Patrick Schmid

The new dual PCIe x16 chipset from ATI is the most advanced core logic product around, but can it beat Nvidia's nForce4 SLI X16 champ? We checked into its features, performance and graphics scalability.

Although the DDR2-powered Athlon 64 platform is now up and running, AMD will not release it until June 6th. While this is mainly a business decision, it also has the benefit of leaving some time for performance optimizations.

Open-E says its storage area network (SAN) solution can turn any computer into a powerful and flexible iSCSI target - all for a reasonable price. We look at what iSCSI can do for small- to medium-sized businesses in general and how Open-E compares to high-end alternatives.

In its new 10,000 RPM Raptor drive, Western Digital improved the technology, doubled the capacity to 150 GB, and added a clear cover option. It hammers single drive competitors, of course, but can it stand up to a RAID 0 setup consisting of two 7,200 RPM drives?

TeraByte drives do not need to be slim and sexy, because their capacity of almost 1,000 GB speaks for itself. We looked under the hood of two amazing storage mammoths by LaCie and Maxtor.

Due to ULi's imminent merge with NVIDIA, the single-chip M1697 is the company's last core logic product. While being a value product, it also helps draw a picture of the fresh potential that will transfer to Santa Clara.

MSI is starting the new year off with a bang. Its newest Socket 939 board sports a lavish feature set, complete with a high-end on-board sound solution. But how good really is the performance of MSI's K8N Diamond Plus HiFi-Edition?

Acard's rackmount storage appliance uses SATA hard drives, but connects to the host system with an UltraSCSI interface. Is this the right mix for small businesses?

Adaptec, Areca and Promise are currently the only controller manufacturers that offer RAID 6 support, providing double drive failure redundancy and high-grade data safety. However, not all of them perform as well as we expected.

Intel's first 65 nm double-core processor seriously merits the hyperbole of its Extreme Edition name. The 3.46 GHz, FSB 1066 and 4 MB L2 device shows that Intel's still got some bite and wait till you see what happens when it is overclocked at 4.26 GHz.

ATI's Crossfire graphics platform is now available after NVIDIA's dual card SLI has had over a year to find its way in the channels. We look at three Crossfire ready motherboards from Asus, DFI and MSI to see whether it has been worth the wait or not.

There is a lot more to dual card graphics than the extra frame rates ATI and NVIDIA's respective Crossfire and SLI platforms offer. Besides their overclocking potential, we look at the storage interface performance of ATI Crossfire and the NVIDIA nForce4 SLI X16 platforms. We've also included VIA's new K8T900 dual graphics chipset in our lineup.

Gigabyte will not rest on its laurels for long as the first vendor to offer a working hard drive composed of DRAM memory modules if Britain-based HyperOs Systems has its way. We scrutinize the company's 16 GB, DDR solid state hard drive and see how its performance holds up against Gigabyte's i-RAM.

ATI calls it Crossfire. NVIDIA calls it SLI. In Part I of our comparative look at dual-card graphics, we detail the two graphic giants' chipsets and what you get by investing in an Asus Crossfire or SLI motherboard.

Many assume that multi-core processors must be installed in pairs, in two-, four- or eight-core configurations. But what happens when you mix and match a dual- and single-core processor in a PC or server?

After comparing the latest SATA II RAID cards, we wanted to know whether PCI Express can actually outperform PCI-X. We used HighPoint's RocketRAID 2220 and 2320 models to help us find out.

The Toshiba GSX series offers Serial ATA interfaces and capacities of up to 100 GB, but is not able to outperform its competition.

Intel's 975X does not increase system performance, nor does it introduce additional features. Still, it finds perfect justification for existence, simply by being the first core logic product Intel has specifically targeted at the dual graphics market.

Two new 7200 RPM notebook drives from Hitachi and Seagate are ready to power your high-performance notebook. Both perform well, but have different advantages - and warranties.

Ubuntu is a Linux distribution aimed at end users who are tired of Windows. Stored on a USB memory device, you can now take a fully-featured desktop OS and applications anywhere you go!

Dual-core CPUs are the stuff of the future, but what about now? Given the huge mark up for premium dual-core AMD and Intel processors and the lack of multi-threaded software, our performance tests and cost comparisons show that you should not necessarily give up on single-core systems as of yet.

We gathered the latest generation of RAID controllers at our test lab to show off their performance and features. Five products ranging between $270 and $650 battle for the system administrator's attention.

Gigahertz labels have been replaced by model numbers, but there is still more to come. Intel's next generation processors will not only introduce even more models, but sport a numbering system that has turned into an instrument for confusion.

It may look like an Apple Mac Mini, but Macpower's M9-DX Mini Pod is a powerful 400 GB external storage device for both Macs and PCs.