AMD Radeon HD 6870 & HD 6850 Review

Back on September 23rd 2009 the world was introduced to the HD 5870 and HD 5850; ATI’s first entries into what would quickly become a very lucrative DX11 marketplace. These graphics cards (code named Cypress) belonged to the Evergreen family and have enjoyed a huge amount of success. Naturally, part of that success was due to NVIDIA’s oft-delayed Fermi products but even with the GTX 400 series making some headway, ATI’s own DX11 parts are still selling like hotcakes. Even though forward movement of in-game graphics technology seems to have nearly ground to a halt due to the extended life cycles of current consoles, AMD is now refreshing their mid and high-end lineups with a whole new range of GPUs. Code named Northern Islands, this family of graphics cards is a simple evolutionary step for the HD 5000 series, and should set a new benchmark for the price you pay for performance. This evolution can be likened to Intel’s tick / tock mentality where new chip designs are released every other cycle while refinements are rolled out in a minor “refresh” at the mid way point of an architecture’s lifespan. AMD has rolled a number of efficiency, tessellation and other improvements into their HD 5000-series in order to bring the HD 6000 series to market. They also happen to be the first products which ditch the “ATI” moniker. The first Northern Islands products out of the gate will be the HD 6870 and HD 6850 – code named Barts XT and Barts Pro. Instead of going with the usual high-end first mentality, AMD is gearing the 6800 series towards the $199 to $250 market. According to our contacts at board partners and retailers, we should see the HD 6850 hit shelves for between $179 and $199 while the HD 6870 will go for $239 to $249 USD. These prices should make it quite obvious that Barts aims to attack the GTX 460 768MB and 1GB products head on. The result could be a quick marginalization of two products which NVIDIA has been banking on for the last few months. The HD 5000 cards have proven their staying power as evidenced by AMD’s refusal to issue any meaningful price cuts even with mounting NVIDIA pressure. Nonetheless, we’re about to see if AMD has been able to regain their lead against NVIDIA’s latest and greatest.

To read the complete review click here

ASUS Sabertooth X58 Review

The Intel x58 chipset has been out for a while now and the market has been well served with motherboard choices carrying this chipset. Currently, designs are shifting towards improving upon the old and becoming more trendy. Basically, they're attempting to offer more than their prior counterparts. Some aim to lower power consumption through more efficient designs while others try to provide improved reliability or deliver lower operating temperatures. Another common ploy is adding SATA 6 Gb/s and USB 3.0 to make the boards more future proof. Promises of overclocking capabilities, longer life spans and more efficient operation are all strong reasons to choose a product. With that in mind, we are here to announce that ASUS has returned with their TUF line to bring forth the Sabertooth X58! The Sabertooth claims to do all of these and more with stringent quality testing and a five-year warranty. The color scheme looks similar to army camouflage colors. The green heat sinks are all coated in some sort of ceramic coating that appears related to the automobile industry and which supposedly helps temperatures (although the automotive coat usually holds in heat as in high temperature exhaust systems). The TUF line seems to have a strong following and this board looks good next to the Noctua fans and heat sink!

To read the complete review click here

Gigabyte 890FXA-UD7 AM3 Motherboard Review

Earlier this year, in coordination with the launch of the new Phenom II X6 six-core processors, AMD unveiled the enthusiast-oriented 890FX chipset. This chipset's claim to fame is the fact that it has 32 PCI-E lanes dedicated to solely to graphics use, which is a healthy boost over the mainstream 890GX's 16 PCI-E lanes. What this allows for on is proper x16/x16 dual graphics card configurations, x16/x8/x8 triple graphics card configurations, and even x8/x8/x8/x8 quad graphics card configurations on properly equipped motherboards. The motherboard that we are reviewing today is one such motherboard. The GIGABYTE 890FXA-UD7 comes packed with six mechanical PCI-E x16 slots, and it's not just for show, this motherboard is one of the few to support 4-way CrossFireX. Because of all these expansion slots, GIGABYTE have had to lengthen the PCB by 0.8 inches past the 12 inch ATX specification. As result, this model is deemed to have a non-standard XL-ATX form factor. What this means is that the 890FXA-UD7 is not compatible with many of the popular ATX cases on the market right now. It is not all bad news though. With that extra space, GIGABYTE have outfitted this model with six USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, two SATA 3Gb/s ports, six SATA 6Gb/s ports, two eSATA ports, two FireWire ports, and dual GbE LAN ports. They even found room for legacy IDE and floppy ports. Speaking of unusual additions, this motherboard has been outfitted with a small removable water block, and thankfully GIGABYTE have redesigned the heatsink upon which this water block rests, so we are hoping to see some improved cooling performance. For air cooling enthusiasts, the new and improved Hybrid Silent-Pipe 2 module has been included in the bundle. This is a supplementary large fin array that can be attached to the northbridge cooler in order to maximize air cooling. The GIGABYTE 890FXA-UD7 is by definition an enthusiast-oriented motherboard, and before the recent arrival of the eye-watering ASUS Crosshair IV Extreme, it was the most expensive AM3 motherboard on the market. Can it justify its $250 CDN price tag? Let's find out!

To read the complete review click here

Thermaltake Toughpower Grand 750W Power Supply Review

Thermaltake, founded in 1999, are now a major global supplier of computer accessories with offices worldwide. Their product line is now extensive and includes PC enclosures, desktop and server power supplies, CPU coolers, HDD enclosures and docking stations, cables, DC cooling fans and gaming accessories.

Their power supply range is extensive from the Litepower and EVO Blue series to the Toughpower, Toughpower XT and Toughpower Grand series.

The Toughpower Grand series of power supplies is designed to meet the requirements of the extreme PC enthusiast and includes a modular cabling system, 80 Plus Gold certification and a rated operating temperature of 50°C making it “the Toughest power supply on the block”. The Thermaltake Toughpower Grand is available in only two varieties, a 650W and 750W model and this time around OCC will be having a look at the

To read the complete review click here

Event Report: GIGABYTE Open Overclocking Championship 2010 Worldwide Final

It's that time of year again, Hardware Canucks is proud to bring you the only North American coverage of the third annual and always entertaining GIGABYTE Open Overclocking Championship, 2010 Edition. During numerous local competitions and five regional finals, the latest of which was the North American final on August 7th, overclockers from 33 countries around the world competed to earn a spot at the GIGABYTE Open Overclocking 2010 Worldwide Final event on September 25th. Once the dust settled, 15 competitors distinguished themselves from the rest and were deemed worthy of an official invite to Taiwan and an opportunity to walk away as this year's GO OC world champion. Bragging rights aside, the competitors had an chance to enrich themselves to the tune of almost $8000 USD if they came in first, so there was certainly no lack of motivation to give it their all.

To check out the complete event report click here