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		<title>APC - User - John in Brisbane</title>
		<link>http://apcmag.com/</link>
		<description>APC Magazine covers the latest in computing with a critical, independent eye to help you make the most of your tech dollar.</description>
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			<title>Google Nexus 4 review</title>
			<link>http://apcmag.com/google-nexus-4-review.htm#comment40421</link>
			<guid>http://apcmag.com/google-nexus-4-review.htm#comment40421</guid>
			<description><![CDATA[Talk about emotional journey lol.  First I was skeptical about these things when the rumours were rife.  Then I was really impressed when they came out and I did the price-to-performance sums in my head.  Now, landing here for the same dollars as Kogan etc are selling the soon to be superseded SGS3, minus the upgradeability and screen, I'm back to thinking they're not worth it.  Plus the back-key placement seems wrong to me and inferior to Samsung's solution with the hidden touch buttons.  Maybe if the next gen comes out at the same time as it's higher priced competitors, this idea will work for me.  For now, nup.]]></description>
			<pubDate>Mon, 08 Apr 2013 17:34:43 +1000</pubDate>
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			<title>Updated: The best high-end gaming PC you can build today</title>
			<link>http://apcmag.com/the-best-high-end-gaming-pc-you-can-build-today.htm#comment40442</link>
			<guid>http://apcmag.com/the-best-high-end-gaming-pc-you-can-build-today.htm#comment40442</guid>
			<description><![CDATA[It's not as bad as you might think. A gaming rig isn't running at full tilt all the time. CPUs and GPUs are good at varying power usage and id say the the average power usage would be no more than 300 to 400 watts. The costs can add up but computers are not like air conditioners where you will spend more on power than the initial purchase price.]]></description>
			<pubDate>Tue, 03 Apr 2012 13:00:00 +1000</pubDate>
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			<title>MicroATX Gamer Build, sub $600 Challenge</title>
			<link>http://apcmag.com/forum.htm?g=posts&amp;t=2152</link>
			<guid>http://apcmag.com/forum.htm?g=posts&amp;t=2152</guid>
			<description><![CDATA[Hey I like your idea for a few reasons:
* tiny boxes that you can hide are cool.
* you are thinking ahead.
I'd jump a little differently though.  I say go for a bigger, cheaper case with a better psu, aim for max cpu and gpu for now and then down the track buy a htpc case, chuck most of it in there then upgrade the big case.  I scored a mid tower thermaltake case with useful 430watt psu for $70ish from one of those suppliers you mentioned and I bet you can get something smaller for the same money.  You could then buy a p67 mobo, core i5 2500k, Win7 and 4gb of 2133 ripjaws for $486.  That's $550ish and I'd then hit ebay for an old 5770 for $50 which I bet you'd find...  $600 for a ridiculously hi-po rig!  I've got an SSD and love it but I reckon focus on the cpu and gpu for now and save for an ssd and cpu cooler.]]></description>
			<pubDate>Fri, 14 Oct 2011 04:09:47 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>Budget Gaming Build -- Improvement?</title>
			<link>http://apcmag.com/forum.htm?g=posts&amp;t=2146</link>
			<guid>http://apcmag.com/forum.htm?g=posts&amp;t=2146</guid>
			<description><![CDATA[[quote=ss-rotel]i have that exact same motherboard... AND i can't push the CPU, (2500K), past 4.3ghz stable, even with an insane watercooling setup. (2-3deg C above ambient underload). I have upgraded my memory since, and haven't tried since, honestly installed the memory, turned on the machine, and turned it off again.[/quote]


