Tech Check

The Nehalem Preview: Intel Does It Again

2008-07-13T08:00:00.004+06:00

Two years ago in Taiwan at Computex 2006 Gary Key and I stayed up all night benchmarking the Core 2 Extreme X6800, the first Core micro-architecture (Conroe core) CPU we had laid our hands on. While Intel retroactively applied its tick-tock model to previous CPU generations, it was the Core micro-architecture and the Core 2 Duo in particular that kicked it all off.

At the end of last year we saw the first update to Core, the first post-Conroe "tick" if you will: Penryn. Penryn proved to be a nice upgrade to Conroe, reducing power consumption even further and giving a slight boost to performance. What Penryn didn't do however was shake the world the way Conroe did upon its launch in 2006.

After every tick however, comes a tock. While Penryn was a die shrink of an existing architecture, Nehalem is a brand new architecture built on the same 45nm process as Penryn. It's sort of a big deal, being the first tock after the incredibly successful Core 2 launch.

731M transistors, four cores, eight threads

It's like clockwork with Intel; around six months before the release of a new processor, it's sent over to Intel's partners so they may begin developing motherboards for the chip. It was true with Northwood, Prescott, Conroe, Penryn and now Nehalem. And plus, did you really expect, on the eve of the two year anniversary of our first Core 2 preview, a trip to Taiwan for Computex without benchmarks of Nehalem? In the words of Balki Bartokomous, don't be ridiculous :)

Yep, that's what you think it is

Without Intel's approval, supervision, blessing or even desire - we went ahead and snagged us a Nehalem (actually, two) and spent some time with them.

(Sorry guys, stop making interesting chips and we'll stop trying to get an early look at them :)...)

Not One Nehalem, but Two

Nehalem itself is very stable but it has only been in Taiwanese motherboard manufacturer hands for a relatively short while now, so the only truly mature motherboards are made by Intel. Unfortunately since Intel didn't sanction our little Nehalem excursion, we were left with little more than access to some early X58 based motherboards in Taiwan. Thankfully we had two setups to play with, each for a very limited time.

We had access to a 2.66GHz Nehalem for the longest time, unfortunately the motherboard it was paired with had some serious issues with memory performance. Not only was there no difference between single and triple channel memory configurations, memory latency was high. We know this was a board specific issue since our second Nehalem platform didn't exhibit any issues. Unfortunately we didn't have access to the more mature platform for very long at all, meaning the majority of our tests had to be run on the first setup (never fear, Nehalem is fast enough that it didn't end up mattering).

The second issue we ran into was a PCI Express problem that kept us from running any meaningful GPU benchmarks. We've been told that it'll take the motherboard guys about a month to work out these kinks, but that's why you shouldn't expect to see a full performance evaluation of Nehalem in the near term.

The CPUs are quite mature and are running extremely cool (surprisingly cool actually), their clock speeds are being artificially limited by Intel in order to avoid putting all cards on the table at this time. We saw a similar approach with the very first Penryn samples which were all locked at 2.66GHz. The Intel X58 chipset we used in our testing on the other hand got quite hot.

Nehalem no longer has a conventional FSB, its clock speed is derived from a multiplier of an external clock frequency - in this case 133MHz. Expect all Nehalem chips to come out in frequencies that are multiples of 133MHz.

Thankfully we don't want a thorough look at Nehalem today, we'll save that for the launch - what we do want is to whet our appetite. We want to know if Intel can pull it off a second time.

The Socket

With an integrated memory controller, Intel needed a new pinout for Nehalem and the first version with three 64-bit DDR3 memory channels features a 1366-pin LGA interface:

LGA-1366 (left) vs. LGA-775 (right)

The socket is noticeably bigger than LGA-775 as is the mounting area for heatsinks. You can't reuse LGA-775 heatsinks and instead must use a heatsink with mounting holes more spread apart. As far as we can tell, the same push-pin mounting mechanism from LGA-775 is present in Nehalem which is disappointing.

With a larger socket and more pins, the CPU itself is obviously bigger. Here's a shot of our Nehalem compared to a Core 2 Duo E8500:

Nehalem (left) vs. Penryn (right)

Intel will obviously have dual-channel versions of Nehalem in the future, unfortunately it looks like they will use a smaller socket for mainstream versions of the chip (LGA-1160?). We won't have to deal with socket segmentation just yet and it is always possible that Intel will choose to stand behind a single socket for the majority of the desktop market, reserving LGA-1366 for a Skulltrail-like high end but the strategy is unclear at this point.

The Return of Hyper Threading

While Nehalem is designed to scale to up to 8 cores per chip, each one of those cores has the hardware necessary to execute two threads simultaneously - yep, it's the return of Hyper Threading. Thus our quad-core Nehalem sample appeared as 8 logical cores under Windows Vista:

Four cores, eight threads, all in a desktop CPU

Note that as in previous implementations of Hyper Threading (or other SMT processors) this isn't a doubling of execution resources, it's simply allowing two instruction threads to make their way down the pipeline at the same time to make better use of idle execution units. Having 8 physical cores will obviously be faster, but 8 logical (4 physical) is a highly power efficient way of increasing performance.

We took Valve's source-engine map compilation benchmark and measured the compile time to execute one instance (4 threads) vs. two instances of the benchmark. The graph below shows the increase in compilation time when we double the workload:

While the 2.66GHz Core 2 Quad Q9450 (Penryn) takes another 127 seconds to execute twice the workload, the 2.66GHz Nehalem only needs another 49 seconds. And if you're curious, this quad-core Nehalem running at 2.66GHz is within 20% of the performance of an eight-core 3.2GHz Skulltrail system. Equalize clock speed and we'd bet that a quad-core Nehalem would be the same speed as an 8-core Skulltrail here. The raw performance numbers are below:

We couldn't disable Hyper Threading so we reached the limits of what we were able to investigate here.

Power Consumption

Built on the same 45nm process as Penryn, we expect Nehalem to have higher power consumption than Penryn but given Intel's target of a 1% increase in performance for no more than a 1% increase in power consumption per microarchitectural change - the results should be reasonable:

And reasonable they are; for a 20 - 50% increase in performance, total system power consumption only went up by 10%.

Final Words

First keep in mind that these performance numbers are early, and they were run on a partly crippled, very early platform. With that preface, the fact that Nehalem is still able to post these 20 - 50% performance gains says only one thing about Intel's tick-tock cadence: they did it.

We've been told to expect a 20 - 30% overall advantage over Penryn and it looks like Intel is on track to delivering just that in Q4. At 2.66GHz, Nehalem is already faster than the fastest 3.2GHz Penryns on the market today. At 3.2GHz, I'd feel comfortable calling it baby Skulltrail in all but the most heavily threaded benchmarks. This thing is fast and this is on a very early platform, keep in mind that Nehalem doesn't launch until Q4 of this year.

One valid concern is with regards to performance in applications that don't scale well beyond two or four cores, what will Nehalem offer us then? Our DivX test doesn't scale well beyond four cores and even then Nehalem's performance was in the 20 - 30% faster range that we've been expecting. The other thing to keep in mind is that none of these tests are really stressing Nehalem's integrated memory controller. When AMD made the move to an IMC, we saw an instant 20% performance boost in most applications. I suspect that the applications that don't benefit from Hyper Threading, will at least benefit from the IMC. We've only scratched the surface of Nehalem here, looking at the benefits of Hyper Threading and its lower latency unaligned cache accesses. We've hinted at what's to come with the extremely well balanced and low latency memory hierarchy of Intel's new baby. Once this thing gets closer to launch, we should be able to fill in the rest of the puzzle.

Over six years ago I had dinner with Intel's Pat Gelsinger (back when he was Intel's CTO), and I asked him the same question I always do: "what are you excited about?" Back then his response was "threading", Intel was about to launch Hyper Threading and Pat was convinced that it was absolutely necessary for the future of microprocessors.

It was at the same dinner that Pat mentioned Intel may do a chip with an integrated memory controller much like AMD, but that an IMC wouldn't solve the problem of idle execution units - only indirectly mitigate it. With Nehalem, Intel managed to combine both - and it only took 6 years to pull it off.

Pat also brought up another very good point at that dinner. He turned to me and said that you can only integrate a memory controller once, what do you do next to improve performance? Intel has managed to keep increasing performance, but what I really want to see is what happens at the next tock. Intel proved its ability with Conroe and with Nehalem it shows that the tick-tock model can work, but more than anything looking at Nehalem today makes me excited at what Sandy Bridge will bring.

The fact that we're able to see these sorts of performance improvements despite being faced with a dormant AMD says a lot. In many ways Intel is doing more to improve performance today than when AMD was on top during the Pentium 4 days.

AMD never really caught up to the performance of Conroe, through some aggressive pricing we got competition in the low end but it could never touch the upper echelon of Core 2 performance. With Penryn, Intel widened the gap. And now with Nehalem it's going to be even tougher to envision a competitive high-end AMD CPU at the end of this year. 2009 should hold a new architecture for AMD, which is the only thing that could possibly come close to achieving competition here. It's months before Nehalem's launch and there's already no equal in sight, it will take far more than Phenom to make this thing sweat.

XFX 9800GX2 (Nvidia 9800 GX2)

2008-07-10T08:11:00.003+06:00

Performance, Good bundle, Solid build quality.

Heats up quickly, Expensive.

The Nvidia 9800 GX2 is currently the reigning champ in the graphics card arena and today we have the XFX 9800 GX2 in our labs for testing. The last GX2 was from Asus and quite frankly it did not perform as well as the Zotac 9800 GX2, even though they were clocked at the same speed. The XFX card also runs at the same speed, so I'm really anxious to see what kind of performance it is capable of. There are around 8 different versions of the GX2 on the XFX website, and we'll be testing the Standard Edition today.
So, without wasting any more time, let's dive into the good stuff.

The Box

The front of the box

I've always liked the design of XFX's packaging style (remember the infamous 'X' shaped boxes that they had for the previous gen cards?). This time around the box has a more hardcore mechanic look. The entire box is black with a mechanical '9' displayed in the center and the name of the card in gold lettering. On the lower right we have the primary features of the card displayed and also a photo of the bundled game (this time it's Company of Heroes). The back of the box has a picture of the card along with some of its capabilities. When you go into the store this is surely going to grab your attention.

Specifications & Bundle

Here we have the detailed specifications of the card from the XFX website

The bundle includes the following:
Quick install guide
Tips & Techniques leaflet
Driver CD
2 x DVI to VGA Adapters
1 x PCI-E to Molex power adapter
1 x HDMI audio out cable
Company of Heroes game DVD

The Card

The card in all its glory

We see the same reference design adopted by all the GX2 cards, so no surprise here. There is an XFX sticker with the same '9' symbol and the name of the card. Just make sure you have enough room in your cabby, for this is one huge card.

Nothing much to write about here, the back features a large XFX logo which looks quite cool.

In the front panel, we have 2 dual link DVI-D connectors along with an HDMI out port. All you need is an HDMI cable and you've got full HD (1080p) on your TV, provided your TV supports it. Just before the HDMI port are two LEDs, one below the other. The lower one is green and signifies that the card is receiving power. The one above is blue and turns on as soon as you get a display on the monitor.

Towards the rear we have the power connectors. There's one 6-pin and one 8-pin socket. Beside it is the audio out when you use the HDMI audio cable. Unlike Radeon cards, which feature an inbuilt audio processing chip, Nvidia cards still use the onboard/discrete audio chip. Now, let's move to the benchmarks.

Test Bench

CPU: Intel Core 2 Extreme X9770 @ 3.2 GHz
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EX38-DS3 RAM 2 x 1GB DDR2 1066 MHz (5-5-5-15)
HDD: Hitachi 250 GB SATA II (7200 rpm)
PSU: Corsair TX650 W
Monitor: Viewsonic G90fB Monitor (19-inch, Max Res. 1920 x 1440)
OS: Windows Vista Ultimate
VGA Driver: Forceware 175.16

Synthetic Benchmarks

3D Mark2005

3D Mark 2006

3D Mark Vantage

Real World Benchmarks

F.E.A.R (DX9)

In F.E.A.R, the XFX 9800GX2 is on par with the Asus GX2 and quite a bit faster than the Zotac. Also worth noting is the performance of the 8800GT in SLI which again keeps up with the big guns.

HL2: Lost Coast (DX9)

The scores are pretty much even among all the GX2s, in both resolutions.

Crysis (DX10)

This one is really interesting - at 1920 resolution the XFX card really shines and gives an outstanding 51fps. Strangely enough, once AA is enabled, it drops to 18fps, which is much lower than the Asus 9800 GX2.

Over clocking

The XFX 9800 GX2, being a dual GPU card, runs really hot. But the cooler is effective and all the hot air is exhausted through vents on top and at the rear of the card. It actually feels like a blow dryer, no kidding. We were able to overclock the core to a very healthy 710MHz. This provided the best performance boost in 3D mark. But as soon as we pushed the core to 720MHz, the scores dropped drastically which means anything above 710MHz and the card begins to throttle. Still, 710MHz is a pretty sweet overclock and the numbers speak for themselves.

Conclusion

This beast from XFX is priced at around Rs 39,000/- and comes with a 3yr warranty. Compared to the Asus 9800GX2, which costs around 31K, I would say this card is overpriced. Given that the XFX performs better only in some games and has nothing special to offer while overclocking, I really don't see a reason for pricing it so high.

Keep in mind that Nvidia has just launched their new high-end GTX series of cards (expect a juicy review on that very soon) based on the GT200 chipset. These things are monsters and perform a lot better than the GX2 at high resolutions (according to preliminary testing).

It all comes down to this, if you could stall your upgrade itch a little longer you will have a better choice of cards in this price range, not to mention a drop in price for the GX2. But if you have to buy a 9800GX2 right now then I would rather recommend the Asus 9800 GX2. The XFX 9800GX2 is a rock solid card and their service is also very good in India, so you won't be left stranded should something go wrong. I think the price is the only thing that would give me second thoughts.

Intel's Ultra-Portable Atom: Unveiled

2008-07-08T08:21:00.003+06:00

Do you remember the original Pentium 4? It launched at 1.5 GHz and gave us our first bittersweet taste of the NetBurst microarchitecture, which Intel would use to replace the P6 design.

When the Pentium 4 began its life, Intel manufactured the chips on a 180 nm node. The 42 million transistors that went into those first Pentium 4s - internally referred to as Willamettes - occupied a die no less than 217 square millimeters. Keep those figures in mind throughout our overview of Intel’s newest mobile processor and platform. And don’t feel too old; eight years seems like a lifetime, when you’re talking tech.

Mobility, Redefined

Smaller than a Laptop

Intel is formally announcing a brand new processor today that it hopes will drive the next generation of mobile Internet devices. Perhaps you’re already familiar with the MID concept. Last year, Intel took the wraps off of its McCaslin platform, a seldom-discussed proof-of-concept that never really took off. Nor was it meant to. McCaslin employed Intel’s A100/A110 processor built on 90nm process technology. Those CPUs were derived from Intel’s Pentium M efforts. And while they enabled respectable compute muscle at 3W, imagine running Windows Vista on an 800 MHz desktop. Or don’t. It’s a painful thought. Nevertheless, the A100 and A110 are x86 Intel chips that go into real products, like Samsung’s Q1.

Menlow takes Intel's MID concept from ultra-portable notebooks to pocket-sized devices falling into four different sub-categories.

The MID market is now being broken up into several different categories, including portable navigation, Internet tablets, video players, and handheld gaming. Note the absence of voice communications. Intel has its eye on smartphones, but the current hardware foundation isn’t there yet. We’ll have to wait until 2009/2010 to see what the Apples and Googles of the world do with Intel’s hardware vision. For now, it’s all about adding Internet connectivity to the digital devices you might already tote around with you.

“Big deal,” you say. “The Q1 you just mentioned has Wi-Fi access and works with Samsung’s HSPDA modem. My PSP does Wi-Fi. And I don’t mind loading my Archos video player up with hours of content before I hit the road.” All true. However, you’re still faced with several obstacles. The 800 MHz A110 in that Q1 isn’t very beefy. Although it centers on Intel’s mobile technology, a reported three hours of battery life isn’t exactly stunning. And between all three of the examples posited, you have the issue of compatibility to address.

The Menlow platform, now known as Centrino Atom, represents Intel's first ground-up low-power CPU/chipset combination, setting the stage for Moorestown in 2009.

Here’s where Intel’s story gets a bit more compelling. You probably didn’t know this, but Adobe has 160 versions of Flash 7.2 it uses to support the many combinations of mobile devices with different ARM processors and versions of the software stack. The company has to keep creating new versions at the cost of both time and money. Of course, Adobe charges its customers for the development efforts. For Intel’s MIDs, however, Adobe can port its software one time and any derivative hardware platform will use the code. The same goes for audio and video codecs, which can already be a pain when dealing with today’s fragmented portable entertainment device business.

The idea here, according to Pankaj Kedia, director of Intel’s global ecosystem programs, is to make the Internet available wherever you are, rather than have you going to it. Put it in the context of cell phones. Instead of being tied to land lines, cell phones provide the freedom of voice communications wherever you happen to be. Intel’s Kedia sees the same thing happening with the Internet. Rather than searching for somewhere to hook up, MIDs will put the Internet in your pocket with all of the compatibility and performance of a PC. It’s a noble vision for sure, and we haven’t yet heard how all of these devices will achieve ubiquitous connectivity. However, one thing is for sure: the hardware is here and it makes the old McCaslin platform look like child’s play.

Meet Centrino Atom

A Processor, Chipset, Wireless Radio, and Pocket-Sized Package

Intel’s new platform for MIDs is called Menlow. And whereas McCaslin was found in ultra low-voltage notebooks, Menlow is the processor and chipset combination you’ll find in navigation devices, Internet tablets, video players, and gaming handhelds. From here on out you won’t hear Intel calling the platform by its internal name, though. The official brand is Centrino Atom.

A complete Centrino Atom configuration consists of the Atom processor (more on that shortly), Poulsbo, the single-component chipset, a wireless device, a battery, and a small form factor enclosure.

Intel considers Centrino Atom its first-generation MID solution. It'll follow up with Moorestown, targeting the lucrative smartphone market, in the 2009/2010 time frame.

Centrino Atom sits between two other Intel brands. At the entry-level, you’ll find netbooks and nettops powered by Atom. Those are small, simple, and affordable devices built for Internet-oriented usage models. At the high-end, Intel has its Centrino initiative driven by Core 2 Duo processors. Centrino Atom is shooting for the “best Internet experience in your pocket.”

The Atom Processor

Making Portable Possible

Formerly known as Silverthorne, Intel’s Atom processor leverages the 45nm high-K process technology we’ve come to associate with Penryn-based desktop and workstation CPUs. Remember the Pentium 4 we mentioned earlier? Atom sports 47 million transistors—just 5 million more than the original Pentium 4. But whereas Willamette occupied more than 200 square millimeters, Atom fits in less than 25 square millimeters.

Positioned squarely between the Atom (Diamondville) nettops and Centrino (Core 2 Duo) notebooks, Centrino Atom now defines Intel's MID segment.

