Posted 08/22/2008 at 07:07:34pm

We've already had some hands-on time with Bloomfield, Intel's high-end Nehalem part (officially named Core i7). But we know that not everyone's going to make the jump on board this new platform when it's released later this year. Bloomfield pricing hasn't been announced yet, but we expect it to be in the high-end enthusiast range -- ie. only affordable for price un-conscious buyers.

For mainstream system builders, Intel's solution will be Lynnfield, a socket 1160 CPU that'll have its own motherboard configuration. Lynnfield processors will be incompatible with X58 motherboards sporting socket 1366 -- though Intel assured us that they won't phase out the Bloomfield platform once Lynnfield is released in Q1 of next year (unlike what happened with AMD's socket 940 platform). Another difference: Lynnfield's motherboard will run two-channel DDR 3 memory, as opposed to the highly-touted tri-channel setup in Bloomfield.

We were lucky enough to snap up a few spy shots of an early Lynnfield motherboard, shown below:

Can you spot the differences between a Lynnfield and Bloomfield motherboard? Take a closer look after the jump. 

Posted 08/22/2008 at 11:00:05am

How the world turns. Mention overclocking ten years ago at IDF and a Pinkerton would escort you off the show floor to a room where three Intel engineers would beat you with old Pentium Pro motherboards. Today, Intel is actually actively promoting overclocking, but big blue is calling it Turbo Mode.

Turbo Mode is just one of the several groundbreaking features in Nehalem, but it’s also certainly one of the most head-turning. But how exactly does it work and how do you control it? Walk with us as we decode Intel’s Turbo Mode, show you how you’ll set it up in the BIOS (with first photos), and tell you what you should expect from your next heatsink.

Want to take a look at the Nehalem BIOS? Of course you do. 

Posted 08/15/2008 at 02:00:00pm

IBuypower’s Gamer Paladin 990 is a strange beast. After we completed our testing, we were left wondering just what iBuypower was trying to accomplish with its half exotic, half midrange rig.

Take, for example, the videocard situation. The machine sports a pair of Nvidia’s newest GPUs, but not the company’s top-end offering, the GeForce GTX 280. Instead, iBuypower uses a pair of EVGA GeForce GTX 260s. If these GeForce cards weren’t midrange when they were first released, they certainly are now, as Nvidia has taken a blowtorch to prices to keep the GTX 260 competitive with ATI’s Radeon HD 4870.

Full review after the thing.

Posted 08/15/2008 at 11:00:00am

If you don’t just like Gigabit ports—you love them— Gigabyte’s GA-EP45-DQ6 is the motherboard for you. This mobo has four Gigabit ports that can be teamed together for one seriously fat-ass network connection.

Elsewhere, the board is typical Gigabyte; it includes surface-mounted buttons and the most clearly marked USB and FireWire ports we’ve ever seen. So if you nuke your USB drive because you plugged the USB connector into a FireWire header, it’s your own fault, brother.

Hit the jump for the rest of the review

Posted 08/14/2008 at 11:00:00am

If you still get warm and fuzzy thinking about those James Garner and Mariette Hartley Polaroid commercials, it’s time to let go of the past. Traditional film is barely hanging on, and Polaroid has completely ceased production of instant film.

But Polaroid hasn’t abandoned its interest in prints. The company is trying to rekindle the instant-print picture industry with its new Polaroid PoGo portable printer. This 4.75”x2.75”x1” device is the first to use Zink Imaging’s Zero Ink paper. Instead of shooting dots of ink onto a piece of paper, the PoGo uses a thermal head to heat up tiny crystals embedded in each sheet of paper.

Sounds rad, eh? Find out the skinny after the jump.

Posted 08/13/2008 at 01:00:00pm

Gateway struck a nerve with its original low-cost FX P-series notebook, which gave gamers an affordable way to get good frame rates from a portable PC. The company applied the same formula to its new P-7811 FX and again comes up with a winning combination of hardware that’s sure to please budget-minded gamers.

Read on after the jump!