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 0 9>

0 74470 81182 4
 ®
September 2005 • Vol 5 Issue 9

Frontside
Mobile Computing 6
12
14
What’s Happening
Digital Economy
The Saint

Your Way,
Stop Me If You’ve Heard
This One Before

The Experts
Right Away

Alex St. John

The Saint
page 14

Spotlight
Alex “Sharky” Ross
The Shark Tank
page 28

46 Mobile Computing Your Way, Right Away

Customize Your Road Rage
Anand Lal Shimpi
Anand’s Corner
page 26

54 How To Build Your Own Notebook PC

When Buying Pre-Built Just Won’t Cut It Rob “CmdrTaco”
Malda
The Department

64 Next-Gen Notebooks
If Building Isn’t Your Bag
Kyle Bennett
[H]ard Talk
page 29
Of Stuff
page 84

Mike Magee
Shavings From

66 Gear Gone Mobile

Cool Gadgets For The Mobile-Minded
The Rumour Mill
page 97

Copyright 2005 by Sandhills Publishing Company. Computer Power User is a trademark of Sandhills Publishing
Company. All rights reserved. Reproduction of material appearing in Computer Power User is strictly prohibited
without written permission. Printed in the U.S.A. GST # 123482788RT0001 (ISSN 1536-7568) CPU Computer
Chris Pirillo Pete Loshin
Power User USPS 020-801 is published monthly for $29 per year by Sandhills Publishing Company, 131 West Dialogue Box Open Sauce
Grand Drive, P.O. Box 82667, Lincoln, NE 68501. Subscriber Services: (800) 424-7900. Periodicals postage paid at page 79 page 80
Lincoln, NE. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Computer Power User, P.O. Box 82667, Lincoln, NE 68501.

Did you find the hidden CPU logo on our cover? Turn the page for the answer.
 Hard Hat Area Digital Living
PC Modder 86 Road Warrior
Sprucing Up The iPod, Creative Wireless
30 Tips & Tutorials Networking, BitTorrent Goes Mobile,
31 “Silent But Deadly” Motion Computing's New Tablet PC
The Secret To Cooling Is In The Air, Part II & More From The Mobile Front
88 At Your Leisure
Heavy Gear Plug In, Sit Back & Fire Away

15 Dream Hardware Battlefield 2

page 89
16 Power & Performance 34 Mad Reader Mod
Nine PSUs Stressed Out & Tested How Trashy!
36 Advanced Q&A Corner
20 NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GTX 38 X-ray Vision: Filter Cubicle Distractions
How To Concentrate In Your Cube
21 AMD Athlon 64 FX-57 40 White Paper: Focused Audio
Brings Sound To You & Only You
22 Intel Pentium M 770
AMD Sempron 3400+
Loading Zone Tips & Tricks
69 The Bleeding Edge Of Software 93 Software Tips & Projects
24 AOpen XC Cube Mini
Inside The World Of Betas Advanced Spy Killing, Part I:
Biohazard Nuclear Winter Desktop PC
70 Up To Speed Make A Spy Hunting Kit
Upgrades That’ll Keep You 95 Warm Up To Penguins
25 CRU-DataPort DP25
Humming Along Using The Find Command
XFX Revo64 SATA Controller
72 Essential Notebook Apps
26 Anand’s Corner
75
For Those Times You’re Away From Home
Adobe Acrobat 7 Professional
What’s Cooking
NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GTX: Made For 97 Shavings From The Rumour Mill
ScanSoft PDF Converter Professional 3
High Resolutions & Fast CPUs It’s Time To Torment Microsoft
76 Corel Paint Shop Photo Album 5.0
Roxio Boom Box 1.0 102 Hot Seat
28 The Shark Tank The HD Disc Revolution
78 DivX 6
The Ultimate Battlefield 2 Rig 103 Technically Speaking
Are The Benefits Worth The Price?
79 Dialogue Box An Interview With Doug Dodson,
29 [H]ard Talk President & Founder Of PC Power
Codec Roam
AMD’s Athlon 64 X2: Dual-Core, & Cooling
80 Open Sauce
Gotta Love It 105 Under Development
Free & Open, Part I
A Peek At What’s Brewing
In The Laboratory
Caught In The Web
81 The Gentle Art Of Spy Hunting
PUP Patrol Ups Its Game
Back Door
108 Q&A With Art Coviello, Jr.
Charged With Keeping The Digital
Age Secure

Infinite Loops
Strange stats and other oddball
items from computing's periphery
84 The Department Of Stuff
tor.txt 83, 94, 96
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Lincoln, NE 68521
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those of you on-the-go. In this month’s Spotlight
The Gang
we’re going to walk you through building your own
Editorial Staff: Ronald D. Kobler / Samit G. Choudhuri / Blaine
notebook (page 54). After all, why make do with an Flamig / Trista Kunce / Corey Russman / Rod Scher /
OEM notebook when you can customize it to your Christopher Trumble / Calvin Clinchard / Katie Sommer /
Kimberly Fitzke / Katie Dolan / Raejean Brooks / Rebecca
own specs? (Have no fear; we’ve included some prebuilts
Christensen / Sally Curran / Michael Sweet / Jennifer Suggitt /
on page 64 for those of you not as inclined to build your Nate Hoppe / Sheila Allen / Linne Ourada / Elizabeth Dixon /
own.) And then for the truly tech-savvy, we’ve included Joy Martin / Brian Weed / Sarie Whitson / Ryan Syrek / Marty
Sems / Chad Denton / Nathan Chandler / Kylee Dickey / Josh
some of the coolest on-the-go gear available today
Gulick / Andrew Leibman / Vince Cogley / Samuel Evans /
(“Gear Gone Mobile” on page 66). Jennifer Johnson Web Staff: Dorene Krausnick / Travis Brock
Well, that’s it for now. And it looks like Wife Customer Service: Lindsay Albers / Becky Rezabek / Lana Matic
Subscription Renewals: Liz Kohout / Connie Beatty / Matt
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Bolling / Patrick Kean / Charmaine Vondra / Miden Ebert /
and to bid you a hearty au revoir. As always, please let Kathy DeCoito / Stephanie Contreras / Nicole Buckendahl Art
us know how we’re doing. We’ve got some great stuff & Design: Lesa Call / Fred Schneider / Ginger Riley / Carrie Benes
/ Aaron Weston / Aaron Clark / Sonja Warner / Lori Garris /
lined up for next month, so see you then. Cheers.
Jason Codr / Andria Schultz / Erin Rodriguez / Lindsay Anker /
Kelli Lambertsen Newsstand: Garth Lienemann / Kelly
Richardson / Jeff Schnittker Advertising Sales: Grant Ossenkop
/ Cindy Pieper / Brooke Wolzen / Eric Cobb / Marketing: Mark
Peery / Marcy Gunn / Jen Clausen / Scot Banks /
Ashley Hannant / Luke Vavricek

Samit G. Choudhuri, Publication Editor, CPU

Gotcha.
Here it is.
 W h a t ’s H a p p e n i n g • H a rd w a re Compiled by
Steve Smith

Microsoft Blows Up Your Remote Now Your

For many home theater prosumers who need the biggest remote on the block,
Microsoft now obliges with the Remote Keyboard for Windows XP Media Center Data Even
Edition. The backlit keys are designed for typing in darkened living rooms, and the
built-in mouse and remote control navigate menus and control all TV and multi- Looks Secure
media functions. Just try losing this one between the couch cushions. ▲ Sometimes appearances matter;
for example, the Imation USB
2.0 Micro Drive’s unique pad-
lock shape had some sort of
deterrent effect on us. The loop
portion is actually a flexible
USB cable that unlocks, con-
nects to your PC, and adds
2GB or 4GB of portable stor-
age. Also, actual data security is
involved here,: Magnetic Data
Encoding, 128-bit encryption,
password protection, and an
autosyc feature that automati-
cally backs up and syncs the
files to multiple locations. The
1.6-inch x 3.3-inch minidrive
Half-Life 2 should be available as you read
this for $159 (2GB) and $189
Cost You How Much? (4GB). The Imation drive is
Best PC game of all time? Maybe. But were the also rated to withstand 1,000Gs
rights to bundle Half-Life 2 game vouchers with of force—perfect for doing data
new Radeon cards last year worth $8 million? transfers while banging your
An investigative report by The Inquirer.com laptop against a wall or launch-
(Full disclosure: Mike Magee is a regular colum- ing into suborbit. ▲
nist for CPU. See his column on page 97.) says
ATI’s copromotion deal involved paying developer
Valve $2.4 million cash up front, another $4.4 million for the game
bundles, and $1.2 million for comarketing. Valve unwittingly repaid the
favor by missing the HL2 release date and handing ATI an unexpected
extra year of time to market the 9600 XT and 9800 XT cards with cou-
pons for a free HL2. An ATI spokesperson will neither confirm nor deny this specific
report but characterizes many press rumors about ATI as “pure fiction.” ▲

Game celebrity Gordon Freeman

Imation wraps a lockbox around
isn’t even real, but his and Half-
2GB and 4GB drives, which are
Life 2’s endorsement and
about the size of a quarter.
bundling deal with ATI may have
been worth up to $8 million.

6 September 2005 / www.computerpoweruser.com

 What’s Happening • Hardware

X-Fi Hypes The Volume To 11

As sophisticated motherboard-based audio solutions threaten
standalone cards, Creative strikes back with big claims about its
upcoming X-Fi (Xtreme Fidelity) sound processor. The X-Fi
promises a true audio accelerator with 10 billion instructions per
second, offloading game, MP3, and movie sound tasks from a
CPU to boost overall system performance. Creative claims a 17%
frame rate increase in Unreal Tournament 2004 over onboard
HD audio processors. X-Fi is supposed to enhance MP3 and
low-res soundtracks with a 24-bit Crystalizer and Super-Ripping,
which turns CD tracks into 24-bit, multichannel 3D audio files.
Those are a lot of promises to keep, but according to the count-
down at SoundBlaster.com, we should know if Creative made
good on its claims by the time you read this. ▲

Creative is promising that the new X-Fi audio processor will both accelerate and substantially
enhance virtually all PC-based sound.

H a r d w a r e M o l e
DWC: Driving While Computing?
And we thought cell phones and SUVs were a dangerous combo. Just wait
until those car-pooling soccer moms start playing Bejeweled on the Infill T3
PC for cars. Tucked inside this dashboard rack is a 1GHz or 1.6GHz Pentium
CPU (according to different translations of the Web site), Windows XP, 40GB
storage, DVD drive, GPS, TV Tuner, voice control, and (naturally) a remote.
There will even be an open PCI slot. Commuters can use a combination of
touchscreen and multimedia shortcut buttons to control the T3 without the
radical distraction of a keyboard. Nevertheless, we can see the irate backlash of
bumper stickers now: “Get off your PC and drive!” ▲
What no cup holder? Infill’s T3
packs just about everything else into
Monopoly Is A Tough Rap To Prove this PC for your dashboard.
AMD says in an antitrust lawsuit that rival Intel engaged in “worldwide coer-
cion of customers from dealing with AMD.” The problem is that AMD will
have to subpoena its own valued partners and PC manufacturers to prove that
Intel used money and intimidation to maintain a monopoly. Industry experts say that this will put OEMs in a sticky situa-
tion because they will have to give up evidence against their chief tech partner. ▲

Camcorder To Go, No Onions

In a novel marketing experiment, the Samsung Experience shop in midtown Manhattan is lending visitors the latest model
digital cameras or camcorders for up to three hours. The Tech Take Out program encourages consumers to test out Sam-
sung products by taking them out on the street to capture footage and images. A photo ID and credit card are required to
secure the loan, of course, but upon the unit’s return, Samsung will show you how to burn your footage onto a DVD, put
it on a CD, or print three photos as souvenirs. ▲

CPU / September 2005 7

 Compiled by
W h a t ’s H a p p e n i n g • C h i p Wa t c h Dean Takahashi
Compiled by DeanTakahashi

XDR2 From Rambus

Offers Big Boost In Memory Bandwidth
The PlayStation 3 will have rockin’ XDR memory chips that transfer data at a rate of
3.2GHz; however, the new memory interface from Rambus, dubbed XDR2, will transfer
data at 8GHz. Richard Warmke, director of Rambus product marketing, says games with
intense 3D graphics should benefit from the faster speed. But will this enable memory to
close the gap with processor speeds? It will help, Warmke says, but not enough to satisfy
power users. Consequently, Rambus will license the technology to memory chipmakers
that are expected to debut XDR2 DRAM chips in 2007. The XDR2 interface includes
several innovations that enable data to overcome noise problems in computer pathways. XDR2 also IBM Plunges
includes an innovation known as microthreading, which can quadruple memory speed through Into Image
architectural improvements alone. With microthreading a Sensor Market
processor will fetch data in chunks of eight bytes at a time,
instead of the typical 32 bytes, which is more efficient. ▲ IBM is having a Kodak
moment. The company
Cell Seeks Markets Beyond PlayStation 3 announced that it will use
a breakthrough image sen-
The strategy behind the Cell computer chip is to infiltrate everything from handheld computers to sor technology to break
supercomputers. As such, it represents a big challenge to the hegemony of Intel and other micro- into the market for image
processor vendors. This strategy seems to be a hollow claim because the Cell chip was designed for sensors in digital cameras
the PlayStation 3 and will be the first to use the chip. However, IBM announced that Mercury and camera phones. The
Computer Systems (www.mc.com) will use Cell chips in markets that go beyond gaming. Mercury company will integrate
will use the chips in machines for medical imaging, defense radars, and seismic processing. Raj IBM’s own copper inter-
Desai, vice president at IBM, says the Cell strategy is bearing fruit. He says that Cell chips, which connection technology
can process up to 200 billion Flops, will be useful in any application that requires a lot of data process- with Kodak’s proprietary
ing, image construction, or image display. Toshiba has promised it will use Cell chips in digital TV image sensor technology.
sets, and Sony Electronics executives say they will use Cell chips in their own video products. ▲ CMOS image sensors are
growing at a rate of 40%
Watching The Chips Fall *Retail price
** Manufacturer's price per 1,000 units
Other current prices, if indicated, are lowest OEM prices
per year, according to
market researcher iSuppli.
Here is pricing information for AMD and Intel CPUs. available through Pricegrabber.com
So, IBM and Kodak have
CPU Released Original Current Last month's collaborated on a manu-
price price price
facturing process that opti-
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 9/23/2003 $417** $167 $178
AMD Athlon 64 3400+ 1/6/2004 $417** $172 $169 mizes the collection of
AMD Athlon 64 3500+ 6/1/2004 $500** $249 $243 light, reduces power leak-
AMD Athlon 64 3700+ 6/1/2004 $710** $319 $327
AMD Athlon 64 3800+ 6/1/2004 $720** $358 $359 age, and lengthens battery
AMD Athlon 64 4000+ 10/19/2004 $729** $482 $482 life. This manufacturing
AMD Athlon 64 FX-55 10/19/2004 $827** $799 $809*
AMD Athlon 64 FX-57 6/27/2005 $1031** $1,101 N/A
process will deliver better
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core 4200+ 5/31/2005 $537** $526 $537** quantum efficiency, or a
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core 4400+ 5/31/2005 $581** $617 $581** measure of how much
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core 4600+ 5/31/2005 $803** $803** $803**
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core 4800+ 5/31/2005 $1001** $1,042 $1001** light the sensor can cap-
Intel Pentium 4 3.4GHz 800MHz FSB 2/2/2004 $417** $283* $271 ture. The result will be
Intel Pentium 4 Extreme Edition 3.73GHz 2MB cache 800MHz FSB 2/21/2005 $999** $1010* $1016*
Intel Pentium Processor Extreme Edition 840 3.2GHz dual-core 4/18/2005 $999** $1014* $999** better picture quality in
Intel Pentium 4 530 3GHz 1MB cache 800MHz FSB 90nm 6/27/2004 $218** $171* $165* low light settings, picture
Intel Pentium 4 540 3.2GHz 1MB cache 800MHz FSB 90nm 6/27/2004 $278** $189* $189*
Intel Pentium 4 550 3.4GHz 1MB cache 800MHz FSB 90nm 6/27/2004 $417** $289* $289*
contrast, and dynamic
Intel Pentium 4 560 3.6GHz 1MB cache 800MHz FSB 90nm 6/27/2004 $637** $402* $394* range (the combination
Intel Pentium 4 570 3.8GHz 1MB cache 800MHz FSB 90nm 11/15/2004 $637** $659* $659* of dark and bright sec-
Intel Pentium 4 630 3GHz 2MB cache 800MHz FSB 90nm 2/21/2005 $224** $222* $202*
Intel Pentium 4 640 3.2GHz 2MB cache 800MHz FSB 90nm 2/21/2005 $273** $266* $276* tions in a single image).
Intel Pentium 4 650 3.4GHz 2MB cache 800MHz FSB 90nm 2/21/2005 $401** $402* $370* IBM says the switch will
Intel Pentium 4 660 3.6GHz 2MB cache 800MHz FSB 90nm 2/21/2005 $605** $609* $610*
Intel Pentium 4 670 3.8GHz 2MB cache 800MHz FSB 90nm 5/26/2005 $849** $849** N/A help accelerate the shift
Intel Pentium D 2.8GHz dual-core 2MB cache 800MHz FSB 90nm 5/26/2005 $241** $241** N/A from CCDs to CMOS
Intel Pentium D 3GHz dual-core 2MB cache 800MHz FSB 90nm
Intel Pentium D 3.2GHz dual-core 2MB cache 800MHz FSB 90nm
5/26/2005
5/26/2005
$316**
$530**
$316**
$530**
N/A
N/A
image sensors. ▲

8 September 2005 / www.computerpoweruser.com

W h a t ’s H a p p e n i n g • I n t e r n e t
Compiled by Ryan Syrek

Say It Proud, Say It Loud

If you can somehow manage to boil a lifetime of frustration, excite-
ment, confusion, and sarcasm down to one 60-second tirade, you
finally have an outlet: One Free Minute (www.onefreeminute.net), a
traveling mobile sculpture, consists of a loudspeaker that kicks out
ThinkFree’s Office Online
one-minute jams phoned in by participants around the world. You can
is a free way to avoid
either leave your message on an answering machine to be played ran-
compatibility issues
domly during a performance or send an
between Microsoft Office
email request to receive the live hotline
documents and computers
number. The site features video of per-
that don’t sport the suite.
formances and an audio sample of some
of the entries. Best of all, the authors of
the rants will remain anonymous, giv- It’s Office
ing you the freedom to mock co-work- Without The Office
ers or politicians without fear of If you see this bike and After a long, hard day at the
reprisal. It’s the First Amendment in speaker, you’re about to office, there’s nothing more
action, one minute at a time. ▲ hear free speech in action. enjoyable than trying to alliga-
tor-wrestle a Microsoft Office
document into readability on
Bloggers Beware your Office-free home comput-
As it turns out, you actually can’t just say whatever you want er. You could, of course, plop
to in blogland and get away with it. Given the increasing down the hundreds needed to
attention to online journalists (some of it is even positive), acquire the suite, or you could
questions surrounding the legal parameters of blogging are simply use ThinkFree Office
springing up as fast as, well, bloggers are. Thankfully, the EFF Online Beta (www.thinkfree
(Electronic Frontier Foundation) has put together a helpful .com). ThinkFree offers word
Legal Guide (www.eff.org/bloggers/lg/) to answer many processing, spreadsheet, and
FAQs. While the EFF stresses this is not official legal advice, presentation graphics appliances
it does contain suggestions regarding privacy, intellectual The EFF (Electronic that are compatible with Micro-
property, reporter’s privilege, and defamation along with sev- Frontier Foundation) soft Word, Excel, and Power-
eral other legal sticky wickets. It’s an informative way to reminds us to blog safe Point; the files can be saved in
remind bloggers to think before posting. ▲ and blog legal. .DOC, .XLS, and .PPT format.
As if that weren’t enough,
ThinkFree tosses in Blog Em-
AOL’s Got A Brand New (Beta) Bag bedding (which lets users embed
Take a quick jaunt over to AOL.com’s site, click the Preview AOL.com Beta button, a miniversion of the software
and you’ll see the Botox-free facelift that AOL.com is about to receive. Chock-full into a blog, so that visitors can
of new features (free AIM mail, a Google-enhanced search, shopping resources, and read, edit, and manipulate
digital picture storage), most of the portal will be open to non-AOL subscribers. Microsoft Office files) and PDF
Perhaps most exciting are the links to original programming (such as the LIVE8 per- capabilities. ThinkFree Online
formances and other various music ses- will work with various browsers
sions) and the Video Hub, which will (Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher,
feature a large, searchable collection of Firefox 1.0.1 or higher, and
videos. Throw in AOL Journals, a blog- Safari 1.3) and Windows 98/
ging tool, and a customizable layout and 2000/XP, Mac OS X 10.3/10.4,
you have an AOL that’s functional and Linux Fedora Core 3, Redhat
pretty to look at. Though still fighting Linux 9, or Haansoft Linux
bugs, it looks to have brains and beauty, Workstation 2005. It certainly
a legendary package long thought to beats the “You vs. Microsoft
be an oxymoron. ▲ AOL.com is getting quite the facelift, complete Office Files” feud. ▲
with new video, mail, and search features.

CPU / September 2005 9

 W h a t ’s H a p p e n i n g • S o f t w a re
Compiled by Steve Smith

Want To Play Neuro-Evolutionary War?

Now your inner geek can play real-time strategy games while exploring cutting-edge AI theory. Project NERO at the
University of Texas Austin (nn.cs.utexas.edu/NERO/index.php) has a downloadable RTS game based on neural nets and
machine learning techniques dubbed neuroevolution. You train AI game robot teams by exposing them to increasingly
challenging battle scenarios and obstacles and then reward the groups that perform well and punish those that don’t.
Thus, your bots learn battlefield doctrine, and the “fittest” survive to take on an opponent’s similarly trained bots. This
is a long way from Rock’Em Sock’Em Robots. ▲

Robots grow a brain in Project Nero, where human players engage their soldiers’ sophisticated robot AI to learn thinking through new situations.