Intel gave us access to the principal architect of Atom, Belliappa Kuttanna, who explained that one of his goals was to drastically reduce power consumption in order to propel Intel into a new market segment. Thus, Atom isn’t derived from any existing microarchitecture. That’s a big differentiator from the A100-series, which did center on Intel’s mobile designs. A second objective was to infuse Atom with enough processing horsepower to drive modern operating systems like Vista. Thirdly, Atom needed to be scalable, giving Intel the flexibility to create an entire product family with different features and running at different speeds.

So, Kuttanna’s team had to start from scratch in building Atom. Right away, they adopted an in-order execution engine, meaning instructions are dispatched and executed in the order that they appear. With the exception of Intel’s Itanium processor, all of the company’s other designs employ out-of-order engines. While OOO execution generally improves performance, Kuttanna clarified that Atom’s in-order implementation yielded much better energy efficiency.

Positioned squarely between the Atom (Diamondville) nettops and Centrino (Core 2 Duo) notebooks, Centrino Atom now defines Intel's MID segment.

The Atom architects also started with a single-issue machine, but that didn’t meet the team’s performance requirements, so they eventually settled on a dual decode and issue machine with a number of optimizations aimed at simplifying the architecture. For instance, the 32KB L1 instruction cache features pre-decode extensions. Because the IA architecture has variable-length instructions, Atom uses an algorithm that’s able to tag instructions with an end-of-instruction marker after a pass through the decoder. The next time the instruction is fetched, you have an indication of where the instruction ends, yielding better performance through the decoder. Atom’s branch predictors are much simpler as well, since they’d otherwise eat up too much of the power budget. The take-away is that Intel made some sweeping changes to the way IA instructions are decoded in an effort to maximize decoder efficiency and reduce power consumption.

Atom is also the first processor since Intel’s Pentium 4 to feature simultaneous multi-threading (SMT) in the form of Hyper-Threading. By design, in-order execution engines spend more processor clocks to execute instructions. Normally that’d be a performance inhibitor. However, Intel saw opportunity there. When execution is stalled, say, waiting for memory, pipeline resources go unutilized. By adding SMT, performance goes up as a second thread keeps instructions flowing through the engine. According to Intel’s Kuttanna, the performance gains seen from Atom’s in-order architecture with SMT are higher than an out-of-order design. Of course, realizing the benefits of SMT on an Atom-based device requires threaded software. The good news is that many audio and video codecs are already coded to employ threaded architectures. Multi-tasking will also showcase Atom’s ability to juggle more than one thread.

Details of Atom's microarchitecture, unveiled at last.

Moving into the FP/SIMD execution clusters, Atom features two single-cycle SIMD ALUs, one of which is equipped with a shuffle unit. The other supports a full-width floating point adder for single precision FP adds. Why the emphases on SIMD performance in the execution cluster? In profiling the apps typical of an MID, it became clear to Intel’s team that it’d see significant gains from building a wide data path.

In addition to its 32KB instruction cache, Atom sports a 24KB writeback data cache. The memory execution cluster also boasts a dual-level TLB hierarchy - one buffer is smaller, allowing very low latency access, and the other is significantly larger. A 512KB L2 cache with ECC support is integrated as well, able to fetch 64-byte cache lines in two clocks (that’s 256 bits per access). Onboard hardware prefetchers either pull data from memory into the L2 cache or from the L2 cache into the data cache. The processing core consists of roughly 13 million transistors and the chip’s L2 cache takes up about 30 million transistors.

Despite its ground-up design, Atom maintains compatibility with Intel’s Core 2 Duo product lineup. The architecture supports Intel Virtualization Technology, Execute Disable Bit support, 64-bit extensions and SSE3. However, Intel’s Pankaj Kedia says that not every feature will be productized in every SKU.

Cutting Power

An Architecture Optimized for the Road

As a result of Intel’s delicate balancing between power and performance, Atom is the company’s most energy-efficient design to date. Its thermal design power falls between .65 and 2.4 watts (contingent largely on the operating frequency of the SKU in question) and Intel says average power ranges from 160 to 220 mW. At idle, you’ll see numbers closer to 100 mW.

The decisions to incorporate an in-order execution engine and simplified scheduler contribute greatly to Atom’s effective power management. However, the CPU also includes a handful of specific power-saving technologies that keep consumption to a minimum.

In addition to Intel's architectural optimizations, Intel incorporates a handful of innovative techniques to keep Atom drawing the least amount of power possible.

One of the most effective is a new C6 power state, first introduced as a feature of the mobile Penryn family. You’re probably familiar with some of the other C-states, such as C1E, where the core clock is turned off, the L1 caches are flushed, voltage is lowered, and power draw is reduced considerably. C6 is significantly more aggressive, shutting off the core clock, PLLs, and caches. Voltage consequently drops to near-zero and consumption is kept to an absolute minimum. Information normally stored in the registers (what Intel calls the architectural state) is saved to a small on-chip buffer. Waking back up from C6 happens, in turn, very quickly. For all but one of the launch SKUs, idle power in the C6 state is 100 mW.

The C6 state is enabled, in part, by a split power plane. Under full utilization, all 203 of Atom’s I/O pins are active across both planes. In its C6 state, 21 pins continue receiving power from the 1.05V VRM over the one plane still powered on while the remaining shut off. Only the circuitry needed to wake Atom out of C6 continues getting power. Hence the low draw from an Atom processor as it idles.

Everything you've ever wanted to know about C-states. As you can see, C6 pulls Atom down to an extremely low level of power consumption.

Clock gating is another important tool Intel uses to ensure only the logic gates that need power are getting it. The power-saving technique isn’t new in the synchronous circuit business - it’s been a part of Intel’s mobile processors and discrete notebook GPUs since the Pentium 4 days. Atom is simply more aggressively optimized for the feature.

A Platform, Simplified

Single-Chip Chipset

Intel’s message of energy efficiency carries over from the processor to its platform. Like the Core 2 Duo and Quad CPUs, Atom communicates over a front side bus. As a percentage of total power consumption, the I/O pins on Intel’s FSB seem excessively high because the processor is so efficient relative to past designs.

The chipset on the other end of Atom’s front side bus is actually a single component consisting of functionality normally found on north and south bridges. Internally referred to as Poulsbo, the chip includes a capable integrated graphics engine and the I/O expansion of a mainstream desktop.

The single-chip Poulsbo System Controller Hub adds video acceleration, integrated graphics, PCI Express, USB, and DDR2 memory support.

Built from scratch like the Atom processor, Intel started development of Poulsbo in 2005. The company has been working with its software partners since then to ensure the most popular video players and codecs are all compatible with the chipset’s built-in hardware video acceleration. Pankaj Kedia points out that when he hops on YouTube with an iPhone, only the videos encoded in H.264 are available through Apple’s widget. Centrino Atom aims to change the need for “workarounds” on mobile devices. When you get online with a MID, you won’t be constrained by the proprietary nature of many of today’s solutions.

Integrated graphics is another important part of the Poulsbo story. The Centrino Atom platform was designed to accommodate a number of modern operating systems. And while Intel has standardized on the open source software projects hosted at moblin.org, you can expect at least a handful of OEMs to tap Vista as their operating system of choice. As a result, support for DirectX 9 and OpenGL are equally valuable to the core logic. Don’t expect breathtaking 3D performance from the core - Intel rates the theoretical maximum fill rate at 400 Mpixels/s - but that should be sufficient for the types of apps expected to run on MIDs.

Amazingly enough, the big chip is Poulsbo and the smaller one is Atom. Atom, of course, is manufactured at 45nm.

Poulsbo’s I/O consists of two PCI Express x1 ports, eight USB 2.0 host ports (one of which can be configured as a client port), three SDIO/MMC ports, support for up to 1GB of DDR2 memory, and an parallel ATA IDE controller. The idea, of course, is to facilitate PC-like capabilities in a miniaturized form factor. When OEMs start adding WiMAX and 3G support, they’ll use the System Controller Hub’s external connectivity to interface with the platform.

Atom at Launch

Five SKUs from which to Choose

The first round of Atom processors will launch at clock frequencies between 800 MHz and 1.86 GHz. All models include 512KB of L2 cache on the same sub-25 square millimeter die. But the two entry-level offerings will run on a 400 MHz front side bus, while the three higher-end versions employ a 533 MHz FSB. Those same three models also feature Hyper-Threading.

As you’d expect, power consumption rises as you ascend the family’s hierarchy, so OEMs will have to continue weighing the thermal performance of these solutions against the size of their devices. Even at 2W, Atom is still too hot for super-slim phones. As much as we would have liked to hear of an iPhone product with this technology, that’ll have to wait at least another year or two when Intel launches its next-generation platform.

The list of launch SKUs consists of five modes ranging from 800 MHz to 1.86 GHz. Three of the chips sport 533 MHz FSBs and Hyper-Threading support.

That platform, currently known as Moorestown, will be a System on Chip design and Intel’s first foray into the smart phone arena. There aren’t any really solid details on the hardware available yet, aside from an acknowledgement that Intel will use 45nm manufacturing and still reduce idle power by up to 10 times. However, Intel’s Anand Chandrasekher stood on stage at the fall IDF in San Francisco with an example of the type of device Moorestown will power and the potential appears to be stunning. For now, we’ll have to be contented with the precursors to those pocket-sized do-it-all products.

While the hardware Intel is introducing takes front and center, the company is also talking about its immediate plans to support Centrino Atom with a software infrastructure. Linux naturally lends itself to the ultra-portable market because of its cost, footprint, and lower system requirements. The problem with it, according to Pankaj Kedia, is that it’s fragmented. Intel’s solution is to unify the software under its Moblin open source project. Not only does Moblin address the low-cost, light weight operating system for Intel’s MIDs, but it also serves as an umbrella for the optimized applications developed to run on Centrino Atom.

Intel expects to see these 10 products, plus more, once Centrino Atom platforms start shipping in the June time frame.

Intel says it’s already talking to about 25 vendors who have the hardware, have the software, and are planning products. In the June timeframe, at least 10 of those should be ready or very close to it. Among the list of OEM partners, Intel showed us Lenovo’s entertainment device, a Toshiba handheld running Vista, an LG model also running Vista with a slide-out keyboard, Gigabyte’s offering, a touch-screen system from ASUS, Clarion’s mobile navigation system, and a BenQ handheld.

Life Beyond Atom

We Can't Wait to See

The MID market has been on Intel’s radar since 2005, when it set the ball in motion for today’s introduction. The company’s first step into the handheld Internet space was a bit timid with McCaslin. The Menlow/Centrino Atom is significantly more deliberate. But will the technically proficient start packing portable video players and Internet-enabled tablets in addition to their keyboard-equipped phones?

That’s going to be a hard sell, especially since there are a growing number of mobile convergence devices that offer video playback, voice communications, and Internet access in one place. More probable is Intel’s success with Centrino Atom in specialized markets. For instance, car audio manufacturer Clarion introduced its internally-named MiND Internet-enabled navigation device at this year’s CES. Currently slated for availability this year, the MiND will have an 800x480 touch screen display, a Centrino Atom platform 256MB of memory, 4GB of solid state storage, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0, and a GPS receiver. In the future, Clarion plans to add a 3G data module and WiMAX support to round out broadband Internet connectivity.

Check out Moblin.org for more information on Intel's standardized Linux environment for MIDs. Expect to see a number of MIDs running Vista as well.

That last point is particularly interesting. Recall that in order to qualify for Centrino branding, a notebook must include Intel’s processor, chipset, and wireless networking module, be that the PRO/Wireless 3945ABG card or the WiFI Link 4965AGN adapter. With Centrino Atom, mobile devices will feature a combination of WiFi, 3G, and WiMAX sourced through Intel or a third party. Hopefully that means more innovation from OEMs building sexy new handhelds.

Intel Core 2 Extreme Mobile X9000, Mobile Penryn

2008-07-08T08:17:00.005+06:00

When you consider notebooks are easily the highest growth segment of the PC industry, isn't it sort of odd that we don't hear more about new product refresh efforts from the major OEMs? The simple fact of the matter is, that while we hear of new desktop and workstation technologies on a regular basis, core notebook architectures, more often than not go through more evolutionary enhancements, rather than revolutionary overhauls. Perhaps this is because mobile architectures in general are derivatives of their desktop counterparts that are tuned for low power consumption. Major players like Intel, AMD and NVIDIA currently take a top down approach, building high-end products for the desktop and then fleshing out product lines down through the mainstream and finally to mobile.

Good, bad or indifferent, this is very much the tact that Intel has taken with their Santa Rosa notebook platform, utilizing the 965 Express chipset to enable 65nm Merom dual core processors over various clock speeds up to 2.8GHz, with the Core 2 Extreme X7900 currently sitting atop Intel's 65nm mobile chip offering. Also, earlier in Q1 of this year, Intel drove their new 45nm Penryn dual-core offerings down through their notebook lineup with Wolfdale-like derivatives from 2.1GHz to 2.6GHz and an 800MHz FSB with 3 - 6MB of L2 cache, depending on model number.

Today we have a look at Intel's new top-of-the-line Core 2 Mobile chip, the Core 2 Extreme Mobile X9000. At 2.8GHz with a full 6MB of L2 cache and a TDP of 35 Watts, this chip is currently Intel's fastest notebook CPU for the performance enthusiast, gaming, and multimedia markets, aka the Desktop Replacement (DTR) crowd. Our test vehicle was none other than Dell's XPS M1730 killer mobile gaming machine. A match made in heaven? Perhaps. Read on...

Dell's XPS M1730 - Now Mobile Penryn Infused

Intel Core 2 Extreme Mobile X9000 Processor

Features & Specifications

2.8GHz Clock Speed, Dual-Core
"Penryn" Core Architecture
45nm Manufaturing Technology
128 kB L1 Cache (Data/Instruction)
6 MB Shared L2 Cache (Full Speed)
800MHz Front Side Bus Speed

Socket-478 Micro-FCPGA Form Factor Design
1.225V Default Core Voltage
Supports 32/64-bit Processing (EM64T)
Supports SSE / SSE2 / SSE3 / SSE4.1
Supports Intel Speedstep / C1,C2, C3, C4 and Intel Enhanced Deeper Sleep and Deep Power-Down states
Supports Execute Disable (xD) Bit

Model	L2 Cache	Frequency	FSB	TDP
Core 2 Extreme X9000	6 MB	2.8 GHz	800 MHz	35W
Core 2 Duo T9500	6 MB	2.6 GHz	800 MHz	35W
Core 2 Duo T9300	6 MB	2.5 GHz	800 MHz	35W
Core 2 Duo T8300	3 MB	2.4 GHz	800 MHz	35W
Core 2 Duo T8100	3 MB	2.1 GHz	800 MHz	35W

Intel 45nm Core 2 Duo Mobile Products

In the specs list above you can see that this new notebook chip from Intel shares nearly an identical features list to that of the higher-end Core 2 Duo desktop chips based on Intel's Wolfdale core. However, Intel has also further enhanced this chip's power-savings capability by turning down FSB speeds to 800MHz and introducing various stages of Intel Speedstep C1 - C4 technology as well as Enhanced Deeper Sleep and Deep Power-Down states. In the processor's Deeper Sleep state, all data that resides in L2 caches is dumped to main system memory and then the cache is powered down as well to conserve power. L2 cache is high speed, low latency SRAM technology that consumers significantly more power than a standard DRAM cell. Powering down the cache also allows the Northbridge memory controller to stop making requests thus offering this "deeper" sleep state since it doesn't have to wake the processor up looking for L2 cache data that isn't there anyway.

Overclocking The Core 2 Extreme Mobile X9000

The Fastest Notebook Chip To Date...

We then took a look under this new mobile chip's hood with the help of CPU-Z. As you'll note, the model, stepping and revision numbers listed are identical to that of Intel's Wolfdale core architecture. However, CPU-Z only recognizes this new chip as a "Penryn" core and technically that is not an incorrect designation.

Core 2 Extreme Mobile X9000 Processor - Stock 2.8GHz and Overclocked @ 3.2GHz

As you can see, the processor's multiplier is relatively high. At stock speeds, a multiple of 14X is applied to an 800MHz quad-pumped 200MHz bus speed. By turning up the multiplier to 16X, we were able to achieve a completely stable 3.2GHz clock speed without the need of a core voltage increase, though the M1730's fans were spun up to unbearably loud levels. We'd recommend a quieter 3GHz overclock, which didn't require a fan speed increase for stability. Also, though a 17X multiplier was available in the BIOS for a 3.4GHz clock speed, the system wouldn't remain stable for extended periods of testing and benchmarks.

With the system plugged into a wall-plug power meter, we measured total system power consumption at stock and also at various overclocked speeds all the way up to 3.4GHz. You may be surprised with the results, especially in comparison to one of our reference systems.

Core 2 Extreme Mobile X9000 Processor - Full Load

At its stock speed and with the ability to invoke the various stages of its power savings features, the M1730 system, with the Core 2 Extreme Mobile X9000, has significantly lower power consumption versus our standard Core 2 Duo E6600 test system. And frankly our test systems are stripped down comparatively, without an LCD panel drawing power from the same connection like the notebook is limited to. This speaks clearly for those of you concerned about "Green Computing". Want to really cut down on your carbon footprint? Simply go the way of the notebook. Or better yet, go with a low power 45nm mobile CPU in that notebook as well.

For our overclock-enabled tests, you'll observe that since the processor's multiplier has been hard set, clock gating doesn't occur under either load or idle conditions. Regardless, even heavily overclocked, the Dell XPS M1730 with the Core 2 Extreme Mobile X9000, relatively speaking, consumes a lot less power than a similarly configured desktop system. Though you might want to keep this humdinger of a notebook tethered to the wall because battery life time is only around an hour and 15 minutes or so.

For our next set of tests, we moved on to some in-game benchmarking with Crysis and F.E.A.R. For testing purposes, with Crysis or F.E.A.R., we drop the screen resolution to 800x600, and reduce all of the in-game graphical options to their minimum values to isolate CPU and memory performance as much as possible. However, the in-game effects, which control the level of detail for the games' physics engines and particle systems, are left at their maximum values, since these actually do place some load on the CPU rather than GPU.

Low-Resolution Gaming: Crysis and F.E.A.R.

Taking the GPU out of the Equation

In what arguably can be thought of as the most demanding game engine to date, the Core 2 Extreme Mobile X9000 CPU shows it has just as much fight in it, if not more than our dual-core desktop CPUs. The 2.8GHz stock speed X9000 numbers clock in right next to the 3GHz Core 2 Duo chip and far ahead of the tri-core Phenom. At 3.2GHz, this 478-pin mobile chip toasts the 3GHz desktop chip by a solid 20% margin.

F.E.A.R., on the other hand is more system memory and bus bandwidth intensive than the Crysis benchmark. This time around the X9000 Core 2 Duo mobile chip drops back to line up more within its clock speed envelope. With an FSB of 800MHz, its additional L2 cache doesn't offer much more in terms of performance offset. Regardless, especially when you consider its power consumption advantages and 35 Watt TDP, gaming-wise, the Core 2 Extreme Mobile X9000 lives up to its nameplate and then some.

