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This issue is jam packed with info, including a three-part column called "Mysterious Motherboard Troubles", a recap of three new PCstats Q & A letters, and our look at 2005 Tech Roadmaps.

On the review front, PCstats has tested Crucial's new Ballistix Tracer DDR, the spritely Gigabyte Geforce 6600GT PCI-e videocard, the G-Max N512 'Dothan' based Centrino notebook, and an ingenuitive Asrock K8 Combo-Z motherboard which supports both socket 754 and 939 Athlon64 processors. Further along are reviews of the GSA-4120B dual layer DVD-burner from LG, and Soltek's SL-K8TPro-939 Athlon64 motherboard. PCstats's Weekly Tech Tip rounds out the newsletter as always.

Happy Holidays from all of us here at PCstats!

Crucial Ballistix Tracer PC4000 Memory Review

As reviewers, we were extremely pleased to see Crucial enter the enthusiast memory arena with its Ballistix line of DDR memory. After all, the entry of a major player like Crucial should help to drive down prices for the consumer, right? Each 512MB Crucial Ballistix Tracer PC4000 stick is rated to run up to 250 MHz, while maintaining CAS 2.5-4-4-8 at 2.8V. At first glance the memory looks pretty much like every other DDR DIMM on the market, but upon closer inspection we can clearly see the LED's on top and near the pins. The ones on the bottom glow a nice blue on both sides, the LEDs on the top alternate red and green in colour. The blue underlights are particularly cool as they illuminate each DDR socket.

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Gigabyte GV-NX66T128D GeForce 6600GT Videocard Review

nVIDIA was the first to enter the 'mainstream' PCI Express video market with the GeForce 6600 class GPU. ATi followed suit a few days later with its Radeon X700. While the companies are different, the technology behind the competing VPUs is actually quite similar. Over the next dozen pages, PCStats will test out a videocard made by Gigabyte called the GV-NX66T128D. This PCI Express x16 videocard is based on nVIDIA's GeForce 6600GT GPU, and packs in a svelte 128MB of Samsung GDDR3 memory. If you're holding out for a motherboard that has two PCI Express x16 slots, you'll be happy to know the GV-NX66T128D is SLI compatible as well.Continue Here>>

When it comes to memory, there are two eternal truth's; it can never be fast enough, nor in a large enough quantity. For the longest time, 1GB of total system memory has been the sweet spot for PC systems. Yet, with programs demanding more resources than ever, often 1GB of system RAM doesn't feel like enough anymore! Called the Patriot DDR-2 eXtreme Bandwidth and Latency Kit, each of these 1GB PC2-4200 XBL sticks of memory have official timings of 3-2-2-4. When those timings are loosened up to 4-3-3-12, PDP Systems PC2-4200 XBL RAM is almost able to 'fly' at 700 MHz!Continue Here>>

Gigabyte G-MAX N512 Centrino Laptop Review

In this review PCstats will be putting the Gigabyte G-MAX N512, which is based on the Intel 'Dothan' processor, through its paces. This 1.7GHz Intel Centrino powered notebook is well equipped to succeed in a variety of roles. The G-MAX N512 features an ample 15" wide TFT LCD screen, ATI Radeon Mobility 9700 graphics chip, 60GB hard drive, built-in 802.11G wireless networking, 4 hours battery life, 512MB of RAM, and weighs a neat 2.5kg. Now, how does all this fare when we put the N512 through a couple rounds of Doom3, or some office benchmarks? Let's take a look!Continue Here>>

ASRock K8 Combo-Z/ASR Motherboard Review

Today PCStats will be testing new the ASRock K8 Combo-Z/ASR motherboard. This could be the perfect board for those of you who want to go Athlon64 on the cheap, but don't want to be stuck without an upgrade path to newer socket 939 processors. Based on the ALi M1689 chipset which we'll cover in more detail later in the review, the K8 Combo-Z/ASR can be used with both Socket 754 and Socket 939 AMD Athlon processors! Although not at the same time. The full range of socket 754 and 939 processors are supported, from the 32-bit AMD Sempron to the mighty AMD Athlon 64FX.Continue Here>>

LG GSA-4120B Super Multi DVD Rewriter

While I've had a DVD burner for quite some time now, it was only recently when backing up some of large home videos files did I realize just how useful they are. As I was finishing off the 7th DVD+R disc (with more to burn still) I realized that if I were using regular CD-R's, I would have gone through about 50 discs at that point. Dual layer DVD burners like the LG GSA-4120B 12x Super Multi DVD Rewriter which writes to dual layer DVD+R discs at 2.4x are now starting to appear on the market, and with compatible media they can store up to 8.5GB of data on one disc! That's enough space for you to back up an entire DVD movie! Continue Here>>

	ASUS WL-330 Pocket Wireless Access Point Review The Asus WL-330 is a tiny wireless access point so nondescript as to be practically invisible; it's also about the size of a deck of cards. The unit supports 11Mbps 802.11b wireless, and is designed to act as a wireless access point, or wireless adaptor in a pinch. The unit is a true travelers friend, great for use turning hotel internet jacks into wireless connections. Continue Here>>	Gigabyte GA-8TRX330-L Motherboard Review The new ATI RX330 chipset looks to be full of potential, its memory compatibility is even being validated by ATI. Currently Gigabyte has exclusive manufacturing rights to this chipset, so if you want an ATi Radeon RX330 based motherboard, the only vendor that can currently supply it is Gigabyte...Continue Here>>

Soltek SL-K8TPro-939 Motherboard Review

'Tis the season to be jolly, and if you're an enthusiast things couldn't be sweeter! With that in mind, it's good new that PCStats is reviewing an affordably priced AGP8X based motherboard called the Soltek SL-K8TPro-939. Like most Athlon64 motherboards these days, the SL-K8TPro-939 is very nicely equipped with IEEE 1394, 7.1-channel audio, Gigabit Ethernet, a Promise PDC20579 SATA/IDE RAID controller and the always useful Port 80 diagnostics card. Continue Here>>

PCstats Weekly Tech Tips: Mapped Network Drives Mapped drives can useful when it comes to moving data around on a network, but sometimes you don't want the PC you're working on to reconnect upon boot-up. Sure, you can simply disconnect each time, but Windows has a built in feature that will disable all persistent connections. First thing you'll want to do is load up regedit (Start -> Run then type regedit and press the Ok button) and scroll to this path HKEY_USERS -> .Default -> Software -> Microsoft -> WindowsNT -> CurrentVersion -> Network -> Persistent Connections. Once there look for the SaveConnections string value and give it the value 'no'. Now when you boot your system your computer will not automatically restart/re-enable all old network connections. - PCSTATS covers the 2005 Tech Roadmaps for AMD / Intel CPUs, and videocards, right here. Be sure to check this feature article to see what is just around the corner! - Search Dealtime ABIT ASUS Gigabyte Intel Epox MSI Albatron More... AMD Intel More... SDRAM DDR-2 RAM DDR RAM More... Albatron ATI BFG Sapphire More... PCSTATS Q & A: Send in your tough tech questions now! Join the PCstats Forums Today @ Forum.PCstats.com!