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Sharky Extreme :


Latest News


- Microsoft Rolls out the SideWinder X6 Keyboard and X5 Mouse
- Razer Fires up the Megalodon Headset and its Maelstrom Audio Engine
- OCZ Upgrades their Core Solid-State Drive Line to V2
- CoolIT Unleashes the Dual Drive Bay VGA Cooler for the Radeon HD 4870 X2
- Mushkin Launches a New Line of HP3-10666 DDR3 Low-Latency Modules
News Archives

Features

- SharkyExtreme.com: Interview with Microsoft's Dan Odell
- SharkyExtreme.com: Interview with ATI's Terry Makedon
- SharkyExtreme.com: Interview with Seagate's Joni Clark
- Half-Life 2 Review
- DOOM 3 Review

Buyer's Guides

- July High-end Gaming PC Buyer's Guide
- May Value Gaming PC Buyer's Guide
- March Extreme Gaming PC Buyer's Guide

HARDWARE

  • CPUs

    - AMD Phenom X4 9950 BE & 9350e Review

  • Motherboards

    - AMD 790GX Chipset Review
    - Gigabyte GA-MA790FX-DS5 Motherboard Review
    - AMD 780G Chipset Review

  • Video Cards

    - PNY XLR8 GeForce 9800 GX2 1GB Review




  • In order to understand why the KW15's built-in video solution is weaker than most, lets take a look at the supported "features":

    • 2D Resolutions of up to 1600x1200 in 8-bit color at 85Hz refresh.
    • 3D Resolutions of up to 1024x768 in 16-bit color.
    • 64-bit data interface
    • 4MB Display cache
    • Z-buffering
    • Motion Compensation Support
    • 24-bit 230MHz RAMDAC

    Anyone interested in playing Quake 3 or Unreal Tournament should recognize the limitations of the GMCH. The on-board audio suffers as well - relying on the CPU for its processing power. For this reason, we decided to beef up an otherwise mediocre multimedia solution to provide what might possibly be an excellent answer for the budget gamer.

    Because the KW15 doesn't include AGP expandability, we opted for a Voodoo 3 3000 PCI to cover our 3D graphics. On the audio front, we felt an Aureal SQ2500 would be ideal to add A3D-enabled game play.

    • Processor: Intel Pentium III Coppermine 733Mhz
    • Memory: 128MB PC100 SDRAM
    • Motherboard: FIC KW15
    • Hard Drive: Western Digital 5.1 GB HDD
    • Video Card: On-board GMCH w/ 4MB display cache
    • Sound Card: On-board AC'97 CODEC
    • OS: Windows 98 SE with DirectX 7
    • Processor: Intel Pentium III Coppermine 733Mhz
    • Memory: 128MB PC100 SDRAM
    • Motherboard: FIC KW15
    • Hard Drive: Western Digital 5.1 GB HDD
    • Video Card: Voodoo 3 3000 PCI
    • Sound Card: Aureal SQ2500
    • OS: Windows 98 SE with DirectX 7




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