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- Samsung 173P+
- Epox 5NVA+SLI
- Corsair PC8000UL
- EZ-swap SATA
- P4 D-840
- Foxconn 945P7AA
- Samsung Tour
- PCstats Weekly Tips |
Details Emerge on AMD's Pinless Server CPU
Hello,
It's amazing how fast information can travel on the
web. Just a day ago, leaked photos of the socket for an upcoming AMD
Operton processor surfaced. The 1207-pin Socket-F
photos indicate a pinless
CPU (just like the LGA775 Pentium 4), but at a much higher density and
with an interesting split down the center that suggests two
distinctive cores. However, we'll have to wait and
see if the reported on-core PCI Express controller and support
for DDR2-800 memory are correct.
What's perhaps most remarkable about all of
this is the interest generated by something so mundane as a CPU
socket... or perhaps it's just that the market is
eagerly looking to AMD because Intel's CPUs are so
underwhelming. Let us know what your thoughts are!
On
that point, Issue 195 of the PCSTATS Newsletter starts off with a look
back at the dual core Intel Pentium
D-840 CPU, before moving onto reviews of the ultrafast Samsung
173P+ 8ms (gtg) 17" LCD, Vantec SATA EZ-swap
removable rack, Corsair TwinX
PC2-8000UL DDR-2 RAM, and Foxconn
945P7AA motherboard.
The
Epox 5NVA+SLI
motherboard
bridges nVidia's NF4-SLi with Intel's latest and greatest, so do give that
review a through read.
The new Samsung 173P+ incorporates all of the original models best physical attributes, along with a better contrasted 17" LCD panel and
8ms gray-to-gray pixel response time. The compact little 17" screen of
the Samsung
173P+ boasts a native resolution of 1280x1024 pixels. Its industry
standard dot pitch of 0.264mm makes for a crisper image from the a-si
TFT/PVA panel than many 19" LCDs can muster. The Samsung 173P+ offers up a
contrast ratio of 1500:1 and brightness value
of 270 cd/m2. Viewing angles on the Samsung 173P+ break the barrier at 178 degrees horizontal/vertical.
The unit accepts both 15-pin Analog and DVI digital video connections, though
DVI is naturally the preferred standard. Continue Here>>
The
Vantec EZ-Swap
MRK200-ST-BK only comes in black, and it supports the Serial ATA I
standard although Serial ATA II drives will function just fine in it at
reduced maximum peak though-put. The HDD caddy is made of
aluminum which should help keep high speed drives a littler cooler
than plastic would. There is also a small 40mm fan at the back of the unit
which pulls a little air through the unit. On the front of the HDD
caddy is
blue-illuminated LCD that displays the ambient temperature and has a few
simple temperature related alarm controls.Continue Here>>
Motherboards like the Epox 5NVA+ SLI
support Socket 775 533/800/1066 MHz FSB Pentium 4/D/Extreme Edition as
well as Celeron D processors. The four DIMM slots can accommodate up to
8GB of unbuffered non ECC DDR2 memory running at 667 MHz, while operating
in dual channel mode with 1.8V. Epox also bundles a few on board goodies
with the board such as Gigabit LAN, a 7.1 audio controller, IEEE 1394 and
my personal favorite a Port 80
diagnostics card. Of course, we must not overlook the two PCI Express
x16 slots which will support SLI
set-ups with the
appropriate videocards either!Continue Here>>
The flagship Intel Pentium D 840 processor,
clocked at a respectable
3.2GHz and built on the 90nm process
uses a pair of Prescott cores running at 16 x 200MHz to bring
multi-processing to the desktop in a LGA775 pinless
package. The Intel Pentium D
840 has a maximum power requirement of 130Watts (as opposed to
169million transistors and 115W for the 3.8GHz P4 670). Each core has
access to its own L1 and L2 cache
memory, 16KB and 1MB respectively. Continue Here>>
On the forefront of this DDR-2 RAM
movement is the nVidia nForce4 SLI chipset - it's more advanced and
supports more features than Intel's counterparts, and allows memory to
operate much faster than the FSB. According to Corsair, with compatible
supporting hardware, its 240-pin DDR2 Twin2X1024-8000UL
memory can run
at.....1000 MHz! It has
default timings of 5-4-4-9, and to reach 1000 MHz the DIMMs are rated for
up to 2.2V. DDR2 memory will generate a bit of heat at really high speeds,
so its good to see black aluminum heatspreaders applied.Continue Here>>
With both Intel and AMD firmly devoted to
dual core processors in the foreseeable future, one would expect a flurry of dual
core capable software should be hitting the market... yet at the moment
this aspect of the dream being marketed is sadly overlooked. Still,
future-proofing is always a good route to take, and if you are scouting
out new Intel socket 775 systems, there is no reason not to look at
motherboards which support dual core CPUs. Take for example the Foxconn
945P7AA-8EKRS2 motherboard which is based on the Intel 945P chipset
that PCSTATS is testing today.Continue Here>>
PCSTATS recently headed out to the Samsung Canada offices for a briefing. While we were
there, we took the opportunity to snap a couple pictures of the companies
brand new showroom which houses the latest Samsung products to hit the
Canadian retail market. The large showroom is built to impress, and aside
from the abundance of 42" plasma and LCD screens hanging off of virtually
every wall surface. For anyone who has never had the opportunity to walk
the expansive floors of the Las Vegas Convention Center during CES, the
following photo-tour
is a nice treat. Continue Here>>
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PCstats Weekly Tech Tips: Athlon64 Command Rate Tweak |
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When it comes to computers, you can never have enough memory bandwidth. AMD Athlon64 users can boost their computers' bandwidth by about 25% by setting one little memory timing tighter... so listen closely, this is a hush-hush kind of deal. What you'll want to do is go into the motherboard BIOS (usually you press the 'Del' key at POST, sometimes it's 'F1,' 'F2,' 'F10' or 'F12' depending on the motherboard). Once you're in the BIOS, find the memory timings section. These are typically found in the "DRAM configuration" or "Advanced Chipset Features" sections. Once located, find the "Command Rate" or "Command Per Clock" option and change its value to "1T."
Memory willing, with the Command Rate set at 1T performance should increase slightly and bandwidth will increase greatly! Please keep in mind that only high quality memory can run with a Command Rate of 1T and if you are using all four DDR DIMMs (Socket 939/940), the Athlon64 memory controller will not handle the 1T setting.
All of the PCstats Weekly Tech Tips have been archived in the Forums for your reference. |
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PCstats Issue
No.195
Circulation: 190,004
| This Issue By |
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Editor-in-Chief
. Max P.
Weekly Tips
. Colin S.
|
PCSTATS Q & A:
Send in your tough tech
questions today! |
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