Processors

Both Intel and AMD continued to flesh out their respective desktop processor lineups with either new speed grades or more energy-efficient products in 2007. Intel’s line of Core 2-based products were revamped with higher front side bus frequencies and cores manufactured at 45nm, while AMD’s current lineup of dual-core Athlons actually surpassed Intel’s in terms of raw clock speed. The final weeks of 2007, however, will see a new battle waged between AMD’s native quad-core Phenom processors and Intel’s Penryn-based derivatives.

Winner: Core 2 Extreme Edition QX9650

Intel took all of the great things about the Kentsfield core and enhanced it with a larger and more capable L2 cache and support for new instructions. The QX9650 is built using Intel’s advanced 45nm manufacturing process, which uses the element hafnium along with some other as-yet-undisclosed materials to build the transistors. The end result was the Yorkfield core that’s at the heart of 2007’s most powerful desktop processor, the Core 2 Extreme QX9650. The QX9650 features a 3GHz core clock speed and 1,333MHz FSB, which is identical to the older QX6850. But due to architectural improvements, the York-field-based QX9650 is measurably faster clock-for-clock.

As we’ve already mentioned, the QX9650 is built using Intel’s 45nm high-K metal gate transistor technology. It consists of roughly 820 million transistors and has two 107mm² dies. The chip also features a hefty 12MB L2 cache and support for SSE4 instructions. It works with most existing LGA775-based motherboards that support a 1,333MHz FSB. The Core 2 Extreme QX9650 is a powerhouse, no matter which way you slice it.

First Runner-Up: Core 2 Quad Q6600 (G0 stepping)

Our first runner-up for best processor of ’07 just happens to be the lowest-clocked quad-core processor in Intel’s current lineup. The 2.66GHz Core 2 Quad Q6600, and more specifically the G0 stepping of the chip, represents a great value for power users on a budget. G0 stepping versions of the Q6600 are available for less than $290 and are well-known as good overclockers. With standard air cooling and little more than a voltage bump and some FSB tweaking, G0 Core 2 Quad Q6600s commonly overclock beyond 3.3GHz, which enhances their performance considerably. Combine one of these processors with a decent motherboard and you have the foundation of an ultra-powerful system without breaking the bank. By now, almost all Q6600s should officially have the G0 stepping.

Second Runner-Up: Core 2 Duo E6550

The second runner-up also represents a great value with plenty of hidden potential. At 2.33GHz, the Core 2 Duo E6550 is the lowest-clocked dual-core processor in Intel’s product stack that features a 1,333MHz FSB. But like the Q6600, with a little tweaking and the right motherboard, taking this sub-$180 processor to speeds in excess of 3.3GHz is usually possible. Even if you’re not an overclocker, the E6550 still represents a great value due to its relatively diminutive power profile (65W TDP). In comparison to most higher-clocked processors, the E6550 virtually sips power and should run cooler.

Biggest Disappointment: Athlon 64 X2 6400+ Black Edition

We hesitate to call the AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ Black Edition a disappointment. It is the fastest Athlon 64 X2, after all. But at the time of its release, the X2 6400+ Black Edition represented the pinnacle of AMD’s desktop processor lineup but still didn’t compete very well with even Intel’s midrange dual-core processors. At 3.2GHz, the chip was the highest-clocked device to come out of AMD’s fabs; however, it performed on par with the Core 2 Duo E6750 and E6850, depending on the application being tested. Thankfully, the AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ Black Edition featured an unlocked multiplier, which enhanced the CPU’s tweakability factor. Although AMD priced the X2 6400+ Black Edition appropriately, it was hard to get excited for this processor when we knew Phenoms were just around the corner.

Motherboards & Chipsets

Although there was some activity, core logic chipset releases slowed down in 2007 relative to previous years because of Intel’s and AMD’s new processor release schedules. In turn, the lack of new chipsets also affected motherboard releases. Aside from some midrange offerings on the AMD platform, the current lineup of chipsets for AM2-based processors remained largely unchanged from 2006. On the Intel front, however, official support for 1,333MHz FSB processors necessitated the release of a whole family of core logic chipsets and motherboards that utilized them.

Intel Platform

Winner: Gigabyte GA-N680SLI-DQ6 (rev. 2.0)

It may be based on a chipset that arrived over a year ago, but the extravagant nForce 680i SLI-based Gigabyte GA-N680SLI-DQ6 (rev. 2.0) still deserves its position at the top of our list of great motherboards for 2007. The GA-N680SLI-DQ6 offers everything that hardcore users crave, such as extensive overclocking tools and SLI support. The silent cooling apparatus covers the board’s chipset and VRM; it wraps around the board to cover the underside of the chipset, CPU socket, and VRM. The GA-N680SLI-DQ6 also boasted one of the most extensive feature sets we’ve ever seen in a desktop motherboard, which included quad Gigabit Ethernet ports, 10 SATA ports, 100% solid capacitors, and three full-length PCI-E x16 slots. If the Gigabyte GA-N680SLI-DQ6 doesn’t have a certain feature, you probably didn’t need it in the first place.

