Today is Radeon HD4870X2 day, & it looks like, for the moment, DAAMIT is back on top of the graphics game. Of course, nVidia will be releasing a GTX280GX2 at some point here soon, & the process will start all over again. For now, though, DAAMIT can enjoy the fastest Crysis benchmarks to date. Let the review-age begin!

Phoronix (VisionTek, on Linux)
the TechReport (Palit)
ChileHardware ( reference card, in Spanish)
TechGage (Palit)
Hexus (Sapphire)
techPowerUp (Sapphire)
HotHardware (Palit & reference card)
TweakTown (Sapphire - in CrossFire)
Madshrimps (Sapphire)
Anandtech (reference card)
PCPerspective (Sapphire)
OverclockersClub (Sapphire)

AMD launches the long-awaited update to its integrated graphics platform today, the 790GX. The GX will sport an updated IGP, the Radeon 3300, as well as the new, overclocker-friendly SB750 southbridge. AMD will also re-launch its 790FX platform to include the new southbridge, but I haven't found any word on that ETA yet. The FX platform will be targeted at "enthusiasts," & feature multiple x16 PCIe slots.

I've read the only two reviews I can find right now, & neither really goes into any detail about Hybrid CrossFire. I'm most interested in Hybrid CrossFire because of the possibility of using the discrete graphics card only when necessary. Unfortunately, with the 790GX's predecessor, the 780G, using Hybrid CrossFire with anything more powerful than an HD34xx series card was not possible. My hope is that as more reviews hit today, a site out there will attempt to put the new tech to the test. You can find my discussion about Hybrid CrossFire here, on the [H] forums.

AMD's press release (nifty video included) is here. There are currently four 790GX boards listed at Newegg, here. Let's get to the reviews!

LegitReviews (ASUS M3A78-T)
HotHardware (Gigabyte MA790GP-DS4H)
AMDZone (Foxconn A7DA-S)
the TechReport (Gigabyte GA-MA790GP-DS4H)

What does this mean for the future of SLi? Will AMD/CrossFire be the only multi-GPU platform left here shortly? Or will nVidia make SLi technology openly available?

"As the story is told, Nvidia called a meeting earlier this week with its motherboard partners to gauge support for it continuing to develop chipsets in the future."

The guys at Anandtech have been hard at work all weekend to give everyone a quick look at what looks to be a great improvement in AMD's chipset lineup. The SB750 will be out on new 790FX & 790GX boards this week, so look for the reviews tomorrow. I know I've been waiting for these chips to be launched all month this month & can't wait for them to hit retail. Needless to say, their preliminary OC results look very, very promising.

"In fact, there are so many changes that we will be back tomorrow with a full review of this new SouthBridge, the technology behind it, and an in-depth look at AOD version 2.1.2. Also, we will provide performance results from a few different Phenom processors to indicate what works well and what does not when utilizing ACC."

Notebooks

Toshiba Satellite M300 @ DigitalTrends

Video Cards

HIS HD 3650 512MB IceQ Turbo @ HardwareLogic

Sapphire HD4870 @ HighTechReviews

Motherboards

ASUS P5E64 WS Professional X38 Workstation @ ThinkComputers

GIGABYTE GA-X48-DQ6 @ Virtual-Hideout

ECS GF8200A Black @ Motherboards.org

RAM

Corsair 4GB DDR3 1600MHz CL9 Kit @ LegitReviews

Displays

LG W2452T LCD @ Hexus   Acer P243WAid 24" LCD @ Phoronix

Web Cams

Microsoft LifeCam VX-5000 WebCam @ BenchmarkReviews

Logitech Quickcam Vision Pro @ ASELabs

Power

Gigabyte - ODIN GT 800W @ TechwareLabs

Coolmax CUQ 1350W @ Pro-Clockers

External Enclosures

Sans Digital MS2UT+ Black RAID Enclosure @ ASELabs

SilverStone TS01 2.5" SATA RFID Enclosure @ OCIA

Cooling

LapLogic W800 Aerogel Extreme @ APHNetworks

Passive HDD Coolers Compared from Scythe and Titan @ Madshrimps

Vigor iSurf II Hard Drive Cooler @ LegitReviews

Input

Cyber Snipa PWNAGE Desktop @ TweakTown

OCZ NIA Brain-Computer Interface @ HotHardware

Etc.

BreathKey Digital Breath Alcohol Tester @ TechwareLabs

The TGDaily gang run down the flood of bad news that Ruiz is jumping ship over at AMD just as things couldn't get any worse. But is he really just bailing out on the green team? According to TGDaily, AMD's Asset Smart announcement may come as early as Q3.

"According to our sources, Asset Smart will spin off AMD’s fabs into a new company that will be run by Hector Ruiz. Dirk Meyer will keep control of the development and then fabless AMD."

