Tuesday News 3

The AT7 MAX2 has been a pleasure to have on the OCA workbench. The board layout, minus the AGP lock down tab issue, is well thought out, and easy to navigate when installing/troubleshooting/upgrading hardware. With the exception of the VIA KT400 chipset not having the 1/6 divider, overclocking went well. If your looking for the +200 FSB overclocker, look elsewhere, if your looking for a motherboard with more bells and whistles than you'll know what to do with, and features that will last through a couple of upgrade cycles, the ABIT AT7 MAX2 is for you.

Thermaltake bring another version of the ever popular Volcano series of heatsinks from Thermaltake for your AMD Athlon XP processor. We are proud to award this Thermaltake heatsink two of our Gold Medals for its overall lightweight and performance which makes it an ideal choice for our AMD Athlon XP processor and overclocking.

The holes for the 4 fans are immediately visible. I think that the configuration of small holes could impede airflow and this is used on front and back. I was surprised though when I placed the fans in and felt the amount of air coming in. Even with the restriction there is more than sufficient air intake when the 4 intake fans in front and intake fan on the door are on. With only two exhaust fans and the power supply exhaust I was a little worried about positive pressure build up until I notice the rows of ventilation holes at the top of the case. Any positive pressure would quickly be vented there. Nice touch.

In our next contest/give-away, we give our loyal readers (and fellow site editors) the chance to snag our current USB 2.0 pocket drive performance champ, the EasyHardDisk 20GB. The Contest Form has all the rules, details, start and end dates. The prize is valued at $179.00 US and is open to participants from every country, except where prohibited.