The Tech Report writes: "The Phenom II has arrived, and in some respects, it's better than expected. The X4 940 won't give a Core i7-965 Extreme a run for its money, of course, but we enthusiasts tend to shy away from the high end of the market anyway. We'd rather take a less expensive CPU, pair it with an equally affordable motherboard, and overclock and tweak the snot out of both to deliver the best performance per dollar with the smug satisfaction of knowing we pulled one over on The Man. Or something.
At less than $300, even the flagship Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition qualifies as inexpensive. And unlike with Intel's latest batch of Nehalem-derived Core i7 processors, motherboards compatible with Phenom II chips are both plentiful and affordable. Boards like MSI's new DKA790GX Platinum, for example, are easily found for under $150.
Armed with AMD's jack-of-all-trades 790GX chipset, the DKA790GX offers a unique combination of potent integrated graphics with dual PCI Express x16 slots for CrossFire. Pile on DVI and HDMI output options, six Serial ATA ports, the usual mix of integrated peripherals, and a BIOS primed for overclocking, and we have what looks to be a great companion for AMD's latest 45nm processors."
We run the rule of over Gaming Factory’s JDM: Japanese Drift Master, seeing if its Initial D-inspired story mode is enough to satisfy ardent drift fans.
LLC: "After our three hours with Anno 117: Pax Romana, it's clear this is one of the finest in the series, with plenty of systems that all reward your attention."
The arcade racing series is heading to Japan and the French Riviera.
