Computer Power User Sept 2009

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® October 2009 • Vol 9 Issue 10

Appapalooza 60 They Have A Program For That? 2009 Edition

Frontside Heavy Gear 8 What’s Happening 18 Dream Hardware 38 Enermax EVO Galaxy 1250W 13 Digital Economy 20 Resplendent Rigs Gigabyte MA785GMT-UD2H 16 The Saint PCs That Shred Benchmarks & 40 OCZ DDR3 PC3-17000 Blade Series Vista Explorer 8.0 Wallets Alike Fusion-io ioDrive 160GB 36 Antec Skeleton Mini 41 Anand’s Corner AeroCool Touch-2000 The SSD Update 37 Alienware M17x

Copyright 2009 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 Power User USPS 020-801 is published monthly for $29 per year by Sandhills Publishing Company, 131 West Grand Drive, P.O. Box 82667, Lincoln, NE 68501. Subscriber Services: (800) 424-7900. Periodicals postage paid at Lincoln, NE. POSTMAS- TER: 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. Page 88

Hard Hat Area Loading Zone Digital Living PC Modder 72 The Bleeding Edge Of Software 87 At Your Leisure 42 Tips & Tutorials Inside The World Of Betas Games, Gear, Movies & Music 43 Radeon HD 4890 73 Up To Speed 92 The Cutting Edge Overclocking Upgrades That’ll Keep You Kaypro II Get The Most From Humming Along AMD’s RV790 74 Web File Delivery Services 46 Mad Reader Mod Like FTP, But Without The Tears Tips & Tricks Monolith 80 Open Sores 94 Software Tips & Projects 48 PDXLAN 14 The (Other) Google Operating Photo & Video Editing For Welcome (Back) To System Budget-Tightening Times Vector’s Packed House 96 Warm Up To Penguins 50 Advanced Q&A Corner Caught In The Web Mixing It Up With Linux 52 X-ray Vision: Microsoft’s Project Natal 82 Web Comics For Everyone Hands-Free Gaming Our Generation’s Funny Pages What’s Cooking 86 The Department Of Stuff 54 White Paper: Global 100 Shavings From The Rumour Mill orwell.txt Foundries’ 22nm Process Intel Loves Chrome & New R&D Company You’ve Got To Ask Why Makes A Splash 101 Technically Speaking An Interview With Kaspersky’s Roel Schouwenberg 104 Under Development Infinite Loop A Peek At What’s Brewing In The Laboratory Strange stats and other 108 Intel LAN Fest oddball items from computing’s periphery Back Door 95, 98 110 Q&A With Mark Re Seagate’s Research VP Gets Spun Up Over Storage E DITOR’ S N OTE