... I am sorry to hear that, particularly because I'm running the same cpu at 4.8 based solely on apc's recommendations!  When you guys did the overclocking feature I googled myself exactly the same mobo (an Asrock p67 extreme 4) that was on a run-out special, scored the cheapest 4gb of 2133 ram I could find and strapped on an old socket 775 zalman 900 led (I think) that the mobo had a second set of holes for and which I am pretty sure I bought on APC's recommendation some years ago.  After installing the OS etc I was about to commence the process you guys laid out when I saw the bios had a nice looking "one-touch" OC feature and I kept raising the settings until the max it allows of 4.8 and it has run perfectly since then...  including running fsx at 1920x1080 and having the temps hit 74 degrees.  I've been singing your praises ever since and it just isn't fair if you guys aren't getting the full benefit of the advice you've given others!  To add insult to unjury, I am running all this on a $50 seventeam psu with an old gtx260.  Given the bits I had lying around, it was a $507 upgrade, including win7.  ]]></description>
			<pubDate>Tue, 08 Nov 2011 00:37:46 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>Budget Gaming Build -- Improvement?</title>
			<link>http://apcmag.com/forum.htm?g=posts&amp;t=2146</link>
			<guid>http://apcmag.com/forum.htm?g=posts&amp;t=2146</guid>
			<description><![CDATA[Ah - I see.  I was wondering if you had scored a dud 2500k or mobo.  A couple of times I've fluked awesome overclocks from cheap mobos and psu - no skill only luck I think.

I haven't been that impressed with Asrock up until now, despite knowing their background, but the overclocking article caused me to google them and there just happened to be one left at MSY on super special.

Water cooling kind of scares me for exactly that reason but your cooling performance is off the chart!  If I am getting 4.8 with my rig, I wonder how far you might get?

Ultimately I want a portable rig too - I've got a spare e8400 and gtx260 and I keep sketching up ideas for a steam-punk, lap-top style device using a 22" monitor and building a little frame to hold the mobo etc.  I'd like a single handle, brief-case kind of thing with a monitor and everything either in one unit or unclipping and being turned around for use.I'm looking at putting  the graphics cards on riser cables and laying them down, cooling permitting.  It may be pie in the sky and a single, better GPU would make more sense I know.  I've been reluctantly looking at a sealed water cooling set up to keep the size of everything down.  Hearing what you've done with motorcycle parts is hilarious!

Whatever the details, isn't it great we're talking about seriously powerful gaming rigs for this kind of money?  I did a $500 upgrade and I'm about to build two decent 2500k boxes for friends that will cost about $1000 each.  Its a great time to be a nerd!]]></description>
			<pubDate>Tue, 08 Nov 2011 13:20:05 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>Budget Gaming Build -- Improvement?</title>
			<link>http://apcmag.com/forum.htm?g=posts&amp;t=2146</link>
			<guid>http://apcmag.com/forum.htm?g=posts&amp;t=2146</guid>
			<description><![CDATA[Hey Chris,

I think so - its actually the reason I did the upgrade!  You're very popular at my place :)  Getting good frame rates with FSX was the priority and I ummed and ahhed about the Core i7 900-series, never seeing the big leap forward in FSX FPS to justify the big price jump.

In the mean time I went sideways in the old core2duo/775 architecture and did a second office box and a lounge box.  I had one dud and one disappointing Asrock "combo" board during that time - I couldn't overclock an old e5400 beyond about 2.8 whereas an equally cheap Gigabyte gets it to 3.3 happily.  I try not to black-list a brand based simply on my anecdotal evidence but I did hesitate before buying the mobo in your feature.  Glad I did it though - I didn't even realise it had those socket 775 holes until I got back from the shop ... nerd-gasm!

I'm yet to do the testing but on about 80% settings FSX now looks like a commercial flight sim - finally getting close to its original potential.  I'm going to play around with my smart phone camera to shoot some semi decent footage (saving the FPS hit of Fraps etc) and I'll post a link.

cheers John]]></description>
			<pubDate>Tue, 08 Nov 2011 22:59:34 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>Budget Gaming Build -- Improvement?</title>
			<link>http://apcmag.com/forum.htm?g=posts&amp;t=2146</link>
			<guid>http://apcmag.com/forum.htm?g=posts&amp;t=2146</guid>
			<description><![CDATA[Oh the fit was dodgy - the backing plate is touching some of that stuff on the underside on the mobo where the cpu mounts ... there didn't seem to be any pressure on it so I took a big breath and clamped it all together lol.  I was out of town for about 2 weeks and couldn't wait to try clocking my new baby.

