (PCIe) x16 slots, which can support a pair of AMD graphics cards in CrossFireX mode, as well as one PCIe x4 slot, a pair of PCIe x1 slots, and a single PCI slot. Though X58 boards are technically capable of supporting both CrossFireX and SLI dual-graphics setups, Intel and Nvidia haven’t worked out the proper licensing agreements for the DX58SO for SLI support.

Intel Core i7-965 Extreme Edition

Key Specs

Socket Type: Intel LGA1366
Number of Cores: Four
Operating Frequency: 3.2GHz
Front-Side Bus: Intel QuickPath Interconnect

Intel’s new Core i7 processors don’t just live up to their hype—they exceed it. Representing a huge performance jump over previous generations, the Core i7 allows even midrange systems to leave the fastest Core 2 Extreme Edition CPUs in the dust. The initial chip lineup includes the $284 Core i7-920 running at 2.66GHz, the $562 Core i7-940 running at 2.92GHz, and the $999 Core i7-965 Extreme Edition running at 3.2GHz. The Core i7 Extreme Edition differs from the less-expensive chips because it features an unlocked multiplier, which simplifies overclocking, and a faster QuickPath communication bus.

All of the chips use Intel’s new LGA1366 socket, and at the moment only Intel’s X58 chipset supports the Core i7. The chip resembles a slightly larger version of the Core 2 Quad, but inside there are significant enhancements. All current Core i7 chips include four CPU cores on a single 45-nanometer die, but they appear to Windows as eight-core processors, as they bring back the Hyper-Threading feature found on the Pentium 4. Hyper-Threading lets a single CPU core tackle two code threads at one time, to minimize the amount of time that parts of a core sit idle. There are numerous other improvements in the silicon, including faster algorithms, new SSE4 text-processing instructions, better virtualization support, and a new 8MB shared L3 cache, in addition to each core’s 64K L1 cache and 256K L2 cache.

We compared the Core i7’s performance to Intel’s previous king of the hill, the $999 3.2GHz Core 2 Extreme QX9770, running on a 1,600MHz front-side bus (FSB). How much faster is the Core i7 than its Core 2 predecessors? Our Windows Media Encoder test, which uses only two CPU cores, saw the smallest performance increase but still managed to drop from 2 minutes and 55 seconds on the QX9770 to 2 minutes and 29 seconds on the i7-965, a 17 percent speedup. Our quad-core-aware Sony Vegas 8.0 video-editing tests showed the most dramatic improvement, dropping from 3 minutes and 43 seconds on the QX9770 to 2 minutes and 20 seconds on the i7-965 in our MPEG-2 tests and from 1 minute and 21 seconds to 50 seconds in our MPEG-4 render—59 and 62 percent speedups, respectively. Our iTunes conversion test took 3 minutes and 37 seconds on the QX9770, which dropped to 2 minutes and 46 seconds on the i7-965, a 30.7 percent improvement.

Even more impressive in the bang-for-the-buck department is the performance of the entry-level i7-920, which still managed to beat out the QX9770 in all of our productivity tests. Results ranged from a mere 1 percent speed increase in Windows Media Encoder to an 18 percent increase in the iTunes conversion test and an impressive 31 percent performance enhancement in our Vegas 8.0 MPEG-2 rendering test. On the other hand, most games don’t see much change, as modern games tend to rely more on graphics-card performance than CPU speed.

Some of the Core i7’s performance increase comes from its ability to access memory at a very high speed. The CPU has its own onboard memory controller, dispensing with the older FSB and replacing it with the new QuickPath Interconnect, which offers dramatically better bandwidth and takes the middleman (the FSB) out of the equation. To take full advantage of this bandwidth, you’ll need to team the Core i7 with triple-channel memory, that is, with three identical DDR3 DIMMs. (The Core i7/X58 chipset combo doesn’t support DDR2 memory.)

MSI X58 Eclipse

Key Specs

Form Factor: ATX
Chipset: Intel X58 Express
CPU Socket: Intel LGA1366
PCIe Slots: Three x16; two x1
PCI Slots: Two
RAM Slots: Six (triple-channel)
Maximum RAM: 24GB
Onboard Graphics: No

Somebody apparently forgot to tell MSI that a single motherboard can’t be everything to everyone, because the new X58 Eclipse not only tries, it succeeds in almost every category. The X58 Eclipse has you covered, whether your priority is overclocking, gaming prowess, audio quality, storage capabilities, ease of installation, or power efficiency. Only those looking for a bargain-basement price are likely to be disappointed by this premium board.

