The XYZ crew are having a mid-range graphics card cage match. They're pitting the PCIe flavors of the 6600GT against the X700 against each other in an all-out battle to the death. If you're in the market for a new video card, & these two are in your price range, you'll certainly want to give this article a look.

"Like many other users I have serious reservations about spending what it takes to buy a top-shelf video card, like a 6800 or X850- I just can't justify the added expense for the amount of gaming that I do. I generally find myself buying mid-range cards, like my old ATI Radeon 9600XT, and others in that general price range. This review compares two new cards in this price and sees just what they can do."

Video Cards

HIS ATI Radeon X800XL @ Hi-Techreviews  EVGA e-GeForce 6200 TC @ 3DGameMan

Motherboards

Abit Fatal1ty AN8 @ the TechReport

Etc.

smart2go Mobile Navigator with Socket Bluetooth GPS Receiver @ MaximumPDA

Razer eXactMat @ TechIMO  iPod Shuffle 1GB @ AuphanOnline

XG Vortec 500W PSU @ PimpRig  Logitech MOMO Racing Wheel @ TheTechLounge

MAudio FireWire Audio/MIDI Interface w/ ADAT Lightpipe @ Tweaknews

We've still got three after-market socket7 coolers in their retail boxes in here. Cheap P.O.S.'s really... heh. You wouldn't believe how horrible their connector to the socket is manufactured. Not to mention that the fan is little more than something you'd find on today's northbridge coolers. That was way back when. The CoolTechZone gang is postulating on what's to come.

"Air coolers (heatsinks) started to gain more copper throughout their structure. We also saw heatpipes and stacked copper fin technologies being implemented into various high-end models, but soon after that everything just paused."

Live traffic updates on your cell phone sounds like a fantastic idea, except for the fact that you'd have to be stuck in traffic already in order to safely read those updates. Heh.

"America Online has updated its MapQuest mobile service, offering live traffic updates for 90 U.S. metropolitan areas, which can be viewed on mobile phones."

TiVo & Comcast, 'eh? Hrrmm.... I dunno how happy all those Comcast customers will be who currently have a DVR through Comcast. Great news for TiVo, though; they definitely needed this shot in the arm...

"The first of their co-developed products will be available in mid- to late-2006 and will use the TiVo brand. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the alliance is nonexclusive."

Video Cards

ATi Mobility Radeon X700 @ the [H]

RAM

PDP Patriot PC3200 XBL @ TechFreaks

Etc.

Razer Diamondback Professional Gaming Mouse Pictorial @ ARP

Ultra Products Titanium Finish Fans @ PimpRig   iPod Shuffle 512MB @ Designtechnica

If you missed this thing yesterday, you've got to get a look at it today. The new Koolance GPU waterblock for the X8-series cards is schweet-lookin'.

"On the opposite side you can see Koolance's new innovation for this new series of GPU coolers. Dubbed HydraPak, it's a pierce and puncture proof container for the other side of the waterchannel. The material doesn't conduct any electricty whatsoever and cools the back side of the board with direct contact. On a flip-chip design like the X8-series, you can transfer heat away from the bottom of the GPU and to the PCB."

GCC 4.0's due out relatively soon. Think there'll be a whole bunch of early-adopters? Heh.

"For example, the current version of GCC can optimize small, local parts of a program. But one new optimization, called scalar replacement and aggregates, lets GCC find data structures that span a larger amount of source code. GCC then can break those objects apart so that object components can be stored directly in fast on-chip memory rather than in sluggish main memory."

Well, I guess it didn't take all that long, I can't really see this as being a major priority. What I wanna see now, though, are the benchmarks. Should be entertaining.

"Aspyr Media, a specialist in converting Windows games to run on Macs, announced on Monday that a version of the popular shooting game for Apple's OS X operating system will go on sale March 19."

Hexus sets out to find out which of the major brands putting out sticks with the TCCD chips are the best of the best. If you're looking for serious overclocking performance, Samsung's TCCD's are the way to go right now.

"To sum up, if you want the coolest modules on the block and you're feeling flush, the Corsair Xpert is in a niche of its own. Paired with Samsung's TCCD modules, there's a world of performance to be had from them at modest Vdimm. Otherwise, the G.Skill and OCZ both come recommended at around the £200 mark, with Corsair's XL PRO and XL PT under that price, too."

Video Cards

VisionTek XTASY X850 XT @ the [H]  ATi TV Wonder Elite @ 3DGameMan

SFF

SkyHawk IceQ IMC6375 Mini BareBone @ GruntvillE

Etc.

Razotech RAM Mod @ PimpRig  XG X-Case @ ap0calypse