Back when we did our review on the Crossfire 4870’s, we were left utterly impressed by the sheer amount of productivity and results that provided for an effulgence of gaming pleasure over even the latest of the Nvidia offering of the GTX 280’s and GTX 260’s with value of power and price. It seems AMD is setting the barriers this generation, and trying to cross them over and over again. With the introduction of the HD 4850 1GB and HD 4870 1GB, AMD had amped up the offering for the initial consumer price point models. Now, they’ve just broken their own barrier with the latest innovation of the ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 series. As the first consumer graphics card with 2 GB of memory, and the first card to implement a 512bit GDDR5 memory architecture through the inordinate amount of pixel pipelines, the ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 graphics card stoically dominates the competition in a whole new level for the enthusiast gamers.

We wanted to make something people can love, and feel secure with. - Dirk Meyer, President, AMD: Commenting to WhatIfGaming on the HD 4870 X2 card.

Throughout our lives we meet certain people. Some Most are plain up rude, snobby, and pretentious. Then there are some pretty cool ones. For the new readers, and our old ones who give loyalty another meaning, you’ve all noticed our latest additions of Editors: David Jeffers and Danny Jeffers. While they have been behind the scenes of WhatIfGaming, making all the amazing things possible with the site production and media over the years, they’re taking more of the spotlight (yes, we got your e-mails) and apparently changing it.

So to show my appreciation for two really talented journalists for WhatIfGaming culture, I have dedicated a little video for them from our thought-to-be lost archive of footage. This whole display is out of the ordinary. If it wasn’t, we really wouldn’t be the blog you have all come to know and love. Stay classy Los Angeles, or wherever you are.

Note: Quicktime Required. Caution before proceeding. Load time est. Broadband: 2 good minutes (DSL/Cable). Flash version to follow in a month.

Direct Download (right click, save-as): Direct Link

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Crucial is known for their line of Ballistix enthusiast memory in which hard work is put for lower latencies, maximum performance, and great reliability. The Crucial 4GB DDR3 PC3-8500 (CT2KIT25672BA1067) is not an exception. This kit, even without the signature of golden shaded aluminum heat spreaders, performs equally admirably, and should be in the direct eye fire of hardware, performance, and gaming enthusiasts alike.

The Radeon 4800 series has many people excited since we published our review on the 4850 to our in-depth exclusive reveal first on the 4870. Now, today we bring a review on the 4870 with dual goodness. That’s right. We have 2 of these powerhouses from AMD, which reveals the introduction of the highly desirable and now most successful GDDR5 memory architecture. A complete power machine, the ATI Radeon 4870 is the most valuable card to date in terms of the Radeon evolution and Ruby keeps looking sexier by the minute. Stable temperatures, amazing performance on all DX 10.1 games with many XGA resolutions, make not only a very formidable card series in general, but a great contender as the 4870 and one that is set out to win against the competition this time around.

Antec is known for making great power supplies that last a very long time. In the new addition to the long line of NeoPower pure performance series, Antec heralds the NeoPower 650W high efficiency power supply. The NeoPower features three 12V rails, a high efficiency design, and aims for a better tomorrow for performance. NeoPower’s highly efficient design produces less heat, allowing the use of a smaller fan running quieter at slower speeds. Built to support dual GPUs and the top of the line core CPUs, the NeoPower 650W aims to improve on heat generation, affordability, and performance without compromise for hardware enthusiasts that love both a single and dual powered GPU solution. Continue on to see how it fares as we place it under our severely rigorous power supply analyzation process.

Ever since the Nine Hundred Gaming Case, Antec has been looking for many more ways to increase the stability of the overall experience for gamers and hardware enthusiasts at the end of their computer’s life cycle. Hopeless and needy with their venture, gamers are setting out for a new PC upgrade with the latest line of GPU’s recently hitting the DIMM regions all the way to the mountains of the PCI-E slots. Successor to the Nine Hundred, The Twelve Hundred is Antec’s current best hardcore case for gamers looking to build a crazy setup with the wildest cooling system. Building off the Hundred heritage, the Twelve Hundred ushers features such as: enhanced case cooling through more performable air solutions with air filters, capacity for more fans, and extraordinary space, all of which resuscitate the raw case urge everywhere.