he other day I brought home and assembled one of those electric riding toys for my kids. It T was a blue, plastic replica of a Jeep Wrangler, and much to my satisfaction, the Big Reveal had the intended effect. My five-year-old son was especially thrilled, and was comfortable with driving forward Customer Service and in reverse in an astonishingly short time. (For questions about your subscription or to place an order or change an address.) The Jeep came with a governor screw installed [email protected] that restricts the gear shift lever to reverse and slow; Toll Free: (800) 733-3809 once your kids get a feel for driving at moderate Fax: (402) 479-2193 Computer Power User speeds, you can remove the screw and free them to tear P.O. Box 82667 around the yard at a blazing 5mph. As I was doing this, my son had Lincoln, NE 68501-2667 his first chance to really inspect the vehicle, and in particular its faux Hours dashboard, which is festooned with pretend controls, stickers that Mon. - Fri.: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. (CST) Sat.: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. (CST) look like gauges and dials, and a pair of plastic “radio” knobs that Online Customer Service & Subscription really turn. Upon noticing these (and the digital radio dial-like Center sticker between them), the boy started turning the knobs and trying www.cpumag.com to push the buttons in an unsuccessful effort to turn on the radio. Web Services (For questions about our Web site.) “Dad,” he asked, casually certain that I could unlock this mystery [email protected] for him, “how do you turn on this radio?” (800) 733-3809 Distracted and taken a bit off guard, I stammered something about Authorization For Reprints the radio being pretend, and “just for looks.” At this, he tore his gaze Toll Free: (800) 247-4880 Fax: (402) 479-2193 from the Jeep for the first time in a half an hour, looked me in the eyes, and said, “Why would they put a pretend radio in here?” Editorial Staff [email protected] “That’s a pretty good question,” I replied. “I guess so you can Fax: (402) 479-2104 pretend you’re listening to the radio while you drive.” 131 W. Grand Drive This answer seemed to satisfy him at least in part, or maybe he Lincoln, NE 68521 was too caught up in the moment to give it further thought. The Subscription Renewals (800) 382-4552 governor screw removed, he jumped back into the driver’s seat and Fax: (402) 479-2193 sped off, whooping and hollering just the way I’d imagined he www.cpumag.com would as I put the Jeep together. Advertising Staff His question gave me pause, though, and as I rolled what he’d said Toll Free: (800) 247-4880 Fax: (402) 479-2193 over in my mind, it occurred to me how different his world is than was 131 W. Grand Drive mine at the age of five. Sure, the toys I played with then were covered Lincoln, NE 68521 with the same kinds of fake controls and dials and knobs, but they were as close as I ever got to actually playing with or listening to a real radio. My kids have had CD players since they were learning to walk (I got my first one in high school), and more recently they’ve grown accustomed to using an MP3 player we got for them; the idea of moving music from a computer to the player seems as natural to them as breathing. Having had such constant, ready access to technology for literally all of his life, my son had no reason not to assume that the radio in the Jeep was real, whereas I would have had no reason what- soever to assume it would work. My point in relating this story is not to decry the way Kids These Days are spoiled and have no imaginations, nor am I indulging in a “I walked to school in 10 feet of snow” moment. Rather, when I think of Gotcha. all the stuff he justifiably takes for granted, I can’t help but wonder Here it is. what kinds of amazing technology his kids will assume have been around forever, and I can’t wait to find out.

Chris Trumble, Publication Editor, CPU

What’s Happening • Hardware Compiled by Blaine Flamig

And The Winner Is . . . USB

Sorry, FireWire, Bluetooth, DVI, and HDMI. When it comes to the most popular interface among users of home and business PCs, you all rank behind the mighty USB, according to a recent In-Stat survey. To that end, let us point you to Super Talent’s (www.supertalent.com) new diminutive water-resistant Pico USB memory drives in gold- and nickel-plate designs. Ranging from $85 to $99, each model features up to 32GB capacity and 30MBps transfers, while the $99 models include AES 256-bit encryption. Elsewhere, if you’re of the mind that two heads are better than one, check out the $24.99 Split Stick flash drive from Quirky (www.quirky.com), a unique community that collaborates to bring user ideas to life. In case the Split Stick’s name didn’t tip you off, the drive integrates two 2GB retractable drives into one anodized aluminum body. ▲ Shure Brings Joy To The Entire Ear Apologies for the cheesiness, but Shure’s (www.shure.com) release of its first-ever line of over-the-ear headphones is U.S. Supercomputing Lead music to our ears. The company’s sound-isolating earbuds have been long-time favorites, and it is difficult imagining Over Russia the SRH840 ($199.99; studio recording, critical listening), SRH440 ($99.99; pro-level DJing, recording/monitoring), Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is none too happy these days and SRH240 ($59.99; consumer- and pro-level action) with the state of supercomputing in his country. In a late-July will disappoint. address at the Security Council meeting on supercomputers, Elsewhere, AblePlanet (www.ableplanet.com) has an- Medvedev said despite Russia having “something to show for our nounced its $99 noise-canceling PS500MM for December efforts, we remain significantly behind the global leaders,” pointing availability featuring a design specifically for gamers. To com- out that Russia ranks just 15th among countries with the most bat gamers’ extended exposure to “rich multimedia sounds” powerful SCs. Medvedev added that it’s well known that “476 out that put “a cumulative strain on the ears,” the PM500MM of 500 supercomputing systems use computers manufactured in the uses the company’s patented LINX Audio technology United States of America” and characterized Russia’s current situa- designed to preserve hearing. tion as “very difficult.” How difficult? Medvedev said Russia has Audio-Technica (www.audio-technica.com), meanwhile, “extremely few aircraft (actually one airplane) created on a super- recently announced its ATH-ANC7b QuietPoint Active computer,” with everything else being “done on Whatman’s draw- Noise-Cancelling Headphones ($219.95) with newly ing paper like in the 1920s and 30s using the old approaches.” ▲ designed, more comfortable earcups. The foldable cans house 40mm drivers with neodymium magnets and are billed to cut up to 85% of back- Linux-based PCs Free? ground noise. ▲ Remember when Linux was just for you and your smart friends? “Today, everybody in the modern world uses Linux multiple times a day.” So stated Jim Zemlin, Linux Foundation executive director, at the recent O’Reilly Open Source Convention. Among the topics that Zemlin touched on was a vision of a future that will see users scoring a free PC when signing up for new data plans with wireless or network service providers, pointing out that AT&T is already offering netbooks for roughly $50 with service plans. In a separate interview, Zemlin further propagated his theory by reportedly stating, “What made the cell phone industry in the United States in particular take off in the mid-90s was the free phone.” ▲

