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- Pentium D 940 CPU
- MSI K9N SLI Platinum
- MSI NX7900GT HDCP
- Seasonic Energy+ 650W
- OCZ Tempest Heatsink
- DIY Home Theatre Guide
- iStorm D-300 Rack Case
- PCstats Weekly Tips
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Intel Pentium D 940 Benchmarked
Hello,
Perhaps it should have been called the great paper
launch. Officially announced twice (first a press preview,
then officially so), the much touted Intel Core 2 Duo 'Conroe'
processors remain elusively unavailable in retail channels in our neck of the
woods. The Core 2 Duo E6600 looks like it will be the sweetheart of
the bunch, whenever it happens to appear...
In this weeks Newsletter,
PCSTATS reviews the dual core Intel
Pentium D 940, a 3.2GHz processor which has reaffirmed AMD's
dominance up till now. Following this, the MSI K9N SLI
Platinum motherboard and its nForce 570 SLI chipset show us some
really nice benchmark results, good enough in fact for this MSI
motherboard to garner an award. Most would agree that HDCP is an
unavoidable nuisance, especially if you're on the consumer side of
things. The MSI NX7900GT
PCI Express videocard is the first
graphics adaptor we've yet seen with HDCP support, so if you like High
Definition content on your computer you'll want to read this one.
Energy efficiency is a topic we find
ourselves returning to often, and power supplies are the cornerstone of assembling
an efficient PC. The Seasonic S12
650W Energy+ scores well in this
regard, and impressed us in its own right. The iStar D-Storm
D300 may have a silly name, but
it's a suitably fitted out 19" barebones
rack mount case
. Oh, and one more review care of the boys at our brother site FrostyTech - the OCZ
Tempest heatsink.
Colin dishes out a double
Tech Tip Treat this week, especially if you're running with Win98 or
Win2000. Enjoy!
Thanks for reading!
Max Page
Editor-in-Chief - PCSTATS
The Intel Pentium D
940 processor is the latest victim, errr.... component to pass through
the PCSTATS test labs. Built on Intel's 65 nanometer manufacturing process
and with two physical processing cores running at 3.2 GHz
each, backed up by 2MB of L2 cache, the socket 775 chip
certainly makes quite a splash. The Pentium D 840 is more than ever a
worthy competitor to AMD's dual core Athlon64 processors. The Pentium D 940
processor runs on an 800 MHz Front Side Bus (FSB) and uses Intel's
pinless Socket 775 form factor. Each core on the Pentium D 940 has
access to its own L1 and L2 cache memory, 16KB and 2MB respectively. Both
class of processor run on a 800MHz front side bus like traditional
Prescott Pentium 4s, and are currently only supported with DDR II memory.Continue Here>>
The MSI K9N SLI
Platinum motherboard PCSTATS is testing today is based on
the brand spanking new nForce 570 SLI
chipset, and with it you get a slew of technologies like Linkboost,
FirstPacket, DualNet, MediaShield and an assortment of network
connection tweaks that can make gaming a hell of a lot faster over the
internet! MSI have put together a solid upper
level gaming platform which can accommodate up to 8GB of
PC2-6400 memory along side any Socket
AM2 processor. The board has tweaks handy for overclockers looking
to push the boundary. Judging by what we've seen from nForce 590
SLI boards and the Socket AM2 I think the MSI K9N SLI
Platinum should probably overclock to the
270 MHz area... let's find out.Continue Here>>
HDCP or High bandwidth Digital Content Protection is a
hardware digital rights management tool developed by Intel to protect high
definition video and audio content during transmission from the player to
the screen, in whatever form those two devices may take. MSI has just
released its NX7900GT-VT256E-HD
which is HDCP compatible - this is the first HDCP-enabled PCI Express x16 videocard from that company.
That's right, this card is not just a 3D gammer's baby, it also plays
nicely with High Definition
hardware as well. The MSI
NX7900GT-VT2D256E-HD videocard is backed up by 256MB of high speed GDDR3 memory and it supports a whole
host of TV output options. Continue Here>>
What makes a good power supply? Well the simple answer to that
question from a computer enthusiasts perspective is that it must have a sufficiently high
output wattage to handle top of the line components; be it multiple videocards or whatever.
Furthermore, it should be power efficient, and quiet in operation.