OCZ Introduces DDR3 Laptop Memory

2008-07-08T08:15:00.001+06:00

Responding to the Demand for Next-Generation Notebooks, OCZ Introduces DDR3 Laptop Memory for High-End Mobile Systems

Sunnyvale, CA—July 7, 2007—OCZ Technology Group, a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory, today announced the all-new DDR3 SODIMM modules as its next generation notebook memory to support the impending Intel Centrino® 2 mobile platform. These latest memory offerings for notebooks help reduce power consumption and increase speed and bandwidth, resulting in a higher performing laptop. As next-generation laptops are introduced in the upcoming weeks, OCZ is prepared to deliver high-performance DDR3 for these advanced gaming and professional systems.

The benefits of DDR3 memory now extends beyond desktop systems to laptops, offering increased frequencies at lower voltage requirements. OCZ’s PC3-8500 and PC3-10666 SODIMM kits support enthusiast-grade performance and bring speeds to notebook systems that were previously unimaginable. Early-adopting gamers and professionals will benefit from the more productive computing experience that the combination of the new Centrino 2 technology and OCZ DDR3 modules can provide.

“The Centrino 2 platform is a logical extension of Intel’s efforts spearheading DDR3 acceptance in the enthusiast segment in the desktop sector,” commented Dr. Michael Schuette, VP of Technology Development at OCZ Technology. “From a technical standpoint, DDR3 memory technology is far superior to DDR2, from the higher frequency range resulting in better overall system performance to the energy savings at idle stemming from loss-less termination to the supply-voltage level and resulting in paramount energy savings in the typical notebook usage pattern.”

NVIDIA Launches TEGRA System-On-a-Chip Designs

2008-06-04T08:14:00.002+06:00

Back in February of this year, NVIDIA announced their APX 2500 application processor. In the official announcement, NVIDIA described the product as a "breakthrough applications processor that enables intuitive 3D user interfaces and engaging high-definition video on connected Windows Mobile phones." -- a tall order to be sure. At the time, we got a chance to play with the APX 2500 development platform and saw the unit's UI first hand. We even saw Quake III running on the device, which brought back memories of the thousands of timedemo runs we've endured over the years, while producing numerous, CPU, GPU, and motherboard related articles. Although NVIDIA didn't disclose any design wins in our meeting, seeing the device in action left us feeling that smartphone and portable navigation device manufacturers would be all over APX 2500. And there were a few "off the record" comments during our meeting that reinforced this feeling.

NVIDIA's APX / TEGRA Development Platform

NVIDIA's Tegra procesor is a relatively tiny piece of silicon considering it is being touted as a "system on a chip". The reference PCB shows a TEGRA processor in the center, surrounded by a couple of Samsung DRAM chips and an 8GB SAMSUNG moviNAND piece of flash memory. The Samsung moviNAND combines high-density MLC NAND flash with an MMC controller in a single chip. The actual development platform device looks much like the one designed for the APX 2500, and resembles many current portable navigation units. Also note the multitude of output and ports on the TEGRA development platform.

NVIDIA TEGRA High-Level Overview

NVIDIA's TEGRA application processor features an ARM11 processor core with a GeForce GPU, and dedicated image and HD video processing engines. The integrated GeForce GPU features programmable pixel shaders and support for OpenGL ES 2.0 and D3D Mobile. TEGRA processing units are coupled to a low-power DDR memory interface, display outputs - including HDMI and they support both NAND and NOR flash memory for storage. What's perhaps most impressive is that, at idle, the chips consume less than 100 mW.

If we compare the features and clock speeds of the TEGRA 600 and 650 to the APX 2500, it becomes clear that the chips are quite similar. The only totally "new" feature to TEGRA is support for IDE. But the new TEGRA chips also offer support for higher primary LCD resolutions and the TEGRA 650 can decode video at up to 1080P (@ 24 FPS), while the others are limited to 720P (@ 30 FPS).

http://www.hothardware.com//newsimages/Item6969/3DUI_portrait.zip

NVIDIA has worked closely with Microsoft during the development of the APX 2500 and TEGRA application processors, so you can expect some next-gen smartphones running Windows Mobile and various mobile internet devices (MIDs) to be based on them. We also suspect some portable navigation devices will leverage the technology for its relatively high-performance (in the mobile space) 3D graphics support.

For an idea of what NVIDIA has in mind for TEGRA, take a look at the video above. It shows the 3D UI in action.

Intel P45 / G45 Express Launch and Technology Preview

2008-06-04T08:05:00.004+06:00

Today at Computex, Intel has officially launched their updated lineup of x45-series chipsets, which will likely be the last major mainstream chipset launch from Intel on the Core 2 platform as we know it today. The names and specifications of these products have been rumored and reported on for the past few months, although today everything is set in stone and products are beginning to hit the market. The products which are launching today will make up the lion’s share of Intel’s chipset lineup until their next generation high-end X58 chipset launches with the Core 2’s successor, codenamed Nehalem.

While all of these new chipset products which are being launched today are based on the same core architecture, Intel has segmented this one architecture into four individual products. Those four products are the G45 Express, G43 Express, P45 Express, and the P43 Express. As implied by this naming schema, these four products are very close in terms of features, capabilities, and performance. The P45 and P43 products are the “high-end” and “low-end” models which do not have integrated graphics support, while the G45 Express and G43 Express are the “high-end” and “low-end” models which do have Intel’s new integrated graphics engine, the X4500 / X4500HD.

Intel P45/ICH10 Chipset

Intel G45/ICH10 Chipset

While it’s always exciting to see new chipset products launched from Intel, it’s important to keep in mind that this newly launched family of products is aimed at the mid-range market, replacing the Intel P35/G35 products which are out today. Intel is still keeping the X48 Express chipset as their high-end product of choice, whereas the G45/P45 series products will fall one notch below, bringing almost all of the features of this high-end product to a much broader audience. These newly launched chips will be the big-sellers which will be seen in most Intel systems throughout the next year. Feel free to take a quick glance at how the specifications of these new chipset products line-up.

The chipset which most HotHardware readers will be interested in will likely be the P45 Express, which replaces the P35 Express, a common enthusiast favorite over the last year. The P35 Express chipset delivered excellent performance for the dollar, along with impressive thermals, low power consumption, and excellent overclockability.

The P45 Express and the P35 Express share much in common, although the most important attribute is that the P45 Express is fabricated on a 65nm manufacturing process, as opposed to the P35/X38/X48 chipset lineup which is manufactured on a 90nm process. The 65nm process will not only decrease the size of the Northbridge die, but will also allow for even lower power consumption, lower heat production, and (hopefully) improved overclockability. Architecturally, the two products are very close, but the manufacturing aspect alone could make the P45 Express much more attractive to some enthusiasts.

Intel P45 Chipset Diagram

The P45 Express supports Socket-775 Core 2 Duo/Quad processors at up to 1333 MHz, which means “official” 1600 MHz FSB support is still out of the mix. Currently, Intel only recommends the X48 chipset for front side bus speeds over 1333 MHz. However, considering even older generation P35 boards could easily hit 1800 MHz FSB speeds with little work, there is no doubt in our mind that P45 Express boards will easily hit 1900-2000 MHz+ FSB speeds given the proper BIOS controls.

The P45 supports both dual-channel DDR2 (800 MHz - up to 16 GB capacity) and dual-channel DDR3 (1066 MHz - up to 8 GB capacity), and it will be up to motherboard manufacturers to decide which standard to support. We’re expecting most major motherboard companies to release multiple products on the P45 to support both standards, as DDR2 still commands significant demand due to its excellent price/performance ratio.

New with the P45 is support for PCI Express 2.0, a feature which was only available on the X38/X48 chipsets on the Intel side until now. The P45 supports two PCI Express 2.0 x16 slots and can support AMD/ATI Radeon cards in a CrossFire configuration. However, these are not true x16 slots, as when in multi-GPU mode, these slots will automatically drop down to PCI Express 2.0 x8 speeds. Even on ATI’s fastest Radeons, we doubt this will be a performance degrading feature, although it’s somewhat disappointing that Intel still doesn’t have dedicated PCI Express x16 lanes across the board, as rival Nvidia chipsets have had this for several generations. The P45 Express supports Intel’s ICH10 or ICH10R (w/ RAID) Southbridge controllers, which is largely feature identical to ICH9/ICH9R. ICH10 supports up to 6 x Serial ATA-II/300 storage ports, along with support for RAID 0/1/5/10 on the –R versions of the chipsets. ICH10 supports Intel Turbo Memory technology, up to 12 USB 2.0 ports, HD audio, an integrated Gigabit Ethernet controller, and Intel’s ASF 2.0 management technologies.Intel is largely playing down the ICH10 in this release, as for most users, it does not bring anything of value to the table.

Snagging yet another feature from the high-end X38/X48 series chipsets is support for Intel’s Extreme Tuning Utility. ETU is a software-level performance tweaking suite which allows end users to overclock their systems through Windows. It’s nothing we haven’t seen before in other incarnations, but it’s still good to see Intel supporting enthusiasts this time around.

The low-end version of the P45 Express chipset is the P43 Express. Feature wise, it is identical to the P45 Express, but has been slightly neutered in some ways to make it more cost efficient. The P43 Express chipset only supports a single PCI Express 2.0 slot (as opposed to 2x on the P45), but beyond that is absolutely identical. If you don’t need multi-GPU support, you will be able to save a few bucks and go for a P43 Express board. P43 Express boards will likely be targeted at the budget market and will have trimmed down feature sets from the motherboard manufactures.

Perhaps a bit more exciting than the P45/P43 Express is their more feature packed brothers, the G45/G43 Express. In terms of their feature sets, such as processor support, memory interfaces, and storage/audio/networking, these two product lines are nearly identical. However, the G45/G43 Express chipset products have Intel’s new GMA X4500/X4500HD integrated graphics engine lodged inside.

Intel G45 Chipset Diagram

The GMA X4500HD, with its impressive sounding name, replaces the GMA X3500 graphics engine. The primary benefit which Intel is touting with the new GMA X4500HD graphics core is the ability to push high-definition/Blu-Ray video with good performance and image quality. Intel has improved the performance of their integrated graphics core to allow for full 1080P HD video playback and the X4500HD is also the first Intel integrated graphics solution to support both DisplayPort and HDMI with full HDCP support. X4500HD also supports Intel's Clear Video technology, which uses hardware-level processing to enhance image quality and clean up video. The "HD" in the X4500HD denotes support for AVC and VC1 decode acceleration, which the standard X4500 graphics engine does not have.

This, in short, basically means that this chip will be better than Intel's previous solutions for home theater and media center boxes. How it compares with discreet GPUs, however, remains to be seen. We will start to see motherboards with onboard video interfaces rivaling expensive third-party graphics cards with HDMI/DisplayPort – and since the chipset houses both the integrated graphics engine and the audio engine, motherboards will be able to output video/audio through these ports properly, without the need for any digital audio cabling internally.

Performance wise, Intel is not elaborating in their official documentation, which makes us believe that the GMA X4500 won’t be a game-changer in this regard. We are expecting performance gains on some level, but nothing we’ve seen thus far has convinced us that this will be a decent graphics component for any type of serious gaming. For casual gaming, Intel’s integrated graphics components can sometimes get the job done, and we expect the GMA X4500 to be similar in this regard. The GMA X4500HD is, however, technically up to date with modern gaming graphics standards, as it’s a Shader Model 4.0 compliant GPU, which means it supports DirectX 9/10 titles, and also supports OpenGL 2.0 as well. However, just because it supports modern titles doesn’t mean it has the raw processing horsepower or driver support to render everything properly at acceptable frame rates. It's up to Intel to empower their chipset with solid drivers that will allow end users to get the most out of their IGP solution.

The G45 Express chipset does suffer one drawback in comparison to the P45 Express, in that the G45 does not support dual graphics cards. The G45 Express supports a single PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot if you do not want to use the onboard graphics, but it does not officially support the ability to split multiple x16 slots into an 8x8 multi-GPU configuration. Beyond this limitation and the inclusion of the onboard GPU, the G45 and P45 series chips are essentially identical. Both can be paired with either ICH10 or ICH10R Soutbridges, depending on what the motherboard maker selects.

As for G45 Express versus the G43 Express, as far as we can tell by looking over Intel’s spec sheets is that the G43 Express only supports a single DDR2/DDR2 DIMM memory module per channel, which means motherboards will only have two slots instead of four. This likely means that G43 Express motherboards will top out at 4GB as their peak memory capacity as opposed to 8GB on G45 Express motherboards. Also, the G43 Express uses the GMA X4500 graphics engine, as opposed to the GMA X4500HD, which means the G43 Express will not have AVC/VC1 decode acceleration support.

Assuming Intel P45/G45-based motherboards hit the market at the same price point as Intel P35/G35-based boards, there is very little not to like here. This new lineup of chipsets will bring lower power consumption, PCI Express 2.0 support, and better integrated graphics abilities to the mix. In general, Intel's new chipset genuinely offers solid improvements across the board. Given the expected overclockability and power improvements with this series of chipsets, it will be hard for Intel to really push their “high-end” X48 chipset, which shares so many attributes with the P45 – although we’re certain they’ll try. Motherboards based on the P45/G45 series chipsets will start shipments very soon, and you should be able to grab one off the shelves by the end of the month. We’ll be following up with reviews of finalized P45 motherboards soon, so stay tuned.

Dell XPS 730 H2C Performance Gaming System

2008-05-29T08:10:00.005+06:00

Dell's XPS branded products have come a long way since they first appeared in 1993. Starting life as a performance trim for the Dimension product line, Dell has nurtured XPS into a well-known and respected premium performance brand. While not all XPS branded products are specifically targeted at gamers, gaming has always been at the core of the product line-up. The XPS brand's flagship desktop and notebook products have always been heavily gaming oriented, but it looks like that is set to change.

The XPS 730 is Dell's latest XPS flagship desktop product, the fourth generation of the XPS 700 series, and it may be the last. Or at least the last XPS flagship product as we currently know them; large, aggressively styled behemoths sporting the latest hardware and adorned with colorful LED lighting. A week after the XPS 730 was launched, news regarding the demise of XPS as a gaming brand began to circulate. Since its acquisition of Alienware in the summer of 2006, Dell has effectively been operating two separate gaming brands with directly competing products. It was speculated that some changes, possibly in the form of consolidation of the two brands, would eventually be in order. It is now fairly clear that Dell is to focus on Alienware as its premier gaming brand in the future.

While Dell has only now acknowledged that the XPS brand will give way to Alienware as Dell's premier gaming brand, there have been numerous signs that such a move was in the works. Since Dell brought Alienware into the fold, they have been busy introducing new, non gaming oriented products to both the XPS desktop and notebook line-ups. Starting with the XPS M1330 notebook and its derivatives and then the XPS 420 desktop, Dell is busy converting XPS into a premium multimedia brand. While the XPS brand of the future may still include gaming systems, they will not be the high-end flagship systems of today.

So it is with a slight bit of regret that we begin our review of the XPS 730 H2C, possibly the most exciting and last generation of the flagship XPS 700 series.

Dell XPS 730 H2C

System Specifications - As Reviewed

Processor
Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770 (3.2GHz @ 3.8GHz,6M L2 Cache,1600MHz FSB)
Operating System Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium

Memory
2GB Corsair Dominator DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHZ OC to 1600MHz
Graphics Card
Dual 1024MB ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 (Quad-Crossfire)

Chipset
NVIDIA nforce 790i Ultra SLI
- Supports ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 in four way Crossfire or NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GX2 in quad SLI
- Standard ATX Form-Factor

Cooling H2C 2-stage Hybrid Cooled CPU and MCP

Communications Dual Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000Base-T)
Bluetooth
Audio
Creative Xi-Fi XtremeGamer
Integrated 7.1 Audio (disabled by default)

Hard Drive
2x160GB Western Digital Raptor 10,000RPM SATA Hard Drive (programs and OS)
1x1000GB Hitachi 7,200 RPM SATA Hard Drive (data)

Optical Drive
16x CD/DVD Burner (DVD +/- RW) w/ Double Layer Write

Expansion Slots 2 x PCIe x16 Gen2 slot
1 x PCIe x16 slot
2 x PCIe x1 slot
2 x PCI slot

External Ports 8 x USB 2.0 ports (2 front, 4 rear)
2 x 1394a Firewire port (1 front, 1 rear)
2 x RJ45 Ethernet (10/100/1000) port
1 x eSATA
1 x PS/2 Mouse Port
1 x PS/2 Keyboard Port
1 x 19-in-1 card reader (front media-bay)
1 x 1/8" headphone port (front)
1 x 1/8" stereo line-in (microphone) port
1 x S/PDIF Optical
1 x S/PDIF Coaxial
1 x 1/8" surround sound outputs

Chassis
Dell XPS 730 ATX Aluminum Chassis
- ESA Compliant
- 4 x 3.5" Internal Bays
- 2 x 3.5" External Bays
- 4 x 5.25" External Bays

Color Option
Anodized Aluminum in Victory Red

Power Supply
1000W Power Supply
- EPA Compliant
- 80+ Certified

Physical Dimensions
Width: 21.9 cm (8.6 inches) without stand; 35.6 cm
(14.0 inches) with stand
Height: 55.5 cm (21.9 inches) without stand; 57.2 cm
(22.5 inches) with stand
Depth: 59.4 cm (23.4 inches)
Weight: 21.7 kg (47.8 lb) typical configuration, 25.6 kg (56.4 lb) maximum configuration

Included Accessories and Extras DVI to VGA Adapter
Recovery DVD
Norton™ Internet Security 2007 or McAfee SecurityCenter (15-months)
FREE Turtle Beach Ear Force HPA2 6-channel Headphones
FREE Dell XPS Mouse Pad
FREE Dell XPS Beanie Cap
FREE Dell XPS 2-in-1 Pen & Laser Pointer
FREE Dell XPS Tool Kit
FREE System Recycling (recycle your old system with Dell)

Warranty And Support
1-year In-Home Service (upgradeable to 4 years)
1-year Parts and Labor (upgradeable to 4 years)
1-year 3GB DataSafe Online Backup (capacity upgradeable)
24x7 Online and Phone Support
Optional CompleteCare Accidental Damage Protection

Price: $6,629.00 USD (as configured here)

As we saw in our unboxing and preview article, the XPS 730 H2C is possibly the most well-specified XPS desktop ever. It is powered by the latest dual and quad-core Intel processors cooled by a redesigned H2C hybrid TEC-assisted water cooling system and complete with a warranty that has room for processor and memory overclocking. Not to mention the graphics performance afforded by Quad-GPU graphics setups from both ATI and NVIDIA (although at this time the Quad-SLI option is not yet available). All of this is built on NVIDIA's top-end nForce 790i Ultra SLI platform in the form of a fully-ATX compliant motherboard, unlike all other XPS 700 series machines which used BTX designs. Other features new to the XPS 700 series like a fully ESA compliant chassis design round out the package.