8 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com What’s Happening • Hardware

“Showing The Love To Mac & Linux Users”

Usually, we’re a little skeptical when companies get all touchy- feely when releasing new products, but we’ll cut Das Keyboard (www.daskeyboard.com) a break with its recently released keycap Q2 Graphic set. After all, the set is only $14.95, and we really enjoyed our past experience using Das’ “clicky” boards, which use gold-plated Chip Sales mechanical switches and sport two USB 2.0 ports. The keycap set Break Rank has Mac and Linux users specifically in mind. Beyond a keycap puller, the set includes two COMMAND and two ALT/OPTION ▲ GlobalFoundries, the con- keys for Mac typists and two Linux keys sporting a Tux icon. tract chip-making company AMD birthed in March, welcomed its first customer not named AMD in late July after inking a deal with STMicroelectronics to make low-power chips based on 40nm technology possibly beginning next year. AMD, meanwhile, celebrated “40 years of innovation” July 22 by shipping its 500 mil- lionth x86 CPU since setting up shop in 1969. Finally, in what could be deemed a good news/bad URC’s Universal Remote news scenario for Nvidia, Jon Peddie Research report- Goes Haptic ed in late July that estimated graphics chips sales bounced Hey, if someone has the inclination and a cool $1,200 or so to up 31.3% in Q2 2009 to spend on a universal remote, more power to him. But URC’s 98.3 million units. The (universalremote.com) upcoming MX-5000 isn’t a mere univer- increase defies a normal sal remote. According to various reports, this high-end beauty for trend of sales slipping high-end home media systems not only integrates Wi-Fi (along during Q1 and Q2 before with RF) to display volume, media, and other data on its 2.7- picking up in Q3 prior to inch LCD, the LCD itself packs haptic feedback. Reportedly, Eric back-to-school and end-of- Johnson, URC VP of technology, stated the company has been at year PC sales. The bad news, work on the haptic ability for three years, during which time it at least for Nvidia, is AMD looked “at hundreds of thousands of button presses.” Acquiring (18.4%) and Intel (51.2%) and setting up the remote, however, reportedly requires a visit to saw their market share rise at ▲ a local AV specialist. the expense of Nvidia’s share falling 2% to 29.2% overall. Despite the sector’s overall growth, Peddie writes that “things probably aren’t going to get back to the normal seasonality [until] Q3 or Q4 this year, and we won’t hit the levels of 2008 until 2010.” ▲