First Runner-Up: Asus Blitz Formula

When Intel’s 1,333MHz FSB processors hit the scene in the middle of ’07, the company’s P35 chipset was the only real option to pair the new CPU with an Intel-built chipset. Like the P965 that came before it, however, the P35 lacked a sought-after feature that the 975X Express had previously offered—a flexible PCI-E lane configuration. This meant that although the chipset supported ATI’s CrossFire, the secondary PEG slot had only four lanes of PCI-E connectivity to compliment the primary slot’s 16 lanes, instead of a more balanced dual-x8 configuration.

Recognizing the need for a P35 motherboard that properly supported CrossFire, Asus introduced the Blitz Formula. The board featured an innovative cooling apparatus that was equally effective with air or liquid cooling; it was highly overclockable; it had an extensive set of BIOS options; and it featured a Crosslinx PCI-E switch which distributed the P35 Northbridge’s PCI Express lanes equally, which made it an ideal solution for the P35’s CrossFire conundrum.

The Asus Blitz Formula proved to be just as fast or faster than DDR3-based P35 motherboards in most cases, was very overclockable, and proved to be very stable, as well.

We also liked the Blitz Formula because it offers an easier upgrade path to those users who already own DDR2 and are looking to replace an older P965- or 975X-based motherboard in favor of the newer P35.

Second Runner-Up: Gigabyte GA-P35T-DQ6

In the current field of P35-based motherboards that require DDR3 memory, the Gigabyte GA-P35T-DQ6 stands out for a number of reasons. One aspect where the Gigabyte GA-P35T-DQ6 particularly shines is its elaborate cooling apparatus. The chipset and voltage regulators on the GA-P35T-DQ6 are all outfitted with high-quality, oversized copper heatsinks that are linked together via a snake-like heatpipe system. Unlike most other motherboards, Gigabyte also affixed cooling hardware to the underside of the GA-P35T-DQ6, where heatsinks are situated beneath the CPU socket, northbridge, and southbridge. Although passively cooled, the GA-P35T-DQ6 didn’t suffer from heat-related issues and also proved to be a strong overclocker.

AMD Platform

Winner: Gigabyte GA-MA69GM-S2H

Our favorite motherboard of 2007 for the socket AM2 platform isn’t an over-the-top, enthusiast-classed offering packed with cutting-edge integrated peripherals; it’s actually a microATX motherboard that’s so well-rounded and affordable we had to give it proper credit. The Gigabyte GA-MA69GM-S2H is built around AMD’s 690G/SB600 chipset combo, which features a Radeon X1250 IGP. This sub-$80 motherboard comes complete with VGA, DVI, component, and HDMI outputs; it has full HD audio support with analog and digital outputs, FireWire, and Gigabit Ethernet. And despite its microATX form factor and entry-level chipset, the GA-MA69GM-S2H also turned out to be a competent overclocker. For the money, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better socket AM2 motherboard.

First Runner-Up: Biostar TF560 A2+

The first runner-up in the socket AM2 motherboard category is Biostar’s nForce 560-based TF560 A2+. At first, we were put off by this motherboard’s funky naming convention, which suggested it had full support for socket AM2+. (It doesn’t.) But when we got down to business and evaluated this affordable motherboard’s performance, it cranked out competitive scores and was rock-solid stable. It also overclocked well and had a good number of features that should appease any budget-conscious AMD fan. At under $80, the Biostar TF560 A2+ clearly represents one of the best values in socket AM2 motherboards.

Second Runner-Up: Asus M2N32-SLI Premium Vista Edition

Throughout its multiple revisions, the Asus M2N32-SLI remained one of the most desirable high-end socket AM2 motherboards. The most recent revision, the M2N32-SLI Premium Vista Edition, took an already great board and improved upon its features with a couple of interesting peripherals. In addition to all of the features built into the Nvidia nForce 590 SLI chipset, the Asus M2N32-SLI Vista Edition has eSATA support (by way of a Silicon Image controller), FireWire, and a built-in 512MB flash drive compatible with Windows Vista’s ReadyBoost feature.

In addition to the board’s integrated peripherals, Asus also includes its AI Remote and ScreenDuo with M2N32-SLI Vista Edition. The credit card-sized AI Remote’s receiver connects to one of the board’s USB ports and offers an easy way to power up the system, as well as launch and control some applications. The ScreenDuo is a small LCD that gives users easy access to information such as RSS feeds, email, and PC health status. The Asus M2N32-SLI Vista Edition is fast, overclockable, and its collection of features can’t be beat. What more could you ask for?