Valve snapped up the head dev for the Minerva HL2 mod to work on levels for Ep3. I expect that all HL2 fans should be happy with the move, as Minerva is quality stuff.

"Valve has a history of hiring talented developers from its community. Counter Strike, Day of Defeat and Left 4 Dead have all become Valve properties off the back of successful independent mod releases."

The guys at HardwareSecrets have posted a three-way. Hard drive round-up, you sicko. They've got Maxtor, Seagate, & Samsung on the bench. I'm curious as to why they chose the 160GB flavor...

"We decided to benchmark 160 GB models because this is still the standard for low-end and mainstream PCs. You can still find some 80 GB and 120 GB models on the market, but they seem to be vanishing fast."

Oh, well there ya go then.

Motherboards

Sapphire Pure RS780G Hybrid CrossFire @ Hexus

Gigabyte EP45-DQ6 @ Pro-Clockers

Input

Kensington Ci75 Wireless Notebook Mouse @ CoolTechZone

3DConnexion SpaceExplorer 3D Controller @ MetkuMods

Kensington SlimBlade Media Mouse @ CoolTechZone.

Software

Supreme Ruler 2020 - PC @ Gamepyre

Linux 2.6.26 Kernel @ Phoronix

Etc.

OCZ EliteXStream 800W PSU @ OverclockersOnline

Samsung YP-P2 MP3 Player @ ThinkComputers

Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000GLFS @ Futurelooks

Aten CS1782 KVM DVI Switch @ Phoronix

Motherboards

ECS GF8200A Black Series GeForce 8200 @ Bigbruin

ECS P45T-A Black @ Virtual-Hideout

MSI P45 Platinum and Asus Maximus II Formula@ Madshrimps

RAM

Corsair XMS3 DHX 1600MHz 4GB Kit @ TweakTown

Cases

Tagan Black Pearl WCR Full Tower @ TweakTown

Antec Three Hundred Gaming Chassis @ HotHardware

Hiper Osiris Aluminum @ techPowerUp  Thermaltake M9 @ Ninjalane

Moneual Labs MonCaso 972 HTPC @ OCIA

Etc.

GelaSkins for DS and PSP @ GideonTech

Flip Video Ultra Digital Camcorder @ ThinkComputers

Plustek OpticFilm 7500i AI 35mm Film Scanner @ Futurelooks

Sans Digital MobileSTOR RAID Enclosure (MS2UTN+) @ TechwareLabs

BlueAnt Wireless Z9i Bluetooth Headset @ LegitReviews

Silverstone Decathlon DA850 @ Pro-Clockers

Interesting that the 2.0.x patch came out yesterday while the 3.0.x patch will hit today. Either way, the vulnerabilities are listed as "critical," so it's good that Mozilla's catching up on these month-old exploits.

"Firefox 3.0.1, the first update since the open-source browser was upgraded almost a month ago, won't reach users until Wednesday at the earliest, according to notes from a Mozilla status meeting published online."

The BenchmarkReviews guys add another nine CPU coolers to their comprehensive results database, bringing the total coolers tested up to sixteen. They've also included stock/performance fans this time around.

"Our scope is limited to stand-alone products only, meaning those products which can be installed and operated without additional critical components needed or kit construction."

This move by XFX is really a stand-up thing to do for its customers. I know when I read the headline that it made me think about who the manufacturer of my next video card would be...

"Sudden changes in the market have caused the price for the XFX GeForce GTX 280 and the XFX GeForce GTX 260 to drop. As a result, we want to thank you for your continued loyalty and for believing in the XFX brand. And, to show our commitment to you, we are issuing up to $120 CASH BACK to customers who purchased one of these cards between June 16, 2008 and July 11, 2008."

Market researchers forsee WiMAX chipsets in every new notebook; as ubiquitous as WiFi. Falling ASPs are helping the trend along; quickly.

"Even when global subscriber numbers reach the high tens of millions, ABI Research expects chipset shipments to be well into the hundreds of millions."

Video Cards

NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX+ @ Hexus

ASUS EN9600GT SILENT @ TweakTown

RAM

Patriot Viper 4GB PC3-12800 @Virtual-Hideout

A-DATA Gaming Series DDR2-800 4GB Kit @ ThinkComputers

Kingston HyperX 2GB PC3-12800 @ ASELabs

Storage

Patriot Xporter XT 4 GB Ruggedized Flash Drive @ TechwareLabs

WD My Passport Studio 250GB USB Mac @ ASELabs

Audio

iPod Nano Third Gen @ HardwareSecrets

TekNmotion Pulsar SX Gaming Headset @ techPowerUp

Power

Tuniq Miniplant 950W @ XSReviews

Chieftech Aegis Case and 500W PSU @ TechwareLabs

Etc.

Novint Falcon @ Rbmods  Samsung Instinct @ DigitalTrends