CPU / October 2009 9 What’s Happening • Internet Compiled by Blaine Flamig

720 DVDs In A Second SITE SEEING That’s how many DVDs Japanese researchers claim they were Bill Gates Brings able to transmit in one second recently using what they de- scribe as the world’s most advanced fiber optic cable. KDDI “Messenger” Lectures Online R&D Laboratories and Japan’s National Institute of Infor- How is Bill Gates spending his retirement years? Well, among other mation & Communications Technology claim the cable moves things, he dug into his own pockets to bring Project Tuva (research data 10 times faster than what current cables can handle, or .microsoft.com/apps/tools/tuva) online. Project Tuva aims to 30Tbps vs. 3Tbps. Further, the researchers stated in a joint “explore core scientific concepts and theories through presenting announcement that they were able to move data from up to timeless videos” in a snazzy, search-supporting, Silverlight-based 240km away. The hope is to bring the cable to market by 2012 player. First up is a renowned seven-lecture “Messenger” series that and possibly connect Japan’s major cities—an endeavor that scientist Richard would likely run into the hundreds of millions of dollars. ▲ Feynman, a collaborator on The Manhattan Project, presented in Minorities Close Digital 1964 at Cornell Univer- Divide By Going Mobile sity. Gates watched the lectures 20-plus years ago A “Wireless Internet Survey” that the Pew Internet & Amer- after hunting them ican Life Project conducted this spring of roughly 2,250 U.S. down. “From that moment on I thought everybody ought to see adults indicates that minorities are getting online from hand- these because they make science interesting,” Gates explains in a helds at a faster clip than whites. Although mobile In-ternet video. The lectures come complete with commentaries, notes, ▲ access among whites increased from 21% in 2007 to 28% in embedded place markers, subtitles, and links to related material. 2009, African-American usage skyrocketed from 29% to 48%, while usage among Latinos grew from 38% to 47%. Pew also reports that “by a 59% to 45% margin, white Amer- Apollo 11 Launches Into The Internet icans are more likely to go online using a computer on a typi- Justifiably so, the Web was lathered in mid-July with coverage cal day than African Americans,” but when factoring in commemorating the 40th anniversary of the 1969 Apollo 11 mis- mobile devices, “the gap is cut in half; 61% of whites go sion, the first manned mission to land on the moon. online on the average day when mobile access is included Arguably no site does the event justice as well as WeChoose while 54% of African-Americans do.” Overall, Pew reports TheMoon.org, an outreach of the John F. Kennedy Presidential “56% of adult Americans have accessed the Internet by wire- ▲ Library and Museum. Beyond dividing the launch in 11 sections, less means.” the site accompanies each with fascinating animations, archival photos and video, and the original 109-hour audio feed between Welcome To Tiburon; ground control and Neil Armstrong and company in real time. “Putting a man on the moon really did unite the globe,” stated License Plate No., Please Thomas Putnam, JFK Library director. “We hope to use the Internet to do the same thing.” ▲ If you’re passing through Tiburon, Calif., in the future, be prepared for what some critics are calling Big Brother treatment. Reportedly, town officials will vote in the near future on a proposal to photograph the license plates (but not the driver) of every car entering city limits to curb and solve crimes, despite the town only experiencing 99 total thefts, 20 burglaries, and two auto thefts in 2008. Officials say monitoring won’t happen in real time but rather will only involve taking still photos of plate numbers they’ll keep 30 to 60 days before erasing them. “As long as you don’t arrive in a stolen vehicle or go on a crime spree while you’re here, your anonymity will be preserved,” stated Peggy Curran, town manager. ▲

10 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com What’s Happening • Software Compiled by Blaine Flamig

Laplink Wants To Move WinXP Users

Just because Microsoft won’t be supporting direct upgrades from Windows XP to Windows 7 doesn’t mean those who want to make the migration should have to suffer through a clean installation. At least that’s the way Laplink Software (www.laplink .com) CEO Thomas Koll sees it. Koll recently touted the company’s PCmover software as “the only program capable of automatically performing this task,” additionally stating that “without PCmover, users must copy all data files manually to an external drive, upgrade to Windows 7, and then reinstall all the applications, data, and settings by hand.” One caveat: Taking the PCmover route will cost you $39.95 (Home) or $59.95 (Pro). ▲