One of the XPS 730's most interesting new features is the motherboard's support for both Crossfire and SLI. The nForce 790i Ultra SLI based motherboard under the hood of the XPS 730 will be able to support both multi-GPU technologies, making it compatible with basically every single graphics configuration currently available. While Dell is not the first manufacturer to pull this off (Voodoo PC has offered this on several systems in the past), it is certainly still a novelty.

The XPS 730 chassis is the first significantly new design in the XPS 700 series. The XPS 700, 710 and 720 were nearly identical in their outward appearance and the only significant change, until now, was a few alterations to the available color options. While the XPS 730 features the same profile and dimensions as its 700-series brethren, it sports a totally new grill design reminiscent of the XPS 630.

The XPS 730 also features a new color scheme. There are three color options in total; unpainted brushed aluminum, anodized Victory Red and anodized Stealth Blue. The standard XPS 730 will only be available in brushed aluminum but the H2C trim option will be available in all 3 color schemes. We like the new color options a lot more than the ones available with previous XPS 700 series machines. We especially like the fact that consumers who want the premium H2C trim are no longer stuck with a single color option (Midnight Black) like in the past.

It is worth noting that Dell has not completed roll-out of the XPS 730 yet so these details may change in the future. Currently, the XPS 730 is only available in 3 different H2C trims starting at $3,999, $4,999 and $5,999. A standard non-H2C XPS 730 is not currently available, presumably so Dell can clear out XPS 720 stock.

The XPS 730 is available in 3 colors; Victory Red, Brushed Aluminum, Stealth Blue

The uniform, horizontal louvered design of the previous 700-series models has been replaced with a more modern design punctuated by a large XPS badge. All previous XPS 700 series machines had been adorned with a single, small Dell badge on the front grill. The horizontal button and connections bar is in the same place, but is now in a slight V-shape. The large, louvered intake grill of the previous design has been replaced with a simple wiry crosshatch painted in high-gloss black that looks invisible from a distance when the system is off.

Our review unit has the H2C trim with a Victory Red color scheme. Like the original XPS 700 design, the entire case is wrapped in aluminum, except for the front and rear. The anodized film on the aluminum appears to be fairly thick and scratch resistant. It holds color well and the Victory Red paint is bright, reflective and uniform. The new design also features a high-gloss finish on the non-aluminum parts that is very reflective. Thankfully the paint manages to ward off fingerprints but it does attract a fair amount of dust which becomes visible under harsh lighting. Overall, the paint job is fairly low maintenance, perhaps surprisingly so, considering how reflective and glossy it is.

In our evaluation of the XPS 710 H2C, we criticized Dell for not having a windowed side-panel as an option and it seemed we were not alone in our wish. Around the same time we published our article, Dell launched their IdeaStorm user feedback website. One of the first votes to appear on the IdeaStorm website was over several side-window designs under consideration by the XPS team. Ultimately the winning design was incorporated in the XPS 730.

Instead of a standard rectangular window, the voters chose a unique X-shaped design, as you can see in the following photos. The window doesn't extend to the top of the case to hide the cables and generally unsightly optical and hard drive bays. The side-panel is held on by the same tool-less latch system as the previous 700 series chassis and the latch can be locked via a standard Kensington security port. The side-panel window is available as an option so you will be able to choose a windowless version if you prefer when Dell has completed the XPS 730 roll-out (at the time of writing, all XPS 730 configurations offered come with the windowed side-panel).

Like previous XPS designs, the XPS 730 has 'stealthed' drive bays and the optical drive eject buttons have been smartly integrated into the design. The drive bay doors are spring-loaded and swing down when the drive opens. The drive bay doors operate smoothly and it doesn't seem likely that they could catch on the drive tray, which occasionally happens on several designs we have examined in the past. It is worth noting that when the drive bay door is open, it blocks access to the drive eject button so the only way to close the drive tray is to push on it until the servo activates (all optical drives should have this function). While this isn't a problem per se, it would have been more elegant if the drive eject button remained accessible.

The XPS 730 chassis has two external 3.5" bays which are hidden behind a small flip-down door which is decorated by the XPS badge. The door has a small magnet embedded at each corner which firmly holds it closed. The door has a series of holes cut into it so the 3.5" bay can double as an additional intake grill unless both bays are filled.

The horizontal V-shaped bar on the front of the chassis, just under the XPS badge, holds all of the system's front buttons and connectors. In the apex of the V is a circular back-lit power button. To the left of the power button are FireWire, heaphone and microphone ports and to the right are two USB ports. The XPS 730 does not have a separate reset button so all hard-resets must be done with the power button.

The entire case sits on a stand which slightly elevates the case. The stand is pre-installed at the factory and it has two metal feet or 'wings' that can fold out for added stability.

All XPS 700 series machines are lit by a series of multi-color LEDs and the XPS 730 continues this trend. While the LED lighting system on the previous XPS 700 series chassis looked good, the LED system on the XPS 730 looks great. This is mostly due to the new high-gloss paint used on the non-aluminum areas of the chassis. The paint reflects the light from the LEDs and gives it a much brighter and more uniform appearance. The effect of the lights on the new wiry crosshatch grill, which is covered by the same glossy black paint, is especially pleasing.

While the LEDs on the XPS 730 are located in the same general regions as those on previous models, the LED system on the XPS 730 is quite a bit more advanced and offers much greater control to the user. The LEDs on the XPS 730 are divided into 5 different zones which are controlled separately. The zones are front-top, front-bottom-left, front-bottom-right, rear and internal. Each region can be configured to have its own color and brightness.

With previous models, the multi-color LED system had a fixed number of preset colors to choose from (8 for the XPS 710). For the XPS 730, the LED color is a composition of three separate colors (Red, Green, Blue). Each color has 15 different brightness settings where 0 would be off and 15 would be the brightest setting. This allows for a significantly greater number of colors than before and the LEDs can still be turned off by setting all colors to 0. These settings can be changed on-the-fly via a custom version of NVIDIA's Control Panel utility which comes with the system so you can see the results of your change immediately.

Overall, the new XPS 730 chassis looks every bit as good as the old design, if not better. We like the new color schemes and it is nice that the H2C trim is now available in more than just one color. The paint job and materials seem to be of high quality and we had no problems with the operation of the various switches, latches and doors on the front of the unit.
While the updated exterior of the XPS 730 doesn't stray too far from the previous XPS 700 series chassis, the interior is significantly different. One of the greatest complaints against Dell (and several other vendors) and especially the XPS 700 series is the use of a BTX chassis and motherboard. This made upgrading the system nearly impossible since the BTX form-factor never took off and none of the major after-market manufacturers produce BTX motherboards. The XPS 730 is the first in the series to address and fix this problem by offering full ATX compatibility. In fact, Dell has gone to some lengths to make the XPS 730 chassis as upgradeable and future-proof as any high-end after-market chassis you might purchase from the likes of Coolermaster, Lian-Li or Thermaltake.

Dell has also designed the chassis to be ESA (Enthusiast System Architecture) compliant which allows the system to monitor and report a wide variety of temperature and performance data in real-time. We'll explore the XPS 730's ESA features in detail on a later page.
While Dell has ditched the BTX form-factor, they have kept the "inverted" motherboard setup that visually characterizes the BTX form factor. The motherboard is mounted upside down with the CPU near the bottom of the case and the graphics cards near the top. This is a popular alternative to the original ATX standard configuration and it is used by many computer chassis manufacturers such as Lian-Li. The attraction to this alternate motherboard mounting configuration is that in certain conditions, this configuration has been shown to provide superior cooling efficiency.

The XPS 730 features a variety of system monitoring (as per ESA) and special control capabilities for the LED and cooling system (in the case of the H2C version). In previous 700 series models, these controls were handled by the motherboard. This would be a problem if the motherboard were replaced, since all of that functionality would be lost. In the XPS 730, these functions are contained on a separate circuit board which sits to the left of the motherboard, under the cooling shroud. This means you retain all functionality when the motherboard is upgraded. Both the motherboard and the separate control board sit on a removable motherboard tray, which can be unscrewed from the chassis and lifted out. Unfortunately it doesn't slide out the back like in some after-market solutions.

The XPS 730's motherboard (see image below) is a fairly typical looking ATX board that is not unlike NVIDIA's reference design. However, it features a less ornamental cooling solution than most after-market motherboards and doesn't sport an excessive number of copper heat-pipes. The motherboard's chipset is cooled by a single heatsink and the northbridge and southbridge sides of the heatsink are linked by a set of heat-pipes hidden under the heatsink itself. The voltage regulators around the CPU socket have their own dedicated heatsinks connected by a single heat-pipe.

The interior of the XPS 730 is lit by several multi-color LEDs, just like the exterior. There are also a set of LEDs located on the rear of the system. They are strategically placed to illuminate the rear I/O panel and the expansion slots. This is both aesthetically pleasing and very functional since the illumination makes connecting cables in dark environments, such as under desks, much easier. All of the decorative LEDs are part of the chassis and not the motherboard so you do not lose them if it is replaced.

Compared to the previous 700 series chassis, the power supply and drive bays remain in the same position. There are four 5.25" drive bays at the top of the case and two externally accessible 3.5" drive bays under them. The power supply is located in the rear-top corner. There are four 3.5" internal hard drive bays located in two columns under the power supply. The position of the hard drive bays leaves little room for the two central 5.25" bays and the area is very cramped. Thankfully the front panel can be easily removed, allowing access to the 5.25" bays from the front.

The chassis has built-in cable management for all hard drive cables. Cables are also installed and pre-routed for all four hard drive bays, even if they are not all in use. This makes upgrading extremely simple since all of the cables are provided and installed. You simply need to push the new hard drive in and connect the cables. Unfortunately, like with the previous 700 series chassis, there is no strict cable management for the other cables in the system. This isn't a large issue since Dell routes the cables behind the expansion cards and for the most part they are tucked out of the way and none of the cables are in a position to degrade airflow within the case.

The original 700 series chassis featured a tool-less expansion card design. Push-tab clips were used to secure the expansion cards instead of screws. The new XPS 730 chassis forgoes that and uses screws. A tool-less design would be favorable but this is less of an issue in this case, at least for H2C systems, since all H2C systems come with a free tool kit complete with a set of screwdrivers, as we saw in our preview article.

The chassis cooling is configured in a wind-tunnel setup and no air escapes from any side but the front and back. Except for the drive bays at the top, the entire front of the system is basically one big intake grill. The rear of the system is similar in that, except for the I/O shield and the expansion slots, the entire rear of the system is a large grill to allow for exhaust. This makes for a very efficient cooling design and airflow within the case is relatively straight forward. Another advantage to the design is that there are almost no dead-spots where air becomes trapped or isn't moving.

In total, the chassis itself has two fans, power supply has its own, another fan for each of the two video cards, and two more for the H2C cooling system for a total of seven fans within the system. These fans are all dynamically controlled and vary their speed depending on the stress the system is under. When all the fans are manually turned up to 100% power, the system sounds like a vacuum cleaner but this never happens during normal operation. During our time with our sample unit, most of the fans operated at well under 50% power.

While the system is at idle, the fans are relatively quiet considering the caliber of hardware it is packing. Under load, the fan speed and noise the system produces increases slightly although the system still remains fairly quiet. While it is certainly louder than a modern office productivity PC, the XPS 730 remains deceptively quiet and doesn't announce its presence to everyone in the room.

Located under the externally accessible drive bays is a fan shroud and the H2C unit. In the air-cooled, non-H2C version, the H2C unit would be replaced by a second fan shroud. The fan shroud holds a caged 120mm cooling fan that intakes cool air and blows it over the motherboard's expansion slots. It is protected by a grill on both sides to prevent stray wires from catching in the blades. This fan manages to move a significant amount of air while remaining fairly quiet.

A small 60mm fan is wedged in between the two columns of hard drive bays. It sucks in air through the first hard drive column and pushes it through the second column and out of the case via a dedicated rear exhaust vent. The chassis has no dedicated exhaust fans. However, judging from the high airflow out of the back of the system, it probably doesn't require them.
f you're at all into enthusiast computing, the highly anticipated single player, FPS smash-hit Crysis, should require no introduction. Crytek's game engine visuals are easily the most impressive real-time 3D renderings we've seen on the computer screen to date. The engine employs some of the latest techniques in 3D rendering like Parallax Occlusion Mapping, Subsurface Scattering, Motion Blur and Depth-of-Field effects, as well as some of the most impressive use of Shader technology we've seen yet. In short, for those of you that want to skip the technical jib-jab, Crysis is HOT. We ran the full game patched to v1.2 with all of the game's visual options set to 'High' to put a significant load on the graphics cards being tested.

Oddly, our Crysis benchmark gave us another strange result. Here we see that the dual Radeon HD 3870 X2 configuration is not the best. However, the XPS 730 H2C puts up a lower than expected score. It managed to be slower than our own quad-Crossfire system, despite having a faster processor and memory. We tried this benchmark many times to ensure that our result was not a fluke and each time we had the same result. We can only attribute this discrepancy between the XPS' performance and our own quad-Crossfire system to differences in the system configurations and drivers. Hopefully in the near future Dell will have a resolution. However, despite this issue, the XPS has enough power to still manage to be perfectly playable at these graphics settings.

Intel Core 2 Duo E7200, Eco-Friendly Performance

2008-05-23T08:01:00.002+06:00

It has been surprising and frankly somewhat satisfying to see the success to date of the "Wolfdale" core architecture in Intel’s Core 2 lineup of processors. "Wolfdale" is Intel’s first 45nm based dual-core design, and is an interesting product beyond first glance. When it was first announced, there was a bit of doubt throughout the industry of the chip’s viability in the market. The doubt was that it would be foolish of Intel put major weight behind a dual-core processor architecture, as the future is clearly quad-core processors and beyond. More cores are always better, right? Why would Intel continue pushing dual-core models when quad-core models are getting more and more cost efficient? That's a fair question.

Once we got our first “Wolfdale” chips in for testing, we realized that a modern dual-core processor can still bring exceptional performance for today’s high-end machines. While quad-cores definitely have more appeal for the heavy multi-tasking power user, dual-cores can typically accomplish most tasks with performance to spare, but can do so with much lower power consumption and heat production. In addition, if your application of choice is only coded to handle two processor cores, it can actually run faster on a highly-clocked dual-core compared to a mid-range clocked quad-core. While the wave of multi-core software is rising every day, we still haven’t seen truly compelling numbers in main stream applications showing that quad-core processors are worth their premiums for many average, everyday computing scenarios.

Intel's Core 2 Duo E7200 Processor Engineering Sample

In any case, despite initial availability issues, Intel’s new E-series processors based on this new “Wolfdale” architecture ended up being a big hit, and chips are still in high-demand, months after their initial release. Now that the product line is beginning to become available in volume, we’re seeing Intel flesh out their Core 2 Duo product line with the entry of the first truly low-cost “Wolfdale” processor release to date, Intel’s Core 2 Duo E7200.

The Core 2 Duo E7200 is a bit of an anomaly on Intel’s dual-core product lineup, much like the Core 2 Quad Q9300 is the anomaly for the quad-core product lineup. Both the E7200 and Q9300 are the only models in their lineups which have half the L2 cache of other models in their families. In addition, both run at 2.5 GHz clock speeds and both are priced very competitively for the performance they offer. The E7200 is a based on a simple, modern dual-core design, whereas the Q9300 uses two of these processor dies to create a quad-core version . Beyond the raw core count, the chips are nearly identical. With the release of the Core 2 Duo E7200, it’s now possible to get a fast “Wolfdale” dual-core chip for about $130, about half the price of today’s high-end “Wolfdale” models. Let’s see if this newbie can live up to the high-bar set by preceding 45nm dual-core parts from Intel.

Specifications

2.53 GHz Clock Speed, Dual-Core
"Wolfdale" Core Architecture
45nm Manufacturing Technology
128 kB L1 Cache (Data/Instruction)
3 MB Shared L2 Cache (Full Speed)
1066 MHz Front Side Bus Speed

Socket-775 Form Factor Design
1.2V Default Core Voltage
Supports 32/64-bit Processing (EM64T)
Supports SSE / SSE2 / SSE3 / SSE4.1
Supports Intel Speedstep / C1E
Supports Execute Disable (xD) Bit

Core 2 Duo E7200 - Top

Core 2 Duo E7200 - Bottom

The Core 2 Duo E7200 is the slowest speed 45nm dual-core processor released to date at 2.53 GHz stock speed, the next closest offering being the Intel Core 2 E8200 model, which runs at a slightly higher clocked 2.66GHz with a full 6MB of cache. The E7200 processor runs at 5% slower clock speed and has half the cache at 3 MB, but also costs 30% less overall, and is currently selling for around $130, which would be considered high-end Celeron territory previously.

The Wolfdale architecture is based on Intel’s latest 45nm manufacturing process, which means the chip runs cool and doesn’t consume a lot of power, even under heavy loads. Intel rates the Core 2 Duo E7200 with a TDP of 65W, although we feel that even this is somewhat conservative, as the chip ran close to room temperature with very low noise cooling.

Each of the two processor cores have an individual 64k of L1 cache and they share a pool of 3 MB L2 cache. 3 MB is the smallest amount of cache offered in an Intel 45nm product to date, and this is essentially why many enthusiasts will stay away from this processor. At the same clock speed, we can expect a Wolfdale with a full 6MB of cache to perform 5-10% better under intensive applications (such as gaming). However, 3 MB of cache is still plenty big for many work loads, and as you’ll see in our following benchmarks, the chip still performs within pretty similar levels of the other Wolfdale chips (with larger caches) we’ve seen to date in most scenarios. The positive side of having less cache means that the chip is physically less complex, and in addition to the power and heat benefits that come along with that, it also means that the chips are extremely good overclockers, as we’ll look into later.

In addition to having a smaller amount of cache, the E7200 also runs down a notch on its frontside bus speed from the standard 1333 MHz on other current Core 2 Duo chips to a modest 1066 MHz front side bus speed. Don't be too concerned about this, as Core 2 Duo dual-core chips rarely have the opportunity to saturate the front side bus, and you can easily shoot it back up to 1333 MHz if you so choose (and frankly, we would recommend so). It’s still a very modern processor architecture, with support for 64-bit processing, SSE4, top-notch power management and Execute Disable support. However, we should note that the E7200 does not have support for hardware virtualization acceleration and does not support Intel’s TXT (Trusted Execution Technology), which ties in with their enterprise level security efforts. As this chip is targeted for consumer applications, this isn’t all that surprising. Although it’s disappointing to see, as these chips will undoubtedly make their way into low-cost / low-power / low-heat dual-core servers as well.

In order to run the new Core 2 Duo E7200, you will need to ensure that your motherboard and BIOS revision support Intel’s 45nm processors, as a BIOS update is needed for most systems that are older than six months. Most platforms in the last year will have BIOS support for this chip but we'd advise double-checking with the manufacturer. The latest round of motherboards based on a new chipset architecture like Intel's P35, X38,and X48 or NVIDIA's nForce 7x0i series should support this chip out of the box.