The X58 Eclipse is an ATX motherboard designed for Intel’s new Core i7 processors. It sports the new LGA1366 socket and the X58 Express chipset. The black board has black-and-blue slots and a subdued heat-pipe design that looks much slicker than MSI’s overly colorful and elaborate earlier efforts. There are six DDR3 RAM sockets, allowing you to add two sets of DIMMs in the triple-channel mode that offers the most memory bandwidth with the Core i7 series.

The board’s layout and features make the installation and troubleshooting procedures as painless as we’ve yet experienced. Much thought was given to port and slot placement. The six primary SATA ports, for instance, face the side of the board, so that no ports will be blocked by large graphics cards. There are easily accessible power and reset switches right on the board, allowing you to run initial tests outside of your case, and you can connect the case wires to MSI’s M-Connector and plug them in all at once. All the niggling details are taken care of; for example, the board accommodates both three-pin and two-pin case power LEDs.

If you run into any trouble booting your system, the D-LED2 can help you narrow down the issue. During the power-on sequence, its superbright Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) display shows you as each component (CPU, memory, and so on) is initialized, letting you see exactly when things are going awry. Once your system is booted, you can press a button on the motherboard to set the D-LED2 to display temperatures and voltages.

The X58 Eclipse supports both Nvidia’s SLI and AMD’s CrossFireX for adding multiple graphics cards. There are three PCI Express (PCIe) x16 slots, but only two operate at full x16 capacity; the third is electrically an x4 slot. (If you plan to use three graphics cards with an X58-chipset motherboard, you’ll need to find a board that includes Nvidia’s nForce 200 SLI processor to get full x16 channel support on all three slots.) Connector cables are included for both SLI and CrossFireX. You’ll also find two PCIe x1 slots and a pair of PCI slots.

Shuttle SN78SH7

Key Specs

Chipset: Nvidia GeForce 8200
CPU Socket: AMD Socket AM2+
RAM Slots/Dual-Channel Support: Two/yes
Maximum RAM: 4GB
Onboard Graphics: Nvidia GeForce 8200 graphics
PCIe Slots: One PCIe x16
PCI Slots: One
Internal 5.25-Inch Bays: None
Internal 3.5-Inch Bays: One
External 5.25-Inch Bays: One
External 3.5-Inch Bays: One
Power Supply: 300-watt
Dimensions (HWD): 7.4x8.2x12.8 inches

How much can a manufacturer do with a bare-bones PC? A chassis prestocked with everything a computer needs—except the CPU and RAM—can go in only so many different directions. So it's not especially surprising that Shuttle's $299 SN78SH7 bare-bones PC is practically identical—at least physically—to the XPC SG33G5 bare-bones we reviewed last year around this time.

The SN78SH7, which measures 7.4x8.2x12.8 inches (HWD), boasts microphone and headphone jacks, two USB 2.0 ports, and one four-pin FireWire jack on its glossy-black front panel. The rear panel offers VGA-out, HDMI, and six-pin FireWire connections, two external SATA (eSATA) ports, four more USB ports, an Ethernet jack, and eight-channel audio; unlike the SG33G5, however, there's no S/PDIF out. There are two expansion slots (one PCI Express x16 and one regular PCI), and you get three drive bays (one each of external 5.25, external 3.5, and internal 3.5), all in a removable drive rack. A narrow, 300-watt power supply is nicely tucked out of the way on the side of the case, and pre-tied cables help contribute to the overall interior neatness.

As long as your needs are, and will remain, limited, the SN78SH7 should suffice nicely as the starting point for a smart home-theater PC. You have plenty of options for powering it, as the system uses an AM2+ socket that can run the latest two-, three-, or four-core processors in the Athlon X2 or Phenom series. The two RAM slots can hold up to 4GB of DDR2 RAM (at speeds up to 1,066MHz). The chipset is the new nVidia GeForce 8200, which supports DirectX 10 and is optimized for HD video playback without requiring a discrete graphics card. (If you decide to add a GPU, though, you can use it in concert with the integrated graphics—thanks to built-in Hybrid SLI technology—and boost your video performance.)

While the SN78SH7 has most everything you'll need for taking full advantage of Windows Media Center and HD content, storage could present a problem. Those eSATA ports allow for plenty of external expandability for the television shows you might start recording—if you have external hard drives to use them. But the lack of room for one more internal hard drive might discourage some buyers; external drives haven't quite reached the dirt-cheap price level of the internal variety.

