The Athlon XP 2700+ represents a significant leap forward for the Athlon line – it solves a long-term problem by stepping up the default frontside bus (FSB) speed from 266MHz to 333MHz. This means that the Athlon XP can finally run in sync with 333MHz DDR RAM. While most currently available Athlon motherboards support 333MHz DDR, there is virtually no performance boost between this and 266MHz DDR when running an Athlon XP with a 266MHz FSB. The extra speed offered by the RAM quite simply goes to waste, because the CPU can't keep up with it.

ATI is the current market leader in graphics chips, and offers four varieties of DirectX 9-capable video cards; these are the company's most sophisticated products when it comes to 3D rendering.

Intel has promised that Hyper-Threading (HT) will deliver increased efficiency and decrease the amount of time taken to accomplish multiple processes. But is it really all that it’s cracked up to be?

VIA is attempting to tackle Shuttle’s stranglehold on the micro-PC market with the launch of the C3M266 motherboard coupled with a C3 processor...

Gigabyte Maya 2 R9500 Pro

Intel has promised that Hyper-Threading (HT) will deliver increased efficiency and decrease the amount of time taken to accomplish multiple processes. But is it really all that it's cracked up to be?

Mitsubishi's DV181 is almost identical to the BenQ FP882 we reviewed in last month's Labs (December 2002, page 76).

Gigabyte's new Canterwood-based GA-8KNXP is, without a doubt, one of the most full-featured motherboards we've ever seen. It incorporates all of the basics offered by the MSI 865PE Neo2 (see below) plus more. The differences between the older 845 and new 865 (Springdale) and 875 (Canterwood) chipsets are primarily feature-based – the 875P is designed to be the ultra-high-end option for extreme power users. As such, it's more expensive but has more niche capabilities.

This is the kind of workstation that budding 3D artists have wet dreams over. It packs two Hyper-Threaded 3.06GHz Xeon processors – currently the best workstation processors on offer from Intel – a gigabyte of RAM and a 10,000rpm SCSI hard drive. In short, you'll be hard pressed to find a faster workstation without forking out the $15,000 or so for a blazing Silicon Graphics machine.

The difference between 'plus' and 'minus' DVD writers comes down to features. Despite some headway being made by the companies pushing DVD-RW, DVD+RW is still a more flexible format for those interested in creating movies and storing data.

Hi-Grade's new performance-oriented notebook is equipped with a 3.06GHz desktop P4, 60GB HDD, and a gigabyte of RAM. The Ultinote 6600DH displays Hi-Grade's typically first-rate build quality, with solid casing and a good quality TFT screen.

Intel's new Centrino is possibly the most hyped notebook technology ever launched. Centrino is the name for a group of Intel's technologies including a tweaked P3-M CPU, built-in wireless, and excellent battery life.

The 'Ti4800SE' tag of Albatron's graphics card doesn't signify that it's a superior extension of the GeForce4 Ti4600 – in fact, it's really just an NV28 (the AGP 8x of the GeForce4 Ti) version of NVIDIA's Ti4400, coupled with a slightly increased core clock speed.

While IBM ThinkPads might look a little bulky and coarse compared to some of their competitors, they've generally got it where it counts; delivering in function if not form.

The Athlon XP 2700+ represents a significant leap forward for the Athlon line – it solves a long-term problem by stepping up the default frontside bus (FSB) speed from 266MHz to 333MHz.

Panasonic's LF-D521U has a lot in common with the LG drive in this issue – in fact, with the exception of two reading speeds, both drives have identical specifications.

Primera's Bravo is designed to produce large numbers of professional quality CDs on short order: it combines a 40x IDE CD burner and a CD printer, and it also comes with a robotic arm to automate the production process.