Seasonic's flagship power supply this summer is the S12 Energy Plus
SS-650HT 650W model. The
SS-650HT is SLI certified, and that itself should be
a sign of what's to come. It is fully ATX 2.0 compatible and has an energy efficiency
rating above 80% and there
are four +12V rails that can each deliver a maximum of 18Amps
, with total power output of
455W!Continue Here>>
Computers are a perfect fit for the
entertainment room, and building your own home theatre
PC is not more difficult than assembling a standard system - as long
as you have the right components for the task. In this
Do-It-Yourself Guide, PCSTATS are going to walk you step-by-step
through the process of assembling your own home theatre PC out of
contemporary components. We'll also explore the various things you can do
with an HTPC
after it's built. Continue Here>>
In hosting facilities, individual computers are stacked one on top one
another in 7-foot tall
19" wide metal framed racks. Each individual computer is contained in
specially shaped cases that conform to standardized
dimensions, and specific rack mounting criteria that fit into a
standard 1.75" Unit, or "U". The iStar D-Storm
D300 is a 20.8" deep 3U steel chassis that will accommodate a standard
ATX2.0 motherboard, up to four hard drives, and optical drives. The
D-Storm D300 19" rackmount
case features two lockable vented
aluminum swing-out doors that incorporate removable dust filters that
can be rinsed out and reused when the dust bunnies get too thick.
Continue Here>>
After a long absence from all things heatsink
related, OCZ is back in the game with a compact little multi-socket
heatsink called the Tempest. The OCZ
Tempest heatsink weighs in at 580 grams, and is built upon a design
that relies heavily on copper components. The design is a fairly
predictable mix of copper, heatpipes and a big low RPM fan, so it will
be interesting to see how OCZ's
product fairs
against the strong lineup of socket AM2/939 AMD Athlon64 heatsinks
on the market right now. The performance of the stock Athlon64 X2 AM2 heatsinks is
quiet remarkable, and I suspect the Tempest will need more than a bit of
copper, or a blue LED
illuminated
fan to prove its mettle. Continue Here>>
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PCstats Weekly Tech Tips: Revisiting Windows 98 and Windows 2000 Tips |
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Windows 98 Tip:
With this week's tip we're going to focus on an older
operating system, Windows 98. There are lots of us still using
this OS, and it's time we devoted a little time to tweaking
it. Rock on!
You may know 'Active Desktop' as
the lousy feature in WindowsXP, and the even worse one in 'Windows 98.' It's a huge memory hog, and it posses many instability problems; Active Desktop is definitely a bad idea to use with Win98. To disable this feature for good, first load up your registry editor (Start -> Run then type Regedit and hit the OK button) and follow this path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE -> Software -> Microsoft -> CurrentVersion -> Policies -> Explorer. In the right hand window create a new "Binary Value" with the name "NoActiveDesktop". After it has been created, double click on it and give it a value of "01 00 00 00". Save, reboot, and you're all set.
From now on, Active Desktop will remained disabled even if you try to enable it. This change should speed things up considerably, and probably improve stability of the operating system too.
Windows 2000 Tip:
Here's a quick shutdown tip for all the Windows 2000
users in the house. Press Ctrl-Alt-Del to bring up the Task
Manager, while holding the Control key click the Shutdown menu
and select 'Turn off.' That will force your system to shut
down quickly ending all tasks, a warning box might pop up
saying "If you continue, your machine will reboot and any
unsaved data will be lost. Use only as a last resort." click
the Ok button and Windows 2000 will immediately start closing
all tasks. Badda-bing, baddda-boom!
Let PCSTATS know what you think about this Tech Tip, and be sure to stop by PCSTATS Forums and post your comments or questions. |
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PCstats Issue
No.220
Circulation: 176,908
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| That
thing called "RoHS" |
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If you've purchased any computer components the last little while you've probably noticed the little garbage can with an X running in front of it, that is the RoHS symbol. Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS ) is a European Union initiative which targets electrical and electronics equipment.
Specifically, RoHS targets heavy metals used in electronic components like Lead, Mercury, Cadium, Hexavalent Chormium, PBB and PDBE. In order to comply with EU's RoHS legislation, all substances must either be removed or reduced to within maximum permitted concentrations. This applies to all electrical components that will be sold within the European Union.
RoHS was introduced as law in European Union on July 1st 2006. Manufacturers caught putting non compliant products onto the EU market will face stiff fines and have their products barred.
While manufacturers are primarily affected by RoHS, the law is also seeking to change how we as consumers handle our old electronics at the end of its life cycle. End users are advised to handle electronic waste as "hazardous waste", and dispose of old electronics through proper waste channels - not simply toss these items into the trash. As the RoHS symbol indicates, it is no longer okay to throw old computer gear into the dust bin.
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