A new reference motherboard design

2008-03-20T08:23:00.002+06:00

As has become customary for Nvidia chipset launches, the nForce 790i SLI Ultra rolls out on a new reference motherboard that will be sold as-is by the likes of XFX, EVGA, and others. The board is a six-layer design, and at least in Ultra garb, it's expected to sell for $350 and up. Only those with deep pockets need apply.

Motherboards in this price range essentially need to be perfect, and the 790i reference design gets off to a good start. Dressed in blacks and greys with only a splash of green on its PCI Express x16 slots, the board looks appropriately menacing and definitely distinctive. More importantly, the layout puts everything in its right place, all but eliminating clearance issues and the potential for excessive cable clutter.

Around the socket, six power phases feed the CPU. Nvidia also says it has optimized traces to the processor to ensure that the actual data paths (and not just physical board traces) are all exactly the same length.

Not that you're going to notice little traces when there's a virtual mountain range of chipset and voltage regulation circuitry cooling ringing the socket. This generous array of nickel-plated heatsinks is the most expansive we've seen coupled with an nForce chipset. Despite cutting an imposing profile, it does a remarkably good job of staying out of the way. We were even able to squeeze a massive Ninja CPU heatsink onto the socket without interfering with the chipset cooler.

When running at stock speeds, the chipset heatsinks can easily get by with silent, passive cooling, even on an open test bench with little ambient airflow. Nvidia also includes a snap-on cooling fan that's recommended for overclocking. The fan plugs right into the motherboard, and although you can adjust its speed through the BIOS, it doesn't benefit from temperature-based automatic fan speed control.

nForce chipsets have a reputation for running a little hot, so it's encouraging that the auxiliary fan is only necessary for more extreme overclocking. The metal bracket that holds the fan in place could use a little work, though; it snapped off when we installed the fan, and although that doesn't compromise the integrity of the chipset cooler, no one wants little bits of their motherboard falling off.

Below the chipset cooler's fan mount lies a vapor chamber that extends down to the south bridge. Designed for efficient heat transfer from a notoriously toasty MCP chip, this link is lined with low-profile cooling fins that provide plenty of clearance for longer graphics cards. You don't have to worry about gargantuan expansion cards interfering with onboard ATA or Serial ATA ports, either—they're all located along the edge of the board or otherwise tucked out of the way.

Nestled between the board's edge-mounted storage ports we find a two-digit POST code display that takes the beep-code guesswork out of troubleshooting boot problems. Nvidia also throws in handy onboard reset and power buttons for those who build or test systems outside standard enclosures.

Those onboard buttons sit at the bottom of a generous slot stack that boasts three PCI Express x16 slots. The first and third slots have PCIe 2.0 lanes, while the second is a gen-one slot connected to the south bridge. This arrangement nicely spaces two-way SLI configurations, providing plenty of breathing room even with double-wide cards. Those double-wide SLI configurations will also leave users with free PCI and PCIe x1 slots in addition to the third x16 slot.

Atop the slot stack, you can just make out a red Serial ATA port. This is the board's seventh internal SATA port, and it's connected to an auxiliary JMicron JMB362 SATA controller. Nvidia amusingly suggests the placement of this port is ideal for optical drives, which seems odd, because the board has four other internal SATA ports that are much closer to where optical drives would be mounted in most enclosures.

A more likely rationale for the red port's placement is the fact that the JMB362 controller is also responsible for External Serial ATA connectivity on the port cluster. There, we find a single eSATA port—the first on an Nvidia motherboard design. With six internal SATA connectors already fed by the chipset, Nvidia might have been better off making both of the JMicron controller's SATA ports external.

eSATA connectivity nicely fills out a port cluster loaded with all the staples, including coaxial and TOS-Link flavors of digital S/PDIF audio output. Thanks to a Realtek ALC888S codec chip, it's possible to output multi-channel DTS Connect audio through those digital outs.

In addition to the external ports, onboard headers are available for an extra Firewire and four more USB ports. These headers are particularly important for the Enthusiast System Architecture specification, which relies on USB connections to talk to compliant components.

Intel Showcases Dunnington, Nehalem and Larrabee Processors

2008-03-20T08:13:00.001+06:00

n an impromptu pre-IDF press briefing today, Intel disclosed a wealth of new information regarding its roadmap product efforts, upcoming multi-core processors and their associated platforms. The discussion, chaired by the Senior VP of Intel's Digital Enterprise Group, Pat Gelsinger, even covered additional detail of the company's future play in the discrete GPU space, code-named Larrabee.

Pat dove in quickly with what was probably Intel's most ambitious design effort yet, that will bear fruit some time in 2H '08, the new six-core infused Dunnington server/workstation processor.

Intel Dunnington CPU architecture
Six cores and 16MB L3 cache

Some of the more interesting take-aways with Dunnignton were that Intel has re-tooled a shared L2/L3 cache architecture and that Dunnington will in fact be socket compatible with their current Caneland platform. However, we would expect that actual drop-in compatibility is guaranteed only by system board manufacturers with capable power circuits and up to date BIOS microcodes. Pat also stressed that Dunnington, though comprised of some 1.9 billion transistors and 16MB of L3 cache, will adhere to Intel's current power efficiency characteristics of their advanced 45nm Hi-K processing technology. Several systems were referenced in a recent third-party SPECpower Energy Efficiency test, showing Intel's current leadership with the Xeon 5400 and 5300 series of products in the top ten slots currently in the industry.

Next, Gelsinger stepped up with Intel's mainstream big gun, the company's forthcoming Nehalem quad core processor. Nehalem is slated to be Intel's first mainstream desktop product with a direct-attached serial interface, dubbed QPI or QuickPath Interconnect, a monumental upgrade over their now seriously aging Front Side Bus architecture.

The Nehalem core CPU architecture
4 Cores, QuickPath Interconnect, integrated memory controller, eight threads

Easily one the most interesting and talked-about aspects of Nehalem, Intel's new QuickPath Interconnect will provide for high speed, low latency transactions coming on and going off chip. Previously, one way Intel was able to mitigate FSB latency and bus turn-around times, was with larger amounts of L2 cache that provided more on-chip memory resources and thus required fewer requests over the FSB and out to system memory. Nehalem however, will have only 256K of L2 cache per core and a 8MB of L3 cache per chip. Comparatively, AMD's future 45nm quad core Phenoms will have 512K of L2 cache per core and 6MB of L3 total. Obviously Intel knows their architecture best but clearly this cache architecture seems a bit spartan versus previous Intel architectures, though admittedly exorbitant amounts of on-chip cache should no longer be a requirement with the new QPI interface at Nehalem's disposal.

Intel Tylersburg Platform with DDR3, QPI and Gen2 PCI Express

And of course let's not forget the now fully integrated three channel DDR3 memory controller that Nehalem will bring with it to the platform. With support for three DIMMs per channel, total system memory densities can scale to a whopping 18GB of RAM total. That ought to run Vista well enough we think. The real key here for performance aficionados and high-end workstation types however, will be the lower overall latency and higher available bandwidth (up to ~ 32GB/sec) with Nehalem's on-board memory controller. We're anxious to see this in action. Coupled with QPI, the chip should have ultra-low latency characteristics in many areas. In addition, Nehalem's architecture will provide for two, four and octal-core designs with these easily configurable serial links.

In closing on the Nehalem processor itself, Gelsinger noted that Nehalem will also offer significantly improved multi-threaded performance, with up to a 33% improvement in available simultaneous micro-ops, more efficient cache management and higher performance branch prediction, with an added second level branch predictor. Finally Gelsinger noted that though Nehalem won't have any features on board formally known as Hyperthreading, he did note that per-core multithreaded performance will in fact be significantly improved over their Pentium 4 Netburst architecture.

Intel noted that they expect Nehalem to ship sometime in Q4 '08 and their next generation Westmere and Sandy Bridge processors, based on 32nm die geometries, will be introduced in 2009 - 2010. In addition, Intel will bring out a new instruction set with Sandy Bridge, branded "AVX" for Advanced Vector Extensions, that is aimed at beefing up SSE with 256-bit vector extensions for higher performance floating point calculations. Next, Pat segued into new frontiers in what Intel calls "visual computing" or what the rest of the world knows now as 3D graphics.

ntel's Gelsinger brought their quick, efficient press conference to a close with a shot across the bow of NVIDIA and AMD-ATI, giving us a view into their forward-looking Larrabee visual computing architecture. Only described by Gelsinger as a "many core" design, Larrabee is expected to take advantage of a scalable array of IA cores and a new cache architecture, along with a new vector instruction set; complimentary to, or a super-set perhaps of AVX.

Larrabee will also have a custom-designed vector processing unit and a highly programmable architecture that will make it useful for traditional graphics workloads HD Digital Video processing and 3D effects like global illumination. And although Intel will be fostering other methods of 3D rendering like ray-tracing, the chip will be compatible with DirectX and OpenGL and is expected to offer "competitive" performance to incumbent GPU architectures from NVIDIA and AMD-ATI. Gelsinger was quick to point out that the ISV and developers he has spoken to about Larrabee are extremely excited about its prospects, more so than any other architecture he's been involved with recently at Intel. We're told that Intel will demo Larrabee later this year with a launch sometime in 2009 or beyond.

eVGA 9600 GT review

2008-03-13T07:03:00.002+06:00

INTRODUCTION

Today we have news to share as NVIDIA is launching its first Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) based on the GeForce 9 Series - the GeForce 9600 GT. Building on the success of the unified architecture present on the GeForce 8, the GeForce 9 Series features enhanced compression technology, which reduces the amount of data that passes through the memory bus. Graphics cards with the GeForce 9600 GT are targeted at the mainstream segment with a suggested price between $169 and $189.

Card Front

NVIDIA has traditionally debuted new GPUs with a high-end offering, but there are a number of reasons why they chose to launch a new product line with a mid-range GPU. The most sensible is to fill a gap between the GeForce 8800 GT and GeForce 8600 GT to better compete with the Radeon HD 3850.

Box Front

The GeForce 9600 GT also represents the first mainstream GPU from NVIDIA that launched with a 256-bit memory bus. Although the mainstream GeForce 7900 GT launched with a 256-bit memory bus, which is a key factor in overall 3D graphics performance, that GPU was near the end of a product cycle.

EVGA's E-GEFORCE 9600 GT SSC

In support of today's launch EVGA provided us with their e-GeForce 9600 GT SSC graphics card for evaluation. The product and accessories are packaged in an eye-catching orange colored box that features a gold ribbon touting EVGA as the number one seller of NVIDIA based products in the U.S.

Box Back

Accessories

The graphics card is protected in a sturdy plastic enclosure and includes the typical accessories - a 6-pin PCI-E power cable, two DVI-to-VGA adapters, HDTV and S-Video cables, a couple of case stickers, a user's guide and a driver installation CD with trial software.

SPECIFICATIONS

Reference specifications of the GeForce 9600 GT consist of a core clock speed of 650MHz, a 1,625MHz shader clock, and memory clocked at 900MHz or 1,800MHz effective. The GPU has 64 stream processors that interface with 512MB of GDDR3 memory across a 256-bit memory bus.

GPU-Z Report

Based on the GPU-Z report, we find that the core of EVGA's SSC model is highly overclocked at 740MHz, while the shader and memory are moderately overclocked at 1835MHz and 975MHz respectively.

TEST SYSTEM CONFIGURATION

Pictured below is the test system with the EVGA e-GeForce 9600 GT SSC installed. Note that the enclosure is a Lian Li V1000, which has the motherboard positioned in a direction opposite traditional enclosures.

Graphics Card Installed

Test System

Hardware and Operating System

Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 - 3.0GHz Conroe Core - 4MB L2 Cache - 1333MHz FSB
BFG nForce 680i SLI Motherboard
4GB Corsair XMS PC8500 DDR2 SDRAM 5-5-5-18-2T @ 400MHz
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS
PC Power and Cooling Turbo-Cool 1KW-SR Power Supply
Lian Li V1000 Enclosure
Dell 3007WFP LCD Monitor
Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2 / DirectX 9.0c

Graphics Cards, Drivers, and Driver Settings

EVGA e-GeForce 9600 GT SSC - 740MHz Core / 1835MHz Shader / 975MHz Memory (1950MHz Effective)
Inno3D GeForce 9600 GT - 700MHz Core / 1680MHz Shader / 950MHz Memory (1900MHz Effective)
GeForce 8800 GT - 700MHz Core / 1500MHz Shader / 1000MHz Memory (2000MHz Effective)
GeForce 7900 GS - 500MHz Core / 690MHz Memory (1380MHz Effective)
ForceWare Beta 174.12 - GeForce 9600 GT
ForceWare Beta 169.28 - GeForce 8800 GT and GeForce 7900 GS
32-Bit Color
Vsync Disabled
60Hz Refresh Rate
High Quality Texture Filtering
Gamma Correct Antialiasing

Test Applications

BioShock
Call of Duty 4
Crysis
Far Cry
F.E.A.R.
Oblivion
Quake 4
STALKER
The Witcher

Notes

Antialiasing was set to "Override any application setting" in the driver for Oblivion.
Anisotropic filtering was set to 8x in the driver for Oblivion.
PERFORMANCE VS. GEFORCE 8800 GT - 1680x1050

In the following series of tests the GeForce 9600 GT goes head-to-head with the exceedingly popular GeForce 8800 GT. Results for the resolution of 1680x1050 are provided on this page, while the results for the 1920x1200 and 2560x1600 resolutions appear on the next two pages.

Specs Comparison

Far Cry's Regulator level continues to be a useful benchmark as it allows a variety of graphics card features to be tested such as 4x and 8x antialiasing, High Dynamic Range (HDR), and multisampling (MSTAA) and supersampling (SSTAA) transparency antialiasing.

In Far Cry, the GeForce 9600 GT performed exceptionally well when compared to the GeForce 8800 GT as the average frame rate fell behind the GeForce 8800 GT by an average of only 9%. The lead increased slightly for the GeForce 8800 GT when HDR rendering or image quality enhancements like transparency antialiasing were enabled.

Performance at 1680x1050

The next two charts provide benchmark results for the remaining games that were tested. As with Far Cry, it was uncanny that the average frame rate of the GeForce 9600 GT again came within 9% of the GeForce 8800 GT. However, greater variances occurred in shader intensive operations that were present in F.E.A.R. (with soft shadows) and Crysis (with medium settings), both of which were 20% faster on the GeForce 8800 GT.

Performance at 1680x1050

Performance at 1680x1050

At 1680x1050, the minimum frame rate dipped below 30 fps on the GeForce 9600 GT in the following tests:

Avg: 42 Min: 29 fps - Oblivion - 4x AA - MSTAA - HDR
Avg: 42 Min: 23 fps - Oblivion - 4x AA - SSTAA - HDR
Avg: 45 Min: 21 fps - Far Cry - 8x AA - SSTAA
Avg: 26 Min: 19 fps - Crysis - No AA - High Quality

9600 GT

2008-03-13T06:58:00.001+06:00

The NVIDIA® GeForce® 9600 GT GPU offers a powerfully immersive entertainment experience designed for extreme high-definition gaming and video playback. Play the hottest DirectX 10 games with awesome speed and watch the latest HD DVD and Blu-ray movies with brilliant clarity. Featuring next generation GeForce and PureVideo® HD technologies, the GeForce 9600 GT GPU puts amazing graphics performance within your reach.

Blackhawk Cargo
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare™ image captured on NVIDIA GPU. Provided by Activision.

HD Gaming for the Masses
Get the most graphics bang for your buck with a GeForce 9600 GT GPU. With a 90% performance increase over the comparable 8 series graphics card , PC gamers everywhere can now enjoy games at extreme HD resolutions without breaking their wallets.

A Powerful Entertainment Hub
Experience the GPU’s power while enjoying HD movies or having a premium 3D user experience with Windows Vista and Windows Media Center. PureVideo® HD technology provides lifelike pictures and vibrant color while CPU-offload capabilities enable you to manage your photos and videos with ease.

Future-Proof Technology
Get up to 2x the performance with NVIDIA SLI® technology when paired with an identical 9600-based graphics card, and PCIe 2.0 compatibility ensures you’re ready for tomorrow’s games and 3D applications.

Main | Features | Reviews

Gaming PC under Rs.60,000/-

2008-03-13T06:44:00.002+06:00

Specification Table

Components	Model	Price (Rupees)
Processor	Intel Core 2 Duo E8200	8,000
Motherboard	Abit IP35-E	5,950
RAM	Kingston DDR 2 800 2GB	1,550
Sound	Onboard	NA
LAN	Onboard, Intel 10/100/1000	NA
Graphics	XFX 8800 GT 512MB	14,100
Optical Drive	Lite-On LH-20A1P	1,300
Hard Disk	Seagate SATA II HDD 500GB	4,600
Monitor	Viewsonic VA2026	12,000
Keyboard/Mouse	Logitech MX518/Std. Keyboard	1,250+300
Case	Coolermaster CM690 with Cooler Master Extreme Power 600W	8,200
Speakers	Creative SBS 560	2,550
	Total	59,800

2007-11-23T08:24:00.000+06:00

Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770 Processor

Specifications & Features

Core Frequency - 3.2GHz
System Bus Frequency - 1600MHz
TDP (Thermal Design Power) - 136W
Stepping - 6
Number of CPU Cores - 4
L2 Cache - 12MB (2 x 6MB)
Max processor input voltage (VID) - 1.360v
.045-micron manufacturing process
Shared Smart Cache Technology
PECI Enabled
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology (EIST)
Extended HALT State (C1E) Enabled
Execute Disable Bit (XD) Enabled
Intel 64 Technology
Intel Virtualization Technology (VT)
Thirty million transistors on the head of a pin. Think about that for a minute. Where on earth can you fit 30 million of anything in that amount of space? It used to be that 30 million transistors was a good-sized chip. These days, in a 45nm Hafnium-based High-K process, it almost seems like we (OK, OK, Intel...) can defy the laws of physics. We're talking rocket science here people. Actually, it's probably a bit more complex than rocket science. Titanium (Ti), Zirconium (Zr), Gallium (Ga), heck we've even heard of Rubidium (Rb), but Hafnium? Is someone at Intel just making this stuff up?

Processors using Intel 45nm Hafnium-based High-k Metal Gate transistor technology - 30 Million such transistors fit on the head of a pin. - Source Intel Corp.

Whether you fancy yourself a scientist that can appreciate naturally occurring isotopes utilized in leading-edge manufacturing processes, or maybe you're a gear-head that knows four cores running at 3.2GHz is just "freakin' fast" - there is no denying that Intel is completely unstoppable currently, when it comes to semiconductor process and manufacturing R&D. No other semiconductor company in the world is shipping anything in high volume at 45nm. That's 45 nanometers or .045 micron if you prefer. Sure, 45nm has been "demonstrated" by the likes of IBM, TSMC, and Charter Semiconductor but getting to volume is a completely different ball of wax altogether. Few companies have the resources and capital that Intel has to bring the technology to market first. And when it comes to processors comprised of 800 million plus transistors, every tenth of a micron counts.