Biggest Disappointment: Socket AM2+ Is Still A No-Show

We couldn’t pick any one product in the motherboard arena that disappointed us to the point that we felt compelled to single it out, but the fact that true socket AM2+ motherboards, which will feature proper support for AMD’s Dual Dynamic Power Management (formerly referred to as split power planes) and HyperTransport 3.0, still hadn’t arrived at press time was disheartening, especially considering Phenom processors were due to arrive in a few weeks. It’s not a total downer because there are no processors available that require an AM2+ socket, but it would have been nice to kick the tires on a few mobos before AMD’s next-gen desktop processors were officially unveiled.

Graphics Cards

In 2006, Nvidia unleashed its G80 architecture, which ushered in the GeForce 8 series and offered support for DirectX 10 gaming. ATI focused on improving the performance of existing X19xx series. The tables were turned in 2007, however. This past year, Nvidia refreshed its flagship desktop graphics card with a beefed-up G80, while ATI introduced a totally new GPU architecture.

Winner: GeForce 8800 Ultra

The fastest, most powerful desktop graphics card on the planet, the GeForce 8800 Ultra, topped our list for the best graphics card of 2007. With a price tag well north of $600, the GeForce 8800 Ultra is certainly not cheap and doesn’t offer the best value. But with its 128 stream processors, high clock speeds, and 768MB frame buffer, the Ultra’s performance is currently unmatched. Pair two of the cards together in an SLI configuration, and you’ve got the ultimate PC graphics setup for gaming—at least until the next-gen GPUs arrive.

First Runner-Up: GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB

What happens when you take all of the goodness of Nvidia’s G80 GPU, pare down the stream processors to 96, couple the GPU with 320MB of DDR3 memory, and offer the final product for under $300? You end up with one of the best all-around values in high-end PC graphics cards and earn the first runner-up position in our list for 2007. The GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB offers all of the features of more expensive 640MB GTS cards and has similar performance, especially at lower resolutions, which makes it well-suited for gaming on 19- to 22-inch LCDs. The smallish frame buffer helps keep costs down, but 320MB 8800 GTS cards are still plenty powerful to enjoy DX10 games in all their graphical splendor. But don’t wait to snap one of these up; Nvidia recently announced it will be phasing out the 8800 GTS 320MB.

Second Runner-Up: Radeon HD 2600 XT

The mainstream video card market is full of solid products with prices in the $100 range. However, very few of them offer the kind of features and performance available with the Radeon HD 2600 XT. Powered by a derivative of ATI’s R600 GPU, the Radeon HD 2600 XT has full support for DX10, strong HD video acceleration, and ultra-low power requirements. In fact, 2600 XT cards consume only about 45W and don’t require a supplemental power connection. Their low-power profile also means 2600 XT cards produce a relatively small amount of heat and need only a single-slot cooler.

Biggest Disappointment: 1GB Radeon HD 2900 XT

When AMD’s ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT was first introduced, some enthusiasts were put off by the fact that the card was designed to do battle with Nvidia’s GeForce 8800 GTS, and the top-of-the-line 8800 GTX and Ultra were left unchallenged at the top of the 3D graphics food chain. But when higher-clocked Radeon HD 2900 XT cards that featured humongous 1GB frame buffers arrived, many thought these enhancements would be just what the R600 needed to combat Nvidia’s flagship cards.

Unfortunately, the higher clocks and larger frame buffer did little to boost the Radeon HD 2900 XT’s performance, while increasing its cost to GeForce 8800 GTX levels. 1GB Radeon HD 2900 XT cards are powerful, but until prices come down, their overall value is disappointing at best.

System Memory

System memory was all about frequency in 2007. With both major platforms supporting DDR2 for quite some time, memory manufacturers really cranked up the clocks and began offering memory kits that supported frequencies over 50% faster than the official JEDEC DDR2-800 specification. Then, DDR3 system memory made its entrance midyear and quickly ramped up to 1.8GHz.

Winner: Corsair Twin2X2048-10000C5DF

For many years, Corsair has consistently offered some of the best memory kits available. And the company continued its winning ways with the Dominator TWIN2X2048-10000C5DF. This memory kit consists of a matched pair of 1GB DDR2 modules rated at an impressive 1,250MHz with CAS 5-5-5-18 timings. The kit also features Corsair’s DHX cooling technology and includes the Dominator fan, which actively cools the modules. But what makes this kit so desirable is not only its support for extremely high clock speeds but also its ability to run at lower latencies at more modest frequencies. The Corsair Dominator Twin2X2048-10000C5DF memory kit isn’t cheap, but if you’re in the market for the best high-end DDR2 memory kit, this is it.