You know I was thinking those holes did look very similar.

I'd be surprised if it was the CPU though - didn't realise you were using a cheap mobo to test the rig.  I love pulling big numbers out of cheap rigs with crap ram but with the new ones I guess there is less chance of that.  As it is I bought cheap 2133 ram - only about $60 for 4 gigs!

Those Zalmans really do the job for what they cost - although I spent about 15 minutes cleaning all the crap out of mine before firing up the new 2500k.  Sounds like it is about to take off though - now I know the rig runs I need to think about better air cooling or take a big breath and go for water ...

Can't argue about the wheels and tires lol I tend to buy the ones that are here for a good time not a long time :-) this set has saved my bacon once and been great for grip and feel lolz]]></description>
			<pubDate>Thu, 10 Nov 2011 01:09:33 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>Budget Gaming Build -- Improvement?</title>
			<link>http://apcmag.com/forum.htm?g=posts&amp;t=2146</link>
			<guid>http://apcmag.com/forum.htm?g=posts&amp;t=2146</guid>
			<description><![CDATA[re - Jazz - that's nuts!  They've always made smooth revvy motors old honda.  I've got a stock fiesta with yoko s-drives on 15/50s - so that's about 100mm of sidewall but very stiff.  Decided against 16s or 17s because of some of the roads I drive on ...  The old Holden 5 litre v8 made 365 nm ... you're not far off!

re - water cooling - yeah what you've done makes sense given that the critical factor is surely the surface area of cooling and the effectiveness per square inch.  Plus being able to do the heat exchanging out of the case potentially.  If the dollars were reasonable, maybe two somewhat weak W/C radiator units in series could be the go?  For now I'll look at better air cooling and ways to maximise the effectiveness of what I've got now.  I know people who understand fibreglass and I've sketched a few ideas for an induction and exhaust ducting system for the zalman to basically isolate it from the air inside the case ... won't be on the same scale as ur watercooling antics though!  Ultimately, my rig is running at 4.8 so I'll try not to be greedy and just focus on getting the core temps down.

re - zalmans - mines a 9500 sorry. There was no problem on the 775 mobos but the backing plate was a bit sus on the 1155.  Getting those 4 screws in to hold the frame and backing together was actually hard!  Like I said, I made it fit lol.  Hummming the national anthem all the while  :)

re - shoehorning - that's the way!  The smaller the case the better.  I want to run two gtx 260s in sli but I keep eyeing off those cheap little aywuns ... so what if I cut myself 17 times during the install?

]]></description>
			<pubDate>Sun, 13 Nov 2011 00:41:57 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>sub $1100 Gaming rig</title>
			<link>http://apcmag.com/forum.htm?g=posts&amp;t=2211</link>
			<guid>http://apcmag.com/forum.htm?g=posts&amp;t=2211</guid>
			<description><![CDATA[Ha ha too much energy drink makes me slightly schizophrenic - V was on special at coles (Cheaper than Aldi!?!?)  this week though so I bought a few 4-packs lol.  I've got a coffee machine so I make nasty coffees that probably keep me awake just as much because of the nasty taste as the caffeine.

Re $1200 rig...  I've gone for a single 120gig SSD and the best GPU possible.  These are all from Staticice/MSY/Umart ...

Intel 2500K                               229
4G Gskill ripjaws 2133                 61
Asrock z68 ext3 gen3               132
Corsair Force 3 120G                185
Sapphire 6950 2g                      308
Optical -                                      20
Case - Thermaltake v6                78
PSU - Seventeam 650                 49

That's $1062 without screen, speakers, desktop or OS.  Assuming he's got everything else, I'd buy Win7 for $100 and if he's happy to run 64bit, upgrade to 8gigs of the same RAM for $30 ... total= $1172.  

I don't normally bother spending extra on brand name GPUs but that one has the button which essentially upgrades it to a 6970 - even I could do it!

