Asus EN9600GT - Graphics Card

Product Price : 12,000

The graphics card market has been heating up in the recent past. After a succession of wins for Nvidia, ATI was finally able to put together a competitive answer in the form of the HD3850 and 3870. Not to be
left behind, Nvidia has launched the first of the 9000 series. And it's not a high-end, extremely expensive part. Rather, it's the 9600GT, the successor to the 8600GT. We tested the Asus EN9600GT. The
GeForce 9600GT is fabbed on a 65nm process and sports a 256-bit memory bus. The core runs at 650MHz, while the 512 MB of GDDR3 memory runs at 1.8 Ghz. 64 Stream Processors are rather less than the 112 found in the 8800GT.

The card looks very similar to the 8800GT, with the same physical dimensions. The single slot design and sole PCIe power connector make it easy to plug into mid-range systems. The card draws about 95 watts under load, which is not too much. A 400 watt SMPS is good enough. Heat and noise levels are quite low, and the improvements made to the PureVideo HD feature mean that this might make a nice card for a powerful HTPC. A nice touch is the inclusion of an S/PDIF connector on the card. Asus supplies the little wire that you need to hook this up to the S/PDIF connector on your motherboard. ATI's solution of putting a audio chip on the graphics card for HDMI is perhaps more elegant, but this works as well.

We tested this card on our upgraded test rig. We used a Intel Q6600 Quad Core processor on the new Intel DX38BT motherboard, paired with 4 GB of DDR-3 RAM, and a 150 GB Raptor. Since this card is intended to compete with the Radeon 3850, we tested against that. The 3850 is hampered a little, since it only has 256 MB of RAM. We also tested it against the 8800GTX and the Radeon 3870X2, but since those cards are not directly comparable, we've kept them out of the ratings. The 9600GT did quite well in 3D Mark 2006, getting a score of 10211 3D Marks, as compared to 9945 for the 3850. In our gaming tests, the 9600 GT maintained a healthy lead over the 3850, averaging between 20 - 40 % faster. We tested Crysis, Unreal Tournament 3, Company of Heroes, World in Conflict, Supreme Commander, and our old stalwarts: Doom 3 and F.E.A.R. We tested at 1680x1050 for the most part, except for Crysis - 1024 x 768, Doom 3 - 1280x1024, and F.E.A.R - 1024x768.

Crysis was quite playable at 1024x768 with settings set to High and 8X Anti-Aliasing. If you switch AA off, then the frame rates rise to 36, which is eminently playable. The 3850 managed 20 and 29 frames under
the same conditions. Unreal Tournament 3 was very smooth, running at 54 frames with all graphics sliders set to maximum. The 3850 lagged behind with 54 frames. In the rest of the games a similar story
unfolded.

We were pleased with the performance of the 9600GT. In the wake of the 8800GT and GTS launch, Nvidia has followed up with another solid product. ATI is not giving up though, and the graphics card market is heating up again.

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Intel DX38BT - Motherboard

Product Price : Rs. 10,000

The Intel DX38BT (Bonetrail) motherboard is supposed to replace the BadAxe 2 D975XBX as Intel’s top of the line enthusiast motherboard. Unfortunately, the board is obsolete at launch, since it does not support a 1600 Mhz Front Side Bus, thereby ruling out Intel’s fastest processor — the QX9770. However, let’s examine the things the board does offer. PCI Express 2.0 is supported, and Intel has done away with all legacy ports, including the floppy drive and PS/2 connectors. Eight USB ports on the back panel along with four on the board take care of peripheral connectivity. Six SATA ports and two eSATA ports mean that you can hook up a whole lot of storage. This board only supports DDR-3 memory, which is a bit of a shame. Gigabit LAN and a single FireWire 400 port are par for the course.

The board performed quitewell, scoring exactly 100 on our WorldBench tests. We tested it with an Intel Quad Core Q6600 and 4 GB of DDR-3 RAM. A PCMark score of 8800 meant that the board is not holding back the CPU. Intel also makes it easy to overclock with BIOS options for CPU and memory clock speeds and voltages. You can also use Intel’s Desktop Control Center to tinker about without having to reboot. The BIOS suffers from a little bit of lag, which surprised us.

