Whether you're looking for a processor upgrade for your laptop or want to build a small but powerful system, the Intel Pentium M processor should definitely get some consideration. The processor that we'll be looking at specifically is the 479-pin Pentium M 740 model. It has a default clock speed of 1.73 GHz, runs on a 533 MHz (Front Side Bus) FSB and comes with a large 2MB of L2 cache. If you're looking for a slight upgrade for your aging laptop, or to build power efficient desktop this might be exactly what the doctor ordered....Continue Here>>

Biostar TForce P965 Deluxe Motherboard Review

In this review, PCSTATS is testing the Biostar TForce P965 Deluxe motherboard. This board is based on Intel's P965 Northbridge and ICH8 Southbridge chipsets. With Intel phasing out IDE, Biostar address the lack of native IDE channels by integrating a separate IDE controller onto the Tforce P965. Other integrated goodies on this full sized ATX board include Gigabit LAN,7.1 channel high definition Intel Azalia audio, a flurry of USB2.0 jacks, and expansion slots. For the tweakers out there, Biostar also equips this board with hand power and reset buttons right on the PCB! In any case PCSTATS will show you both Pentium D and Core 2 Duo performance so you get an idea of what to expect when running an Intel P965 Express based motherboard. Continue Here>>

AMD Sempron 3600+ 2.0GHz Socket AM2 Processor Review

The AMD Sempron processor has received little press, but that hasn't stopped it from getting noticed. This 'value oriented' line of CPUs is only separated from the flagship Socket AM2 lineup by clock speed and cache, and that has enabled the single core Sempron to sit at the dual core AM2 Athlon64 table without causing too much of a disruption. The single core 2.0GHz Sempron 3600+ CPU is certainly easy on the wallet... but just how well does the Sempron stand up to best and brightest AMD and Intel produce? Well, we're about to show you.Continue Here>>

PCstats Weekly Tech Tips: 1) BSOD's and You: What to know 2) Server 2003 and Domain Controller Troubles The first of this week's PCSTATS Tech Tips is a bit on the fun side. While we can all agree that the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) is a royal pain when it happens, did you know you can customize it? If you're PC is going to flake out, might as well do it in style so it's not like every other WindowsXP computer when it crashes. That's right you can change both the colour of the background, and the text with a few quick edits. First find the "SYSTEM.INI" file (usually in C:\Windows directory) and open it up with Notepad. From there scroll to the "[386enh]" section and find or add these two lines... "MessageBackColor=x" "MesssageTextColor=x" Where the "x" is, enter one of the following colour values... 0 = black, 1 = blue, 2 = green, 3 = cyan, 4 = red, 5 = magenta, 6 = brown, 7 = white, 8 = gray, 9 = bright blue, A = bright green, B = bright cyan, C = bright red, D = bright magenta, E = bright yellow, F = bright white. After that's done save and exit Notepad. From now on when your computer crashes the BSOD window will be custom. Your computer will still be toast of course, and that's why PCSTATS has a full guide on the subject of Crash Recovery: and the Blue Screen of Death. And now for the real Tech Tip... Server 2003 and Domain Controller Troubles If you're running Windows Server 2003 with SP1 on your authenticating domain controller, you might run into the issue where WindowsXP machines have problems connecting to the internet or log onto your domain. The problem is usually due to a corrupt policy store which is most often caused by an interruption to disk writing, luckily the fix is rather easy. Start up a command prompt (Start -> Run then type cmd and press OK) and from there type out these three lines, press the "Enter" key after every line. REG DELETE HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\IPSec\Policy\Local /F REG ADD HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\IPSEC /V Start /T REG_DWORD /F /D 1 regsvr32 -s polstore.dll After that's done restart your server and you're set. No more WindowsXP connection problems with Windows Server 2003 SP1 authentication domain controllers. =D Let PCSTATS know what you think about this Tech Tip, and be sure to stop by PCSTATS Forums and post your comments or questions. Join the PCSTATS Forums Today @ forum.PCstats.com!