Longhorn Spears RSS Firefox

Longhorn will incorporate RSS at the OS level so that both Web
browsers and applications can use these popular feeds in new and
Gets Its Google On
easy ways, according to Microsoft. The next version of Internet The long awaited official Google Toolbar
Explorer will be able to recognize when an RSS 2.0 or Atom feed (toolbar.google.com/firefox/) for Firefox is now available.
is present on a page and offer users one-click subscriptions. It mimics the IE
Windows will maintain a common list of subscriptions and a version, with
storage area for RSS downloads. The feeds could interact with AutoFill, a term
application APIs and highlighter, and
trigger automatic a drop-down
program updates or search bar with
changes in shared cal- history. New to
endars. Microsoft will both toolbars is
also add Simple List the very cool The new Google Toolbar links any
Extensions to the AutoLink, address on a Web page to a map of
RSS protocol so pub- which hot links its exact location.
lishers and users can street addresses
control the order of on Web pages directly to the Google map of the location.
items in a feed and Cooler still is the WordTranslator, which translates any
Applications under Longhorn will hook create ranked lists word on a Web page that you mouse over from English
into a common pool of RSS subscriptions where items to one of seven languages. We found one word that does
and feeds to dynamically update all change positions not register with this tool, however. Apparently, “Google”
kinds of data. dynamically. ▲ needs no translation. ▲

10 September 2005 / www.computerpoweruser.com

 What’s Happening • Software

S o f t w a r e
S h o r t s
WordPerfect
Wants To Change Your Outlook
Corel’s WordPerfect brand takes a stab at Microsoft Outlook with
its new email alternative. Based on State Lab’s Bloomba client,
WordPerfect Mail leads with speed, claiming email, calendar, and
contact searches that are “dozens of times faster” than the leading
brand. You can also consult the calendar without leaving the mail
window. And RSS feeds are integrated into the program as is SA
Proxy Pro antispam protection. Value priced at $69, WordPerfect
iTunes 4.9 Downloads Mail is also included in the new WordPerfect 12 office suite for
small businesses. ▲
Podcasting To The Masses
A fad has now become a craze. The release of iTunes 4.9
with podcast support has supercharged the download- What Is Spyware, Anyway?
able spoken audio format. Within two days of launching While we’re still trying to figure out what it means, let alone how it
the new software, Apple says there were over 1 million resolves disputes over what is and isn’t “spyware,” the Anti-Spyware
subscriptions to podcasts from its iTunes Podcast Coalition (www.antispywarecoalition.org) has issued a first draft of a
Directory. Podcasting pioneer Adam Curry witnessed formal definition of the hotly debated term. Take a deep breath.
subscriptions across his own PodShow Podcast Network Spyware is “technolog[y] implemented in ways that impair[s] users’
skyrocket immediately as Apple appeared poised to legit- control over: material changes that affect their user experience, priva-
imate and accelerate on-demand radio just as it ignited cy, or system security; use of their system resources, including what
the digital music download industry with the original programs are installed on their computers; collection, use, and distrib-
iTunes. “I predict over the coming months that iTunes ution of their personal or otherwise sensitive information.” Whew!
will introduce tens of millions of new listeners to the And the difference between this and most adware is . . . ? ▲
world of podcasting,” says Curry. ▲

With its customary Open-Source Nation

usability and style,
The Norwegian Minister of Modernization (where can we get a title
Apple is turning
like that?) wants all government institutions to use only open-source
the nascent hobby
software. All public sector offices must have a plan in place by next
of podcasting
year for doing business without proprietary solutions. This is all part
into a highly
of a massive eNorge 2009 tech plan for Norway to connect all of its
polished media
people digitally with their government, including providing every citi-
distribution system.
zen with a personal home page and a personal electronic ID. ▲

Compiled by Kevin Savetz

BIOS Upgrades Available Online
Before you send another motherboard to the landfill, consider upgrading the BIOS and giving your PC a new outlook on life.
Here are a few recently released upgrades. Readers can check out www.cpumag.com/cpusep05/bios to see our entire upgrade list.
Motherboard Date Available URL
ABIT AV8-3rd Eye 06/16/2005 www.abit-usa.com/downloads/bios/bios_revision.php?categories=1&model=201

ABIT Fatal1ty AN8 06/16/2005 www.abit-usa.com/downloads/bios/bios_revision.php?categories=1&model=262

AOpen vK8T800a-LF 07/06/2005 download.aopen.com.tw/userdownload_List.aspx?RecNo=9902&Model=i865PEa-7IF

ASUS P5P800 04/08/2005 support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us

ECS 945G-M3 07/05/2005 www.ecsusa.com/downloads/downloads_main.cfm?to=Motherboard

EPoX EP-8HEAI 06/30/2005 www.epox.nl/downloads/bios/?obj_product_id=287

CPU / September 2005 11

 Compiled by Steve Smith

Percentage of U.S. mobile phone ring Number of text mes-

Cold Play’s “X&Y” tone revenues 2003 sage votes on
albums sold as Jupitermedia American Idol con-
digital downloads testants in 2005
MP3newswire.net MobileTracker

Percentage of world- U.S. mobile phone

wide spam originat- ring tone revenue
ing from South Korea (projected) 2009
Jupiterweb Jupitermedia

Love The Technology, Hate The Help

IT departments take note; your colleagues throughout the organization still don’t
like you very much, according to the latest Forrester Research on satisfaction with
technology in the workplace. Enterprise workers really appreciate the technology
itself, saying they were very happy with PC reliability and software usability, espe-
cially the advantages of calendaring and email. But when something goes wrong,
many dread calling the company IT help desk, which ranks lowest in user satisfac-
tion on the IT spectrum. In fact, the more business users rely on the help desk, the
more they come to dislike its inability to solve problems quickly. And yup, the old
stereotypes keep hanging on; most users aren’t happy with the way their tech
departments implement and communicate technology changes. Of course, no
one likes change, but is that any reason to beat up the poor IT guy? Well, if he’s
one of those hopeless tech dweebs who insist on wearing an “I Hate Jar Jar
Binks!” T-shirt to work, then feel free to swing away.

U.S. Broadband Household Penetration (2003 To 2008)

According to eMarketer projections, broadband Internet access will
reach the majority of U.S. households by 2008.

12 September 2005 / www.computerpoweruser.com

 The Saint

Stop Me If You’ve
Heard This One Before
P eople are as nutty about spyware as they
were over the nonsense Y2K bug. At least
Today, I’m going to spoil all of that. I’m going
to define “spyware” in terms that are clear,
the Y2K bug had a specific date on which the unambiguous, easy for anybody to understand,
doomsayers we’re proven to be completely off and simple for Microsoft or any spyware
their rockers, but the spyware witch hunt will removal product to enforce, thus eliminating
last for years. In all great hysterical phenomena, the ambiguity they profit from. This is the short
it’s important to have a completely ambiguous version: Spyware is any software that does not
and indefinable enemy, whether it’s “witches,” provide the consumer with adequate knowl-
“communists,” “the Y2K bug,” or “spyware.” edge, consent, and control over its behavior on
The most ironic part of the spyware debacle is their machine.
the role Microsoft plays in it all. Microsoft is the Knowledge
leading adware and spyware technology vendor • Is the software’s creator a real company? Alex St. John was one of the
and it profits from the spyware hysteria by using • Does it have a published address and founding creators of Microsoft’s
your fear as justification for blocking distribution contact info? DirectX technology. He is the
of competitive software services—and giving • Is the software clear and explicit about what subject of the book “Renegades
itself permanent background access to your desk- it does? Of The Empire” about the
top in the name of closing “security holes.” • Is the software clear and explicit about creation of DirectX and
Recently the media reported that Microsoft any personally identifiable data that it Chromeffects, an early effort by
was making overtures to acquire the Internet’s may gather? Microsoft to create a
original spyware company, Claria, and subse- • Does the software present a clearly written multimedia browser. Today
quently downgraded Claria’s spyware rating EULA and privacy statement on installation? Alex is President and CEO of
from “remove” to “ignore” in its own spyware • Does the software lie or attempt to mislead WildTangent Inc., a technology
removal product. Microsoft’s Spynet Web site the user? company devoted to delivering
claims that Claria’s status was changed after it Consent CD-ROM quality
filed a request for Microsoft to re-evaluate some • Is the software voluntarily and proactively entertainment content
of Claria’s products. I know from experience installed by the consumer? over the Web.
that nobody in this group responds to anybody • Is the consumer asked for consent before
without a letter from a lawyer first. any personal data is collected?
As another example of Microsoft’s hypocriti-
cal efforts to “protect you from spyware,” take a
Control
• Can the consumer fully and cleanly unin-
The most
close look at Microsoft plans for its new Spynet stall the software using the standard
service. Does the maker of the Windows OS and
IE browser define clear technical criteria for what
Windows uninstall Control Panel with a
single offline acceptance click?
ironic part of
constitutes spyware so that its entire developer • Can the consumer easily find and disable
community can adhere to some standard? Does
it cut through the cloud of consumer ignorance
any data tracking, updating, or background
features?
the spyware
and confusion to help clearly identify and • Can the consumer easily prevent the software
remove malicious software? No, it launches a ser-
vice that decides what software will be catego-
from engaging in any intrusive messaging? debacle is
rized as “spyware” based on how technically Any software that can honestly answer “Yes”
uninformed consumers, speculating on the to all of the above cannot be spyware. This is a the role
Internet about real and imagined spyware, definition almost anybody can understand and
VOTE. Meanwhile the leading spyware vendors enforce and absolutely all software should be
are already hiring companies in India to flood held accountable to. I may not like the way a Microsoft
Spynet with bogus reviews for their software. given software product tries to extract value
There is a lot of power and value for Micro- from me, but as long as I have knowledge,
soft in having no good definition of spyware. consent, and control, it’s my choice. ▲ plays in it all.
Send your thoughts to [email protected].

14 September 2005 / www.computerpoweruser.com

 ho will watch the watchers? Friedrich Dürren-
W matt and others might have kittens over Sandia
Labs’ new eye in the sky, but we’d certainly trade the lit-
ter for the acuity of Samsung’s latest digicam. We also
like to feel what we see, which is where a Force Dynamics
These Gizmos racing sim comes in.
Don’t Sing It, by Marty Sems

They Bring It

Force Dynamics 301

You won’t see any fat-font NASCAR driver numbers in the
corners of our car windows, but we still crave Force
Dynamics’ 301 race simulator (www.force-dynamics.com).
It complements existing games rather than being locked
into one custom sim. So far, the AMD-based 301 has been
optimized for Live For Speed, NASCAR 2003, and
Richard Burns Rally. Fast response time and a raised center
of rotation make the platform more realistic, Force says,
and less likely to make you blow your lunch on Turn 4
(which does make an effective deterrent for the guy draft-
ing behind you). The 301 is smaller than the FCS Hex-
atech (June 2005 CPU, page 16), but more importantly, a
tricked-out version only costs a tenth as much ($30,000).

Samsung Pro815 Digimax

It isn’t the Pro815 Digimax’s price that is dreamlike
($859; www.samsungcamerausa.com) but rather its list
of bragging points. Samsung gave this camera a 15X
optical zoom, which trumps the image quality of even
the best digital zoom. The 3.5-inch LCD on the back is
likely the biggest you’ll find at this writing and partly
explains the need for such a huge, 500-shot battery
capacity (1900mAh, 7.4V lithium). The 8MP Pro815
may be out by the time you read this. And we’ll be out
showing it off.

Sandia National Laboratories MiniSAR

“I am the eye in the sky/Looking at you.” Legend has it
that the Alan Parsons Project was singing about a Philip K.
Dick novel, but Sandia’s researchers might have been hum-
ming the same tune when they recently tested the
MiniSAR (www.sandia.gov). The lab says it is probably the
world’s smallest fine-resolution synthetic aperture radar.
Intended for aerial surveillance, the MiniSAR can process
real-time imaging from about 20,000 feet with a resolution
of four inches. In other words sombreros and other wide
hats are the order of the day. Cheaper to build than today’s
much heavier SARs, the prototype nevertheless cost about
$200,000 to $250,000 to build, says researcher Dale
Dubbert. The cost should drop once Sandia finds a manu-
facturing partner. See you then.

CPU / September 2005 15

 reviews | hardware

about 1A each on the +12V rail. Two 6800

Power &
GT cards add about 24A on the high side.
My 3.8GHz Intel P4 570 packs another
12A, for roughly 40A across all +12V rails.
Some PSUs only spec 38A on the +12V

Performance
but perform fine, denoting a healthy mar-
gin of conservatism. Other vendors appear
to be fudging their numbers a bit. Intel
specs for DC output require an 11.40V
Nine PSUs Stressed Out & Tested minimum and 12.60V maximum on a
+12V rail and 4.75V min and 5.25V max
ith dual graphics cards, blaz- Our concern here is the +12V rail. To on the +5V rail. All our PSUs fell well

W ing CPUs, fans, multiple hard

drives, and more, it is a miracle
PSUs even work. Well, sometimes they
meet 18A safety limits on the number of
amperes that can reach a user-accessible
contact, the +12V line is split within the
within these ranges.
My test platform had an ASUS P5ND2-
SLI motherboard, four 512MB PC2-5400
don’t. In general, look for two things when PSU. Thus, specs show 12V1, 12V2, etc. modules, a 16X DVD burner, and Intel’s
buying a next-gen PSU: EPS12V support Older ATX 1.0 PSUs featuring 20-wire Prescott reference heatsink. I took continu-
and/or NVIDIA’s SLI certification. ATX power connectors only have one ous voltmeter measurements during three
EPS12V is an 8-wire update to the 12V line—inadequate for a performance- periods, the first from power on to idling
conventional 4-wire ATX12V feed dedi- hungry world. Even a PSU with two 12V on the Windows XP desktop. The second
cated to your CPU. EPS12V is common rails doesn’t guarantee the total amperage is was a 30-second span of Desktop idle. The
in dual-processor servers and workstations, sufficient for an enthusiast configuration. third was the period from moving from
which makes sense. If a 4-wire feed can idle to loading Prime95 and then launch-
power one CPU core, you probably need How We Tested ing, completing, and exiting 3DMark05’s
an 8-wire feed for two. EPS12V is still My primary focus was stability and not Return to Proxycon game. By hammering
overkill on the desktop, but not for long. silence. In some ways my testing exceeded the CPU and SLI subsystems, I aimed to
SLI certification isn’t always a guarantee of NVIDIA’s SLI-certification process. For maximize strain on the +12V rail. ▲
sufficient PSU quality, but it’s the best example, NVIDIA generally tests with one
measure we have now to know a PSU can hard drive; I tested with four for a heavy by William Van Winkle
meet near-term dual-graphics needs. draw during startup. These drives average

Antec TrueControl II 550W

The TrueControl family is popular with overclockers who want a quick, easy way to adjust
voltage levels on the +3.3, +5, and +12 rails. Antec defaults to running slightly undervoltage
but well within spec. After initial testing, I dialed the +12V line closer to the ideal level of
12.1V and reran the tests. The PSU showed exceptionally solid voltage regulation, even
through boot-up. With one bottom-intake 120mm fan, the only sheathing here is the 24-pin
TrueControl II 550W ATX connector bundle. The power connector has the popular detachable 4-wire connector
$159.95 for easy adaptation to mobos with 20-wire ATX connectors. The PSU is rated at a hushed
Antec 21.3dBA, though you can control fan speed via a bay-mounted panel. With four SATA and
www.antec.com five 4-wire Molex connectors, separate PCI-E lines, and more, this is a strong performer.

Antec TruePower II (TP2-550EPS12V)

You could easily mistake this PSU for the TrueControl. Most basic specs, including the
noise level, are identical. The primary difference, apart from an 8-wire connector behind the
4-wire connector on the 12V line, is that TruePower replaces the 120mm bottom fan with a
bottom intake fan and exhaust fan in the back. There’s little bling, but Antec puts its gold
where it counts—in the connectors. Given their similar construction and almost identical
TruePower II voltage stability, it’s interesting that the TruePower’s voltages are almost perfectly set out of
$149.95 the box, while the TrueControl’s are a bit lower. This may be to give TrueControl buyers
Antec something to do after installation to justify the additional $10 cost. I’d rather save money,
www.antec.com keep the PCI-E performance, and gain this unit’s EPS flexibility.

16 September 2005 / www.computerpoweruser.com

 reviews | hardware

Cooler Master Real Power 550 (RS-550-ACLY)

The Real Power 550 is ATX12V 2.01 and EPS12V 2.1 compatible but not SLI certi-
fied, and the test numbers show why. The PSU has a +12V combined peak amperage of
48A, which explains why I could boot and operate normally. But the 30A continuous load
rating doomed this unit under our load test. Still, if you’re not worried about dual graph-
ics, this is a decent unit for the bling-minded. The black finish and blue-lit 120mm bottom
Real Power 550 fan look hot behind a clear case panel, and a blue-lit “human computer interface” provides
$129 an analog wattage meter that mounts in a 3.5-inch bay. There are three SATA connectors
Cooler Master and six 4-wire Molex connectors outfitted with little clips to help push the connector
www.coolermaster.com out of its plug—clever but a pain when the auxiliary mobo power plug sits adjacent to the
PCI-E graphics card. Rated at under 23dBA in silent mode, this is a good unit for main-
stream, single-slot buyers.

Enermax Noisetaker AX 2.0 (EG701AX-VE SFMA 2.0 SLI 600W)

Enermax echoes Antec here by pulling out a solid performance under load, despite a
vendor-stated combined power rating of 35A on the +12V rail. I was a little surprised by the
amount of voltage variance it exhibited during boot, but it’s nothing to freak out about. The
unit’s dark, metallic-blue finish is slick but won’t match most cases. Enermax does add screw
Noisetaker holes on the top for chasses that support heavy PSUs from those points. Sheathing wraps all
AX 2.0 the cabling into three bundles but only extends to near the end of the bundle on the 20/24-
$189.99 pin ATX power connector, making the others look a bit penny-pinched. You get four SATA
Enermax and seven Molex drive connectors, a magnetic shielding ring, and a speed dial for the bot-
www.enermax.com tom and back fans, which run two minutes or longer after shutdown to cool components.
After weighing specs and performance against price, this PSU is a fair deal but not stunning.

OCZ PowerStream OCZ-600ADJ

The PowerStream is the crown jewel of sub-$200 PSUs here. With its semi-matte
mirrored finish, black meshed cabling, and green-lit interior, it’s as beautiful as it is
robust. OCZ defaults to having just a smidge of overvoltage out of the box, but you can
adjust these with recessed rail controls located above the power switch. Nearby LEDs
indicate voltage within ±5% spec (green), undervoltage (yellow), or overvoltage (red).
The unit whispers at 23dBA under a 60% load. The 600W fits an 8-wire EPS12V plug by
snapping together two 4-wire connectors. These can separate to handle ATX12V connec-
PowerStream OCZ-600ADJ tors, and only one of the 4-wire connectors will fit. OCZ uses a 20/24-pin ATX power
$199 connector instead of a straight 24-pin with an add-on adapter. Because this isn’t an SLI-
OCZ sanctioned PSU, there’s only one 6-wire PCI-E connector, but there are two dedicated
www.ocztechnology.com Molex connectors apart from the six and a PCI-E adapter. As our results show, the plugs are
probably all that holds this unit back from certification. This PSU’s only drawback is having
two SATA connectors rather than four.

PC Power & Cooling 850 SSI

After testing this unit, I found myself muttering, “Yess, my preciousss . . .” This is the one
PSU to rule them all, outfitted with 850W of continuous fury and four 17A +12V rails. Yes,
it costs more than some PCs and may require a different chassis to meet its dimensions, but
the 850 SSI’s MTBF is triple that of most competitors, and you get six SATA and eight
Molex connectors on abundantly long, fully black mesh wrapped cable bundles. In the top
850 SSI tier of PSUs for stable voltage regulation, the 850 SSI defaults to nearly perfect voltage levels.
$469
Looking at test results, you might conclude that this unit is on par with Antec and OCZ,
PC Power & Cooling
but it’s in a league by itself. Just pop off the cover and compare the size and amount of
www.pcpowercooling.com
circuitry in this tank with any other PSU. The 850 runs quietly, efficiently, and with nary a
ripple. You won’t find a more future-proofed PSU for sale today.

CPU / September 2005 17

 reviews | hardware

SilverStone ST65ZF
The ST65ZF should have been a monster; it’s rated for 650W continuous at 50 degrees
C, not the usual 25 or 40 degrees C. SilverStone builds in four +12V rails and seems to do
everything right on paper. I saw a little higher than normal amount of +5V wiggle during
boot, but nothing alarming. But there were hints. The PSU’s housing is looser than most
ST65ZF and may creak a little if you squeeze it. SilverStone specs a 29dBA minimum noise level, but
$179 this was easily the loudest PSU I tested, even at idle. Under load, well, the ST65ZF locked
SilverStone up—repeatedly. Four SATA and six Molex connectors, plus attractive black mesh on the
www.silverstonetek.com major power cables, can’t make amends for the unnecessarily high price. I’d like to think
that I received a stray lemon, but be careful anyway.

Thermaltake PurePower 680W

Thermaltake’s rainbow-like cable meshing doesn’t go well with this unit’s cool matte-mirror
finish, but it can make finding the right connector easier in a crowded chassis. More impressive
PurePower 680W are the 10 Molex connectors (and four SATA). You don’t even need to devote any to graphics,
$179 as the orange cable has two 6-wire connectors. I usually frown on having both PCI-E connectors
Thermaltake on the same cable (for noise and instability reasons), but the results showed that Thermaltake
www.thermaltake.com made a good call in this case. This was the only PSU with a rear intake fan. Normally, I prefer
bottom intakes, but given the number of drives this PSU seems ready to fuel, a rear intake may
make more sense. I don’t know why the PurePower 680W isn’t SLI certified yet—it’s very sta-
ble, capable, and quiet, and has a huge 50A +5V rail—but hopefully it will be soon. The MSRP
is a pinch high, but a sub-$150 street price makes this an attractive PSU.

Vantec ION 2 460W (VAN-460N)

ION 2 460W Vantec reps said they’d send me an SLI and/or EPS12V PSU, but the ION 2 bears no
(VAN-460N) EPS12V connector and only one 6-wire PCI-E connector, never mind NVIDIA’s logo. Still, as
$69 it was pretty close to NVIDIA’s recommended 480W minimum, I slapped on a double Molex-
Vantec to-PCI-E adapter and tested it. The results were worse than predictable. With only 30A on a
www.vantecusa.com single +12V rail, the ION 2 failed under load on cue. The voltage variance I saw in this unit was
the widest here, especially when loading the Windows Desktop environment. This was also the
only PSU that showed voltage wiggle when sitting idle, and my system repeatedly locked either
loading or running the stress test. With a black matte finish, silver grill over the 120mm bottom
fan, and black mesh sleeving, the ION 2 looks good but proves you get what you pay for.
* To see our review of the Sea Sonic SS-600HT, subscribers can go to www.cpumag.com/cpusep05/psu.

An Inside View Of Our PSUs

Looking for a next-gen PSU that can meet your power needs. One of these monsters can probably satisfy.
SLI & EPS12V Power Supplies

Boot (+12V) Boot (+5V) Idle (+12V) Load (+12V)

PSU Rating EPS/SLI Max +12V Max +5V Min Max Min Max Min Max Min Max

Antec TrueControl II 550 550W No/Yes 19A + 19A 40A 11.74 11.75 5 5 11.74 11.74 11.73 11.74
Antec TP2-550EPS12V 550W Yes/Yes 19A + 19A 40A 12 12.02 5.07 5.08 12.03 12.03 12.02 12.02
Cooler Master Real
Power 550 550W Yes/No 12A + 20A + 10A 30A 12.05 12.18 5.09 5.11 12.09 12.09 Locks
Enermax EG701AX 600W Yes/Yes 18A + 18A 34A 12.07 12.18 5.16 5.17 12.11 12.11 12.02 12.07
OCZ OCZ-600ADJ 600W Yes/No 20A + 20A 46A 12.18 12.21 5.16 5.16 12.18 12.18 12.16 12.17
PC Power & Cooling
850 SSI 850W Yes/Yes 4 x 17A 30A 12.15 12.17 5.13 5.13 12.16 12.16 12.14 12.16
* Seasonic SS-600HT 600W Yes/No 18A + 18A 30A 12.12 12.14 5 5.01 12.12 12.12 Locks
Silverstone ST65ZF 650W Yes/Yes 13A + 18A + 16A + 8A 24A 12.06 12.13 5.15 5.19 12.1 12.1 Locks
Thermaltake Pure
Power-680APD 680W Yes/No 15A + 15A + 8A 50A 12.18 12.2 5.12 5.12 12.21 12.21 12.15 12.21
Vantec VAN-460N 460W No/No 30A 30A 11.76 11.91 5.1 5.12 11.83 11.85 Locks

18 September 2005 / www.computerpoweruser.com

 reviews | hardware

games. Also, the FP32 shader units are

now able to cope with two Vect4 MAD
(multiply-add) operations per clock.
Visually, there’s a new AA mode, called
Transparency Adaptive AA, which takes
AA further on to alpha blended areas that
previously didn’t get the AA goodness in
more traditional AA modes, such as multi-
sampling. So, for example, all those chain-
link fences set one behind the other that
Specs: 302 million transistors, CineFX 4.0, 24 pixel shaders, 8 vertex shaders used to look blurry in Half-Life 2, now
look more realistic.
fter a solid few weeks of gaming and from 16 to 24, and even the vertex pipe- One area in which I was particularly
A benchmarking NVIDIA G70-powered
GeForce 7800 GTX cards, I’m here to tell
lines are up to eight. That’s some serious
horsepower and torque, assuming that they
excited to see NVIDIA move forward is
video acceleration features, dubbed Pure-
you what I think. First, let me get the obvi- were the same as the 6800s pipes, which of Video. ATI has long been king in that
ous commentary out of the way: These course they aren’t. Peak pixel fill rate department, but now NVIDIA has lis-
puppies are wickedly fast. So much faster remains at 6.8Gpps (gigapixels per second), tened to end-user and OEM feedback and
and more efficient than the previous 6800 but the pixel texture fill rate is now capable stepped up to the plate. The programma-
series of GPUs from NVIDIA, that under of 10.32Gtps (gigatexels per second), which ble video processor and its HDTV and
the right conditions, a single 7800 GTX is up from 6.8Gtps on the 6800. Using a MPEG-2 features are accelerated and
can outperform a pair of 6800 Ultras in 256-bit memory interface, the clock speed sport 2:2 pull-down correction. The only
SLI mode. By that I mean don’t spend for the GDDR3 memory is up to 1.2GHz, issue is that I’m still awaiting the Force-
$1,000 on graphics cards for previous-gen- and peak memory bandwidth is up from Ware Release 75 driver in order to dabble,
eration DX7 and/or DX8 class games. The 35.2GBps to 38.4GBps, which takes over test, and play with PureVideo. And I’m
7800 GTX is geared for DX9 and then from the previous champ (Radeon X850 especially happy to hear about its apparent
some at high resolutions with all of your XT PE) that boasted 37.8GBps. CPU-utilization tweaks.
favorite AA/AF eye candy turned on. It also But all those numbers that don’t sound I look forward to seeing more games
eats more complex pixel shaders and is an too impressive, save the fact that efficien- with DX9c-style Shaders, normal maps,
AA monster. Clearly it’s built for upcoming cy in the graphics pipeline is improved, HDR rendering, and floating-point tex-
DX9 games based on PS3.0 and FP32. The NVIDIA actually spec’d out over 1,300 tures. Clearly the best solution available is
early demos I saw included Huxley, UT- different shader operations from games the 7800 GTX. ATI delayed its next-gen
2007, and Age Of Empires III and looked past, present, and future to find out R520 architecture, but even so, it’s going to
absolutely stunning running with SLI. which were the most popular, required take something mighty special from the
NVIDIA says that the 7800 GTX is not optimizations and could be improved by company to even catch up to NVIDIA. ▲
a “refresh” of the 6800, and instead the redesigning the shader units. Obviously
pixel and vertex shader pipelines are NVIDIA isn’t overly free with its secret by Alex “Sharky” Ross
redesigned and gentrified, whilst at the sauce, but some things have been
same time decreasing power consumption. revealed, such as the scalar unit in the ver-
The core is still based upon a 0.11-micron tex pipeline that’s now 20% more effi-
process, and even though the clock speed is cient and the vertex texture fetch unit
bumped up 5MHz to 430MHz, it has 302 that’s received a boost. Also, the floating-
million transistors (up from 222 million), point-texture processors are now jazzed
indicating some serious intentions under up, which improves HDR capabilities and
the hood. The pixel pipelines are also up should come in handy for upcoming