Intel is poised to launch the X48 chipset, which will add support for 1600MHz and further enhance overclocking. We’d suggest holding off for a month or so to see what Intel serves up next.

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Aten CS52A - KVM

A KVM (keyboard Video Mouse) switch has generally been considered to be the domain of server rooms and sysadmins. However, in these technologically advanced times, many of us have two computers at home. If you often motor your chair from one monitor to another in the same room, or have a tangle of cables on your desk as two keyboards fight it out for your valuable desk space, the Aten CS52A is for you. An entry-level KVM switch, it lets you control two computers with one keyboard, monitor, and mouse. It also
has audio support, so you need only one set of speakers as well.

The setup is easy enough, since you just have to plug in the various wires. The keyboard can be connected through a PS/2 port, but you’ll need to have a USB mouse. Once everything is connected, you simply press a button on the wired remote, and control switches from one PC to another. It’s slightly surreal, but works quite well. We had no issues using the switch, and mostly you just forget about its existence. Games, movies, and the usual range of office tasks worked fine. There’s no support for DVI, so you have to use the VGA input. You can plug a USB hub into the USB port and connect other devices as well.

This is a niche product, but if you are in this particular niche, you’ll find it quite useful. At a low price of Rs. 3,000, it makes sense to pick it up rather than buy a pair of monitors, keyboards and mice, and deal with the resulting confusion. Aten also has a DVI model, but that costs a little bit more.

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Kawasaki ZX-6R (2007-current)

New price £7,190
Engine size 599cc
Power 110bhp
Top speed 164mph


Overall verdict

In the Kawasaki ZX-6R, Kawasaki has built a race ready 600 which is road legal, just. Everything about the ZX-6R is track focused, you could enter a standard Kawasaki ZX-6R into a club race and you wouldn’t be far behind the top runners. The more you thrash it the more fun you’ll have. The Kawasaki ZX-6R is easily the most fun 600 on track but let down by its real world capabilities.

Engine

A measured 109.61bhp at the back wheel made the Kawasaki ZX-6R the most powerful 600 in our recent group test. You have to keep the Kawasaki ZX-6R motor singing to get the most out of it above 9,000rpm ideally, but revving it to its 16,000rpm redline sends shivers down your spine.

Ride and Handling

The track-focussed Kawasaki ZX-6R is built for carving up race tracks. The brakes are outstanding, and the Kawasaki ZX-6R remains stable no matter how late you dare to brake. You can carry a stupid amount of corner speed on the Kawasaki ZX-6R, which is really confidence inspiring. The Kawasaki ZX-6R's front will give the odd twitch over bumps and imperfection on the road.

Equipment

The Kawasaki ZX-6R has fully adjustable suspension front and back, radial brakes up front... it ticks all the boxes for a 600 supersport machine. The standard slipper clutch is one of the best on the market something the Kawasaki ZX-6R has always led in term of development for the original ZX6-RR. Read reviews of parts for a Kawasaki ZX-6R.

Quality and Reliability

Kawasaki has never had a problem with engine reliability or build quality and the Kawasaki ZX-6R is no exception. An MCN staffer who owned one of the original high revving ZX6-RRs says it never missed a beat despite its hard life. The Kawasaki ZX-6R feels well built and solid with attention to detail in the finish.

Value

At £7190, the Kawasaki ZX-6R is the second cheapest 600 on the market and it’s a new model for 2007, only Suzuki’s older GSX-R is cheaper. Haggle with a local dealer and you should be able to steal a Kawasaki ZX-6R for under £7,000 which for the latest, track-focussed 600 which will hold its own against almost anything on track, is a bargain. Find Kawasaki ZX-6R motorcycles for sale.

Model History

2007: All new Kawasaki ZX-6R, now 599cc.

Other Versions

None (RR version discontinued now that Kawasaki ZX-6R is 599cc).

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