Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by lex

[WTS] HDD mounting for 5.25" drive bay

lex — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 05:30:37 +0800

Item(s) #1: Passive HDD cooler (2 units)

» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «

Update: SOLD to Core_Tracer

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Item(s) #2: 3.5" HDD mounting for 5.25" drive bay (2 units)
Package includes: A pair of HDD mounting plates and screws
Price: Offer me
Warranty: Its a pair of solid metal plates, no electronics nor any moving parts, why need warranty?
Dealing method: Preferably COD
Location of seller: Setapak Jaya / Wangsa Maju, Kuala Lumpur
Contact method/details: PM or H/P 013-3892916
Age of item: Around 7 years+
Item(s) conditions: Still good and solid
Picture: [attachmentid=1282533][attachmentid=1282534][attachmentid=1282535]
Reason for sale: No longer using (for very long time). Useful for those who have ran out of 3.5" drive bays, enables the use the 5.25" bays.

[SOLD] AOpen 40x/12x/48x external USB CDRW drive

lex — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:11:06 +0800

Item(s): AOpen 40x/12x/48x external USB CDRW drive

Package includes: External CDRW unit, USB cable and AC power adapter

Price: RM35 or offer me

Warranty: 1 week personal

Dealing method: Preferably COD

Location of seller: Setapak Jaya/Wangsa Maju, Kuala Lumpur

Contact method/details: PM or H/P 013-3892916

Age of item: Around 6 years

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Item(s) conditions: Still in good working condition

Picture: Same as this review.

Reason for sale: No longer using.

Comment: Internally its an IDE CDRW. You can use the casing to house any CD/DVD drive, for example change the drive to a DVDRW make an external DVDRW (and usually external DVDRW are pretty pricey, more than double the price of an internal one).

Update: SOLD!

[SOLD] 12GB external 2.5" USB HDD

lex — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:12:33 +0800

Item(s): 12GB external 2.5" USB HDD

Package includes:2.5" USB HDD aluminium casing, USB "Y" cable and IBM TravelStar 12GB IDE HDD

Price: RM40/- (negotiable)

Warranty: 1 week personal

Dealing method: Preferably COD

Location of seller: Setapak Jaya/Wangsa Maju, Kuala Lumpur

Contact method/details: PM or H/P 013-3892916

Age of item: Around 5 years

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Item(s) conditions: Still in good working condition

Picture: [attachmentid=1282076][attachmentid=1282077]
[attachmentid=1282078][attachmentid=1282084]

Reason for sale: Redundant. Using flash drives nowadays.

Update #1: Price revised and pictures uploaded

Update #2: SOLD to knight3d!

[WTS] HighPoint and Promise ATA RAID controllers

lex — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:21:14 +0800

Item #1: HighPoint RocketRAID 133 PCI ATA RAID controller (specifications here)
Package includes: Card only.
Price: RM100 (negotiable)
Warranty: 1 week personal
Dealing method: Preferably COD
Location of seller: Setapak Jaya, Kuala Lumpur
Contact method/details: PM or 013-3892916
Age of item: around 4 years+
Item(s) conditions: Last time it was working fine, recently tested still OK.
Picture: [attachmentid=1275523][attachmentid=1275525][attachmentid=1275528]
Reason for sale: No longer using for a long time.

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Item #2: Promise Ultra66 PCI ATA controller modified to FastTrak66 PCI RAID controller
Package includes: Card only.
Price: RM60 (negotiable)
Warranty: 1 week personal
Dealing method: Preferably COD
Location of seller: Setapak Jaya, Kuala Lumpur
Contact method/details: PM or 013-3892916
Age of item: around 9 years+
Item(s) conditions: Last time it was working fine, recently tested still OK. One of the fastest RAID controllers during its time, and you can find many reviews on this card. Example here.
Picture: [attachmentid=1275522][attachmentid=1275526][attachmentid=1275529]
Reason for sale: No longer using, for a long time.