The Numbers
Benchmarks at 1,600 x 1,200 GeForce 7800 GTX
Battlefield 2 Demo Doom 3 Half-Life 2 UT2004
$599
GTX 7800 54 57 122 73
NVIDIA
GTX 7800 SLI 78 90 143 79
(408) 486-2000
6800 Ultra 29 45 73 58
6800 Ultra SL 53 78 119 77 www.nvidia.com
Radeon X850 XT PE 40 43 105 54

20 September 2005 / www.computerpoweruser.com

reviews | hardware

AMD Athlon 64
FX-57
nother month, another speed bump AMD, and it certainly won’t please AMD with double-bank DIMMs with no sacri-
A from AMD. But when I’m dealing
with super-high-end expensive gaming-
enthusiasts that have supported the compa-
ny through thick and thin.
fice in performance).
My benchmarks helped to demon-
targeted processors, do I care? Of course I The core itself is a revised K8 core (code- strate how potent the FX-line remains at
do. Enter the new AMD Athlon 64 FX- named San Diego) with a die shrink gaming. No Intel CPU can come close
57. I apologize right now for those of you thrown in for good measure, down from in that department. Games such as
with the FX-55 that was top of the charts 130nm to 90nm. It’s similar to previous UT2004 or Painkiller are especially
for a few weeks. It’s still silly fast but not Athlon 64 X2 cores based on the San CPU-bound and benefit from the
quite as fast as this replacement. Diego, with all of the same E-K8 revisions bumps that FX-57 provides; of course
Based upon the very successful Athlon with both SOI process and Dual Stress any FX processor performs extremely
64 939-pin platform, and with 1MB of L2 Liner technologies. well and it just depends on how badly
cache at its disposal (as is the norm for The die shrink obviously helps FX pro- you want those bragging rights.
these FX’s), the FX-57 clocks at 2.8GHz. cessors run faster, suck up less power, and Furthermore, just when I thought play-
AMD is rapidly approaching the 3GHz even cost less to manufacture than the ing Battlefield 2 with a dual-core X2 and
mark that Intel set sometime ago, but the 130nm cores. The FX-57 can achieve its SLI 7800 GTX cards was the “right”
only difference is that, clock for clock, the increased clock speed while maintaining the thing to do for the price, the performance
boys in green are so much more efficient same 104-watt TDP as the FX-55 (in large figures bring me back down to my gam-
in almost every department. part due to this die shrink), and the nomi- ing roots. Yes folks, the FX-57 is fast, and
AMD didn’t just bump up the clock nal core voltage sits at 1.4 volts. it absolutely makes me forget about all
speed by 200MHz for the FX-57 over the Having said that, I didn’t have any real things multithreaded; therefore, I would
FX-55, it threw in a few extra tweaks for luck overclocking the FX-57, which was say that 99.9% of you should go for the
even more performance. You certainly get disappointing considering the die shrink. It more forward-looking dual-core technolo-
what you pay for when spending around kind of ran at 3GHz with improved cool- gy in the form of the Athlon 64 X2
$1,000 (actually $1,031 in quantities per ing, but perhaps later revisions will run 4800+, especially since it’s so much more
thousand) on a CPU. But who in his right above and beyond that mark more stably. affordable. However, for that 1% that
mind would do such a thing anyway? The As with other Rev E chips, the FX-57 needs 1,500HP, a two-stage nitrous
introduction of the FX-57 will not mean AMD has SSE3 instructions, along with a setup, and single-digit quarter-mile runs
the death of the FX-55, and even the price more flexible memory controller (letting for gaming, go for the FX-57. Just
remains the same at $827, so you need not you use different size DIMMs on the same remember that it’s part of a dying breed
feel too bad if you shelled out that amount channel) and improved memory mapping in terms of single-core processors. ▲
recently. However it’s rather odd for the (more efficient use of memory space) and
price to remain stagnant, especially for loading (you can now populate memory by Alex “Sharky” Ross

Specs: 2.8Ghz, 90nm, SOI process

Benchmark Numbers
FX-57 FX-55 X2 4800+ Intel P4 3.46EE
Sysmark 2K4: Communication 161 153 151 141 Athlon FX-57
Sysmark 2K4: Document Creation 233 214 198 215 $1,031
Sysmark 2K4: Data Analysis 158 151 146 174 AMD
Doom 3 110 108 103 96 (951) 674-4661
UT2004 84 77 73 64 www.amd.com
WinZip (lower is better) 372 388 401 351
Windows Media 9 (lower is better) 319 347 364 341

CPU / September 2005 21

 reviews | hardware

Intel Pentium M 770 Pentium M 770

$637
Intel
ntel’s Pentium M is a silent beast. On cache as a means of shifting reliance from
Imodel
one hand, the very fastest 2.13GHz
boasts a thermal design power of
memory accesses and further augmenting
overall performance.
(408) 765-8080
www.intel.com

27W, which is a fraction of the The processor interfaces with a

dual-core Pentium D chips. 533MHz FSB through Intel’s
It will even run passively 915-series of mobile chip- building an ultra-quiet home theater
without a cooling fan sets. Performance clearly machine or a DIY notebook, the Pentium
under the right condi- improves by virtue of M 770 is your fastest option. ▲
tions. The Pentium M the faster bus speed and
architecture is efficient extra bit of operating by Chris Angelini
at accelerating game frequency. Of course,
performance and posts it’s still important to
numbers that rival establish a balance. Pentium M Pentium M
Pentium 4 and Athlon Although the Pentium 770 2.13GHz 755 2GHz
64 systems. M is small and runs at a Dr. DivX
(845MB VOB, 1,000Kbps, 1-pass) 16:57 18:10
The Pentium M combines effi- reduced clock rate, Intel still
WinRAR (500MB folder) 4:48 5:28
ciency and muscle to power through charges upwards of $650 for a boxed retail
PCmark 2004 Build 1.3.0 4234 3907
software without relying on inflated clock processor, and that’s on top of the other
CPU 4140 3790
frequencies. The architecture is tweaked for platform components you’ll need for a Memory 3474 2948
speeds up to 2.13GHz. It wields a 2MB L2 complete Socket 479 system. Yet, if you’re Graphics 2580 2574
Half-Life 2
1,600 x 1,200
Specs: Dothan core; 2.13GHz; 533MHz FSB; 2MB L2 cache; 90nm manufacturing;
(High 4XAA 8XAF) 13.45 13.28
Execute Disable support; Enhance SpeedStep

Sempron 3400+
AMD Sempron 3400+ $40 to $150
AMD
MD’s new Sempron 3400+ is an exam- (408) 749-4000
A ple of mainstream hardware. Endowed
with many of the same building blocks that
www.amd.com

give Athlon 64 and Opteron processors their

mojo, Sempron enables somewhat reduced
performance at drastically lower prices. The 84mm² and reduced heat dissipation
3400+, for instance, sells for less than $150 to 62W.
in Socket 754 trim. The other models natu- Although it can’t compete with AMD’s
rally fall in place behind, dipping as low as Athlon 64 lineup, Sempron 3400+ offers a
$74 for a 64-bit Sempron 2600+ designed incorporates a number of features inher- reasonable compromise between price and
for the same interface. ent to the latest Athlon 64 processors. performance. It isn’t for the hardcore gamer
The 3400+ runs at 2GHz and fea- SSE3 instruction support is one, as is or media encoding junkie, but everyday
tures a larger 256KB L2 cache, up from an improved memory controller with business apps run just fine. While many
128KB and half the size of many Athlon mismatched DIMM recognition, may question the longevity of Socket 754,
64 processors. An integrated 64-bit better memory mapping, and improved think of the Sempron 3400+ as a means to
memory controller supports up to load handling. A recent upgrade to save money here and now. ▲
DDR400 modules in single-channel 64-bit software support represents one
configurations, while the 800MHz more feature shared between Sempron by Chris Angelini
HyperTransport bus shuttles up to and pricier AMD chips.
3.2GBps of data bi-directionally. Manufacturing advances
AMD Sempron 3400+ AMD Athlon 64 3200+
Because the 3400+ centers around have shrunk the
Dr. DivX 19:12 18:05
AMD’s 90nm SOI Palermo core, it Sempron die down to
WinRAR 4:56 4:31
Specs: Palermo core; 2GHz; 256KB L2 cache; 128KB L1 cache; 64-bit PCMark04
Build 1.3.0 3826 4184
memory controller (single-channel); 1.6GHz HyperTransport link; Socket
754; 62W; 90nm manufacturing Half-Life 2 58.08 62.64

22 September 2005 / www.computerpoweruser.com

 reviews | hardware

AOpen XC Cube Mini MZ855-II XC Cube Mini

$449
AOpen

Icial.’veimpressive,
seen power. And while power is
finesse is even more spe-
Add a healthy dose of style, and it
(888) 972-6736
usa.aopen.com

isn’t hard to see why Apple is still so

popular, even in the face of a much
larger PC incumbency. Case in point: Then there’s the issue of price; the
the Mac Mini. MZ855-II XC Cube Mini retails for
Anxious to get in on the mini mar- roughly $449. After adding a proces-
ket, AOpen recently unveiled a Mac sor, hard drive, optical drive, and
Mini look-alike with some fairly impres- to enable much better connectivity than memory to that price, you may very well
sive tech specs. The MZ855-II centers on the Apple offering, too. be topping a grand. On the other hand,
Intel’s 855GME mobile chipset and sup- And although AOpen makes signifi- Apple sells a fully loaded Mini for $599.
ports Pentium M processors at speeds of cant progress in the style and size de- Perhaps more exciting than this
up to 2.13GHz. It boasts a pair of mem- partment, the MZ855-II is about twice 855GME-based XC Cube Mini is the
ory slots, each capable of accommodating as deep and nearly two times heavier Intel mobile 915-based version that’s in
1GB of DDR400 RAM. Half-sized AGP than the Mac Mini. It’d be hard to the works and expected out within a
and PCI slots give the platform some argue that AOpen has bested Apple with month or so. Featuring PCI Express
semblance of expandability. USB 2.0, the XC Cube mini design. Though connectivity and a more advanced I/O
IEEE 1394, Gigabit Ethernet, and a attractive, the XC Cube Mini still looks controller, you can expect it to at least
number of digital audio ports combine very much like a PC. support SATA hard drives. ▲

by Chris Angelini
Specs: Intel 855GME chipset, Pentium M support up to 2.13GHz, up to 2GB DDR400 mem-
ory, 1 AGP, 1 PCI, Gigabit Ethernet, 4 USB 2.0, 2 IEEE 1394, 9-in-1 card reader, 4.5 lbs

Nuclear Winter
Biohazard Nuclear Winter $7,700.45
Biohazard
iohazard launched its most powerful After looking at the array (866) 424-6727
B gamer, the Nuclear Winter. Biohazard
pulled out all the stops when it built our
of power-hungry compo-
nents that make up this rig,
(319) 329-7433
www.biohazard-computers.com
review unit; the Nuclear Winter boasts I’m surprised the system has
phase-change and watercooling, an over- only a 480W Antec Neo-
clocked processor, and a $1,050 paint job. Power PSU. That the modular
The new builder chose a 2.4GHz power supply isn’t one of Antec’s bested the FX-55/GeForce 6800
AMD Athlon 64 FX-53 instead of the SLI-certified devices isn’t a problem by Ultra SLI-wielding Alienware
FX-55 and FX-57 that have dominated itself: I’m certainly not opposed to using Aurora 7500 in 3DMark05 at just two
the gamer scene lately. The FX-53 is no noncertified PSUs in SLI systems. That points shy of 10,000.
chump to begin with, but Biohazard took said, the industry offers powerful PSUs that The Nuclear Winter is without a doubt
advantage of the VapoChill Extreme will be relevant for years to come; a ma- a real gaming beast, but it has some rough
Edition XE’s sub-zero CPU block and chine that pushes $8,000 should have one. edges. Biohazard backs up the computer
cranked the processor to 2.62GHz— Biohazard housed the Nuclear Winter with a three-year warranty that includes
slightly faster than the FX-55’s default in the VapoChill’s chassis but replaced 24/7 tech support and on-site service. ▲
clock speed. This SHOC (Stable Hyper the bulky front panel with a slick custom
OverClock) is part of the package, so it front panel. Our review unit had a proto- by Joshua Gulick
doesn’t void the Nuclear Winter’s warran- type front panel that was slightly small,
ty. The Nuclear Winter also boasts SLI, but Biohazard assures us that it now has
Benchmark Digits
thanks to dual 256MB eVGA GeForce the correct front panel size.
3DMark05 9998
6800 Ultras and MSI’s new K8N Neo4 The Nuclear Winter handled our bench-
PCMark04 4688
Platinum/SLI motherboard. marks well. Despite the older CPU, the rig
PCMark04 CPU 4806
Specs: 2.4GHz AMD Athlon 64 FX-53 at 2.62GHz, NVIDIA nForce4, 3GB PCMark04 Memory 4554
Corsair XMS DDR400, 2 eVGA GeForce 6800 Ultra 256MB, 2 Maxtor PCMark04 Graphics 7609
DiamondMax 300GB, Plextor PX-716A DVD±RW, Sony CRX320E CD-RW PCmark04 HDD 6086

24 September 2005 / www.computerpoweruser.com

 reviews | hardware

CRU-DataPort DP25 DataPort 25

$129
CRU-DataPort
aybe you need storage you can in two 60GB Hitachi 7K60 PATA drives
M bounce from machine to machine at
higher speeds than USB or FireWire.
(7,200rpm) and learned why I should read
the manual: The lock that keeps the carrier
www.cru-dataport.com

CRU’s DataPort 25 lets you mount two in the frame also doubles as the power
2.5-inch drives into a carrier, slide the carri- switch, and the frame won’t convert PATA DP25-mounted Hitachi drives as a striped
er into a frame that mounts drives in a PATA car- RAID 0. Hardware installation and config-
into a PC’s 3.5-inch rier into SATA. A uration takes five minutes. I then tested
floppy bay, and run the CRU rep tells me, these against a 400GB Seagate external
drives in a RAID con- though, that CRU’s hard drive running on a 1394a interface
figuration. The frame’s exploring a follow-up and a 320GB internal Western Digital
back offers one PATA and product with this capability. Caviar SE, which takes advantage of
two SATA connectors, while frames I fired up an ASUS P5ND2- NVIDIA’s 300MBps SATA controller.
come in SATA or PATA versions. I loaded SLI board and configured the two The WD drive toasted its rivals, but the
DP25 RAID decisively doused the external
CRU-DataPort DP 25 Tests drive, particularly in prolonged transfers.
PCMark04 (MBps) 2GB Copy Market trends show that 2.5-inch dri-
Vendor XP Start App Load File Copy HDD Usage Write Read ves are rocketing in popularity. The
CRU-DataPort DP25 RAID 0 5.715 5.579 26.84 4.745 1:16 0:45 DP25 (sub-$100 street price) is a great
Seagate 400GB External 1394a 6.159 5.664 5.201 3.375 1:42 1:23 example of how you can put those drives
Western Digital 9.954 8.215 40.341 6.398 0:49 0:43 to good use on the desktop, particularly
in small form-factor systems. ▲
Specs: Dimensions (removable carrier): 1 x 3.1 x 5.2 (HxWxD); interface: frame is 1
PATA, 2 SATA, carrier is either SATA or PATA; interconnect rate: 25,000 insertions;
power: standard 4-wire mini Molex (floppy) by William Van Winkle

Revo64 3-Port RAID SATA Controller

XFX Revo64 SATA Controller $200
XFX
emember back when 3D accelerators while the other two form a RAID 0-ish
R first emerged? Well now XFX is sell-
ing a card featuring a storage processor
stripe. Should one drive fail, performance
continues at full speed, while rebuilding
(909) 230-9800
www.xfxforce.com

designed by Netcell. with a replacement (hot swap) drive takes

Hardware-accelerated storage technolo- place in the background.
gy offers a few unique features otherwise Synthetic tests in PCMark04 reveal transfers better than small, appealing
unavailable on existing south- slight improvements to overall system especially to media encoding enthusiasts.
bridge controllers. To begin, speed, but a definite slowdown in disk Processor utilization in both tests was
XFX’s Revo64 is completely pegged at 100%.
driverless. Windows installa- For a first-generation product that
tions go off without a hitch doesn’t require any software developer
(no more F6), and migrating support and effectively accelerates perfor-
data is a simple matter of dis- mance as it enables effective data security,
connecting an existing hard the XFX Revo64 is solid. And if three
disk from your integrated con- ports aren’t enough for your massive col-
troller, say, an nForce4 SATA lection of hard drives, XFX also sells a 5-
port, and attaching it to the port version that accommodates four stor-
Revo. No worrying about performance compared to NVIDIA’s age drives and one parity drive. ▲
reformatting; very cool. built-in nForce4 hard drive controller.
RAID 3 is the other notable differen- My real-world WinRAR compression by Chris Angelini
tiator. Compared to RAID 5, block-level metric demonstrates better speed, though.
striping with distributed parity, RAID 3 Representatives at Netcell confirm the
XFX Revo64 NVIDIA nForce4
reserves one of the three disks for parity, NC3000 processor handles large file
PCMark04 4086 4063
Specs: Netcell NC3000 storage processor; 64MB SDRAM data cache; 3-port SATA HDD Test 4214 5341
capacity; PCI host interface; 300MBps max burst rate; RAID 0, 1, 3, and JBOD WinRAR 500MB 4:24 4:33

CPU / September 2005 25

 Anand’s Corner

NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GTX

Made For High Resolutions & Fast CPUs

J ustducedaboutits GeForce
a month ago, NVIDIA intro-
7800 GTX, the latest
at ridiculously low prices. These days you can
pick up a 24-inch widescreen LCD from
$600 graphics card to completely redefine Dell, with a native resolution of 1,920 x
gaming performance. Unlike previous high- 1,200, for under $900. The 20-inch version?
end GPU launches, the GeForce 7800 GTX Less than $500.
offered enough performance to make me Prior to the launch of the GeForce 7800
even recommend it—whereas I usually tell GTX, if you wanted to play every single game
people to stay away from the highest-end out there at 1,600 x 1,200 or 1,920 x 1,200,
GPUs and focus on the upper midrange you’d need a pair of 6800 Ultras. But now,
offerings instead. with the introduction of the 7800 GTX, a
The 7800 GTX offers gaming perfor- single card is all you need. Gamers who want
mance on par, if not greater than, a pair of to be able to run at their massive LCD’s Anand Lal Shimpi has turned a
GeForce 6800 Ultras running in SLI mode, native resolution now have a place to turn fledgling personal page on
yet it consumes less power than just a single with the 7800 GTX. If your PC budget is GeoCities.com into one of the
one of those cards. Not to mention that the similar to the MSRP of an entry-level Kia, world’s most visited and trusted
7800 GTX is a single slot solution. So in then also rest assured that you can pair up a PC hardware sites. Anand started
other words, NVIDIA has basically been 7800 GTX with Apple’s 30-inch Cinema his site in 1997 at just 14 years
able to cram the power of what used to take Display, which features a native resolution of old and has since been
up a total of four slots, into a single, very 2,560 x 1,600. Once you hit resolutions as featured in USA Today, CBS’ 48
quiet package. high as 2,560 x 1,600, it may be time to Hours and Fortune. His site—
The 7800 GTX is still extremely expensive switch to a pair of 7800 GTXs, but I’ve www.anandtech.com—receives
for the vast majority of users; although prices found that a number of games are quite more than 55 million page views
have fallen close to the $550 point (with playable (just not butter smooth) at that and is read by more than 2
some clever deals landing you a card for just resolution with just a single 7800. million readers per month.
over $500), that’s still a lot to ask for a video Because the 7800 GT is significantly
card. After all, Sony’s PlayStation 3 will cost
less and feature a slightly higher-clocked ver-
faster than any single GPU we’ve seen in the
past, it requires an extremely fast CPU to
The 7800 GTX
sion of the same GPU. truly flex its muscle. But how fast of a CPU
But there is one category of user who can- do you need? The answer to that question offers gaming
not only appreciate the beauty of the 7800 really depends on your target resolution. I’ve
GTX, but also almost demand its level of found that at 1,920 x 1,200 (or higher), you
performance. Who would those users be? end up being GPU-limited in pretty much performance
Gamers with massive LCD monitors, of all games with a single 7800 GTX, meaning
course. The problem with LCD displays is
that they look tremendous at their native res-
that even an entry-level Athlon 64 3000+ is
going to be able to feed the GPU relatively
on par, if not
olution, but once you stray from that, the well. That being said, even those high reso-
image quality degrades significantly. lutions aren’t totally GPU-bound, and you’ll greater than,
Now this isn’t a problem for the majority still see a performance boost from going to a
of LCD displays, because most of them have faster CPU.
a maximum resolution of 1,280 x 1,024, but If you happen to have a display that’s lim- a pair of
if you’ve put down good cash on a higher- ited to 1,600 x 1,200 or 1,680 x 1,050, you
end, 21-, 24-, or 30-inch display, then you’re
not constrained by such mortal resolutions.
end up being more CPU limited—in which
case a midrange Athlon64 would be what
GeForce 6800
Dell has done its civic duty of making people you’d need to feed the beast. The 7800 GTX
upgrade to some quite beautiful LCD dis- isn’t for everyone, but as is the case with Ultras running
plays with native resolutions of 1,600 x most anything at the ultra high-end, it sure
1,200 or 1,920 x 1,200 by offering product is nice to talk about. ▲
in SLI mode . . .
Talk back to [email protected].