Let's do some quick math, since we're feeling all smart and scientific. The new 45nm Intel Yorkfield processor that we'll be showing you today has a die size that measures about 214mm square and is comprised of about 820 million transistors. Comparatively, AMD's Athlon 64 X2 6000+, that is built on a 90nm process, is comprised of some 227 million transistors and has a die size of 218mm square. So we have a 45nm-built processor with four times as many transistors and 2X the number of cores on board, that is actually slightly smaller than the other with one quarter the number of transistors and half as many CPU cores. Not to mention both of these processors have comparable power consumption and thermal profiles.

To coin a John Madden-ism, "speed kills". And with processors, smaller die geometries simply bring lower cost and lower power consumption along with killer speed. In the world of semiconductors and high-end desktop CPUs, it can be said that "process kills". Today Intel is previewing the world's first 3.2GHz quad-core X86 processor. Why? Because they can. Though the Core 2 Extreme QX9770 will not be available for sale until Q1 2008, we've had the chip in-house at HotHardware for the better part of a month. In the pages ahead we'll show you how a 45nm quad-core processor can stretch its legs. Scientists, Physicists and Gear-Heads take note, Intel is jacked up on Hafnium and is breaking out past the 40, heading for the end-zone.

Packaging - Flip Chip LGA775
Total Die Size: Approximately 214mm2 (107mm2 x2)
Approximately 820M Transistors
MSRP - $TBA

2007-11-23T08:17:00.000+06:00

When we first looked at the NVIDIA GeForce 8M series of mobile graphics chips, over six months ago in early May, the series had just been announced. At the time, the lineup only consisted of the 8400M mainstream series and the 8600M mid-range series. Although rumors had been circulating about the possibility of a high-end, G80-based enthusiast chip for some time, and hopes were high, none were announced. This was compounded by the fact that the fastest chip in the initial lineup, the 8600M GT was quite a bit slower than last generation's top chip, the GeForce Go 7950 GTX.

A month later, NVIDIA announced what was supposed to be the first enthusiast-class chip in the GeForce 8M family, the GeForce 8700M GT. Again, this wasn't the rumored G80-gone-mobile super chip. Instead the GeForce 8700M GT turned out to be essentially a higher clocked version of the GeForce 8600M GT. While substantial core and shader clock frequency boosts allowed the 8700M GT to handily outperform the 8600M series, it still wasn't enough to take the title of fastest overall mobile graphics chip away from the GeForce Go 7950 GTX.

Several months of silence followed the GeForce 8700M launch and it seemed like the rumored mobile G80 chip was just that, a rumor. The most popular theory seemed to be that the G80's massive 185W TDP simply couldn't be tamed enough for a notebook to handle and we were unlikely to see G80 class performance in a mobile form factor until NVIDIA moved its technology to a more advanced manufacturing process.

This theory seems to be correct as the wait is finally over. Today NVIDIA is finally unveiling the rumored and much anticipated GeForce 8800M series of mobile graphics cards. The 8800M is powered by the new G92M GPU which is built on a 65nm manufacturing process and as its name suggests, it shares a lineage with the desktop-bound G92 GPU announced three weeks ago. The 8800M series will come in two favors, a GTX and a GTS. The GeForce 8800M series is available immediately and over a dozen manufacturers are announcing new products today and in the coming weeks that will support the new chips.

Read on for specifications and preliminary benchmarks.
NVIDIA GeForce 8M Series

Features & Specifications

NVIDIA unified architecture:
Fully unified shader core dynamically allocates processing power to geometry, vertex, physics, or pixel shading operations, delivering up to 2x the gaming performance of prior generation GPUs.

GigaThread Technology:
Massively multi-threaded architecture supports thousands of independent, simultaneous threads, providing extreme processing efficiency in advanced, next generation shader programs.

Full Microsoft DirectX 10 Support:
World's first DirectX 10 GPU with full Shader Model 4.0 support delivers unparalleled levels of graphics realism and film-quality effects.

NVIDIA Lumenex Engine:
Delivers stunning image quality and floating point accuracy at ultra-fast frame rates.
16x Anti-aliasing: Lightning fast, high-quality anti-aliasing at up to 16x sample rates obliterates jagged edges.

128-bit floating point High Dynamic-Range (HDR):
Twice the precision of prior generations for incredibly realistic lighting effects - now with support for anti-aliasing.

NVIDIA Quantum Effects Technology:
Advanced shader processors architected for physics computation enable a new level of physics effects to be simulated and rendered on the GPU - all while freeing the CPU to run the game engine and AI.

NVIDIA ForceWare Unified Driver Architecture (UDA):
Delivers a proven record of compatibility, reliability, and stability with the widest range of games and applications. ForceWare provides the best out-of-box experience and delivers continuous performance and feature updates over the life of NVIDIA GeForce GPUs.

OpenGL 2.1 Optimizations and Support:
Ensures top-notch compatibility and performance for OpenGL applications.

NVIDIA nView Multi-Display Technology:
Advanced technology provides the ultimate in viewing flexibility and control for multiple monitors.

PCI Express Support:
Designed to run perfectly with the PCI Express bus architecture, which doubles the bandwidth of AGP 8X to deliver over 4 GB/sec. in both upstream and downstream data transfers.

Dual 400MHz RAMDACs:
Blazing-fast RAMDACs support dual QXGA displays with ultra-high, ergonomic refresh rates - up to 2048x1536@85Hz.

Dual Dual-link DVI Support:
Able to drive the industry's largest and highest resolution flat-panel displays up to 2560x1600.

Built for Microsoft Windows Vista:
NVIDIA's fourth-generation GPU architecture built for Windows Vista gives users the best possible experience with the Windows Aero 3D graphical user interface.

Power Mizer 7.0 Technology:
Seventh generation of NVIDIA's advanced hardware power management technology dynamically adapts to the user's performance needs and provides longer battery life, by reducing system-level notebook power consumption and heat generation.

Hardware Decode Acceleration:
Provides ultra-smooth playback of H.264, VC-1, WMV and MPEG-2 HD and SD movies.

NVIDIA PureVideo HD Technology:
The combination of high-definition video decode acceleration and post-processing that delivers unprecedented picture clarity, smooth video, accurate color, and precise image scaling for movies and video.

Discrete, Programmable Video Processor:
NVIDIA PureVideo HD is a discrete programmable processing core in NVIDIA GPUs that provides superb picture quality and ultra-smooth movies with low CPU utilization and power.

High-Quality Scaling:
Enlarges lower resolution movies and videos to HDTV resolutions, up to 1080i, while maintaining a clear, clean image. Also provides downscaling of videos, including high-definition, while preserving image detail.

Inverse Telecine (3:2 & 2:2 Pulldown Correction):
Recovers original film images from films-converted-to-video (DVDs, 1080i HD content), providing more accurate movie playback and superior picture quality.

Bad Edit Correction:
When videos are edited after they have been converted from 24 to 25 or 30 frames, the edits can disrupt the normal 3:2 or 2:2 pulldown cadences. PureVideo HD uses advanced processing techniques to detect poor edits and recover the original content.

Video Color Correction:
NVIDIA's Color Correction Controls, such as Brightness, Contrast and Gamma Correction let you compensate for the different color characteristics of various RGB monitors and TVs ensuring movies are not too dark, overly bright, or washed out regardless of the video format or display type.

Integrated SD and HD TV Output:
Provides world-class TV-out functionality via Composite, S-Video, Component, or DVI connections. Supports resolutions up to 1080p.

Video Post-Processing:
Improves movie image quality by removing noise and increasing the contrast at edges.

HDCP Capable:
Designed to meet the output protection management (HDCP) and security specifications of the Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD formats, allowing the playback of encrypted movie content on PCs when connected to HDCP-compliant displays.

Spatial-Temporal De-Interlacing:
Sharpens HD and standard definition interlaced content on progressive displays, delivering a crisp, clear picture that rivals high-end home-theater systems.

The GeForce 8800M series is very similar to the rest of the GeForce 8M range and they share the same set of features. However it traces its lineage back to the G92 based GeForce 8800 GT, rather than the G86 and G84 GPUs that the other GeForce 8M products were derived from. However, the 8800M's G92M GPU isn't just a G92 desktop chip with additional power saving features enabled. In order to bring the G92's sizable 110W TDP down to something more manageable for a notebook, NVIDIA had to significantly cut back on clock frequency. One of the seven stream processor clusters (each containing 16 stream processors) of the G82 was also cut in the name of heat reduction (and better yields), bringing the G92M down to 96 stream processors, the same as an original G80-based GeForce 8800 GTS. These heat reduction measures seem to have paid off and they bring the TDP of the G92M down to a manageable 35 watts. That might even be low enough to allow a 8800M powered laptop to rest in your lap, although we still wouldn't advise it.

For a better understanding of the GeForce 8800M's architecture and feature set, we recommend you check out our coverage of the GeForce 8800 GT (G92) for more in-depth detail and you may also find our earlier coverage of the G80 helpful.

Get your photos to Talk,Sing & Dance

2007-10-26T07:51:00.000+06:00

Bits with more byte in them

2007-10-26T07:44:00.000+06:00

nVIDIA High End 8800 GPU Pricelist

2007-09-13T16:12:00.001+06:00

Ultra High End -

BIG Tek Inc (Best In Graphics) -

BIG Galaxy GeForce 8800GTS 320MB -
Specs:320MB GDDR3, 500MHz/1.2GHz, 320-Bit, DX10, OpenGL v2, DVI/HDTV/TV-Out, SLi Ready
Rs.16,000/-

BIG Galaxy GeForce 8800GTS 640MB -
Specs:640MB GDDR3, 500MHz/1.2GHz, 320-Bit, DX10, OpenGL v2, DVI/HDTV/TV-Out, SLi Ready
Rs.24,900/-

BIG Galaxy GeForce 8800GTX 768MB -
Specs:640MB GDDR3, 500MHz/1.2GHz, 320-Bit, DX10, OpenGL v2, DVI/HDTV/TV-Out, SLi Ready
Rs.32,000/-

Point of View (PoV) -

Point of View GeForce 8800GTS 320MB -
Specs:640MB GDDR3, 513MHz/1.58GHz, 320-Bit, DX10, OpenGL v2, DVI/HDTV/TV-Out, HDCP, SLi Ready
Rs.18,900/-

Point of View GeForce 8800GTS 640MB -
Specs:640MB GDDR3, 513MHz/1.58GHz, 320Bit, DX10, OpenGL v2, DVI/HDTV/TV-Out, HDCP, SLi Ready
Rs.28,500/-

Point of View GeForce 8800GTX 768MB -
Specs:768MB GDDR3, 575MHz/1.8GHz, 384-Bit, DX10, OpenGL v2, DVI/HDTV/TV-Out, HDCP, SLi Ready
Rs.33,000/-

Zebronics Ltd -

Zebronics GeForce 8800GTS 320MB -
Specs:320MB GDDR3, 500MHz/1.6GHz, 320-Bit, DX10, OpenGL v2, DVI/HDTV/TV-Out, SLi Ready
Rs.17,000/-

ASUSTeK Inc -

ASUS GeForce EN8800GTX 768MB -
Specs: 768MB GDDR3, 575MHz/1.8GHz, 384-Bit, DX10, OpenGL v2, DVI/HDTV/TV-Out, HDCP, SLi Ready
Rs.42,000/-

ASUS EN8800GTX AquaTank Limited Edition -
Specs: 768MB GDDR3, 630MHz/2.06GHz, 384-Bit, DX10, OpenGL v2,
DVI/HDTV/TV-Out, HDCP, Cooled via Thermaltake Tide Water GPU Cooler, SLi Ready
Rs.47,000/-

ASUS GeForce 8800 Ultra -
Specs: 768MB GDDR3, 612MHz/2.16GHz, 384Bit, DX10, OpenGL v2, DVI/HDTV/TV-Out, HDCP, SLi Ready
Rs.54,000/-

MSI (Micro Star International) -

MSI GeForce NX8800GTS-T2D640E -
Specs:640MB GDDR3, 500MHz/1.2GHz, 320-Bit, DX10, OpenGL v2,
DVI/HDTV/TV-Out, HDCP,SLi Ready
Rs.28,000/-

MSI GeForce NX8800GTX-T2D768E -
Specs:768MB GDDR3, 575MHz/1.8GHz, 384-Bit, DX10, OpenGL V2,
DVI/HDTV/TV-Out, HDCP, SLi Ready
Rs.34,000/-

MSI GeForce NX8800Ultra HD-OC Edition -
Specs: 768MB GDDR3, 660MHz/2.3GHz, 384-Bit, DX10, OpenGL V2,
DVI/HDTV/TV-Out, HDCP, SLi Ready
Rs.55,000/-

XFX Force Ltd -

XFX GeForce 8800GTS 320MB -
Specs:320MB GDDR3, 500MHz/1.6GHz, 320-Bit, DX10, OpenGL v2, DVI/HDTV/TV-Out, HDCP, SLi Ready
Rs.17,500/-

XFX GeForce 8800GTS 640MB (PV-T80G-THF9) -
Specs:640MB GDDR3, 500MHz/1.6GHz, 320-Bit, DX10, OpenGL v2, DVI/HDTV/TV-Out, HDCP, SLi Ready
Rs.24,500/-

XFX GeForce 8800GTX 768MB (PVT80F-SHF9) -
Specs:768MB GDDR3, 575MHz/1.8GHz, 384-Bit, DX10, OpenGL v2, DVI/HDTV/TV-Out, HDCP, SLi Ready
Rs.32,000/-

XFX GeForce 8800 Ultra 768MB -
Specs: 768MB GDDR3, 612MHz/2.16GHz, 384Bit, DX10, OpenGL v2, DVI/HDTV/TV-Out, HDCP, SLi Ready
Rs.45,000/-

Prices Last Updated: September 9, 2007

Sony VAIO Pricelist

2007-09-13T16:05:00.001+06:00

VAIO TZ

The VAIO TZ is the 11.1” wide mobile notebook which gives you the luxury of free and easy mobility with full capability in a chic design. It’s the ultimate all-in-one mobile PC offering ultra-light portability in a sleek compact body built rugged with superior carbon fibre construction.

VGN-TZ17GN/B
The VAIO TZ is the 11.1” wide mobile notebook which gives you the luxury of f...

MRP Rs. 114,900 /-*

(MRP inclusive of all taxes)

Compare

VAIO CR

VAIO CR is a 14.1" wide notebook which gives you the power to express yourself with pleasure.

Available In

VGN-CR11GH/L
VAIO CR is a 14.1" wide notebook which gives you the power to express yoursel...

MRP Rs. 54,990 /-*

(MRP inclusive of all taxes)

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VGN-CR12GH/B
VAIO CR is a 14.1" wide notebook which gives you the power to express yoursel...

MRP Rs. 54,990 /-*

(MRP inclusive of all taxes)

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VGN-CR14GN/B
VAIO CR is a 14.1" wide notebook which gives you the power to express yoursel...

MRP Rs. 64,990 /-*

(MRP inclusive of all taxes)

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VAIO FZ

VAIO FZ is the 15.4” wide notebook which gives you a highly favourable impression with its elegant design.

VGN-FZ15G
VAIO FZ is the 15.4” notebook which gives you a highly favourable impression ...

MRP Rs. 69,990 /-*

(MRP inclusive of all taxes)

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VGN-FZ17G
VAIO FZ is the 15.4” notebook which gives you a highly favourable impression ...

MRP Rs. 99,990 /-*

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VAIO AR

With Blu-ray’s HD capabilities, VAIO AR is the 17.0" wide notebook which will give you the advantage with detailed images that are bound to get your creations noticed.

VGN-AR38G
Blu-ray’s HD capabilities will give you the advantage with detailed images th...

MRP Rs. 199,900 /-*

(MRP inclusive of all taxes)

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VGN-AR49G
Blu-ray's HD capabilities will let you stay on top of your game with detailed...

MRP Rs. 169,900 /-*

(MRP inclusive of all taxes)

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VAIO C

You’ll look great wherever you go with the VAIO C. Its compact body frees you to travel light, while its edges, lines and dimpled palm rest set you apart from the crowd.

Available In

VGN-C22GH/B
You’ll look great wherever you go with the new VAIO C22GH/B. Its compact body...

MRP Rs. 54,990 /-*

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Available In

VGN-C25G/B
You’ll look great wherever you go with the new VAIO C25G/B. Its compact body ...

MRP Rs. 64,990 /-*

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VGN-C31GH/W
You’ll look great wherever you go with the new VAIO C31GH/W. Its compact body...

MRP Rs. 44,990 /-*

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VAIO N

Simple design, solid performance, and ample functionality make VAIO N the home solution that fits your lifestyle. Its appealing colour and slim profile offer understated elegance.

VGN-N27GH
Simple design, solid performance, and ample functionality make VAIO N27GH the...

MRP Rs. 54,990 /-*

(MRP inclusive of all taxes)

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VGN-N37GH/B
Simple design, solid performance, and ample functionality make 15.4" VAIO N t...

MRP Rs. 54,990 /-*

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VAIO SZ

VAIO SZ has solid features in delicate balance. All delicately harmonised into a slim 13.3” wide notebook.

VGN-SZ483N/C
VAIO SZ Premium is a synergy of features integrating advanced technology like...

MRP Rs. 124,900 /-*

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VGN-SZ453N/B
VAIO SZ Premium is a synergy of features integrating advanced technology like...

MRP Rs. 99,990 /-*

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VGN-SZ48GN/C
VAIO SZ48GN/C is a synergy of outstanding features. Mobile performance has ra...

MRP Rs. 124,900 /-*

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VGN-SZ44GN/B
The VAIO SZ44GN/B has several high-performance features to meet business need...

MRP Rs. 99,990 /-*

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VAIO UX

You always strive to be your best, whether it's about your career or a leisure activity. VAIO UX is the multimedia companion and full-fledged computer that's always by your side, ready for action in every way you want.

VGN-UX37GN/L
You always strive to be your best, whether it's about your career or a leisur...

MRP Rs. 79,990 /-*

(MRP inclusive of all taxes)

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VGN-UX27GN
You always strive to be your best, whether it’s about your career or a leisur...

MRP Rs. 79,990 /-*

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VAIO FE

The VAIO FE48G/H with Windows Vista™ Home Premium, is a clear lifestyle advance. Metallic grey with a stylish design, it brings sophisticated technology to the home. Want to take family enjoyment a stylish step ahead? Look to the high-performance VAIO FE48G/H from Sony.

VGN-FE48G/H
The VAIO FE48G/H with Windows Vista™ Home Premium, is a clear lifestyle advan...

MRP Rs. 99,990 /-*

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VAIO LA

VGC-LA38G
Sony’s VAIO L turns conventional thinking on its head. It is unconventional, ...

MRP Rs. 79,990 /-*

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VAIO TX

VGN-TX57GN/B
You’d never guess from the sleek, elegant body that VAIO TX57GN/B is simply b...