First Runner-Up: OCZ Flex XLC CZ2FX11502GK

OCZ’s Flex XLC OCZ2FX11502GK memory kit makes our list as one of the top memory products of ’07 for a few reasons. For one, this 2GB DDR2 kit features a flexible cooling design that works well for both air- and water-cooled applications. Secondly, its performance ranks up there with the best, thanks to its 1,150MHz rated frequency. Finally, the OCZ2FX11502GK is relatively affordable despite its enthusiast pedigree. The OCZ2FX11502GK is a very well-rounded product.

Second Runner-Up: G.Skill F2-8500CL5D-2GBHK

The G.Skill F2-8500CL5D-2GBHK memory kit is exactly the type of product that PC modders look for when buying parts for their PCs. This dual-channel 2GB kit (2x 1GB) is rated for operation at 1,066MHz with 5-5-5-15 timings, but with a little tweaking, speeds approaching 1.2GHz are entirely possible. And best of all, the G.Skill F2-8500CL5D-2GBHK kit is available for a bargain-basement price of about $165. There are lower-priced 2GB DDR2 memory kits out there, but few can hit the kind of clock speeds the G.Skill F2-8500CL5D-2GBHK does.

Biggest Disappointment: Elpida DDR3 ICs

We were tempted to lambast DDR3 system memory as a whole, but we’ve been through transitions like this before. We sort of expected initial DDR3 kits to cost a fortune and not deliver measurable performance gains over more mature, high-speed DDR2 kits. Plus, it’s hard not to like at least a few DDR3 memory kits, especially when they can overclock to almost 2GHz (even if they do currently cost an arm and a leg). But after testing a myriad of kits recently for an upcoming roundup, we decided to focus on a specific type of DDR3 memory and brand it as a disappointment.

Despite offering lower latencies in some configurations, DDR3 memory modules built using Elpida ICs, like a few of those offered by Kingston, have virtually no headroom for overclocking in comparison to a multitude of kits built using Micron’s Z9 ICs. Couple this with the fact that they’re equally as expensive, and it’s easy to see that you’ll be better served by memory modules equipped with Micron’s chips.

Storage Devices

2007 was a banner year in the storage arena. Desktop hard drives hit a milestone and surpassed the 1TB mark, while costs went down and performance went up. Today’s fastest 7,200rpm drives actually perform similarly to yesterday’s 10,000rpm drives and offer much larger capacities to boot. Next-gen optical storage is still plagued by ultra-high costs and an ongoing format war, however.

Winner: Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000 HDS721010KLA330

There's something to be said about being first to market with a breakthrough product. And it makes things all the better when that product also happens to be a good value, relatively speaking, of course. The Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000 HDS721010KLA330 was the first desktop hard drive to feature a 1TB storage capacity; it sports a 32MB buffer; its performance was on par with some of the fastest drives out there; and at a price of about $330, it’s also the least expensive 1TB HDD currently available. It’s not a budget-priced product by any means, but Deskstar 7K1000 HDS721010KLA330 is still a winner.

First Runner-Up: Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD7500AAKS

When it first arrived, Western Digital’s 750GB Caviar SE16 WD7500-AAKS commanded an approximate 10% price premium over most other 750GB hard drives, likely due to its great acoustic and performance characteristics. But over time, the Caviar SE16 WD7500AAKS' price has fallen considerably, and it is currently the least expensive 750GB hard drive available. At under $200, the Caviar SE16 WD7500AAKS cost only about 25 cents per gigabyte; it’s clearly a good value. What’s more attractive, at least to power users, is coupling a pair of these drives together for some RAID 0 action. You’ll end up with 1.5TB of storage for only a few dollars more than today’s 1TB drives.

Second Runner-Up: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS

At about 25 cents per gigabyte, our first runner-up represents a great value in desktop storage. Our second runner-up, Seagate’s 320GB Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS, has a similar—albeit ever-so-slightly lower—price per gigabyte as the WD7500AAKS. For a little less than $85, the Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS offers a decent amount of storage space and strong performance, thanks to its 7,200rpm spindle speed, 16MB cache, and 3Gbps SATA interface. And despite being one of the most affordable 320GB drives currently available, it carries an above-average five-year parts and labor warranty.

Biggest Disappointment: Blu-ray, HD DVD & The Ongoing Format War

Last year, we branded Blu-ray, HD DVD, and the ongoing format war the biggest disappointments in the PC storage space and said the products were marred by prohibitively high prices, intrusive DRM schemes, and lackluster compatibility. Here we are a year later, and our sentiments still ring true. There’s no denying the appeal of watching movies in perfect high definition in a home theater. But on the PC, next-gen optical drives are still too expensive and simply aren’t worth the exorbitant price. The dual-format drive we hinted at last year, LG’s GGW-H10N, arrived in 2007 but was almost 40 times the price of a quality DVD-R drive and nearly impossible to find. Hopefully by this time next year, prices will have come down, and the annoying DRM issues will be more transparent to end users or, dare we say, eliminated altogether.

by Marco Chiappetta