Asus P6T Deluxe OC Palm Edition

Key Specs

Form Factor: ATX
Chipset: Intel X58
CPU Socket: Intel LGA1366
PCIe Slots: Three PCIe x16; one PCIe x4
PCI Slots: Two
RAM Slots: Six (triple-channel)
Maximum RAM: 12GB DDR3
Onboard Graphics: None

Though the P6T Deluxe OC Palm edition is Asus’s first board supporting Intel’s new Core i7 processor, its design is anything but conservative. Where Intel’s DX58SO board supports overclocking, the P6T Deluxe invites it out for dinner and a movie. Add in tons of expandability, both SLI and CrossFireX support, and the unique OC Palm external display, and the P6T is an excellent foundation for a high-performance Core i7 system.

The P6T Deluxe is based on Intel’s X58 chipset. It uses the new LGA1366 socket, allowing you to install the standard Core i7 CPU or the Extreme Edition. Gamers will be pleased that the board supports both Nvidia's SLI and AMD's CrossFireX for using up to three graphics cards together, so they’re no longer tied to one brand or the other. (Not all X58 boards support SLI, as Nvidia requires board manufacturers to pay a licensing fee.) An unusual feature is the presence of a whopping six memory slots, allowing you to add memory in sets of three to take advantage of the Core i7’s increased bandwidth with triple-channel memory.

As you’d expect from an Asus enthusiast board, the P6T Deluxe’s BIOS has detailed overclocking features for adjusting a wide variety of CPU and memory timings and voltages. The BIOS has settings for memory speeds up to 1,600MHz with standard Core i7s, or up to 2,000MHz with the Extreme Edition. The board also includes TurboV software, which lets you adjust a number of speed and voltage settings on the fly from within Windows.

We tested the board with the entry-level Core i7 920. By pairing this $284 CPU with OCZ’s new DDR3 PC3-10666 Platinum Low-Voltage Triple Channel Memory Kit, which supports 1,333MHz speeds with low latency, we were able to match the performance of the $999 Core i7 965 Extreme Edition in most of our tests. The RAM’s extra speed headroom over 1,066MHz memory let us easily push the 2.66GHz Core i7 920 to 3.34GHz by upping the basic system bus speed from 133MHz to 166MHz. The P6T made the overclocking easy, with no need to adjust CPU voltages.

Intel DG45ID

Intel’s DG45ID is a reasonably priced, full-featured MicroATX motherboard that provides all the basics for a home theater PC, including HD video acceleration, 7.1-channel digital audio, and support for plenty of storage. Just add a CPU, memory, and drives and you’re ready to rock.

The board fits in MicroATX or full-size ATX cases. Its G45 Express Chipset includes an integrated graphics controller, and the DG45ID has DVI and HDMI video connectors, both of which can be used simultaneously for a dual-monitor setup. Adding to the home theater appeal, there’s 7.1-channel, Dolby Home Theater-certified audio with both digital optical and analog outputs, and a connector for a case-mounted Consumer Infrared receiver.

Expansion options abound: There are headers and connectors for up to 12 USB 2.0 ports and two IEEE 1394a/FireWire ports, five internal SATA connectors, and a rear-mounted external SATA port. A PCI Express (PCIe) x16 slot lets you install an add-on graphics card; the board also has two PCIe x1 slots and one PCI connector. Other than a header for an optional serial port, there are no legacy ports here; you can’t connect a PS/2 keyboard or an IDE DVD drive.

Though Intel has included a number of enthusiast-oriented features in its high-end motherboards, the DG45ID is not one for the overclocking crowd. It supports LGA775 processors from the old single-core Celeron all the way up to the quad-core Q9650 with a 1,333MHz front-side bus. (Check Intel’s website to see if your CPU is compatible, though, as there are issues with some Q6600 processor steppings, and some other models not present on the compatibility list.) There are four DDR2 memory slots, supporting up to 8GB of 667 or 800MHz RAM.