MRP Rs. 114,900 /-*

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Please select 2 to 20 products

2007-07-12T00:03:00.001+06:00

GeForce 8700M GT

2007-07-06T21:35:00.001+06:00

NVIDIA has launched its latest mobile GPU – the GeForce 8700M GT. It is the latest addition to NVIDIA’s GeForce 8M lineup and comes after the previously released GeForce 8600M and 8400M models.

The GeForce 8700M GT will be the top chip in NVIDIA’s Mobile stable replacing the existing GeForce Go 7950 GTX. NVIDIA claims 3DMark05 scores of 10,371 with the GeForce 8700M GT on default settings. In comparison the GeForce Go 7950 GTX scores 9,395 in 3DMark05. The GeForce 8700M GT is also 27-34% faster than the GeForce Go 7950 GTX in Half Life 2: Lost Coast and Far Cry.

"For our new top-end Toshiba Satellite laptop PC we are proud to be the first company to use the NVIDIA GeForce 8700M GT GPU to deliver greatly enhanced graphics and video," said Shimpei Kunii, General Manager of PC Product Planning Department at Toshiba Corporation. "We believe these new laptops will provide the ultimate high-resolution DirectX 10 gaming experience for our mobile customers."

The GeForce 8700M GT features 32 stream processors clocked at 1.25 GHz. The core is clocked at 625 MHz and the memory at 800 MHz (1.6 GHz effective). NVIDIA specifies a maximum 512MB of video memory on GeForce 8700M GT graphics cards. Apart from the clock speeds, the GeForce 8700M GT is identical to the previously released GeForce 8600M-series.

The GeForce 8700M GT features NVIDIA’s second-generation PureVideo HD video processor that off loads the CPU while decoding high-definition AVC/H.264 video formats.

The GeForce 8700M GT GPU will be available in laptops from leading partners in North America, Europe, and Asia, including Toshiba, Sager, Prostar, Eurocom, Biohazard, Connoiseur, Cybersystem, Hypersonic, MALIBAL, Multirama, Rock, Evesham, Falcon Northwest, Plaisio, XS2, Nexoc, Hyrican, Vigor Gaming, Voodoo PC, and many others.

In addition to accelerating existing DirectX 9 and DirectX 10 content, such as the new DirectX 10 version of Company of Heroes, the GeForce 8700M GT will also support highly anticipated upcoming releases such as Crysis from Crytek and Lost Planet from Capcom.

Price list of RAM

2007-06-04T15:18:00.001+06:00

DDR1 Ram -

TwinMOS Technologies Ltd -

TwinMOS Speed Premium PC3200 512MB -
Size: 512MB DDR400MHz
Latency: 2.5-3-3-8 (CAS,tRCD,tRP,tRAS)
Function: Unbuffered
Operating Voltage: 2.6v
Warranty: 3 Years
Rs. 1,300/-

TwinMOS Speed Premium PC3200 1GB -
Size: 1GB(512MBx2) DDR400MHz
Latency: 2.5-3-3-8 (CAS,tRCD,tRP,tRAS)
Function: Unbuffered
Operating Voltage: 2.6v
Warranty: 3 Years
Rs.2,850/-

Transcend Technologies Ltd -

Trancend JetRAM PC3200 512MB -
Size: 512MB (512MB x 1) DDR400MHz
Latency: 3-3-3-8 (CAS,tRCD,tRP,tRAS)
Function: Unbuffered
Operating Voltage: 2.5v
Warranty: Lifetime
Rs.1,450/-

Trancend JetRAM PC3200 1GB -
Size: 1GB DDR400MHz
Latency: 3-3-3-8 (CAS,tRCD,tRP,tRAS)
Function: Unbuffered
Operating Voltage: 2.5v
Warranty: Lifetime
Rs.2,950/-

Kingston Technology Ltd -

Kingston ValueRAM 512MB PC3200 -
Size: 512MB DDR400MHz
Latency: 3-3-3-8 (CAS,tRCD,tRP,tRAS)
Function: Unbuffered
Operating Voltage: 2.6v
Warranty: Lifetime
Rs.1,600/-

Kingston ValueRAM 1GB PC3200 -
Size: 1GB DDR400MHz
Latency: 3-3-3-8 (CAS,tRCD,tRP,tRAS)
Function: Unbuffered
Operating Voltage: 2.6v
Warranty: Lifetime
Rs.3,100/-

Kingston HyperX 512MB PC3200 -
Size: 512MB DDR400MHz
Latency: 2-3-2-6 (CAS,tRCD,tRP,tRAS)
Function: Unbuffered
Heat Spreader: Yes
Operating Voltage: 2.6v
Warranty: Lifetime
Rs.1,700/-

Kingston HyperX 1GB PC3200 -
Size: 1GB (512MBx2) DDR400MHz
Latency: 2-3-2-6 (CAS,tRCD,tRP,tRAS)
Function: Unbuffered
Heat Spreader: Yes
Operating Voltage: 2.6v
Warranty: Lifetime
Rs.3,500/-

Kingston HyperX 2GB PC3200 (KHX3200AK2/2G) -
Size: 2GB (1GBx2) DDR400MHz
Latency: 2-3-2-6 (CAS,tRCD,tRP,tRAS)
Function: Unbuffered
Heat Spreader: Yes
Operating Voltage: 2.6v
Warranty: Lifetime
Rs.6,800/-

Kingston HyperX 2GB PC3200 (KHX3200K2/2G) -
Size: 2GB (1GBx2) DDR400MHz
Latency: 2.5-3-3-7 (CAS,tRCD,tRP,tRAS)
Function: Unbuffered
Heat Spreader: Yes
Operating Voltage: 2.6v
Warranty: Lifetime
Rs.6,150/-

Corsair Memory Ltd -

Corsair Value Select 512MB PC3200 -
Size: 512MB DDR400MHz
Latency: 2.5-3-3-8 (CAS,tRCD,tRP,tRAS)
Function: Unbuffered
Operating Voltage: 2.5v
Warranty: Lifetime
Rs.1,400/-

Corsair Value Select 1GB PC3200 -
Size: 1GB DDR400MHz
Latency: 2.5-3-3-8 (CAS,tRCD,tRP,tRAS)
Function: Unbuffered
Operating Voltage: 2.5v
Warranty: Lifetime
Rs.2,800/-

Corsair Value Select 2GB PC3200 -
Size: 2GB DDR400MHz
Latency: 3-3-3-8 (CAS,tRCD,tRP,tRAS)
Function: Unbuffered
Operating Voltage: 2.3-2.7v
Warranty: Lifetime
Rs.5,600/-

Corsair XMS 512MB PC3200 (CMX512-3200)-
Size: 512MB (512MBx1) DDR400MHz
Latency: 3-3-3-8 (CAS,tRCD,tRP,tRAS)
Function: Unbuffered
Heat Spreader: Yes
Operating Voltage: 2.5v
Warranty: Lifetime
Rs.1,700/

Corsair XMS 512MB PC3200 (CMX512-3200C2) -
Size: 512MB DDR400MHz
Latency: 2-3-3-6 (CAS,tRCD,tRP,tRAS)
Function: Unbuffered
Heat Spreader: Yes
Operating Voltage: 2.5v
Warranty: Lifetime
Rs.2,250/-

Corsair XMS TwinX 1GB PC3200 (TWINX1024-3200C2) -
Size: 1GB DDR400MHz
Latency: 2-3-3-6 (CAS,tRCD,tRP,tRAS)
Function: Unbuffered
Operating Voltage: 2.5v
Warranty: Lifetime
Rs.4,300/-

Corsair XMS Pro Series 512MB PC3200 (CMX512-3200PRO) -
Size: 512MB DDR400MHz
Latency: 3-3-3-6 (CAS,tRCD,tRP,tRAS)
Function: Unbuffered
Heat Spreader: Yes
Operating Voltage: 2.5v
Warranty: Lifetime
Real-Time Activity LEDs
Rs.2,750/-

Corsair XMS Pro Series 1GB PC3200 (CMX1024-3200PRO) -
Size: 1GB (512MBx2) DDR400MHz
Latency: 3-3-3-8 (CAS,tRCD,tRP,tRAS)
Function: Unbuffered
Heat Spreader: Yes
Operating Voltage: 2.75v
Warranty: Lifetime
Real-Time Activity LEDs
Rs.5,500/-

Corsair XMS TwinX Pro Series 1GB PC3200 (TWINX1024-3200PRO) -
Size: 1GB (512MBx2) DDR400MHz
Latency: 3-3-3-6 (CAS,tRCD,tRP,tRAS)
Function: Unbuffered
Operating Voltage: 2.5v
Warranty: Lifetime
Rs.4,200/-

Corsair XMS Pro Series 2GB PC3200 (TWINX2048-3500LLPRO) -
Size: 2GB DDR400MHz
Latency: 2-3-2-6 (CAS,tRCD,tRP,tRAS)
Function: Unbuffered
Heat Spreader: Yes
Operating Voltage: 2.75v
Warranty: Lifetime
Real-Time Activity LEDs
Rs.8,200/-

DDR2 Ram -

Transcend Technologies Ltd -

Transcend JetRam 512MB PC2-4200 -
Size: 512MB (256MBx2) DDR2 533MHz
Latency: 5-5-5-18 (CAS,tRCD,tRP,tRAS)
Function: Unbuffered
Operating Voltage: 1.8v
Warranty: Lifetime
Rs.1,000/-

Transcend JetRam 1GB PC2-4200 -
Size: 1GB DDR2 533MHz
Latency: 5-5-5-18 (CAS,tRCD,tRP,tRAS)
Function: Unbuffered
Operating Voltage: 1.8v
Warranty: Lifetime
Rs.1,750/-

Transcend JetRam 512MB PC2-5300 -
Size: 512MB DDR2 667MHz
Latency: 5-5-5-18 (CAS,tRCD,tRP,tRAS)
Function: Unbuffered
Operating Voltage: 1.8v
Warranty: Lifetime
Rs.1,100/-

Transcend JetRam 1GB PC2-5300 -
Size: 1GB DDR2 667MHz
Latency: 5-5-5-18 (CAS,tRCD,tRP,tRAS)
Function: Unbuffered
Operating Voltage: 1.8v
Warranty: Lifetime
Rs.1,950/-

Transcend JetRam 2GB PC2-5300 -
Size: 2GB DDR2 667MHz
Latency: 5-5-5-18 (CAS,tRCD,tRP,tRAS)
Function: Unbuffered
Operating Voltage: 1.8v
Warranty: Lifetime
Rs.4,200/-

Kingston Technology Ltd –

Kingston ValueRAM 512MB PC2-4300 –
Size: 512MB DDR2 533MHz
Latency: 4-4-4-12 (CAS,tRCD,tRP,tRAS)
Function: Unbuffered
Operating Voltage: 1.8v
Warranty: Lifetime
Rs.1,000/-

Kingston ValueRAM 1GB PC2-4300 –
Size: 1GB DDR2 533MHz
Latency: 4-4-4-12 (CAS,tRCD,tRP,tRAS)
Function: Unbuffered
Operating Voltage: 1.8v
Warranty: Lifetime
Rs.1,550/-

Kingston ValueRAM 2GB PC2-4300 –
Size: 2GB DDR2 533MHz
Latency: 4-4-4-12 (CAS,tRCD,tRP,tRAS)
Function: Unbuffered
Operating Voltage: 1.8v
Warranty: Lifetime
Rs.3,100/-

Kingston ValueRAM 512MB PC2-5300 –
Size: 512MB DDR2 667MHz
Latency: 5-5-5-18 (CAS,tRCD,tRP,tRAS)
Function: Unbuffered
Operating Voltage: 1.8v
Warranty: Lifetime
Rs.1,100/-

Kingston ValueRAM 1GB PC2-5300 –
Size: 1GB DDR2 667MHz
Latency: 5-5-5-18 (CAS,tRCD,tRP,tRAS)
Function: Unbuffered
Operating Voltage: 1.8v
Warranty: Lifetime
Rs.1,850/-

Kingston HyperX 512MB PC2-5300 -
Size: 512MB (512×1) DDR2 667MHz
Latency: 3-3-3-10 (CAS,tRCD,tRP,tRAS)
Function: Unbuffered
Heat Spreader: Yes
Operating Voltage: 1.85v
Warranty: Lifetime
Rs.1,600/-

Kingston HyperX 1GB PC2-5400 -
Size: 1GB DDR2 675MHz
Latency: 4-4-4-10 (CAS,tRCD,tRP,tRAS)
Function: Unbuffered
Heat Spreader: Yes
Operating Voltage: 1.85v
Warranty: Lifetime
Rs.2,500/-

Kingston HyperX 2GB PC2-5400 -
Size: 2GB DDR2 675MHz
Latency: 4-4-4-10 (CAS,tRCD,tRP,tRAS)
Function: Unbuffered
Heat Spreader: Yes
Operating Voltage: 1.85v
Warranty: Lifetime
Rs.7,000/-

Corsair Memory Ltd -

Corsair Value Select 512MB PC2-5300 -
Size: 512MB (512×1) DDR2 667MHz
Latency: 5-5-5-15 (CAS,tRCD,tRP,tRAS)
Function: Unbuffered
Operating Voltage: 1.9v
Warranty: Lifetime
Rs.2,000/-

Corsair Value Select 1GB PC2-5300 -
Size: 1GB DDR2 667MHz
Latency: 5-5-5-15 (CAS,tRCD,tRP,tRAS)
Function: Unbuffered
Operating Voltage: 1.8v
Warranty: Lifetime
Rs.2,300/-

Corsair XMS2 1GB PC2-5400 -
Size: 1GB DDR2 675MHz
Latency: 4-4-4-12 (CAS,tRCD,tRP,tRAS)
Function: Unbuffered
Heat Spreader: Yes
Operating Voltage: 1.9v
Warranty: Lifetime
Rs.2,950/-

Corsair XMS2 1GB PC2-6400 -
Size: 1GB DDR2 800MHz
Latency: 5-5-5-15 (CAS,tRCD,tRP,tRAS)
Function: Unbuffered
Heat Spreader: Yes
Operating Voltage: 1.9v
Warranty: Lifetime
Rs.6,200/-

Corsair XMS2 2GB PC2-6400 -
Size: 2GB DDR2 800MHz
Latency: 5-5-5-12 (CAS,tRCD,tRP,tRAS)
Function: Unbuffered
Heat Spreader: Yes
Operating Voltage: 1.9v
Warranty: Lifetime
Rs.11,350/-

Corsair XMS2 1GB PC2-8500 -
Size: 1GB (512MBx2) DDR2 1066MHz
Latency: 5-5-5-15 (CAS,tRCD,tRP,tRAS)
Function: Unbuffered
Heat Spreader: Yes
Operating Voltage: 2.2v
Warranty: Lifetime
Rs.6,800/-

Corsair XMS2 2GB PC2-8500 -
Size: 2GB (1GBx2) DDR2 1066MHz
Latency: 5-5-5-15 (CAS,tRCD,tRP,tRAS)
Function: Unbuffered
Heat Spreader: Yes
Operating Voltage: 2.2v
Warranty: Lifetime
EPP (Enhanced Performance Profiles)
SLi Certified
Rs.12,950/-

Corsair Dominator 2GB PC-6400 “Dominator Series” -
Size: 2GB (1GBx2) DDR2 800MHz
Latency: 3-4-3-9 (CAS,tRCD,tRP,tRAS)
Function: Unbuffered
Heat Spreader: Yes
Operating Voltage: 2.4v
Warranty: Lifetime
DHX (Dual-Path Heat Xchange)
EPP (Enhanced Performance Profiles)
SLi Certified
Heatsink With Dominator Airflow Fan
Rs.15,000/-

Pricelist of Apple Products

2007-06-04T15:15:00.001+06:00

Mac Mini Core Solo -

Specs: 1.5GHz Intel Core Solo Processor, 512MB DDR2 667MHz Ram, Intel GMA950 Graphics (Upto 64MB Shared), 60GB 5400rpm HDD, Slot-Loading Combo Drive (DVD-Rom, CD-RW), Airport Extreme, Built-In Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, Apple Remote, 1.31 kg, Mac OS X v10.4 Tiger
Rs.33,500/-

Mac Mini Dual Core -

Specs: 1.83GHz Intel Core Duo Processor, 512MB DDR2 667MHz Ram, up to 64MB GMA950 Graphics, 80GB 5400 RPM HDD, Slot-Loading 8x Double-Layer SuperDrive, Airport Extreme, Built-In Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, 1.31 kg, Mac OS X v10.4 Tiger
Rs.43,000/-

iMac 17″ -
Specs: 1.83GHz Intel Core Duo Processor, 512MB DDR2 667MHz Ram, ATi Radeon X1600 Graphics With 128MB Ram,160GB SATA HDD, Slot-Loading 8x Double-Layer SuperDrive, Airport Extreme, Built-In Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, 1.31 kg, Mac OS X v10.4 Tiger
Rs.78,000/-

iMac 20″ -
Specs: 2.0GHz Intel Core Duo Processor, 512MB DDR2 667MHz Ram, ATi Radeon X1600 Graphics With 128MB Ram,250GB SATA HDD, Slot-Loading 8x Double-Layer SuperDrive, Airport Extreme, Built-In Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, 1.31 kg,Mac OS X v10.4 Tiger
Rs.1,01,600/-

Apple MacBook -

White MacBook 13″ -

Specs: Intel Core 2 Duo 1.83GHz Processor, 512MB of DDR2 667MHz Ram, 60GB 5400rpm HDD,Intel GMA950 64MB Graphics, Combo Drive, Built-in iSight Camera, Airport Extreme, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, 13.3″ Widescreen LCD 1280×800 resolution, Apple Remote, 2.36 kg
Rs. 63,000

White MacBook 13″ -

Spes: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz Processor, 512MB DDR2 667MHz Ram, 80GB 5400rpm HDD, Intel GMA950 64MB Graphics, 6x Double-Layer SuperDrive, Built-in iSight Camera, Airport Extreme, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, 13.3″ Widescreen LCD 1280×800 Resolution (720p Ready) , Apple Remote, 2.36 kg
Rs.75,000

Black MacBook 13″ -

Specs: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz Processor, 512MB DDR2 667MHz Ram, 120GB 5400rpm HDD, Intel GMA950 64MB Graphics, 6x Double-Layer SuperDrive, Built-in iSight Camera, Airport Extreme, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, 13.3″ Widescreen LCD 1280×800 Resolution (720p Ready), Apple Remote, Full-size Keyboard; Scrolling Trackpad, 2.36 kg
Rs.80,000

MacBook Pro -

MacBook Pro 15.4″ -
Specs: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz Processor, 512MB DDR2 667MHz Ram, 80GB SATA HDD, ATi Radeon X1600 Graphics With 128MB Ram, 4x Double-Layer SuperDrive, Airport Extreme, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, 15.4″ Widescreen LCD 1440×900 Resolution (816p Ready), Apple Remote, Full-size Keyboard; Scrolling Trackpad, 2.54 kg
Rs.1,15,800/-