AMD is proudly bringing PC gamers 1.0 TeraFLOP Graphics Performance, with a single GPU that consumes only 110W of power in the HD 4850. Going head to head with the 8800GTX, 8800GTS & GT, and 9600GT series of cards. Developing a new TeraScale graphics engine, AMD is excited to deliver an impassive experience for gaming. With enhanced anti-aliasing 24X (AA) and AF, gamers will find a new realism more improved than previous versions of cards that all had AA and AF flickering sporadic problems. You’ve read our Cinema 2.0 coverage and are waiting for our detailed article on the latest 4800 series line, including ATI Radeon HD 4870 details. Now, we want to reveal one part with the ATI Radeon HD 4850 that should provide a glimpse into the new series line. With power that supports DX 10.1 fully unlike the GTX 200’s, the ATI Radeon HD 4850 brings efficiency together against the competition through features such as ATI Powerplay and ATI Avivo HD to give gamers a more enhanced experience all around.

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Out of the depths, a beast emerges from Creative Labs new line of product in the Sound Blaster FATAL1TY Professional series: the Blaster X-Fi Titanium. Throughout gaming and applications, one thing everyone always tries to make sure is if the sound card is what they’re looking for. Sadly, it’s hard to come on to a sound card that has everything, is well rounded, and just overall fits the needs for the price you pay. Heralded as the only choice for gamers, the X-Fi Titanium delivers exceptional quality, accelerated audio for unbelievable performance, and a mesmerizing amount of versatility for gamers and enthusiasts alike.

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Feel the rush of blood to your head. That’s you enjoying yourself on a high powered gaming experience. But what’s the thing helping to throw you asunder in this reality from the one you live in? Designed chiefly (but not just) to bring the definitive performance from your Intel Core 2 Extreme processor, Intel’s graceful Desktop Board DX48BT2 creates a rush those charged electrons in your circuitry have always been thirsting for. As star of the show to support a bursting 1600 MHz front side bus, to hail the astonishing DDR3 memory that brings the future closer, to gift extremely dependable overclocking dowry, the Intel DX48BT2 delivers on everything from intense and vibrant multimedia experiences to the gaming core that knocks your pants off.

What’s that? Wait..it’s…it’s a QX9770. Yorkfield didn’t see this coming. Full of life and energy, it’s time for the QX9770 Core 2 Extreme to take the spotlight in the public’s gleaning and teary eyes. Get ready to make this baby your pride as it can handle all your gaming and application needs to the fullest. People go from processor to processor, question to question, only to end up on the same conclusion from their demands: What’s the CPU that can deliver the best possible experience for someone with my needs? Something that works for me? The Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770 speeds in at 3.2 GHz with a 1600MHz FSB to the rescue! Whether you’re the most demanding of users, or one that just wants every bang for his/her buck, the QX9770 delivers without a problem.

Placing the CPU in to the LGA775 socket, you can feel the connection you just made with your computer to give it the best in its digital lifespan. The 45nm manufacturing technology allows for a vibrant burst of life from the processing unit, and then comes the Windows screen. Where’d it go? What the heck? Exactly. It’s just that fast. We could barely catch the loading screen as the energy elixir was being effused into our motherboard from this processor. The CPU-Z shows a beautiful speed of 3.2GHz at a rated FSB of 1600FSB. A hidden feature of these processors, for those of you who don’t know, is that the multiplier is unlocked up until 31. Actually getting there is a whole another matter. With the processor from the Core 2 Extreme series, this shouldn’t get you sweating.

York. Field. Yorkfield. The Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 processor is the sexy, sleek, new 45nm quad-core ‘Yorkfield’ termed processor. It is also the entry level 45nm quad-core processor, which is followed in towards a low price point. Even though it’s a bit pricey at ~$300, the Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 puts a race compared to the $240 AMD Phenom 9850 quad-core processor. The Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 Processor is everywhere. No, seriously. Take a look. There’s bundles this, bundles that…DDR2 this with that, that OCZ with this that this this that. You get the idea. Good. So, what’s a person like you to do in such a haze like this? Read our review, of course! Intel’s latest addition to the Core 2 Quad family built using Intel’s 45nm technology gives that hafnium-infused circuitry the electron pumping power it’s always been seeking since 65nm.

The Yorkfield processor is efficient and doesn’t give headaches when it comes time to boot up. We can see our the processor is identified at 2.50 GHz along with a 1333MHz FSB and 6MB L2 cache (12MB shared). At first look, the Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 is a decent overclocker, with a 7.5 multiplier (333MHz FSB x 7.5 multiplier = 2.5GHz). Even if it’s low, the FSB will have to be increased beyond 450MHz to break the 3.5GHz mark. Prep the liquid cooling. Now there are 2 ways of looking at this. If you have a dilapidated motherboard combined with a great processor such as this one, it needs FSB speeds above 450MHz that can give the system a good huff of smoke. If you increase the FSB to 400MHz that will make the CPU 3.0GHz, which is more than enough for common applications. But that’s yet to be seen.