If the OS isn't needed, I'd get a Corsair H70 cooler for $125

If a screen is needed, 24" ones seem to be going for $150 after cashback.]]></description>
			<pubDate>Sat, 28 Jan 2012 13:54:53 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>sub $1100 Gaming rig</title>
			<link>http://apcmag.com/forum.htm?g=posts&amp;t=2211</link>
			<guid>http://apcmag.com/forum.htm?g=posts&amp;t=2211</guid>
			<description><![CDATA[... oh and sorry ... System 1 would be my pick too.  Sadly, it's got to be intel.]]></description>
			<pubDate>Sat, 28 Jan 2012 14:01:20 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>sub $1100 Gaming rig</title>
			<link>http://apcmag.com/forum.htm?g=posts&amp;t=2211</link>
			<guid>http://apcmag.com/forum.htm?g=posts&amp;t=2211</guid>
			<description><![CDATA[Re - PSU - yep a friend has that PSU and GPU with a standard clock 2500k and its running fine.  He's played 200 hours of skyrim on a 42" panel at full HD lol.

Yeah I tell ppl to keep their old rig largely intact as I'm always banging on about having a lounge room PC.

Re - intel vs AMD - again, yep.  Sadly.  Lots of lurve for the AMD of old but it's got to be intel at the moment.

Re - asrock, Look I'd never have bought one before reading the overclocking article late last year but I've now had two good experiences with p67 boards - an extreme 4 and extreme 6 - that have run completely smoothly at 4.8ghz using the one-click overclocking in the bios.  Previously I was super pleased that my e8400 clocked from 3.0 to 3.6!

btw did the budget get dropped from 1200 to 1100?

I say go the SSD and buy some decent storage when thailand comes back on line ... I'm a total convert and when ppl give me a budget I try to get the best gear that will make a running comp for their money and then add stuff over a few months.  Cheating I know.]]></description>
			<pubDate>Thu, 02 Feb 2012 03:38:39 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>sub $1100 Gaming rig</title>
			<link>http://apcmag.com/forum.htm?g=posts&amp;t=2211</link>
			<guid>http://apcmag.com/forum.htm?g=posts&amp;t=2211</guid>
			<description><![CDATA[gawd I've just moved but I had 3 boxes, a laptop and cheap media tablet lol.  I'm only running one box atm but I could run 4 decent ones and 2 slower ones as servers  :-)

$2700 for THAT?  Maybe if it came with an autocad licence lol.

Yeah SSDs rock as system drives.  I've FSX on mine with heaps of scenery plus a few shooters.  Given that SSD tx rates have just doubled, and those force 3s 120g are only $180 odd, a faster, 120g SSD will be my next purchase ... ]]></description>
			<pubDate>Fri, 03 Feb 2012 04:48:03 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>sub $1100 Gaming rig</title>
			<link>http://apcmag.com/forum.htm?g=posts&amp;t=2211</link>
			<guid>http://apcmag.com/forum.htm?g=posts&amp;t=2211</guid>
			<description><![CDATA[$400 is more than mine is worth!  I might chuck my current SSD in though to give it a boost between now and when these ultrabooks get cheaper...

Nothing wrong with those QX9000 series - for me it was either one of them or the e8400 I went with at the time.  Whatever ur hourly rate thats pretty sweet tho :)]]></description>
			<pubDate>Sun, 05 Feb 2012 15:45:30 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>can't decide on GPU</title>
			<link>http://apcmag.com/forum.htm?g=posts&amp;t=2214</link>
			<guid>http://apcmag.com/forum.htm?g=posts&amp;t=2214</guid>
			<description><![CDATA[I've had Nvidias recently but since my last purchase (some ye olde gtx260s) AMD seems to have caught up and moved ahead in value/efficiency.  If you can spring for $300, I'd go for the Sapphire 6950 because it has the button to unlock the extra goodies, hence making it almost a full 6970.  You can achieve the same outcome by manually upgrading the BIOS of cheaper 6950s too I believe.  Google it though because someone said there have been problems with some cards.  The standout bargain right now is a pair of unlocked 6950s for about $500 - I reckon you'd just about max out BF3 @ 1920x1080 if you can wait another pay or two :).  I bet there at YT vids of BF3 on an upgraded card for you to check out. ]]></description>
			<pubDate>Sun, 05 Feb 2012 15:56:28 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>can't decide on GPU</title>
			<link>http://apcmag.com/forum.htm?g=posts&amp;t=2214</link>
			<guid>http://apcmag.com/forum.htm?g=posts&amp;t=2214</guid>
			<description><![CDATA[Nice link Rotel - the 6950 is almost cracking 60fps!  For the money, that is the standout value proposition.  And the 6970 ain't appreciably faster ... maybe a waste of time upgrading the BIOS, for BF3 at least?