26 September 2005 / www.computerpoweruser.com

The Shark Tank

The Ultimate
Battlefield 2 Rig
T heof apastslewfewof months have seen the release
high-end, expensive, deca-
cards, anything less than the FX-57 and you
draw the risk of not even pushing them at
dent, and downright gaming-friendly PC 1,600 x 1,200. As far as my platform goes,
hardware. It’s really been awhile since I’ve I’m sticking with the very sturdy ASUS
gentrified my gaming system. Not since the A8N-SLI Deluxe motherboard.
days of Half-Life 2 and Doom 3 has my One of the interesting (if not expensive)
own system needed some extra beef. With aspects of Battlefield 2 is that it actually per-
the recent release of EA’s Battlefield 2, that forms better with 2GB of RAM as opposed
goes right out the window. As wicked as it to 1GB, due to its large memory footprint.
looks, it’s just as mean and taxing on your Hence, it’s time to dip back into the pot and
system. No longer is an FX-53 coupled with grab two 1GB Corsair XMS Pro DDR400s Disrupting Reuters’ newswire
twin GeForce 6800 Ultras in SLI and 1GB (that’s the one with those snazzy LEDs, in with a cheery Christmas greeting
of RAM enough for 1,600 x 1,200 with case you’re wondering). at age six, Alex “Sharky” Ross
8X AF and 4XAA. Not that a rock/paper/ On the outside, I’ve always been happy became an avid computer
scissors, online, squad-based, first-person with Cooler Master cases, so the TAC-T01- user/abuser, eventually founding
shooter such as Battlefield 2 requires those E1C WaveMaster does the job. It’s not fancy popular hardware testing/review
insane levels of detail, but it sure is nice to in terms of watercooling properties, like a Web site SharkyExtreme.com.
have, isn’t it? Koolance, but it more than gets the job Exposing shoddy manufacturing
First things first: out with the GeForce done. To drive a PC for this gaming non- practices and rubbish-spouting
6800 Ultras. Not that they perform poor- sense, a sturdy power supply is required, marketing weasels while cham-
ly, it’s just that as a launch title, EA has such as the Antec 480 NeoPower, which is pioning innovative products,
obviously spent some serious time with also quiet at the best of times. illuminating new technology,
NVIDIA, who has optimized the heck out And I know it was only a couple of and pioneering real-world test-
of Battlefield 2 with the GeForce 7800 months ago that I mentioned the won- ing methods was just a front for
GTX. As with previous generation GPUs, ders of two mega-low response time Dell playing with the best toys. The
it’s a good idea to double down and use a 2005FPW widescreen TFTs, but since, I’ve site acquired, he left in 2001. A
second board for SLI, especially if you’re seen what a couple of 2405FPWs working London native and London
into high-resolution gaming. together can do, and I’ve fallen in love. Cer- School of Economics graduate,
The AMD Athlon FX-53 is a processor tainly, 24 inches is better than 20.1, and Alex currently overclocks/tunes
I’ve been using for gaming for some time, widescreen gaming is the only way to play. Porsche 996 Turbos with
and even with the release of the FX-55, the One day, who knows, maybe games on www.sharkwerks.com when
extra few megahertz wasn’t worth the trou- the horizon will make use of that second he’s not tweaking PCs.
ble. However, the FX-57 certainly seems monitor (in the meantime, it’ll sport some
like a worthwhile jump. I know I’ve been fancy Desktops).
saying that the dual-core X2 is a much better Clearly this overpriced, extra-phat, and It’s really been
value and more future-proof, but the 90nm decadent PC is not something I would rec-
FX-57 is just so darn fast in gaming bench-
marks. And with added SSE3 support, a
ommend for any sane person. Perhaps for
hardcore gamers that at least know they
awhile since
tweaked memory controller, improved have a problem, such as myself, and can’t
memory mapping, and that stonking
2.8GHz clock speed, it’s oh-so appealing.
help but buy/own the fastest gear on the
planet (at least for the next five minutes
I’ve gentrified
Not that the $1,000 price tag makes it any- anyway). All I have to show for this is
where near value for money but, then again, almost 11000 in 3DMark05 at 1,600 x my gaming
you can overclock it to 3GHz. Also, from 1,200 with 4XAA and 8XAF; and Doom
some previous benchmarking, I’ve found 3 ran at almost 170fps. Truly sad, but
that with a pair of GeForce 7800 GTX amazing nonetheless. ▲ system.
Email me at [email protected]

28 September 2005 / www.computerpoweruser.com

[H]ard Talk

AMD’s Athlon 64 X2:

Dual-Core, Gotta Love It
I ’veprocessors
been discussing dual-core desktop
here on my own little page in
Intel was first to market with a dual-core
processor, but its design was such a throwback
CPU for months now. Talk is cheap, though. in terms of megahertz that I simply wasn’t will-
Thankfully, I’ve been on target with my ing to sacrifice even more gaming experience
thoughts, for the most part. Specifications than I already was. So I waited a bit longer
being thrown around mean a lot of nothing until I could get my hands on an Athlon 64 X2
to many of us, even though we hardware dual-core. AMD’s top-of-the-line 4800+ went
geeks still get off on them. As a technology into a new tower under my desk, along with a
journalist, and I use that term loosely, it’s my BFGTech GeForce 6800 GT OC video card
duty to inform you about technology. Instead and an ASUS A8N-SLI motherboard stocked
of regurgitating stats, which I grew tired of with 2GB of Corsair RAM.
years ago, let me talk to you about my com- You might be wondering exactly why I put Kyle Bennett is editor-in-chief
puting experience with dual-core CPUs on just one BFGTech 6800GT OC in my box of HardOCP.com, one of the
the market, namely AMD’s Athlon 64 X2 when I had just gone through the trouble of largest and most outspoken
dual-core processor. installing all this new equipment in a new PC-enthusiast sites on the Web.
I’ve been a huge fan of Intel’s Hyper- tower with an SLI-capable motherboard. This HardOCP.com is geared
Threading since its introduction. So much, left me with a system basically the same as toward users with a passion for
in fact, that it pulled me back over to the before, save the X2 processor and the mother- PCs and those who want to get
“Dark Side,” away from the AMD Athlon board, of course. Well, I set out to compare cutting-edge performance from
XP and, subsequently, the Athlon 64 line of my overall computing experience on the their systems. Beware, though,
CPUs. Around this time I was getting a bit Athlon X2 2.4GHz processor with my previ- Kyle is known for his strong
longer in the tooth, and HardOCP.com ous Pentium 4s at 3.73 and 3.6GHz. After a opinions and stating them in a
started taking up much more of my time month of usage, I think I can put my finger no-nonsense manner while
from a business perspective. The Web site on exactly what I think about AMD’s new delivering some of the most
that was spawned from playing games started dual-core processor technology. in-depth reviews and PC
to saddle me with such a workload that my Concluding here, I want to be succinct: The hardware news on the 'Net.
gaming time was cut back severely. Irony? AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ dual-core proces-
Anyway, with that workload came a triple sor has provided me with the best overall com-
monitor setup on my desk loaded with open puting I’ve ever experienced. In terms of that The AMD Athlon
applications. (I’ve actually had people laugh creamy, smooth user interface that Intel’s
at the depth of icons in my System Tray.) It Hyper-Threading afforded me, I would be 64 X2 4800+
was at this time that Hyper-Threading hard pressed to say that the AMD X2 provided
became my friend. It allowed me a smooth, any better of an experience, but it’s certainly dual-core
creamy user interface. Gone were the pauses, no lesser. In terms of 3D gaming, the AMD
skips, stalls, and general quirkiness that X2 blows the best dual-core processor that
would make using computer applications a Intel has to offer off the map. And last, but
processor has
nightmare. With Intel I gave up some power certainly not least, in terms of truly increasing
on the gaming front, though. I might not my computing productivity, I don’t think provided me with
play games as much anymore, but I sure AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual-core can be bested.
don’t want gameplay to suck when I do. In Just remember this while you’re kicking my the best overall
fact, I’ve had enough hardware thrown at me butt online in Battlefield 2; it’s due to me not
over the years that I’ve become a bit of gam- having enough practice or hours logged. I’m computing
ing snob. All that said, Intel’s Pentium 4 still seeing gameplay at 1,600 x 1,200 with all the
allowed me a good overall experience, but I eye candy turned on and I’m encoding a
knew that in the realm of fun, my Hyper- ripped DVD to DivX while you’re kicking it.
I’ve ever
Threading machine was a solid B when I And yeah, I installed a 7800 GTX SLI. Damn
yearned for an A+. Yeah, a gaming snob. gaming snobs. ▲ experienced.
You can talk with Kyle at [email protected].

CPU / September 2005 29

 hard hat area | pc modder

designs run counter to all of that with

PC Modder larger fans, more heatsink surface area,

and slower rotational speeds.
The CNPS7700-Cu ($50) is the epitome
of what Zalman does so well. The unit fea-
Tips & Tutorials tures an all-copper body; a 120mm fan
Large and
Modding does the body good. A PC’s body anyway, inside and out. Here you’ll find in charge,
hardware, firmware, tools, tips, and tutorials for modding your rig’s performance and Zalman’s 7700-
appearance. Send us your own mod-related tips and ideas at [email protected]. Cu heatsink is
as quiet as
odding enthusiasts have a The real question is how badly do you it is massive.

M penchant for the latest toys.

Fast processors, powerful video
cards, silent SFF enclosures, and radically
need a $42 mouse pad? Ulti-Mat believes
graphics professionals and competitive
gamers are the most likely customers. We
spinning between 1,000 and 2,000rpm; a
controller that lets you manually tune fan
lit motherboards are all fair game when don’t necessarily fall into either category, speed; and compatibility with LGA775,
it comes to a modder’s creative mind. but the improvement over our circular plas- Socket 478, and all Athlon 64 processors.
Recognizing the appeal of unconventional tic pad is enough to warrant an upgrade. The CNPS7700-Cu is a little pricey, but
customization, an entire industry has Zalman includes all the necessary accessories
emerged to support the community. Koolance NV2-L06 VGA Water Block to mount the unit, secure the fan controller,
In the past few months, we’ve covered and adapt to other socket interfaces.
Mods & Ends aftermarket heatsink and fan combina-
tions for NVIDIA and ATI graphics Fashionably Fresh Firmware
Ulti-Mat Original Mousepad cards. The goal is to reduce noise output
No matter how often we wash our while maintaining or improving cooling Traveler Slimline X5 v. 13.5.2005
hands or dust our desk, our mouse pad capacity. It should come as no surprise The latest firmware for Traveler’s 5.2MP
consistently acquires spots where the other- that watercooling offers an even better X5 camera adds extended audio functional-
wise marvelous Logitech MX1000 sticks way to cut back on fan noise, simultane- ity to turn sound effects on and off.
and stutters. Merely annoying on the ously raising the bar for overclocking. www.traveler-service.com
Windows Desktop, such behavior is down- Koolance recently unveiled a NVIDIA-
right disturbing in Battlefield 2. The solu- exclusive water block ($77) that works ATI RADEON X800 XT Mac Edition v. 109
tion has been cleaning the pad thoroughly with 6800 cards from vanilla to GT to In certain instances ATI claims the
with dish soap once or twice a week. Ultra in AGP and PCI Express trims. The X800 XT would corrupt or hang in Mac
That is no longer necessary with Ulti- inlet and outlet nozzles both rotate 360 OS X. Firmware 109 corrects that issue
Mat’s high-end mouse pad ($42). Built degrees for easy installation, and the for all X800 XT cards.
from a 0.4-inch steel sheet and coated with mounting bracket snaps on without the support.ati.com
three layers of Teflon, the surface is suit- need of any tools.
able for ball mice and optical engines alike. Not only does the block cover your VCS VideoJet 10
It’s also scratch resistant and easy to wipe 6800-class GPU, but it’s also designed in This firmware for VCS’ video transmitter
clean, should you have a similar habit of such a way as to blanket the memory mod- improves MPEG-4 resolution, optimizes
tracking in grime. Moreover, a 0.08-inch ules. The unit weighs eight ounces, looks the encoding engine for quality, adds water-
foam layer keeps the pad from slipping great, and is easy enough for a beginner to marking, and allows telnet remote login.
around under your hand. Dimensions of install. What a great way to extinguish the www.vcs.com/english/index.shtml
11.82 x 9.85 inches are ample for unre- fires of dual Ultras in SLI mode.
stricted mouse movement. Canon EOS 350D D-SLR v. 1.0.2
Zalman CNPS7700-Cu Heatsink If you use a Canon EOS 350D or Dig-
The Ulti-Mat There is an increasing demand for ital Rebel XT camera, this update fixes
works with noise reduction, especially as compo- problems with severe underexposure, auto
optical and nents get hotter and require more cool- power-off failure, and incorrect white bal-
ball mice ing. Processors are perhaps the worst ance when using an external flash.
thanks to offenders because of their high-speed www.canon.co.jp
a Teflon 60mm fans, responsible for blowing air
surface through a mass of copper. Zalman’s by Chris Angelini

30 September 2005 / www.computerpoweruser.com

 hard hat area | pc modder

“Silent But Deadly” The Secret To Cooling Is In The Air, Part II

ast month (page 33) we outlined separate module such as the Karajan

L the products and components

that we chose for a quiet-PC
project that we dubbed “Silent
But Deadly.” Our goal was to build a sys-
tem that generated as little noise as possible
improves audio quality by reducing electri-
cal noise and interference. The problem we
had with the Karajan module was that it
wouldn’t fit beneath the 120mm exhaust
fan in our Cooler Master Centurion 5
but that didn’t sacrifice anything in terms CAC-T05-WW case. We ended up having
of overall performance. We spent some to cut a notch out of the fan housing to give
time contemplating the list of parts we the Karajan enough clearance to fit in the
wanted, all the while considering how, or case. While we had the fan removed from
if, each part would help us achieve our the case, we also installed rubber vibration
ultimate goal of silence. dampeners to prevent the fan from making
When we finally laid down our hard- “Silent But Deadly’s” 120mm exhaust fan is direct contact with the enclosure.
earned green and ordered the parts for the situated only a few inches away from the We later encountered a second problem
build, we were confident that we had processor’s passive cooler, ensuring constant related to the Cooler Master Centurion 5,
architected a system that would be super airflow over the heatsink’s fins. specifically with the case’s custom drive
quiet but still had the horsepower to mus- mounts, which don’t require the use of
cle through any application we threw at any tools. You just install a drive into
it. We couldn’t know if we had succeed- Making The Mods any available bay, slide the locking device
ed, however, until we assembled all the Before we could begin piecing the to the locked position, and the drive is
parts and the system was fully functional. machine together, we needed to modify a secured firmly in place. These locking
Unfortunately, all too often the virtual few components. Surprisingly, the first devices worked great for our optical drive,
whole doesn’t equal the sum of the parts modification that we had to make was one but our Vantec NXP-205-BK fan con-
when building a custom PC from the that was unexpected. The DFI LANParty troller panel and Zalman ZM-2HC2 NP
ground up using parts from multiple NF4 SLI-DR motherboard that we chose hard drive cooler weren’t entirely secure.
OEMs. Thus, we were quite eager to for our project includes a small riser card Luckily, we were able to forcefully remove
assemble “Silent But Deadly” when all that houses the motherboard’s Realtek the locking devices from two bays using a
the parts arrived in the lab, so we could ALC850 audio codec. DFI calls this unique pair of pliers and a little elbow grease to
see if we had made the right decisions in part its Karajan audio module. According to reveal standard screw-hole positions lurk-
the planning stage. DFI, isolating the audio circuitry onto a ing beneath them that we could use.

Our Radeon X800 XL looks much more menacing

with the Arctic Cooling AVC-AT5 installed. The
AVC-AT5 will cool the GPU more efficiently than the
stock cooler, plus expel warm air from the system.

CPU / September 2005 31

 hard hat area | pc modder

The next three mods that we performed With the Zalman ZM-2HC2 NP installed on our hard
were expected. As we mentioned last drive, we had to mount the drive in a 5.25-inch bay.
month, we planned to replace our
Sapphire Radeon X800 XL’s stock we had to place it into a
GPU cooler with a more power- free 5.25-inch bay.
ful and quieter product from Our ThermalTake
Arctic Cooling. To install Silent PurePower W0029
our Arctic Cooling AVC- ATX 350W power supply
AT5 Rev. 2 72mm Cer- didn’t require any modifica-
amic VGA Cooler tions for installation, as it fit
onto the Radeon into the Centurion 5 CAC-
X800 XL, we had to T05-WW without any prob-
remove a handful of lems. However, this isn’t exactly
screws from the back a standard power supply. The
side of the card and un- Silent PurePower W0029 has a
plug the fan in order to unin- group of copper heatsink fins that
stall the stock cooler. Then, protrude a few inches from the rear of
with the stock GPU cooler removed, we the system. The PSU is designed this
thoroughly cleaned the GPU and RAM way so that the relatively cool air that cir-
chips on the card with some isopropyl alco- culates through a room (in comparison
hol and a lint-free cloth. After cleaning off to the warm air that within the typical
the stock goop, we put a smooth, thin layer computer system) passes over the heat-
of Arctic Silver 5 on the GPU and prepared process that only required removing a pair sink’s fins, which in turn keep the PSU’s
the AVC-AT5 for installation by removing of screws to uninstall the standard bracket. internal components running within an
a few protective plastic backers installed on We could then install the Fanless-103’s acceptable temperature range.
the AVC-AT5’s thermal pads. These pads bracket in the standard bracket’s place The rest of “Silent But Deadly’s” com-
act as a thermal-interface material between using the stock screws. ponents went together just like any other
the RAM and heatsinks. DIY PC build. We did take the time nec-
We then only needed to slide the The Final Assembly essary to clean up all the system’s internal
AVC-AT5 in place, connect its fan to the The rest of the build didn’t require any cabling to ensure maximum, unobstruct-
stock header on the card, and secure the major modifications, but we did have to ed airflow throughout the case, however.
entire unit in place with the unit’s includ- take a handful of extra steps to install a To improve system performance, this
ed screws. When the mod was complete, few of the complimentary components in is something we recommend everyone
our Radeon X800 XL looked nothing like the system. For example, we had to do, whether the PC is new or not. (We
it did when it left Sapphire’s plant. With mount the Zalman ZM-2HC2 NP hard detailed such steps in December 2004’s
the Arctic Cooling AVC-AT5 installed, drive cooler to our Seagate hard drive CPU on page 30.)
both sides of the card were equipped with using included screws and rubber grom-
an oversized heatsink and heatplate, and mets. With the Zalman ZM-2HC2 NP The Completed Project
the card was no longer a single-slot de- installed, the hard drive would no longer With “Silent But Deadly” completely
sign. Sacrificing a slot for the oversized, fit into an internal 3.5-inch drive bay, so assembled, the moment of truth had
quiet GPU cooler will be a huge plus, arrived: Would the system be nearly
however, as the cooler will help expel silent, yet still powerful? After powering
warm air out of the rear of the system and the system up, we’re happy to report that
keep heat that the video card generates “Silent But Deadly” is an unmitigated
from building up in the case. success. With the case fans throttled
Before installing our ThermalTake down to the lowest possible level, “Silent
Fanless-103 passive cooler onto our CPU, But Deadly” was so quiet that if not for
we had to modify the motherboard slight- the lighted Vantec NXP-205-BK fan con-
ly to accommodate the cooler’s unique troller panel and power LED on the case,
mounting hardware. Included with the we wouldn’t have even known the system
Fanless-103 was a plastic mounting brack- was powered up. We actually had to place
et that we had to install on our LANParty The heatsink on ThermalTake’s Silent our ears within a few inches of the rear of
NF4 SLI-DR in lieu of a standard Socket PurePower PSU protrudes from the system’s the system to hear any noise coming from
939 bracket. This was an extremely simple back to expose the heatsink’s fins to cool air. it at all. Even with the case fans running

32 September 2005 / www.computerpoweruser.com

 hard hat area | pc modder

Our PC Is Silent, But Can It Perform?

e had specific goals in mind before we started building “Silent But Deadly,” namely
W making it as silent as possible but still able to perform powerfully. To assess its per-
formance, we had to consider its capabilities in a few different categories. First, “Silent But
Deadly” had to be fast, so we used a variety of standard benchmarks to tell us if we
achieved that goal. Second, the rig had to be overclockable without overheating. A quick trip
into “Silent But Deadly’s” BIOS and a few hours running Folding@Home would tell us how
high the system would overclock. Last, but certainly not least, this system had to be quiet.
Our trusty sound-level meter would fill us in on how much noise the system emitted.
Overall, we couldn’t be more pleased with the results. “Silent But Deadly” proved an
excellent performer in every category—relatively speaking. The PC is plenty fast for today’s
applications and games, is a decent overclocker, and is almost completely silent. In fact, the
system is so quiet our sound-level meter wasn’t capable of measuring the amount of noise
the system emitted from two feet away. The meter could only register noise levels over Our Rev. E Athlon 64 3800+ idled at a
40db, so “Silent But Deadly” came in well below that mark. The only area where the sys- relatively high 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit
tem didn’t fare very well was in regard to the processor’s operating temperatures, which while running at its stock 2.4GHz. With an
were somewhat high for a Rev. E “Venice” core-based CPU. But higher temperatures are active cooler installed, the CPU idled at a
expected considering that we used a passive CPU cooler and very few fans. much more comfortable 86 degrees F.

Performance At Default Speeds* Performance At Overclocked Speeds**

PCMark04 CPU 4544 4763
3DMark05 CPU Test 4919 5152
3DMark05 Default Test 5111 5346
Doom 3 (640 x 480) 162.4fps 173.5fps
Doom 3 (1,600 x 1,200) 63.2fps 67.4fps
Temperatures Idle: 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit/Load: 114.8 degrees Idle: 102.2 degrees/Load: 129.2 degrees

* CPU: 2,400MHz; Radeon X800 XL: 400MHz core/490MHz memory

"** CPU: 2,580MHz (180MHz overclock); Radeon X800 XL: 450MHz core/560MHz memory (50MHz core overclock/70MHz memory overclock)"

at their maximum speed, “Silent But

Deadly” was so quiet it wouldn’t register
on our sound level meter.
In addition, “Silent But Deadly”
proved to be a decent performer and
competent overclocker. We were able to
push the system’s AMD Athlon 64
3800+ CPU to almost 2.6GHz without
encountering any stability issues, and
because we installed a beefed-up cooler
on our video card, we were able to over-
clock it quite a bit, as well. However,
because our Athlon 64 3800+ and power
supply were passively cooled, “Silent But
Deadly” ran a bit hotter under the collar
than we would have liked. In the end,
though, the system ran perfectly, and
after spending some time surfing and
gaming on this baby, it will be hard
going back to using a noisy PC.

by Marco Chiappetta “Silent But Deadly” in all its glory.

Behold our gorgeous, silent PC.

CPU / September 2005 33

 How Trashy!

lthough nonmodder types often It sounded like a great custom case acrylic shelves, the drives sit at the edge of

A argue the virtues of putting a com-

puter under the desk instead of on
top of it, we have never seen a mod pur-
which would look extremely stylish
and hi-tech.”
The garbage can is wider at the top than
the trash can. Chistov cut openings into
the can with clippers and used custom-cut
plates to create a polished look.
posely created for floor dwelling—until at the bottom, so Chistov designed a five- Chistov wrapped up the system by
now. Enter the R.Y.C. (Recycle Your tiered interior that consists of acrylic plates adding a top plate that bears a recycling
Computer), which sits comfortably in and steel rods. The rods support each plate logo and a small vacuum florescent dis-
an IKEA steel trash can. Alexey “BeWize” and secure the system to the bottom of the play. Overall, Chistov is pleased with the
Chistov, an 18-year-old student at the can. The lowest (and smallest) plate houses finished product, ranking it among his
Moscow Aviation Institute in Russia, owes the power supply, while the second plate best mods, but he says he learned some
the idea for this mod to his friend, Daniil supports an Insight P4-ITX Mini-ITX things along the way. “I can now say that
“Y@m@k@si” Horvatovich. motherboard. A hole in the third plate it could be made much better,” he says. ▲
So why toss your computer in the from the bottom lets a fan force air into
trash anyway? “There was no purpose,” the CPU heatsink’s fins. The optical drive by Joshua Gulick
says Chistov. “We just decided that it and a hard drive sit on small shelves
was a great idea and it would look great. near the top of the system. Thanks to the

Alexey Chistov drew a diagram of his R.Y.C. Steel rods run through each acrylic plate, so Note that the bottom of the garbage can
mod first and then commissioned custom Chistov needed a board small enough to fit stands a little above ground, thanks to the
acrylic cuts. He glued the shelf pieces to between them. The Mini-ITX board fits, but bolts at the ends of the rods. You can twist
create the optical and hard drive bays. barely. He angled the motherboard so that the bolts to level the rig.
its corners stand between the rods.

34 September 2005 / www.computerpoweruser.com

Chistov took this photo before he put the red Thanks to the top shelf, the rods don’t run all The red faceplate turns an otherwise messy
plate onto the back window. The power supply the way to the top of R.Y.C. cutout into a slick double bay. Note the bolt
has an orange acrylic cover that meshes with that secures the anchor rod; it’s almost tall
the system’s red lighting. enough to block the optical drive.

“At first, I created the plexi levels,” Chistov says.

“After that, I cut out the sides and designed the
red plates. It was pretty easy.”

Have a computer mod that will bring tears

to our eyes? Email photos and a description
to [email protected]. If we
include your system in our “Mad Reader
Mod” section, we’ll send you a $1,500
Newegg.com gift certificate and a one-year
subscription to CPU.

