Tong Family Blog

May 17, 2005

Windows Safe Mode

CHSAFE: Getting into Windows Safe Mode. I always forget the exact key sequence to get Windows into safe mode. I need this quite a bit when I switch monitors since Windows can lock into a higher resolution than an LCD can display (for instance right now I have a machine that is at 1280×1024 while the monitor only does 1024×768).

The screen goes blank after the startup screen which is how you can tell.

The easiest way out that I've found is to get into Safe Mode and reconfigure the driver there.

To get there, press and hold the F8 key when Windows startups up. With some older computers you'll get an error if you do this during the boot up sequence so if it doesn't work try rapidly tapping.

Posted by rich at 08:21 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 15, 2005

CD Media

Media - Club CD Freaks - Worlds Largest CD/DVD Community. This is where the hard core folks who study the various CD media live. Interesting that google doesn't index any of it, so there is still reason for blogs like mine.

An interesting factoid on CD Freaks poll is that 39% of all hard core CD nerd favor disks made by Taiyo Yuden. MCC or Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (which is Verbatim) at 16% was second. The main problem is that Taiyo Yuden is hard to get in the US.

The main issue is that different brand names sold at retail package different CDs from different vendors. For instance, the Verbatim DatalifePlus CDs that I have come out being made by MCC or Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation.

From their FAQ)1

Q: How do I know who made my discs?

A: There is a code written on every disc, called the ATIP. This contains information about dye type, possible maker of the disc, length of the disc (size) and type of disc. (R, RW, audio, video, etc.) Many programs can read this information. Nero, Nero InfoTool, and the LiteOn utility: SmartBurn Media Checker are all widely used. DVDIdentifier is a popular tool for checking information on DVD media and drives. Many of the other burning programs are also now reporting the ATIP/ADIP information on media. The SmartBurn utility also reports the max speed that the disc can be burned at, on a LiteOn drive with SmartBurn enabled. Some of these "readers" of ATIP information may report different disc makers, on the same disc. The codes are not always reliable, and are sometimes "faked" by unscrupulous media sellers. But with well-known media sellers and brand names, the codes are usually reliable.

But, the Verbatim non-Datalifes come out as being made by CMC which probably why the DatalifePlus CDs are twice as expensive. Many times, different CDs are sold with different specifications than what the manufacturer says, so read the forums carefully expecially cdfreaks.com if you really want the best quality. Of course for most music, it doesn't matter that much since a few errors you won't hear.

Posted by rich at 09:37 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

CD-R Tools

cd-rw.org: Software: CD-R software: CD-R tools and CDMediaWorld. In trying to figure out exactly what CD media I've bought, I bumped into some pretty cool tools.

Here's a list of fun things on this page:

• Alcohol 120%. This is a CD drive emulator. Let's you mount CD images you have on your hard disk as a virtual drive. I've used this before for convenience on some games.
• DVD Identifier you exactly who made your media. This is called ATIP information.
• ClonyXXL. This thing scans for copy protection on your CDs.
• Nero Infotool. This identifier just about everything including who makes the CD, etc.

Posted by rich at 09:11 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 10, 2005

Far Cry 64

AnandTech: Far Cry AMD64 Edition - A First Look at 64-bit Gaming. Despite the name, this 64-bit port runs on either Intel or AMD 64-bit chips.

First, we see that the difference between running the 32-bit binary in XP Professional and x64 Edition is basically nothing. Next, there's a modest performance gain seen by the Athlon 64 X2 when using the 64-bit binary - we see a boost of 4%. Note that this sort of a performance improvement isn't noticeable at all to the end user, but there is a numerical advantage.

Interestingly enough, Intel actually does a little better - showing a 6.5% increase in performance. It's tough to say exactly why Intel gets more of a performance boost here, other than assuming that for whatever reason, Intel is facing more register pressure in our particular benchmark.

We're just happy that there is any sort of performance improvement at all - but to those looking for major increases in performance by moving to 64-bits, it's less and less likely to happen.

Posted by rich at 10:52 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 04, 2005

Lightscribe

LightScribe: Getting Started. Wow, HP invented this. What a great idea. The Benq 1625 seems to be one of the first drives that will have it.

Burn your tracks onto the data side of the disc. Flip the disc over to the label side and put it back in the drive. Burn your label by opening your favorite LightScribe-enabled label-making software and going to the CD template work area. Now you do all of your creative design work-imported pictures, copy, and artwork. When you are satisfied with what you have done, click "print." It really is that simple! No ink, no messy markers, no clumpy adhesive labels . just an amazingly beautiful label right before your eyes.

Posted by rich at 11:09 PM | TrackBack

April 25, 2005

Windows 64 Bit Upgrade

The Tech Report - techreport.com. Well the 64-bit Windows is now here. You can get an upgrade if you fit these conditions. The most hard core thing is that once you upgrade you can't go back to the old 32-bit version. I'm actually unsure why this is so, seems like there has to be some sort fo compatibility. It does make it sound like the on-disk file formats are changing. That would be sad if true (e.g., you have to reformat the entire hard drive to use this. Ugh.)

1. In order to be eligible to receive Windows® XP Professional x64 Edition, your computer must have been ordered between March 31, 2003 and July 31, 2005 with Microsoft Windows® XP Pro (32 Bit) preinstalled.
2. By participating in this program, your 32-bit version of Windows® XP Professional will no longer be licensed.
3. The installation of Windows® XP Professional x64 Edition requires you to format your hard drive. You must back up your files and settings prior to the installation or they will be erased. Microsoft is not liable for any loss of data as a result of this installation.
4. Windows® XP Professional x64 Edition requires 64-bit hardware drivers (32-bit drivers are not supported). Drivers for 64-bit Windows are created at the discretion of hardware manufacturers and may not be available for some of your hardware components.
5. For the purposes of the End User License Agreement for your existing Windows® XP Pro (32 Bit) software, your installation of this software will be an "Upgrade."
6. The installation of Windows® XP Professional x64 Editions will void any support with your PC manufacturer. One free support call will be provided by Microsoft for any installation-related issues. Additional calls to Microsoft support will be available on a pay-per-incident basis.
7. Cost for shipping and handling of upgrade is $12.00 USD for domestic shipments and $22.00 USD for International shipments plus any applicable taxes.

Posted by rich at 08:40 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Pentium D vs. Athlon X2

AnandTech: AMD's dual core Opteron & Athlon 64 X2 - Server/Desktop Performance Preview. A very interesting set of comparisons. The D's are so inexpensive and if only we could invent some software at Ignition that would exploit dual core, now that would be cool

Because Intel is only shipping lower clocked dual core CPUs, Intel's chip prices are much lower - not to mention that Intel's manufacturing abilities far exceed those of AMD. Percentage-wise, the Pentium D 3.2 commands a high premium for that second core, but the prices are overall quite reasonable. The fastest Pentium D is still cheaper than the slowest Athlon 64 X2 4200+, and the slowest Pentium D is ridiculously cheap compared to AMD's dual core offerings.

AMD's answer to Intel's aggressive pricing is two-fold. Eventually, all of AMD's CPUs will be dual core, and thus, prices will be driven back down to single core levels. But for now, AMD feels confident enough that their single core CPUs are fast enough to compete with Intel's low clocked Pentium Ds. We put that exact thinking to the test in Part II of our Intel dual core preview and concluded that it really depends on what type of a user you are. If you tend to multitask a lot or run a lot of multithreaded applications, then a slower Intel dual core is what you need; otherwise, a faster single core AMD is your best bet.

Posted by rich at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 23, 2005

nvmcp.sys installation

Tong Family Blog: Simcity 4 crashes nVidia Sound drivers. Never could get the latest 4.57 drivers to install because nVidia has no installation instructions.

Hat tip to Guru3d, they have the instructions:

1. Uninstall old AUDIO ONLY drivers via Add/Remove Programs out of the nVidia installation program. Reboot the system.
2. Upon reboot and redetection of a hardware point to the new drivers by extracting the file on the nVidia download site and then when it asks for audio drivers, point to that extracted directory.
3. For now nVMixer is not included, don't know if should be, used the old v1.0 from v6.14 nForce package and this worked, although I never actually use this utility anyway so I think most folks can just ignore it.

Posted by rich at 11:46 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 16, 2005

DVD Media

X-bit labs - Articles - Ultimate Testing of Recordable DVD Media Discs (page 24). It ain't of question of just buying the cheapest DVD writeable or of buying the most expensive. Here's an indepth review that shows some good brands and OEMs to buy. Realy complex to summarize, but stuff that is OEMed from Ricoh appears to be quite good.

The problem is that they are in a zillion packages by different manufacturers and there are some brands that have multiple OEMs, so you never know what you are getting exactly.

A quick summary is burning at 4x works pretty well now but 8x or higher causes high error rates. Some good media included:

• Fujifilm really made by Ricoh. Media Type W11

Posted by rich at 02:24 AM | Comments (0)

April 07, 2005

ANTEC Phantom

Antec Phantom 350: Super-efficient Fanless PSU :: SilentPCReview.com. Pretty amazing, this is a power supply without any fan at all. It cools passively and delivers 350 watts, so good if you don't have too power hungry a system and really want the ultimate in quiet.

Posted by rich at 09:23 PM | Comments (0)

April 05, 2005

Budget Sempron 3100+ Palermo

X-bit labs - Articles - Another Gift to Overclockers: AMD Sempron 3100+ on E Core Revision (page 11). For budget folks a good choice is the new Sempron 3100+. Like the Venice core, this uses the Palermo core or the E revision.

It overclocks to 2.7GHz and is as fast as the big boys. The smaller 256MB L2 cache and the single channel controller don't really affect things. Here's a good budget system you can put together. The main drawback is that it won't 64-bit Windows (for those of you who need that :-)

Component	Price	Comment
Sempron 3100+( SDA3100AI03BO )	$120	Make sure to get the "BO" suffixed core, "BA are older
DFI LanParty UT nF3 250GB	$101	best overclocker
Crucial BL6464Z402 512MB	$108	Need to get to DDR600 at least

Posted by rich at 11:09 PM

Chaintech VNF3-250 and ATI Radeon 9800 Pro incompatibility

Tong Family Blog: Installing a new Windows PC. I've had a terrible stability problem with Calvin's machine.

The issues are that when I would restart the system, one of the IDE drives (Maxtor DiamondMax 10 300GB) wouldn't get recognized and I'd have to wait 10 minutes before starting the machine. Also, when I plugged in my Konica-Minolta Dimage 5400, the system would hang.

Well, found the source of the trouble. A strange one. I swapped the ATI Radeon 9800 Pro card for a eVGA 6800GT card and the Dimage 5400 hang went away and now it starts pretty reliability even on a restart and recognizes all the drives.

I don't completely understand why an AGP Video card would impact the IDE subsystem, but word to the wise on this if you have the Chaintech VNF3-250 board.

Posted by rich at 09:10 PM | Comments (0)

AMD Athlon 64 Venice Arrives

X-bit labs - Articles - AMD Athlon 64 3800+ CPU: E3 Processor Core aka Venice at the Door. The new Venice chips are now shipping, these are formally called the AMD Athlon 64 3500+ and 3800+ with E3 stepping, now that is a mouthful the short word, is that they are worth the wait if you like to overclock, otherwise, the current Winchesters are just as fast

The 90nm K8 Winchester core is now widely used in Socket 939 Athlon 64 processors with the 3000+, 3200+ and 3500+ performance ratings, and in Socket 745 Sempron processor family.

Even though it boasts much lower power consumption and heat dissipation than its 130nm predecessor, the maximum actual working frequency of the processor based on Winchester is only 2.2GHz. That is why the top Athlon 64 models as well as Athlon 64 FX-55 with 2.4GHz and 2.6GHz core clock rate are still based on the old Newcastle and ClawHammer cores manufactured with 0.13 micron technology.

In the near future AMD is expected to announce new Athlon 64 4200+ and Athlon 64 FX-57 processors based on Venice and San Diego cores respectively (San Diego is an analog of Venice but with larger L2 cache). These cores use a new semiconductor technology, Dual Stress Liner, that improves transistor speed by 24%.

Here is the new lineup (in red) and the old one, a good summary thanks to xbitlabs. For overclockers, the most relevant models are the ADA32000DAA4BP which is the 3200+ with Venice E3 stepping replacing the Newcastle D0 stepping. This by the way is going to need BIOS updates from most boards with the most common problem being that Cool'n'Quiet doesn't work.

The main advantage isn't raw performance though, Venice is about 1% faster, it is that it can overclock more. Newcastle should overclock to about 2.4GHz (my own Newcastle goes from 1.8 to 2.2GHz before dying). A good Winchester chip can overclock to 2.6GHz, but the Venice chip should overclock to closer to 2.8GHz, so that is something.

In their tests, they got a 2.4GHz Venice to get to 2.88GHz and it ran pretty well. That's amazingly high. They ramped the voltage to 1.58V, but that is about it.

Posted by rich at 09:01 PM | Comments (0)

Athlon 64 DEP and Skype

Skype - Free Internet telephony that just works. I've found two applications so far that mysteriously crash on startup when they are running on the Athlon 64. In both cases, they are executing data code, a bad thing. One is Outlook and the other is Skype.

Here are the symptoms, it isn't obvious from the error diagnostics:

1. Windows XP SP2. This has the DEP (Data Execution Prevention) feature that uses the so called NX bit in the Athlon 64. What it means is that the processor itself detects when applications are executing in the data segment which is how most viruses get in.
2. Athlon 64. You have an Athlon 64 and presumably also the new Pentium 4 that have the NX implemented.
3. You go to Start/My Computer and right click and select Properties. You go to the Advanced tab, choose Settings and then Data Execution Prevention. The default is that it is only turned on for Windows itself, but I turn it on for all applications as it seems like good hygiene.
4. What now happens is that certain applications like Skype and Outlook will now crash while executing, they don't say it is because of the DEP turned on so it is trial and error.
5. You can see if this is true by going to Start/My Computer/Properties/Advanced/Settings/Data Execution Prevention and browsing for the application in question and saying that it shouldn't have this DEP turned on and then try to run it.

In both Outlook and Skype cases, the application crashes immediately, but I'm not sure that is true for everything.

Net, net, if you have crashes and you turned DEP on, then try turning it off.

Posted by rich at 08:25 PM | Comments (0)

April 04, 2005

Outlook need DEP off

Thank goodness for the Internet. I couldn't get Spambayes to work properly. Amazingly, someone found exactly the same problem. I had turned on DEP since I have one machine that is an Athlon 64 and this prevents data execution errors. I'm gathering that Spambayes is probably a bad self-modifying code program or more likely python is bad. I love spambayes and it seems to work pretty well plus it is free.

Arstechnica points out that for some reason, it occurred to me that the Athlon 64's NX-bit support might be causing these applications to have problems when they interact. Once I setup Outlook as an allowed DEP application, the problem stopped, instantly. Furthermore, I could now install SpamBayes, and it works perfectly.

Posted by rich at 09:14 PM | Comments (0)

April 03, 2005

Seasonic S12-430

Seasonic S12-430: Beyond the Super Tornado :: SilentPCReview.com. Seasonic's Super Tornados are great, but they are being superceded by a slightly quieter Seasonic S12 series.

The Super Tornados are running down on stock and are quite a bit cheaper right now $91 at Newegg for the 400 watt SS-400HT while $102 for the 430 watt SS-430HB. Not really worth the extra 10 bucks IMHO, so get the Super Tornado until they run out.

The good news is that S12 series now adds 500 watt and 600 watt supplies for folks with really massive Prescott and big graphics card requirements.

Posted by rich at 11:02 PM | Comments (0)

April 01, 2005

Thermaltake Big Typhoon

Overclocker Cafe - Thermaltake Big Typhoon Cooler Review Another massive cooling fan, much cheaper than the XP-120 and separate 5" fan. Very quiet too and just $50.

Posted by rich at 11:52 PM | Comments (0)

Power Desktop

Time once again for the monthly or so review of what homebrew system to buy. I'm going to split again into the power user and the radically small and silent perfect for a desktop or HTPC.

Things are most stable right now but next month the Venice chip from AMD launches, so if you want the last bit of ultraperformance, wait a little as usual. Here is the recommendations:

| Component | Price | Comment |
| DFI nForce4 Ultra | $139 | Anandtech love it |
| OCZ Platinum Rev 2| $255 | Anandtech |
| AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (ADA3200DIK4B]| $179 | Overclocks to 2.4GHz |
| Gigabyte GV-RX80L256V Silentpipe X800XL | $336 | 80% of 6800GT and totally silent | Beats 6800GT except doom |
| Maxtor DiamondMax 10 300GB | "$180": | Storagereview winner, get two if you can |
| Evercase 4252 | $50 | Silentpcreview.com likes it |
| Seasonic Super Tornado 400 | $92 | Silentpcreview.com loves it |
| ThermalTake XP-120 | $75 | "Closest thing to water cooled quiet |
| Globe S1202512L-3M Fan | $12 | Need a dremel to slightly fix |
|

Posted by rich at 09:39 PM | Comments (0)

March 31, 2005

Samsung 920T

X-bit labs - Closer Look at the 19" Monitor Features. Part III (page 24) - Samsung 920T. I got a Samsung 193P as a result of Xbitlabs reviews, here's an update for newer models.

Again, they liked the Samsung units quite a bit. In this case, they liked the color reproduction of the Samsung 920T. These models seem to change every 10 minutes, but this is the nicest one right now.

For you techno-geeks, it uses a PVA matrix for the LCD screen so it is got great color, contract and backlighting, but isn't going to be really great for gaming which requires a very fast changing of the pixels.

THey also reviewed the 193P which is an earlier release. Main things to note are that it is probably overblown at its defaults of 80% brightness and 50% contrast, so he turned it down to 39% brightness and 40% contrast to get to a lower luminance of 100nit (so the color reproduction is better). Basically, it is very good, but the new 920T is slightly better.

Posted by rich at 11:25 PM

Office for the home

JR.com: MICROSOFT Office 2003 Student and Teacher Edition in Office Productivity Suites:. Hoops was asking what he does for his wife's Sony VAIO. They include an introductory version of Office Small Business Edition, but paying $250 seems a little strange for a machine that only cost $1800.

A couple of solutions. Brad, John and I all use the Office Student and Teachers Edition. $127 including shipping from J&R Music World. Legally licenses you to three machines for non-business purposes. It is really the standard edition of Office, so everything except Access. Good for most folks. That is even cheaper than the legal version from the Microsoft Company Store.

Another is that if you really just need to look at things and don't use every feature of Word, etc and don't need Outlook, then I've been trying OpenOffice 2.0 Beta. Its free and probably good enough for the folks who are just doing small sheets, etc. The main issue is that their PowerPoint equivalent is hard for me to use and they don't have an Outlook that hooks to Exchange.

Posted by rich at 12:14 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 26, 2005

Pentium M plus ASUS CT-479 and

AnandTech: Intel's Pentium M Desktop Part II: ASUS' Pentium M to Pentium 4 Socket Adapter. If I build more Pentium M systems, getting the CT-479 plus P4P800-SE bundle is mandatory. Makes most sense for gaming applications.

Currently, ASUS is listing the CT-479 as a part of a bundle with the P4P800-SE, priced at $130. At that price, the solution is almost half the price of the DFI 855GME motherboards, and you get all of the benefits of the 865 chipset.

With the CT-479, ASUS has effectively demolished all other desktop Pentium M solutions. There's no reason to even consider a 855GME motherboard from AOpen or DFI; the ASUS solution is cheaper, better performing and is even a much more stable overclocker. Kudos to ASUS for a job extremely well done with the CT-479. It's the only option that we'd recommend for those interested in a desktop Pentium M system.

That being said, despite being paired with enough memory bandwidth, the Pentium M continues to fall behind in desktop performance. As a gaming platform and as a general purpose/office machine, the Pentium M does fairly well, but it is in content creation, workstation and media encoding applications that the Pentium M continues to fall behind.

Posted by rich at 11:32 PM | Comments (0)

DDR 600 on DFI nForce4

MADSHRIMPS - Hardware Reviews ,Crazy Projects, Modding Tutorials and Overclocking. Here's what I'll ultimately do when the new Venus chips come out next month, its a way to get your Athlon to run memory at 300 MHz!

Recently G.Skill PC4400/4800 became the hottest memory on the market together with OCZ PC4800 based on Samsung TCCD...Soon AMD will launch two new cores named “Venice and San Diego” (revision E3 and E4). These cores have an upgraded instruction set (SSE3) and a better memory controller. The chance that you will have a “bad” memory controller on the Winchester core is 6 of 10. When you have a good controller, this does not mean you will reach those speeds 100% around DDR500~600. The RAM must be tuned, that’s why I've created this guide.

Posted by rich at 11:20 PM | Comments (0)

March 20, 2005

Sumicom S600 is Loud

Who would have ever thought such a small box could be so loud. This is mainly because I have an old Western Digital WD120BB in it and it sounds like a vacuum cleaner. So, the next step is a $105 investment in an ultraquiet hard drive. These are mainly identical, so I mainly shopped by warranty. The Samsung has a three year warranty for about $5 more than the Western Digital or Seagate models...

Newegg.com - SAMSUNG - Storage/Hard Drive MP0603H

I also need a 2.5" to 3.5" adapter so I'll order two because shipping is the big charge and Cables for Less has them.

Posted by rich at 11:04 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Windows Key Finders

Windows Key Finders. A super useful site, helps you to find those missing product keys in your installation.

Posted by rich at 08:44 PM | Comments (0)

March 19, 2005

Slimpro 620 (aka Sumicom S620) and NEC ND-6500A

Finally getting my really tiny PC (6×10x3") together from Cappuccino PC called the SlimPro SP620 which is really the Sumicom S620 underneath.

It uses the older Northwood Pentium, so was a good way to still get use out of my old Shuttle SS-51G with a dead motherboard. But, as I assemble it, the slim DVD drive NEC ND-6500A comes up as a slave drive, so off to figure this out but the main problem is that the bezel of the ND-6500A is about 1/4" inch too the left of the opening of the Sumicom S620 so there needs to be a little sawing off to make it work.

• NEC ND-6500A official firmware overview. There is an amazing number of folks who have worked on patching the firmware to allow region-free (any region DVD), riplock (removing the 6x reading limitation on DVDs) and higher performance writing. Here's a good guide.
• Slave instead of Master. A number of laptops with the ND-6500A come up as slave instead of master, you have to solder two pins together to force the thing into master mode, or with this 120, I think it is because the cable is set to slave or something. 2.24 is latest NEC firmware, if you use version 4.xx, these fool the drive without needing to solder to do reverse-ATA. That is, if the cable says master, actually be the slave.
• All Firmwares. Check for your DVD drive, but I bet there is a firmware version out there for you.

Posted by rich at 11:01 PM | Comments (0)

March 14, 2005

Athlon 64 overclocking tools

Some I've heard of, others I haven't...

ABXZone.com Forums - A64 overclocking tools. There are several utilities that make it much easier to overclock and tweak an A64 system.

Clockgen - Allows you to change HTT (FSB), CPU multiplier and AGP/PCIe frequency in Windows. This works but you can crash your system very easily.

A64 Tweaker - A program written by Australian overclocker CodeRed. Allows you to change memory settings in Windows. There are also two beta versions: 0.5 and 0.6. CodeRed recommends using the first version (0.31).

MemFreq 1.1 - Program written by German overclocker goddh0r. Will calculate your memory speed, depending on which divider you're using.

Posted by rich at 09:34 PM | Comments (0)

March 07, 2005

OCZ 4000 VX

AnandTech: OCZ VX Memory + DFI nForce4 = DDR533 at 2-2-2

OCZ VX Gold is the best performing memory that we have tested on the Athlon 64 platform. At the same speed and same timings, it significantly outperforms any other memory that we have tested on A64. VX does not run at the fastest memory speeds that we have found in our benchmarks - quite a few memories based on Samsung TCCD or Hynix memory chips reach significantly higher speeds than the DDR538 of OCZ VX Gold. However, at DDR534 2-2-2-6 timings, no memory that we have tested outperforms VX. VX is so fast that 533 actually outperforms memory that have achieved DDR600 or more in our memory tests.

If you are a raving enthusiast, you will have to have OCZ VX memory. If you are considering a DFI nForce4 purchase, then VX should be at the top of your memory list.

Posted by rich at 12:52 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Pentium M on 478 Motherboards

X-bit labs - Hardware news - ASUS Offers to Install Intel’s Mobile Chips into Desktops.

ASUS Upgrade Kit CT-479 will allow installing Intel Pentium M and similar mobile chips into Socket 478 mainboards. The kit will be available as a standalone product bundled with a special cooler that is capable of cooling Intel Pentium M processors at up to 2.26GHz and Intel Celeron M processors at up to 1.70GHz frequencies. The adapter will not support Low Voltage or Ultra Low Voltage processors, but only typical versions of Intel’s mobile chips based on Banias or Dothan cores. It is unclear whether the CT-479 will allow overclocking. According an ASUS document, the cooler ASUS supplies has 3000rpm fan with maximum noise level of 30dB, which is rather a lot even for desktops.

ASUS advices to use mainboards qualified for operation with the adapter and Intel Pentium M or Celeron M microprocessors. Currently the list of such mainboards is limited to P4P800 SE and P4P800-VM products powered by Intel’s 865PE and 865G

Posted by rich at 12:11 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 04, 2005

Wierdo Parts

In evitably with any "homebrew" project like this Pentium 4 system in a shoebox, you need some strange parts. For the Mocha 620, here are some:

• LOGIC Supply Slimline CD to IDE adapter. This slimline CD to desktop IDE adapter is used for converting a laptop CD-ROM or DVD drive with a 50-pin connector to a desktop enhanced IDE (ATA) 40-pin connector. Power is supplied through a 3.5" 4 pin mini connector. Two analog audio connectors use the standard 4-pin connection. It is just $7, but pretty hard to put a notebook CD into a desktop case without it.
• Notebook HD to IDE Converter. Others stock this, but it takes a Notebook 44-pin hard drive and converts it into a standard 40-pin IDE desktop adapter plus a Molex power connector used in desktops
• USB front panel cable. If you are moron like me and have ripped out some of these tiny connectors, here is something that takes a USB header on a motherboard and connects it to another PC card.
• Cooler Master Pentium 4 CPU Cooler DI-7H53D-08. A low profile cooler for Pentium 4 socket 478 systems. 31dBA and $18.

Posted by rich at 08:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 03, 2005

NEC 6500A connecotr

NEC ND-6500A 8×4x8x DVD+R/RW 8×4x8x DVD-R/RW 24×16×24x CD-R/RW DL Dual-Layer Slim IDE Optical Burner Drive for Laptops and Notebooks (Black, OEM)

The NEC ND-6500A DVD Burner is compatible with most Notebooks and Laptops. The first thing you will want to ensure is whether your current drive's front bezel has a straight rectangular shape to it and whether the dimensions for the front bezel is: 0.5" (12.7mm) x 5.04" (128mm). The second thing to look for is the small, 50-pin rectangular connector located on the back of the unit. Your current drive should also have this small, rectangular 50-pin connector.

