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Dual Channel DDR vs. RDRAM
Hello,
This week we
have a new section called TechWatch for you to check out
just below Colin's review of the sporty red Granite Bay motherboard from MSI. In his review he compares this dual-channel DDR motherboard against an i850E PC1066 RDRAM system... and the results are interesting to say the least. We
hear about new technology here on a daily basis, so hopefully TechWatch will
fill in the gap. For the Pcstats.com newsletter readers who took the time
to write in, I hope you will find this new mini-section interesting,
and informative.
This
week we have two
feature reviews. The first on the i845E-based Albatron PX845E Pro II and the second is a look at the
basics of what Hyper-Threading is. Since I'm currently working on the review
for
an absolutely gorgeous Professional 19" display from Viewsonic, it will be worth your while to
also read
through our review of Samsung's 900IFT for comparisons sake. We'll have the Viewsonic review in the
next edition of the PCStats.com Newsletter.
From all of us here at
PCStats.com, I'd just like to say Happy Holidays, and
thank you for your continued patronage.
We'll be taking a break
next week - so the next time you see the PCstats. com newsletter it will
be 2003! As a reminder, if you are not satisfied with the PCStats.com
Newsletter and wish to unsubscribe, please follow the instructions at the
base of this, or any other newsletter to do so. Expletives will
just get you on Santa's naughty list. ;)
The past year has been pretty uneventful for
Pentium 4 chipsets from Intel. Sure, the i845 was respun and
coupled with DDR, the official Pentium 4 FSB was raised from 100
MHz to 133 MHz, and i845PE/GE chipset memory support was
widened to PC2700/DDR333 standards. However, as evolutionary
steps they didn't cause that much of a stir - but with the release of
Intel's E7205 Granite Bay chipset the revolution has started! Well, for the moment at least. If you recall, Intel
made a surprise announcement on November 15th at Comdex 2002 concerning
the impending release of "Canterwood", an 800MHz version of the Pentium 4.
Intel had previously roadmapped the P4 from
the current 533MHz FSB level to 667MHz with a chipset called "Sprindale."
Springdale-based motherboards were originally expected to support
667/533/400MHz FSB Pentium 4 processors, but with Canterwood on the
horizon for Q2-Q3 2003 everything has been shifted towards 800MHz
FSB. There's no need to get too
excited just yet, 800MHz FSB Pentium 4's and Canterwood chipsets are still
off in the future somewhere and Granite Bay is here right now. With the
end of RDRAM support from Intel, its time is definitely right too. As
you're probably already somewhat aware, a Granite Bay E7205 based
motherboard with dual-channel DDR, will in most cases, outperform a PC1066
RDRAM bearing equivalent. That's pretty sweet considering just how far DDR
has come since AMD first brought it into the mainstream world alongside
the Athlon processor
| TechWatch IRC: Internet Relay
Chat |
|
By: Marcus
Yam
IRC, or Internet Relay Chat, is often an often-overlooked tool in these days of
instant-messaging services like AIM and ICQ. But while instant messengers are good
for keeping in touch with friends and family, the appeal of IRC
is partially that it is an opportunity to meet new people. While this
alone may reason enough for some, IRC's utility goes beyond simply
chatting.
Like e-mail, IRC is one of the oldest tools on
the Internet today. Once a haven only for the techno-elite,
today IRC is easier to use than in the past and is
utilized by all types of users. While many people may be intimidated
by various jargon and rules used on IRC, a little common sense goes
a very long way to making an IRC experience a pleasant
one.
But what advantages does IRC
have over instant messaging? Like the web, IRC's vastness is its strength.
There are numerous IRC networks across the globe, each fielding hundreds, even
thousands of chat channels on nearly every conceivable topic. If you want to
find people of like minds, IRC is the place to do
it. A feature of IRC that
has become more popular in recent years is using it as a
file-swapping service. While the selection of files on IRC may not be
as broad as it is on services like Kazaa, the topic-centric nature of
IRC channels means it's sometimes easier to find what you're looking
for. Choosing the right IRC software is important,
however.
|
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|
There's been a lot of talk
in the hardware community recently about the Intel Pentium 4 3.06
GHz processor, as it is the first processor in history to break the
3 GHz barrier (officially) and because it is the first desktop
processor to support HyperThreading. So what exactly is HyperThreading, and what makes it so
special? Before we answer that question, we first need a basic
understanding of how a standard processor and software work
together. Modern processors can
only handle one instruction from one program at any given point in
time. Each instruction that is sent to the processor is called a
thread. What I mean is that even though it looks like you're
multitasking with your computer (running more then one
program at a time) you're really not .