CPU / September 2005 35

 Get informed answers to your advanced technical Each month we dig deep into the mailbag here at CPU in an effort
to answer your most pressing technical questions. Want some advice
questions from CPU. Send your questions along with a on your next purchase or upgrade? Have a ghost in your machine?
Are BSODs making your life miserable? CPU’s “Advanced Q&A
phone and/or fax number, so we can call you if Corner” is here for you.
necessary, to q&[email protected]. Please include all
George D. asked: I wanted to get your suggestions on building a
pertinent system information. strictly nongaming PC. I do most of my gaming on game consoles. I use
my PC for email, Web browsing, listening to music, burning CDs and
DVDs, and doing some picture and video editing. I’m looking to build a
new SFF PC, so obviously I would like it to be small, quiet, and cool, but I
also want it to be ready for tomorrow’s new OSes and applications.
How would you rate the importance of different components (CPU,
FSB, memory, graphics card, power supply, etc.) for such a system?
Could you give any specific suggestions for the case, motherboard, CPU,
and the graphics card? Thanks in advance! Keep up the great work!

“ You actually can

tell what type

Shuttle’s SN25P XPC SFF system is based
on the NVIDIA nForce 4 Ultra chipset.

of processor you’re A: We’re going to save you a whole lot of trouble, George. From
the sound of your email, it seems like you’re planning to actually
build your own SFF PC using individual components. Although

purchasing just by “ this may be a good idea for some folks, namely those who plan to
mod a system or otherwise customize it for a specialized purpose,
in your situation we’d suggest purchasing a complete barebones
SFF PC from a reputable company such as Shuttle, AOpen, or
Soltek. You’ll save yourself some money and avoid a multitude of
potential pitfalls along the way because these systems already
include a case, motherboard, and power supply, along with a host
looking at it. of custom components such as silent heatpipe CPU coolers and
removable drive trays. Plus, some barebones SFF systems come
prewired from the factory, which makes installation a snap.

36 September 2005 / www.computerpoweruser.com

 To get to the meat of your questions, we’d say that the ADA 3200 D A A 4 BP
amount of memory you purchase is most important, fol-
Part Definitoin: BP= Rev E
lowed by the video card, and then the CPU. But we’d
also say that the size/speed of your hard drive and your
choice of optical drive are important, as well. To build a L2 Cache Size: 4= 512KB
semipowerful SFF system that’s going to be ready for
next-gen OSes, you’re going to need a lot of memory, Case Temperature: A= 65 C
plenty of storage, a DX9-class video card with at least
128MB of onboard RAM (not shared), a sufficiently fast Operating Voltage: A= 1.4V
processor, and a means of backing up your data. We
think an SFF system, such as Shuttle’s SN25P XPC, Package: D= 939 Pin Lidded OuPGA
would be a perfect match. The SN25P is based on
NVIDIA’s nForce 4 Ultra chipset and supports all Model Number: 3200+: 2,000MHz
Socket 939 AMD Athlon 64/FX processors. It has good
integrated sound, courtesy of a VIA Envy24PT audio TM
Brand: AMD Athlon 64 Desktop
controller, Gigabit Ethernet with ActiveArmor, and sup-
port for PCI Express and both IDE and SATA RAID. It also has All of those numbers etched into the top of a processor
internal bays that accommodate three 3.5-inch hard drives, along actually mean something. Deciphering the codes will give
with an optical and floppy drive and an 8-in-1 card reader. The you a plethora of information.
SN25P also has plenty of USB 2.0 and FireWire ports available and
a beefy 350W power supply. In addition, the SN25P XPC is quiet attention to the four lines of numbers and text etched onto the IHS
in most circumstances, thanks to an intelligently designed multi- just under the processor branding. The first line reads AMD Athlon
zone chassis, smart fan controls, and a custom CPU cooling system. 64, and the second line says something such as ADA3800DAA4BP.
To complement the SN25P, we’d recommend at least 1GB of The second line will reveal whether you’re buying a new processor
low-latency PC3200 RAM, preferably from Corsair or Kingston. based on the Venice core. Note that processors based on the Venice
To get all of the graphical goodness from next-gen user interfaces, core are also known as Rev E Athlon 64s.
you’re going to want a DirectX 9-class video card with a discrete For more info, on AMD’s Web site (www.amd.com/us-en/assets
frame buffer, and the GeForce 6600 is a perfect match for the /content_type/white_papers_and_tech_docs/30430.pdf) you’ll
nForce 4 Ultra chipset found in the SN25P. There are even some find a PDF titled, “AMD Athlon 64 Processor Power and Thermal
passively cooled 6600s available that will keep the system running Data Sheet.” In this document AMD explains what the codes on
quietly. On top of those components, a relatively fast CPU, such the top of its Athlon 64 processors mean (although at press time it
as an Athlon 64 3500+ or faster, would be fine. Also, a large wasn’t updated with information about the Venice core). The first
SATA hard drive with NCQ should be a prerequisite. Maxtor’s three letters, ADA, designate the processor brand; in our case it’s an
MaxLine III of 7,200rpm hard drives, which come with 16MB Athlon 64. (FX processors are labeled ADAFX.) The next four dig-
caches and have NCQ support, would be a good choice. We’d its are obviously the model number. The next letter, D, indicates
recommend at least a 250GB drive. Lastly, you’re going to need a what packaging the processor uses. The D indicates it’s a Socket
way to back up data. A good optical drive should fit the bill, and a 939 chip. If there was an A, it would mean it’s a Socket 754 proces-
dual-layer DVD burner would be the best choice. High-quality sor. The next letter is the operating voltage (the A in our example
dual-layer DVD burners are available from numerous manufac- means 1.4V). The next letter, A, designates the maximum case tem-
turers, but we’re partial to the Plextor, Sony, and Lite-On brands. perature, which ranges from 145.4 to 158 degrees Fahrenheit (63 to
70 degrees Celsius) depending on the core used. But it’s the last two
Bill C. asked: I’ve been reading a lot of information about AMD’s characters in the code that will tell you definitively whether you’re
new Venice core and want to buy one for a new system I plan to build. getting a Venice core-based CPU. The BP in our example tells us
The problem is, I’ve got a gift certificate to a local mom-and-pop comput- that our processor is a Venice core. If those last two characters were
er store here in town, and they haven’t got a clue as to what I’m talking AS, it would mean it’s a Clawhammer, BI would designate a
about. They have most of the parts I want to buy in stock, but I want to be Winchester, and BN would indicate a San Diego core. There are
sure that the processor I take home is based on the Venice core because I many other designations, as well, so make sure you check out the
plan to overclock. How can I be sure that the processor this store sells me data sheet on AMD’s site. Ultimately, make sure the processor you
is the right one? Is there any way to tell just by looking at the CPU? buy has BP at the end of the code and you should be fine. ▲

A: You actually can tell what type of processor you’re purchasing by Dave Altavilla and Marco Chiappetta,
just by looking at it. There are codes etched into an Athlon 64’s the experts over at HotHardware.com
integrated heat spreader that can help you figure out information
about the processor. To ensure that you get the right CPU, ask For bonus content, subscribers can go to
the associates at your local shop to show you the processor. Pay www.cpumag.com/cpusept05/q&a

CPU / September 2005 37

 Filter Cubicle Distractions How To Concentrate In Your Cube

omputers and technology typi- in Pittsburgh are attempting to create a could measure and interpret the visual cues

C cally receive the blame for caus-

ing distractions in the workplace.
After all, people have a limited amount of
new reputation for technology as some-
thing that helps workers improve their
focus and concentration.
that humans use in normal conversations.

Reduce Distractions
attention they can devote to a particular The Attentive Office Cubicle uses soft- To make such an idea a workable re-
project. Technological interruptions don’t ware, motion-tracking hardware, liquid ality, computing systems need three eas-
seem to care about our limited attention crystals embedded in glass, and special ily defined, but not easily implemented,
spans. Each piece of technological hard- headphones to filter unwanted distrac- skill sets.
ware you add to your collection seems to tions in the workplace. It’s specifically Sensing. Before it knows whether an
bring a new type of interruption. designed for offices that resemble “cubicle interruption is OK, the system must sense
farms,” which generate a lot of audible what a person is doing. The system must
Technology That Will Help You Focus and visual distractions. be able to sense the difference between a
Researchers at Queen’s University in Eventually through this research, com- person frantically sorting papers on a desk
Ontario and at Carnegie Mellon University puters could become sociable systems that vs. relaxing and reading a newspaper.

Attentive Office Cubicles The camera uses motion-tracking software to keep tabs on the movements
of each worker at his or her desk, attempting to determine when two
workers are preparing for a conversation. By individually identifying each
A video camera mounted on worker through a unique tag connected to the noise-canceling head-
the ceiling can monitor up to phones worn on top of the head, the software can perform its task easier.
eight cubicles at one time.

When the Privacy Glass is Each segment of Privacy Glass used to separate the cubicles When the motion-tracking software detects
opaque, workers are not contains a built-in microphone, letting a co-worker knock on that two co-workers have positioned their
bothered by visual stimuli. the glass to gain the attention of a neighboring co-worker. heads to have a conversation, it tells the net-
Once the microphone picks up a knock, it turns off the noise- work to turn off the noise-canceling head-
canceling headphones and, once the co-worker turns her head phones (if this hasn’t occurred already) and
to join the conversation, makes the Privacy Glass transparent. to turn the Privacy Glass transparent, allow-
ing the two workers to converse.
Photo courtesy of Queen’s University

38 September 2005 / www.computerpoweruser.com

 Reasoning. With knowledge of the sit- could provide a muted tone for a mes- distractions, researchers hope not only to
uation available, the system then must sage that isn’t urgent and a loud audio help employees be more attentive in busy
determine whether the reason for the interruption for a vital message. office settings, but also to potentially
interruption would be more important By improving a person’s ability to per- help adults and children who suffer from
than the person’s current task. form a task with fewer distractions, attention disorders.
Communicating. Finally, the system researchers think this will be a step
must determine the best way to commu- toward letting the brain work more effi- by Kyle Schurman
nicate the message. Perhaps the system ciently. By using technology to cancel

Decrease Distractions Of Mundane Tasks

Distractions don’t only come from stray noise and a bombardment of mundane tasks. This system automates many tasks, giving employ-
audible and visual cues; employees also lose the ability to focus on ees more time to perform their jobs. The computer system alerts
idea generation because of the need to complete mundane tasks. workers to important messages, performs file searches automat-
For example, searching a hard drive for a particular file or being tied ically, and automatically identifies them when they sit down at any
to a computer terminal waiting for some information to arrive can of the dozens of workstations in an office building (giving them
limit an employee’s ability to be creative and productive with his time. flexibility in where they work). For more information on Aura,
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon are developing a project, called go to www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~aura. ▲
Aura, that will help reduce the distraction of performing such

Privacy Glass
Privacy glass consists of a liquid crystal sheet sandwiched between two
panes of glass. When the Privacy Glass is turned off, the molecules in
the liquid crystal sheet take on a random arrangement, causing them
to disperse the light waves coming through. This makes the glass
opaque or translucent.
When Privacy Glass is turned on and voltage is applied to the liquid
When they need to
crystal sheet, the molecules align themselves in the same direction, let-
make visual contact with
ting light waves pass through the glass, making the glass transparent. ▲
a co-worker, the Privacy
Source: SwitchLite
Glass turns transparent.

Each set of noise-canceling headphones also is equipped with a microphone, giving

the system another clue for determining whether a legitimate conversation is taking
place. The user can manually turn on and off the noise-canceling headphones. With
the headphones turned off, the wearer hears all sounds normally. With the head-
phones turned on, the noise around the wearer is reduced by 20dB, reducing stray
noise and audible distractions.
As an added benefit, the computer can store and run speech recognition on any
conversation that takes place, letting users pause an audio stream or listen to two
conversations at the same time. The system also can use speech recognition tech-
nology to run automatic searches using Google as the conversation takes place. ▲

When the Attentive Office Cubicle system senses that the co-workers in
neighboring cubicles are not conversing with each other, it changes the con-
figuration of the cubicle.
The cubicle glass between the co-workers changes from transparent to
opaque, reducing the visual interruptions and distractions that could be
occurring in the co-worker’s cubicle. If the system senses that noise from the
adjacent cubicle is a distraction, it uses noise-canceling headphones to
reduce interruptions.
When a co-worker is ready to interact, the cubicle senses that the conversation
and visual cues are aimed at the person in the other cubicle. It then returns the
glass between the co-workers to transparent and turns off the noise-canceling
headphones, letting normal visual and audio cues commence.
Source: Queen’s University (Kingston, Ontario)

CPU / September 2005 39

 hard hat area | white paper

Focused Audio
Brings Sound To You & Only You

mproved focus is almost always a good beginning to see products enter the con- technologies give companies the ability to

I thing. For one, when you give a project

complete mental focus, it usually means
more success. When your camera’s focus is
sumer, industrial, and military arenas.
Two companies have developed com-
peting focused audio products. The bet-
focus sound at one individual while near-
by people hear nothing.

working well, it gives you top-of-the-line ter-known product is HSS (HyperSonic HSS
photos. Additionally, the harnessing of Sound) from ATC (American Technology Norris has had a hand in inventing
focused light, laser light, has led to the cre- Corporation; www.atcsd.com) and the many devices, including playing a major
ation of several incredible technologies. mind of Elwood “Woody” Norris (see our role in development of the technology
interview with Woody in last month’s behind sonograms in the 1960s. He
Focused Audio issue of CPU on page 103). Converse- recently invented a personalized helicopter
So what about focused audio? Re- ly, Holosonic Research Labs (www.holo that Norris says could eventually become
searchers have been working on such a son ics.com) has created a product called as commonplace as ATVs. In April, Norris
technology for several years now, and we’re the Audio Spotlight sound system. Both won a $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize for

Basics Of HSS
To visualize how sound emits from a tradi- at a person or object, making it appear as
tional speaker, think about how ripples radi- though the sound is originating from the
ate from a pebble tossed into a puddle. Just place where the beam strikes first, whether
as with the pebble, the sound waves move in it’s a wall or a human’s ear.
every direction away from the traditional Because the wavelengths of the ultrasonic
speaker. With focused audio, such as HSS sound waves are very small, they can hold
(HyperSonic Sound), though, the sound their narrow beam until they strike an object
waves move in a specific direction on a nar- (in this case, a person’s ear). They then de-
row beam. Consequently, this lets the per- grade, letting the person in the path of the
son holding an HSS device aim the beam beam hear the sound. ▲

As soon as she steps a few feet away from the

beam’s focus, though, she can no longer hear
the beam’s sound because the ultrasonic
sounds are no longer striking her ear.

HSS uses a transducer instead of speaker

cones. The device is about the size and
thickness of a large dinner plate. The
transducer for HSS is a 28-micron piezo-
You can send focused electric PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride)
audio by connecting a Because this woman is in film. PVDF film is a specially treated plas-
common audio device the path of the HSS beam, tic film that produces sound vibration
to an HSS device. she can hear the sound as when exposed to an electrical field. This
clearly as if she were sound vibration, also called a flutter,
wearing headphones. creates the ultrasonic sound waves.

Sources: American Technology Corporation, USA Today

40 September 2005 / www.computerpoweruser.com

 hard hat area | white paper

his inventions, including HSS, which is around for decades, but other inventors years old. He created the Audio Spot-
highly regarded in the scientific communi- were unable to create a device that could light while working at the MIT Media
ty. Popular Science even awarded HSS its be cost effective and practical to use. Lab. Pompei later founded Holosonic to
grand prize for inventions in 2002. commercialize the idea.
Ultimately, Norris was able to succeed Holosonic Research Both Pompei and Norris have filed
with focused audio where others had Joseph Pompei started working in the dozens of patents on their ideas. Both
failed. The idea for focused audio has been audio industry for Bose when he was 16 technologies are built on the same basic

Make Focused Audio Waves Work

Focused audio devices, such as HSS, generate sound waves in a nar- Hermann von Helmholtz, a German physicist, discovered this phenome-
row beam, much like laser light. The wavelengths from ultrasonic non 150 years ago, which occurs because air is nonlinear (as shown in
sound are usually only a few millimeters, which lets them travel in a the lower-right chart). By carefully measuring the frequencies generated
narrow, focused beam. when playing two notes loudly on a pipe organ, he discovered that four
Inventor Woody Norris says he began considering the idea behind tones actually occurred.
HSS in the mid-1970s after studying the way color TV works by blending When using ultrasonic waves, the combined frequency is beyond the
red, green, and blue light to create the TV picture. He thought that by capacity of human hearing. But the frequency that’s the difference
blending two types of sound waves, he would be able to create other between the two is within the human hearing range. For example, to
kinds of sound. Knowing that ultrasonic sound waves can travel over create middle C (which has a frequency of 263Hz), you’d send two
longer distances than sound waves at lower pitches, Norris figured out a ultrasonic waves with frequencies of 200,000Hz and 200,263Hz. The
way to have two different ultrasonic waves carry information about a combined frequency would be 400,263Hz, well beyond human hearing
sound. As the waves strike a solid object, such as a person’s ear, they capabilities. But the difference in frequency would be 263Hz. Obviously,
distort by slowing and crashing into each other. This collision causes implementing the HSS technology is far more complex than this exam-
them to re-create the original sound in the air around the object. That’s ple shows, but it provides a basic idea of how HSS works. (An example
why you don’t hear anything when you step out of the beam of focused of HSS tones is shown in the lower-right chart.) ▲
audio; without anything to crash into, the ultrasonic waves continue
traveling without any degradation. That’s also why sound waves
from HSS technology could appear as if they’re coming from what-
ever they hit first, rather than the HSS speaker. Aim the HSS speaker
at a wall, and the sound will
seem to come from the wall.
When two sound waves are
created simultaneously, they Piezoelectric crystals joined to
combine to create two new fre- an acoustical interface
quencies: One that’s a difference
between the frequencies of the Hypersonic speaker
original waves, and one that’s a
combination of the frequencies.

In this example all four tones are within the human hearing range, all In this example only one of the four tones is within the
of which occur at different strengths. (Stronger tones are human hearing range.
represented by longer vertical lines.)
Sources: ATC, WoodyNorris.com

CPU / September 2005 41

 hard hat area | white paper

Focused audio devices generate . . .

principle, though, using ultrasonic waves Researchers could focus the noise from Focused audio could come through loud
to deliver sounds inside the range of a crosswalk signal that helps a blind per- and clear to help prevent accidents.
human hearing. Although development son know when to cross the street, letting When storming an enemy stronghold,
of and research on focused audio contin- the blind person know when he or she has soldiers could fool the enemy into think-
ues (some problems with the technology strayed out of the crosswalk boundaries. ing an attack was coming from one direc-
include re-creating bass tones and pre- Military. The U.S. military is experi- tion by bouncing focused audio off an
venting the waves from occasionally menting with using focused audio to object. The soldiers then could attack
bouncing off unintended objects), some disorient and disable enemies. (ATC’s from the other direction and catch the
products are becoming more mainstream. product is called HIDA [High Intensity enemy by surprise.
Directed Acoustic].) A powerful blast of Entertainment. A family riding in a car
Use Focused Audio audio waves could disorient an individual, could enjoy individual musical choices
The list of potential applications for causing him to fall to the ground and be without headphones. Focused audio
focused audio is impressive, ranging from rendered helpless, while leaving by- would give each person his or her music
convenience to safety-related to advertis- standers unharmed. Individuals who’ve choice, and no one could hear the other
ing-related. Here are a few: experienced a version of HIDA designed person’s music.
Safety. A lifeguard could use focused for the military say, even at low levels, the Museum patrons looking for an audio
audio where audio from a megaphone audio waves are extremely powerful and description of a particular exhibit could
couldn’t reach to warn a swimmer who is disarming, causing a variety of temporary stand in one spot near the exhibit and
too far from shore. The focused audio health problems including painful, immo- receive the information via focused audio.
would carry farther than audio from the bilizing headaches. Because HIDA works Other patrons who didn’t want to hear
lifeguard’s voice or from a megaphone. on the bones in your inner ear, the device the audio stream could stand a couple of
A police officer could direct commands would incapacitate even deaf people. feet away, but still in front of the exhibit,
to individual people, rather than to all On a busy, noisy deck of an aircraft and not hear any of the audio description.
bystanders, to disperse a crowd or to carrier, personnel often can’t hear instruc- For gaming, the possibilities are almost
move pedestrians more smoothly. tions or warnings from fellow soldiers. endless. Focused audio could give games

A basic speaker translates the electrical signals that a CD

How Traditional Speakers Work or other audio source creates into physical vibrations
that become sound waves. A speaker rapidly vibrates its
diaphragm (or cone) to create the sound waves. A
speaker uses many parts to vibrate the diaphragm.

Spider. A flexible ring that attaches the voice coil to the

basket, which lets the coil move back and forth.

Voice coil. A coil of wire that acts as an electromagnet.

The voice coil, in conjunction with the magnet, creates the
vibrations by constantly reversing the polar orientation of
the electromagnet. The voice coil is alternately attracted to
and repelled from the magnet, causing it to move back
and forth rapidly. The voice coil is connected to the di-
aphragm, and the coil’s movements shift the diaphragm.

Basket. The metal frame of the speaker.

Suspension. A flexible rim connected to the cone that

lets the cone move. The suspension also is attached to
Source: HowStuffWorks.com the basket.

42 September 2005 / www.computerpoweruser.com

 hard hat area | white paper

. . . sound waves in a narrow beam.

amazing realism. First-person shooters In noisy atmospheres, such as a busy little creepy, especially if you didn’t
could “hear” sounds occurring around city street, a pedestrian walking past a know the location of the device generat-
them in the proper position that corre- restaurant could clearly hear the daily spe- ing the sound. If an advertiser, or some-
lates to the game without the hassle of a cials with the focused audio dominating one else, could speak to you from a city
multispeaker setup. In multiplayer games, the stray noise. block or more away, that could be
each player could hear game sounds or At a trade show, focused audio could unnerving, especially if you didn’t know
tips personalized to his situation in the draw people into the trade show booth by who was speaking to you and why.
game without any other player hearing. overcoming the stray noise in the building Without regulations, advertisers might
At a sporting event, a coach could and giving passersby the type of informa- have the ability to bombard you with
give directions from the sidelines to tion they’re seeking. audio ads anytime, anywhere, and from
individual players without the need for any direction.
in-helmet speakers and without the Did You Hear That? If focused audio technology finds
opponent hearing. Also, a fan could As with almost any technology, in the its way into the everyday fabric of life,
heckle an opposing player and ensure wrong hands HSS and focused audio though, it definitely could change the
that only the player hears him. could be dangerous. Beyond the military ramifications of the phrase, “I’m hearing
Television viewers could hear a pro- applications we already described, there voices inside my head.” Such voices may
gram without bothering anyone else in are potential problems for everyday life. no longer mean you need psychiatric
the room, such as a sleeping spouse. Those who’ve witnessed a first-hand help; instead, they could mean Heinz is
Advertising. As a customer pauses to demonstration of HSS say it seems as asking you directly to pick up a bottle of
consider a product display in a store, a though the sound is coming from inside its new low-carb ketchup, instead of just
focused audio speaker would give the cus- their heads, even though they know the looking at the display in the store. ▲
tomer information about the product device generating the sound is 100 yards
without disturbing any other shoppers. or more away. Sound creepy? Yeah, it’s a by Kyle Schurman

Other Focused Audio Solutions

Solutions from American Technology Corporation and Holosonic Re- located directly under the dome. Brown says the sound seems as if it’s
search aren’t the only ideas for delivering focused audio. coming from headphones. ▲
Dakota Audio. Dakota Audio’s (www.dakotaaudio.com) product,
called Focused Sound (left), sends multiple sound waves from multiple
speakers to a focused point. If the listener is standing at the point where
the speakers are aimed, she will hear a resulting sound that combines all
the sound waves. Those people standing away from the focused point
will hear a far-lower sound level. To create this focal point using the
speakers alone, the speakers would need to be arranged perfectly, each
one equidistant from the desired point. Focused Sound lets you place the
speakers in any arrangement that’s convenient; the product creates
delays in the sound waves from certain speakers, letting all of the sound
waves converge at the proper time. By further controlling the delays,
Focused Sound can change the focal point or make it larger or smaller.
Brown Innovations. Brown Innovations (www.browninnovations
.com) makes use of sound domes and a product called Localizer (right)
to create focused audio. When the listener is under the dome, she hears
the full audio effect. When she steps outside the dome, though, Brown
says the audio level drops by 80%. The dome’s natural spherical surface
reflection allows Brown’s technicians to pinpoint the sound to the user

Sources: Dakota Audio, Brown Innovations

CPU / September 2005 43

 spotlight

46 September 2005 / www.computerpoweruser.com

 spotlight

Mobile Computing
Your Way, Right Away
Customize Your Road Rage

M
Your Notebook, Your Way obile computing is rapidly increasing in popularity. A few years ago, the
When Buying Pre-Built price/performance ratio of a typical notebook was far worse than most desk-
Just Won’t Cut It top machines. A $1,500 desktop machine could outperform a $2,500 note-

54
book in virtually every performance category. But times have changed.
Notebooks now feature specialized low-power processors that are every bit as
fast as desktop CPUs, and you can configure them with mobile graphics
processors that have the same feature sets as their desktop counterparts.
Gear Gone Mobile Mobile chipsets are more feature-rich, draw less power, and can support
Cool Gadgets For more RAM. Also, the 2.5-inch hard drives notebooks use are faster and avail-
The Mobile-Minded able in larger capacities, and now LCD screens are available in a multitude of

66 sizes. Perhaps best of all is that the price of all of these components has
dropped exponentially. It’s now easy to find a capable notebook for less than
$1,200 that performs on-par with a similarly configured desktop machine.
With the demand for mobile computers rising these days, so is the sup-
ply of notebooks for buyers to consider. Unlike the notebooks of yester-
year, there are now myriad options available for each model. Here we’ll
give you a comprehensive look at the current state of mobile computing
and the core components that compose a typical notebook.

