A 4.1 GHZ DUAL CORE PROCESSOR FOR UNDER $130? YUP

While certainly not a new story, I came across this while reading Tom’s Hardware yesterday and felt I should share. It appears that certain models of Intel’s Pentium D 805 2.66ghz processor can safely be overclocked to an amazing 4.1ghz, putting them on par with some of the higher end processors on the market today. Don’t believe me? Well, Tom’s Hardware has about 45 pages of information that backs that statement up. It’s a long read, and if you plan on trying it, be sure to read the entire article to make sure you’ve grasped all the things you’ll need to do and check for before you begin.From Tom’s Hardware;

“There are still some situations in life that are guaranteed to put a grin on anyone’s face, even hard-boiled technical skeptics like us. This particular story borders on being a sensation unmatched in our last eight years of hardware reviews. The news, for those who just can’t stand the wait any more, is this: Intel has offered a budget Pentium as part of its processor line-up for a little while now. With a simple modification, however, this CPU can outperform every top-of-the-line processor around.

The bottom line is that the Athlon FX-60 and the Pentium Extreme Edition 965 have both met their match – there’s simply no escaping this conclusion! This is bound to cause lamentation among the elite circle of users who’ve invested big bucks in their high-end systems, if not outright wailing and rending of garments. The basic stats for this insignificant-seeming budget processor read as follows: Pentium D 805 clocked at 2.66 GHz, equipped with two processor cores both with 64 bit support. At your friendly neighborhood retailer you can pick up this secret weapon for pocket change – right now, for example, it’s available at newegg.com for just under $130. We were quite amazed as the first performance figures emerged from our test labs: stable operation was possible at 4.1 GHz, and without even the need for substantial boosts to cooling!” – Tom’s Hardware

As always, keep in mind that overclocking your PC can be hazardous to your PC’s health, especially if you have no clue what you’re doing. Check out the Tom’s Hardware article – all 45 pages of it – here.

COMPARITIVELY, JUST HOW EXPENSIVE ARE THE NEXT-GEN CONSOLES?

While over at Kotaku, I read one of their news links about a chart Curmudgeon Gamer made showing both the actual costs of several game consoles at release, and their relative costs in 2006 dollars. If you can avoid the entire debate on the page raging over just how the relative figures were computed, you’ll find it’s a pretty interesting look at console pricing and how much people are willing to pay to get their game on. Click here for the Curmudgeon Gamer article – you may just be surprised at what you find.