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Item #3: Promise Ultra66 PCI ATA controller
Package includes: Card only.
Price: RM40 (negotiable)
Warranty: 1 week personal
Dealing method: Preferably COD
Location of seller: Setapak Jaya, Kuala Lumpur
Contact method/details: PM or 013-3892916
Age of item: around 9 years+
Item(s) conditions: Working fine. Originally I got this with the intention of converting it to another FastTrak66, however I decided not to.
Picture: Physically the same as Item #2, from Device Properties.. and drivers already preinstalled in Windows
[attachmentid=1275530][attachmentid=1275532][attachmentid=1275550]
Test with 40GB IDE HDD, appears as a SCSI HDD
[attachmentid=1275533][attachmentid=1275535]
Reason for sale: No longer using, for a long time.

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Useful for people looking to connect IDE HDDs on newer motherboards (ie. nowadays most motherboards have only a single IDE, usually used for CD/DVD drive).

[SOLD]Leadtek WinFast PX7600GT Extreme 256MB GDDR3

lex — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:06:19 +0800

Item(s): Leadtek WinFast PX7600GT Extreme 256MB GDDR3 (factory pre-overclocked card)

Package includes: Graphics card with a DVI-to-VGA converter.

Price: RM110/- (negotiable)

Warranty: 1 week

Dealing method: Preferably COD

Location of seller: Setapak Jaya, Kuala Lumpur

Contact method/details: PM or H/P 013-3892916

Age of item: Unsure since its my brother's one.

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Item(s) conditions: Still in excellent working condition

Picture: [attachmentid=1274731]

Reason for sale: Upgrade graphics card.

Update: SOLD!

[WTS] DVI cables (1 unit left)

lex — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 03:44:23 +0800

Item(s): DVI cable (1 unit left!)

Package includes: Cable only

Price: RM15/- (negotiable)

Warranty: 1 week personal

Dealing method: Preferably COD, postage may be entertained

Location of seller: Setapak Jaya, Kuala Lumpur

Contact method/details: PM or H/P 013-3892916

Age of item: 1 opened

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Item(s) conditions: Still new!

Picture: From the opened one..
[attachmentid=1273723][attachmentid=1273724]

Reason for sale: Spring cleaning, didn't realize I had unused extras.

Update #1: Price revised

Update #2: Sold 2 units.

[WTS] Athlon XP 1800+ PC, processor and HSF

lex — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 09:06:52 +0800

Item #1: Pentium4 HT PC

» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «

Update: SOLD to aiyume.

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Item #2: Athlon XP PC
Package includes:
- AMD Athlon XP 1800+ (Palomino) Socket-462, modified to Athlon MP 1800+, 256KB L2 cache, 266MHz FSB = RM30
- Vantec full copper HSF with 4500rpm YS-Tech fan = RM40
- MSI K7D Master-L (MSI-6501) server mainboard (support dual processors, specifications here) = 80
- Kingston 256MB DDR-400 SDRAM = 25
- NVIDIA Riva TNT2 Vanta 8MB AGP = 15
- integrated audio and Intel LAN
- Netodragon 56K PCI modem = RM10
- Lite-On 48X IDE CDROM (black color) = RM10
- Western Digital 40GB IDE HDD = RM35
- 1.44MB FDD (black color) = RM5
- iCute 450W ATX PSU with dual fan = RM20
- iCute ATX medium tower casing with 2 casing fans = RM20 (casing original price is RM120)
Price: RM260 (negotiable)
Warranty: None, all working and fully tested
Dealing method: Preferably COD
Location of seller: Setapak Jaya, Kuala Lumpur
Contact method/details: PM or 013-3892916
Age of item: Varies, processor and mainboard around 6 years old
Item(s) conditions: Still in excellent working condition. CPUZ validation here.
Picture: [attachmentid=1272948][attachmentid=1272951][attachmentid=1272952]
Reason for sale: Extra PCs.
Comment: To avoid any misundertanding, I'm selling this as a single processor system. The 2nd processor and 2nd HSF is sold separately as Item #4 and Item #5. The motherboard can still run dual processor, see my recent CPU validation here and screenshot below..