Notebooks vs. Desktop Computer Sales

Notebooks Outpace Desktop Sales
35% 40% 45% 50% 55%

May 2004
May 2004 Notebooks 45.9%
Desktops 54.1%
May 2005 Notebooks 53.3%
Desktops 46.7%
May 2005

(Source: Current Analysis)

CPU / September 2005 47

 spotlight

Mobile CPU Showdown high-end Pentium M processors. These DTR notebooks are large
and heavy and don’t offer much in terms of battery life, but they
irtually all of today’s notebooks are powered by processors built
V by Intel, AMD, or Transmeta. In the same way AMD and Intel
duke it out in the desktop space, they constantly try to one up each
are high-performance products. Many DTR notebooks are just as
powerful as similarly configured full-sized machines, and you could
even use them as a desktop replacement.
other in the mobile space, as well. Transmeta’s processors, however, At the other end of the spectrum, AMD’s Mobile Sempron and
have been relegated to low-power niche products, such as OQO’s Intel’s Celeron M processors hold the majority of the value main-
Model 1, and aren’t as ubiquitous as Intel’s or AMD’s products. stream and a portion of the mainstream thin-and-light market.
Both Intel and AMD have multiple specialized processor lines Both the Mobile Sempron and Celeron M processors share much
available for mobile platforms, and each company’s desktop of the same architecture as their higher-powered counterparts,
processors are used in some DTR notebooks, as well. But just as the but they tend to have lower clock speeds, slower buses, or less
mobile space has been divided into desktop replacement, perfor- L2 cache. Yet, the recent influx of inexpensive notebooks is
mance thin, mainstream thin-and-light, and value mainstream seg- due in part to the widespread availability of the Mobile Semp-
ments, so has the type of processor each segment uses. ron and Celeron M processors. As of press time, Compaq/HP,
In the DTR space, the Athlon 64 and Pentium 4 are the most Dell, Gateway, and others have sub-$750 notebooks available,
widely used processors, with a portion of the market belonging to and they’re all powered by Mobile Sempron or Celeron M

Mobile Processors AMD, conversely, has Turion 64, Mobile code-named Yonah. Yonah will be built
Before we begin, let’s clear up some of Athlon 64, and Mobile Sempron. Also, upon an advanced 65nm process and fea-
the confusion surrounding Intel’s Centrino both company’s desktop processors are ture one piece of silicon with two execu-
mobile technology. Centrino is not a used in some DTR (desktop replacement) tion cores. Microarchitectural changes on
processor. A notebook that features Intel’s and performance notebooks. Mobile Yonah include an advanced thermal man-
Centrino mobile technology is equipped processors perform the same functions as ager, dynamic power coordination for
with a combination of a Pentium M desktop CPUs, but they feature power- power conservation between the two
processor, a related chipset, and an Intel saving technologies designed to lower cores, and Intel Smart Cache for enhanc-
802.11 wireless network controller. So, power consumption and thermal output ing cache and bus performance for multi-
while maintaining good tasking and multithreaded applications.
overall system performance.
Mobile Chipsets
Intel’s processors feature
SpeedStep technology that Depending on the processor powering
adjusts clock speed based on the system, today’s notebooks use several
load. AMD’s processors fea- mobile chipsets. AMD doesn’t make its
ture PowerNow and Cool’n’ own mobile chipsets, but works with
Quiet technology, which act
in a similar manner. Both
company’s mobile proces-
sors also require less voltage
than desktop chips to oper-
ate at their designated fre-
quencies, which further
Pentium M processors based on the 90nm reduces power consumption.
Dothan are a key component of Intel’s Intel and AMD also have dual-core
Centrino mobile platform. mobile processors planned, but details are
scarce. AMD’s desktop dual-core Athlon
when you see a Centrino laptop, it’s pow- 64 X2 processors will probably show up
ered by a Pentium M processor. in some DTR notebooks soon, but we
Intel has three processor families haven’t heard anything definitive yet. Intel has an entire line of low-power mobile
designed for mobile use: Pentium M, Intel, however, has released some details chipsets available, each designed for a
Celeron M, and Mobile Pentium 4. about its first dual-core mobile processor, specific target market.

48 September 2005 / www.computerpoweruser.com

 spotlight

processors. Thus, users who favor value and battery life over Dothan-based Pentium M processors, are revered for their high
system performance should look to these processors for their performance per watt and excellent battery life.
mobile computing needs. AMD’s relatively new Turion 64 processors are designed to do bat-
Battling it out in the mainstream market is Intel’s Pentium M tle with Intel’s Pentium M processors and offer similar performance
and AMD’s new Turion 64 processor. Also, depending on their levels per watt. Turion 64 processors are essentially low-power ver-
clock speeds, you can find these processors in DTR and value sions of the 754-pin Athlon 64 and, as such, they offer many of the
notebooks, as well. The original Pentium M processors, based on same benefits, such as HyperTransport technology and the ability to
the 130nm Banias core, were released in 2003. They were well- run 32- and 64-bit applications, when using the appropriate OS.
received because of their low power requirements and relatively Pentium M and Turion 64 processors are ideal for mobile plat-
high performance. Since then, Intel has released updated forms because they feature technologies specifically designed for
Pentium M processors (based on the 90nm Dothan core) with mobile use. For example, they require less voltage than most desk-
higher bus speeds and double the amount of L2 cache (1MB). top processors, and you can dynamically adjust their clock speeds
Intel has also released new mobile chipsets, the Mobile 9xx based on load and disable portions of the chip when not in use. The
family, that support emerging technologies, such as PCI-E, aggregate affect of these technologies is a processor that generates
DDR2 memory, and high-definition audio. Notebooks pow- less heat, requires less power, and runs for a longer period of time
ered by Intel’s newer chipsets, such as the Mobile 915PM and on a single battery charge. ▲

partners such as ATI, NVIDIA, SiS, and of Intel’s Centrino mobile technology. It higher-performing option. Also, discrete
VIA, among others. The mobile chipsets offers support for high-definition audio, mobile GPUs predominately feature their
AMD-powered notebooks use are essen- up to 2GB of DDR2 memory, and PCI own frame buffer memory and interface
tially the same as their desktop counter- Express. The older Intel 8xx chipset family with the system via AGP or PCI-E. Both
parts, but they have been tweaked for is also a part of Intel’s Centrino mobile NVIDIA and ATI have a whole line of
low-power operation. technology, but the Mobile 8xx chipset discrete mobile GPUs available, targeting
Intel, though, has a stranglehold on the supports DDR1 memory and has an AGP different market segments.
mobile chipsets its Pentium M and 4X interface to provide support for dis-
Mobile Pentium 4 processors use. Intel crete graphics solutions. Portable Pixels
currently has two main mobile chipset There are four things to consider with
families: Mobile 9xx and 8xx chipsets. The Graphics On The Go regards to a notebook’s screen: size, aspect
Mobile Intel 9xx chipset is a component As you may expect, the mobile graphics ratio, resolution, and type (reflective or
space is dominated by ATI, nonreflective). The notebook’s form fac-
NVIDIA, and Intel. Notebook tor usually determines the size and aspect
users don’t have the same
kind of freedom when con-
figuring a notebook’s graph-
ics processor, however.
There are basically two op-
tions available: IGPs (Inte-
grated Graphics Processors)
or discrete GPUs. IGPs are
graphics processors integrat-
ed into a motherboard’s
core logic chipset. They are
a low-power, relatively low-
performing option. IGPs
typically share system mem-
ory and feature either small
NVIDIA’s MXM (Mobile PCI Express Modules) or no discrete frame buffers.
could usher in an era of widespread Discrete mobile GPUs function much Notebook LCD screens are available in a
user-upgradeable mobile graphics cards. like their desktop counterparts and are the multitude of sizes and aspect ratios.

CPU / September 2005 49

 spotlight

Accelerator 900 (PCI-E) integrated into the chipset. These GPUs have
Graphics Battle Royal limited 3D functionality when compared to NVIDIA’s and ATI’s solu-
s a CPU reader, you’re probably aware of the perpetual battle
A between NVIDIA and ATI for dominance in the desktop graph-
ics arena. There’s a significant third party, however, pushing myriad
tions, but they’re well-suited to 2D operations or video playback.
Competing with Intel at the low end are ATI’s entire line of
Mobility Radeon IGPs (AGP) and their Radeon Xpress 200M chipsets
pixels in the mobile space: Intel. However, Intel’s presence in the (PCI-E) for Intel and AMD processors. ATI’s Mobility Radeon
mobile graphics field is felt more in the mid- and low-range mar- 7500/9000/9200 discrete AGP GPUs also compete at the low end,
kets. Both NVIDIA and ATI have various mobile graphics processors alongside its Mobility Radeon X300 with HyperMemory (PCI-E).
available, targeted at different groups of customers. But Intel has Additionally, NVIDIA offers the GeForce4 440 Go and GeForce FX
only a few options that are integrated into its mobile chipsets. Go 5200 for low-priced and thin-and-light AGP notebooks and also
Because we’re now transitioning between AGP and PCI-E, there has the new GeForce 6200 with TurboCache available for similar
are many options available in mobile graphics. There are AGP and PCI-E notebooks. These discrete AGP graphics processors all have
PCI-E IGPs, numerous discrete AGP GPUs, and multiple discrete PCI- varying amounts of frame buffer memory, while the low-end PCI-E
E GPUs, as well. At the low end, Intel’s Mobile 8xx and mobile 9xx parts from NVIDIA and ATI use limited amounts of discrete graphics
chipsets with a “G” designation in their model numbers have either memory in conjunction with proprietary technologies, TurboCache
Intel’s Extreme Graphics 2 (AGP) or Intel’s Graphics Media and HyperMemory, to dynamically share system memory.

ratio. The aspect ratio refers to the ratio installing them on a desktop
of width to height of a display. Some machine. To offer more band-
newer notebooks feature LCD screens width, newer mobile chipsets
with an aspect ratio of 16:10, as opposed will function in dual-channel
to the standard CRT and LCD ratio of mode when the user installs a pair of
4:3. These widescreen notebook LCDs memory modules. And, as is the case
usually have WXGA (1,280 x 800), with any PC, more RAM is better. We
WXGA+ (1,440 x 900), WSXGA+ recommend a minimum of 512MB, but
(1,680 x 1,050), or WUXGA (1,920 x 1GB is preferable.
1,200) resolutions, depending on their
size. Traditional 4:3 aspect LCDs are typ- Networking
ically available at XGA (1,024 x 768), Mobile PCs are equipped with the
SXGA+ (1,400 x 1,050), or UXGA Most portable computers use 2.5-inch hard same type of network controllers found
(1,600 x 1,200) resolutions. drives, which are one inch smaller than drives in today’s desktop machines. Most note-
Some newer notebooks also have in most full-sized systems. books ship with some form of wired
high-glare screens that feature wider Ethernet, and the majority of notebooks
viewing angles and more vivid color out- notebooks require different form factors. sold today incorporate a wireless LAN
put. Dell calls these screens UltraSharp, Notebook hard drives are typically 2.5
and HP/Compaq calls them BrightView, inches, as opposed to the 3.5-inch drives in
but they’re all fundamentally similar. desktop CPUs. Also, notebook hard drives
High-glare screens feature a special coat- are available in several capacities and their
ing that increases the contrast of the performance is generally determined by
image on display. They are beneficial for their spindle speed. Value and mainstream
users who view movies on their note- notebooks mostly use 4,200rpm, 2.5-inch
books or need a wider viewing angle, but hard drives and performance thin and
they’re susceptible to glare and aren’t DTR notebooks use 5,400rpm and
well-suited for outdoor environments. 7,200rpm drives. The faster the spindle
speed, the faster the drive.
RAM & Storage
Notebook memory is also available in
Notebooks and desktop machines are multiple speed grades and densities. 95% of all mobile PCs sold in 2006 will be
bound by the same rules when it comes Installing DDR and DDR2 SODIMMs equipped with a wireless network adapter.
to their memory and storage; however, in notebooks is essentially the same as (Source: IDC)

50 September 2005 / www.computerpoweruser.com

 spotlight

For mainstream multimedia and performance thin notebooks, that falls somewhere between the desktop GeForce 6800 and
NVIDIA and ATI have a handful of mobile GPUs in their respective GeForce 6800 Ultra in terms of performance. On the other hand,
lineups. ATI currently offers the Mobility Radeon 9600/9700/9800 ATI’s Mobility Radeon X800 XT is a full 16-pipeline part that’s equiv-
for midrange, performance-oriented AGP notebooks, while NVIDIA alent to the desktop version of the Radeon X800 XT. Both the
has the GeForce FX Go 5700. For PCI-E notebooks in the same mar- GeForce Go 6800 Ultra and the Mobility Radeon X800 XT feature
ket, ATI has the Mobile Radeon X600 and X700. NVIDIA offers its discrete GDDR3 memory and performance that meets or exceeds
GeForce Go 6400 with TurboCache and GeForce Go 6600. With many high-end desktop graphics cards.
these products, both NVIDIA and ATI offer mobile GPUs that have All of the graphics processors we’ve mentioned have things in
all of the same 3D and video-related features as their desktop common. All incorporate architectural features designed to lower
equivalents. 3D performance isn’t always on par with their desktop their power requirements. NVIDIA calls these features Power-
counterparts, due to clock speed differences and varied frame Mizer, and ATI calls them PowerPlay. These technologies aren’t
buffer configurations, but these midrange GPUs are some of the implemented exactly the same in each company’s GPUs, but they
first to offer acceptable gaming performance on notebooks. are similar. Both technologies let the GPUs dynamically down-
At the high end, it’s all about performance. Currently at the high clock and disable unused portions of the chip when the graphics
end is NVIDIA’s GeForce Go 6800 Ultra and ATI’s Mobility Radeon workload is light and disable PCI-E lanes when full bandwidth
X800 XT. The GeForce Go 6800 Ultra is a PCI-E 12-pipeline DX9 GPU isn’t needed. ▲

controller, as well. A notebook’s wired Form Factor & Weight

Ethernet controller functions like Perhaps the most important things to
a desktop CPU’s and is consider when shopping for a note-
capable of the same speeds, book are its form factor and
depending on the type weight. Power users are usually
of controller. influenced most by perfor-
Only two years ago, about mance, but road warriors
80% of all notebooks sold did usually don’t mind sacri-
not include any type of wireless ficing a few features and
network capabilities, but now, some performance for a
less than 5% lack Wi-Fi, accord- notebook that’s easy to trans-
ing to an In-Stat/MDR report port. DTR notebooks are great for
(“The Wi-Fi Field of Dreams: If power users who travel infrequently, but
You Embed Wi-Fi, Infrastructure anyone who travels with one of these
will Come”). Today the majority of behemoths can attest to the discomfort
wireless LAN controllers incorporated associated with carrying around a 12-
Higher-capacity batteries let
into laptops offer 802.11b/g functional- pound notebook. Performance thin
you use your notebook for longer
ity. Although, some newer controllers notebooks are a good compromise for
periods of time between charges.
are capable of 802.11a/b/g. Offering a those who want a relatively high-per-
maximum of 11Mbps of bandwidth, forming machine but need to carry it
802.11b is the oldest and least desirable around frequently. Many performance
of the bunch. On the other hand, number of cells and the battery’s Wh thin notebooks are less than 1.5 inches
802.11a and 802.11g offer more band- (watt hour) rating. The number of cells thick and weigh less than eight pounds,
width, up to 54Mbps, and 802.11g is that make up the battery determine how but they tend to have large screens that
backward compatible with 802.11b net- long it can power a notebook on a single make them bulky.
works (802.11a is not). charge. The number and type of cells Mainstream thin-and-light notebooks,
used also determine the Wh rating of the however, are designed for constant
The Power Plants battery. One watt hour of electricity is mobility. They usually have smaller
When configuring a notebook, many equal to one watt of power being con- screens, are about one inch (or less) thick,
companies offer several batteries to suit sumed for one hour. The higher the Wh and weigh less than 6.5 pounds. Main-
the needs of potential buyers. Two aspects rating, the longer a battery can power a stream thin-and-light notebooks pack
to consider when buying a battery are the notebook before recharge. lower-clocked processors and mid- to

CPU / September 2005 51

 spotlight

Stay Connected Similarly, 802.11a products also offer up to 54Mbps of bandwidth,

but they transmit and receive data in a higher frequency band and
wning a notebook and being mobile certainly has its advan-
O tages. Desktop machines may be more powerful and expand-
able, but they’re stationary. You can take a notebook virtually
have a shorter range. When unobstructed, 802.11a devices have an
effective range of about 200 feet and are less susceptible to RF inter-
ference. In the end, the majority of wireless-enabled notebooks
anywhere, and accessing all of your files while traveling is convenient. today are equipped with 802.11a/b/g LAN controllers.
However, being mobile does have a huge disadvantage that may frus- So, if you need a connection to the Web, but you don’t have
trate road warriors; you might not be able to connect to the Web with access to any wired networks, searching for a Wi-Fi hotspot is your
your notebook when you’re in an unfamiliar locale. But the key to best bet. Many businesses around the world offer Wi-Fi for a nomi-
staying connected almost anywhere is to take advantage of all of the nal fee. There are, however, numerous free hotspots throughout
technologies incorporated into your notebook, such as Wi-Fi, Blue- the United States. Before traveling, we suggest consulting a Wi-Fi
tooth, wired Ethernet, and maybe even that ancient 56K modem. hotspot directory online, which will list available hotspots by city.
When traveling it’s best to be prepared to get connected by any There’s also a new Wi-Fi standard on the horizon, 802.11n. In
means necessary (as long as it’s legal). That means packing an early 2004, the IEEE announced that it planned to develop a new
Ethernet cable, phone cable, and adapters for the various types of amendment to the 802.11 standard for a new breed of wireless
phone jacks around the world and ensuring that you’ve got a func- networks. These new networks are proposed to have theoretical
tional wireless LAN controller. If your notebook and cell have peak data throughput rates of at least 100Mbps. In addition,
Bluetooth, it may also be a good idea to see if your wireless service 802.11n is expected to offer increased range over its predeces-
provider offers Internet services. Having an Ethernet and phone sors. One of the ways 802.11n improves upon previous 802.11
cable on hand is self explanatory; you can’t connect to either a LAN standards is by including MIMO technology. MIMO adds extra
or phone jack without them. Using your notebook’s Wi-Fi connec- transmitter and receiver antennas that help increase data
tion isn’t always that simple, though. throughput and range via spatial multiplexing.
Wi-Fi is the term used to describe the 802.11a/b/g wireless LAN WiMAX is another emerging technology that should eventually
standards. The most common types of Wi-Fi equipment use the help users stay connected everywhere. WiMAX will purportedly offer
802.11b and 802.11g standards. These devices transmit and receive wireless coverage measured in square kilometers, rather than the
data using the 2.4GHz frequency band. Some wireless LAN devices square meters that current Wi-Fi technology offers. When available,
use the 802.11a standard, which broadcasts at 5GHz, but they aren’t a WiMAX base station will transmit high-speed Internet connections
quite as common. Users first widely adopted 802.11b devices, which in a radius of up to 31 miles. The goal is to have these base stations
offer up to 11Mbps of total bandwidth and have an effective range in major cities to provide Web access to entire metropolitan areas.
of about 300 feet when unobstructed. In turn, 802.11g products are WiMAX is still a ways off, however, but its future is bright. AT&T,
similar to 802.11b products; however, through the use of a higher- Sprint, and Qwest, among many others, are already planning to test
speed extension, they offer up to 54Mbps of total bandwidth. WiMAX in major markets across the United States. ▲

With its GeForce Go 6800 Ultra and fast and feature smaller, much harder to come by. Only a hand-
Pentium M processor, the Dell XPS Gen2 low-resolution screens. ful of companies offer Linux as an op-
is one of the most powerful gaming tion on their notebooks; however, many
notebooks currently available. Operating Systems of the popular distros incorporate dri-
Notebooks run the vers for the most common pieces of
same OSes as desktop machines. The hardware used in today’s notebooks.
various flavors of Windows XP are pre-
installed on the majority of notebooks
sold today, but Linux is a viable option, Your Turn
as well. WinXP Home is usually prein- Seeing that we’ve gone over some aspects
stalled on value or mainstream note- of mobile computing and the core compo-
books for personal use. WinXP Pro, nents of a typical notebook, you can now
low-end GPUs, but their relatively small though, is often preinstalled on busi- build your very own notebook. Check out
size and light weight make them well- ness-class or performance notebooks. our article (“Your Notebook, Your Way”)
suited to frequent travelers. Then there And, the relatively new breed of multi- starting on page 54 for more information
are the ultraportables. Ultraportables, as media notebooks that are equipped with on how to build your own notebook. Also,
the name implies, are much smaller than newer GPUs, TV tuners, and high-defi- you can find a notebook roundup on pages
any other type of notebook. Some can nition audio have begun shipping with 63 to 64 and some cool mobile gear start-
even fit in the palm of your hand. How- Windows Media Center Edition. Linux ing on page 65 (“Gear Gone Mobile”). ▲
ever, to keep size and weight to a mini- is perfectly suited for mobile use, due to
mum, they usually lack optical drives its lower hardware requirements, but it’s by Marco Chiappetta

52 September 2005 / www.computerpoweruser.com

 spotlight

Great Moments In Mobile Computing

April 1981 The world’s first portable computer,

the Osborne 1, is released.

January 1983 The first color portable PC is announced,

the Commodore SX-64.

1985 ATI is founded.

September 1989 Apple releases the 17-pound Mac Portable.

October 1990 AMD releases the Am286 ZX and LX

microprocessors for low-power,
portable computers. The 24.5-pound Osborne 1 had a
4MHz processor, 64K of RAM, and a
1990 Intel announces the low-power built-in five-inch monitor.
80386SL processor.

1993 NVIDIA is founded.

1995 Transmeta is founded.

November 1998 The ATI Rage Mobility M is released for

high-performance notebooks.

Q1 2002 AMD begins shipping mobile

Athlon XP processors.

March 2003 Intel launches the Centrino mobile

platform and releases the first
Pentium M processors.

September 2003 The AMD Athlon 64 is launched for

desktop replacement notebooks.

January 2004 AMD begins shipping Mobile

Athlon 64 processors.

May 2004 Intel ships new Pentium M

processors based on the Dothan core.

October 2004 The OQO Model 1 ultraportable

computer is released.

February 2005 NVIDIA announces the availability of the

GeForce Go 6800 Ultra.

March 2005 The low-power AMD Turion 64

platform is launched.
The OQO Model 1 sports a 1GHz
June 2005 ATI announces plans to release processor and 256MB of RAM, yet
the 16-pipeline Mobility Radeon X800 XT. it’s only 0.9 x 4.9 x 3.4 inches
(HxWxD) and weighs 14 ounces.
Q4 2006 Intel set to release the dual-core
Yonah mobile processor.