Please note that your current drive may use a special adapter connector (where the 50-pin connector is) and a special mounting frame.

NEC / DVD Writer
http://www.de.nec.de/faq_detail.php/id/573/frage/402/lang/ The ND-6500A will be only distributed with "Master" setting.

Both drives ND-5×00A and ND-6×00A will be delivered with a 50-pin (2×25) unsealed plug ( JAE KX15-50ELD1L). The specifications of your notebook will help you to find out if your notebooks connector is compatible to it. Pls. contact in this case the manufacturer or customer service of your notebook.

Posted by rich at 11:52 PM | TrackBack

CPU Decoder Ring

CPU decoder ring - The Tech Report

Today, AMD and Intel have abandoned clock speed entirely on some chips in favor of three-digit model number systems that are more or less arbitrary. It's gotten to the point where you need a secret decoder ring just to understand what you're getting in a modern CPU.

Well, hold out your hand, because we dug around in the bottom of the Frosted Flakes and found one for you. The following chart lists a large number of processors, and gives you just about all the pertinent details of each one. Wondering exactly what the differences are between the two types of Athlon XP 3000+, or what the heck a Pentium 4 550 is? Just find the chip you're curious about in the table below, and all will be made clear.

Posted by rich at 11:08 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 27, 2005

CoolerMaster Hyper 48 KHC-L91

X-bit labs - Articles - High-End CPU Coolers Roundup: The Battle for Silence and Efficiency (page 16). I normally recommend the Thermal Right XP-120 which has a massive 5 inch fan, but they got good results with a smaller cheaper (e.g., less than $50) Cooler Master model.

The best cooler among the models we tested today based on performance and silence criteria is CoolerMaster Hyper 48 KHC-L91. It is not only utterly silent, but thanks to advanced design and heatpipes can cool-down even the hottest chips very efficiently. Furthermore, the KHC-L91 also boasts with easy installation.

Posted by rich at 06:54 PM | TrackBack

Pentium 600 and 800

[VR-Zone Hardware] - Pentium Announcements

The Pentium 4 600 series, and the Pentium 4 3.73EE was announced today. Along with their support for EM64T, Intel's 64-bit extensions, these new CPU's also include SpeedStep power saving technology, upgraded security features through Executable Disabled Bit, 2MB of L2 cache. The 660 runs at 3.6GHz, 640 at 3.4GHz and 630 at 3.0GHz.

Intel is gearing up for the launch of their first dual-core Smithfield processors in the second quarter with three models in place; 2.8, 3.0 and 3.2Ghz. They will be available at US$241, US$316 and US$530 with model numbers 820, 830 and 840, respectively. The Extreme Edition of Smithfield will include Hyper-Threading Technology providing the ability to process four software threads simultaneously and probably a faster 1066Mhz FSB while the mainstream version of dual core Smithfield will have 800Mhz FSB but without HT. Two new chipsets, the 955X Express codenamed Glenwood and 945G/P Express codenamed Lakeport will be available when the new chips arrive.

The performance reviews show that they are roughly comparable to the AMD Athlon 64 4000+, so it looks like Intel is catching up. It will be interesting to see how Smithfield does. It is coming out very soon. The cores continue to run very hot, but at least going from 1MB to 2MB L2 cache didn't cause even more power consumption.

Posted by rich at 05:24 PM | TrackBack

Sumicom choices

Ok King Young makes some super small form factors machines that both Logic Supply and Cappucinopc resell. Here are the choices:

• S615. This is a fanless 6×10x3" case that has a downclocked Celeron running at 1.33Ghz, so it should be as fast as an Eden, but is slightly bigger than mini-ITX. $495 from Logic Supply with just the processor, so memory, hard disk, optical are extra.
• S625F. This is also fanless but uses the very expensive Dothan Centrino M or Pentium M chips at 6×10x2". It is $643 from cappucino with a Celeron M 1.3GHz and 128MB memory.
• S620. This has a fan, so is not completely noiseless, but it is super small. $289 barebones from cappucino or $325 from logic supply. It can use any socket 478 processor and is 6×10x3 uses the Intel 865GV chipset. This isn't such a bad option for me just because I've got two spare 478s around, plus memory around from a blown Shuttle.

Net, net, there are two fanless options and one small PC equivalent.

Posted by rich at 12:23 AM | TrackBack

February 26, 2005

PC Recommendations

Kind of a fun month for PC recommendations because for once the underlying hardware is quiet. No big announcements of processors, video cards or motherboards, so instead of high, medium and low, let's focus on some "odd" machines that might be fun to have. Think of them as alternative PCs. Sort of like taking a break and driving a Prius or a Hummer around:

Compact Performance PC

Shuttle's XPC SN25P mini-barebones system. I haven't recommended a Shuttle in a while because they have been underpowered in the power supply and overnoisy. The SN25P changes a lot of that. It is still loud at 45dBa (you can build a bigger system running at whisper quiet 25dBa right now), but it is compact. It is a hairs breadth away from being the fastest PC ever (that honor would go to a DFI LanParty Nf4 Ultra system). Here's what I would get given the new Shuttle has 350 watt power supply and much more room inside:

Component	Price	Comment
Shuttle XPC SN25P	$420	Coming Soon
Athlon 64 3200+	$200	2GHz can get to 2.3 or so
nVidia 6800GT PCIe	$440	Expensive right now
Western Digital WD740GD	$180	Fastest on the planet
Maxtor DiamondMax 300	$205	Biggest ever
Benq DW1620	$70	DVD that does everything
Crucial 3200XL 2×512MB	$250	Or any Samsung TCCD Ram set is fine
Total	$1695	A screamer in a lunchbox

All of this in a nice small form factor, if you want the same performance but whisper quiet, you'll have to go to an Ever Case 4252 case ($50), XP-120 fancooler ($50), Seasonic Silencer 400 ($100) power supply and DFI LanParty Nf4 Ultra motherboard ($140) to replace the Shuttle but it will be very quiet for a few bucks less than the Shuttle.

Compact Silent PC

OK, here I would get something that is completely noiseless. I haven't tried the unit yet, but a good recommendation would come from Logic Supply. Here are some small PCs that are just fine for running Office or watching a DVD:

Sumicom S615. This is a Celeron 2GHz running at 1.33GHz. It is just 6"×10"×2" in size. Comes with just about everything and uses a very quiet 2.5" notebook drive. They come custom from Logic Supply, but a 256MB, 40GB drive with CD-RW/DVD is $781 plus shipping. This should run office well, although I don't know about Divx decoding. DVDs should be fine.

It is not as small as a Mac Mini (6"×4"x6"), but pretty darn close.

Small but noiser and faster PC

If you want something that is small but has a fan and some power

Dell Optiplex SX280 is not a bad choice. It is ultra small at $934 would give you a 2.8GHz Pentium, 512MB DDR2 PC1066 memory, 80GB, DVD/CDRW. With the Prescott in there I'm sure it runs hot, but it is only 10"×10"×4"

Logic Supply gives you a similar Sumicom S620 with Pentium 4 2.8GHz, 512MB PC3200 DDR Ram, 160GB 7200 drive, CDRW/DVD for $870. It is mainly much narrow at 6"×10"×3"

Ultra small and quiet

If you are willing to sacrifice all for small and silent, then there is the

Mac Mini. Just 4"×6"x4" and super cute and hard to beat at $500, althought $600 would give you 80GB of disk.

If you want a PC-based system, then you can get a Epia M board now, but I'd wait until April when the Epia SP ships. This is much faster and supports MPEG4 decoding.

When you get it, you can fit it into one of two systems:

• Logic Supply C134. This is the PC equivalent running the VIA Epic chipset. Fanless if you are not doing Divx and xvid decoding, it is just $510 with a 600Mhz ME6000, 256MB PC2100 memory, 2.5" 30GB disk, CDRW/DVD drive and is 7"×10"×2". You can also get one with a 25dBa fan with 1GHz which can run Divx and xvid decoding at full speed. These prices are assembled.
• C134 do-it-yourself. Alternatively if you want to go totally do-it-yourself, you can buy the C134 case ($144) and Via motherboard ($160) from Logic Supply and then go out into the merchant market for the rest of the components. For instance low profile DDR RAM, slim CD/DVD and 2.5" 60GB hard drives are available from Newegg.com. You can put together at ME10000, Valuemax 512MB memory, LG 10×24×24 CDRW/DVD and Fujitsu 60GB hard disk for about $550. This should be a very fast system for Office/Multimedia decoding.
• e-Otonashi. This is a little bit bigger, but completely fanless even with a 1.2GHz M or 1.33Ghz SP board because it uses a special heatsink.

Posted by rich at 01:18 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 25, 2005

Benq DW-1620

X-bit labs - Articles - BenQ DW1620A DVD±RW/R Drive Review: Joker in the Pack or a New Winner?. I just happen to have one of these drives. It does pretty well, but you have to get the B7T9 firmware update to solve lots of the bad DVD burning problems.

Naturally, you can't just go to Benq.us to get them, they appear to only have the older B7K9 update on the USA site, so you have to go to the completely separate support.benq.com site to get the latest updates, this is the global site and I'm guessing maintained by a different group. Arrgh.

Here the latest at the 1620 subsite is B7U9 dated 22-Feb-2005, so even later than the B7T9 version mentioned in the review.

Here are what the various updates do:

• B7P9. 09-Nov-2004. This one adds 4x writing for DVD+R DL so it is a big deal. Was a major update.
• B7T9. 23-Dec-2004. This fixes writing errors and speed for DVD+R and DVD-R. Was a major update.
• B7U9. 22-Feb-2005. This improves WOPC (what ever that is)

Posted by rich at 11:52 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Samsung 193P

For some reason, it was just about impossible to find the manuals and drivers for the Samsung 193P in their download area.

Here is their manual and also their Magictune software. You need this since the machine has no hardware controls at all. Everything is done in software.

Their Magictune is on a throwaway CD which I lost. Very hard to find and it is not in the product section, but right off the main monitor homepage

Posted by rich at 08:51 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 17, 2005

Sony VGN-T140PL

VAIO T140 Notebook (Sony-VGNT140PL) - PriceGrabber.com. John Zagula was using my laptop and loving it. Here John is a link with the lowest prices. Newegg has them for $1845 delivered.

Posted by rich at 09:06 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 10, 2005

Another Dothan Benchmark

GamePC - Battle at 90nm : Power Consumption and Performance Compared

Our Doom3 benchmarks show the “Winchester” Athlon64 in a more positive
light, besting the “Dothan” Pentium-M by an advantage of about a single
processor speed grade. The opposite is seen in Far Cry, where the
Pentium-M bests the Athlon64 in terms of performance per clock speed.

This is a slightly different benchmark in that it shows that a 2.0GHz Dothan is faster than a 2.2GHZ Athlong 64. Go figure.

Posted by rich at 09:17 PM | TrackBack

February 08, 2005

Arctic Cooling Silentium T2

Arctic Cooling Silentium T2 :: SilentPCReview.com

Arctic Cooling's Silentium series represents one of the most dramatic adaptations of the ATX case standard we have seen so far. With the power supply mounted vertically at the front of the case and the main air intake through the back and bottom, the Silentium T2's airflow is nothing if not innovative. Also of interest to SPCR readers is the first known implementation of hard drive suspension in a commercially available case.

SilentPCReview.com loved this case, it incorporates many of the cooling and therefore silencing technologies that you used to have to get homebrewed. So a great choice for the next PC I'm building. $129 SRP.

That makes the next PC looking like:

Component	Price
Arctic Cooling Silentium T2	$129
AMD Athlon 6400 3200+	$200
DFI LANParty UT Nf4	$160
Crucial XL3200	$275
WD WD740GD	$175
Maxstor DiamondMax 10 300GB	$200
eVGA 6800GT PCIexpress	$300

Posted by rich at 09:34 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

iSCSI for home

Tom's Hardware Guide Mass Storage: Flexible Data Storage Across Networks: iSCSI put to the Test - Conclusion: Golden Times Ahead For ISCSI. Call me crazy, but the idea of iSCSI in your home seems like an incredibly good idea. The costs are not nearly as high as I would have thought.

iSCSI means embedding the SCSI disk protocol into TCP/IP. With 1Gb Ethernet being so common this is not as crazy as it seems. The benchmarks show that you can get incredibly good performance doing this and it is pretty much all commercially available. That would solve a bunch of storage problems in homes given that all PCs have 1Gb cards these days and 1Gb hubs are getting so cheap.

Adaptec makes a iSCSI to PCI adapter and there is also a 1U server that has room for four iSCSI drives. Interesting.

This is another case where I could see enterprise technology and ideas appearing in homes quite fast.

SANMelody Lite, which is an even more pared-down version costing only $199, makes the decision even easier.

Posted by rich at 09:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Moore's Law is Ending

AnandTech: The Quest for More Processing Power, Part One: "Is the single core CPU doomed?". For the old computer system engineer in me, I just love Anandtech, they don't pull any punches in explaining what is going on. Here is a great piece about why performance is slowing down so much

In November 2002, Intel was well ahead of the competition with the introduction of a 3.06 GHz Pentium 4. Intel had doubled the clock speed of its latest x86 architecture within two years, which was quite an accomplishment.

Two and half years later, Intel's Pentium 4 is running at 3.8 GHz, which means that clock speed has increased by only 25% and performance by even less.

Here are some reasons:

• Leakage Power. As chips have strunk, there is more "tunnelling" as current leaks from one side of the transistor to another. The chars are amazing showing at at 250nm, leakage is just 1% while at 90nm, leakage is 40% of the power.
• Wire Delay. Basically as transistors shrink and switch faster, the wires between stay at the same speed. At some point, most of the time spent is just transitioning the wires between infinitely fast switches. Reminds me of the floating bridge delays here in Seattle. No matter how often the traffic lights switch, get on the 4-lane SR-520 and wait.'
• Memory Wall. Although processor have gotten faster, memory is about the same speed. So no matter how fast you switch, you wait for memory.

The net is that a single processor just doesn't get that much faster, so folks are talking about multi-core so you get more than one processor. The big issue of course is that it is really hard to optimize applications to be multiprocessor oriented. In many cases, the applications themselves are intrinsically serialized.

There are a bunch of semiconductor technical solutions for this:

• Leakage Current. AMD moved to Silicon-on-insulator with the Athlon 64. Intel when they switch to 45nm, will use a high-K dielectric in their transistors shrinking leakage by 100x. Strained silicon will be introduced by AMD with the "E0" stepping as another example.
• Wire Delay. The big change is more layers of wires and moving from aluminum to copper interconnects.

The most interesting analysis is why the Prescott is "failing" that is it was supposed to go to 5GHz and can just barely get to 3.8GHz. Basically, by going to a deep pipeline of 38 stages, they introduced so much more logic in branch prediction and fast adder units that leakage power increased defeating the whole purpose.

Final conclusion is that this doesn't mean dual core is going to be faster and that in fact better implement single core can still win the day. Interesting to debate over a beer. :-)

Posted by rich at 08:56 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Pentium M Review

AnandTech: Intel's Pentium M on the Desktop - A Viable Alternative?

Does the Pentium M have what it takes to be as competitive on the desktop as it is in the mobile sector? Now that the first desktop Pentium M motherboards are shipping, that's why this review is here - to find out.

This is a good review of the Pentium M (codenamed Banias and now Dothan) chip. It essentially says that the chip is very good if expensive. A 2.0GHz Pentium M 755 has essentially the same gaming performance as a 3.6GHz Pentium 4. That's pretty amazing when the Pentium M burns 22 watts and the Prescott burns 110 watts.

Does point out the big disadvantages (that I've also found with my homebrew nMediaPC with DFI 855GME-MGF motherboard and 1.8GHz Pentium M 735):

• The current motherboards use an older single channel 333MHz chipset so the system is memory starved and you can't overclock the memory bus very much. I've found on my own machine that I can get to about 340MHz but not much farther. The issue here is that only Aopen and DFI have Pentium M motherboards. There is a slight nod to AOpen because it overclocks a little better. There aren't any modern 915 desktop motherboards around.
• The Pentium M itself seems to overclock fine. I've found my 1.8GHz has no problem getting to 2.2GHz for instance and is just limited to the a 18x multiplier and the bus speed. So if you can get the 915, then presumably this gets better.
• For Business applications and games, the Pentium M is awesome, but if you are doing audio encoding or anything needing floating point like video, then you are better off getting an Athlon 64. The floating point isn't very fast.
• These are expensive chips because there is no competition, so that the 1.8GHz is $300 and the motherboards are $250 compared with $200 for an Athlon 54 3200+ and $140 for a DFI LANparty Ultra motherboard.

All that being said and done, if I was building a home theater PC (HTPC), then this Dothan chipset is not a bad choice at all. It has integrated video for instance and would play games plenty fast. Moreover, it is just whisper quiet. With such a low power consumption, the most that you can hear is the power supply.

Posted by rich at 08:42 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 04, 2005

Budget PC

Tom's Hardware Guide Processors: Fast Computer On The Cheap? The Sempron 3100 On Overdrive - Socket 754 On Overdrive: A Fast Computer With The Sempron 3100 . This is a good review of a budget machine. It uses the AMD Sempron (a cripple Athlon 64).

The CPU is just $120 with a DFI LANParty nF3 250 Gb motherboard for $70 plus $70 for Corsair TwinX CMX512-4400 Ram, it is a great budget value. Moreover, you can overclock it about 25% and get the speed equivalent of an Athlon64 3200+ or Pentium 3.2GHz for much less money.

Posted by rich at 09:33 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 03, 2005

DFI Lanparty UT Nf4 Ultra-D

AnandTech: DFI nForce4: SLI and Ultra for Mad Overclockers. This is the new board to lust for. Did incredibly well and there is a mod that allows you to run dual cards at incredible performance...

even the bottom-of the-line Ultra-D to run 2 PCIe video cards in x16/x2 mode at about 90% the performance of full-blown SLI. Perhaps even more impressive is that a simple mod with a #2 pencil turns the Ultra-D into an SLI board, allowing any nVidia drivers to work in full x8/x8 SLI mode.

Newegg has it right now for $169, so still expensive as it has just shipped. Zipzoomfly also has it for $165. This should slip back a little as availability improves.

The Mod seems pretty easy, you take a No.2 pencil and draw over two traces to connect them and then you have a $40 more expensive SLI board.

Posted by rich at 11:22 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 02, 2005

Recommended nVidia BIOS settings

Answer

I'm sure no one really understands all these random settings, but here's a list of recommendations from nVidia itself

There is no industry standard among motherboard manufacturers for BIOS options. Each motherboard manufacturer will feature different BIOS options which work best with their products. The following recommended settings are BIOS settings when used with NVIDIA based graphic cards. If these options are not present in your motherboard's BIOS, or differ in the way they are phrased, please consult with your motherboard manufacturer for further BIOS setting information:

Assign IRQ to VGA: Enable
PnP O/S Installed: Enable
VGA Pallet Snooping: Disable
PCI Bursting: Disable PCI Latency Timer: 128 Peer Concurrency: Disable
Video BIOS Shadowing: Disable
Video RAM Cacheable: Disable
USWC: Disable/UC
Pipeline Cache Write: Disable
PCI 2.1 Compliance: Enable (Only needed when using PCI graphic cards)
Passive Release: Enable
Delayed Transaction:Enable
VGA Boot Sequence:AGP (When using an AGP graphics card)
Graphics Aperture Size: 128MB (When suing an AGP graphics card)
AGP Turbo Read Mode: Disable
AGP Turbo Write Mode: Disable

Posted by rich at 12:16 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 01, 2005

6800GT BIOS Flashing Utility

nV News Forums - BIOS Flash through WinXP

True that. I have an old bios on my card but hey it works without problems so why flash!
If you need/want to flash you can use Winfox Utility. You can download it from Leadtek Taiwan site.
It's made for Leadtek cards but works for all. Used it to flash my POV 6800 GT.
You also can save your original bios with this utility wich i highly reccomend.

Posted by rich at 11:57 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

How fast and how hot?

AnandTech - Would NV5 Silencer reduce artifacts?. Some user experiences on using the eVGA 6800GT and overclocking. My own personal results are that with the NV5 Silencer, I'm running at 60C at idle and 77C at load at stock speeds of 350/1000MHz running rthdribl (a very tough benchmark) without artifacts.

With the driver detecting overclocking at 398/1090MHz running rthdribl, the temperatures are 63C and 79C. I may need to take apart and put some Arctic Silver thermal paste in. Folks are reporting that makes a difference. Also I'm wondering if there is a way to make the fan go faster.

Here are some other folks...

I'm currently using an eVGA 6800GT with stock cooling at 410/1080. If I increase the core speed on it by as little as 4mhz (to 414), I see artifacts everywhere in 3dmark05. At 420mhz, 3dmark will run for a while but will eventually freeze and/or reboot. The card runs at about 56 idle and around 77 at full load.

I have the eVga and replaced the cooler with an NV5. Before NV5 I was stable (artifact/misplaced-polygon free) @ 406/1080. After NV5 I was stable (artifact/misplaced-polygon free) @ 420/1130. After NV5 and Thugs Gainward Golden Sample BIOS flash I am stable (artifact/misplaced-polygon free) @ 440/1196! Big thanks goes out to Thugs for making this BIOS mod easy and effective! Yes to answer your question Pak. With the NV5 you can achieve higher core and ram speeds with the absence of artifacts/misplaced poly's. AS5 helps here as well. What holds me back now is volts. Im good now and dont dare want to take the risk to volt mod lo

Posted by rich at 11:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

NV5 installation on eVGA 6800GT

3DXtreme - Taking Hardware To The Xtreme..., _ Got the cooler. Wasn't actually that hard to disassemble. Main thing is that eVGA cooler is quite different from the instructions and its noted below_

Here is a shot of the stock cooler components after they were removed from the card. Unfortunately, the installation instructions must have been written for a different stock cooler for a 6800 series video card because none of what they showed even resembled the parts that EVGA used. As you can see, it came apart into about 5 pieces with about 15 screws to take care of. It wasn’t hard to figure out how to take it apart, but clearer instructions by Arctic-Cooling would have been appreciated. And unfortunately their website doesn’t appear to have been updated since they released the Ati VGA Silencer in its original form

Posted by rich at 09:23 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

January 29, 2005

nVidia 6800GT Temperature Monitoring

Well I've got my new Pentium M system up and running and now running benchmarks. Right now, I can overclock it by about 22% so a 1.8GHz Pentium M is running at 2.1GHz right now.

According to Sis Sandra 2004 (I can't get 2005 to run on this machine right now), I'm the equivalent of a 3.6GHz Pentium 4 desktop chip. Wow, that's pretty amazing since this thing uses 20 watts and the CPU temperature is 40 degree C vs. 120 watts and much hotter. It still isn't faster than an Athlon 64 2800+ overclocked to 2.45GHz, but I'm not quite done tweaking the thing.

The main problem is the incredible noise from the graphics card and the fact that the neither the CPU fan seems to temperature control nor does the case fan. Am getting a NV5 Silencer from Arctic Cooling, but the other changes are to install an Arctic Cooling 80mm case fan (easy to do since it the nMediaPC case is perforated at the top and also added a fan voltage control.

So how to tell what the GPU temperature is? Smartfan doesn't do, this you have to use Rivatuner which has a monitoring program, or if you have the latest nVidia driver installed, right click the desktop and go to Display/Advanced/6800GT and select the Temperature monitoring option. My stock fan for the eVGA 6800GT runs at 55 degrees C at idle. I was able to turn down the fan manually to halve the noise volume and stay there.

There doesn't seem to be a utility like SmartFan that automatically changes temperatures under load though.
Hardware Analysis - Forum - video card monitoring

just wondering which r the best programs for monitoring your GPU temps

Posted by rich at 09:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

January 27, 2005

New has NV5

Newegg.com - ARCTIC-COOLING NV SILENCER 5 Fans, Heatsinks (Case, CPU, Chipset). OK, here is where you can get the cooling system. You need thermal paste too.

Posted by rich at 09:40 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

January 26, 2005

Arctic Cooling VGA Silence NV5

NV5 Review. This is a $28 after market fan that is supposed to be much quieter than the stock nVidia fan. The main thing is that you have to remove the fan unit and install this thing.

Posted by rich at 11:04 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

January 21, 2005

Trigem Kloss

Tom's Hardware Guide First Look: TriGem's Kloss KL-I915a: Power Aplenty and Almost No Noise - Nothing's Easy In The Beginning. If you have to have the latest Prescott from Intel, here's a small form factor machine that actually handles it well. It uses a special design where the motherboard is in the middle, so the 110 watts (wow!) of heat from a 3.6GHz Pentium blows up and the rest of the system is separated in the cool area below.

Not a bad solution to an ultrahot processor.

Posted by rich at 10:01 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

nMediaPC to DFI 855GME-MGE Motherboard Connectors

Well one of the great things about homebrew computer is that the little connectors are never quite compatible. Here's a guide to the little pieces you need to get an nMagic case to work with a DFI 855GME-MGE Motherboard:

• Connect a standard 24-Pin ATX Power Supply to a 20-Pin ATX Motherboard Power Connector. Turns out the the power supply is a modern 24-pin power supply while the motherboard uses the older 20-pin standard. $10 to fix this.
• Koutech IO=PU221. This has External 2x USB 2.0 ports, but most important Internal Port: 2x USB 2.0 pin headers support 4 ports. Cost is $7 from Newegg, so I can connect the two front USB and the Flash card readers. The problem is that the 855GME-MGE has only 4 USB and they are all in the back external, so I need 3 more. This card solves that problem.
• Lite-on Wireless Keyboard version is just $20 and is a wireless with a a pointing device. Comes with a receiver too. I need IR since I want to be able to use it with my Pronto remote which only speaks IR.

Posted by rich at 08:33 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

January 17, 2005

Network Magic

Network Magic attempts to fix your home network - CNET.com. My favorite project, after two years of hard work, folks are finally seeing what those guys are Pure Networks can do...

Anyone who's ever tried to set up a networked printer at home knows: Windows networking is nearly impossible for the mere mortal. Today, Pure Networks announced a product that capitalizes on our pain--and might just ease it, too.

Posted by rich at 08:22 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

January 14, 2005

VAIO Died

I'm so sad, my lovely Sony VAIO VGN-T140P has died. Will hang before it gets to the VAIO splash screen. Trying to call Sony is a lost cause, more succes with their web "chat":

They have a bunch of web things to try including:

• How to troubleshoot power issues. Basically, there is a reset button that you can try to hit on the back. Also, there is a procedure where you hold the power button for 15 seconds. And, the light sequence tells you alot.
• There are some magic keys to try too, F2 when you boot will show you the BIOS bootup. F5 will do the normal XP alternative startup and F10 will get you to the invisible partition that will reinstall all the startup software and get the machine back to the factory configuration.

