There are not many motherboards that support the DDR3 memory standard yet, however, if you like Intel CPUs, and if by any chance you find an ASUS Maximus Extreme main board - you can start looking for DDR3 memory kits. One of the memory makers, Crucial has created a special dual channel set of 2GB kit (1GBx2). The specs are: Ballistix 240-pin DIMM, DDR3 PC3-12800, 8-8-8-24 timing latencies, DDR3-1600 to be used at 1.8V bios setting, with 128Meg x 64. For normal Windows XP systems, you will be fine with 2GB, but if you need an visibly increased speed and processing power - you could get 2 kits so that you can have 4GB of DDR3 RAM for the most memory demanding applications like games and graphic editing programs. Another bonus of the BallistiX is that they can be overclocked - they work both at higher speed and tweaked timings: there are two "high" profiles - XMP Profile 1: 1600MHz 8-8-8-24 and XMP Profile 2: 1600MHz 7-7-7-24. A very big downside for this memory kit is that it is VERY expensive at the moment - nearly $450 - but prices will lower down in time. And since they are so expensive, it must be noted that the buyers must be people who have experience on tweaking and overclocking hardware, otherwise it will be a total waste and the customer would better be looking for DDR2-1066 modules.

 Apparently the HD-DVD has lost the "battle" against the Blu-ray standard. Many of the movie production studios from Hollywood have chosed Blu-ray as an exclusive movie distribution method. The Blu-ray ROM units have been available for a while already on the market and recently even the blu-ray burners have gained popularity due to the increased storage capacity (up to 5 times more than a regular DVD). Philips has launched the SPD7000BD Blu-ray DVD Burner some time ago and it has pleased a lot of customers so far. It supports Blu-ray HD videos reading, but it requires a HDCP video card and monitor. The DVD and CD-ROM access time is the same, 150ms and the cache is 8mb. However it is just one of the first Blu-ray Burner models, and it is not so advanced in its functions yet: the write-speed of a BD-R media is 2X maximum, the ReWrite-speed for BD-RE is 2X maximum and the access time for the entire Blu-ray discs is 350ms. Overall, the price isn't really justified, about $440, unless the customer will buy it and use it intensively within an environment where storing large amounts of data (like more than 10-20GB at once) is done very often.

 

Keeping the cool temperature for CPU overclockers is an important thing and thus such procedures require good cooling systems. There are various systems on the hardware market, some more expensive than others, some based on water, some based on freon. ASUS is a well known PC hardware manufacturer, with a good reputation among PC enthusiasts. Here's a solution that does not require water or freon, is quite acceptable as price (around $55): the ASUS Arctic Square Cooler. This cooler works with both AMD and Intel CPUs, and the compatibility list is the following: AMD Sempron, AMD Athlon 64 X2 series, AMD Athlon FX, Intel Pentium 4 HT, Intel Core 2 Duo, Intel Core 2 Extreme, Intel Core 2 Quad. The basic idea behind this CPU cooler is to offer great thermal environment for the processor without making irritating and noticeable noise. However, if you plan to buy it and install it on your CPU, you need to take out the motherboard from the computer case in order to mount the back-plate. After the plate and the cooler have been properly mounted, the motherboard is to be placed carefully back into the case - the next step is to check the new temperatures of the CPU both in idle mode and during intensive processing. According to various testers, this cooler should reduce the heat with about 20 Celsius degrees extra than the average standard coolers.

 This CPU is a very good choice for the mainstream market users who cannot aford to pay too much for their hardware. The 5000+ Black Edition has its multiplier unlocked and so this means that anyone with some hardware knowledge will definitely try the overclocking capabilities - since it does not require any aditional special cooling system (it handles the processing with the cooler from the retail box). The specs are 2,600GHz, HT2000, L1-128KB x2, L2-512KB x2 and it was built under the  65nm (65W) design which shows why this CPU will not generate so much heat. This CPU is capable of leaving behind other CPUs which have bigger frequencies by default and have bigger prices - and that is possible if the X2 5000+ Black Edition is clocked at 3.3 GHz. The video encoding processing power is truly amasing once that frequency core is achieved, without having to raise either the FSB or the memory frequency, making it a safe choice for any AM2 motherboard. Yes, it is capable to beat the Intel Core 2 Duo E6400in video encoding matches and it does all that at "only" $99.

 

A lot of Radeon fans are waiting for this "hottie" to arrive on the market. The reference board is longer than a 2900XT card and thus would require quite a big computer case. It is said that it tops out in performance any 3870 CrossFire setup and that it has both GPUs (2 rv670 chips) running at 750MHz each (probably some more MHz at the official launch). What about the rest? Expect to see everything going on the double - 512MB of DDR4 x2, 2 DVi-to-HDMI ports. Performancewise - more than double - hardware specialists assume that if it does better than a CrossFire setup with 2 cards that have a single core each, obviously the performance will be quite satisfactory for most gamers. And that reminds me  - the developers at Crytek said that Crysis was a game which needs to be played on the next-gen computers in order for the gamer to be able to see all details in high resolution - this might happen a lot sooner than expected actually - due to the increasing speed of development in the PC hardware industry. The estimated price of this card presented at CES 2008 will range around $499.