CPU / September 2005 53

 spotlight

54 September 2005 / www.computerpoweruser.com

 spotlight

How To Build Your

Own Notebook PC
When Buying Pre-Built Just Won’t Cut It

I
f you want something done and throw in a warranty to
right, you have to do it your- boot? Is a home-brewed
self. Not that there’s anything solution any cheaper than
wrong with the world’s most a name-brand laptop? Will it
prolific notebook manufactur- be any faster? Will it give
ers, but power users are noto- you a clearer pathway for
riously fickle, and it can be upgrading later on should
difficult to configure a model graphics or processor tech-
to your ideal performance, nology advance?
price, and personality specifi- In the past, building a
cations. Although specialty gaming PC, graphics work-
builders will sell you a dolled- station, or entry-level server
up chassis for several thou- was a sure way to save plenty
sand dollars, good looks alone of money. That’s more of an
don’t make a dream machine. exception than a rule on the
Why not piece together desktop, but notebooks are
your own Mecca of mobili- Ready, doctor? The first step in your operation is to remove still packing sizable premi-
ty? It isn’t as hard as you two screws holding the hard drive cover in place. Set them aside ums. Take the Toshiba
might think. In fact, the and pull back the plastic cover. Qosmio G25, a multimedia
transition to Intel’s second- powerhouse that wields a
generation Centrino platform makes a DIY project easier than 2GHz Pentium M, 1GB of memory, a 17-inch widescreen dis-
ever with new standards such as PCI Express and Serial ATA. play, NVIDIA’s GeForce Go 6600 with 128MB of RAM, twin
That’s not to say you can custom-create an ultra-powerful desk- 60GB hard drives, and a dual-layer DVD burner. Impressive in
top replacement with the processor and graphics card of your its own right (though hardly rivaling anything you’d gawk on a
choice. There’s a lot of finesse involved in getting delicate elec- gaming desktop), Toshiba charges about $3,000 for the G25.
tronic components properly optimized for power consumption Bear in mind that you can get an Athlon 64 X2 and a pair of
and heat output. But with a little research, you should have no GeForce 7800 GTX cards with twice the hard drive space and a
trouble handpicking the parts for your next notebook. decent motherboard for less.
On the contrary, an ASUS Z71V notebook chassis costs a lit-
A Case For DIY tle more than $800. It includes a gorgeous 15.4-inch widescreen
Why even bother playing system builder when numerous LCD supporting resolutions up to 1,680 x 1,050, the same
top-tier firms are more than happy to do the job for you GeForce Go 6600 add-in PCI-E adapter, an integrated 56Kbps

CPU / September 2005 55

 spotlight

Components & Price Price Location

ASUS Z71V Chassis $760 www.pcconnection.com
otebook components aren’t as blatantly plentiful as the stuff
N you drop into your desktop system. Thus, we did some of
the research for you. From here out compiling prices and Web 2GHz Pentium M
$830 w/ CD burner
$449
www.rjtech.com
www.zipzoomfly.com
$470 www.pcuniverse.com
sites should be a piece of cake. By the way, we also verified that
each vendor listed here is on the up and up with a solid 1GB (512MB x2) OCZ $115 www.newegg.com
DDR2-533 SO-DIMM $120 www.tigerdirect.com
Resellerratings.com score of eight or higher.
If none of our suggestions interest you, there are numerous 100GB Seagate $173 www.newegg.com
alternative configurations. ASUS’ Z81K accommodates a Socket Momentus 5400 RPM
754 Athlon 64, Sempron, or Turion processor through NVIDIA’s Toshiba SD-R6472 $95 www.newegg.com
nForce3 Go150 chipset. Because it’s an AGP platform, ATI’s dual-layer DVD burner $99 www.mwave.com
Mobility Radeon 9700 is the best graphics adapter you can get Intel 2200BG $28 www.buy.com
with the Z81K. The 3.3-pound Z33A is also solid alternative, sup- wireless module $30 www.cdw.com
porting any current 400 or 533MHz Pentium M processor, DDR2 WinXP Pro OEM $145 www.newegg.com
memory, and the integrated graphics core inherent to Intel’s
915GM chipset. The Z33A features a built-in CD writer with DVD- you’re looking for a highly mobile solution and don’t mind sacrificing
read capabilities, hi-def audio, and carbon fiber-alloy construction. If the discrete 3D controller, the Z33A is truly sweet. ▲

Pull the empty drive bay modem, Gigabit Ethernet, five USB 2.0
out, mount the drive in ports, a card reader, and a bundled battery
the bay, and screw it in purportedly worth six hours of run time. A
using four included 2GHz boxed Pentium M 760 will set you
screws. The holes on back $450, while 1GB (2 x 512MB of
2.5-inch drives are all DDR2-533) of memory costs $115. In the
underneath the drives. interest of conserving battery life, opt for a
single 100GB hard drive rather than two
repositories. The $175 you’ll pay is admit-
tedly steep compared to desktop storage,
but it’s plenty for most laptops. The grand
total comes to $1,540—well below the
Toshiba’s price and with roughly similar
specs. You could even add $100 for a
Toshiba dual-layer DVD burner and $150
for an OEM copy of Windows XP Pro-
fessional. The final price is still $1,000 less
than the pre-built notebook.
So there’s a clear financial justification
for building a notebook from the com-
fort of your living room. Does that mean
Once you’ve attached you will consequentially sacrifice quality
the appropriate in the name of saving a few bucks?
interface connector Absolutely not. In fact, the ASUS Z71V
(either IDE or SATA), is known for its sturdy build-quality and
slide the mounted drive compelling design. It’s one of the many
back into the chassis foundations on which value-added
rear-end first, lining it resellers use to build their own notebook
up with the mother- brands. It has to be strong enough to
board connector. Press compete with a Dell or Compaq, or else
down softly to snap the small market of whitebook resellers
them together. would disappear entirely.

56 September 2005 / www.computerpoweruser.com

 spotlight

Reaffix the one screw that secures the hard drive The first memory slot is located under the Press the three tabs holding the top of the
mounting tray and get ready to install some keyboard. Before you can remove it, though, keyboard in place. Slowly slide it up toward the
memory. See, that’s not so hard, is it? you’ll need to remove two screws on the LCD, taking care not to overextend the connected
chassis underside that are labeled with a K. plastic cable. Fold the keyboard back to reveal
memory slot number one.

Companies manufacturing notebook Voila. This area eluded

shells used to refrain from promoting us for a whole week
them, similar to the apprehensive approach before an ASUS rep
first applied to K7 boards when AMD clued us in. Plug in
launched its Athlon. Now companies such your first module at a
as Arima, ASUS, Foxconn, and Uniwill 30-degree angle and
actively advertise mobile platforms. They push down until both
are still principally intended for small latches snap into place.
resellers with an opportunity to outmaneu- Button it all back up and
ver sluggish OEMs. Even a majority of the flip the notebook over.
online outfits selling bare chassis offer
build services for a nominal fee.
The longstanding conception is that
notebooks are somehow more difficult to
assemble than PCs. As increased visibility
of platforms and parts illustrates, howev-
er, power users are frequently setting their
apprehensions aside and learning as they
go. Fortunately, heightened attention to
detail is paving the way for better note-
book designs, which of course are much
easier to work around.

Starting From Scratch

In the desktop PC world, a blank slate is
an aluminum or steel case and a pile of
parts on the floor. Each piece has its own
instruction manual, driver package, and Nine screws line the
logical interface. No matter who you buy second plastic cover.
from, boards, cards, and modules are Remove them all and lift
designed to work in concert. The note- the cover, cauterizing if
book world isn’t completely standardized, necessary (just kidding).

CPU / September 2005 57

Other documents randomly have
different content
 Which was true, since on the forward end of the house was a
board bearing the inscription in startlingly large letters:

FOR SALE!
INQUIRE WITHIN
OR WITHOUT
“What’s it mean by ‘without’?” asked Harry.
“Without any money,” Chub suggested.
“I suppose,” said Dick, “it means that if the owner isn’t inside he’s
up there on top.”
“He should have said ‘Inquire above or below,’ then,” said Roy.
“Let’s change it for him,” Chub proposed genially. But Roy glanced
at the dog and shook his head.
“There’s no sense in carrying philanthropy too far,” he answered.
“We’ll let him make his own changes.”
“I wish we could see inside of it,” said Dick. “Do you suppose he’s
in there? We might say we wanted to purchase and would like to
look it over first.”
“That’s so,” said Chub. “We could tell him we were particular about
the drains. I wonder how much land goes with it?”
“Just what’s in the flower-boxes, I suppose,” answered Roy.
“Let’s call out and see if he’s at home,” whispered Harry.
“All right; you shout,” Roy said. But Harry told him it wasn’t a
lady’s place to shout.
“I guess if he was at home,” remarked Dick, “he’d been out here
five minutes ago to see what the trouble was; Snip’s been making
enough racket to wake the dead.”
“Who do you suppose he is?” wondered Harry. “And how long do
you suppose he’s going to stay here?”
 “I think,” said Chub, “that he’s a traveling salesman for a paint
factory, and this is his color card. I think I’ll go in and order a gallon
of that old-shrimp pink.”
“I think it’s painted very prettily,” murmured Harry.
“Ought to have a touch of blue, though,” said Dick.
“And orange,” Chub added. “There ought to be more variety; it’s
too—too somber as it is.” The others laughed; all save Harry. She
had advanced across the rock until she had only to take a step to
reach the deck of the house-boat. The setter didn’t move an inch,
but he kept his eyes on her very intently.
“How do you do, Mr. Red Setter?” inquired Harry affably. The red
setter flapped his tail once or twice, feebly but good-naturedly. “Will
you kindly tell us where your master is?” For reply the dog arose,
stretched himself luxuriously, and walked dignifiedly to the edge of
the deck. Harry had no fear of any dog that ever was born, and so
she reached forward and patted the setter’s head. He responded by
wagging his tail in a leisurely and friendly manner and looking up
into her face with a pair of very intelligent brown eyes.
“Isn’t he a dear?” cried Harry.
“He’s a rascal, that’s what he is,” laughed Chub. “Here he had us
all scared stiff and he’s just an amiable old Towser, after all!” And
Chub started across the rock to join Harry. But he thought better of
it, for the setter turned his head toward him and growled warningly,
the hair along his back standing on end.
“Well, of all the rank partiality!” cried Chub, rejoining Dick and
Roy, who were laughing at his discomfiture.
“He knows I love dogs, don’t you, you old dear?” murmured Harry.
“I love dogs myself, don’t I?” asked Chub offendedly. “Why doesn’t
he know that?”
“It’s your face, Chub,” said Roy. “He has only to look at that to see
that you’re a suspicious character. He’s a very intelligent animal, isn’t
he, Dick?”
“Oh, I don’t know; ’most anybody could size Chub up after a
glance at him. Well, if we can’t see any more, suppose we go on
about our business and come back later on when the chap’s at
home? I’d sure like to get a look inside, fellows.”
“Oh, so would I!” cried Harry. “Do you suppose that he’d invite us
in if he was here?”
“No,” replied Chub, somewhat disgustedly, eying the setter in
disfavor. “I’ll bet he’s a regular old bear! A man that’ll have a dog
with as suspicious a disposition as that one isn’t going to invite us in
to see his old boat.”
“A Daniel come to judgment!” exclaimed a deep voice behind
them.

“‘A Daniel come to judgment!’”

Snip, who had ceased barking for very weariness, broke out again
frantically as the boys turned startledly about. At the edge of the
wood, a few yards away, stood a big, brown-bearded man viewing
them solemnly with his legs apart and his hands thrust into the
pockets of a pair of yellow corduroy trousers. I say yellow because
they were possibly a little more yellow than they were anything else,
but there were many other colors to be found on those trousers;
spots of red and blue and green, splashes of brown and white and
black, and smears of all the variants possible. Even in his surprise
and embarrassment Chub remembered his guess that the owner of
the Jolly Roger was a paint salesman, and silently congratulated
himself on his acumen.
I have said that the man was big, but that doesn’t begin to convey
an idea of the impression received by Roy and Dick, Chub and Harry,
as they turned and found him there. At first glance he seemed to
them the biggest man outside of a museum. He was tall, well above
six feet, and more than correspondingly broad, with huge muscles
that indicated great strength. He was wonderfully good looking, with
a long, straight nose, wide, brown eyes, a heavy head of wavy
brown hair and a thick brown beard trimmed to a point. He
suggested strength, health, sanity, and kindness. And after the first
instant even his intense solemnity of countenance didn’t deceive the
campers. For there was a half-hidden twinkle in the brown eyes. The
red setter began to bark joyfully and so for a moment the dogs had
everything their own way. Then:
“Be quiet, Jack,” commanded the man, and the setter dropped
obediently to the deck and restricted his manifestations of delight to
a frantic wagging of his tail. Snip was not so easily controlled, but
Dick grabbed him up and muzzled him with his hand.
“Well, here’s the bear,” said the man, still regarding them
solemnly. “A big brown bear ready to eat you up. Aren’t you
frightened?”
“No,” said Harry, “not a bit! That was just some of Chub’s
nonsense. He didn’t mean anything.”
“You’re sure?” asked the man anxiously. He had a splendid deep
voice that made one almost love him at once.
 “Yes, quite sure,” laughed Harry.
“I am relieved,” said the man soberly. He took his hands from his
pockets and came toward them with long, easy steps which showed
that, in spite of his size, he was far more graceful than many a
smaller man. “So you’d like to see inside the bear’s den, would you?”
he asked. “Well, come along then, ladies and gentlemen; this way to
the grand salon.”
They followed him on to the boat, Harry, Dick, Roy, and Chub,
Chub still looking a trifle abashed and keeping to the rear. Their
guide led them along the side of the house to the space at the rear,
threw open a door and bowed them in. They found themselves in a
little room about ten feet square. The sunlight streamed through the
two windows on the island side and cast a golden glow over the
apartment. It was furnished with a table, which still held the remains
of a meal, two chairs, a large easel holding a clean canvas, a high
stand bearing a huge paint-box, brushes, knives, and tubes, and a
green bench. There was a cupboard built against the wall in one
corner, a pile of canvases under the table and a few pictures
between the windows.
“This is the workroom,” explained the host. “Not lavishly furnished,
you see.”
No one answered. What they were all wondering was, how on
earth the man managed to move around in that tiny room without
upsetting the easel or the table! Perhaps he surmised their thoughts,
for:
“Rather a small den for a big bear, isn’t it?” he laughed, showing a
set of big white teeth through his beard.
“It’s very nice,” murmured Harry. “Do you make pictures?”
“Yes, I’m a painter,” he answered, as he opened another door.
“Told you he was!” whispered Chub to Roy, and received a
scathing glance in reply.
 Out of the living-room was a tiny kitchen with an oil-stove,
cupboards for dishes and food, a sink, and, in short, all the
requirements for housekeeping. Harry went into raptures over the
place, and the boys agreed that it was “just about all right.” On the
other side of the kitchen, or the “galley,” as their host termed it, was
a small engine-room with a twenty horse-power gasolene engine.
That interested Dick, and he had to know all about it before he
would consent to go on. The man explained smilingly, obligingly.
“It’s a fairish engine, I guess,” he said, “but I’m free to confess
that I don’t understand it and never shall. Engines and machinery
are beyond me. I start it going and if it wants to it keeps on. If it
doesn’t want to it stops. And I stay there until it gets ready to go
again. It’s stopped now, as it happens. That’s why I’m here.”
From the engine-room he conducted them on deck and then
through a door near the bow. Here was a narrow entry crossing the
boat, opening on one side into a bedroom and on the other into a
sitting-room. The bedroom was simply and comfortably furnished
and had a real brass bedstead in it. The sitting-room was very cozy
and inviting, and was the largest room of all. There were two
windows on each side and one looking over the bow. A queer
circular iron stairway popped straight upward to the pilot-house
above. There was a window-seat along the front containing some
comfortable leather cushions—the sort a fellow isn’t afraid of soiling
—a table in the center, three comfortable chairs, a bookcase half full
of volumes and holding a bowl of geraniums, a talking-machine
which pointed its horn threateningly toward the front window as
though ready to be fired at any moment, and, to Harry’s delighted
approval, a big, gray Angora cat asleep on the window-seat.
“Isn’t he a perfect beauty,” cried Harry, falling on her knees beside
him. “Oh, I never felt such long, silky hair! Dick, maybe you’d better
put Snip outside. You know he sometimes chases cats that he isn’t
acquainted with.”
Dick, who still held the excited Snip in his arms, turned toward the
door but his host stopped him.
 “Put him down, put him down,” he said. “Let him get acquainted
with my family. The cat won’t hurt him, and if he wants to tackle the
cat—well, I believe in letting folks fight their own battles. It’s good
for them. Beastie, observe the fox-terrier. Behave yourself, now. You,
too, Jack.”
Snip was set at liberty. Approaching Beastie cautiously he gave
one experimental bark. Beastie only blinked at him. Whereupon Snip
paid no more attention to the cat, but proceeded to make friends
with the red setter.
“I don’t use this room much,” said their host as they sat down at
his invitation, “so I fancy it doesn’t look very well. I’m a poor
housekeeper. Well, boys, what do you think of the bear’s den?”
“It’s just swell!” answered Chub earnestly. “I shouldn’t think you’d
want to sell it, sir.”
“No,” murmured Roy and Dick.
“Had it four years,” said the painter, “and been all around in it.
Besides, it’s too big for comfort. Two rooms are all I need. So I’ll sell
when I get a chance. But I’ve been trying to get rid of the thing for
over a year and haven’t done it yet.”
“Wish I could buy it,” said Dick seriously. “I suppose, though, it
would be worth a lot of money, sir?”
“Not a bit of it, my boy! You can have it to-morrow for a thousand
dollars. It cost me just short of three, engine and all. But I’ll sell it
cheap. It’s in the best of condition, too; nothing run down—except
the engine.” He chuckled. “Or I’ll take the engine out and you can
have the boat for fifteen hundred! Want to buy?”
Dick shook his head ruefully. “I’d like to,” he said, “but I guess I
couldn’t find that much money right now.”
“Well, when you do you let me know and maybe the boat will still
be waiting for you. Cole’s my name, Forbes Cole, and ‘New York City’
will reach me any time. You see, I began to lose interest in this boat
when I’d worked out the last combination in color on her. How do
you like the way she’s painted now?”
“Very nice,” answered Dick, after an appreciable pause.
Mr. Cole burst into a bellow of deep laughter.
“Don’t care for it, eh? Well, you should have seen her two years
ago; she was worth while then. I had her in Roman stripes.
Beginning at the water line, she was blue, white, orange, cerise,
purple, and pale green; stripes about six inches broad. Well, she
attracted a lot of attention that summer. Folks thought I was crazy.”
And he chuckled enjoyably, his brown eyes twinkling. “Then, the
year before, I had the hull all bright green and the house burnt-
orange. But I didn’t care much for that myself; it was a bit too plain.”
The boys laughed.
“Are you going to stay here long?” asked Roy politely.
“Ask the engine,” replied the artist, “ask the engine. I give her a
few turns every morning. If she starts, why, I go on; if she doesn’t I
stay. It’s simple enough. Saves me the bother of deciding, too. But
I’ve never stopped just here before, and it looks as though I might
find some paintable bits around. Where am I, by the way? Is this a
private island I’m hitched to? Any law against trespassing?”
“It’s Fox Island,” answered Roy, “and it belongs to Doctor Emery,
Miss Harriet Emery’s father.” He nodded toward Harry. “He is
principal of Ferry Hill School which is just across there on the hill. I
don’t believe he would mind your staying here as long as you—as
long as your engine likes.”
“Do you boys go to school there?”
“Yes, that is, Chub and I have just graduated and Dick has
another year of it. We three are camping out here, and Harry comes
over every day. It’s pretty good fun.”
“Yes, but it would be more fun in a boat like this,” said Dick. “I’m
going to have one some day, you bet!”
 “So’m I,” said Harry, lifting her face from where it had been buried
in Beastie’s silken coat. “And I’m going to travel all around in it,
Japan, Greece, Africa, Venice, Holland—everywhere!”
Mr. Cole laughed again until Chub wondered why the windows
didn’t fall out.
“Bless me,” said the artist, “you’re adventurous for a young lady,
Miss—er—Emery! I’ll have to sell the Roger to you.”
“Roy says,” remarked Chub, “that you ought to have your sign
read: ‘Inquire above or below.’ We wanted to change it for you,” he
added audaciously, “only we didn’t like the look of the dog.”
“‘Above or below,’ eh? Ho, that’s not bad, boys, that’s not bad! I’ll
do it, I’ll change it myself. ‘Above or below,’ eh? Yes, yes, that’s a
splendid idea. Folks will think I’m dead, maybe.”
“Roy meant,” began Harry anxiously, “that—”
“Don’t tell me,” interrupted Mr. Cole. “It might spoil it. Now,
where’s this camp of yours, boys?”
Roy explained and told him that they would like very much to have
him come and see them.
“Of course I’ll come,” answered the artist heartily. “And you come
and see me, any time. If I’m at work, why, here’s some books and
there’s the ready-made music.” He pointed to the talking-machine.
“You can’t disturb me, so come around whenever you like while I’m
here. And we’ll have a dinner-party some time, maybe, when I get
some provisions in.”
They made their adieus, their host accompanying them to land
and shaking them each by the hand with a pressure that made them
gasp. Jack, too, followed, wagging his tail in friendly farewell, and
Beastie stood at the doorway and blinked benevolently.
“You needn’t be afraid of Jack the next time,” said Mr. Cole. “He
knows you now. Good-by, good-by. Come again. The bear’s den is
always open, and if I’m not here make yourselves at home.” He
waved one big brown hand in farewell as they passed around the
point.