The most significant update in the G45 Express Chipset’s X4500HD graphics core over the previous-generation X3500 is improved high-definition support (the “HD” in X4500HD), with enhanced hardware decoding for VC1, H.264, and MPEG2-compressed graphics streams. As the core element of a home theater PC, this lets the board play back DVD, Blu-ray, and other video files while using very little CPU power. However, the DG45ID’s video drivers are missing the bells and whistles found in competitive graphics cores. You’ll have to download a third-party utility, for instance, to set a custom resolution to compensate for screen real-estate lost to overscanned edges, a feature built into Nvidia’s GeForce drivers. On the positive front, Intel has been quick with driver updates and addressing many initial concerns with Blu-ray playback and compatibility with HDMI repeaters. The only major issue still outstanding is a stutter problem with playing back 24p Blu-ray movie content on 24Hz-capable displays, and Intel says it’s working on it.

The GMA X4500HD graphics core offers a slight performance boost over the previous-generation X3500, upping the number of unified shader processors from 8 to 10. While the 3D capabilities will handle Windows Vista’s Aero effects and other, less-demanding 3D games without issue, the updated graphics core is still not going to provide the oomph to play modern games, particularly at higher resolutions. In our tests of F.E.A.R.—a game that’s now three years old—we saw an average of only 10 frames per second (fps) at 1,024x768 with details turned up. Dropping to 800x600 and medium detail still only managed 20fps. Though performance is improved over previous Intel integrated graphics efforts, for anything other than casual games or classics, you’ll want to plug a dedicated graphics card into the board. But for home theater and productivity use, particularly at low-to-medium resolutions, the DG45ID performs just fine.

We would like to see Intel amp up the HDTV features—overscan settings and proper 24p playback are musts for videophiles—and the faster integrated 3D remains a poor choice for anything but casual gaming. Outside of that, though, the DG45ID is a solid, full-featured board that makes a great base component for a living room PC or an inexpensive office PC.

Daily Download: Gadwin PrintScreen 4.4

Gadwin PrintScreen is a handy free program that improves immensely upon Windows built-in screen capture abilities. Instead of just shooting the image to your clipboard, this free app can save the file –in your format of choice—to a predetermined folder. It’ll even automatically resize the image to any resolution you want and, should you desire, insert it into an email for you, or send it directly to your printer.

Archos Steps into the Netbook Ring

Netbooks are going the way of GPS; that is to say, everyone thinks they can make one. The turning point for GPS was when Goodyear decided to get into manufacturing them. And now, PMP specialist Archos is introducing its first netbook, the Archos 10. And what it’s lacking in hardware innovation, it tries to make up for in free software.

Spec-wise, the Archos 10 is no more capable than 90 percent of the netbooks on the market. Its 10.2-inch 1024x600 LED screen, 160GB hard drive, 1GB of RAM, and Intel Atom processor mean we know exactly how this system will perform on our tests. It has Windows XP, too, which is no surprise. We’re a little disappointed, however, to see that Archos hasn’t heeded any of our complaints and left that right Shift key in the wrong place.

Where Archos is trying to stand out, however, is in entertainment—and rightfully so. The company claims to include $100 work of apps for this $399 machine, including Lotus Symphony, Working Suite, XN View photo editor, Vtuner Web Radio & TV Player, BitDefender Antivirus 209 and Parental Filter (with the full version free for the first six months). Archos is also throwing in $50 of Archos Media Club movies and five free songs (so long as it’s the first time you’re signing up and you give your credit card information). Finally, the company is offering a free music download every day from eMusic—a good start for those who want a netbook for entertainment purposes.

While the $399 model comes with just a three-cell battery, you can opt for a six-cell battery for longer battery life, but it will cost you an additional $100. Both systems will be available in February at selected retailers.

Daily Download: Folder Guide 1.2

Folder Guide is one of those handy programs that you never knew you needed, but will save a few seconds off of many Windows-related tasks. It’s so intuitive and simple, and should have been built in to XP and Vista. Hopefully there’s still time to stick it into Windows 7.

Once installed, the program launches at startup, and is completely invisible—until you right-click on a “save as” dialog box, your desktop, or the Start menu. There you’ll see a new Folder Guide option that gives you instant access to the folders of your choice. The root and Windows directories are there by default, but adding your folder of choice is as easy as navigating there, right-clicking, and choosing “Add to Folder Guide.” Once added, you’ll never have to navigate to your important folders again. Every folder you frequently use will be just two clicks away.

Daily Download: KeyboardLink 1.3

Fancy keyboards with dedicated buttons for controlling and launching frequently used apps are certainly convenient. But if you’re comfortable with the keyboard you own, there’s no need to ditch it just because it doesn’t have media control buttons or a dedicated Calculator launch button. Using free software, you can dedicate the keys rarely used keys on your current keyboard to more useful tasks.