[attachmentid=1315256]

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Item #4: Athlon XP 1800+ Socket-462 processor (Palomino)
Package includes: Processor
Price: RM30 (negotiable)
Warranty: None
Dealing method: Preferably COD
Location of seller: Setapak Jaya, Kuala Lumpur
Contact method/details: PM or 013-3892916
Age of item: Around 6 years
Item(s) conditions: Working, took it out from the dual processor mainboard.
Picture: [attachmentid=1271343][attachmentid=1271344]
Reason for sale: Spare, hardly used at all

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Item #5: Vantec full copper HSF with 4500rpm YS-Tech fan for Socket-462
Package includes: Heatsink and fan
Price: RM40 (negotiable)
Warranty: None
Dealing method: Preferably COD
Location of seller: Setapak Jaya, Kuala Lumpur
Contact method/details: PM or 013-3892916
Age of item: around 6 years
Item(s) conditions: Working, took it out from the dual processor mainboard.
Picture: [attachmentid=1271340][attachmentid=1271342]
Reason for sale: Spare, hardly used at all

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Item #6: GolbalWin FOP38 HSF with 6800rpm ball bearing fan for Socket-462 and Socket-370
Package includes: Heatsink and fan
Price: RM40 (negotiable)
Warranty: None
Dealing method: Preferably COD
Location of seller: Setapak Jaya, Kuala Lumpur
Contact method/details: PM or 013-3892916
Age of item: around 6 years
Item(s) conditions: Working. This is one of the top HSF in its heydays. Also one of the noisiest due to its high speed fan, however the huge wind power can reach (and cool) the surrounding area even the NorthBridge! Example review here.
Picture: Later, still attached to a processor on slocket.
Reason for sale: No longer using.

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More items will be added later to the list (after I tested them out).. If anyone is interested in the above list items, then please contact me.

Update #1: Prices revised, split some items to other sections to reduce clutter.

Update #2: Item #3 withdrawn.

Update #3: Prices for items if sold separate (due to enquiries)

Exclusive: Get SLI for Your P45 Motherboard!

lex — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 13:03:11 +0800

Source: Expreview.com - Exclusive: Get SLI for Your P45 Motherboard!

QUOTE

Intel X58 is the First and only non-NVIDIA chipset to get SLI technology, and the users of Intel X38/X48/P45 motherboards probably hate the fact that their hardware doesn’t support SLI. However, everything has changed now…

One reader named Firewings [CCG] at Expreview forum (Chinese version) has figured out the way to get SLI support for its Asus Maximus Formula motherboard based on Intel X38 chipset, with one NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT and one GeForce GTX 260 graphics card.

Expreview.com has contacted the reader and run a quick test for validation. We chose Intel QX9650 OC (4GHz) CPU, Asus Maximus II Formular motherboard, one Yeston GeForce GTX260+ 896GD3, and one Galaxy GeForce GTX 260+ graphics card for the test.

By installing the software that Firewings [CCG] provides us, we managed to enable SLI configuration in Directory Services Restore Mode. Due to some “small problems” according to Firewings [CCG], the SLI configuration can’t be realized in normal mode for now, but he says this will be fixed soon.

We utilize 3DMark Vantage software to check out the performance, and it shows as P20483, which is very close to the SLI performance of dual GTX260.

Firewings [CCG] says the cracking itself is not difficult at all, but he needs to test this on different motherboards before taking this to universal use.

Nvidia Ion to Support VIA Nano Later This Year

lex — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 05:35:52 +0800

Source: THG - Nvidia Ion to Support VIA Nano Later This Year...

QUOTE

The Intel Atom by itself is a mild-mannered, rather modest processor. Its special ability is its low power consumption, but that by itself doesn’t mean that it has to be part of a low powered system.

We’ve seen first hand just how the Nvidia Ion chipset is able to make an Intel Atom system a viable day-to-day machine for most uses, multimedia included.

Nvidia isn’t going to just limit its Ion platform to Intel chips, as it is currently working on a second generation Ion that will support a greater range of CPUs. Digitimes reports that the VIA Nano will soon be paired with the Ion.

In a previous interview, Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang had good things to say about VIA’s mobile processor. Huang described VIA’s Nano processor as “fabulous,” and perhaps “architecturally one generation beyond Atom.”

