Going Black

Even after my December post, I've decided to rebuild an old DIY computer as my next gaming system. At present I use an 18 month old DELL Inspiron 530 with Intel C2D E6550 2.33Ghz and 3Gb PC5300 memory. I want a noticeable performance improvement going up into the 3Ghz CPU range plus overclocking capabilities.

Also, though quad core processors are the high end CPU of today, I've sold a few Intel C2Q Q6600 and Q8200-based systems for gaming and I've never been totally impressed with the response times, even though more modern games are multiprocessor compatible. As always, cost is an issue, and needs to be kept as low as possible. Obvious candidates were Intel C2D E8400 and Q8X00, Q9X00 and Core i7 together with the new AMD Phenom II X4 CPUs. However I've decided on the triple core AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition for the following reasons:

• a modern true 2.8Ghz multicore processor
• 45nm fabrication leading to lower power (95W) and temperatures
• unlocked multiplier; easier to overclock without stressing memory and graphics
• the AM3 socket format giving an upgrade path to DDR3 memory
• that extra core processor
• the under £120 low price

I've also bought an MSI K9A2 Neo-F AM2+ motherboard for £60. This is an ATX format, compatible with the Phenom II CPUs and offering four DDR2 memory slots and no integrated graphics. This gives me RAM configuration flexibility as well as RAID storage and I will be transferring my XFX overclocked nVidia 9600GSO graphics card.

This will all be assembled into my very large, metallic purple Cheiftec case with existing quality PSU, DVD drives and a new WD 500Gb SATA2 hard disk drive. This presently houses an AMD Duron 1.8Ghz CPU and Abit NF7 motherboard.

I'm looking forward to receiving my new CPU and motherboard later this week. I'll let you know how I get on with them.

Is there hope for DELL with AMD?

A few years ago AMD broke the Intel CPU monopoly at DELL Computers which allowed their Opteron and Athlon processors to be offered into a wide range of DELL desktops, laptops and servers. At that time AMD Opterons ruled the server processor world, whilst their Athlon X2 CPUs seemed to offer an early dual core processor capability to the desktop market. For a while I was selling affordable DELL Dimension desktops and later Inspiron laptops with AMD processors.

Then the Intel Core 2 Duo processor was released and quickly became the market leader for performance and then 'bang for the buck' systems. The DELL AMD-based models disappeared until now all that remains is a business Optiplex desktop retained for continuity reasons and a minitower PowerEdge file and print server that struggles in a rapidly disappearing market.

Now it is all change again as AMD released the Phenom X4 II processors that are price competitive with Intel's quad core models. The recent price cuts by Intel and then quickly following those from AMD show that for the first time there is a real competitive situation again. Recent comparative reviews reflect this. So where does that leave DELL? Does the old agreement remain in place and if so, will DELL start announcing new AMD CPU-based models?

Finished Far Cry 2

So I've finally finished Far Cry 2 after over three months of play. A great game which easily made my Top Ten. The wide open spaces, the beautiful vistas, the weather and daytime lighting effects. The natural landscape textures and the non-scripted paths that you could take to obtain the goals of the game. Just driving (or boating) through the Savannah was a real joy.

Many reviews said that it was repetitive, but not for me. Either detour around the guard post, or decide to snipe at it from a suitable height, or set fire to the grass, or try to drive straight through it, or fire a couple of rockets and the take out the survivors. Great decisions. Judge accordingly. The end was a bit predictable and the final journey to it was difficult, but it left the possibility open for a sequel (please).

So now I started Fallout 3 and though an intriguing start, we are back into poorly lit corridors and limited maps, no directions, weird weapon selection keys, etc. Hadn't these people heard of fluorescent tube lights? I doubt if I will continue.

Awash with graphics cards

For the last few months I've been had a XFX 9600GSO overclocked graphics card which replaced my Sapphire HD3850. It gives a better performance and the £64 price was really good. My only worry was that the card specified a 500W PSU, but my DELL Inspiron 530 was only rated at 300W. However it has been working well. The recommended twin 12V rail cables had only one of them plugged into a single 12V power output of the DELL.