Posted by rich at 04:13 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

January 10, 2005

ATI 9800 Overclocking

Tech Support Forum - Query on overclocking ATI 9800 Pro 128MB. Another hat tip to google for this one.

You will want an over clocking tool such as (ATI Tool) this tool features an artifact tester to test your settings and if you want to wait, will automatically find your fastest settings with no artifacts for you. Let it work at night when you are asleep with ATItool

This thing lets you find the Maximum automatically for both the core and also the memory. The main thing though if you want to overclock is cooling the card, so don't expect much with the stock stuff.

Posted by rich at 12:28 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Low-end Processors.

X-bit labs - Articles - New Budget Processors Comparison: Intel Celeron D vs. AMD Sempron (page 10). Xbit did a nice job of comparing the Northwood and Prescott Pentium 4s with the Northwood Celeron and Prescott Celeron D. They also compared the Athlon 64 with the Semprons (both flavors, the 3100+ is a crippled Athlon 64) and other Semprons (renamed Athlon XPs).

Confused yet?

Their net is that the Celeron Ds are much more competitive with the Semprons now, but the Sempron 3100+ is a real bargain. About the same speed as an Athlon 2800+ in real life and about 10% cheaper too.

For me, replacing an old SS51G which has an older socket 478 that can't take the new Prescott Pentium or Celeron D, it says that the older Celerons are about 1/3 lower with the same clock. For instance a Celeron at Newegg had a pricing like this:

• Celeron 2.6GHz for $88, so it is equivalent to a Pentium that is about 25% slower (2GHz Pentium)
• Pentium 2.26 at $118. So for 34% more, you get about 10% faster.
• Pentium 2.4B. for $127. This is a NOrthwood running a touch faster (about what my old one was). That's 6% faster for 8% more money.
• Pentium 2.4C. for $137. This is a slightly update Northwood with 800MHz FSB vs. 533MHz and aHyperthreading. Unfortunately my Shuttle SS51G can hyperthread but has a slower bus. Hyperthreading by the way doesn't clearly help performance (but it is kind of cool!).

Net, net right now at the ultra low end, the best price performance is the Celeron 2.6 which is slower than the Pentium 2.4GHz that was originally in the machine (by about 1/3). If want to get the same performance, then the 2.4B is the ticket at $127. I think I spent about $200 for the thing when it was new, so prices really haven't gone down all that much in the Intel world really in the last two years.

Posted by rich at 12:00 AM | TrackBack

January 09, 2005

Antec P180

Antec's new P180: Ultimate Silent Case? :: SilentPCReview.com. The folks there think it could be the ultimate silent case. Great specs. Available at the end of February.

Posted by rich at 11:08 PM | TrackBack

Pentium M Cooler

LOGIC Supply CoolerMaster Pentium M CPU Cooler. The DFI 855GME motherboard I got came with one screw missing on its cooler! What a bummer, literally for lack of a nail, the horse was lost to quote Shakespeare.

The only place on the planet I could find a cooler was from Cooler Master (in fact, this looks like the cooler bundled with the DFI board). Outrageously expensive at $28 plus $9 shipping, but at least it is a pretty copper color :-)

Posted by rich at 09:25 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

2.5" to 3.5" Hard Drive Adapter

2.5" to 3.5" Hard Drive Adapter - FLT-3120. In building Grace's new minicomputer, one thing I forgot was something that will take a 2.5" notebook drive and let you fit it into a 3.5" slot. Here's one from google. These are actually hard to find.

The standards are different, not only is the drive smaller, but it uses a 40 pin connector vs. a 44 pin IDE and a separate power Molex power connector.

Posted by rich at 04:33 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

DFI launches SLI

DFI NEWS. Everyone is launching nForce4 and SLI boards, so if you can wait and see how the dust settles and the reviews come out

DFI®, a worldwide leader in industrial computing solutions and maker of the LANPartyâ„¢ series of motherboards, today launched the new LANParty NF4 SLI-DR and LANPartyUT NF4 Ultra-D motherboards for the socket 939 AMD® Athlonâ„¢ 64 platform

Posted by rich at 11:38 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Best Chaintech VNF3-205 Forum

PC Perspective / Amdmb Forums - Chaintech. This seems to be the most active sourc eof information thanks to UncleBob!

Posted by rich at 10:51 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

January 05, 2005

Does SLI Matter?

Tom's Hardware Guide Graphics Cards: VGA Charts V: PCI Express Graphics Cards - Farcry. First benchmarks I've seen that compare SLI and regular PCI Express/AGP (btw, a single graphics card is not faster under PCI Express, so the only reason to get it is for future card upgrades).

Here are the results pushing the cards hard at 1600×1200, 4xAA, 4xAF, very high quality, 32bit:

Card	Farcry (fps)
GeForce 6800GT SLI	53.9
Radeon X800 XT	36.0
GeForce 6800GT	30.4
GeForce 6600GT SLI	29.5
Radeon X800 XL	29.0
Radeon X700 XT	18.5
GeForce 6600 GT	17.1
GeForce 6200	6.3
Radeo X600 Pro	5.2
GeForce 5900	0.1

So you can see that SLI really does work in that it close to double performance. It makes a pair of 6600GTs ($180 each) about equal to a 6800GT ($380), so that's fine it you get another card later that is say $50.

Or, if you are power geek, get $880 worth of 6800GTs now and beat out the $600 6800 Ultra.

Posted by rich at 12:57 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

January 04, 2005

Definitive 939 Motherboard Review

Tom's Hardware Guide Motherboards & RAM: Finally Available: Nine Socket 939 Athlon64 Motherboards! - Introduction. Yes, Tom's Hardware finally has gathered them all.

The main conclusion is that the AGP MSI Neo2 is one fast board. It is dual socket 939 and beats most of the newer nForce4 boards. For future proofing, it shows that the boards to drool over are the SLI ones, if you can afford them (at $250-300 each right now).

So, the net, if you need a computer right now, then the MSI Neo2 is the right way to go. If you can delay at all, then PCI Express won't be any faster, but upgrading to a new video board will be easier (of course, I've never in my life actually upgraded a video component, usually, the rest of the system gets obsolete too fast, but it is peace of mind.

Posted by rich at 11:29 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

AMD Motherboard Recommendations

t-break - MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum. With all the socket 939 boards being out of stock, here's a review of the Neo4. Unfortunately, all the socket 939 motherboards are out of stock right now at the big sellers and are very expensive as quantities are tight. So from safe to bleeding edge, here are (in order your choices):

1. If you have to have a board now, then get the DFI LanParty UT, its a socket 754 board, but is available ($109). All prices are newegg.com or zipzoomfly.com
2. The MSI Neo2 is probably the best board for socket 939 and AGP using the older nForce3 chipset. The safe choice is the MSI Neo2 but it is hard to get ($142).
3. The newer boards use nForce 4 and PCIExpress. Boards to look at there include the Chaintech VNF4/Ultra at $129 (no reviews yet), the MSI Neo4 ($189) see the above review.
4. There are also some bleeding edge boards that do SLI, but the ASUS AN8 SLI for one has got lots of early teething problems. Gigabyte and MSI are also close with their SLI boards. If you are doing this monitor the Anandtech motherboard forum closely to see what bugs people are finding.

Posted by rich at 08:33 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

January 02, 2005

PC Recommendations

Another month has passed and recommendations are getting a little more complex again. Interesting to see that as the dollar has been crashing, PC prices have been stable as has technology. The machines I bought a year ago are about 10-20% slower not 50%. Main move has been with graphics cards. Still the best news is that there are some viable home-brew HTPCs and silent PCs you can build now.

HTPC or SFF PC

I haven't been recommend small form factor machines for a while now. They don't usually have the fastest motherboards and so forth. But with the new HTPCs coming out you can build a very small machine again with the right specs. They are much more expensive, but since these use the Dothan Pentium M chipset, they are very fast.

Part	Price	Comment
Pentium M 745	$300	735 saves $250 and gives up just a little
Crucial Ballistix 3200XL	$280	Expensive but fast, $250 for Corsair 4400CL25 is 2% slower
DFI 855GME-MGF	$270	LostCircuits also liked it
nMediaPC HTPC 100 B	$128	MicroATX great SFF or HTPC
NEC 3500A	$68	Cheap and fast DVD
Samsung 193P	$500	An incredible buy from J&R right now
Hitachi 60GB 7200rpm	$141	SilentPCReview has a noise list
"eVGA 6800GT	$388	6600GT is $220 for 2/3 the performance

This thing is expensive at $1800, but it is a screamer. Faster than most 3.6 GHz Pentiums when overclocked and it is in a tiny chassis. The only thing I need to figure out is how to get a pair of 2.5" hard drives into it so it will be fast.

Also the Viewsonic and its brother from Nu Tech appear to be impossible to get, but the thing to try is that J&R have the incomparable Samsung 193P right now on sale with a double rebate, so it is just $500 after a $100 rebate. That is almost the cost of the budget Viewsonic q190mb.

High End PC

Like the Media It's very tough to do a recommendation right now because most of the tasty motherboards are in very short supply or not reviewed or very unstable as they are so new.

Athlon 3200+	$207	11x multiplier, should over clock to 2.6GHz easily
Corsair 4400C25	$275	Very fast at DDR466
MSI Neo4 SLI	$185	Neo2 $142 for PCIe, Neo if right now
Ever Case 4252	$80	easy to cool
Seasonic Silent Tornado 400	$99	newegg.com has
NEC 3500A	$67	newegg or zipzoomfly
WD740GD	$185	10000 rpm system drive
Maxtor DiamondMax 10 300GB	$205	Big and fast data drive
6800GT	$400	2/3 less is 6600GT ($180)

Posted by rich at 08:53 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

SD/MMC USB Reader

Crucial Hi-Speed USB SD/MMC Card Reader upgrades from Crucial.com. Just $10 with free shipping, this little widget is a SD/MMC card reader that plugs into any USB 2.0 slot.

Going to give it a try very useful for all those digital cameras and phones with MMC/SD cards in them.

Posted by rich at 08:19 PM | TrackBack

New memory choices

Anandtech covers the latest in RAM. The big news is that the price of fast PC3200 CL2 Ram is actually higher than PC3700-PC4000 CL2.5 ram, it seems like an upgrade in January recommendations are in order, specifically, going to:

• Corsair TwinX 4400C2.5. This stuff is quite slow at DDR400, but at the top end of DDR550, it is the fastest around. One thing that is strange is various memory modules are faster at specific speed ranges (so you might find memory very fast at DDR400, but it slows down in comparison with others as you go higher). In this case, Corsair is slower at DDR400, but fast at DDR550.
• Crucial Ballistix 3200. This memory is very hard to find. Main place is on the crucial site itself, it is amazingly fast. The main thing is that even though it is only rated to PC3200 (DDR400), it is very fast and in fact when overclocked really holds its own. A good buy at $128 per stick from that site.
• OCZ Gold Rev 3. This stuff does really well with Athlon 939 boards in particular the Neo2. Runs at at a native DDR466 but can get to DDR500 if the motherboard can take it. It is the slow at DDR400, but very fast in the middle range. This uses Samsung chips like the Corsair but the tuning and binning of chips is different.

The net is that you have to guess about where you are going to run your machines and then buy the appropriate ram.

Anand's net recommendations:

For the fastest memory speeds possible, Corsair TwinX1024-4400C25 is your choice. For best performance at DDR400 to DDR466, almost any other Samsung TCCD module will do a little better. For DDR400 at 2-2-2 and top-end performance a bit shy of this extraordinary Corsair memory, you can choose Geil PC3200 Ultra X, Crucial PC3200 Ballistix, OCZ PC3200 Platinum Rev.2, PQI 3200 Turbo, or G. Skill TCCD.

Posted by rich at 12:26 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

January 01, 2005

Crucial Ballistix

RAM from Crucial is actually made by Micron Technologies and is very hard to find. The best place is direct from Crucial.

BTW, it looks like the PC4000 is the better by according to Club Overclocker.

It is about the same price as the PC3200 ($130 vs. $128), but is rated to run at DDR500 at CL2.5 (so it will run fine at 250MHz FSB). A nice buy particularly if you live outside of Washington and don't have to pay the sales tax.

The Micron Ram also performs really well on Athlon 64s.

Posted by rich at 09:01 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_POOL

PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_POOL. I hope you never get this blue screen. Calvin's machine is really sick. Got a bunch of these errors and then found out that the disk would refuse to boot with a NO SYSTEM DISK FOUND.

Even using the Recovery Console (F8 with a Windows XP disk) didn't help. Could see the system disk (a Western Digital WD740GD), but couldn't get it to boot even after using FIXBOOT and FIXMBR.

This reminded me of another strange problem which is related to the Western Digital DiamondMax 10 300GB. The Chaintech VNF3-250 will refuse to boot if this drive is the second SATA drive. It will only boot if the WD740GD is second and the DiamondMax is first. The machine hanges on IDE dectection. SEems like some sort fo conflict with that drive.

So it seems like I have two problems this system fault which could be from just about anything and this conflict with the DiamondMax. Welcome to 2005!

The big suggestion is that is normally means bad memory, which would explain a lot. Well, I installed memtest86+ and low and behold I've got memory errors gallor. So I'll need to see if this is because of the memory setting or what, but it looks like the culprit is a memory stick gone bad. How sad. Its a new stick of Crucial Ballistix memory.

Posted by rich at 04:48 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 31, 2004

Omega Drivers and Tweaking

TweakGuides.com. Well removing the ATI Catalyst 4.12 allows the machine to boot. I went to safe mode and whacked it and now it seems fine. I deleted all the drivers and will try a reinstall. Wish me luck.

Also will try out the Omega drivers as well to see how that goes.

Posted by rich at 04:16 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

ATI Crashes

unofficial ATi Troubleshooting guide. OK I think I may have found what's wrong with Calvin's machine. Sounds a lot like video drivers. Here's a note from someone who is using the same Chaintech VNF3-250 and ATI Radeon 9700s so close to his 9800. I've had the system fail to boot because of the video driver. Worked semiwell with the 6/04 drivers, but the new 11/04 Catalyst 4.12 have been a disaster. Here's another writers experience, it has to do with the nVidia AGP driver conflicting with the Catalyst drivers.

I would experience lock-ups, crashes and blank screens, usually needing a reboot. As I am sure you all have, I have tried every driver ever made by ATi. I have tweaked every BIOS setting (8x, 4X AGP, fast writes on, fast writes off, hypertransport 1X, 2X, 3X, 4X, resetting frame buffer sizes in games, resetting video memory in the BIOS, etc.) Tweaking these settings and changing drivers have worked to varying degrees, but never truly solved the problem.

It is to use a combination of the 3.9 Catalyst driver (using Omegas based on the 3.9's might even be better) and UNINSTALLING your AGP / GART driver from your system. My GART driver is an nVidia AGP driver.
Is it nVidia sabotage(?), I don't know, but I read VIA Hyperion AGP drivers caused the same type of problems with ATI video cards. By right clicking on "My Computer", going into the Device Manager and then System Devices, you will see " nVidia nForce 3 250 AGP Host to PCI bridge " Right click on that and uninstall. It will prompt you to reboot. Upon rebooting, if it redetects it and askes you to install it again, obviously don't, but it shouldn't ask you to install it again, anyway.

Your ATi video card drivers will not detect an AGP setting (either 4X or 8X)
nor will you be able to enable Fast Writes, as you now do not have an AGP driver installed to allow you to do this.

No matter, because AGP settings are a lot of "hooey" based on impractical theoretical bandwidths anyways (anyone notice a difference in PCI-e video card benchmarks compared with their AGP counterparts? I didnt think so...)

Now, the downside...If you run benchmarks like Aquamark 3, or 3DMark01 SE, 03, or 05, you will see a 50% performance drop.

BUT....the interesting thing, is that there is NO discernable performance hit in the actual games themselves. In other words, in UT 2004, Doom3 , Far Cry, Half-life 2 and CS: Source, I get the same framerates at the same detail settings without crashes, blank screens or VPU recovers (I have that turned off, anyway).

To clarify: If I install the AGP gart driver and install 4.12 Cat Betas, I get the same frame rates in games as I do if uninstall the AGP gart driver and use 3.9 Cats, except with the latter, I have no crashes or freezes.

Posted by rich at 01:40 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 25, 2004

Lastest Updates

It's amazing how many updates come up if you don't watch for three months. Here are the latest for us:

• BenQ America Corp. - Drivers - CD-ROM; CD-RW; DVD-ROM; DVD-RW. We have the DW1620. Latest flash is B7P9 from B7K9. These upgrades usually improve compatibility.
• ATI Catalyst. These ATI drivers update every 15 minutes or so it feels like.
• Chaintech VNF3-250 Download/dl_desc.asp?DCSNo=4&PISNo=276. Their latest BIOS supports Quiet'N'Cool dated 2004/10/19.

Posted by rich at 03:13 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

VNF3-250 BIOS

Chaintech VNF3-250 Motherboard BIOS's. If you dare, here are hacked BIOSes that fix various problems.

Also I just noticed that this board's HyperTransport only goes to 1600MHz so with a 4x I've been way overclocking it (running at 200MHz gets you to 1600 MHz, I believe).

Posted by rich at 12:44 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Chaintech VNF3-250 Quirks

Overclockers Forums - Other AMD Boards. OK, I have one of these and it works well, but has a couple of interesting quirks:

• USB 2.0. When I have my Minolta-Konica Dimage 5400 plugged in and on, the boot sequence will hang. As long as it is off, it works. Seems like there is something bad that happens on power on self test where it is testing something and it hangs when it see this scanner.
• Maxtor DiamondMax 10 300GB isn't recognized. About every other time, when the machine starts, it can't find this drive. Works fine for the Western Digital WD740GD. I think this might actually be related to having a CD in the CD-ROM. I've noticed that when there's a CD in, the CD drive flashes and flashes. Will have to investigate more. I'm guessing that this newer drive has a quirk with the 9/21/04 BIOS since it is so new. I haven't tried their latest.

Posted by rich at 12:37 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 19, 2004

Disk Usage with TreeSize

TreeSize Treesize Download. I've been trying to figure out why directories are so big. It is amazing that Windows doesn't have a utility that shows how much a directory (vs. an individual file is using).

There is a command line tool called diskuse that comes in the Resource Kit, but it unwieldy. Here's a freeware tool that does it graphically.

Posted by rich at 11:53 PM | TrackBack

PC Upgrade: $500, $1000, $1500

Phil has come to visit us and was asking about upgrading his computer. Here is what he owns that is 2002 vintage:

Component	Replace or not?
Athlon XP 2000+	An older part, 2x performance increase possible
PNY nVidia 4600 Video Card	Direct 8.1 only, should replace
Mitsubishi CRT 21"	Still best for gaming
512MB PC2700 memory	Can get to PC4000 with overclocking now
Soyo Dragon Black Platinum MB	Replace as CPU is changing
60GB disk	Can use for data, get new system disk
Sony DRW-510 DVD Writer	Fine for now

So what to get if you had $500 to upgrade the machine. First question is of course, what are you going to do with it?

He like to play games and also to the regular Internet stuff, so what should he do?

Here is what I would do to get a more balanced system. First, I don't think just getting a faster CPU will help particularly much with games.

Adrian's Rojak Pot has a great comparison of old cards. Video performance since 2002 has essentially increased by 10x while CPU performance is perhaps 3x faster. His Athlon 2000+ is probalby running at 1.4GHz in reality and an overclocked Athlon 64 3200+ will be running at 2.6GHz in comparison his 4600 card vs. a late model nVidia GT probably has a frame rate difference in modern games of 10 assuming his 4600 could even run Doom 3 or Far Cry. Many of the modern games will only run on DirectX 9 hardware.

So there is a tradeoff right now between best price/performance and the lowest price. A $500 upgrade is really about getting the lowest price and trading off quite a bit of performance to hit that price point.

$500 Budget upgrade

To get the right budget upgrade, first thing you need to do is to stack rank the components in importance and spend appropriately. Here it is for a gamer:

1. Graphics card. The biggest variable given ATI is a product transition and availability is tight. Get an nVidia 6600GT at about $229. There is an AGP and a PCI Express version, but for the budget, the AGP is fine for a low end upgrade.
2. Disk. IMHO, the biggets performance increase is in the disk. Getting a two spindle system dramatically increases performance. Since this about being quiet as well, the Western Digital WD800JD is just $65. It is pretty fast running at 7200 RPM (vs. 5400RPM). Because NTFS fragments like crazy with the big files, he should have the 80GB WD as the system disk and only put Windows and applications on it. Then for use his old 60GB drive for temporary files, and things that change alot. On my machines, this increase actual performance by up to 2x.
3. Processor. The Athlons are essentially obsolete, but with budget Athlon 64s coming on strong, for about $135, you can get an Athlon 64 2800+. This would be a socket 754 as the motherboards are cheaper (see below). Make sure to get an ADA2800AXBOX as this is the latest Newcastle with the right stepping. This is also the retail box, so it comes with a cooler and a 1 year warranty (OEM versions only have a 90 day warranty).
4. Motherboard. There are quite a few low cost Socket 754 motherboards now. For instance, I have the Chaintech VNF-250 nForce3 that costs about $75. This doesn't have Firewire though but does overclock decently. If you want the absolutely best overclocking board, get the DFI LANParty UT nF3 250Gb for $107, so it puts you out of your price range, but a worthy upgrade.
5. Memory. Right now the Samsung based PC3200 CL2 memory is the fastest and lowest cost. 512MB is two sticks at for the "
   Corsair 3200XL":http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=2145 at about $134.

Total is $638 so we are a little overbudget. To get precisely to $500, I would probably cut the memory and give up on overclocking as a result. This will cut performance by about 30%, but it will still be way faster because of the graphics card.

$1000 upgrade is the best price/performance

With a $1000 budget, this increase moves you into the sweet spot of super high performance at modest prices. An upgrade like this looks like this with a bit of future proofing:

1. Graphics. Moving up to a 6600GT as before. In this case, move to PCI Express for the future at $195 With the SLI below, he can get another 6600 later on and double performance. Alternatively, if SLI is too exotic, then a 6800GT on AGP at $330 with just 128MB instead of 256MB is a great budget choice. Only issue that's come up is the PureVideo decoding hardware support for HD movies only works on 6600GTs. That's not that big an issue IMHO since I don't think there will be much movie watching on this machine. If you must have PCI Express, then a 6600 GT for PCI Express is cheaper at $195, but you have to get a more expensive motherboard.
2. Motherboard. Well, if you can wait, the hot boards are the new SLI boards like the Gigabyte. ASUS, Gigabyte and MSI all have them. THey should be about $180 but right now are hard to get and cost $250 or so. If you can't wait, I'd get a good socket 939 motherboard with AGP as PCIExpress doesn't really help single graphics performance. In a shootout and later reviews, the MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum at $135 had incredible overclocking. So, get the MSI K8N Neo2 if you can't wait or do the SLI/PCI Express is you can.
3. CPU. I'd move to the AMD Athon 64 3200+ at $207. This has a multiplier of up to 10x so you can achieve overclock speeds 2.6GHz which is the maximum of the current processors.
4. Disk. I'd go to the Western Digital WD740GB disk for $180. This is a screamer drive that will be the system disk that is the fasted yet for desktops. The current 60GB drive if fine for general storage and temporaries, but put all read-only Windows and applications on the Western Digital and you'll be very happy.
5. Memory. Most applications really love 1GB, so getting two sticks of so either the Corsair TWINX 3200XL or the Geil Ultra X are fine. Both are about $275

Total cost is $1,127 so again a little over budget. If I were to really get down to $1,000, I'd probably drop down to a cheaper hard drive, say the Seagate 7200.7 200GB at $120 is a fine drive with a five year warranty. And also drop to the Athlon 2800+ at $135. The 2800+ probably means giving up about 10% of performance since it will probably just go to 2.4GHz on overclock rather than 2.6GHz.

$1500 upgrade

This is where you get into the luxury items. It is the $1000 upgrade above plus:

1. Power Supply. The biggest source of instability and the easiest way to get more overclock is a bigger supply. I like the Seasonic Tornado 460 at $99 because it is very quite, but any supply from Enermax, OCZ or other higher end brands will do.
2. Another disk. Get another modern disk. The $200 Maxstor DiamondMax 10 300GB is really great for data.
3. Upgrade the graphics card. Going to the 6800GT adds about $200 more cost, but will double performance. Since SLI requires matched cards, this means that when you go to SLI, wow, performance really rises.

Posted by rich at 10:35 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 17, 2004

PC Recommendation

OK, given the choices right now there are two options for building a fast machine right now. Actually, not exactly right now, but if you can wait to January...

nForce 4 SLI (for January)

If you want the maximum in performance, then you want the upcoming SLI boards. These are first coming December 28 but have a pretty big premium. The ASUS motherboard is now out

Component	Price	Comment
ASUS K8N SLI	$247	Drops to $180 in January hopefully
nVidia 6800GT	$440	Very short supply, again wait if you can
AMD Athlon 3200+	$207	Socket 939 retail with warranty
Thermalright XP-120 Heatsink	$50	Optional but very quiet
Geil Ultra X 2×512	$275	Alternative Corsair 3200XL for $250
NEC 3500A	$68	Dual layer DVD Writer
Western Digital WD740GD	$179	Very fast system drive
Maxtor DiamondMax 300	$205	Fast and Big data drive
Ever Case 4252	$80	Very quiet case
Globe 120	2x$12	5" fans for CPU and case
Seasonic Silent Tornado 400	$100	Very quiet power supply
Total	$1875	Without monitor, keyboard, mouse

High End Computer for right now

There is about a $200 premium for SLI and the 6800GT. If you don't have quite the need or want to buy it in December then you can get the AGP socket 939 and substitue the MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum for $135 and also get the ASUS 6800GT for $330.

This lowers the $1850 by $225 so it is $1625 right now and a good buy. Only small thing to consider is that the 6800gt is older than the 6600GT and that the new ATI line is not yet available but also coming out in January. The entire ATI X-series is very hard to get right now.

Finally, if you want a monitor, then the Viewsonic Q190mb is about $465

Posted by rich at 11:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Deaggregation of storage

a little ludwig goes a long way: The Exploding PC?. Another smart post by John. He's right that you want to take the long term storage bank out of the PC.

It happened with LANs long ago with SANs and NASes. I've been trying to get this to work reliably in my own house for two years. First a Windows server that would actually shut down and then when the network request comes in, it would wake up.

I could never get that to work because Windows never shut down fans properly in standby and wouldn't wake up fast enough so the thing would disappear from the network.

Current experiment is with the Linksys NSLU2 and soon the Wifi enclosure thing. Main problems here have been the reliability of these cheap things for Connie et al.