KeyboardLink is a app that uses a small amount of system resources, and lets you launch any program or control most media players with any key you choose. From the simple tabbed window, select the program from the organized list, and click the drop-down menu to choose the dedicated key you want to launch it. If the program you want isn’t listed, click the Custom tab and you can easily add it yourself. The program is easily disabled, so if someone else is using your PC, you don’t need to worry about them launching apps accidentally.

Daily Download: Find and Run Robot 2.45.01

Considering the cavernous qualities of modern-day hard drives, it’s inevitable that something important is going to get lost. And while Windows’ built-in search can certainly help you comb through your data and eventually find what you’re after, it’s not exactly fast, or efficient. Find and Run Robot is a speedy and (seemingly) simple alternative that will help you find anything on your PC in no time. Install the free program, and it hides in your system tray, waiting for you to hit the Pause/Break key.

Start typing into the search window, and results pop up before you’ve even typed the second letter; they instantly update, the more letters you type. That’s handy if you can’t remember the exact file name. Once you’ve found what you want, you can open the file or launch the program right from the results window. While it all looks and works simply enough, there are a huge amount of options hidden below the surface, and plugins available that add even more functionality. Give Find and Run Robot a try, and you’ll never spend more than a few seconds looking for anything on your PC again.

This Week (and Last Week) in PC Gaming Releases: 11JAN09 to 17JAN09

With the busy week at CES it's important not to lose sight of other more mundane things happening, like game releases! In fact, this week's posting will include last week's news as well, for a total of six titles. A couple of interesting new ones to be sure, as well as an anniversary edition of a game which made a notable impact on FPS gaming ten years ago.

First off are last weeks releases. The arrival of Saint's Row 2 offers something for those looking for more criminal activity to satisfy themselves, perhaps having already played out Grand Theft Auto IV over the holidays. Additionally the PC version of Cid the Dummy (also out on Wii, PS2 and PSP) looks interesting enough from a platform game point of view and has a demo available as well.

This week we've got the PC version of Mirror's Edge (which has underperformed for EA on console thusfar, but offers some very cool gameplay nonetheless), The Lord of the Rings: Conquest (an action game from Pandemic), and Cartoon Network Universe: Fusion Fall which looks like one MMOG the kids (not to mention their parents) might really enjoy. Finally and perhaps most notably, there is a 10th anniversary edition of Delta Force being made available. Many people won't be too excited about this news, but if you have ever played the original you'll probably understand. The game was perhaps one of the most realistic treatments of modern combat ever put onto the market. It is one of those titles where you really don't want to make a mistake. If you happen to see it out there and haven't played before, or don't have all six included titles, pick it up and see for yourself.

Daily Download: SpywareBlaster 4.1

Once you’ve cleaned your system of spyware, junk files and registry errors with a program like Glary Utilities or Advanced SystemCare, it’s a good idea to implement some precautions to prevent malicious code from getting back onto your PC. And while there’s no discounting a great antivirus app, keeping spyware off your system is important, too.

SpywareBlaster helps in this regard by preventing ActiveX-based attacks in Internet Explorer, and blocking cookies in Firefox and Netscape. You can choose to block all Flash content, which would certainly make for a safer experience, but that’s also like turning off half of the Internet. The good news is that all settings can be enabled and disabled with a click, and the interface should be easy for even novices to navigate. It’s free to use, but you’ll have to download file definition updates manually, unless you pony up $10 a year to have them delivered automatically.

Asus W90 Gaming Rig Offers all the Extras

Touting Style as equally important as function, Asus announces the W90, a multimedia notebook with brushed aluminum, an ultra bright18.4-inch, full HD display (1080p), and clean, streamlined chassis. Asus likens the design to a high-end sports car but doesn’t go so far as to put it in the company’s Lamborghini line.

Designed with gaming and in mind, the W90 sports an ATI CrossFireX technology with a Mobility Radeon HD 4870 X2 GPU and, according to Asus, earns a 3DMark 06 score of 15,000. You can also choose an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 38520 X2 or an Nvidia GeForce 9800 M GS graphics solution. You’ll also find an Intel core 2 Duo T9600 (or choose the T9400, P8600, or P8400) with a 1066MHz FSB. And to boost performance even more, the W90 comes with Turbo Gear, which lets you overclock the system to increase performance by 25 percent.

