32 | MAXIMUMPC | SEP 08 | http://www.maximumpc.com
Nvidia’s decision to not support Skulltrail with
its brand-new GeForce GTX 280 left us with the
option of using a single GeForce GTX 280 or
switching to a single-proc system that would let us
use SLI. Instead, we chose option three. And that
was to talk to ATI. The timing couldn’t have been
better because ATI was willing to share a card so
secret it didn’t even have a name yet. We kid you
not. These dual-GPU cards were so fresh off the fab
that ATI was still deciding whether to dub them
Radeon HD 4870 X2 or 4970 X2. (The company
settled on 4870 X2.) We only cared that we got ’em.
And they’re fast. In fact, on Skulltrail, they’re more
than twice as fast in 3DMark Vantage as a single
GeForce GTX 280.Onboard audio has grown by leaps and bounds, but we’re still
suckers for clean, pristine-sounding discrete audio. It doesn’t hurt
if you get hardware acceleration as well, but even we’ll admit
that we have plenty of CPU cycles to spare. Creative’s brand-
spanking-new Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty features
a redesigned DSP to natively support PCI Express. Also new is
Dolby Digital encoding (fi nally) and a pair of optical SPDIFs.With LG’s GBW-H20L Blu-ray burner, we don’t need a separate
drive to get decent DVD write speeds—as we did in last year’s
Dream Machine. Back then, the top Blu-ray burner was rated
at a pathetic 8x for DVD+R. The GBW-H20L not only boasts the
fastest BD-R speeds currently available (6x), but it’s 16x DVD+R
rating is also quite respectable. To get the full rundown on this
drive’s abilities, see the review on page 89.|MAMAMAXIMXIMXIMXIMUUUUMMPPPCC|SEP 08 |www.maximumpc.comDolby Digital encoding (fi nally) and a pair of optical SPDIFs.soundcardsoundcard optical driveoptical driveoptical driveoptical drive
videocardsvideocards
Creative Labs Sound
Blaster X-Fi Titanium
Discrete audio is making a comeback, but as far as
we’re concerned, it never leftLG Super Multi Blue GBW-H20L
A jack of all optical trades
Two ATI Radeon 4870 X2s
Double the performance you’d get from a GeForce GTX 280 on Skulltrail
suckers for clean, pristine-sounding discrete audio. It doesn’t hurt
if you get hardware acceleration as well, but even we’ll admit
that we have plenty of CPU cycles to spare. Creative’s brand-
spanking-new Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty features
a redesigned DSP to natively support PCI Express. Also new is
Dolby Digital encoding (fi nally) and a pair of optical SPDIFs.fastest BD-R speeds currently available (6x), but it’s 16x DVD+R fastest BD-R speeds currently available (6x), but it’s 16x DVD+R
rating is also quite respectable. To get the full rundown on this rating is also quite respectable. To get the full rundown on this
drive’s abilities, see the review on page 89.Dolby Digital encoding (fi nally) and a pair of optical SPDIFs.optical driveoptical drive
Double the performance you’d get from a GeForce GTX 280 on Skulltrail
videocardsvideocardsvideocardsvideocardsvideocardsvideocardsvideocardsvideocardsvideocardsvideocardsvideocardsvideocardsvideocardsvideocardsvideocardsvideocardsvideocardsvideocardsvideocardsvideocards
DREAM MACHINE ’