PS - to the OP - only the 2gig 6950s can be upgraded.]]></description>
			<pubDate>Sun, 05 Feb 2012 16:04:39 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>can't decide on GPU</title>
			<link>http://apcmag.com/forum.htm?g=posts&amp;t=2214</link>
			<guid>http://apcmag.com/forum.htm?g=posts&amp;t=2214</guid>
			<description><![CDATA[I just use cheap mice ... maybe that's why I suck?  Hmmm.]]></description>
			<pubDate>Tue, 07 Feb 2012 01:40:01 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>can't decide on GPU</title>
			<link>http://apcmag.com/forum.htm?g=posts&amp;t=2214</link>
			<guid>http://apcmag.com/forum.htm?g=posts&amp;t=2214</guid>
			<description><![CDATA[yeah yeah you sound like my mate Mark.  He's trying to flog me his old gaming mouse ATM.  Hell I'm still impressed with optical mice!  No more scraping that strange crud off mouse balls!]]></description>
			<pubDate>Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:11:28 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>Where to buy Software</title>
			<link>http://apcmag.com/forum.htm?g=posts&amp;t=2229</link>
			<guid>http://apcmag.com/forum.htm?g=posts&amp;t=2229</guid>
			<description><![CDATA[Dunno (or really care) if this is legal but the way I look at it, if you derive income from it, upgrade the licence at that point.  Until you've got payment in your hot little hand, I reckon you could have a clear conscience.  Bill Gates hasn't got his hands on armed drones.  Yet. :-)]]></description>
			<pubDate>Tue, 28 Feb 2012 15:19:34 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>Where do you buy your parts?</title>
			<link>http://apcmag.com/forum.htm?g=posts&amp;t=2234</link>
			<guid>http://apcmag.com/forum.htm?g=posts&amp;t=2234</guid>
			<description><![CDATA[Look I appreciate you identifying yourself but it's still not appropriate - you're kind of pretending to be a client of yourself!

PS - you probably need to price match MSY, Umart etc before putting ads on a site like this lol ...]]></description>
			<pubDate>Sun, 04 Mar 2012 01:35:34 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>DICKSMITH MASSIVE sale, April 2</title>
			<link>http://apcmag.com/forum.htm?g=posts&amp;t=2244</link>
			<guid>http://apcmag.com/forum.htm?g=posts&amp;t=2244</guid>
			<description><![CDATA[I'm always sending group emails when Aldi are selling good cheap stuff.  Aldi is better than most for retail psychology but you know they're getting you in with loss leaders so you'll impulse buy some high-margin stuff on the way out lol]]></description>
			<pubDate>Tue, 10 Apr 2012 01:47:37 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>System Benchmarks</title>
			<link>http://apcmag.com/forum.htm?g=posts&amp;t=2258</link>
			<guid>http://apcmag.com/forum.htm?g=posts&amp;t=2258</guid>
			<description><![CDATA[hey count me in for that!  I'm always pestering my mates to benchmark their rigs, especially as we've now all got i5 2500ks or i7-900 series CPUs with varying GPUs.