The right answer IMHO given the low cost of hard disks is that you really want lots of caching. Right now, all my music, video and photos are cached across all the machines at home and there isn't a center to the system. I have to hand manage this with Beyond Compare, but it actually works pretty well.

Lacking a single reliable file server, this is where I live right now. BTW, I don't think that this means PCs are diskless, disks are so cheap and fast that they should just be caches.

Posted by rich at 11:22 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum

t-break - MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum. Good review of a nForce4 board. This one is not SLI but it has about the same performance as the others. Doesn't seem to be much difference in performance between different nVidia nForce4 boards, so main difference is SLI to put two graphics cards in.

The SLI version is due December 28 at Zipzoomfly for $209. This is about a $100 premium to the nForce3 250Gb boards and it performs the same. The $100 buys you the dual card option so it is kind of a bad deal if you are never going to put two cards in.

The value deal right now is to get a nForce3 chipset with a AGP graphics card.

Posted by rich at 10:26 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 16, 2004

Notebook Hard Disks

Now that you can just take a notebook hard drive out and replace it, there's a growing market for increasing disk space.

This really matters for notebook performance. First, going to 7200 RPM essentially doubles performance compared with 4200 RPM (although power consumption goes up).

Also, most drives are 20-40GB in current notebooks. Going to 100GB (Seagate is now shipping one) means you can realistic partition the drive into data and system space. That matters because in single hard drive systems, in my experience, real world performance is really limited by disk fragmentation.

You really want a small 10GB partition that is just for applications. You then use a tool like O&O Defrag to sort all the entries by name. This is because Windows when it starts reads things in alphabetically order. I've found that can half Windows boot time.

The other partition (90GB worth) can be for all your data. Here you do have to defragment frequently because even under NTFS when you throw a long file or you use Outlook, those files can have literally hundreds of fragments. I've seen my Outlook boottime fall quite a bit when I defragement. If you use O&O Defragmenter, then you set it for stealth defragmentation and it wipes out the fragments.

Anyway, an 80GB hard drive is about $200, so a realistic upgrade if you've got a fast modern (e.g., Dothan or Banias) chipset.

See Tom's Hardware Guide Mobile Devices: Nine Notebook Hard Drives Make Their Debuts - 2.5" Vs. 3.5" reviews for good drives, but the news is essentially, if you want speed, get the Hitachi TravelStar 7K60. I have one and it is faaassst.

If you want capacity, the biggest is the Seagate Momentuns 5400.2. This is a 100GB drive!

Posted by rich at 09:27 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 05, 2004

Perfect T140 Companions

Eric and Jeff both got Sony VAIO T-140P/Ls and by all reports love them. Hat tip to both for the latest accessories that dress up that piece of hardware:

• Wi-Fi Networking News: Canary Wireless Digital Hotspotter Overview. This is a little digital thingy that lets you know what Wifi hotspots are around. Very useful for this little guy.
• Bluetooth Mini Mouse. Since this thing has bluetooth, there are two things you can do, use it for a mouse if you don't like the keypad. Eric says its more precise and of course it doesn't have any wires so is great on airplanes. I oftentimes wonder why you can't put the optical junk into an iPod like thing, so you can just it like a mouse, but that's way too nerdy. These are about $50 and are hard to get, but a search for gm3225b will help you and Cnet has some stores and Pricegrabber has some stores. PC Connection and Monarch currently has them in stock

Posted by rich at 09:16 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 04, 2004

Pentium 4-560 Thermal Problems

Tom's Hardware Guide Processors: The P4-560's Heat Can Crash and Kill - The Heat Can Cause Intel's P4 To Throttle And Damage Over Time. An interesting study. Basically, the new Prescott runs so close to its thermal limits that if you install it into a stock system with their thermal "pad" everything is OK.

But, if you use standard thermal compound, it will throttle back and not run at peak efficiency. You need this special silver thermal compound. Why? Well, the main problem is that these new Prescotts are so hot that they are very sensitive to the thermal limits. Also, the internal chassis has to be cool enough at 38 degrees C otherwise, you have the same problem.

Conclusion, if you are a do-it-yourself geek like me, these Prescotts are very touchy.

Posted by rich at 09:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 30, 2004

19" LCD Monitors

AnandTech: A Guide to Choosing the Right 19" LCD Monitor - 7 Models Reviewed. Monitors have truly gotten cheap. You can get a very nice 19" one for just $500 or so. Here's the summary:

• Samsung 193P. If you have $650-700 and want the best in quality, this is the one to beat right now.
• ViewSonic Q190MB. This is nearly as good as the Samsung but is just $480.
• NuTech L921G for $411 which is identical to the Viewsonic technically is very good. You can get two NuTechs for about the price of a single 193P and a dual head display is the bomb believe me!

Posted by rich at 11:32 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

XP Home vs. XP Pro

Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows: Windows XP Home Edition vs. Professional Edition, What's the difference?. This is the first PC I've bought that uses XP Home instead of my buying XP Professional from the Microsoft Company Store. I have to say having used it for a while at work, I'm not sure it is that important in a small business environment.

We don't use Active Directory and we don't need lots of permissions for desktop users. Saves quite a bit the list is $99 for XP Home and $149 for XP Professional when you are building up a laptop.

Posted by rich at 08:20 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

ASUS M5N

We are looking for a new notebook standard at Ignition. I'm partial to the build-it-yourself models that ASUS has. I have the older M3N and it is just as good as any other that I've seen (Dell and IBM thin and light), but you spec exactly what you want. Here are some reviews;

• ASUS M5200N: Elder Brother of ASUS S5200N

There are two places to get it:

• JNCS. The build it option has a 768MB with Pentium M Model 735 at $1,298. Then you add a nice big hard drive $189 for a 80GB 7200 Hitachi 8MB drive and $129 for Windows XP Home plus $20 for ground delivery and you get a screaming laptop for $1748. This is a well know reseller.
• Proportable. 768MB, Pentium M Model 745 (1.8GHz), 80GB 5400, no XP for $1772 not including shipping, so quite a bit more than the JNCS, but I've ordered from them before and they are reliable.
• Topmic.com.
  $1300 for base plus a 512MB Ram, 1.8GHz Pentium M 745 and 80GB 4200 rpm (so less power) and $99 for XP Home is $1658 with free shipping. Low price, but I've not heard of them, so caveat emptor
• Chembooks. They have the $1690 with the Pentium M 745 (1.8GHz), 512MB memory, 80GB 4200RPM Toshiba hard drive and Windows XP Home. NOt a bad deal, but haven't heard of them.

Posted by rich at 07:32 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 26, 2004

PC Guide

Well, it is Christmas time, so this might be a good guide for those of you who want to give the gift of computing. As usual, we'll cover a "high value" system and a "low cost" system. The best value means the best price/performance for a computer but it is more expensive. The "low cost" means it not insanely cheap, but as low as you can get without really sacrificing either quality or good performance.

Ironically, most "high value" systems seem to come out at $1000-$1500 while the "low cost" ones come out at $500-750 no matter how I do it. I mainly use Anandtech and pricegrabber as guides for this. They are the best at this analysis so far. In each case, we'll use overclocking to improve the overall performance.

The main references are:

• AnandTech: Price Guides November 2004: CPU and Motherboards. The socket 754 for low cost and the socket 939 for high value.
• Optical and Disk Drivers. Not many changes here, but the big splurge is going two spindles for the high value system. For both systems, the $70 NEC 3500A is a great choice. Dual Layer, 16x DVD writer, what could be better?
• Video and Memory. Memory-wise, last month the Crucial Ballistix 3200
• "19" LCD Monitors Reviewed":http://anandtech.com/displays/showdoc.aspx?i=2289. Good review of wonderful monitors.

High Value PC

Ok, the main controversial recommendation here is to have a two disk drive system. Disk to me is the biggest achilles heel of performance right now. Having two spindles makes things really, really fast as swapping is the single biggest detriment to performance. It is expensive, but super worth it.

Part	Cost	Comment
Athlon 64 3200+	$198	2GHz
OCZ Platinum Rev 2	$270	Fast CL2 2×512
Gigabyte K8NXP-9	$130	K8NXP-SLI coming
NEC 3500A	$67	DVD Burner
Maxtor DiamondMax 300	$196	Fast and big
Western Digital 740GD	$172	The fastest
nVidia 6800GT	$400	Not as fast with Half Life, but can SLI
nuTech 691	$410	Get a pair and live!
Seasonic Silent Silencer 460	$109	silent power supply
Ever Case 4252	60
Total	$1715	$1315 without monitor

Low Cost PC

This is a PC optimized with good, but not expensive components. The performance is still amazing, but the drive is the cheapest that is good enough.

Part	Price	Comment
Athlon 64 2800+	$129	10% slower
Crucial Ballistix 3200	$143	CL2 very fast, but expensive
DFI LanParty nF3 250GB	$104	nForce3 and 8xAGP
NEC 3500A	$67	burner
Samsung Spinpoint 1614N	$85	quiet
nVidia 6600GT	$220	or a $40 Radeon 9200 if not a gamer
Seasonic Silent Tornado 350	$71
Ever Case 4252	60
Nutech Monitor	$420	19" LCD
Total	$1289	Add $879 without monitor

Posted by rich at 03:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Software I would Pay For

The list isn't very long, but since I'm at it (and it is the holiday season), here's a list of software that I would (and have) paid for over the last year. Amazing utility for little cost:

• DBPowerAMP. I've only been using this for a short while, but it is amazing in that it allows conversion from essentially any music format to any other. You can directly go from .WAV to .FLAC or to .AAC. Also, it has the only decent bailer for the iPod so you don't have use iTunes and synchronize your entire collection, you can take pieces of anything and just copy them over. It's $19 for the Sveta Portable Audio (that includes their convertor) so that is probably the most amazing bargain. I still the freeware Musicmatch for editing tags (nothing is better) and Exact Audio Copy to copy CDs (because it does the filenaming better), but this is becoming indispensible.
• Tsunami MPEG Encoder. Another utility where I paid $25, but lost the serial number. This is probably the best and cheapest MPEG-2 encoder. It does variable encoding and is very artifact free. They have a huge number of tools now, but the latest is called TMPGEnc 3.0 XPress. It is $58, but worth it if you really want to fill your DVDs.
• SmartFTP. OK, I actually paid $30 for this and have never gotten the serial numbers right, so I'm technically still using it as freeware. It is the most amazing utility for those of us who use Linux sites for hosting. Super convenient and very fast (that's a theme for this list BTW). Biggest CON is that the queue feature is very unintuitive. Very useful, but not intuitive. You basically drag the files to the queue area and then say where it goes. The opposite of drag and drop.
• MovableType. Paid my $99 for an unlimited license. Still the best and most used blog platform around.

Posted by rich at 02:57 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 25, 2004

17 inch monitor review

X-bit labs - Articles - Closer Look at 17” LCD Monitor Features. Part V (page 19). X-bit did their usual thorough job. The Samsung Syncmaster 710N was expensive but the best looking of the monitors. Of course these days I'd recommend getting a pair of 17 inch monitors or splurging for a single 19 inch monitor.

SyncMaster 710T

Posted by rich at 08:19 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

nVidia SLI

AnandTech: NVIDIA's GeForce 6 SLI: Demolishing Performance Barriers. The coolest thing out there. You can now slam two video cards into a single machine. The first board out is the ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe (nForce4 SLI) Motherboard. Available for about $180. Its a dream motherboard if you want SLI, otherwise get the nForce3 and a AGP card and you'll be in good shape. Here's their net that adding as second graphics card increase performance by about 70% over a single one. That's pretty amazing scalability.

if you've only got $400 to spend on a card today you can't beat the 6800GT as a single card solution. Then, as the price of the 6800GT drops, it may become more attractive for you to upgrade to a second card rather than buying a next generation GPU. As long as we’re between DirectX cycles, SLI enables you to have the fastest most robust graphics setup out there without missing out on much.

You should be able to get the ASUS board and a Gigabyte board before Christmas. Drool ho!

Posted by rich at 07:20 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Random Hangs and Restarts with XP SP2

Windows Support Forums - Restarts in middle of boot-up (WXP-Pro).

Proving once again how great the Internet is. Since I've installed SP2, I've been having all kinds of instability on two of my machines. I get hand the same symptoms where you'll get a hang or you'll be booting and get blown back to the BIOS. Folks on this thread a struggling too.

This is one area where power on self test doesn't help. Running Memtest86, the memory immediately begins failing. This is one hard area to figure out without a dedicated memory tester. Furthermore, with Memtest, if you disable the processor cache, you can see the memory stick is good, but the cache is not. One fried Pentium 4 2.43 Northwood. Sad to say so the machine is totalled since the architecture is obsolete. Can save the cd, etc., but the rest is not useful since it is a Shuttle mini machine, I don't know what to do with the case.

When you have a strange problem, it doesn't hurt to go back to first principles. Does the memory and CPU work properly. It is really rare for memory to fail. I have a dozen machines and its only happened once in 10 years as compared to 3 disk drives in five years or monthly software driver problems.

So this is another warning that one thing can cause failure in quite another. Happy Turkey day!

Posted by rich at 10:04 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 24, 2004

Sony Vaio T140P/L

Sony Unveils 3-Pound T-Series Ultra-Portable Notebook @ CHAITGEAR. This is pretty close to the perfect travel notebook. Its not the machine for everything. In fact, right now I think the dream combination is a fast and cheap desktop for office work that you can get for $1,000 or so now plus a light notebook that works on airplanes. I'm not a desktop replacement notebook kind of guy. For the office work I do machine performance isn't much of an issue anymore. Its not like Office has gotten any faster since 1997 literally based on processor performance.

The net is that for $1870 or so, it is pretty close to the perfect machine. You have to change a bunch of things, but it is pretty good. Check Pricegrabber for the latest prices.

PROS

Incredibly light at 3.1 pounds. You won't believe it, but it makes an amazing difference to go from 7 to 5 and then to three pounds. Also, the charger is very light, so it is fits just about anywhere. It connects to everything with Bluetooth, 802.11b/g, VGA output, USB 2.0 and 100Mpbs Ethernet all built in (there are no dongle required!)

I've had a bunch of ultraportables over the years and their achilles heel were poor screens, short battery life, and amazing amounts of hard disk swapping. The XBRITE screen on this baby has to be seen to be believed. It is cinema quality, yet you can get 5 hours of a battery life running at full power. Also, the disk is now big enough (40GB) that it doesn't fill up.

Finally, the processor, the 1.1GHz Dothan (aka Pentium M 733) is really fast. At full bore, it is the equivalent of a 2GHz Pentium 4 and with 512MB of memory, you don't swap all the time when running Office plus Outlook.

CONS

Nothing that can't be fixed, but it is aggravating, you have to reformat the hard drive, because Sony takes 5GB away for system recovery and the default screen fonts are way too small. Also, you need to buy a $20 PCMCIA card that has CF/MMC/SD card reader. Beware though that some cards won't work with 1GB MMC cards. For instance I bought one from Inside Computer and the Sony didn't recognize the controller. On another Toshiba, it recognized the card, but wouldn't read a 1GB card. I'm going to try a Sandisk 6-in-1 for $40 next to see if it works better.

Finally, the thing really should have a dedicated DVD chip so you don't have to boot Windows to watch a DVD. Some of the newer laptops do this. Some documentation said it did, but I can't find it. Finally, 40GB is a little small if you store all your music on it (but that is what an iPod is for :-).

In any case, it is a great machine, but it is a little tricky to get setup just right. Here is what I did:

• The default installation only gives you 35Gbytes and has a partition that is 5Gbytes that is hidden. So you when you start, you have to create six CDs and this takes about 30 minutes.
• Then you insert the first CD and blow away the whole installation and then you reformat the drive so it uses the entrie 40Gbytes. I tried BTW to use PartitionMagic to just expand the partition and that was a disaster, so this is the simpler route.
• Then you get to spend an hour reinstalling everything to get the same installation as before. It isn't hard, but you swap lots of CDs back and forth.
• Now, you need to make the fonts and things bigger because they are truly microsized. Right click on the desktop and choose Large Fonts as the default as well as in the Advanced section using ClearType. This makes it much more legible. Then you have to go through the desktop scheme and blow up the icon fonts, the menu fonts. I pushed them to 11 points and things are better. Finally, you need to go to the cursor pointer schemes and change that to extra large.
• Next thing is that the power management isn't quite right. You need to fix this by changing to VAIO Max Battery and making it a little brighter. This means that when you are on battery, it goes to low power mode in the processor. Also, turn off modem (who ever uses that anymore). The 802.11 also uses power, so I often will turn that off as well, unless I'm in range. If you do this, battery usage goes from 3.5 hours to more like 5 hours running continuously.

BTW, if you absolutely must have a larger hard drive, you can splurge and get an 80GB 4200 RPM drive for about $135 right now. Check Pricegrabber for the Toshiba MK8025GAS

Posted by rich at 08:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

RockXP

|MG| Free Download - RockXP 3.0. Hey this is a great program.

Gives you the Windows XP PID and also the PIDs of other applications in case you lose them. Also recovers a bunch of other passwords as well.

Posted by rich at 05:20 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Get Yahoo Toolbar

Yahoo! Toolbar. YOu have to get this tool for the antispyware.

Been working through what's wrong with Connie's computer and despite the fact we run IE 6.0, Google Popup Blocker, Zonealarm, Norton Antivirus and Spybot Search and Destroy.

On running Lavasoft Ad-aware that I found zillions of spyware programs that weren't blocked.

However, it was only Yahoo that discovered our machine in fact was infected with a zombie (that means it was under the control of someone else!).

Maybe this will fix random crashes etc.

Now it makes sense why it is slow etc. It is all stuff into my personal directories so I must have navigated to a bad site.

Posted by rich at 04:41 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

XP Hangs and Reboots

Troubleshoot Windows XP Professional. Been getting an amazing number of hangs (e.g., mouse freezes) and random reboots (no blue screen, just blown to the restart).

Feels like there is instability in at least two machines at the driver level. As an old NT guy, I know that the only way this happens is if something dies at the kernel level. That is usually a device driver. Sigh.

The worst part is that when this happens, XP is so aggressive about caching the file system, that usually files get destroyed.

In any case, I'm debugging and found a great guide to blue screen and other crashes. My favorite and the one I see most often is

0X0000000A. IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

My favorite advice is of course in System Recovery where they tell you you need to install a Recovery Console before you have a crash. Not super helpful really and you need to type the DOS command:

e:\i386\winnt32.exe /cmdcons

when you've insert the CD. Wow, that's friendly, but very necessary. This command console is basically a command line XP (I btw love the way the name of the setup utility is still winnt.exe since that's what the product was originally called before it became 2000/XP/2003 etc.)

Posted by rich at 04:07 PM | TrackBack

Reinstalling XP

Sniptools °| Tips/Tricks | Reinstall Windows XP without product activation. A bunch of my XP machines are getting random crashes. With the NTFS file system, it is easy to corrupt things and one machine is now dead.

Things chkdsk fine, but that doesn't mean the operating system files themselves aren't corrupt. So what to do. Reinstall is the classic first solution.

Here are some guidelines:

First trick is that if you reinstall, then XP will ask for product activation all over again (deja vue). So here's how to avoid it. Hattop to Sniptools.com

1. Copy the file c:\windows\system32\wpa.dbl to a floppy.
2. Reinstall Windows XP.
3. Boot to a DOS disk if you are using FAT, or to the Recovery Console if using NTFS.
4. Copy the file from the first step above back to c:\windows\system32.
5. That's it - because all of your hardware is the same as before, your copy of WinXP is still valid according to the previous activation.

Mark Pilgrim also has some great instructions for the five hour reinstall of XP that is normally required. Its a great read!

Posted by rich at 03:56 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

SP2 Required

Symantec Support. Now that Microsoft is going to discontinue support for the "gold" XP, they are forcing everyone to upgrade to SP2.

Interesting, this is the hardest core shift I've seen lately, but it makes me worried about the machines I have that aren't SP2 yet. Here's a note on how Norton works with SP2. The short version is that Ignition's version of Norton doesn't quite work, but at least won't crash with it. It doesn't interact correctly with the new security manager. If you have Norton 2002 or later you are fine, but we are running Norton Corporate V7. Yikes, makes you want to go to the Mac!

Posted by rich at 03:47 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 21, 2004

PCMCIA Care for Memory Cards

I love the new Sony T-140, the main complaintis that it only has a Memory Stick card reader, so you have to spend $20 to get a PCMCIA adapter that reads other stuff.

I already have an adapter for Compact Flash, so the $20 part is the Sandisk PCMCIA Laptop Smartmedia, Sony Memory Stick, MMC and SD Adapter.

Its just $20 from memorysuppliers.com

Posted by rich at 03:26 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 19, 2004

Synchronizing Files

Beyond Compare - The file compare and directory compare utility from Scooter Software. I don't understand why file synchronization has to be so complicated. This Beyond Compare thing is nerdy, but it sure is straightforward.

Most depressing thing is that the iPod doesn't expose the files, so you have to use iTunes to synchronize. That means you can only sync with one PC. What you really want is to be able to sync a bunch of machines together.

Beyond Compare does this.

Posted by rich at 10:41 PM | TrackBack

November 15, 2004

7 Zip

7-Zip. Most of the file decompressors I know require you to pay. 7 Zip is the only freeware that knows .RAR and other strange formats.

Posted by rich at 10:31 PM | TrackBack

November 06, 2004

When will nForce4 Motherboards arrive

Tom's Hardware Guide Motherboards & RAM: NVIDIA Rushes Into PCI Express With nForce4 - SLI To Come!. A good early review of the new nForce4s. It is a tweak of the NForce3 that uses PCI Express for video cards. Actually, given that today's graphics card don't even push AGP at 8x, its not clear why, except for ego, you really need PCI Express running at 16x.

It means practically, the only reason is SLI. The ability to run two graphics cards together. So get the nForce3 now (best are the MSI Neo2 Platinum, DFI LanParty UT) with an AMD 3200+, Crucial 3200 Platinum Rev 2 memory and party on...

If you really want an SLI board, then here is what the big boys say that they'll be around just about now. From mid November to early December, so it is probably best to wait. The SLI models are particularly cool. You can gang together two cheap cards (6600GTs) and get more than a 6800GTs worth of performance. Pretty cool to get the ASUS A8N-E or the MSI Neo4 EE both of which will have SLI versions.

Asus. Availability of nForce4 Ultra motherboards A8N-E (Premium/SLI): second week of November. Asus is considering bundling two GeForce 6600GT graphics cards with the A8N-E SLI.

Gigabyte. nForce4 Ultra motherboards will be ready at the beginning of November. nForce4 SLI and VIA K8T890 will not be available before the beginning of December. Product Name: Gigabyte 8 Sigma Series, e.g. GA-K8NXP-9 (NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra)

MSI. The K8N Diamond (featuring nForce4 SLI) is already slated to hit the shelves in late November. The product name might be changed to K8N Neo2 Extreme Edition in the US. The K8N Neo4 Platinum will be the Ultra version, available two weeks earlier than the Diamond edition. It is supposed to be on the shelves by the middle of November.

Posted by rich at 11:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 05, 2004

Sony VAIO T140P/L Review

Sony VAIO T140P/L (ExactChoice Product Profile and Review of Features). Well the T140P/L is finally in stock. About $1800 for the 40GB/512MB model. Runs XP Home.

Its about Pricegrabber shows that it is $1870 from Page Computer, so it's not expensive.

Posted by rich at 08:18 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Insider scoop on PCs

AnandTech in Taiwan. A great insider scoop on what is up in Taiwan. The big news is that PCI Express ain't selling well. The 915 boards are stacking up like cordwood. Shows once again that even with a brand like Intel, you can't just sell stuff that ain't faster.

Interesting to see that in terms of motherboard sales, AMD is now 30% of the market.

The most interesting news is that nVidia has got basically a lock on the AMD market with the nForce4 (PCI Express) and nForce3 (traditional AGP). Since PCI Express cards aren't any faster than AGP, makes you wonder whether the nForce3 isn't good enough. Still, the industry is switching to PCIExpress.

Other news is that on the processor front, Intel is basically stuck at 3.6GHz until later next year and that AMD is ahead on dual core. Also that on the server front, AMD can field a very fast 8P for $20K less than Intel's 4P models. Wow, that's a huge shift.

There are also many folks who think Intel really doesn't have a dual core strategy that will lead to real silicon anytime soon.

Posted by rich at 07:27 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

DFI LanPartyUT 855GME-MGF

Tom's Pentium-M desktop motherboard. The latest strange inversion in the Intel product line. The mobile processor Pentium M 73x (codenamed Dothan) is actually faster and uses less power than its erstwhile "big brother" desktop chips Pentium 74x and 75x (codenamed Prescott).

More than a little embarassing to Intel, the Pentium M is really an evolution of an older design, but it is also in 90nm and because it clocks slower and has a shorter pipeline with bigger cache (2MB vs. 1MB), it is very fast.

Some benchmarks make the 2GHz Banias the same effective performance as a 3.6GHz Prescott and it is way cooler.

In any case, the ever enterprising Taiwanese are building motherboards like the 855GME-MGF so you can put a Banias that's super quite and fast into a desktop (Ludwig take note).

Should ship later this month.

Posted by rich at 07:20 AM | TrackBack

November 03, 2004

NEC ND-3500A DVD Recorder

AnandTech DVD Review and Tom's Hardware. A new champion for DVD drives

From Anandtech. From our results, we can see that the Pioneer DVR-108D, LG GSA-4160B, and NEC's ND-3500A came out on top with their ability to burn any type of media almost flawlessly as well as burn 2.4X dual layer media at 4.0X speeds (DVR-108D & ND-3500A). Our graphical presentations show that these three drives have the best read and write performance as far as DVD /-R/RW media goes, and also top the list in dual layer write performance. The ND-3500A does have the highest CD read and right speeds by a hair.

From Tom's Hardware. So, if you intend to burn dual-layer, the NEC ND-3500A is clearly the best choice, at only 27 minutes and 40 seconds to fill a DVD+R DL. We should remind storage buffs that DL media still cost approximately five times the price of single-layer media, so be sure you consider that!

The NEC took 6 minutes and 7 seconds for DVD+R and 6:35 for DVD-R (at 12x), which means that it's also very fast working in single-layer. It was also among the fastest units for rewritable. Only its reading performance was disappointing.

Posted by rich at 10:28 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 28, 2004

Dream Laptop nearly here

Page Computer -- T140P/L NB PM1100 512MB 40GB CDRW/DVD 10.6IN WXPP. My dream laptop is nearly here.

It is the low-end Sony VGN-T140P/L, cost if $1905 and it is backordered. Can't wait to get it.