Harry

“Isn’t he jolly?” exclaimed Dick when they were out of his hearing.
“Bully,” said Dick.
“He’s all right,” added Chub. “Nothing stuck-up about him. I knew
an artist chap at home once and he was a chump. Always talking
about when he studied in Rome. I asked him once if he meant
Rome, Georgia, and he got all het up about it.”
 They went back to camp by way of Point Harriet and Billy Noon’s
camping place, but, as usual, Billy wasn’t at home.
“If people keep on coming here,” said Roy, “we’ll have a regular
village pretty soon. Already the population has increased fifty per
cent. That’s pretty near the record, I guess.”
“We ought to establish a form of government,” said Chub. “I’ll be
mayor.”
“You’re too modest,” replied Roy. “You ought to try and fight
against it, Chub.”
“It’s no use,” Chub sighed. “I was born that way. Lots of folks have
spoken about it.”
“Well, I don’t care who’s mayor,” said Dick, “if I can be chief of
police.”
When they got back to camp Dick remarked casually: “This would
be a dandy afternoon to do a little painting, wouldn’t it?”
“Yes, and it would be a dandy afternoon to do no painting at all,”
answered Chub. “Let’s go out in the launch and bum around up and
down the river. Let’s go over to Coleville and make faces at
Hammond. By the way, I wonder if Mr. Cole comes from Coleville.”
Dick finally allowed himself to be persuaded that it would do them
more good to take a sail than to paint, and so they all four piled into
the Pup and, as Chub put it, went barking around for an hour or
more, Harry serenely happy at being allowed to take the wheel and
steer, Snip fast asleep in her lap. Harry reverted to the subject of the
birthday party that they were to give her and begged them not to
forget to invite the Licensed Poet.
“We won’t,” said Chub. “And, say, why not ask the Floating Artist,
too?”
“That’ll be lovely!” cried Harry, laughingly. “A Licensed Poet and a
Floating Artist for supper!”
 “That’s all right,” answered Dick, “but I’d rather have a Broiled
Beefsteak.”
“I have an idea,” remarked Chub, “that the Licensed Poet won’t be
able to accept.”
“Why?” demanded Harry anxiously.
“I think he’s going to be busy Thursday night.”
“Doing what?”
“Well, I don’t know just what,” answered Chub mysteriously, “but
something.”
And although they tried their best to make him explain he only
shook his head and frowned darkly at the passing shore.
 CHAPTER XVI
A MEETING OF FRIENDS

I t turned off quite cool that evening toward sunset, a stiff breeze
blowing up the river, snapping the flag at the top of the pole and
sending the smoke from the stove swirling away in sudden gusts.
They lighted the camp-fire early and, although the “dining-room”
was sometimes invaded by choking gray fumes that made them
cough and set their eyes to smarting, the warmth was grateful.
Scarcely had the things been cleared up when there came a mighty
hail from Inner Beach:
“Hello, the camp!”
They answered, and the big form of the Floating Artist, as Chub
insisted on calling him, arose into sight over the bank, looking bigger
than ever against the golden haze of sunset. Jack was with him,
trotting demurely at his heels. Of course Snip was thrown into a fit
of terrible excitement and had to dance around and bark wildly for
the ensuing minute. But at last order was restored in camp, Snip
silenced, Mr. Cole installed on an empty box that creaked loudly
whenever he moved, and Jack was lying at Harry’s side with his
head in her lap.
“Well, you’re pretty comfortably settled here,” said Mr. Cole. “And I
suppose you’re having a grand time.”
“Yes, sir,” answered Roy, “we’ve had a good deal of fun so far.”
“Got a launch, too, I see; and a rowboat and a canoe. Quite a
navy at your command.”
“The launch belongs to Dick,” said Chub. “The canoe is mine and
the skiff belongs to the school. The launch is named the Pup.”
 “The Pup?” laughed their guest. “How’d you happen to think of
that?” Dick explained and the artist was vastly amused.
“Well,” he said, “if I followed your method my boat would be
called the Great Silence, I guess.”
“Won’t the engine go yet?” asked Dick solicitously.
“Oh, I haven’t tried it since morning. I don’t like to hurry it. I
think, though, that I’ll stay here a day or so. I’ve found some nice
bits that I’d like to try my hand at.”
“Do you paint landscapes?” asked Harry.
“Mostly, yes; figures now and then. Landscape is my line, but I’d
rather do figures; I guess it’s human nature to always want to do
something you can’t. And that reminds me,” he turned to Harry, “you
look like an amiable young lady. Suppose, now, you should sit for me
a little while to-morrow. What do you say? It won’t be difficult, you
know. Just sit kind of still for—hem—an hour. I’d be awfully much
obliged, really.”
“Sit for you?” stammered Harry. “Do you mean that you want to
paint me!”
“Exactly. Sounds a bit alarming, does it?”
“N-no,” answered Harry, “only—”
“I know,” laughed the artist. “You haven’t anything to wear. Isn’t
that it?” Harry’s silence gave assent.
“Well, now, I’d like you to wear just what you’ve got on.” He
paused and eyed her critically. “Never mind a hat. I want that
glorious hair of yours, Miss Emery. And—let me see—if you have a
bit of blue ribbon at home you might just tie it around your waist.
What do you say, now? Yes, I hope.”
Harry was much too delighted to speak, but the others mistook
the emotion.
“Oh, go ahead, Harry,” said Roy. “I’d like to see a picture of you.”
 “Sure,” chimed in Chub. “And maybe if it’s awfully good we’ll buy it
for the camp.”
“There’ll be refreshments in case you get hungry,” said the artist
smilingly. “Let me see, what do young ladies like? Candy, of course,
and—hum—pickled limes and gingerbread.”
Harry giggled nervously.
“I don’t like pickled limes,” she said.
“All the better, for I haven’t any. How about gingerbread?”
Harry shook her head.
“No? Then it will have to be candy. I can manage that, I guess.
It’s all settled, then, is it?”
“If you want me,” answered Harry shyly.
“Of course I do! And what time, now? Morning? Afternoon?
Morning would be better for me; the light’s clearer. What do you say
to ten to-morrow forenoon, Miss Emery?”
Harry nodded.
“Very well, and thank you. I’ll expect you then at ten o’clock. If
you like you may bring one of these young gentlemen with you, but
we don’t want a crowd, do we?”
“I guess I’d rather not have any one, if it doesn’t matter,”
answered Harry.
“Isn’t she tight?” cried Chub. “She’s afraid we’ll get some of the
candy! If she backs down, Mr. Cole, I’ll sit for you any time.”
“Ho, ho!” laughed the artist. “You like candy, too, do you? Well,
there’ll be enough for all. The rest of you can happen around when
the sitting’s over.”
There was a noise in the woods and Billy Noon appeared and
joined the circle around the fire. As he came into the light the artist
exclaimed:
 “Well, well! Where’d you come from, Noon?”
Chub turned in time to see Billy press a finger swiftly against his
lips.
“Eh?” said Mr. Cole. “Oh, yes—er—well, I didn’t expect to come
across you up here on this desert island.” The two shook hands, as
Billy replied:
“Guess I didn’t expect to see you, sir. In your boat, are you?”
“Yes, in the old Jolly Roger.”
 “Chub turned in time to see Billy press a finger swiftly against his
lips”

“I see,” said Billy as he found a seat. “You’ve changed her name

and her paint, haven’t you?”
“Oh, plenty of times since you saw her last,” was the reply. “Let’s
see, she was the Ark, then, wasn’t she?”
“No, sir, the Greased Lightning.”
“To be sure, so she was. That was when she was ultramarine and
sulphur yellow: Well, she’s had many names since then, and many
colors. You ought to have seen her when she was Joseph’s Coat; she
was striped then with six colors and very effective. At one place I
stopped they wanted to arrest me for disturbing the peace.” And the
artist laid back his head and laughed uproariously in his deep voice.
“I saw her lying at the island this morning,” said Billy, “and I
thought that she looked something like your boat, but the difference
in the name and the painting misled me.”
“Naturally, although you ought to be able to penetrate a disguise,
Noon. I mean that you ought to have remembered her graceful
lines. I was telling these chaps this afternoon that I wanted to get
rid of her now, for I’ve tried about every combination of colors I can
think of, and I’m running out of names as well.”
“How would the Keep Mum do for a name?” asked Billy carelessly.
“Eh? Oh, well, it might,” answered the artist thoughtfully, eying
Billy across the firelight. “By the way, what are you doing now?”
“I’ve got a bit of a boat with a sail in it, and I’m going down the
river in the interests of Billings’s ‘Wonders of the Deep,’” answered
Billy. The artist chuckled.
“Let’s see,” he said, “the last time I saw you you were buying old
furniture, weren’t you? Ever do any of that sort of thing now?”
“I’m doing a little on the side,” was the reply. “Had a pleasant
summer, Mr. Cole?”
 “So far, yes, although I’ve been pretty lazy. But then, I generally
am lazy. Miss Emery here has just consented to pose for me to-
morrow. I’ve got a little sketch in mind that ought to turn out well.”
He half closed his eyes, cocked his head on one side and studied
Harry for a moment, a proceeding which brought the color into her
cheeks and caused Chub to grin maliciously. Billy asked the boys
what they had been doing to-day and they gave him a history of
events. Harry reminded Roy in a whisper that they were to invite the
Poet and the Artist to supper Thursday, and Roy promptly issued the
invitations. To Chub’s surprise Billy accepted at once, as did the
artist.
“It’s some time, though,” the latter added, “since I’ve attended a
birthday celebration, and I don’t know whether I’ll behave myself.”
“We’ll risk that,” laughed Dick. “It won’t be very much of an affair,
sir; just some supper here in camp, you know. Harry’s going to hold
her real celebration at home in the afternoon.”
“I see. Well, now, look here, boys! I don’t want to upset any
plans, but the fact is that I was thinking about having you all on
board the Roger some evening while I’m here. And as I don’t
suppose I’ll remain here more than two or three days, why can’t we
lump the thing and hold the celebration on the boat? You bring your
things and I’ll supply the rest, and we can do the cooking in my
galley. Now, what do you say?”
The boys hesitated, but Harry clapped her hands in delighted
approval.
“That would be dandy!” she cried. “Let’s do that, Dick! Do you
mind?”
“No, I think it would be very nice,” answered Dick. And so it was
arranged that on Thursday afternoon Dick was to bring their share
of the feast to the Jolly Roger, and as chef, was to take charge of
the preparation of the feast. Presently Mr. Cole rose to leave.
“By the way, Noon,” he said, “you’re a sort of Jack-of-all-trades.
Know anything about gasolene engines?”
 “He knows all about them, sir,” answered Dick.
“Does, eh? Well, then supposing you walk back to the boat with
me and look over mine, Noon? It hasn’t been acting quite fair lately.
I don’t mind its stopping now and then for a day or so, but it’s been
overdoing it recently; it’s been imposing on me.”
So the Floating Artist and the Licensed Poet took their departure,
followed by Jack. When they were gone Harry turned to the boys.
“Why do you suppose he wants to paint me?” she cried
breathlessly.
“Well,” answered Roy judicially, “you know you’re not half bad
looking, Harry.”
“Pshaw!” exclaimed Chub. “It’s a case of love at first sight. He just
wants an excuse to see her. Oh, look at Harry’s blushes, fellows!”
“I’m not blushing!” cried Harry, with a stamp of her foot.
“Oh, of course not,” answered Chub, “it’s just the light from the
fire!”
“You’re terribly fickle, though,” teased Dick. “A few days ago it was
the Licensed Poet, and now—”
“Harry’s a patron of the arts,” laughed Roy. “She won’t look at us
pretty soon.”
“I,” declared Chub, “shall learn to sculp.”
“Learn what?” asked Roy.
“Learn to sculp; to be a sculptor, you ninny. That’s an art, isn’t it?”
“Not the way you’d do it,” answered Roy unkindly. “It would be a
crime. Say, I thought you said Billy wouldn’t accept for Thursday.”
“I didn’t say he wouldn’t accept,” Chub replied. “I said I didn’t
think he’d be able to.”
“Well, what’s the difference?” asked Dick jeeringly.
 “If you don’t know I shan’t tell you,” answered Chub with intense
dignity. “Come on and get the canoe, Roy. This young artist’s model
must go home and get her beauty-sleep.”
Harry, who for several minutes had been sitting chin in hand
staring into the fire, roused herself.
“I think,” she remarked dreamily, half to herself, “that I’ll wear the
gold brooch Aunt Harriet gave me for Christmas.”
When they were getting ready for bed Dick said suddenly:
“I’d like to know who the dickens this Billy Noon is! Where do you
suppose the painter chap got to know him?”
“Oh, that’s easy,” yawned Chub. “It was when Billy was with the
circus. Mr. Cole was the elephant.”
 CHAPTER XVII
HARRY SITS FOR HER PICTURE

W hen Harry reached the Jolly Roger the next forenoon Jack
arose from his place on the sunny deck and walked forward to
meet her, wagging his tail in cordial welcome. As she spoke to him
Mr. Cole heard her voice and put his head out of one of the studio
windows.
“Good morning,” he said. “Come aboard. I’m just getting my
things ready.”
From the stern of the boat she saw that the little cedar tender was
floating in the water at the end of its painter and that the oars which
lay across the seats were still wet. Evidently the artist had been out
rowing.
“I’m going to ask you to sit up top,” said Mr. Cole, emerging from
the studio with an easel tucked under one arm and a paint-box in his
hand. “It’ll be cooler there, I guess, and the light’s better than down
here.” He led the way up the steps and Harry followed. “Now just
make yourself comfortable for a moment, please. You’ll find that big
rocker fairly easy, and there are some magazines on the table. I’ll be
back in a minute.”
He swung himself down the steps in two strides, and Harry heard
him singing to himself in his mellow bass as he moved about
underneath. Obediently she picked up a magazine from the willow
table and perched herself in the big green rocker, but it was far more
interesting to look around her than to study the pages of the
magazine. It was so pretty up here. The bright rugs underfoot
echoed the colors of the blossoms in the boxes around the edge.
The faded awning overhead filtered the ardent sunlight to a soft,
mellow glow. Framed by the flowers and the fluttering scallops of
the canopy was a picture of blue water aglint in the sunlight, a
purple-shadowed shore and a green hill arising to the fleece-flecked
sky. It promised to be a very warm day, but as yet the morning
breeze still stole up the river. The door of the little pilot-house was
open and Harry could see the steering-wheel with its brass hub and
rim, a little shelf of folded charts and several gleaming brass
switches and pulls which she supposed connected with the engine-
room. At that moment the artist climbed the stairs again, a clean
creamy-white canvas and a bunch of brushes in one hand and a
white box in the other. He handed the box to Harry.
“I pay in advance, you see,” he said smilingly.
“Oh,” said Harry in concern, as she opened the box and glanced at
the name on the lid, “you had to go ’way down to the Cove for this!
You oughtn’t to have done that, Mr. Cole!”
“What? Why, it’s no more than a mile, I’m sure; just a nice after-
breakfast row. I enjoyed it, really. But I’m afraid the candy isn’t very
good. However, you probably know what to expect; you doubtless
know all about Silver Cove confectionery.”
As he talked he set up his easel at one side of the deck, got out
his palette and began to squeeze wonderful blots of color on to it.
“It’s very nice candy,” answered Harry earnestly. “Won’t—won’t
you have some?”
Mr. Cole glanced at his hands, the fingers of which were already
stained with paint, and hesitated. Then:
“Suppose you feed me a piece,” he said. He came over to her and
leaned down with his mouth open.
“What do you like,” laughed Harry.
“Oh, something with nuts in it, I guess,” he replied.
“Well, I think there’s a nut in this, but I’m not sure.” She popped a
chocolate into the open mouth and watched anxiously while he bit
into it. After a moment of suspense he nodded his head vigorously.
“Right,” he said, returning to his palette. “That was a good guess.
Do you know, I think they ought to mark the pieces that have nuts
in them so we could tell, don’t you?”
Harry said she thought that was a very good plan, the while she
cuddled the big four-pound box to her and munched happily at a
nougat. It was very interesting to see the paint come squirming out
of the tubes. Each succeeding tube was a new surprise. She
wondered why he needed so many, many colors to paint her since
she was all in white save for the tan shoes and stockings and the
dainty blue ribbon at her waist. Then, as a flash of orange vermilion
joined the other mounds of color, she wondered in consternation
whether that was for her hair! Presently the palette was set, the
canvas on the easel and all in readiness. Then the artist stood up
and looked at his model. Harry began to feel nervous. Maybe she
wasn’t as pret—well, as nice looking this morning! Maybe he was
disappointed in her! Oh, he was, for he was frowning!
“My dear child,” he said, “what have you done to your hair?”
“N-nothing,” faltered Harry. “At least, I just put it up in a different
way. Mama thought it would look nicer. She says I always have my
hair so untidy. So I—I made it neat. Don’t you like it?”
“Yes, indeed,” he answered heartily, “it looks very nice that way,
but for my purpose the other way was the better. You know, artists
are strange persons with unaccountable tastes. I don’t suppose you
could rearrange it, could you, as you wore it yesterday?”
“Oh, yes, I can; that is, I could if I had another ribbon. I guess
you wouldn’t have one, would you?”
“What kind of a ribbon?” he asked.
“Oh, just any old ribbon would do; just to tie around the end, you
know.”
“Well, now you run down and skirmish around. Maybe you’ll find
something. How would a ribbon off one of the curtains in the sitting-
room do? They’re white, but that wouldn’t matter to me.”
So Harry disappeared for a few minutes, and when she returned
her beautiful coronet was gone and her hair was once more down
her back in two shimmering red-gold braids.
“That’s more like it,” said Mr. Cole. “Now, if you’ll just sit here in
this chair. That’s it. Could you turn your head a little more toward
the side? Just make believe that you are very much interested in
something that’s going on across the river. That’s it! Fine! Just hold it
that way for a few minutes; not too stiff, or you’ll tire the muscles.
Now the hands—there, just folded loosely in the lap. That’s
stunning! Hm!” He backed away toward his easel, observing her
through half-closed eyes. “Now you must forgive me if I’m not very
entertaining, for I’m liable to forget my duties as host when I get at
work. But you might talk to me, if you like, and tell me about
yourself. I suppose you have a pretty good time living at a big boys’
school as you do?”
His voice trailed off into a murmur and Harry could hear the soft
sound of the charcoal on the canvas, although, as her head was
turned away, she could not see the rapid, deft strokes of his hand. It
wasn’t hard for Harry to talk, and here was a fine opportunity. So
she made the most of it for some little time, the artist throwing in an
occasional word or question which, if not always especially apropos,
encouraged the sitter to continue. But finally Harry noticed that the
replies had ceased and so she allowed the one-sided conversation to
lapse. She was getting rather tired of looking at the shore, across
the dazzling river, and her neck was beginning to feel stiff; also her
hands simply wouldn’t keep still in her lap. Unconsciously she
emitted a deep sigh and the man at the easel heard it, looked up
quickly, smiled, and:
 Harry sitting for her portrait

“Rest, please,” he said. “Walk around a minute and have some

more candy.”
“Could I see it?” asked Harry as she obeyed. But the artist shook
his head.
“There’s nothing to see yet,” he replied. “You’d be disappointed
and perhaps throw up your job or demand higher wages. Wait until
the sitting’s over.”
 As he talked and as Harry strolled around the deck, not forgetting
to return at frequent intervals to the box on the table, he worked on
at the canvas, shooting little glances at her and painting rapidly.
“I’m rested now,” said Harry presently. “Shall I sit down again?”
“Please, and take the same position. That’s it, only please lean the
body a little further back. Thank you. Just a little while longer now.”
Then silence fell over the Jolly Roger again, broken by the
movements of the painter or the lazy stirring of Jack on the deck
below. The sun crept upward and the heat grew. After all, reflected
Harry, it wasn’t such good fun, this sitting for your picture! She knew
she would have a headache pretty soon if he didn’t let her go. She
wished Roy and Dick and Chub would come, as they had promised,
and set her free. She closed her tired eyes against the blur of the
sunlit water, but:
“The eyes, please, Miss Emery,” said the artist. “Thank you.”
Another period of silence, and then:
“There!” said Mr. Cole. “That’ll do for this time. Would you like to
see it now?”
Harry stared at the canvas in bewilderment. The picture wasn’t at
all as she had expected to find it. There she sat in a green willow
chair, to be sure, and there was the river beyond and the shore
beyond that, but the green chair had turned very dark, the river was
a radiant, magical blue and the woods on the shore were just a lot
of broad blue-green brush-strokes. As for herself—well, it wasn’t
finished yet, as the painter reminded her, but if she looked anything
like the girl on the canvas she would be happy for ever and ever!
And if her hair was anywhere near as beautiful as that golden-red
mass she would never be dissatisfied with it again as long as she
lived! Mr. Cole watched her amusedly as she stood in rapt
contemplation of the picture with the color heightening in her soft
cheeks. Perhaps he guessed her thoughts, for:
 “I’m afraid I haven’t done full justice to my subject,” he said, “but
the next sitting will remedy that somewhat. The detail comes later,
you know. You’re not disappointed, I trust?”
“Disappointed!” breathed Harry. “I think it’s beautiful! Only—only
—” she paused, “I suppose artists are like photographers, aren’t
they? I mean that they sort of change things to suit themselves?”
“Change things? Oh, yes, sometimes; that is, we idealize things.
What are you thinking of, the water?”
“Yes, and—”
“I deepened it a few shades. It throws out the figure, you see.
Observe how the white gown stands out against it.”
“Ye-es,” said Harry, “and I daresay you have to flatter folks too,
don’t you? Idealize them, I mean.”
“Sometimes, but not on this occasion,” replied the artist smilingly.
Harry gave a gasp.
“Do you mean,” she cried, turning to him with wide eyes, “that I
really look like that?”
“Well, as near as I could do it, young lady, I put you into that
picture just as you are. I hope I haven’t made you vain?”
But Harry was looking raptly at the picture again. Presently:
“Yes, I guess it’s me,” she sighed, coming out of her trance, “for
there’s my horrid little snub nose!”
“A very interesting nose,” replied the artist. “Not classic, perhaps,
but human. And put there, I fancy, for a good purpose.”
“What?” asked Harry.
“To keep you from getting over-vain,” was the response. “Ah, here
come your squires.”
The Pup came chugging alongside and Dick gave a hail. Harry and
Mr. Cole went to the railing.
 “Come aboard,” cried the artist. “Hitch your steed and come up,
and let’s have your judgment on the picture.”
A moment later they were all clustered about the canvas, emitting
various exclamations of admiration. It was Chub who finally summed
up the sentiments of the three in one terse sentence.
“It’s a James Dandy!” he said emphatically.
“Do you think—it looks much like me?” asked Harry with elaborate
carelessness. Chub grinned at her.
“Well, it’s got your nose,” he answered.
Harry’s mouth drooped until Roy cut in with an indignant: “Don’t
you mind him, Harry. It’s a bully likeness. I’d know it anywhere!”
“So would I,” said Dick. “Chub’s just teasing.” And Chub owned up
that he was.
“Say, don’t you love the colors, though?” asked Roy eagerly. “Why,
that blue looks good enough to eat!” He turned toward the artist
with a new respect. “I guess you’re a cracker-jack, sir.”
“Oh, you’re all too flattering,” laughed Mr. Cole. “You’ll never make
art critics of yourselves unless you restrain your enthusiasm. I will
acknowledge, though, that I’ve been rather successful with this; it’s
one of the best figure studies I’ve ever done; and much of my
success has been due to my subject who proved quite a model
model, if I may use such an expression.”
Harry smiled shyly and recollecting the candy, passed it around.
“Me, I don’t care for any,” said Chub as he scooped up a handful.
Then they sat down and had a nice cozy talk up there on the roof-
deck, and ate candy to their hearts’—or rather their stomachs’—
content. Presently Chub asked:
“Wasn’t it funny, Mr. Cole, that you should meet Billy Noon here?”
“Why, yes, it was,” was the answer. “Still, Noon’s the sort of a chap
that you’re likely to come across in strange places and when you
least expect to.”
“Have you known him long?” asked Chub in politely conversational
tones. The artist suppressed a smile.
“For several years,” he replied.
“He seems to have tried all sorts of trades,” continued Chub,
nothing daunted. “He says he’s been a dentist, a clown in a circus, a
sleight-of-hand performer, a ventriloquist, a—a—”
“Book agent,” prompted Dick.
“Engineer,” supplied Roy.
“Yes,” Chub went on, “and a poet.”
“Indeed,” laughed the artist, “I’d never heard of that. How did you
find that out?”
So Chub told him about the missing bread and butter and the
verses substituted, about the fish and the poem written on birch
bark, and so worked around to Billy’s experience with the Great
Indian Chief Medicine Company.
“Well, he’s tried his hand at lots of things,” said Mr. Cole, “and
strangely enough he does everything well. I haven’t any doubt but
that if I could persuade Noon to take the Roger to sell for me he’d
find a buyer inside of a week.”
“Couldn’t you?” asked Dick. The artist shook his head.
“I’m afraid not,” he answered. “He’s a pretty busy person.”
“But I should think it would pay him better than selling books,”
Chub insisted. Mr. Cole smiled mysteriously.
“Noon’s book-selling is a bigger thing than you think,” he replied.
 CHAPTER XVIII
THE STORM

“C hub!
“Chub!!
“CHU-U-UB!!!”
“Eh?” asked Chub drowsily.
“Get up; it’s after eight o’clock,” said Roy.
“Pull the bedclothes off of him,” counseled a voice outside the tent
which Chub, just dropping back to slumber, recognized as belonging
to Dick.
“Can’t,” Roy answered. “He’s kicked them on to the floor. Chub,
you lazy duffer, get up! Do you hear? We’re eating breakfast.”
“Then it’s too late,” murmured Chub serenely. “Call me before
lunch.”
“He won’t get up, Dick,” announced Roy. “You’d better come.”
“No!” yelled the tardy one, jumping as though a yellow-jacket had
wandered into bed with him. “I’m up, Dick, honest! Ain’t I, Roy?”
“You’re half up,” was the answer. “I want to see you all up before I
leave.”
“All right.” Chub stretched his arms above his head, yawned and
stumbled to his feet. “What time did you say it was?”
“About ten minutes after eight.”
“Phew! Don’t it get late early? I did sleep, didn’t I? Go ahead and
eat, Roy, I’ll be out in two shakes of a lamb’s tail. My, but I’m sleepy!
Say, what time was it when we got to bed last night, anyway?”
“A little after eleven.”
“Is that all? I thought it must have been about one. These parties
are very unsettling affairs. Say, but wasn’t Billy funny with his
imitations?”
“He surely was,” answered Roy, smiling reminiscently. “We had a
lot of fun, didn’t we?”
“Well, rather! And can’t that Floating Artist sing, what? Say, if I
had a voice like that I’d never do a lick of work!”
“I haven’t noticed that you are killing yourself with labor,”
answered Roy as he moved toward the door of the tent. Chub
reached for a shoe, but Roy was gone before he got his hand on it.
So he sat down again on the side of his bunk and thought of some
of the funny things that Billy Noon had said last evening and grinned
and chuckled all to himself until a little breeze came frolicking in
through the door bringing a fragrant aroma of coffee. Then Chub
came back to earth and tumbled feverishly into his clothes.
Harry was to sit again for the Floating Artist at ten o’clock and so
was not coming over to the camp for breakfast. Besides, as to-
morrow was Thursday, Harry had much to do in regard to her
birthday party at the Cottage, and Fox Island was not likely to see
much of her before Thursday evening at seven, at which hour the
celebration on board the Jolly Roger was to commence. After
breakfast Dick made a bee-line for his paint-pots and brushes, and it
took all Chub’s and Roy’s diplomacy to restrain him from going to
work again on the Pup.
“Honest, Dick,” said Chub, “there’s too much to do to-day and to-
morrow for us to start messing with paint. Wait until after Harry’s
birthday, like a good chap.”
“What is there to do to-day?” demanded Dick.
“Why,” answered Chub, “we—er—why, we’ve got to go to the Cove
to buy provisions for one thing, and—”
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