The world’s first notebook with a 2 x SO-DIMM mainboard design, the W90 can accommodate up to 6GB of DDR2-800 RAM. You get plenty of storage with Asus three dual-drive options: two 250GB, two 320GB, or two 500GB drives, all running at 5,400 rpm. This entertainment system doesn’t stop there, though. A Blu-ray drive is also onboard, along with 5.1-channel Altec Lansing speakers with a subwoofer and second-generation Dolby Home Theater, , all designed to look like they belong in a sports car.

A 2-megapixel auto-focus Webcam is embedded in the bezel, and a nice selection of ports surround the machine, including HDMI, eSATA, four USB, FireWire, VGA, an 8-in-1 card reader, and an ExpressCard slot. The W90 comes with 802.11 daft-n, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, Ethernet, and a modem.

There's no word on price or availability just yet, but we'll update this post when that becomes available.

Daily Download: Advanced SystemCare Free 3.1.1

From the makers of the excellent Smart Defrag, Advanced SystemCare Free is a smartly designed suite of tools for keeping your computer in tip-top shape, or nursing it back to health. Like Glary Utilities, Advanced SystemCare includes registry and disk cleaners that will scan your system for junk files and unnecessary code. But this suite also includes a Spyware scanner, disk defragmenter, RAM optimizer, and handy tools that will scan your system for available software and driver updates, so you can be sure everything you’re running is up to date.

The program does a decent job of backing up system files before it goes messing with things as well, which is reassuring should something go wrong. Novices can just press the big blue “Care!” button and have the program work its magic mojo on its own, but advance users will want to spend time poking around all corners of this app, because something useful resides behind almost every click.

Gateway Launches UC Series and MD Series Notebooks

Gateway is announcing two new notebooks at CES this year. The MD Series is a 15.6-inch spin-off of the popular 16-inch and offers a 16:9 aspect ratio display. This multimedia machine starts at $649 and comes with the same fashion-forward design as the MC Series. We were fortunate enough to get our hands on one early. Check out our full review.

The UC Series is the company’s first 13.3-inch notebook—a size we find particularly useful for mobile professionals. Starting at $749.99, the UC Series weighs just 5.3 pounds but comes packed with either Intel’s Centrino 2 or Centrino processor technology, or you can opt for a Core Duo, Core 2 Duo, or Pentium processor. A 1.3-megapixel Webcam is included, along with a slot-loading DVD multidrive with LabelFlash technology. You’ll find an Ultrabirght 1280x800 LCD under the lid and Intel’s GMA 4500MHD graphics inside. An HDMI port is also onboard for outputting to a larger screen.

Hands-on with the Panasonic Toughbook F8 Laptop

We were able to get some quality hands-on time with the Panasonic Toughbook F8, and found that this thin-and-light business laptop delivers some hits, as well as a few misses. The Toughbook F8 falls in Panasonic’s business rugged line; it’s rated to withstand a drop (onto its base, not an edge) from 2.5 feet and a liquid spill onto its keyboard of 6 ounces or so. It also features a shock-mounted hard drive and a light-but-strong magnesium alloy case.

The Toughbook F8’s black-and-silver chassis looks bulky for a thin-and-light, and it measures a not-so-thin 1.75 inches at the rear. But picking up the machine by its integrated front handle, we were surprised how light it is. Panasonic specs the Toughbook F8 at just 3.7 pounds, and says it’s the lightest laptop on the market that includes a 14.1-inch screen, optical drive, and built-in wireless broadband connectivity. The sides of the chassis sport the expected ports and slots: three USB, Ethernet, modem, VGA, PC Card, memory card, and a port replicator connector. But we were surprised not to see eSATA and HDMI connectivity on this refresh, nor a fingerprint reader or Webcam.

The 14.1-inch 1280x800 widescreen is bright, though the anti-glare coating does rob some shrpness when viewing small text. Computing power comes from a 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 3GB of RAM, and integrated Mobile Intel 4 Express graphics chipset (so forget about 3D gaming). You also get a 160GB hard drive, a multi-format DVD burner (uniquely, tucked under the keyboard palm rest) and either Windows XP or Windows Vista Business preloaded (and we like that Panasonic includes recovery discs for both in the box, should you change your mind).

Perhaps the only thing not to like about the Toughbook F8 is the price. At $2,499, it’s almost $1,000 more expensive than the similarly configured business notebook Toshiba Tecra R10-S4401 we recently tested. So you’re paying quite a premium for the Toughbook cachet.