Posted by rich at 09:09 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 23, 2004

More on the NSLU2 Delayed Write Problem

More on the delayed write problem from Erik who is struglling like me to get the thing to work

I bugged tech support at Linksys and they suggested turning off write caching on the local disc of the machine doing the writing to the NSLU2, disable all software firewalls, and if that doesnt work try replacing ethernet and USB cables. None of those seem like great suggestions, but I intend to try them anyway next chance I get. And failing that Ill see if I cant isolate the problem to the USB enclosure.

Here's how to debug this problem....

1. On my USB enclosure, it is a problem with the USB enclosure itself. I figured this out by plugging the drive into a Windows machine and then doing a massive copy of 100GBs, the thing failed with a delay write at the same time the NSLU2 did. So it is not the NSLU2, it is the USB enclosure.
2. Groveling around the various websites reveals that depending on what chipset is used in the enclosure, it can be more or less robust. I have found that if you don't push my enclosure too hard (e.g., really jam the amount of data), it performs kind of OK. On Windows, you can turn off the delayed writing and other caching which seems to slow things down enough for the enclosure to handle it. Obviously you can't do this with the Linksys.
3. There doesn't seem to be much consensus on which enclosures work that I have found. I bought an elcheapo one
4. Net, net, stick the USB drive on a Windows machine or a Mac that has more error diagnostics, run the thing hard and see if it still crashes. If it does, it is time to do the enclosure dance to figure out which one is really compatible with the NSLU2.

Posted by rich at 08:08 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 14, 2004

Get an Athlon 3000+ Winchester

:"http://anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2242"

Anandtech just reviewed the new Winchester chips, this is a 90nm Athlon in socket 939, with a MSI Neo2 Platinum, OCZ Platinum Rev 2 DDR3200 memory, its a screamer with a huge overclock. Newegg.com has them for about $170 in the OEM version. Of course, to be really cook, you have to wait for the new nForce4 chipset that will bring PCI Express to Athlon. That announced October 19.

They will love the new 90nm chips because they can buy a 3000 running at 1.8GHz for less than $200 and still have a good chance of reaching 2.6GHz with very little effort with the same chip. 2.6GHz is faster than any current Athlon 64, and it is, in fact, the speed that we expect from the upcoming FX55 - the new Athlon 64 top-of-the-line. It's been a while since we've seen this kind of headroom on an AMD chip, and those who were waiting for 90nm to get a magic overclocker will get in line to buy the new 90nm 3000 .

Posted by rich at 11:33 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 12, 2004

Making MPEG-2 Work in PowerPoint

Well I've been struggling for days to figure out how to get PowerPoint to show a DVD fragment in slideshow mode. I just couldn't get it to work. The movie would embed properly, but would not playback in place. You would have to launch a standalone viewer.

This is one case where google was absolutely no help. Here's the answer.

To playback a DVD movie, you need an MPEG-2 decoder and this is typically not free because of licensing costs. Normally CyberDVD or WinDVD has a decoder and Windows Media Player then uses this decoder to to playback video. Problem is that these codecs don't seem to play right in place.

Only way to make that work is by the magic of finding the Ligos decoder that is bundled in Video Explosion Deluxe seems to work for some reason.

There may be other mpeg-2 codecs that function well, but I haven't had time to experiemnt well enough to know which ones work.

Posted by rich at 09:40 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Coolest Ultralight Notebook

The new Sony T-series is finally here. Its an ultra portable with a smaller screen so you have some chance of fitting in when you are on the airplane.

Weighs 3 pounds and it has a CD/DVD drive, so you can watch movies and things. A nice form factor since the keyboard is reasonably big.

Also uses the new Dothan ULV chip so has a 2MB cache. And finally has Intel's wireless LAN chipset. The base model is the VGN-T150 with 512MB memory, 40GB drive and DVD writer listing for $2200. They have a DVD-drive only for $2049 list price called the VGN-140P/L

It is a follow on to the Sony VAIO PCG-TR3A which has a slower processor (1GHz vs. 1.1GHz) and camera as well.

Posted by rich at 08:35 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 06, 2004

What is Personal Productivity

I just love all these add-ons that are being done in the browser world by Opera, Firefox and Maxthon. Also, there are an amazing number of add-ons that you can add to Outlook and can anyone have enough IE toolbars.

All this leave me wondering what the new "Office" is for the average business user now. I've noticed that I've really changed my work habits and that if I were to create a next generation suite, it would be very different from what is currently available. So here is Rich's dream suite in order of importance. In the same way that Word and Excel were the core applications of the 20th century, what are the core applications of this century?

Web Browsing.

I don't think web browsing is done as a category. There are a tremendous number of innovations that are left to make it easier for people to now just find things, but to organize how they look at things. That is really what tab browsing in all the new products is all about. For instance, it is incredibly difficult to not just search for things and then read a page (this is the current default task that everyone seems to tune for. For me, it is more like, find information about going to Hawaii or find information about the Marketing or buying a new car. What you end up with is a bunch of sites you want to look at simultaneously. Also there is a multi-tasking component where you want to put some searches away and look at others.

Another trend given that displays are so cheap is also twin-headed monitors. I'm seeing more and more of those (and am using one right now, two $300 LCD screens give one heck of a big view like a 25" diagonal). So a product improvement that makes this kind of activity based browsing is very important. Firefox extensions are the closest to this. For instance Lookahead opens up the top five hits from google. They have another extension called Google search that sticks a mini-view of every page that google finds. Finally, having tabs really means that you should easily be able to organize your multiple searches, so you can task flip from finding out about cars to finding out about financings as an example. Underneath this BTW is IMHO a switch to computers integrating your work and home lives. Folks don't have time to divide the two anymore.

Email, Contacts and Calendaring

This is the old PIM category, but it is amazing to me how hard it is without an enterprise level Exchange server. How can it be that a small and medium sized business or two working folks at home can't interchange contacts and share calendars. Not to mention easily sync to PDAs. Here is one place where Thunderbird is nearly great. Its back to the roots of Outlook Express where it is extremely fast and it is also extensible. To be most controversial, I also have never been quite sure why one user interface integrates all these functions. In the day of the web, do we really need that. IMHO doing a really good mail application means that you don't have to also include calendaring. They should work together, but do they have to work in the same UI. There is lots of complexity from doing things in one user interface. For instance look at the dialog box you get when you click on New in Outlook. You want a new message, contact, journal entry, task, note, blah, blah, blah.

The main thing that is lacking is some sort of peer level or web service that can really do calendaring across the internet well. And don't get me started on how LDAP servers don't work as a way to share contacts. It is one area where Exchange still has a huge advantage and ironically in an area where MAPI is the default. I've tried to use this with MacOffice and web services and can report it doesn't work super well quite yet, but you'd think someone would build a MovableType for PIMs so that you would really have a nice underlying web services model for the smaller customers and departments vs. enterprises.

Presentations

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that I think most business users are 65% in Outlook, 30% PowerPoint and less than 5% in Word and Excel. Most of what Word was used for is now in Outlook. That is the quick equivalent of a memo that is now email. It is amazing to me how little the world of presentations has really advanced since PowerPoint 4.0. The presentations are basically the same. There are products like Keynote on the Mac, but you can't find anyone really doing a keystroke compatible presentations product that pushes the limits. Yet, when you think about Office the first time around, it was all about "Set your laser [printer] on stun" I think beautiful presentations are todays moral equivalent.

This by the way crosses in the coming era of Video and truly video oriented presentations.

Music

Call me dumb but I think personalization and music are really core applications for today's machine. Who doesn't watch a DVD on the plane on their laptop now. And who wouldn't want to listen to music while typing. Some applications are great at it, but it is very complicated. Music players have become full blown applications in their own right and I sometimes wonder if that is a good thing.

Posted by rich at 04:36 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

USB 2.0 Hard Drive Problems

I thought it was my NSLU2 that was the problem, but now when I try to use my USB 2.0 Hard Drive against Windows XP, I get delayed write failed. Here's the diagnostic from viaarena

I tried the same thing with a Maxtor complete system and it didn't fail, so this probably means the el cheapo enclosure I bought really isn't compatible. Sigh. Sorry to blame it all on the NSLU2. It is really that the NSLU2 just has lousy diagnostics and just fails, but the problem seems to be the drive

The problem concerns copying files to or from a Sarotech Hard Box FHD-353 using the original USB 2.0 cable provided (_note this happens to me and seems to be non-USB enclosure specific). The Hard Box has a 120GB Maxtor hard disk inside. I can open any video file on the hard disk with no problems in Windows Media Player 9. I can also copy relatively small files, even lots of files, say, below 400 MB in size.

However, as soon as try to I copy large video files (about 600MB) from it to an internal hard disk, a message appears telling me that the file cannot be read. After that files can neither be opened nor read from it and the red light on the box is on continuously. The same error occurs when I try to use the disk defragmenter on it. sounds familiar and I have the same problem

Now when I connect the USB cable from the Hard Box to a USB 1.1 hub and then connect this hub to the PC, copying proceeds smoothly, although the speed is extremely slow.

After I have set the USB drive to Logical instead of Primary (you can use Partition Magic 8.0 to do this), copying is error-free using the USB 2.0 cable. Now the only problem I have is defrag. I still get the "Windows delayed write failed" error whenever I try to defrag it. I need help/advice to fix this.

The other thing is that in System - Hardware - Device Manager - Policies, Optimize for quick removal has to be selected. This disables write caching so that the drive can be disconnected without having to use the Safe Removal icon.

I was advised to purchase a NEC PCI USB 2.0 Enhanced Controller card. There appears to be some compatibility issues with enhanced USB 2.0 that is not based on the Intel or NEC chipset.

I was advised to purchase a NEC PCI USB 2.0 Enhanced Controller card. There appears to be some compatibility issues with enhanced USB 2.0 that is not based on the Intel or NEC chipset.

Posted by rich at 08:28 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 04, 2004

PGP comes to Thunderbird

mozdev.org - enigmail: index. One of the amazing things about both Firefox and Thunderbird is how open they are. They leave lots of room for developers to add features. Enigmail is a great example. For once there is a usable secure mail system using PGP.

Posted by rich at 08:28 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 02, 2004

Athlon 64 into Notebooks

GamePC - Clawhammer To Go : AMD Athlon64 3700 DTR Processor. A good overall review of the AMD Mobile Athlon and the Intel Pentium-M line. Also AMDNotebooks seems like a great source of data on actual shipping hardware like the new Sharp and ASUS.

These are raw performance numbers of course, but interesting to see how they do. The Pentium-M (Dothans) are very fast, but they are incredibly expensive, so the idea is can you get a roughly good notebook for the much less money.

AMD has a series of mobile processors and are converting from 130nm to 90nm, but the basic ones are the

Here are some raw numbers (Sandra higher is better, Photoshop and WM9, lower is better):

Processor	Speed	Sandra CPU	Photoshop	WM9
3700+ DTR	2.4GHz	10423	197.8	759
Mobile 3400+	2.2 GHz	9378	204.8	789
Mobile 3200+	2.0 GHz	8650	219.8	904
Mobile 3000+	1.8 GHz	7807	235.7	994
Pentium-M 755	2.0GHz	7820	200.5	873
Pentium-M 745	1.8GHz	7037	216.3	966
Pentium-M 735	1.7GHz	6647	224.4	1134

The Mobile Athlons are essentially desktop Athlons without the thermal cover on top so they require a special heatsink and they run at lower voltages sometimes. Interesting benchmarks though.

These are done with Clawhammer CG revision cores (130nm, 1MB cache, 1.4V) and the new Winchesters are coming (90nm, 512MB cache), so things may shift slightly, but interesting data. Makes them quite competitive at least performance-wise and certainly cost-wise. Of course power is the big issue that isn't tested here.

I haven't seen benchmarks for their true lower power Mobile Athlon 2700+ that runs at 1.1V, but some folks think that you can also just undervolt the 1.4V versions and get to the same point. Interesting.

Posted by rich at 08:26 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 01, 2004

Benq DW-1620

AnandTech BenQ DW-1620 Review. Anand's review of the drive shows that it is a decent performance, but you have to have the very latest beta firmware called B7J9 to really have decent compatibility and performance.

Likesd the drive thoug.

Posted by rich at 11:29 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Winchester and nForce4 Ship

AnandTech says there news on a couple of fronts that are going to change recommendations quite a bit for this month, so if you haven't bought wait a small tick

AMD is announcing Winchester 90nm socket-939 low-end Athlon 64s! That is pretty amazing. According to the board newegg.com has them for $170 for the 3000+ (running at 1.8GHz, 9x multiplier) and $220 respectively (2.0GHz, 10x multiplier). That's not expensive at all compared with the older 754. Main issue is that according to AMDZone the new Winchester 3000+ at 1.8GHz is about the same speed as the older Newcastle 2800+ also running at 1.8GHz. So what a conumdrum, which one to go with. The pricings are now essentially identical. The main problem is the the Winchester 3000+ overclocks to 2.0 GHz while the Newcastle 2800+ overclocks to 2.2GHz so will be faster and is cheaper for right now.

Second news is that enquirer reports that the new nForce4 motherboards will ship October 19. If you can't wait then its the MSI Neo2 Platinum for socket 939 and DFI LANParty UT Nf3 250 (if you can get it) for socket 754.

That being said, the other recommendations remain pretty much the same except for the power supply:

• Power Supply. Also, in their overclocking tests, they found that going from a 460 watt to a monster 520 watt power supply made a big difference, so more power is in order. Why? Well, it means more stability in the actual voltage as you move up. They had a good experience with OCZ 520. I'll have to see how loud these things are. I have a True Power 540 for our server and it is pretty quiet but not ultra.
• Memory. They found the OCZ 3200 Platinum Rev. 2 was fastest at both DDR400 and it also achieved the highest 1T speed that we found in our tests. This also means the highest performance possible.
• Optical. Finally, they did a review of the BenQ DW-1620 and liked it as long as it had the latest firmware build.
• What shouldn't change, well the case and the hard disk looks about the same recommending the Coolcases Chenbro 610 and the Western Digital WD740GD drive for speed or the Samsung Spinpoint 1612N for quiet and big.

Posted by rich at 10:53 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 30, 2004

Blackberrys and XP SP2 don't get along

Support - Protocol Error appears and BlackBerry Desktop Manager closes unexpectedly on a computer running Windows XP Service Pack 2. Heck, folks say going to SP2 should work. I'm sure glad I just have one machine there.

There are certainly issues with it and here's another gotcha. There is a very arcane thing you have to do to solve this but fortunately, there is actually an FAQ on an official Blackberry site (I think this is the first bug I've ever found that had a resolution up there). Here is what you have to do:

Posted by rich at 11:25 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 26, 2004

Maxthon is great

Maxthon Plugins @ TaraPages.com. Been trying a bunch of alternative web browsers. IE progress has just been so slow. Maxthon seems to be the best of both worlds, its IE compatible since it uses the IE engine, but it has all the features like tabbed browsing, popup blocking, mouse gestures and plugins that I love in Opera and Firefox.

Give it a try. Used to be called Myie2 and is a great example of a stealth play. Use the compatibility of IE and then add lots of features.

Posted by rich at 01:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 22, 2004

PC Recommendations

Well, its somehow the end of September, as you can see I've been experimenting with PCs like crazy. Here once again is the PC buyers guide based on the AnandTech guides that I find so helpful. The main modifications have to do with learnings from SilentPCReview to make the machine decently quiet.

High end machine

OK, this isn't a really expensive machine, but is one that will be very fast without being ridiculous. Total price is about $1572:

CPU. AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Mobile $213. This processor is a ClawHammer. Its got a 1MB cache and should overclock easily from 2GHz to 2.5GHz. If you are less of a do-it-yourselfer, get the desktop version for the same price, you probably want the harder to find ClawHammer version, CG revision. Newegg has these but they cost a little more than the Newcastle.

Motherboard. DFI LANParty UT nF3 250GB. $137. Top rated, only issue is that it is hard to find. Zipzoomfly.com has them listed but not yet available. Great reviews from Anandtech.

Memory. Crucial Ballistic 512K PC3200. $300 shipped. Newegg carries these and they are Micron based. The other great memory to consider is the OCZ 3200 EL Platinum Rev 2 that Newegg also carries at $278 for a 1GB kit. These are Samsung chips that work very well with the DFI as well and are cheaper.

Video. eVGA nVidia GeForce 6800GT. Newegg has it for $392. Its a great fast card. If you want the best price/performance, then the ATI Radeon 9800 Pro at $219 from Newegg is a good value choice. Or just get any el cheapo card for $20 if you don't play games. The great value for both is that both overclock well using Riva Tuner or Coolbits.

Disk. If you want performance, get a WD740GD at $174. Its a 10K rpm drive and is wicked fast. It is pretty noisy though. If you don't need raw speed, then one of these for speed and then a Samsung Spinpoint SP1614N for $95. This is a 160GB drive that is whisper quiet. If you are doing video editing where you need lots of storage, get both. Use the WD740GD for the applications and cache and the 160GB drive for storing all the big video files.

Optical. Benq DW-1620. This is $80 from mwave.com and is a dual layer 16x drive. Also have book management so it is very compatible with all DVD players.

Case. Evercase ECE-4252 for $45 from Newegg plus two fans if you are a do it yourselfer. You will also need two 120mm fans as well to mount inside. Get the very quiet two quiet Globe S1202512L for $8.49 a piece plus $6 shipping for a total of $70 from mcntech.com. If you want to splurge, get the Coolcase PC610-M2-FKPJ for $124 and you have to do less to assemble.

Power Supply. Silent Tornado 400. $100 from Newegg. This uses a very quiet 120mm fan.

Fans and Heatsinks. If you get the mobile Athlon, then get the ThermalTake XP-90 from Heatsinkfactory.com for $33 and the PanaFlo FBZ09A12L1A for $18 from "STSI.com':http://www.stsi.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?page=STSI_4/PROD/Panasonic/FBA09A12L1A. If you are just getting the regular Athlon, then either use the retail HSF that comes with it and buy a $10 Zalman Fanmate-1 controller to make it quiet (if your motherboard doesn't have a fan control that works) or get a Zalman CNPS7000A-AlCU for $33 from Newegg.

If you are splurging and really want quiet, bet the XP-120 from them for $49 and then the Globe S1202512Ls from mchtech.com to mount on it. This means it should run very cool and quiet. The loudest thing in your rig then will be the fan on your video card. You can get an Arctic Cooler VGA Silencer. The GeForce 6800 version is 37 from Newegg and the 9800 Pro version is about he same from Newegg. Folks report that the VGA silence alone lowers temperatures by 10C and increases overclocking quite a lot. For the ATI 9800 Pro, overclocking goes from 330MHz to about 420MHz with the stock heat sink. With the VGA silencer, you get to about 480MHz. That's a huge difference.

Budget PC

Well, the above machine is pretty good as a high end machine. If you take all the low options, you get to a very nice low end machine for about $850:

CPU. AMD Athlon 3000+. This is $165, but a good value and it has a 10x multiplier, so on overclock will get you to 2.5GHz. Has 512KB cache so a little slower.

Motherboard. Chaintech VNF 250gb. $80. Still top rated. This just lacks firewire. It doesn't have working Quiet N Cool, so that's depressing, but otherwise a high quality board.

Memory. Crucial Ballistic 512MB PC3200. $150 shipped. Newegg carries these and they are Micron based.

Video. ATI Radeon 9800 Pro at $219 from Newegg is a good value choice. Or just get any el cheapo card for $20 if you don't play games.

Disk. Samsung Spinpoint SP1614N at about $94 from Newegg. This is a EIDE 160GB drive that is whisper quiet. If you are doing video editing where you need lots of storage get both. You can drop to Spinpoint SP0812C for 80GB, but it really doesn't save you much at $70.

Optical. Benq DW-1620. This is $80 from mwave.com and is a dual layer 16x drive. Also have book management so it is very compatible with all DVD players. Bite the bullet and get a good drive. Otherwise if it is really a home machine, then get a $50 CD-RW with DVD-ROM playback.

Case. Evercase ECE-4252 for $45 from Newegg is a pretty cool case even with extra fans, but spring for the $10 to get the Globe from mnctech.com.

Power Supply. Seasonic SuperTornado 350 at $77 or even the Super Silencer 300 at $60 if you don't have a graphics card. Get a good power supply though, it makes a difference and these supplies are very quiet.

Fans and Heatsinks. The retail HSF is really oud, so get a $10 Zalman Fanmate-1 controller to make it quiet (if your motherboard doesn't have a fan control that works).

Posted by rich at 10:55 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Mobile Athlon Alternative

Right now the chip to get is the mobile Athlon as this great thread describes.

There are four flavors so it is very confusing. There are:

• 1.2V Mobile Athlon 2800+ and 2700+ running at 1.8 and 1.6GHz Newcastle respectively. These both have 512KB cache and should overclock OK to 2.4-2.5GHz. The 2800+ looks like a good one. These are 32 watt chips so nice to use Quiet N Cool to overclock them when needed.
• 1.4V Mobile Athlon 3000+ and 3200+ that are ClawHammers running at 1.4V. A bit of a strange thing since most of these normal desktop versions will undervolt to 1.4V so not a great buy. Undervolting them is nice. Not clear why you need these since with Quiet N Cool, the system automatically undervolts to 1.1V anyway.

The main advantage of the Mobile Athlon 64 3200+ is that it is a 2GHz/1MB cache ClawHammer while the current retail Athlon 64 3200+ is a 2.2GHz/512KB cache, so you can overclock the mobile higher and the cache provides you with 5% more performance at any given frequency.

If you get one, you have to get the right heat sink since it (like the older Athlon XP) doesn't have a heatspreader cap on it. The Thermalright XP-90 works fine for this purpose.

Posted by rich at 10:37 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Athlon vs. Intel Power Consumption

Athlon 64 for Quiet Power :: SilentPCReview.com. A good review of the power consumption differences. Has a great slide on actual power consumption of CPUs:

Basically shows that the new Intel Prescotts and Northwoods really burn up lots of power. Quite a reverse from the Athlon XP which was way hot and the original Pentium 4s.

Posted by rich at 10:22 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Chaintech Quieting Continues

Now that I've figured out how to get the Chaintech to overclock, the next question is how to get the thing to run more quietly.

The stock fan that comes with the Athlon 64 is incredibly loud. Runs at 3500 rpm and sounds like a vacuum cleaner. The Chaintech unfortunately doesn't support voltage control from the motherboard. At least I haven't found that Speedfan works with it. I got a $10 part that is a voltage controller, so that I could turn down the fan speed. The new maximum of 3000 rpm is much cooler and now the thermister on it works to keep the temperature all right.

Longer term if I really cared, installing a low speed fan on top of the heat sink would be a good idea. The fan is not a standard 80mm fan. I got an Arctic Pro TC and it won't fit on top unfortunately.

The next big noise seems to be the Stock 9800 pro fan . It is quite loud compared with the 5900FX I have in my other machine. You can apparently get something called the VGA Silencer which is a $11 part at svc.com. It is quiet, 2-speed and seems to work well. SilentPCReview for instance really likes the VGA Silencer.

Newegg has a bunch as does Heatsinkfactory.com. Great name. The headsinkfactory prices seems to be lower than newegg.com so check it out. For instance the Thermaltake XP-120 is $48 there and R60 at Newegg.com

Posted by rich at 09:07 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 20, 2004

ATI Radeon 9800 Pro Overclocking

Now that I've got the Chaintech and the Athlon 64 about in the right range. That is maximum memory overclock to DDR500 and maximum CPU overclock to about 2.45GHz, the next question is how fast can the Radeon 9800 Pro go.

First some data on the Internet:

• Extremeoverclocking.com. My ATI Radeon Pro comes stock with 128MB of memory and runs at 378/337Mhz (Ramdac and Memory speed respectively). Its about the same as the Sapphire they reviewed which runs at 380/340. They got up to 465/378 respectively. Wow, that's quite a bit of headroom on the Ramdac!
• Xbitlabs. They did an overclocking shootout of the 5900 Ultra and the Radeon 9800 Pro. They used a watercooled solution, so their overclocking is going to be way better than using the stock heat sinks. They got to 540/420 which is just amazing. Interesting fact is that performance moves up well with the Ramdac speed increases, but not much with video memory because the 9800 Pro's R350 chipset has enough memory bandwidth apparently. The push from 380 to 540 got them 20% more performance so cooling makes a difference.
• Computing.net Forum. A wide variety of folks report that with the stock heatsink and fan (HSF), they got to 425/380.

So that led me to my own experiments. Running Aquamark, I got to 425/375 as well with not artifacts. That's a nice jump. When I get a bigger case fan things should be even better. Here are the results I got assuming the fastest CPU on my rig (272MHz FSB, DDR 452 Dram, 9x multiplier):

DAC	Vram	Aquamark	GPU
414	720Mhz	46982	6228
425	750	48367	6462

Posted by rich at 12:16 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 19, 2004

XP SP2 Problems

Got my first call from someone that has SP2 causing them problems. Actually I've heard of two other folks with issues. Some folks think 1 in 10 will have problems with an upgrade, so beware. At my house, I have one SP2 machine that I installed as a greenfield installation, so I'm experimenting myself. Here are some of the problems:

• NewsFactor Network - Enterprise - Microsoft Lists XP SP2 Problems. Main issues have to do with applications incompatibility. Antivirus programs, Yahoo Messenger, ICQ are on the list.
• Official List of XP2 Problems. There appear to be some software that just breaks and another list that doesn't get along with the builtin firewall that is now turned on by default. Lots of games also break.
• SP2 Uninstall. So how do you get rid of SP2 is pretty easy (if you pray). Go to the control panel and choose add/remove programs and hopefully you'll get rid of it.

Posted by rich at 08:50 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Brother HL-5170DN Truetype quirk

Brother HL-5170DN. Been using the printer. It is great with both duplex and network port.

Main thing not covered in the FAQ is that it doesn't do TrueType correctly, so printouts over the network fail. For some reason the default is to load TrueType fonts as graphics. This is fine at 300 dpi, but at 600dpi, it overloads the memory. You have to go to Printer Preferences/Advanced/TrueType and set it for print as Truetype and use the internal printer fonts.

Then you don't have this problem with bad pages, ejects and so forth. Its faster too.

Posted by rich at 03:12 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Flash Reader

Newegg.com - WOET TSERN ICR-A2 Beige Card Reader/Adapter. For $15 how wrong can you go. This thing lets you read just about any type of flash plus it has a USB 2.0 port as well. Great for upgrading a case that doesn't have a flash reader.

Posted by rich at 03:07 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 18, 2004

Crucial Ballistix Overclocking

I was able to get the Crucials to run to 217MHz before I had stability problems. This was running at the very aggressive 2-2-2-10 settings Anandtech recommends for Athlon 64.

To get farther, you have to relax timings, I was curious to see what others folks experience was. The Crucial Ballistix 512MB Low Latency PC3200 DDR at www.bigbruin.com =- was a good guide.