The best of all was that this XFX card had a thermostatically controlled fan which went from completely silent on boot up to a quiet hum on the 3D PKR web site game to a slightly louder hum when playing Far Cry 2 at full screen. As the computer is up on the table next to me this was acceptable and indeed having used and sold XFX graphics cards before, it has always been a good, reliable brand.

So why in a moment of madness did I buy an Asus HD4670 graphics card? I'd read reviews that they offered the best 'bang for the buck' in the lower midrange market. It didn't need extra power and was for sale for again only £64. What a mistake to make! It started off noisy even though it had a larger fan which wasn't thermostatically controlled. Admittedly it didn't increase in volume when running Far Cry 2, but the graphics performance was noticeably poorer.

I even tried a Sapphire Radeon HD3650 that I'd 'liberated' from a DELL system that I'd sold last week. Even worse! It gave really poor performance and still made quite a bit of noise that was more of a whine. Probably acceptable in a large system case under your desk and you weren't interested in the best quality graphics display, but not for me. So that one is also added to the cupboard along with the nVidia 8600GTS and the ATi Radeon X800 cards.

Anyone want to buy a PCI-X graphics card? I'm sticking with what I've got.

Conficting channels

I installed two new BT Broadband Home Hubs today with a lot of trouble establishing the required wireless networks. Firstly it seems that a lot of Wireless devices do not like the WPA2-PSK security that is the default level that these routers come with and secondly the channel setting conflicts frequently with other wireless networks.

I had problems with inbuilt and PCMCIA cards in laptops that can see the BTHomeHub2-XXXX wireless network but when you enter the supplied key as shown on the card and on the back of the HomeHub router. Previously you used to enter the serial number as the password to access the admin settings of the HomeHub, now they print the password on the back instead. You still have to change it though. You cannot disable the wireless security but you can change to WEP either 64-bit or 128-bit. This allows other devices to attach to the HomeHub router.

However you are still stuck with the channel problem. The HomeHub channel selection though set on Auto(matic) seems stuck on Channel 6. And this frequently conficts with outher wireless networks in the local area giving the 'Network is not in range' error when it clearly is. The previous versions of the HomeHub seemed to work better in this respect. So you simply have to choose an unused channel and then the connect works perfectly. Admittedly I had only a couple of other networks to avoid, so I wonder what will happen in a more technology populated environment.

Anyway, it looks like the BT HomeHub needs more work done on it.

DELL Vostro 220MT

I've installed a couple of DELL's new Small Business Vostro desktops and have been very impressed with them. The front has a modern black glossy, straight-edged look which belies their affordable price. They are quiet in operation and include the latest technology with the Intel G45 Express chipset, standard 800Mhz DDR2 memory and X4500HD integrated graphics. Optional is an Ati Radeon graphics card in the PCI Express X16 slot.

Interestingly to my surprise when I connected the leads to the back of the unit there were the old green and mauve, mouse and keyboard PS/2 sockets. The supplied keyboard and mouse were USB of course. In fact there was even an old serial socket as well. This seems a backward step for DELL.

Overall this is a very neat modern PC with many configuration options including a compact tower (Vostro 220S) and an even larger tower (Vostro 420) avaliable. Recommended.

Windows 7 beta

I downloaded the public beta version of the new Windows 7 operating system. I installed it on a fairly average hardware PC platform, 2.8GHz Pentium 4, 1Gb memory and 40Gb hard disk. It installed without errors and discovered all the relevant hardware devices correctly.

It appears to be a stripped down Ultimate version with some bundled applications and utilities missing. It runs in about 400Mb memory. This compares well to my Vista Basic essentials with additional AVG anti-software. I've read comments that this new version of Windows is just a Vista Service Pack. I would disagree with that as all the elements of the GUI have been 'adjusted'. Even the venerable Wordpad application getting a 'ribbon' command overhaul.

Performance on this lowly PC seems snappy enough, but it is early days yet. As a supporter of Windows Vista, I'm eager to see if Microsoft can market this latest Windows version better that they did Vista. Certainly it should not be hard.