The problem, he said, is beyond the hardware: “The challenge in the complexity of the PC is the software outside of the processor. The amount of software and hardware outside of the CPU is so much, unless you have tier-one capabilities, you can’t build a tier-one-capable machine. That’s really VIA’s weakness. They don’t have the resources to build the GPU in the system to be competitive.”

Intel 32nm ‘Westmere’ processor demoed

lex — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 05:34:35 +0800

Source: Intel 32nm ‘Westmere’ processor gets video demo, some snippets...

QUOTE

Intel unwrapped its new “working” 32-nm processor for both laptops and desktops at today’s San Francisco event, and announced plan to invest $7 billion over the next two years on the new-generation 32-nm manufacturing technology at existing sites in New Mexico, Arizona, and Oregon.

The Intel processor, codename “Westmere” chip, which is a shrunken version of Intel’s existing Nehalem micro-architecture, consumes less power at higher performance level, and integrates a 45 nm graphics die together with memory controller on the same package. It’s reporting to have increased 22 percent in performance compares to the existing 45nm chip.

The first two Westmere chips will be codenamed “Clarkdake”, a dual core 32nm logical processor with a graphic core for desktops, and a mobile use “Arrandale”. Both are scheduled to be released in Q4 this year, on the other hand, the company has revised plan to carry on its dual-core “Havendale” (desktop) and “Auburndale” (mobile) chips manufacturing with 45nm process. Replacement is expected with higher end “Lynnfield” and “Clarksfield” without the integrated graphics, but the same 45nm profile with newer process.

The four upcoming chips will run on a new Intel Series 5 chipset, codenamed “Kings Creek” desktop and Calpella for mobile. (demo video below). Also, coming next year in Q2, Intel will release a 6-core “Gulftown” high end desktop processor with 32nm process but without the graphic core. The flagship 32nm processor is said to be capable of handling twelve threads at once with the next generation Hyper-Threading.

[YOUTUBE]vTJLQuHUYFw[/YOUTUBE] [YOUTUBE]BYJXyiUbRZk[/YOUTUBE]

[addedon]February 22, 2009, 5:45 am[/addedon]Source: DailyTech - First "Westmere" Silicon from Intel's Fab D1D Shown Running Windows 7..

QUOTE

Intel's P1268 32nm process is at an incredibly advanced stage, and Intel wants the world to know it.

The CPU behemoth has cancelled several 45nm products because it will have much more advanced 32nm products available this year. AMD, meanwhile, has only been selling 45nm chips since November.

Clarkdale is the desktop version of Westmere, built using two 32nm logic cores and a 45nm graphics core using Intel's "Multi-Chip Packaging". Targeted at the mainstream value market, it is capable of running four threads at once with Intel's newest generation of Hyper-Threading. A server variant of Clarkdale is also to be introduced later in Q1 of 2010.

Arrandale is the mobile version of Clarkdale and will also be available with integrated-on-package graphics. It will allow switchable graphics within Windows 7 and Windows Vista, enabling the use of a higher performance GPU through PCIe when plugged in. Both Clarkdale and Arrandale will use 5 series chipsets exclusively with DDR3.

This is the first 32nm silicon out of Intel's Fab D1D Research and Development center in Hillsboro, Oregon. We were told that it is fully functional and running Windows 7. Intel also claims that its cycle times are greatly improved over its P1266 45nm process, and expects a faster ramp.

Power consumption numbers are visible for both Clarkdale and Arrandale, but these are just preliminary. Final production silicon will probably be much lower, but this gives a good indication of Intel's prowess.

AMD Demos 6-core Opteron "Istanbul"

lex — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 05:30:44 +0800

Source: AMD puts on the ritz with six-core Opteron demo, some snippets...

QUOTE

It's Istanbul (not Constantinople)
by Scott Wasson — 1:08 AM on February 20, 2009

AUSTIN, TEXAS — With Intel's Nehalem-based Xeons gathering like a storm on the horizon, AMD today gave the first working demonstration of its potential counterpunch: a six-core Opteron processor code-named "Istanbul." Istanbul is a fairly straightforward upgrade over current 'Shanghai' Opterons: a 45nm processor with 6MB of L3 cache that fits into a Socket F-style motherboards, only with six cores rather than four. As a result, the upcoming Istanbul-based Opterons will serve as drop-in upgrades for existing Socket F systems. The chips will take advantage of the same 2P, 4P, and 8P infrastructure as today's Opterons, with HyperTransport and two channels of DDR2 memory per socket.

