Over at DAT Computers, we found the ASUS CT-479 Socket Converter. With this device, Users can plug in a Pentium M / Celeron M (mPGA-479) CPU onto selected regular desktop mPGA-478 socket motherboards by Asus. Overclockers would love this product as Pentium M chips are powerful and has low heat output. Normal users or even upgraders who already have a supporting ASUS board might want to consider an upgrade, as this adaptor only costs $80, which is a very good deal!

The packaging for this ASUS CT-479.

The socket converter itself.

The back of the converter. The user would plug these pins onto their motherboard.

An additional 4 pin floppy power connector is required for the operation of this converter.

Also included, a heatsink fan that is specially made for this converter card.

Due to the size restriction on the converter board, the power connector is placed very close to the socket. Thus, ASUS had included this special fan, that would allow the power connector to be fitted, together with a decent heatsink.

Some of the support processors that would work with this product.

The back of the CT-479 package.

Next, we found a really value for money LGA 775, over at DAT Computers. The MSI PM8M2-V motherboard is based on the VIA PM800 chipset, with integrated VIA Unichrome Pro graphics. A great alternative to the relatively more expensive Intel i915G based motherboard, this MSI PM8M2-V could get that bang for buck status. Priced at $115, it's priced alot lower then most Intel chipset based motherboard.

The MSI PM8M2-V from top down.

The Southbridge of this board, with the newer VIA VT8237R, supporting SATA RAID on the 2 SATA ports onboard.

A pretty small heatsink for the Northbridge, a symbol of relatively cool running Northbridge?

The Realtek RTL8201CL Physical Hardware Layer, to harness the onboard LAN abilities from the VIA chipset.

The Realtek ALC655 sound controller would take control of the onboard 6 channel sound.

The silkscreen of the model name on the board. No mention of PCB revision or board revision over here.

A large chunk of heatsink on the MOSFETs, near the CPU area, to dissipate excessive heat generated from these MOSFETs.

A label on the motherboard packaging, with a short summary on the key features found on the board.

The box for the PM8M2-V. The usual "V-Class" design, like the rest of the boards of the "V" family.

Over at Fuwell, we found the Leadtek DUO PX6600GT. The Leadtek DUO PX6600GT is factory overclocked, with clockspeeds of 550Mhz/1120Mhz. One of the distinctive difference about this card, as compared to other cards, is the ability to work on all Nvidia SLi based motherboards. Unlike solutions from other brands which requires a both the graphics card and the motherboard of the same brand to work, Leadtek totally does not have this prerequisite. Priced at $699, this card is a piece of SLi technology at it's best.

The card itself. Due to it's 2 core configuration, this card is made to be longer then others.

The back of the card. The metal plate is just for securing the massive front heatsink, not for cooling.

This card comes with Dual DVI output on it's I/O connector.

For those who want multiple monitors setup, they could connect the included VGA I/O header onto these ports, and have 2 additional VGA connector. To users who isn't interested in performance, they could connect up to 4 monitors just with 1 graphics card!

A 6 pin PCIe Graphics power connection is needed for the operation of this card.

The trademark Leadtek packaging for this Duo PX6600GT.

To those who have been looking out for a budget ATi solution, We present to you the Sapphire Radeon X550 a sub S$200 dollar card. Based on ATi Radeon X550 chipset, it is similarr ATi Radeon X300 core, with higher clocks of 400MHz for core and 500MHz for memory (DDR). This card is available at Cybermind for $189.

The packaging of the Sapphire Radeon X550. Cute alien they have there :)

A bird's eye view of the card.

The memory onboard this Radeon X550. DDR1 4ns TSOP memory from Hynix.

The I/O connectors present on the card. DVI, VGA and a S-Video out.

Extreme users who are hungry for speed, rejoice! The AMD Athlon 64 FX 57 is now available at Cybermind at a price tag of $1950. This is currently the fastest single core processor that's available in the market.

The distinguished silver packaging for the AMD Athlon 64 FX 57.

A closer look at the markings on this CPU.

A label with the clock speed, and the amount of cache available on this CPU.

Looking for a Dual Core AMD Solution? The AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+is currently available at Cybermind for $1699. Arriving later then it's slower speed brothers, this CPU is the fastest from the A64 X2 family of processors.

The dual core AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ in it's box.

A closer look at the markings found on the CPU.

The label found on the box of the processor, with information on the clock speed and the amount of cache found on this CPU.

Over at Cybermind, we also saw the Intel Pentium 4 541 Processor that's clocked at 3.2Ghz. The main difference between the 5X0 and 5X1 processors is the additional support for EM64T on the 5X1 processors. the 5X1 processors still comes with a 1MB L2 cache, differentiating it from the Pentium 4 6X0 series.

The box of this new CPU, with the Intel EM64T marking on the bottom right of the box.

The label on the box, with some information on the model of this CPU.

A closer look at the CPU, with the markings on it.

The Shuttle SD31P is based on the Intel i945G chipset with support for the latest Intel Pentium D CPUs. VR-Zone had put up a demo of this Shuttle SFF over at NTU about a fortnight ago demonstrating the advantage of a dual core system. More info could be found here. Priced at $899, this SFF can be found at Cybermind.

A front shot of this SD31P. Typical of the "P" chassis, it looks just like other models based on the "P" chassis.

The rear I/O panel.

One interesting thing about this model is with the external SATA connector. This would be useful for those who regularly plug in and out their SATA hard drives.

Over at ATF Multimedia, we found the Edifier MP220 multimedia speakers. Made to be small and portable, this set of speakers comes in sleek white, similar to Apple products. Priced at $79, this affordable set of speakers is great for the road warriors!

The packaging of this MP220 speaker.

A very slim, portable and sleek looking speaker. And yes, for it's size, it sounds great!

There's all for this week, catch you guys next week, on the regular VR-Zone SLS Walk About :)