Read
the
Rest... |
| Samsung SyncMaster 900IFT Monitor
Review |
|
Albatron PX845PE Pro II
Motherboard Review |
|
With a price tag of $520 CDN ($350 US),
the Samsung SyncMaster 900IFT is not expensive, but it's not cheap
for a 19" CRT either. The first
thing I noticed about the monitor was the size, with dimensions of
468x492x483.2 mm, the 900IFT isn't a small monitor and I had to
rearrange the test bench a bit so the 900IFT would fit. Built using
Samsung's DynaFlat technology, the actual dot mask is curved both on
the horizontal and vertical axis. On the IFT
series of monitors this curvature is very slight and almost
unnoticeable but it is there, however it's not as obvious as with
Samsung's Syncmaster DF's series of monitors. It was very nice to see that Samsung kept the
bezel of the monitor clean and free of
gimmicks unlike some of it's competitors. The controls were
easily accessible from the from bezel just under the screen and the
menu's are easy to use and pretty much self explanatory. The maximum
resolution of the 900IFT is 1600x1200 with a refresh rate of 75 Hz
which is very
respectable for a 19" monitor.
Read the
Rest...
|
|
 Albatron have been producing a
lot of motherboards and videocards since they were created earlier
this year. In this relatively short time, they have earned
themselves a much deserved reputation for high quality,
overclockability, innovation. For example, if you consider how the
Albatron
GeForce4 Ti4200P Turbo has taken the web by storm, winning an
award from us even, you can see that if this company keeps on the
same track they are going to go far.The PX845PE
Pro II is based on the very popular i845PE chipset and can run
any Socket m478 400/533 MHz based Pentium 4. With three DIMM slots
the motherboard can support a maximum of 2GB worth of
PC1600/2100/2700 DDR memory.
Read the
Rest... |
| Colin's Weekly Tech Tips |
By:
C. Sun |
Slim down your Win98 Registry |
|
Lately we've been doing a lot of
Win2k/XP tweaking, but today we'll be checking out how to slim down
the Win9x registry. Anyone who has played around in the registry of
Win9x based OS's knows that it gets bloated quickly. Even when
certain entries are deleted, the registry still keeps the space all
to itself and that can slow things down.
Luckily though, Microsoft has a little
tool that can strip away that fat, and give you back that HDD space!
First and most importantly is back up your
registry!!! If you mess up, you will need to
import your backup copy! After that's done, reboot your computer and
go into DOS mode. You can do that by pressing the F8 key just before
your computer boots into Windows. Once you get to the DOS
setup menu, select "Command Prompt Only".
Once you reach a DOS prompt type
"scanreg/opt" and press enter. When that's done simply
reboot your computer and you should notice that the registry has
slimmed down quite substantially!
A Note from Colin: I
receive a lot of e-mail each week from readers asking for advice on
various topics and general computer help. While I can only answer a
few questions each week, I do try to respond to posts in
the "Colin's Weekly Tech Tips" section of the PCstats.com Forums
regularly. So, if I have haven't gotten to your question I
apologize, and recommend you post it in the Forums where
it has a better chance of getting
answered.
|
| Colin's Tips Archives | The PCStats.com Forums |
The Last
Word: Last
week we asked you how fast
PCstats.com
loads for you. The results are: 69% of you said Fast, 27% said Normal,
and just 4% said Slow.
|
 |
PCstats Issue
No.69
Circulation 182,000
The High Tech Low
Down
With Chris
Angelini |
|
Christmas is only a week away, and some of us haven't even started shopping yet (or was that just me?)! At any rate, last week I promised you a round of processor and motherboard recommendations, so here we go…
NVIDIA's nForce2
platform performs favorably in comparison to the KT400 chipset, but
AMD won't be able to get the Athlon XP 2800+ into
retail in time for Christmas. So, if you are willing to sacrifice in
the name of the fastest hardware around, you'll want to pick up a
3.06GHz Pentium 4. Keep in mind that your motherboard will play an
important role in overall system performance, though. In the second
quarter of next year, we'll start seeing Pentium 4 processors
running on an 800MHz bus. If you can wait until then, that's what
I'd recommend (at least then you can see if AMD's Hammer will be a
worthy contender). If you're in a hurry, though, I'd give the
nForce2/Athlon XP 2600+ my value recommendation. While it wasn't
intended for gaming, Intel's E7205 "Granite Bay" chipset delivers impressive performance combined with a pricey 3.06GHz Pentium 4, effectively marking the end of the line for RDRAM-based solutions
|
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