3DMark Vantage measures Shader 4.0 (i.e., DirectX 10) performance and supports PhysX, a programming interface developed by Ageia (now part of NVIDIA) to transfer physics calculations from the system CPU to the video card GPU in order to increase performance. Mechanical physics is the basis for calculations about the interaction of objects. For example, if you shoot, what exactly will happen to the object when the bullet hits it? Will it break? Will it move? Will the bullet bounce back? Note that since we are considering only the GPU score provided by this program, physics calculations are not taken into account.
We ran this program at three 16:10 widescreen resolutions, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, and 2560×1600. First we used the “Performance” profile, and then we used the “Extreme” profile (basically enabling anti-aliasing at 4x, anisotropic filtering at 16x, and putting all detail settings at their maximum or “extreme” values). The results being compared are the “GPU Scores” achieved by each video card.
The Streacom FC8 Fanless is a unique all-aluminum, small form factor/HTPC case compatible with Mini-ITX motherboards, designed for quiet computing. Let’s take a look at it.
A+ Black Pearl is an all-aluminum full tower case from Tagan featuring seven 5 ¼” bays and eight internal 3 ½” bays, plus a panel to control the speed of up to four fans and also to monitor temperature.
Enermax has entered the CPU cooler market, and we are reviewing their first model: the ETS-T40-TA, which has a tower heatsink, four U-shaped heatpipes, and a 120 mm fan.
Let’s take a look at the Corsair Graphite Series 230T, an affordable mid-tower case with a side window, four 3.5” and four 2.5” bays, and supporting 280 mm radiators.