At 200 MHz, the timings on the Ballistix DDR were the afore mentioned 2-6-2-2, at 220 MHz I had to relax them slightly to 2.5-6-2-2, and at 240 MHz they were run at an impressive 2.5-8-2-2. Beyond 240 MHz I experienced various errors before, and once into Windows, no matter what combination of timings, voltages, and other BIOS settings I tried. All of these were at stock 2.6V.

Anandtech had a similar experience in their review of the Ballistix. This was also on a Pentium 4 system. In that test he had:

Speed	Clock	Timing	Voltage	Quake 3 (fps)
DDR400	200MHz	2-2-2-5	2.5V	329
DDR433	216MHz	2-2-2-5	2.65V	359
DDR466	233MHz	2.5-2-2-5	2.65V	384
DDR500	250MHz	2.5-2-2-5	2.65V	410
DDR514	257MHz	2.5-2-2-5	2.85V	419

Both of these test showed that the timings have to go from CAS of 2 to 2.5 somewhere in the 220MHz-233MHz range with an Athlon 64 and the MSI K8N Neo2, so hopefully, the Chaintech VNF3-250 will do as well.

Here is what I actually got. I haven't benchmarked yet, but got these to run with stability. So a little less than the above, but certainly in the range.

Speed	Clock	Timing	Voltage
DDR400	200MHz	2-2-2-5	2.6V
DDR420	210MHz	2-2-2-5	2.9V
DDR450	225MHz	2.5-2-2-5	2.7V
DDR500	250MHz	2.5-2-2-5	2.9V

Posted by rich at 02:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Gigantic Fan

Thermalright XP-120: 1st 120mm fan CPU heatsink :: SilentPCReview.com. Well, if you really want to be cool and quiet get this monster.

This is absolutely massive heat sink that can take a gigantic 120mm (that's about five inch wide fan). Newegg carries it for about $65. It is expensive, but worth it for the quite most likely. This comes without a fan, so you need to find a gigantic 120mm fan as well.

It works particularly well with the Globe 120mm fans. The S1202512L is their low speed 2000 rpm fan. A specialty part, they are $9 from mnpctech.com. You do have to cut a little of the plastic around it to get it to fit, but that's not such a big deal.

Posted by rich at 01:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 17, 2004

Chaintech VNF3 250 Overclocking

Overclocking is a complicated topic. Here's how I did it on this new Chaintech VNF3-250. The net is that I got an Athlon 2800+ costing $150 to perform like an Athlon 3700+ costing $400 with a 30% overclock. And also got another 10% out of the ATI Radeon 9800 Pro. Read away:

The Overclocking Tools

OCFaq Article :: KB84 - Overclocking: Tools & Info. A good summary of what you need to know before you overclock. Its a complicated topic to say the least.

Another good tool is Clockgen. It works with all nVidia nForce3 250 boards like the Chaintech. It is great because you don't have to keep rebooting your machine to try new clocks and tweaks. You can just live in Windows

Well, that's the tools, what about how to change things? It's complicated enough, but Bleeding Edge has done a nice review of the board and included photos of how they precisely overclocked it. The main issue is that using a 3200+ results in different overclocking parameters than running 2800+. The 3200+ runs with a 10x multiplier (so a 200MHz FSB interface to memory means the processor is internally running at 10×200MHz=2GHz). The 2800+ runs at 9x multiplier or 1.8GHz at 200MHz FSB.

BTW, there are two strange things if you are using the BIOS. First, don't cache the BIOS into system memory (something I normally do). This is because if you are overclocking, this means the BIOS image in RAM doesn't get read properly and the whole BIOS resets. Second, when you are playing with the cpu multiplier (called the Hammer FID in the BIOS), you don't hit ENTER and see the list of options. If you do that, the BIOS hangs. Instead, you have to hit page-up and page-down to see different multiplier values.

Overclocking results

MSCS.MS has someone with the same 2800+ and ZNF3 250 where he is getting these results which are quite similar when you realize he's running Corsair 3200LL at 3-2-2-10 while I'm running Crucial Ballistix more aggressively at 2-2-2-10. He got 225MHz clock at 1.6V core, 2.8V DimmV and 4x HT.

FSB	Memory	FSB/Mem	Vcore	DimmV	HT	Timings	CPU	Mem	HT
200	Auto	1:1	1.5V	2.8V	4x	2-2-2-8	1.8GHz	DDR400	800
215	Auto	1:1	1.65V	2.9V	4x	2-2-2-10	1.935GHz	DDR430	860
240	166	6:5	1.5V	2.8V	4x	2-2-2-10	2.160Ghz	DDR400	960
250	166	6:5	1.65V	2.9V	4x	2-2-2-10	2.250Ghz	DDR 416	1000
255	166	6:5	1.5V	2.9V	3x	2-2-2-10	2.295GHz	DDR425	765

These were all done with aggressive timings and all of these were just to get to Windows XP booting, not to getting to 24 hours of stability running Prime95 which is the practical goal.

Now if we back off from 2-2-2-10 to 2.5-2-2-10, the performance gets much better and quite close to Anandtech review levels. Not that these are done running Prime95 and are thus really stable, usable, vs. just the unreliable maximums listed above:

FSB	Memory	FSB/Mem	Vcore	DimmV	HT	Timings	CPU	Mem	HT
212	Auto	1:1	1.45V	2.9V	4x	2-2-2-10	1.92GHz	DDR224	848
245	Auto	1:1	1.45V	2.8V	4x	2.5-2-2-10	2.2GHz	DDR490	980
265	166	6:5	1.55V	2.7V	3x	2.5-2-2-10	2.39GHz	DDR445	801

I could actually get Windows to boot and look stable at 275MHz or 2.475GHz, but it wouldn't pass Prime95. Most folks when doing the testing don't seem to burn it in, but check to see if Windows boots. Also for the 1:1 maximum speed, this is the burned in version where I could get Prime95 to run for 7 hours before crashing. Note that the voltage is way down. The Newcastle runs fine at lower temperatures as it turns out and this means that it much cooler and more reliable. The rough statistics are that at 1.45V the maximum temperature is 61C, 1.55V (the default), the machine runs at 67C and at 1.65V you get to 73C and it normally shuts down. So, dropping the voltage as low as possible is important.

Not that I couldn't get to 2.5GHz or more because I didn't get an 10x multiplier chip (either a Athlon 3000+ Newcastle or an Athlon 3200+ ClawHammer). Rats.

In terms of actual performance at these stable levels I got these results. All of these were done with the ATI Radeon overclocked to 425/375MHz (DAC and VRam respectively):

FSB	CPU	Timing	Temp	Sandra 2002	CPU	Mem	Aquamark3	CPU	GPU
212	1.9GHz	2-2-2-10	58C	2847	11853	5740	44540	8097	6144
245	2.2GHz	2.5-2-2-10	62C	3129	13645	6773	47901	9423	6423
265	2.4GHz	2.5-2-2-10	68C	3157	14779	5961	47736	9357	6408

The interesting thing is that the 2.2GHz balanced system has the best overall performance. Going to 2.4GHz makes the CPU fast, but it runs very hot (68C) and because memory has to slow down so much, the faster CPU doesn't compensate for running at DDR445 instead of DDR490. So this is going to be the default setting.

Posted by rich at 04:11 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Chaintech VNF3 250 Tweaks

Turning Legacy USB Mouse support on in bios locks keyboard o. Thank goodness for the internet, it just required the correct google query, which was google:"Chaintech VNF3-250 keyboard locked".

This told me that when you turn on USB Legacy Mouse support in the BIOS, then you get the Post Code 7C. Keyboard is locked: Unlock message.

Seems like this is some strange BIOS interaction, so the solution is turn off legacy USB mouse support (whatever that is) in the BIOS and then use new mice (I think that means a true USB mouse, rather than one that is really serial but has the pin adapter to make it fit in a USB slot).

Bleeding Edge reports that if you update to BIOS version VN120729 this also resolved the problem. Sigh. PCs, Love their flexibility, but they sure are hard to decipher sometimes.

To actually flash the Chaintech is a little tricky if you don't have a floppy drive. There is a boot time flash updater, but it requires a legacy floppy and won't work with the USB floppy. So MCSE.ms recommends:

1. Create a bootable system disk with the bootme utility. You need this because Windows XP makes it a little trick to create a bootable. Alternatively, you install a USB floppy. Right click on it and choose format and ask for a system
2. AWDFlash. This was almost impossible to find on the Chaintech site. Finally found it on their German site of all places. These AWDFlash all appear to date from 1999 and 2000, so I'm not sure it is that critical to have the latest one.
3. Copy AWDFlash.exe and the latest BIOS from Chaintech onto the floppy. This should be a file that ends in *.BIN and is 512KB long. I actually think the awdflash from asus.com is a later release and gives more information.
4. Reboot the machine. When you get to the startup screen, press ENTER to get the boot device selection. Pick the USB Floppy and the PC will boot from the floppy.
5. Type AWDFlash at the command prompt
6. When AWDFlash loads, type in the name of the *.bin file you got from chaintech

The main small thing about this board is that it will monitor fan speed but won't control it. The result is that the CPU fan is incredibly loud with the stock HSF that comes with the Athlon 64 processor. Getting a new fan is probably the answer but I'm going to try to get a $10 Zalman Fanmate 1 controller. This will turn down the fan voltage to 7V so it will run much cooler. The older ASUS board I have for my Athlon has fan control so this is a little depressing. It works by lowering the voltage on the motherboard to the fan so that you can do this dynamically.

Finall thing to resolve is the Quiet N Cool feature. This is wonderful on Connie's Dad's SN85G4 and makes things much quieter. I installed the drivers from AMD, but it doesn't seem to work. Also with the latest BIOS revision, there is a check box for Quiet N Cool (this throttles the CPU for you when idle), but nothing seems to happen. And, the PowerNow Dashboard bails with a message saying no PST which essentially means Quiet and Cool wasn't found. On the MSI boards, there is a thread about how Windows XP SP2 has broken the QnC drivers. Hmm.

Posted by rich at 07:23 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 16, 2004

Installing a new Windows PC

Boy it sure has gotten complicated installing Windows. Here's what I did (breadcrumbs for Calvin's new machine):

1. BIOS errors. On startup, I got BIOS errors 7F and 8C. 7F is "Keyboard is locked". This means the BIOS thinks that there is a lock on the PC case itself and you have to turn it off. Scary thing is that PCGuide also says this could mean that there is a motherboard problem. Uh oh.
2. Loud fan and bad temperatures. The fans are just on at full bore. The CPU fan in particular is ridiculous. Loaded Speedfan and it doesn't seem to be able to control it. Need to see if I installed the fan connectors correctly. Also Speedfan reports the CPU is at 126 C. Which is clealry impossible. Motherboard monitor doesn't see the temperature or the fans, so this might be a new motherboard problem. Will have to figure this out later. The Digidoctor utility seems to show a CPU temperature less than the case temperature, so this is equally confused. AMD Forums reports that there are problems with the Chaintech reading temperatures correctly, so I think I'm OK. You need a BIOS fix for the newer Newcastle (which I have) and the later Clawhammer Rev CG parts. So burning new BIOS I go!
3. Memtest86+ v1.26. This you can burn onto a CD and see if the memory essentially works.
4. Windows XP SP1. I have one of these disks.
5. Windows Update. I like to install all the updates to the core operating system first. This currently take three reboots from the start. You first get some fixes to Windows Update, then you get some critical bug fixes and then you get SP2. Takes about an hour.
6. Chaintech. Went to the Chaintech VNF3-250 product page and downloaded the latest BIOS, Digidoctor utility, Manual and Motherboard drivers. It is a little confusing how to actually do an upgrade, but trolling around, Chaintech support has a document explaining the process. Their error message summary BTW is really unclear on what the Post error is all about.
7. Nvidia. Next stop is the motherboard website. There is the nVidia system level drivers, then their tweaking tool called nVidia system plus their audio setup tool.
8. Benq. The DVD-RW drive I got is constantly getting new firmware. So have to go get a firmware upgrade as well.
9. ATI. I got an ATI 9800 Pro to go with it so needed the latest Catalyst Drivers. YOu get the default drivers with SP2, but this adds their control panel in all its geeky glory. Also loaded RivaTuner 2.0 to get ready for overclocking.
10. "AMD Quiet and Cool":

Posted by rich at 11:53 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 15, 2004

Unbricking your NSLU2

Yahoo! Groups : nslu2-linux Messages : Message 1096 of 1387 . Pray that you never have this happen to you. In my first test of the NSLU2, I did a firmware upgrade since I was having problems and it is good to get the latest.

Destroyed the boot of the machine. Fortunately, there are literally a thousand people on Yahoo's nslu2-linux group hacking away. One guy Pete, supplies instructions for how to get things back as long as the low level loader is running. Quote from Pete below...

1. The first thing you will need to do is set up a TFTP server, if you do not already have one installed. I work mostly on OS X, so I can't
give detailed instructions for Linux (I did try, briefly, to install a TFTP RPM on my Linux machine, but though it claimed to be client and
server only the client seemed to be installed). If you're using OS X, feel free to contact me for details. You should set up the server with
a directory to serve from; this will need to be world-readable, as will any files you place in it if you want them to be served.

2. Obtain the firmware and place it in the TFTP serving directory. If you've bricked your slug I suggest you start by getting it back to
default configuration by installing Linksys's firmware - you can always upload a fancier one via the Web interface once you've got it working.
Download the firmware from their site if you haven't already ( http://www.linksys.com/download/firmware.asp?fwid=217 )
and place the 8MB firmware file found in the zip file into the TFTP directory.

3. Connect to Redboot via Telnet. When the slug starts up, for a few seconds it listens for a telnet connection on port 9000. Redboot will
insist on being 192.168.0.1 for this, whatever you've set the Linux portion of your slug to be. Since this will conflict with other equipment on many people's LANs, you may like to connect directly with a crossover cable and ignore the network for the moment. NB: If you
have a fancy network card with auto-MDI (ie you don't need to worry about crossover or straight-through, as with all new Macs, for
instance) you may end up missing the brief telnet window as the card tries to work out what sex it should be today. Consider connecting via
a cheap hub which doesn't have such hangups. You will also need to change your computer's ip address to one on the 19.168.0 subnet if it
isn't already.

Type the command telnet 192.168.0.1 9000 into a terminal window, but don't press return just yet. Turn off the slug (pulling out the power
if need be, then plugging it in) and be ready to turn it on with the power button. Press the button, then press return on your computer to
start the telnet connection. Some people report that they have to start telnet at just the right moment to "catch it" - I find mine will sit
there with "trying 192.168.0.1..." as long as necessary until the slug starts listening.

What you do need to be ready with is a finger on ctrl-c, as when the Redboot prompt appears you will have between 2 and 0.1 of a second to
hit it. It's something of a reaction test - hold down control when you start telnet, and be ready to mash C as soon as anything appears on the
screen. You should then get a Redboot> prompt that you can type at. If you miss it, simply cycle the slug and try again.

4. Load the firmware. At the Redboot prompt, type the following command:

ip_address -h 192.168.0.99

where 192.168.0.99 is of course your computer. This tells Redboot where to get stuff from. You should get your prompt back after each command; I occasionally had it hang, in which case restart and do the ctrl-c
dance again.

Now do:

load -r -v -b 0x01000000 NSLU2_V23R25.bin

(assuming, of course, that you're using the R25 firmware). This will load the firmware into the slug's RAM over the network.

For safety's sake, you can now do a checksum on the file to ensure it didn't get corrupted in transit. Simply type:

cksum

and you should get a set of numbers calculated from the file. For the R25 firmware, these should be: 3007264634 8388608 . If not (and you're
not using a newer firmware version), you should probably try loading the file again.

5. Burn the firmware to the flash. Cross your fingers and do

fis write -f 0x50060000 -b 0x01060000 -l 0x7a0000

This will write the kernel, ramdisk and trailer portions of the firmware to the right position in the flash. When it's finished and you get your Redboot prompt back, your slug should be unbricked. Reboot it to find out, and be ready to celebrate when you hear that strangled
little beep it makes as it finishes booting.

Because you didn't overwrite the SysConfig part of the flash, your slug will still be using the same IP address as before you bricked it.
Remember to set your subnets appropriately, and ensure you're looking for it in the right place.

Posted by rich at 12:22 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

September 14, 2004

Linkysys NSLU2 Review

I got an el cheapo Linksys Linksys: NSLU2 - Network Storage Link for USB 2.0 Disk Drives which is about the size of a small camera. Plus, got a USB 2.0 enclosure for cheap from Newegg called a Quick-Serv Penr35u2. It cames in a box labeled Backup Q. Here is what I found.

The net is the hardware works, but who wrote this software. Yuck! Here is the ratings of it by category (a new thing for me) where I would rate C as being the average computer savvy pro can do it, A as the computer-is-just-a-tool person can do it and F you have to know the history of computing and how engineers think at Microsoft to do it.

Hardware Installation: C-

This is a blended score. The NSLU2 quick install isn't bad, but the USB enclosure is miserable because you have to understand jumpers. OTOH, if you are doing this, you presumable know about master and slave, but it doesn't tell what to set.

• Getting a separate USB 2.0 enclosure is way cheaper than a put together hard drive. They charge quite a premium for snapping two parts together.
• When you install a hard drive into the Backup Q, don't set the hard drive for channel select (that is the cable sets things up automatically). You have to set the hard drive DIP switches for master only. There isn't any documentation on this nor a web site you can find. So if you order an exclosure, set to cable select and if doesn't work, set for single drive only.

Software Installation: D

The quick install is actually is actually pretty good to setup the basic network, but it doesn't help you at all with the end user problem of finding the drive. So the software initial install is an B+. I've never seen a Linksys product that didn't require you to deeply understand TCP. However, once setup quits, it is an F because you really have to get Windows networking to use it.

• There is a CD you put into a PC and there must be some sort of low level search since you don't need the name of the drive, the install utility finds the thing on the network and then you can say what TCP/IP address. This is pretty cool because that way you don't have this chicken and egg problem of where is the drive so you find the web server that controls it.
• If there is an unformatted hard drive, the setup utility automatically formats it, so that is wonderful. The bad thing is that when the setup utility quits, you just a blank screen and there aren't instructions on how to access the drive over the network. The strangeness is that it appears as a file server, so you need to go to network neighborhood and look for a strange unintuitive network name and see the hard drive. I don't know why they didn't just do a map drive from the setup utility. On Windows XP, this is about 10 clicks, to get to Network Neighborhood, then to Entire Network, the Microsoft Windows Network, then to WORKGROUP and then you see some strangely named thing like Lkg0830485, then you have to know the username is admin and the password is admin. That isn't documented as far as I know.
• There is an install utility, but it is only for USB Flash drives and is completely useless for hard drives, it installs a desktop icon with no user interface except Map Drive and Remove Drive.
• There is a web interface of course where you can change all of this and it is documented. That gives it kind of a D because there are some obvious default settings. Such as a sensible Netbios name for the server. The manual calls the web interface the advanced user interface, but if you want any type of security, you are forced to use it. And, you need this for a sensible device name as well.

Performance: A-

There are some import-ant factoids about the device performance-wise. The short of it is that it takes about 50 minutes to copy 2GBs, so it certainly isn't working at network speeds. This is over a dedicated 802.11g 54Mbps running to the device. It is running at a peak of about 30% of overall throughput which is essentially saturation of the wireles link. It has incredible performance with big files and just terrible (0.17% utilization) with tiny files. Interesting to see this difference. Must be the translation by Samba (this is really a Linux box running Samba) that is the issue.

Convenience: B+

Day to day, this is super convenient and it is much quieter and less hassle than using a Windows PC to do the same thing. You don't have to boot the thing up or worry about service packs. It won't crash.

Main problem is that it spins the hard drive 24 hours per day. If it had a power down mode in the USB enclosure, it would be a slam dunk A+. As it is, I still can't leave it on all the time, it hums too much.

It does a couple of minutes to boot, so it is not instant on. I'm actually kind of amazed by that, but I'm presuming that is because Linux has to load underneath.

Price: A+

Heck, this thing is just $80 for the NSLU2 plus $30 for each enclosure. You can put 400GB of storage on your network. How cool is that. The main thing is that while it is a great value, it is a pain to setup right.

Stability/Bugs: F

Some early reports on the web say it is very unstable and won't work. Makes sense given how cheap it is. We'll see.

The thing has an annoying time stamp bug that means it loses lots of time each day, so the creation dates are messed up. This requires that you reload the firmware. You have to navigate through a very deep Linksys site and then discover this is one of those sites that doesn't put downloads in the support section. You have to go to the product page and look for firmware on the main page. (What does that tell you about how often firmware updates are needed). The current version as of today is V2.3R25, so I had to upload the firmware.

One bad thing is that since this is not true Windows underneath, there are going to incompatibilities. So when I copy the network install of Windows XP, the NSLU2 refuses because the path name is too deep. A strange error that no human will understand. On the other hand, most uses probably won't feature paths with more that 256 characters in it. An old LAN Manager limitations as I recall. The NSLU2 then crashed and won't accept network accesses. Oh well. Now that this has happened, it seems to have wedged the hard disk, so if you turn off the NSLU2, it doesn't think there are any hard disks attached even though the light is on. Sigh.

I tried the restart it, but this didn't work, so back to holding the setup for 10 seconds to completely reset the device. Looks like the hard disk just got so thrashed it isn't recognized by the system. I had to put the USB Hard Drive into a Windows machine and unformat it so that you can reformat it with the NSLU2. Sorry to say you have to be a real hacker to know this. It is amazing that just transferring files could cause such a hard crash. Oh well at least it was cheap. Also it turns out that to reset the device is quite tricky. You have to push the reset at the back for 10 seconds, then you go to the web server in the device and select in the administration options, revert to old firmware. Wow, that is too bad. A hard reset should just get back you to steady state and not require a PC around somewhere.

The firmware upgrade also fails going from 3.2R24 to 3.2R25 and then seems to wedge the hard disk again, so beware.

Overall: C

I haven't used it but for 10 minutes, but it one thing to think about.

Strange incantations to remember

Like any hardware device, it has super strange quirks and little things to know. Here's a list:

• Press the on button for 2 seconds and this resets the IP address to 192.168.1.77 so you can find it again.
• Press the on button for 10 seconds and resets the password to admin.
• You can put a USB Flash drive in, but only into USB connector 2 (why do folks do strange things like this). Hard drives can go in either.

Posted by rich at 09:37 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

September 13, 2004

Whither Transmeta

Transmeta Unveils the Efficeon. I admit it, Dave Ditzel is one of my heroes. In the old days when I worked on IC design and stuff, the guy is a legend. They just shipped their 90 nm part.

I always wondered what happened to Transmeta, the ultralow power chip company. Kind of got rolled over with first Banias (Pentium M) and then Dothan, but interesting to see from this piece what they are up to.

Of course, there is a geek web site devoted to their chips called Transmeta Zone. August Capital is invested in a company called OQO (I know, what a name) that is doing a palmtop that is a full Windows PC as is Paul Allen, so that seems to be this chips destination. They have a good list of Transmeta PCs too.

Main issue is that the Pentium M seems about the same performance at the same power consumption, which was kind of the rationale.

Posted by rich at 08:44 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 12, 2004

The Perfect Ultralight Notebook

Well, we are getting closer to it the perfect laptop at least in my opinion, What's the perfect laptop? Well, it should be:

• Under 3 pounds, so you don't think about it
• Have a near full sized keyboard
• 802.11b/g Wifi and built-in Ethernet and VGA output without a dongle
• Be less than 10" in screen size so you can flip it open on an airplane
• Last at least 4 hours on a battery so it can be your ipod :-)
• Have a CD-RW/DVD so you can watch movies on the plane :-)
• Be fast enough for email and not swap like a sun of a gun. 20GB disk. 512MB
• Have a fast processor (Dothan ULVs running as fast as you can stand)

So what ones do we have:

• Sony T Series. These are not yet available but I4U has a wonderful view of the VGN-T150 which featrures DVD playback to PC computing at the flip of a switch. 3 pounds. DVD drive. 10.4" screen, Dolby Virtual Speakertechnology is built in. Main issue is that it doesn't have a CF or SD slot because Sony loves their proprietary MemoryStick. These ship next month for about $2K. Eureka!
• Sony TR Series. Sony has announced, but you can't quite find, the updated TR series. It now has the faster Dothan chips in it. See SonyStyle USA - TR Series.

So what do you get, well, the bargain of the house must be the low end TR3A, make sure you don't get the identical model number with the Pentium-M 1GHz 512MB cache though! This new TR3A has the Pentium M Ultra Low Voltage 723 (1GHz, 2MB cache). That's the main upgrade, otherwise, it is the same machine as before with 512MB ram (plenty for office applications), 40GB hard drive, 802.11b/g, XP Home. Retail price is $2,200 and should be findable for less than $2K online.

Posted by rich at 04:05 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Build-To-Order PCs

Well, I mainly assemble PCs myself these days, but if I didn't want to, here is where I'd go to pay a little more for building, but get the exact components that I want at a reasonable price. In order:

• ARM Systems. Haven't ordered from here yet, but will soon. They are somewhat more expensive, but make their machines just whisper quiet. Their Stealth Quiet PC is fast and yet whisper quiet.
• Proportable. Bought a notebook from them. Reliable build to order. You really get exactly what components you want. They use ASUS as the chassis. The M5Ne is a very nice 3.3 pound note book. The M6 is a good desktop replacement. It's about $2K with a Pentium M 745 (1.8GHz) with 768MB memory, but the hard drive price for a 60 GB 2.5" drive is good.
• JNCS. Another vendor I've looked at but haven't bought from. Have good prices for ASUS build to order M5N and also for motherboard, cpu combos.
• Hard Drives Northwest. Haven't bought there in a while but good as a local service and small business shop. Prices are OK, but they do assemble. No Athlon 64 systems on their site though :-(

Posted by rich at 01:29 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 11, 2004

Dual Core will save us

AnandTech on Intel Developers Forum

Wow, this is a big deal, both AMD and Intel are going dual core. So there will two complete processors on one chip.

Vanderpool Technology or VT is an upcoming feature on several processor families (including the dual core families) that allow processor emulation and/or virtualization. As explained by Intel, with Vanderpool Technology, we can actually run two operating systems simultaneously on the same machine, and even dedicate one processor to a given operating system, and another processor to a different operating system.

Of course, no Intel Developer Forum is ever complete without a stop by the AMD hospitality suite usually within a block or two of the convention center. In fact, AMD has an extremely similar technology to Vanderpool dubbed "Pacifica." According to our AMD correspondents, Pacifica technology will allow us to run multiple operating systems and dedicate specific CPUs to those operating systems. AMD also unveiled to us a technology called "Presido", which looks identical to Intel's Lagrange Technology (LT).