AMD has previously stated that Istanbul processors will become available in the second half of this year, and the firm hasn't yet provided any more specific guidance about when to expect Istanbul-based systems. However, the presence of working silicon would seem to indicate that Istanbul Opterons could be introduced much earlier in that broad "second half" time-frame than originally anticipated.

AMD showed us several demonstrations of Istanbul silicon in action. The first was a simple showing of Task Manager on the Windows Server 2008 desktop, in which the utility showed activity indicators for each of the 24 cores in a quad-socket system.

Q8200, Q8300: which will take over from the Q6600?

lex — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 06:17:55 +0800

Q8200 & Q8300 review: BeHardware - Q8200, Q8300: which will take over from the Q6600?

Intel to cut prices of Q9650, Q9550, Q9400, & more

lex — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 05:26:03 +0800

Source: Baisse des quad Intel le 18 translated means Intel to cut prices of Q9650, Q9550, Q9400 and more.. on January 18th!

Many sites cannot connect...

lex — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 11:10:08 +0800

Anyone else having such problems? Just wondering...

[attachmentid=708995]

Even certain Youtube videos simply can't play, have to retry few times... others are OK.. Is there some kind of problem connecting with certain IP ranges?

Intel Core i5 performance

lex — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 21:37:22 +0800

Source #1 http://bbs.chiphell.com/viewthread.php?tid...&extra=page%3D1
Source #2 http://en.expreview.com/2008/12/09/first-t...-lynnfield.html

AMD Athlon X2 7750 Black Edition reviewed

lex — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 21:33:26 +0800

Core i7 920 Core Disabling Performance Analysis

lex — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:22:08 +0800

Source: http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/1669/1/c...ysis/index.html

QUOTE

While venturing through the BIOS on my brand spanking new EX58-UD5 based testbed, I stumbled across an option that gives one the ability to set the amount of cores they want running on the system.

So, while I was there pondering around with the options, I wondered what would happen if we started disabling cores. How would that affect 3D performance? What I really wanted to know is how many cores we really need; one, two, three or four? â€“ Sure, there have been articles that compare a dual core based Core 2 processor to a quad core one, but what happens if the only difference between every CPU configuration is the amount of cores while FSB, speed and memory settings are all the same?

With that in mind, cores started dropping quicker than flies on a 40c day in Australia and the benchmarks came aâ€™flowing. I can tell you right now, the results were very interesting.

First "Phenom II X4" 2.7GHz Test Results

lex — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 05:34:27 +0800

An Opteron 2384 (Shanghai) as used as a preview to (or to simulate) Phenom II X4.

Source: http://www.gamestar.de/hardware/tests/proz...enom_ii_x4.html

QUOTE

Unreal Tournament 3 shows the potential of the new Phenom II-series: Running at identical clock speeds of 2.7 GHz the simulated Phenom II X4 clearly beats the (overclocked) Phenom X4 9950 BE: 175.1 to 129.5 FPS in 1280x1024 and 167.6 to 128.2 FPS in 1680x1050 using high detail settings. But the Core i7 920 with its slightly lower clock speed of 2.66 GHz is still ahead of the Phenom II with 202.4 to 175.1 FPS (1280x1024) and 188,1 to 167.6 FPS (1680x1050).

In Call of Duty 4 the new Phenom II X4 is slower than its predecessor for no apparent reason. Even though we double-checked the BIOS and the game settings, the Phenom II X4 only managed 117.3 FPS (1280x1024) compared to the Phenom X4 9950 BE with 126.8 FPS, both using the same settings. This gap can also be seen in 1680x1050 with 106.8 (Phenom II X4) to 119.2 FPS (Phenom X4 9950 BE).