I'm still running 3dMark06 lol ... coz I remember my scores on old rigs.]]></description>
			<pubDate>Thu, 31 May 2012 09:53:43 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>HTPC Hybrid build</title>
			<link>http://apcmag.com/forum.htm?g=posts&amp;t=2260</link>
			<guid>http://apcmag.com/forum.htm?g=posts&amp;t=2260</guid>
			<description><![CDATA[Nothing wrong with those specs mate but I'm always thinking ahead with builds - any chance you might want to play games down the track?  If so, I'd consider a GPU of some sort, although if you spec the PSU slightly higher, you can chuck one in later.  Also, while not a definitive thing, I suspect that you'll save more energy if you spend more on the PSU and get a newer CPU and go for cheaper HDDs.  Having had an SSD for a while now, I support the use of one as a system drive, although I'd cough up the extra for a 120gig drive. If you are sure of the mission for this rig, your specs are good, IMHO.]]></description>
			<pubDate>Thu, 31 May 2012 10:02:46 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>SSDs + RAID = Win!</title>
			<link>http://apcmag.com/forum.htm?g=posts&amp;t=2294</link>
			<guid>http://apcmag.com/forum.htm?g=posts&amp;t=2294</guid>
			<description><![CDATA[Folks,

I've just done my first RAID and I'm here to spread the good word.

I had a Vertex 2 64gb SSD as a system drive but it was simply too cramped.  I looked at 128s and 256s and noted with approval that prices have finally dropped.  Being keen to push my comfort zone however, I worked out that for a small premium I could buy 2 x 64 gig Vertex 4s for under $160.  I figured that the speed potential was fantastic and that I could mitigate the extra point of failure by doing what I've always known I should do - create my full install and then image it.

So, I bought the drives for $79 each and then embarked on a learning curve. At first it looked like my mobo bios and ssd combo didn't work together but it turned out that I didn't know that not all sata ports are created equal - some were intel-driven, some marvel ... wtf?  Anyway, when I worked that out and created the RAID 0 (Striped) array via the raid bios screen, suddenly I had one 119gig C drive!  And Holy F#@* ... it's totally worth the messing around.  Games install and then run super quick and everything opens almost before you click the icon.  It rates the maximum 7.9 on the Windows experience rating.  The one downside is that boot times aren't really improved because it goes through the raid bios screen during start up.  Now my slowest component is my g-skill 2133 RAM lol - maybe that's impacting boot times.

I'm running an i5 2500k at 4.8ghz on a cheap water cooler and 2 old gtx 260s in SLI - another first time experiment that  worked great. The RAM is the only part of my system that rates less than 7.7 on the Windows index.  I paid more for the GPUs at the time but a quick look online suggests that my box would cost $1210 to replace today, including OS.  In what other field of endeavour can you get so close to the bleeding edge for that kind of money?  A kid working at Maccas can afford that if they lay off the big macs for a few months.  The RAID just caps it off.  I know the pendulum swings back and forth but right now it's a great time to be a nerd!]]></description>
			<pubDate>Mon, 15 Oct 2012 13:41:27 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>NEW AMD CPU YEAH!</title>
			<link>http://apcmag.com/forum.htm?g=posts&amp;t=2300</link>
			<guid>http://apcmag.com/forum.htm?g=posts&amp;t=2300</guid>
			<description><![CDATA[Hey Rotel :-)

re - AMD ... yeah it's pretty sad huh?  It's not rocket science AMD - you need to sell this gear at a price to horsepower ratio that makes people seriously consider them.  That includes whatever extra stuff like cooling is needed to make them run well. More than 12 months ago, for $340 I scored a 2500k and cooler than runs at 4.8ghz happily.  It appears that AMD can't or won't get close to that value equation.]]></description>
			<pubDate>Tue, 04 Dec 2012 23:28:27 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>NEW AMD CPU YEAH!</title>
			<link>http://apcmag.com/forum.htm?g=posts&amp;t=2300</link>
			<guid>http://apcmag.com/forum.htm?g=posts&amp;t=2300</guid>
			<description><![CDATA[Yeah I vividly remember the time when AMD was on top for value and grunt and it was nice seeing the little guy sticking it to intel.  My circle of nerdy mates all went to Intel when the core series started and we've been here since. Even when building basic systems for clients, the intels look like better value chips.  Seems like AMD is focusing on GPUs.  It *is* a bit sad.]]></description>
			<pubDate>Sun, 16 Dec 2012 23:23:02 GMT</pubDate>
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