Wow, that means that you could run lots of versions of Windows insulated from each other. Ludwig have been talking about doing that for a long time. It would improve Windows stability alot. Having a hypervisor as they are know would be way better than slamming more features into a single operating system and then trying to maintain compatibility.

Too bad that can't happen until Longhorn is done (2006-7 is Longhorn shipment, then a Service Pack, so maybe 2010-12 for that?). Hmmm. Maybe that's an opportunity for someone small to start and do a nice utility like VMware only better.

Posted by rich at 08:11 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 10, 2004

nVidia Driver Guide

Guru3D.com Forums - Which nVIDIA Drivers Are For Your Video Card?. A great list of what drivers for your nVidia card work and which don't.

Posted by rich at 11:04 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Netcam and other wireless

This is a $600 industrial quality web cam. There are folks who are doing in rough order of what I think is interesting:

Netcams

These are devices that don't need a PC to show audio/video. Unlike webcams which require a PC:

• StarDot Technologies / NetCam. There are so many more cool WiFi devices that don't require a PC or network connection.
• Linksys and D-link Netcams. I think they mainly use this for home survelliance. Nannycams. Main issue is how often will they work.

Network Attached Storage. These are little boxes with USB 2.0 attached storage that presents SMB protocols. D-link also makes devices that include storage. I don't like these that much because it marries you to a particular hard drive. Convenient for buying, but not for power users.

VOIP Phones and Adaptors. These are phone that actually that connect to IP so have a speaker and microphone and then can run VOIP to connect out. You can buy them bundled with a service (Vonage, Linksys and "D-link':http://dlink.com/products/category.asp?cid=11). This has two ports for traditional plain old telephones and then connects you VOIP to Vonage if you want to make PSTN calls. D-link also sells phones that are just IP on the outside.

Videophone. This is a conference application that D-link sells. We actually have one and have never gotten it to work.

Printer Servers. Actually a pretty good idea, you put a Wifi connection one end and a printer on the other. "Linksys':http://www.linksys.com/products/group.asp?grid=33&scid=37 and D-link has a variety of Wifi and wireline connection. Essentially it is printer on one side and it emulates an Unix LPR or TCP/IP printing protocol on the Internet side.

Media adapters. A terrible term, but basically something that looks for storage on the network and then either playback audio or shows photos on a TV. Audiotron makes a good one. D-link and Linksys has one. SliMP is a another good one.

Presentations. Linksys has a device that is a little strange, but what it does is have VGA output and an IP connection on the other, then there is magic software that lets you go from the notebook to this device without having to make the VGA wires work (instead you have to make the IP stuff work :-).

Posted by rich at 01:59 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Updated Guides

Some late breaking changes to the August guides are pretty relevant.

For the "high-end":http://www.tongfamily.com/guide_to_pcs/2004/09/01/high_end_system_recommendations.html systems, First, taking into account the Silentpcreview.com information, I changed some of the components in the guide to the high end particularly the power supply and the case.

Switched the motherboard recommendation to the DFI Lan Party UT Nv3 250 Gb (love the name) mother board and went back to socket 754. This saves $200 going from Athlon 3500+ to Athlon 3000+.

Also switched the memory being used from the OCZ 3700EB ($307) to cheaper OCZ 3200 EL Platinum Rev 2 ($284). These also overclock very well in the DFI.

Net, net, these change lower the price of the high end system from $1,800 to $1500.

Posted by rich at 07:36 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 06, 2004

Best Video Drivers

Who would have ever thought there was going to be a bunch of debate about this, but in the world of high performance gaming, everyone tries things. Guru3D is the site I use for much of this, but here's the quick guide:

• Guru3D.com Forums - Which nVIDIA Drivers Are For Your Video Card?. This is an incredibly complex question. Although the nVIDIA drivers are universal, certain releases work better with certain cards. For instance, the GeForce FX Series works great with 66.00 and 61.77, but the new GeForce 6800 series doesn't like 61.12, etc. Right now the best ones to use is 66.00 for 6800 and FX alike at least in terms of higher numbers.
• Modded Guru3D Drivers and Omega Corner. Both Guru3D and Omega Corner do mods of drivers for increased performance and/or quality. Haven't tried these myself yet.

In terms of using terms of using these, my nVidia 5900GT card is normally running at 300 MHz DAC and 700 MHz for RAM. It can speed up to 400MHz in gaming mode and when it is running on overclock it is 482/787 so quite a bit of overclock is possible.

Posted by rich at 10:45 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Guide to Silent PCs

OK, here is my first guide to Silent PCs. I'm going to change the way I do the PC guides to have essentially three guides:

• High-end guide for very fast full systems that are great price/performance. These are gamer and video editing machines mainly. Basically what I like to do and it will have overclocking recommendations typically.
• Mid-range guide for machines that are great price/performance. Not the cheapest out there, but the one that has the biggest bang for buck. These are the kind of machines that I would buy for say someone who want a good machine like the kids. Overclocking will also be the norm here.
• Silent PC guides for machines that don't need super high performance say HTPC (Home Theater) or SOHO machines. This is the newest guide area that I'm starting with this entry. Ironically, this will be about underclocking to get it quiet and overclocking to get performance when you need it.

Why Silent PCs? Because we don't all need something with 550 watt power supplies, six fans and super high Doom 3 performance or state of the art video editing. This is a guide for someone who just wants a PC to be a good toaster and just work. There is never going to the Cray super computer that is absolutely silent, but Silent PCs push on quiet at the expense of some but not all performance.

As an example, I just switched Alex's machine to be cooler and quieter. Got rid of loud hard disk fans in a Raid enclosure, switched to a Silentboost CPU fan and an Antec TruePower 550 power supply. The result is that the power supply and the CPU fan actually shut down and the thing is dead quiet when it isn't working.

Here now are some recommendations:

• Arm Systems. These folks specialized in quiet PCs. They will build to order and they got a good review from SilentPCReview.com. The right choice if you don't what to DIY. They have both 754-socket and 939-socket systems. Nice thing is that if they don't carry the component, you can say don't include and then install yourself. Pricing look spretty competitive.
• CPUs. Interesting regularly updated piece about the best CPUs. Basically it says that the best ones would be Pentium M chips if you could get them for desktop. These are incredibly fast (I'm typing on one now), but cost $700 (!!), so if you can't get them, the Athlon 64 is a great choice because it implements Quiet and Cool, so it actually reduces power consumption by underclocking and undervolting when not used much (e.g., when you are browsing the Internet or using Office), but you can set the high end to overclock when you need lots of power. Ultra quiets are from VIAs Pentium clones that only burn 10 watts (vs. 80 watts in an Athlon monster).
• Power Supply. The power supply fan has got to be the biggest source of noise in all my machines. On our Shuttle SS51G, SN85G4 and SK45G2, the 40mm tiny power supply fan is incredibly loud and cycles like crazy as an example. SilentPC actually rates supplies on quality and quietness. Personally, I think that people incredibly underinvest in power supply quality which is one reason I'm having a hard time buying more Shuttle's with their small 250 watt supplies. The PSUs that SilentPC likes are for the bigger mid-tower sized boxes. For instance they think the Antec TruePower 550 I use is an 8 of 10 in quality but 6 out of 10 in noise production. They really like the Seasonic line. The Super Silencer is 38 dBA/1m at 300 watts vs. 34 dBm for Super Tornado. The Tornado is quieter since it has a large 120mm fan while the Silencer uses an ordinary 80mm fan. They come in a range of wattages from 300, 400 to 460 watts and you can get them from Frys. 400 watts is about $99 and is the minimum I'd consider for a typical system with graphics card.
• Hard Drives. SilentPC doesn't think any Western Digital drive is very quite, thinks the Seagate 7200.7 is OK (7 out of 10), but that the Samsung SP1604N is a very quiet drive.
• Heat Sink and "Fan": . They rate heat sinks separately and like the Zalman 7000-AlCu and recently the Scythe FCS-50 came in a close second.
• Case. Cases need to be soundproofed and have good flow. SilentPC likes equally the StealthPC Foundation kit by "ARM Systems'+http://armsystems.com and Kong Kai FK330 for $139+shipping from Directron, The ARM Systems is a built up system so you can't just get the case, they use the Ever Case ECE4252 though and then add foam and more fans. Then the second best are the stock cases including the Coolcase modified Chenbro PC-610 called the Mod 2 for $139 delivered. Finally, equal to the Coolcase are the stock Ever Case ECE4252 for $60 from Newegg.com, Chenbro PC-610 and the Yeon Yang "Mars" YY-5603. These all require the installation of really quiet 120mm and 80mm fans though.
• Fans. We are really in nerd soup now. The best 80mm fan looks like the Panaflo FBA08A12L1A, but try the Arctic Cooling Artic Fan Pro TC which has a thermistor so it changes speed automatically. In 120mm size, try the Pabst 4412GL, it doesn't have automatic speed control though.

Where do you get all these, well besides the usual online suspects, there are some folks specializing particularly for components check out:

• End PC Noise. Has a big selection of fans and other components.

Posted by rich at 09:14 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

PC Reference Sources

Ah for the days when you just read PC Magazine and that was it to find the best computer hardware and software, now its all about the web. Since I've been buying a bunch of PCs this month, here are the sources I'm using in stackranked order of quality IMHO. Its sad, but I basically find pcmag.com, pcworld.com and cnet.com essentially useless now that I'm in the world of do it yourself:

1. Anandtech. I used to use Tom's Hardware pretty much exclusively, but with Anand now focused on monthly buying guides of hi, mid, low and overclocked systems, its a great resource. They do lots of testing as well. A great example are the Doom 3 performance guides and the memory analysis has been super helpful.
2. CDRinfo. Another good resource now that optical storage is changing so quickly. The firmware changes about every day and since everyone is using the same drive hardware, one of two chipsets, its the firmware that makes the difference in speed, compatibility and features.
3. Storage Review. Still the best source for hard drive performance. They have a searchable database and make it very easy to look. Main thing now is that most hard drives are about the same speed, so it is more about the warranty. These vary from five to one year and hard drives definitely break.
4. ard|OCP. Been using this site as the second Anandtech. Like them a good focus on overclocking and getting more out of your machine.
5. SilentPC Review. I've been using this more and more when I'm off the high performance curve that Anandtech or [H]ard|OPC uses and onto the just an average machine for the average human. They do great reviews of silent machines that are really ideal for business and non-gamer and non-video-editing home use.
6. Tom's Hardware. They do great in depth reviews, but the surface area they cover is so large now that you don't get many reviews in a particular area. When you do, I compare them with Anandtech and take the average of their points of view.
7. Xbitlabs. Another review source, can be good, but not as comprehensive usually across lots of the products I look at.

Posted by rich at 08:38 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 05, 2004

Audiotron Reloaded

I've had one of these Audiotron's forever but have never really used it much. Spent a little time hacking and realized it doesn't work because it needs a magic user name and password to access a file share. Aargh. How is anyone supposed to remember this stuff, let alone that there is a web interface to the thing. Thank goodness, google led me back to turtlebeach.com and the firmware downloads and most important the default username (admin) and password (admin) for the Audiotron device's website. I've long sinced lost the CDs and things for it.

Anyway, when I get to it, I'll have to reload new firmware, which you install by stuffing it into the root of a share it looks for, and also get it to find my songs on the network.

Reminds me that I really need to try a NAS box since just having the PC on is such a pain. Also check out all the utilities for Audiotron now. Cool applications are things like ATTray that lets you run the Audiotron remotely from a Windows tray icon rather than from its mini-web server. Javatron is a Java program that does the same thing. Also there is something called TOC generator so Audiotron doesn't have to index a big disk full of MP3s.

Finally got this working, the firmware upgrade is really strange. The firmware differs depending on whether you are using Ethernet or HPNA (Ethernet over phoneline). So v3.2.25 is for Ethernet and v3.2.24 is for HPNZ. Go figure. You put the files into the root of a music share directory as descrbied on the Audiotron site and fix is complicated

Other sad thing is that since homes don't have name servers, it has to search the entire name space looking for shares. That's actually not a bad idea, but because you never know if something is on or not, it isn't clear how to guarantee you have the song. Also, you have to be super disciplined about tagging music because it relies so much on MP3 tags.

That being said, there seems to be a pretty good community of folks writing apps for the thing (which is really a Windows CE-based microprocessor which is why it relies on Netbios and shares so much).

Finally, this is a good source of MP3 utilities and their latest incarnations:

• Lame. Now up to version 3.97 at Softpedia
• AC3Filter from Softpedia now in its 1.01 RC5 flavor, so its the latest.
• GX::TRanscoder. This is a universal audio transcoder that gets around all the many problems with different frequencies and formats

Posted by rich at 02:28 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

September 04, 2004

IP Scanning

IP-Tools. Need to figure out what's on my network. I should have written it down but I forgot. Here's a tool that will scan for me. Here are some utilities:

• SoftPerfect Network Scanner. A high google hit. Freeware and seems fast too for finding systems.
• WinPCap. Free network analyzer on Windows. Watch the traffic fly by.
• "NMap':http://www.insecure.org/. A super well known port scanner and security tool. Only a command line version available on Windows, but is also on Unix and Linux with X-Windows interface.

Posted by rich at 10:17 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 02, 2004

Mid-Range PC Recommendations

OK, so you don't want to spend a mint, but get the best price/performance. In many ways, mid-range systems offer the best value. I need one to replace Calvin's PC, so here is the recommendation. Again based on Anandtech:

• AMD Athlon 3200+. This is the last of the 1MB cache system, runs at 2.0GHz and the latest revision (CG stepping) can usually overclock from 2.3 GHz (part number ADA3200AEP5AR or ADA3200BOX). Confusingly, there are also some 3200+ that are actually Newcastle core, also CG stepping, running at 2.2GHz but with 512KB cache (part number ADA3200AEP4AX or ADA3200AXBOX for retail packaging). These can overclock to 2.6GHz or so. The thread explains it, but I've read it four times and still don't quite understand but think the Newcastle is probably better net, net for most applications. For value, BTW, getting an AMD Athlon 2800+ that's a Newcastle with 512KB, CG Stepping, 1.8GHz (ADA2800AXBOX) seems like a great idea, but beware there are some "old" 2800+ out there that are really Clawhammer, C0 Stepping (ADA2800BOX) that only overclock a little bit. Both are about $155. The 3000+ (ADA3000AXBOX) is about $172 so right in the middle. Confused yet? Digerati explains all this with the deep model n
  umbers used for the real nerds among us.
• MSI K8N Neo Platinum. This is a board that can really overclock, up to 2.46GHz with a 2GHz Athlon 3200+, not clear how fast the 2800+ can go, but should be similar typically. If you don't need firewire, then save some dollars and get the $75 Chaintech ZNF3-250. It overclocks just as well as the K8N, so its just a few features that matter.
• Crucial Ballistix 3200EL. You only need one stick since this is a single channel system and can get direct at $139. Only issue is that this memory doesn't overclock as well as the identical OCZ-3500EB, but these only come in pairs.
• Western Digital WD2000JB or Seagate 7200.7 200GB. $130. These are the best price/performance drives right at $0.52 for EIDE. You don't really need SATA as there is no performance difference right now between the two. I actually need a hard drive and will be reusing an older WD1200JB.
• Benq 1620A. Expensive at $110 or so, if reviews of the NEC-3500A are decent and it has bit set, then at $85, its an easy saving to buy it. One interesting thing is that if you buy a Benq 1600 right now, there is a firmware upgrade that will get you to a 1620A and it gives you DL writing, etc. Also upcoming at a 1630 with 4x DVD+R DL writing speed and a 1650 which is SATA and not EIDE.
• ATI Radeon 9800 Pro. Well its half the speed of the really fast cards, but still good for regular games particularly at 1024×768. $200. The later models with R360 core you can buy a Artic VGA Silencer cooler for $30 and flash to become an 9800XT.
• Antec TruePower 430. Its expensive at $70 if you already have a case or get a complete case with a great power supply from Antec for about the same price at $65. Spend this money, the best way to maintain stability is good power and cooling. I'm actually going to reuse a Enermax 350 tht we already have.

Total cost for an upgrade is $665 for me assuming I keep the monitor, keyboard, mouse, case, power supply and reuse an old hard drive. Not bad to get to 64 bits and a really fast computer :-)

Posted by rich at 01:11 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 01, 2004

High End System Recommendations

So based on the Anandtech guides, here is what I'm getting for a high end system. This is a system I'd design for video, photo and gaming. Right now, the PC I have is just too slow for video editing and rendering (takes 3 hours to render a 15 minute video, its a good machine from two years ago, a 533MHz Pentium 4 2.4GHz Shuttle SS51G). h3. Big splurge This is the machine if you have to have the very best, but socket 939 is pretty expensive right now, so also check out the very fast socket 754 that you can overclock like mad in the overclocker section * AMD Athlon 64 "3500+":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=2835393. Yes, these new 939 sockets are expensive, but they are about 9% faster with dual channel memory. Price right now is about $400, so its by far the most expensive CPU I've ever bought but performance is pretty ma * "MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=3625539. The Anandtech folks rave about this board It's expensive at $140 but overclocks really well. Also has Firewire, Gigabit Ethernet, the works. * OCZ 3700EB or "Crucial Ballistix PC3200":http://www.crucial.com/store/PartSpecs.asp?imodule=BL6464Z402&cat=RAM. Its just $139 per 512MB stick, you need two for dual channel. The harder to find OCZ 3700EB at $308 for 2x512MB uses the same Micron chips and is reported to overclock more reliably up to DDR500 (250MHz). * "Western Digital WD740GD":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=1733497. The Western Digital is the fastest (10K rpm) drive you can buy without going to SCSI and its about $180 so pricey but fast, fast, fast * "Hitachi 7K400 400GB":http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=100599 or two Western Digital WD2000JBs . The new 400GB drivers are very fast and are just coming in, they are $300 or about $0.75/GB so not that much more expensive. In comparison, getting a pair of 200GB drives is right now the best price-performance. You can also save about $5 off of $115 and a 5-year vs. 3-year warranty by getting the "Seagate Barracuda 7200.7":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=1696745. Overall these drives gets you to about $0.52 for EIDE and $0.55/GB for serial ATA. Given that I've had two WD drives out of the 6 that I own have failed, the 5-year warranty Seagate offers is a pretty big deal but are a little slower than the Western Digital Caviar SE right now at "3 years":http://support.wdc.com/warranty/policy.asp#policy for OEM drives only (not for retail drivers interestingly enough, so be careful). These drivers are about $105 in EIDE and $113 in SATA. * BenQ "DW1600A DL":http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Reviews/Specific.aspx?ArticleId=9648. The state of the art is the 16x speed dual layer writers. The BenQ burned well, but had trouble with backup of some copy protected disks (a firmware issue apparently), but burned DVD+Rs fast at 16x on 8x media and can bit set the type of DVD. The NEC 3500A hasn't been reviewed very much yet, so can't tell how good it is. It sure is cheap and it can bit set. The "Pioneer DVR-108 got a great review in "Anandtech":"Anandtech":http://anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=2186. and a terrible review in "CDRinfo":http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Reviews/Specific.aspx?ArticleId=10114. The Pioneer firmware appears ahead in "DVD Recordable":http://www.dvd-recordable.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Reviews&file=index&req=showcontent&id=96, but Anandtech notes that Pioneer can't "bit set":http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=105995The ASUS "DRW-1604P":http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Reviews/Specific.aspx?ArticleId=10004 was mediocre in 16x burning and doesn't book/bit set. * "nVidia 6800GT":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_attrib.php?page_id=5&form_keyword=6800+gt which is about $400 on average. This is the 16-pipeline version of the nVidia chip and seems to do well with nVidia motherboards. The alternative is the ATI "Radeon X800 Pro" is the equivalent ATI model. They seem to be about twice as fast as the older Radeon 9800 Pro or nVidia 5900 which areh selling at $200, so the price performance is about right particularly for gaming. They are about 1/3 slower than the very faster processors (6800 Ultra and X800XT) , but about 50% cheaper, so seem to be in the sweet spot of performance. * "Seasonic Super Tornado 40":http://seasonic.com. This is a very quiet 460 watt power supply. A little more expensive than the TruePower, but much quieter. You can get from Fry's apparently as well. Both SilentPCReview.com and "Tweaktown":http://www.tweaktown.com/document.php?dType=review&dId=604&dPage=2 like it. Newegg.com has the 400 watt version for $90. "Antec TruePower 550":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=560352. 550 Watts of pure power, so never worry again for $100. * "Cooler Master Praetorian":http://www.pricegrabber.com/user_addprodtrack.php?mode=advanced&masterid=2361620&targprice=59&alert_type=E. 9 drives in a mid tower, wow. Recommended by Anandtech's high end guide. About $100. If you want a very well ventilated and quiet case, then SilentPC recommends the harder to find Fong Kai FK33 0 which is expensive at $139 from "Directron":http://www.directron.com/fk333.html, the Coolcases":http://www.coolcases.com/catalog/case_che610_cat.htm modified ChenBro PC610 for between $60-$120 depending on modifications, and the Evercase ECE4252 or the Yeong Yang YY-5603. Total system is $1,950 for the dream system or $1750 if you don't get the fancy case and drop one of the hard drives. h3. Overclockers dream If there is such thing as a value high performance machine this is it. Takes advantage of the fact that 754 Athlons are cheap and overclock very well: * AMD Athlon 64 3000+. $175. In this case, both the Clawhammer Revision CG (2GHz,1MB cache) overclocks to about 2.4GHz or the new Newcastle (2.2GHz, 512MB cache overclocks to 2.6GHz) work well. If you are feeling lucky save $60 and get the 2800+ Newcastle (1.8 GHz, 512MB cache) and see if you can get to 2.4GHz while overclocking * DFI Lan Party UT nf350-GB. "Anandtech":http://anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2198&p=12 thinks this is the most incredible overclocker. $135 from Zipzoomfly this week. Can reach 300MHz FSB speeds and 2.4GHz for Clawhammer overclocking. * "OCZ PC3200 EL Platinum Rev.2":http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-146-890&depa=1. These use the very fast Samsung TCCD chips which are very fast and also available from Geil and others. A single stick BTW performs better than two in this single channel machine. $284 for 2x512MB or $142 for 512MB. so quite a bit cheaper than the 3500EB. * eVGA 6800GT. $400. its a splurge, but it is very fast and overclocks nicely. For $200, get the ATI9800 Pro, for $300 get the 6800, for $500 get the 6800 Ultra, Each increment is about 20% in game performance with the 6800GT probably being the best performance at reasonable price. * Western Digital WD740GD. $175. A screamer hard drive to go along. You really want two spindles if you are doing lots of video, so get another WD740GD or if you care about being quiet a Samsung Spinpoint 1614N. BTW, on this board SATA drivers overclock very well, not true on others because they don't lock the SATA frequency well when overclocking. $175. * Benq 1620 DVD Writer. This is a 16x Dual layer drive. $80 * Ever Case 5252. A great case that should cool well, be very quiet. $60. Give the crappy power supply that comes with it to charity. * Seasonic Super Tornado 400. $100. The quietest power supply silentpcreview.com knows about. Total is $1,485.

Posted by rich at 12:25 AM | Comments (1)

August 31, 2004

What Memory to Get?

As usual, Anandtech has done an incredible job with its guides to buying PCs. I agree with most of the recommendations. Right now I'm getting a high-end system for video and photo editing and printing and another mid-range system for Calvin. Calvin's old computer is dead and that means our backup now goes to my Dad. So, time now to get a high-end ($1500) and a mid-range system (sub $1000).

Most of this is straightforward as prices and technology haven't changed much. The most confusing area this month is memory. There was a time when if you got PC3200 Ram, it was slower than PC3500, etc. all the way up to PC4400. BTW, these confusing numbers are basically 16x more than the bus speed. So, PC3200 ram means, you can run the bus at 200MHz which is stock, PC4000 means that you can boost memory speeds to 250MHz as so on. It also turns out the other way to express this is DDR speeds which are 2x the bus speed, so DDR400, PC3200 and 200MHz front-side-bus are the same numbers. Don't ask my why they do this, but its the way it works mathematically.

Second mysterious thing is that memory has a certain number of cycles between the time you give it an address and the time when you get back data. This is normally called CAS (column address select if that means anything to you). Normally CAS 2 memory is faster at a given speed (e.g., PC3200 CAS2 memory is faster than PC3200 CAS 3 memory). But, to throw you for a loop, with OCZ called Enhanced Bandwidth (see Anandtech), they have a technology where CAS 2.5 memory can be faster than CAS 2. Confused now. Anyway, here's the net recommendation.

There are two things that throw you for a loop, very fast PC3200 memory can be overclocked quite a bit now, so that they are cheaper than PC4000 memory and also run faster. How about them apples. Also, the overclocking characteristics of Intel's Pentium 4 and the AMD Athlon are different, so you have to pick different memory for different processors. Here's a good summary:

On the Athlon

Late breaking news is that if you have the DFI Lan Party UT Nf3 250Gb, then this advice changes, the Samsung memory performs super well with this board. Memory with Samsung chips are reviewed by Anand tech in the fast 2-2-2 PC3200 memory roundup.

The two tested memory products were the OCZ 3200 EL Platinum Rev 2 and the Geil 3200 Ultra X (model number GLX1GB3200DC for 1GB and GLX5123200UP for 512MB. ExcaliberPC has the 1×512MB memory for $160 and BuyExtremegear has it for $158.

The OCZ 3200 EL Platinum Rev 2 (Model OCZ400512ELPER2 for 512MB and OCZ4001024ELDCPER2-K for 2×512MB) are also hard to find. ComputerHQ has it for $178. Newegg has the 2×512MB for $248. So, getting a pair is cheaper right now.

Anand recommends Ram that uses the Micron memory chips if you don't have the above board. You need to get the the Crucial Ballistix 3200 or OCZ 3500EB or 3700EB (275MHz max). With the Crucial, it could get to DDR514 (e.g., 262 MHz). The OCZ are CAS 2.5 memory than when overclocked are faster than the CAS 2 memory you normally would think is faster. Another oddity.

Also somewhat ironically, looks like the cheapest place to buy the Crucial Ballistix is direct. Right now, its $139 for 512MB which isn't bad at all.

For Intel

Things are simple with Intel. First Intel overclocks much better and in general, if you get the new CAS 2 memory from Geil PC3200 Ultra X or the OCZ PC3200 Platinum Rev 2, you'll get the most bandwidth and the ability to overclock to DDR561 or 280MHz from the stock 200MHz!

As you can see from the graph, at DDR533 (266 MHz bus speed), the top performers were the Crucial PC3200 Ballistix, OCZ PC3500, Geil PC3200 Ultra X and Kingston Hyper-X 3200 LL with Intel hardware.

