MSI
NX7900GTX-T2D512E Card: $549
www.msicomputer.com

There's a new king in the desktop graphics world: NVIDIA's 7900 GTX. Replete with 512MB of GDDR3 memory, an end-to-end heatsink, quad nickel-plated heatpipes, and a shockingly quiet 85 mm variable speed fan, this double-wide beast looks much like the previous 7800 GTX. In fact, the primary differences are that the core speed is now 650 MHz, up from the older 550 MHz, while the memory clock has been ratcheted to 1.6 GHz, a slight step down from the 7800 GTX's 1.7 GHz. Another interesting step down is the price. This newer, faster card is nearly $150 less than its predecessor, perhaps marking a renewed push by NVIDIA to put the screws to the competition.

Naturally, all of the usual NVIDIA goodness gets included, including PureVideo HD support, component output, and Dual-Link DVI for high-end displays. And obviously, extreme gamers are your first choice when searching for buyers. Today's hottest action titles at 1600 x 1200 with maxed out antialiasing and anisotropic filtering settings need this sort of horsepower. But don't neglect that the 7900 GTX is a monster for high-def media decoding, including H.264, which is at the heart of the new blue laser formats.

MSI includes a typically impressive bundle, and there's decent channel allocation. If your customers want the best, this is it.

Gigabyte
GA-8I945GMH-RH: $125
us.giga-byte.com

‘Tis the season for getting serious about viiv, and a good place to start is the platform foundation, the motherboard. Gigabyte's first foray into Viiv is a smart microATX piece long on features but not so far as to jack up the price beyond mainstream tolerances. Despite the board's small footprint, Gigabyte still packs in one PATA connector, four 3 Gbps SATA ports, one x1 PCIe, one x16 PCIe, and two PCI slots. The 945G/ICH7-DH chipset joins hands with Intel's 82573L Gigabit Ethernet controller and Realtek's ALC882 HD Audio codec chip. You have to admire some of the detail work here. Far above most audio codecs, for instance, the ALC882 is actually a 10-channel (7.1 + 2) part sporting a >100 dB signal-to-noise ratio, setting it far above most any other integrated audio solution on the market. The usual six 1/8" audio ports on the rear panel are accompanied by coax SPDIF in and out, plus there's one 1394a, four USB 2.0, and more port headers on the board for additional expansion.

We wish Gigabyte had pulled the parallel port in trade for optical SPDIF, and eSATA support would have made sense on a platform destined to store large amounts of multimedia, but you can't complain about that $125 MSRP. Board setup went flawlessly for us, and we really like the F12 hot key that allows for one-time booting from an alternative device, such as CD-ROM or USB peripheral—much easier than installing a temporary floppy drive for BIOS updates, although the bundled @BIOS utility can handle this from Windows. Predictably, the overclocking options here are slimmer than usual, but for living room buyers, the GA-8I945GMH-RH is a very persuasive solution that even boasts RoHS-spec environmentalism.

CYBER ACOUSTICS
A-3780rb Three-Piece Speaker System: $99
www.cyberacoustics.com

You might know cyber acoustics as a value play for speakers. And, for the most part, it is. But while you'd normally associate value with some massive compromise in performance, the A-3780rb three-piece setup sounds suspiciously powerful.

The kit consists of two, two-way satellites and a standalone subwoofer. Each satellite uses a 1" Mylar tweeter and a 3" midrange driver. The sub consists of an 8" driver, housed in a box with the system's 180-watt amplifier. Frequency response stretches from 22 Hz to 22 kHz—more than ample. Mids and highs are respectable, not tinny. Lows are slightly mushy on sharp bass lines, gunfire, etc., but that's compared to $300 speakers. For $99, this set rocks.

Control is achieved through a wired remote, which handles master volume, bass amplification, and power. Of course, it just wouldn't be a mainstream product without some sort of "show" to complement the "go," so the remote is illuminated with a blue LED. Further, the subwoofer itself is accented by a large heatsink. The array of fins dissipates power supply heat. That means more convenience for your customers, who only need to attach a power cord instead of an external power brick.

Subtle extras further improve Cyber Acoustics' pitch. Gold-plated 3.5" plugs are less prone to corrosion over time. Generous 7-foot cables should be plenty for positioning, and an included video game adapter makes it easy to connect the set to a console system. That's downright impressive for under $100.

FSP GROUP
FSP300-60GNF
Zen Power Supply: $109
www.fsp-group.com.tw

Noise matters whether you're building mainstream small form factor systems or high-end workstations. And although power supplies are often gross offenders in the fight against noise pollution, many vendors continue using small fans that spin very quickly under load. Even premium supplies equipped with 120 mm coolers generate quite a racket when they're heavily taxed.

Of course, fans aren't added arbitrarily. They play an integral part in moving heat away from the supply, which is a byproduct of the inefficient conversation from AC to usable DC power. FSP Group minimizes heat in its supplies by optimizing that conversion. The company's fanless 300W Zen represents the culmination of those efforts, managing a typical 89% efficiency rating. While it's only rated for 300W, the combination of modest output and high efficiency let the FSP Group engineers do away with a fan altogether.

The Zen features a 24-pin ATX connector, an auxiliary four-pin power plug, and an array of drive connectors (including two SATA connectors). It doesn't include a six-pin PCI Express output, but then again, the supply isn't intended for gaming machines. Rather, you can use it for media center systems and office machines—two environments in serious need of some peace and quiet. A slick looking exterior is icing on the cake.