MacBook Pro 15.4″ -
Specs: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.16GHz Processor, 1GB DDR2 667MHz Ram, 100GB SATA HDD, ATi Radeon X1600 Graphics With 256MB Ram, 4x Double-Layer SuperDrive, Airport Extreme, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, 15.4″ Widescreen LCD 1440×900 Resolution (816p Ready), Apple Remote, Full-size Keyboard; Scrolling Trackpad, 2.54 kg
Rs.1,41,500/-

MacBook Pro 17″ -
Specs: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.16GHz Processor, 512MB DDR2 667MHz Ram, 120GB SATA HDD, ATi Radeon X1600 Graphics With 256MB Ram, 8x Double-Layer SuperDrive, Airport Extreme, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, 17″ Widescreen LCD 1680×1050 Resolution (816p Ready), Apple Remote, Full-size Keyboard; Scrolling Trackpad, 2.54 kg
Rs.1,56,800/-

Apple Mac Pro -
Specs: Intel Xeon Dual Core Processor 2.66GHz x 2 (4MB Shared L2 Cache), 1.33GHz FSB, 1GB DDR2 667MHz Ram, 250GB SATA-II 3Gbps HDD, nVidia GeForce 7300GT Graphics With 256MB Ram, 16x Double-Layer SuperDrive
Rs.1,63,700

Pricelist of Intel Porcessors as on 4thJune,2007

2007-06-04T14:53:00.000+06:00

Intel Celeron D 326 -
Specs: 2.53GHz, 256KB L2 Cache, 533MHz FSB, 90nm
Rs. 1,600/-

Intel Celeron D 331 -
Specs:2.66GHz, 256KB L2 Cache, 533MHz FSB, EM64T, 90nm
Rs.1,800/-

Intel Celeron D 336 -
Specs: 2.80GHz, 256KB L2 Cache, 533MHz FSB, EM64T, 90nm
Rs. 1,950/-

Intel Celeron D 347 -
Specs: “Cedar Mill-512″ 2.80GHz, 256KB L2 Cache, 533MHz FSB, EM64T, 65nm
Rs.2,200/-

Intel Pentium 4 (Socket LGA775) “Prescott” -

Intel Pentium 4 506 -
Specs:2.6GHz, 1MB L2 Cache, 533MHz FSB, EM64T, 90nm
Rs.3,300/-

Intel Pentium 4 511 -
Specs:2.8GHz, 1MB L2 Cache, 533MHz FSB, EM64T, 90nm
Rs.3,650/-

Intel Pentium 4 516 -
Specs: 2.93GHz, 1MB L2 Cache, 533MHz FSB, EM64T, 90nm
Rs.3,800/-

Intel Pentium 4 521 -
Specs:2.8GHz, 1MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB, EM64T, 90nm, Hyper Threading
Rs.3,900/-

Intel Pentium 4 531 -
Specs: 3GHz, 1MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB, EM64T, 90nm, Hyper Threading
Rs.4,100/-

Intel Pentium 4 541 -
Specs:3.2GHz, 1MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB, EM64T, 90nm, Hyper Threading
Rs.4,300/-

Intel Pentium D (Socket LGA775) “SmithField” -

Intel Pentium D 820 -
Specs:2.8GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB, EM64T, 90nmIntel Pentium D (Socket LGA775) “SmithField”
Rs. 3,650/-

Intel Pentium D 830 -
Specs:3GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 533MHz FSB, EM64T, 90nm
Rs. 4,100/-

Intel Pentium D 840 “Extreme Edition” -
Specs:3.2GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB, EM64T, IEST, 90nm
Rs.6,200/-

Intel Core 2 Duo “Allendale” -

Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 -
Specs: 1.8GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB, EM64T, IEST, iAMT2, LaGrande, 65nm
Rs. 5,600/-

Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 -
Specs:1.86GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB, EM64T, IIntel Core 2 Duo AllendaleEST, iAMT2, LaGrande, 65nm
Rs. 6,800/-

Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 -
Specs: 2.13GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB, EM64T, IEST, iAMT2, LaGrande, 65nm
Rs. 7,950/-

Intel Core 2 Duo “Conroe” -

Intel Core 2 Duo E6320 -
Specs:1.86GHz, 4MB L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB, EM64T, iAMT2, LaGrande, 65nm
Rs. 8,600/-

Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 -
Specs: 2.13GHz, 4MB L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB, EM64T, iAMT2, LaGrande, 65nm
Rs. 9,500/-

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 -
Specs:2.4GHz, 4MB L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB, EM64T, IEST, iAMT2, LaGrande, 65nm
Rs.11,900/-

Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 -
Specs: 2.6GHz, 4MB L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB, EM64T, IEST, iAMT2, LaGrande, 65nm
Rs.16,500/-

Intel Core 2 Duo “Conroe XE” -

Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 -
Specs: 2.93GHz, 4MB L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB, EM64T, IEST, iAMT2, LaGrande, 65nm, Unlocked Multiplier
Rs.26,800/-

Intel Core 2 Quad “Kentsfield” -

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 -
Specs: 2.4GHz, 8MB L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB, EM64T, IEST, iAMT2, LaGrande, 65nm
Rs. 31,600/-

Intel Core 2 Quad “Kentsfield XE” -

Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 -
Specs:2.66GHz, 8MB L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB, EM64T, IEST, iAMT2, LaGrande, 65nm
Rs.36,000/-

Intel developing GenX chips

2007-04-01T08:28:00.000+06:00

Intel Processors (Glossary of Technical Terms)

2007-03-14T21:05:00.000+06:00

Glossary Definitions

	Architecture
	The basic design of a microprocessor. It may include process technology and/or other architectural enhancements.



	Chipset
	The motherboard chipset consists of a "Northbridge", or Memory Controller Hub (MCH), which is responsible for controlling communication between system memory, the processor, AGP, and the south bridge, or I/O Controller Hub (ICH). The ICH controls communication between PCI devices, system management bus, ATA devices, AC'97, USB, IEEE1394 (firewire), and LPC controller. [These controllers are soldered onto the motherboard and annot be changed or upgraded.]



	Clock Speed
	(GHz/MHz) The speed of the processor's internal clock, which dictates how fast the processor can process data. Clock speed is usually measured in GHz (gigahertz, or billions of pulses per second).



	Front Side Bus
	The connecting path between the processor and other key components such as the memory controller hub. FSB speed is measured in GHz or MHz.



	L2 Cache
	The size of 2nd level cache. L2 Cache is ultra-fast memory that buffers information being transferred between the processor and the system RAM in order to streamline these transfers.



	Wireless
	The ability to connect digital devices, to local or wide area networks (LAN/WAN), or the Internet, without the use of wires. LAN (Local Area Network): A data transmission facility connecting a number of communicating devices (computers, terminals and printers) within a single room, building, campus or other limited geographical area.

3D Chipset Specifications

2007-01-27T20:48:00.000+06:00

For detailed video card specs, please click on the following link:

It’s a bit big and scary, and full of technical jargon, but don’t worry, everything is explained down below.

Neeyik's 3D Graphics Card Specification Charts

Some links where you will find great performance reviews and comparisons...head on over to their respective video card sections ASAP!

www.anandtech.com
www.xbitlabs.com
www.firingsquad.com
www.digit-life.com
www.hardocp.com
www.guru3d.com

2007-01-05T22:33:00.000+06:00

Samsung SCH-B600

This new phone from Samsung is extremely interesting. Why? Well, instead of calling the Samsung SCH-B600 a phone, we could call it a camera. A 10 megapixel camera with 3 times optical zoom a 2.2 inch color display, DMB satellite TV reception, music and image playback, voice recognition and bluetooth. Impressive

Samsung have announced a 10 megapixel camera phone on the opening day of CeBIT 2006. Maybe I should say that again - a 10 megapixel camera phone! That's more megapixellage than most digital SLR cameras. But that's not all. Rather than just relying on the number of megapixels to wow the crowd, Samsung also provide this beast of a mobile phone with a 3x optical zoom (not digital, like most camera phones: optical, meaning it actually works without pixellating your image), flash and 1/2000th of a second shutter speed.
This may be a way of Samsung laughing in the face of Sony's recently announced 3.2 megapixel CyberShot camera phone. Whatever, if mobile TV is meant to be the mobile gadget extra of the year, no-one told the camera phone makers!

Samsung 7.7 megapixel camera phone with optical zoom - SCH B500

This camera phone is certainly more of a camera and less of a phone, especially when you see it from the back. The slider handset which goes by the name of SCH B500 is quite thick to accomodate the camera lens - 18.5 mm to be precise. The SCH B500 does not simply bank on the credit of having a 7.7 megapixel camera either; its a DMB phone so it can recieve and allow the user to view satellite TV as well. Since the phone can take such high resolution pictures, the user is bound to run out of storage space sooner or later, a problem easily solved by getting T-flash (trans flash) memory cards which the phone supports. The pictures can then be later seen on a TV screen thanks to the TV out function of the SCH B500.
The large display goes into landscape mode once the camera is activated. The SCH B500 is expected to be available to Korean users initially via SK Telecom.

2006-12-03T21:51:00.000+06:00

Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 review: Quad Core is here!

Since the release of Intel’s Conroe micro-architecture, the company has been making waves, massive waves. In terms of performance, Intel washed away main competitor AMD, and they have continued to do so during the past three months with the success of their Core 2 Duo and Extreme processor series.
The only counter AMD has been able to come up with so far is to completely slash prices for all their existing processors, making them extremely tempting as well. Nevertheless, the performance of the Core 2 Duo processor range is so compelling, that even die-hard AMD fans have been taking notice.
The Conroe, or as it is better known, the Core 2 Duo, is a Pentium replacement, meaning we will now longer see any new Pentium branded processors. The Pentium 5xx, 6xx and D series are already becoming a thing of the past. So with Intel now focusing all their attention on the Core 2 series, you can expect it to expand quite rapidly.
Currently, there are four Core 2 Duo processors which were released at the initial launch (E6300, E6400, E6600 and E6700). There is also the Core 2 Extreme processor dubbed the X6800, though it offers very little in the way of performance over the E6700. There is said to be four new Core 2 Duo processors on the way that will run on a 1333MHz FSB and will all feature the larger 4MB L2 Cache. They are the E6650, E6750, E6800 and E6850, though we are not here to discuss these processors today. Rather, we are here to examine the new Kentsfield micro-architecture which is based on a quad-core 65nm design.

Hardware- Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 (2.66GHz)- Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 (2.93GHz)- Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 (2.66GHz)- Intel Pentium D 950 (3.40GHz)
- 2GB Corsair XMS DDR2-800 (CAS4)
- ASUS P5W DH Deluxe (Intel 975X)
- Seagate 250GB 7200RPM (Serial ATA II)
- Gigabyte Radeon X1900XTX (512MB)
Software- Microsoft Windows XP Pro 32bit (SP2)- ATI Catalyst (6.10)- Intel System Drivers (7.2.2)

Although both the E6700 and QX6700 operate at 2.66GHz, the QX6700 has four cores working away while the E6700 has just two. The end result was 3.5x more performance for the QX6700 over the E6700, which is obviously very significant. Despite this, Super PI showed no performance gains for the QX6700, as this program does not support quad-core processors. PCmark2005 also showed no performance gains for the QX6700 over the dual-core processors.

Intel Core 2 Extreme quad-core processor QX6700
The world’s best desktop processor for multimedia applications, the Intel Core 2 Extreme quad-core processor QX6700 is up to 80 percent faster** than the company’s current Intel Core 2 Extreme Processor X6800.
This is the world’s first quad-core desktop processor available for unmatched, highly threaded performance. Ideal for today's games with incredible performance for tomorrow’s highly threaded games; the Intel Core 2 Extreme quad-core processor QX6700 is available at 2.66GHz with a 1066MHz FSB. The processor runs on Intel’s existing 975X Express chipset family.
The company plans to offer a mainstream quad-core processor starting in the first quarter next year under the Intel Core 2 Quad processor brand name. The processor will be an ideal choice for processor-intensive, highly threaded programs such as entertainment, gaming and multimedia activities.
Pricing and Availability
Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor X5355 2.66GHz 1333MHz 8MB 120W
$1172
Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor E5345 2.33GHz 1333MHz 8MB 80W
$851
Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor E5320 1.86GHz 1066MHz 8MB 80W
$690
Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor E5310 1.60GHz 1066MHz 8MB 80W
$455
Intel Core 2 Extreme quad-core processor QX6700 2.66GHz 1066MHz 8MB 130W
$999

2006-12-02T19:01:00.000+06:00

Websites For free E-books & Magazines:
http://www.avaxhome.ru/magazines
http://www.ebooksclan.org
http://stuff2d.blogspot.com
Games:
http://www.gamewallpapers.ru
http://www.gamewallpapers.com
http://www.ign.com
http://www.gamespot.com
Mobile Tech:
http://www.gsmarena.com
http://www.mobilemag.com

2006-12-02T15:31:00.000+06:00

There's been a mantra associated with laptops pretty much since they came into being: if you're looking to build the fastest computer possible, get a desktop; the only reason to get a laptop is if you want mobility more than anything else, because laptops are always slower than equivalent desktops. While that statement is still true for the most part, the difference between top-performing desktop systems and top-performing laptops has been diminishing for many years. With NVIDIA working on mobile SLI solutions, we are nearing the point where the major difference between desktop systems and laptops is going to be price. Today marks the launch of NVIDIA's GeForce Go 7900 offerings, ranging from the 7900 256MB GPUs up through 7900 GTX 512MB configurations.

Unlike the desktop market, it is extremely difficult (actually impossible at present) to review a mobile graphics offering without getting a laptop built around the new GPU. The good news is that Dell sent us their new XPS M1710 with the top-end 7900 GTX 512MB chip, so we have a chance to see exactly what the new mobile graphics "king" brings to the table. Dell didn't stop with stuffing in the fastest mobile graphics chip either; they've decked out the system with a flashy appearance, Intel's fastest mobile processor, 2GB of DDR2 memory, and a huge 17 inch widescreen display with a native 1920x1200 resolution. Clearly, this isn't a notebook targeting the Thin and Light market, but rather it's going after the Desktop Replacement (DTR) segment.When it comes to computers, just about every person in the world has heard of Dell. Some people love them, some people hate them, and many of their competitors likely fear them. Dell is much maligned in the hardware enthusiast community, and though they have certainly deserved it at times, it's important not to lose sight of the bigger picture. Dell manufactures and sells literally millions of computers per year, and when you deal in that sort of volume, with product markets targeting everything from the value segment up through the high-end servers, there are bound to be better products and worse products. Most knowledgeable people realize that there's no such thing as a perfect system that will fill the needs of every individual; a system needs to be tailored to fit the usage requirements of the user, and as often as not that is where people run into problems when dealing with large OEMs.It is extremely unlikely that any hardware enthusiast would be thrilled to get the latest value desktop system from Dell, just like a classic car buff probably isn't going to be happy fixing up a 1970 Ford Pinto. In fact, there are plenty of people that would never want any form of Dell computer -- for example, overclocking enthusiasts will find that Dell simply chooses not to cater to them at all. We need to keep things in perspective, though, because not everyone wants to overclock; many people will be perfectly happy with an inexpensive, reasonably performing, reliable computer.Getting back to the topic at hand, laptops are a market that's quite different from the world of desktop enthusiasts. Balancing performance and features against weight, size, and battery life gives manufacturers plenty of opportunities to configure their laptops to fit specific needs. It doesn't require much deductive reasoning to determine that this particular laptop focuses more on improving performance and offering higher end features than on longer battery life or size, so what we're primarily interested in determining is how this system fares as a mobile gaming platform.In order to keep the document size manageable and bring you the latest reviews in a timely fashion, we're going to review this laptop in two parts. This first part will focus primarily on the external appearance, overall system performance, features, and battery life. We'll be following up with a second article that will spend more time looking at the included software, construction, and some additional benchmarks.

2006-12-02T15:29:00.000+06:00

The Samsung SGH-i310 is an upgrade to the i300 phone, and is a similar handset featuring an internal hard disk and a Windows operating system, with the emphasis firmly on music playback.The two most significant improvements are the disk capacity - the Samsung i310 boasts an 8Gb internal drive (the i300 has 3Gb and the i300x 4Gb), and a long-overdue upgrade to the Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system. The camera has also been upgraded to 2 megapixels from 1.3 megapixels. The i310 now supports USB 2.0 for high-speed data transfers.
As with the previous model, the i310 has a QVGA 240x320 pixel display, Bluetooth and EDGE support (but no 3G or WiFi), plus a microSD/TransFlash memory slot, email client, web browser and of course a multimedia player capable of playing back MP3, WMA and AAC audio.
It's a pretty bland handset to look at, with only a few minor cosmetic differences (primarly a silver keypad instead of a black one), but in technical terms it compares well with the competition. It has a better screen and more disk space than the overdue Nokia N91, for example - although the Nokia N91 offers 3G and WiFi.. or at least it will do when it finally comes to market. The Sony Ericsson W950i only has 4Gb of internal flash memory (rather than a disk) and no camera, but it's arguably a better smartphone.
We're still not convinced that hard disks in phones are a good idea - and although the SGH-i310 is currently leading the field in terms of storage capacity, we feel that it won't be long until flash-based systems catch up. Samsung say that the SGH-i310 will be available sometime in the second half of 2006.

2006-12-02T10:52:00.000+06:00

Another 5-Megapixel Camara Phone from NOKIA,N-95 with GPS enabled.It is a first double slider Camera phone in it's class.

2006-12-02T10:37:00.000+06:00

LG -KG920 5-Megapixel Camera Phone

2006-12-02T10:25:00.000+06:00

	GeForce 9600 GT
Stream Processors	64
Core Clock (MHz)	650 MHz
Shader Clock (MHz)	1625 MHz
Memory Clock (MHz)	900 MHz
Memory Amount	512MB
Memory Interface	256-bit
Memory Bandwidth (GB/sec)	57.6
Texture Fill Rate (billion/sec)	20.8

Tech Check

The Nehalem Preview: Intel Does It Again

Not One Nehalem, but Two

The Socket

The Return of Hyper Threading

Power Consumption

Final Words

XFX 9800GX2 (Nvidia 9800 GX2)

Intel's Ultra-Portable Atom: Unveiled

Intel Core 2 Extreme Mobile X9000, Mobile Penryn

OCZ Introduces DDR3 Laptop Memory

NVIDIA Launches TEGRA System-On-a-Chip Designs

Intel P45 / G45 Express Launch and Technology Preview

Dell XPS 730 H2C Performance Gaming System

Intel Core 2 Duo E7200, Eco-Friendly Performance

A new reference motherboard design

Intel Showcases Dunnington, Nehalem and Larrabee Processors

eVGA 9600 GT review

9600 GT

Hardware Support

Gaming PC under Rs.60,000/-

Get your photos to Talk,Sing & Dance

Bits with more byte in them

nVIDIA High End 8800 GPU Pricelist

Sony VAIO Pricelist

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GeForce 8700M GT

Price list of RAM

Pricelist of Apple Products

Pricelist of Intel Porcessors as on 4thJune,2007

Intel developing GenX chips

Intel Processors (Glossary of Technical Terms)

3D Chipset Specifications