Posted by rich at 10:14 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 29, 2004

Cooler Athlon XPs

While working on Bill's Athlon 64, I discovered there are some things you can do for hot Athlon XPs. In the same SilentPC piece, but there are some utilities that allow an Athlon XP to actually halt when idle. Apparently Windows XP doesn't do this, so you need a special little utility to do it and hopefully reduce power since most of the time the system is waiting around for a keyboard input or something.

You need a couple of programs. One called vcool and another called coolbits apparently.

Posted by rich at 10:09 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 28, 2004

Bill's Computer Unstable

Got down to San Diego. I know, I know, guide to Beijing/Shanghai and San Diego are coming soon.

Anyway, checked out Bill's Athlon 64 3200+ Shuttle SN85G4 is unstable after about 5 minutes. Here's how to diagnose. Essentially, after about 5 minutes of running flat out, the machine hard shuts down. No windows error, the whole machine shuts down. That points to either a thermal problem (e.g., the machine is running too hot and with the Athlon 64 new motherboards have a shut down diode) or it is the power supply that has a circuit breaker shutdown since the supply in the SN85G4 is only 240 watts as I remember and Bill has this machine loaded up with 2GB memory, 250GB hard disk, ATI 9600 All-in-wonder and the AMD Athlon 6400 3200+. Here's how to diagnose it:

1. Radified. There are many ways to test the stability of your PC, because there are a variety of applications that will put a heavy load on your CPU, such as SETI@home and RC5. See Radified for more details on testing. I particularly like Prime95 because it verifies results.
2. Silent PC Review. They have an article about AMD Quiet and Cool technology. Installed this so his computer would power down when it isn't working hard, so I hope that at least normally the machine doesn't have a problem. This is the original C0 revision of the Athlon 64, so it idles at 800MHz (instead of 2GHz) at 1.3V instead of the full power 1.5V, this reduces the power requirement to 35 watts. The thread on their site is quite amazing in its detail on cooling.
3. Speedfan, "Motherboard Monitor": and "CPUCool": . Tried these programs to see if it is a thermal problem. They all seem to give different readings, but pretty consistently, the temperatures in a long compute-intensive memtest86+, prime95 or MPEG2 encoding caused temperaturs up to 70 Celsius. According to anandtech, 70C is really the limit as also mentioned in AMDBoard, although HardOCP says it is 85C
4. Other thing to try is to swap out the graphics card to reduce voltage requirement. One hint here is that with 1GB memory stick removed, the system seemed much more stable with the full 2GB installed, it would only take about 5 minutes of memtest for it to shutdown.

So I didn't get to fix it, but if you're having the same problem, it might be a good time to get the thermal paste out and relube that Athlon 64 processor. Some folks have reported up to a 8 Celsius temperature drop by doing that. In the mean time, I've asked Phil to swap out the video card to get the power requirements back to something reasonable and see how stable it is. If I were to guess, I'd say it is the power supply, but it could be thermal. I can't find the Shuttle temperature shutoff spec anywhere, but that would be the next step.

Posted by rich at 08:31 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 08, 2004

Guide to Notebooks: August

I haven't covered notebooks before as this is a big topic and don't buy many, but with the model change to Dothan, they are becoming pretty interesting. Given the performance improvments of the new Intel chips (AMD doesn't play in mobile much), you should probably wait until notebook folks swap to the new 7xx series of chips.

Background and Information

Intel's up to date roadmaps . The changes Intel makes are the biggest variables in buying notebooks particularly. Here's a great summary by the Inquirer that makes it much easier to figure out what the giant is up to. Also great for historical reasons to figure out what they have been doing in the past. Relevant facts on notebooks

Dothan is a big deal, with it, Anandtech shows that a Pentium-M 744 or 745 (2GHz and 1.8GHz respectively) beats a Pentium 3.2GHz and equals the Athlon-64 3000+ in Business Winstone (e.g, typing in Word and Excel). That means for general purpose processing, notebooks have finally caught up. A fun machine to build would be a desktop that used this chip instead of the power hungry desktop Pentium Prescott or Northwood if you just wanted to build a Shuttle for business as an example.

• In july 21, they quietly announced the 733 and 723 according to Digitlife and The Inquirer, a 90nm Dothan but with just 2MB cache running at 1.1GHz and 1.0GHz respectiviely.
• In Q3, they'll deliver the 723, the first 90nm Dothan with 2MB cache (I'm using a 745 right now which is a 1.7GHz 2MB cache Dothan and it is a screamer)
• In Q105 they'll introduce a 2GHz 2MB ULV chip which is pretty amazing.

Ultraportable or Mini-notebooks

If you have to buy right now, then there are pretty much only two choices.Well, given we're going on the road alot, I'm looking at a bunch of mini-notebooks. Ludwig used one in Europe and liked it. I think one with a DVD drive would be just about perfect. Here are the choices:

• Sony VAIO PCG-TR3A. Has everything but battery life. I owned an earlier version five years ago and the main issue is that it was just sloooowwwww. Now it has a 1GHz Pentium-M so I'm curious what speed is like. Also back then the battery was just terrible, but now it looks reasonable. Cnet Asia has a roadmap that doesn't have any mini-notebooks so hopefully this model won't got away overnight. There is also a TR5A that is $3K because it has 1GB of memory and a DVD RW drive.
• Fujitsu Lifebook 5020D. This is very similar but has a longer lasting battery as reviewed by Maximum PC.
• Fujitsu Lifebook P7000 This model has been replaced by the P7000 which uses the 713 processor which is exciting as its a Dothan based system although it only has a 1MB cache. The P7000D uses the Atheros 11gab chipset so is about $100 more expensive.

These are two in category. They have the same performance essentially, so it is the side issues. Ars Technica likes the Lifebook as does MaximumPC as well.

So if you can wait, wait for Sony and Fujitsu to update to the 733 and get that for best performance and lower power. These notebooks are so underpowered, that will make enough difference to wait.

Posted by rich at 08:39 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

August 06, 2004

Linksys NSLU2: Home NAS gets even better

Hacking the Linksys NSLU2 Part 1. With the first network printer that actually works easier running in our house (the Brother HL-5170DN is cheap and works well), I'm on to figuring out storage.

For a long time, because network attached devices just plain didn't seem to work (I've tried print servers, media servers, etc.), I've basically had one gigantic PC with a printer and 500GB of hard drive attached. It is big noisy and kind of unreliable since Connie turns it off alot.

This NSLU2 seems like a second dream come true. You can gang up cheap 250GB hard drives in USB 2.0 enclosures and attached it to this and you've got noiseless storage in the network.

Even more, you also get a flexible microcomputer it looks like according to this story. Like most Linksys products though, actual customers on Pricegrabber have had a terrible time with stability and keeping it running. Not a surprise given the price point. Had the same problems with the incredibly cheap D-Link itoeye video conferencing system. Was only $250 but never worked. Maybe that's a new strategy. Had the same problem with a Netgear print server. Worked once but was so intermittent that it was useless. The way of the world with these products I guess :0(

In any case, an interesting box, but will wait for more real user feedback.

Posted by rich at 03:57 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

July 31, 2004

PC Buying Guide for August

Well, its that time again for PC buying recommendations. This time, great kudos to AnandTech's June Overclocking Guide. I love this particular guide because it includes what machines overclock well to get you additional price/performance. I'm also in the middle of building up a high-end PC for my own video editing, gaming and digital photography as well as a low-end PC to replace Calvin's failing computer.

High-end PC

Lots happening in this category this month. Intel announced their new Prescott, PCI Express and 925X chipsets while AMD shipped their Athlon 939-socket processors and motherboards. The net of that is that the new Prescotts are hotter but not much faster and that the Athlon 64s remain a leader particular when you start overclocking.

So here is my dream system with prices from pricegrabber (although most of the time newegg.com or zipzoomfly.com are the cheapest but highest quality):

Component	Price	Comments and Alternatives
AMD Athlon 64 3500+	$350	Athlon 64 2800+ is socket 754 for 2-9% slower but can be had for $150
MSI Neo2 K8N Platinum	$180	5% faster in Winstones, the Abit AV8 at $121 is value leader or Chaintech "VNF3250": for socket 754 at just $80 although without firewire
OCZ 3700EB	$340	No clear alternatives for overclocking
Western Digital WD740GB	$180	Or get the Hitachi 7K400 as a huge drive if you can find it at $400
nVidia 6800GT	$439

The recommended board is the MSI K8N Neo2.
is the way to go ||
| Antec True Power 480 | $87 | Don't skimp on the power supply |

Good comments are that good value for overclocking is:

CPU: AMD Athlon XP 2500+ Mobile Barton (512K L2 cache)
Motherboard: DFI Infinity NFII Ultra (nForce2 Ultra 400)
Price: CPU - $88 shipped (OEM). Motherboard - $91 shipped. HSF - $12 shipped

This is exactly the system that I overclocked, but used the standard Barton. The Mobile version uses less than half the wattage and is a great overclocker. It is not super fast performance-wse, but look at the price!

This chip is also multiplier unlocked so instead of just running against a 133 FSB, many folks run it at 11×200 or even 12×200MHz successfuly. With the DFI board, folks are reaching FSB speeds of 280MHz!

Another recommendation would be:

Athlong 2800+ or 3000+ combined with a 2nd generation socket 754 board like the MSI K8 Neo or the Abit KV8 Pro

Posted by rich at 12:27 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

July 28, 2004

Scanners Guide 2004

Scanner Reviews (Editorial) Sorted by Date - Page 1 - eCoustics.com . eCoustics is getting better and better, they now are a meta-review site that looks at reviews from many magazines and also trolls for user reviews. Very smart.

Here's a quick list of recent scanner reviews that would have taken hours to get:

• Minolta Dimage Dual IV. Photographic likes the $300 scanner for its modest price. Doesn't have fancy Digital ICE (the royalty is too high, but it is 3200 dpi. That means BTW, that at full scan resolution, you can reprint a 35mm slide to 15×10 enlargements (and each image would be 36MB or 14 megapixels).
• Nikon Coolscan V ED. Shutterbug liked this $599 scanner. It is a 4000 dpi 35m film , Digital Ice enabled. scanner. BTW at 4000 dpi, you can make 13×19" photos at 300 dpi with 55MB images! Seems like a good advanced amateur choice. The next model up is the 5000ED ($1099) with same resolution, but wider dynamic range. Main disadvantage is that it doesn't have batch scanning (you scan 6 frames at a time). Dynamic Range is 4.2.
• Minolta Dimage 5400. Shutterbug and also "Popular Photography';http://popphoto.com/article.asp?section_id=3&article_id=976 like this $900 scanner. Has Digital ICE and 5400 dpi resolution. That's enough for a huge 16×23 photo. Need to use with SilverFast drivers though which are $200, but apparently worth it.

As an aside all these scanners appear to work the best with the Vuescan software. Great reviews on that or Silverfast for Minolta.

Another thing you'll need is either Adobe Photoshop Elements (the low end) $100 or their highend full Photoshop ($700). Popular Photography also likes the JASC Paint Shop Pro 8 for $90 which apparently also runs many Adobe plugins and is closer to the $700 Photoshop. Worth checking out.

Posted by rich at 09:00 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

July 21, 2004

Guide to Printers 2004

Well, it finally had to happen, but after 4 years, our HP 940 Csi inkjet printer finally died.

Actually the death has been lingering. First we put in Christmas cards in and this destroyed the ejection mechanism. Then, the cool two-sided printing module failed. Now, it doesn't power on at all. So on to a new one.

Low-cost home network printer

I'm surprised there isn't anything in this category with networking at home happening everywhere. What we need is a cheap and small network laser printer so we don't have to turn a machine everytime to use it.

Low consumables cost and fast for general printing and also something that will print on DVDs and CDs. A cheap laser printer is now just $210 is that it is 3x the speed. Right now ink costs and toner costs are about identical for black and white printing (2-3 cents per page). There are a couple of choices. These BTW all fit in my tiny little cabinet.

• PC Magazine liked the Brother HL-5140 which is 21 ppm but the Brother we owned before really was unreliable. Its $200. Or as ZDNet explains, get the HL-5170DN which has an Ethernet port already at $350 list with an Ethernet port and 32MB instead of 16Mb but the same print engine. Pricegrabber has this model as well.
• PC World likes the HP LaserJet 1300. Its $400 and has a $200 ethernet option called the 1300n. Main drawback is that greyscale photos look terrible. It has a $100 rebate on it from June to October, so it goes from outrageously expensive ($400-600) to somewhat more reasonable.
• Bjorn3D likes the Samsung HL-1720 and Hardware Central. He did a quick review of a $130 laser printer from Samsung (!!!). It's about the same speed and startup time as a 1300, but is way, way cheaper. With $68 toner cartridges, its about 2.7 cents per page. Main problem is that it doesn't have any networking option and PC Mag says its cheap but output quality isn't that great (what a surprise :-)

Photo Printing

Super high quality for the preparation to digital photo printing. It seems as the though the tremendous rush to quality has slowed the Epson 2200 was a milestone and now Canon, HP and Epson all have very good prosumer models. So here's the analysis. I ended up getting the Canon i9900 because it seemed to be getting just fantastic reviews and I couldn't justify the incredible Epson 4000:

• Epson Stylus Pro 4000. This is the current professional digital darkroom printer to lust after. Costs over $1800 but it is beautiful. Can product 17×44 inch wide prints. Now that is big and it is an 8-color ink device that has separate cartridges.
• Canon i9900 is the follow on to the very good Canon i9100. Canon just announced a new series of printers called Pixma that range in price from $150-$80 but I haven't seen reviews yet. Main issue is the thing is huge at 17.3×11×26 (wow, 26 inches deep, so it really needs a whole desktop! It like the Epson has separate cartridges. Also doesn't have a roll feeder so you can't just print a long roll of 4×6" prints out. It needs to go on a big desk.
• HP 7960. This one gets good reviews and is reasonably priced. The main problem is that it has a gigantic ink cartridge so you can't replace individual colors like the Epson. Steets at $290. It is an eight color printer as well. Says it is more accurate but less gamut (range) of colors vs. the Epson 2200 or the Canon i9100
• Epson R800 with a deep review at i-photo.co.uk This is a new high end printer from Epson that is just below the Epson 2200. Main advantage is that it can print directly to the right kind of blank CDs and DVDs. Also it has a roll feeder so you can print 4×6s really quickly. Interesting to see consumable wise it is about the same cost as a laser printer but much slower. Main problem is that it is 19" wide so won't fit in our cabinet. (it is narrow at 7" high x 12" deep).

Other details are that when you buy this, you need consumables. For the Canon, recommendations seem to show you should stick with their paper and their ink. Here are some of the good deals:

• BCI-6 Inks. These list for about $11 and there are 8 of them. You can get them in a 8-pack at Thenerds.net right now for $72 plus $10 shipping. With these small items, shipping is just a killer given that most internet sites charge a minimum of $4 per piece even if it is just a $5 stack of paper. The solution is to either get bigger packs or if you need individuals, go to officedepot.com and order $50 worth, then they deliver for free if you are near an OfficeDepot. Alternatively, you can use Amazon which has free shipping for over $25.
• Canon Photo Pro and Canon Photo Plus paper. The Pro is about twice the price and is guaranteed to last 25 years without fading. If you are just putting photos into albums that are not going to be in the light, seems like the Plus (4×6 sheets in packs of 120 for $18 or so at Amazon right now) are good buys. You probably also want to get some Pros for hanging up. They ship with 8×11 and gigantic 13×19 sheets for big photos. Not bad to set say 120 of the 4×6 Plus, 20 of the 4×6 Pros and 15 8×11 and 10 13×19 as a starter set. Amazon has the 4×6 Plus and the 13×19 Pros. OfficeDepot has the 4×6 Pros. So its a little complicated, but you can get it all without big shipping charges.

Posted by rich at 11:57 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

July 07, 2004

Dual Layer DVD Burners are here

Tom's Hardware Guide Mass Storage: Lite-On, LG and BenQ Bring 8.5-GB Recordable DVDs to the Party - 16x: The Final Destination?. At last the DVD burner market is maturing.

The DVD+RW and DVD+R format seems to be the winner. Both can go to 9GB on a single side and to 16x (that's 10,000 rpm folks as fast as a hard drive).

The main issue is the media is expensive. Most important thing is to update the firmware. There is going to be a pretty long period of incompatibilities between media and drives so you need to read the forums to get the right drive and the right media.

They tested three drives and the Benq 1600A is the fastest particularly at burnding DVD+RWs, so that make the most sense if you are burning lots of DVDs (like me). If you want DVD-R and DVD-RW as well then get the LG GSA-4120B.

Posted by rich at 10:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

July 03, 2004

PC Buying Guide

These Anandtech buying guides are just awesome. Rather than writing my own, I'll just do the difference in opinion I have compared with their analysis:

High end

See AnandTech: Buyer's Guide: High End System - July 2004 for base recommendations.

Here are the deltas to get a machine cost (without monitor) of $2200 but it is the most screaming thing out there right now:

• I'd recommend the Athlon 3500+ ($500) instead and just overclock it rather than getting the FX-53 ($800). If you are bargain hunting, get the Athlon 64 3200+ ($270) and overclock it to 2.4GHz. It is the older socket, but performance is really just 2-3% less and quite a bit cheaper.
• The MSI K8N Neo2 comes out well in either socket 939 or older socket 754 versions at $150
• The OCZ 3700EB is a real winner at $370 for 2×512MB or get the OCZ 3500 EB ($300) and just slightly less performance. Both overclock well to DDR433-450 (217-225MHz bus vs. standard 200MHz).
• On video, benchmarks disagree a little, but either the GeForce 6800 Ultra ($540) with 16 pipelines, 400MHz GPU, 1.1GHz DDR3 RAM. The vanilla 6800 ($300) seems like a good price/performance leader.
• Agreed on the monitor with the very fast Samsung 193P ($750 shipped) as a great 19" monitor
• Agreed also on the case and power supplies. The Coolermaster Praetorian ($110) and the Antec True Power 480W ($85) are expensive, but will keep a big system cool and stable. Don't skimp on the power supply in particular.
• Sound and speakers. I'm actually not that expert on really wonderful sound and would probably use what's stock on the motherboard.
• On the disks, think you should get a single Western Digital Raptor 74GB ($200) as system drive and then a big Hitachi 7K250 250GB ($190) drive for data. These are two of the fastest drives around according to storage review.
• On optical, disagree with the choice and think you have to get a dual layer (9GB/side DVD writer). The NEC-2510A ($85) looks like a great choice.

Mid-range

See Anandtech's June piece, here are the deltas at $973 (excluding monitor, speakers, keyboard/mouse, that is assuming you are just replacing the system unit):

• CPU and Motherboard. Agree with the Athlon 64 2800+ ($172) and the MSI K8N Neo Platinum ($131). You can overclock this to 2.4GHz usually. Stick with the 754-socket, this is going to be cheaper, but you get the fast 64-bit processor at about the same speed with overclocking.
• Memory. Agree with 2 X 256MB OCZ PC3500 EL (Enhanced Latency) CAS2.0. Price: $120 shipped. These you are run reliably at DDR433 (217MHz bus).
• Video. Disagree and think you can get the ATI 9800 PRO 128MB for around $200 given the X800 has now shipped. A good performing video card if you play games. Otherwise, get a really cheapo one since video performance doesn't matter for running Office or browsing the internet.
• Case and Power Supply. CaseEdge TS1 Mid-Tower Price: $40 shipped from PC Club plus an Enlight 360W power supply ($35) seem fine.
• Disk. Would get a bigger hard drive given pricing. The Hitachi 2K250 ($190) is a great buy and is super fast. Or get the Western Digital WD1200JB ($80) if you are really economizing.
• Optical. At these prices, I'd just get the NEC-2510A dual layer DVD writer. You'll need it later ($85)

Low end

Ok, this is the cheapest decent system based on Anandtech to get a total system unit price of $536.

• CPU. Take both the Athlon XP 2500+ ($75). You can overclock to get a little more performance. The mobile version BTW has the ability to run much cooler ($88), so is well worth it.
• Memory. Take the secondary recommendation of the OCZ PC3200 EL 256MB ($70). If there is anyway to afford it, go to the 512MB version ($120). Memory is a big driver of performance
• Motherboard, Video, Power Supply and Case. Instead of getting a motherboard, case and video, you should get the Shuttle SN41G2 ($200). This is a box that has it all. Otherwise, if you want a big case, get the ASUS A7N8X-X ($75), Sapphire 9800SE ($48) and Foxconn Super Case 100-G2-P4 Mid Tower
  Price: $45 shipped with AMD approved power supply. This will be bigger though than the Shuttle and therefore upgradeable.
• Disk. Agreed on the Western Digital family, but best price per MB right now is the WD1200JB ($80) rather than the 40GB or 80GB versions.
• Optical. Get a vanilla CD-RW and DVD reader drive say the Lite-On 52×32×52×16 Combo CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive ($48). But if you can afford the splurge, getting to the NEC drive gets you DVD writing for backups and movie making.

Posted by rich at 10:13 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

No RAID-0 needed for desktops

AnandTech: Western Digital's Raptors in RAID-0: Are two drives better than one?. I was going to get a pair of 74GB 10Krpm drives in a RAID-0 to just get screaming desktop performance.

Indeed, it does look like that RAID-0 double actual disk throughput, but because a single drive also has caching and lookahead, the real world "delivered" to the application performance is only about 20% faster disk speed compared with a single drive.

Then when you take an actual overall system level performance in say Winstone or loading a game, you find it just washes out.

Defragging your hard disk is probably a bigger performance driver. So, the net, net, is get the 10K rpm drive, but you only need one and no RAID is needed.

Best use of RAID seems to me to be for RAID-1 mirroring so that it is easy to do backups.

Posted by rich at 09:55 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

July 02, 2004

Laptop Lust

Sony VAIO VGN-X505VP Review. So it costs $3,700. This is the utlimate machine. Thinner than a quarter, it has DVD, 1.1GHz Pentium M, 512MB Ram.

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June 24, 2004

Announcement: 1 for 3 in real improvement

Quite a lot happening on the PC front. Intel announced their new 775 pin socket, new chipsets and new Pentium 3.6GHz. The amazing thing is that with all that technology, it ain't faster than the current generation or the Athlon 64 in many cases. That's amazing.

AMD also announced their new 939-socket family. Some slight performance improvement in the 2-5% range for the new socket. They now have dual channel ram but that doesn't seem to help much. The pricing is about the same and they did announce new 3500+ and 3800 Athlon 64s that are much faster and much pricier.

But, getting the new X800 Pro really helps. As the Motherboards.org - Video Card: Gigabyte X800 Pro Review

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June 12, 2004

OGM Files

Lazy Man's Guide to Ogg Media (OGM Files). I've been encoding movies into the Ogg Media format (OGM). This has Xvid for the video coding and Ogg Vorbis for the audio.

A great guide.

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June 11, 2004

Lookout for Outlook

Lookout email search for Microsoft Outlook - Lookout Software. Outlook is definitely becoming a platform. Thank goodness the object model is finally decent. This utility lets you do a google like search across all your mail.

Posted by rich at 08:41 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 08, 2004

Great case to get...

Tom's Hardware Guide PCs & HowTo: THG's 15-Case Power Tower Round-Up - Lian Li PC-V1000: Innovative Interior. A really cool mid-tower case with an innovative design. Nice addition for that new computer I'd love to get :-)

Posted by rich at 10:33 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 02, 2004

Best Monitor: 19" LCD

Tom's Hardware Guide Displays: LCD Comparison: 17" & 19" Under 20ms - Samsung SyncMaster 193P. Kind of the cutting edge right now is the new Samsung 193P. Looks good and is fast for games as well.

Posted by rich at 10:44 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 01, 2004

AMD Athlon 64: Newcastle chips are here!

Tom's Hardware and Anandtech both report on the new socket 939 newcastle core chips shipping. Here's a summary of performance:

• The Athlon64 3500+ at 2.2 GHz and 512 kB L2 cache probably is the most attractive new processor. With an initial price of around $500, it is more expensive than the Pentium 4 at 3.4 GHz. In exchange, it will beat Intel's top-of-the-line model in the majority of gaming and multimedia benchmarks except for video encoding.
• Anandtech socket comparison. We did not expect large improvements in performance as Athlon 64 moved from 754 to 939. Since we have found the performance of the Dual-Channel Socket 940 and the Single-Channel 754 to be close when they ran the same speed with the same cache, it was already clear the Athlon 64 was not an architecture that was starved for memory bandwidth like the 'deep-pipes' Pentium 4 design. When P4 went dual-channel the performance improvement was dramatic. Athlon 64 shows more modest increases in performance, but that performance increase is still real and measurable with the 754 1-5% slower than 939 depending on benchmark.
• Athlon 2600+ Coming. AMD will introduce a 1.6GHz part at some point soon. If its based on the latest CG stepping, it could overclock to 2.4-2.5GHz and be a great overclocking buy.
• Xbitlabs Comparison. Echoes the results of the Anandtech review. Also points out that you have to be careful about getting memory that works in the "1T" configuration. The requirements are pretty specific. Its a big deal in that it increase memory bandwidth by 25% if you get the right memory modules. Overclocking is low for the 3500+ and 3800+ (2.2 and 2.4GHz respectively), with the new CG stepping, clock rate tops out at about 2.5GHz
• Right Memory, Right Motherboard for socket 754. Exhaustive test of many motherboards and many memory chips for Athlon 64. It shows a complex table of compatibility. You do have to be careful in choosing a board that lets you run double-sided DDR memory. The MSI K8N Neo did particularly well and is a new nForce3 250 Gb chipset so has all the latest features.

Net, net, there aren't great performance differences between the 754 and 939, so it comes down to pricing. Interesting to see how much the cheaper 2800+ can overclock to on the 754.

At retail, newegg.com athlon 64 list show the new Athlon 64s in the Socket 939 are finally here. Here are some prices from newegg that show you get about 5% performance increase going from a $404 3400+ to a 480 3500+. Not great, but a big deal for gamers I guess.

Right now, I'd say at these price levels, the 754 probably remains a good deal particularly the 3200+ overclocked to 2.4GHz, but that should change post introduction pricing.

Chip	Socket	Frequency	Cache	Price	Core	Memory
3800+	939	2.4 GHz	512KB	$698
Newcastle	Dual Channel
3700+	754	2.4 GHz	1MB	$689	Clawhammer	Single Channel
3500+	939	2.2 GHz	512KB	$485	Newcastle	Dual Channel
3400+	754	2.2 GHz	1MB	$404	Clawhammer	Single Channel
3200+	754	2.0 GHz	1MB	$282	Clawhammer	Single Channel

As you can see based on this, the old Clawhammer (original Athlon 64) cores don't look too bad in price. There is a real premium for the 2.4 GHz versions. Reports are that you can overclock the Clawhammer 2.0 GHz up to 2.4 GHz, but not sure yet whether the new Newcastles can overclock even more. In any case at these prices, more of enthusiast line for now.

Not clear when Motherboards for 939s ship are in stock either.

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