Hardware790GX BIOS' and Zotac GF8300 lab notes

When we posted our 790GX preview there were still a few significant problems with the motherboards and drivers.  Mind you, the problems we encountered primarily revolved around overclocking and other performance settings on the motherboards.  Stock operation and stability were never a problem for us, but stepping outside of...

When we posted our 790GX preview there were still a few significant problems with the motherboards and drivers.  Mind you, the problems we encountered primarily revolved around overclocking and other performance settings on the motherboards.  Stock operation and stability were never a problem for us, but stepping outside of the norm created a fair share of frustrating moments for us.  In addition, the beta drivers that implemented PowerPlay had their own set of problems with CrossFire X operation along with some weird interactions with our TV tuner and network cards in the PCI slots. Our final opinion was that this launch occurred about two weeks early.  As such, the motherboard suppliers and AMD have been in overtime mode to get the boards and drivers tuned properly.  The good news is the last set of BIOS releases we have received from ASUS, Gigabyte, Foxconn, and MSI have solved about 95% of our problems.  The last five percent are mainly performance or tuning requests that we deem optional for the most part.  The last set of beta drivers have improved overall stability and performance greatly along with CrossFire operating correctly.  Granted, the 8.7 Catalyst drivers will work fine, but performance enhancements and PowerPlay improvements in the latest 8.8 betas have us wishing that AMD would get the final drivers out quickly. Based on these improvements, we have commenced final testing on our retail kits and should have... [ Read more on www.anandtech.com ]

HardwareVendor rating site allows users to weigh in

Since going live in March, VendorRate.com has given business IT users a place to register comments and rate some 12,000 IT providers.

HardwareCommon Virtualization myths spread by the gullible press

Don't mention "performance" in a conversation about virtualization. It is not trendy, it is archaic, it is part of the folkore. At least if you believe the gullible press and Analysts. Some of them seem to be all in a hurry to repeat the claims of the vendors.   We give you a small Anthology of  these "inspired" articles and discuss why they...