The internal benchmark of the compression tool WinRAR confirms the performance advantage of the Phenom X4 compared to its predecessor seen in Unreal Tournament 3 â€“ with 1,528 KB/s it compresses data noticeably faster than the Phenom X4 9950 BE with 1,318 KB/s, both running with identical clock speeds. In optimized multimedia applications like WinRAR, Intel managed to almost double the performance going from Core 2 to Core i7 (see: Core i7 put to the testÂ (in German)). AMD doesn't achieve anything similar with the Phenom II X4 â€“ but that's no surprise given that there are hardly any technical differences between both generations of Phenom processors.

[attachmentid=691219][attachmentid=691220]

Still early to tell how final results will be, because the tester was using a server board.

BFG offers free PCIe graphics cards to AGP users

lex — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 03:36:00 +0800

Source #1: http://www.bfgtech.com/freeupgrade.aspx

QUOTE

Do you have a BFG graphics card that has an AGP bus type? (www.bustype.com)

The PCI Express bus type for graphics cards is the standard going forward for all systems and motherboards. In fact, AGP is no longer being supported.

If you were to upgrade your system or motherboard now or in the future, you would need a PCI Express graphics card to support that new system, which would improve your overall performance in 3D games and video processing.

Weâ€™d like to encourage you to trade in your current working AGP BFG graphics card for a BFG PCI Express graphics card. The chart below shows BFG AGP cards and their closest PCI Express equivalent.

Now, for a limited time, if you send us your BFG AGP card in good, working condition, weâ€™ll send you the PCI Express equivalent at no cost to you. If you want to upgrade to an even better performing card, there is a nominal fee to do so. Offer good for U.S. customers only.

If you choose to take advantage of this offer, please remember that you would need to upgrade your current AGP-based system to a PCI Express-based system at your expense in order for the new card to work. That means upgrading your motherboard and possibly your CPU (processor).

Source #2: http://www.techreport.com/discussions.x/15948

QUOTE

For years after motherboards first started donning PCI Express slots, graphics card vendors continued to cater to technophobes (and broke college students) by offering AGP cards. Now, one of those companies is encouraging late adopters finally to make the switch.

BFG has dropped us a line saying it's offering free upgrades to users of its AGP graphics cards. The offer is only available in the U.S. and for a "limited time," and participants will need to send back a "BFG AGP card in good, working condition." The upgrade choices seem tantalizing, though: someone with an old GeForce 6800 GS or 7800 GS could get a free upgrade to a GeForce 9600 GT OC 512MB. For a nominal fee of $50, BFG will send that same user a GeForce 9800 GT OC 512MB.

Check out the upgrade offer page for a list of eligible cards and instructions. As BFG itself notes, however, the upgrade process may not be particularly straightforward: the user will presumably have to do without their discrete GPU for a while, buy a new motherboard, and presumably acquire processor and memory upgrades, as well.

Need for Speed Undercover: GPU and CPU performance

lex — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 21:56:38 +0800

It has come to my attention that some people have problems running the one the latest games, Need For Speed Undercover, smoothly.. Example here.

Source: http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/news/43108/I-...over-Benchmarks

QUOTE

On the off-chance that the early reviews haven't scared you off yet -- I know I still want the 360 version -- comes news that the lads at PCGH whipped up some benchmarks for Need for Speed Undercover.

If you want to play NfS Undercover at 1,280 x 1,024 with maximal details, you will need at least a E7300 or Q6600 with a Radeon HD 3870 or a Geforce 8800 GT. While Undercover is running very well on AMD's Radeon cards, the Phenoms and Athlons don't stand a chance against Intel's Core 2s. So for example a E4300 is faster than a X4 9750 and only the X4 9950 (not n the benchmark charts) can beat the Intel CPU.

4x Multi Sampling Anti Aliasing is, activated in the game options, almost free; only the Radeon HD 3870 loses some ground. The two oldest graphics cards in the review, the X1950 Pro and the 7900 GT, are far behind on the last places - playing Need for Speed Undercover with those cards is rather impossible.

Original source: http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,667775/...nchmark_review/

Summarized: http://en.hardspell.com/doc/showcont.asp?news_id=4489