One Million Plus Linux Kernels & Counting

Efforts to “more effectively observe behavior found in malicious botnets . . . that can operate on the scale of a million nodes” just got easier, thanks to Sandia National Laboratories. Re- searchers demonstrated in July for the first time an ability to run 1 million-plus Linux kernels as virtual machines using Sandia’s Thunderbird supercomputing cluster combined with VM technology. Sandia’s Ron Minnich states that powering such a high volume of VMs on one SC—which scales similarly to a botnet—will let researchers view how botnets operate and plan ways to stop them. Ultimately, Minnich states, “we would like to be able to emulate the computer network of a small nation, or even one as large as the United States, in order to ‘virtualize’ and monitor a cyber attack.”▲

CPU / October 2009 11 What’s Happening • Software

SOFTWARE SHORTS

G.ho.st Puts A Scare Into Operating Systems

Open Sourcers With all the hoopla concerning Google’s Chrome OS and Windows 7’s impending Target launch, you may have missed this feel-good story. With ex-UK Prime Minister Tony Washington, D.C. Blair on hand, a team of Palestinian and Israeli developers launched the beta version of their cloud-based G.ho.st (Global Hosted Operating System) in July. As much as a That symbolic marching you heard showcase for G.ho.st, headed toward Capitol Hill in which supports 20 lan- July was the newly formed Open guages and all Web Source For America—70-plus browsers and includes companies, organizations, individ- Zoho integration and uals, and universities supporting 15GB of virtual storage, the open-source community. The the launch signified that group’s primary aim is to get gov- people with longstand- ernment officials to more strongly ing differences can consider open-source software in work together. G.ho.st the future. “Open-source software founder Zvi Schreiber can help deliver improved govern- states, “I wanted to make ment service—plain and simple— a statement that people and the administration recognizes who are traditionally at this more than any in our nation’s war can overcome physi- history,” stated David Thomas, an cal and political barriers organization spokesman. To date, to come together to build a product.” Due to travel restrictions, a team of develop- organization members include ers based in Palestine and another in Israel conducted most of their work via phone Red Hat, Novell, Canonical, and videoconferencing. ▲ Sun Microsystems, Oracle, Mo- zilla, AMD, Google, the Linux Foundation, and Democracy in “Put The Action. If you’re down with the Videogames Away” cause, sign up at www.opensource ▲ foramerica.org. Those are the words President Obama has spo- ken in some form or another in recent months before various audiences, irking gamers in the process. The Entertainment Consumers Assoc- iation is up in arms, as well—so much so it recently made a prewritten letter to Obama available at its site for gamers to use. Among the gaming positives pointed out in the letter is “videogames are very much a new global form of entertainment, with $11.7 billion in sales in 2008.” Further, “68% of American households play computer or videogames, and the average game player is 35 years old.” Separately, ECA president Hal Halpin wrote an impassioned column for IndustryGamers entitled “Percep- tion Is Everything” encouraging gamers to combat negative gaming stereotypes to take ownership “of at least part of that blame; until and unless we speak up and do something about it.” ▲

12 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com Job Of The Month Raw Numbers: You can help make the power grid smarter. Eco-friendly programs were central to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and one company poised to benefit directly from the stimulus package is Ecologic Analytics. The Minnesota firm keeps tabs on usage with a Meter Data Management System that maximizes the efficiency in water, natural gas, and electrical utilities. By properly analyzing the data, power and resource companies can optimize their distribution to save money and minimize waste. You will be an Application Specialist who works with Ecologic clients to implement the analytics software for their needs. Experience in Java or Oracle PL/SQL Teens who own a cell phone development is required. You will need to help the development team design the software to fit each client’s needs and provide feedback for future development. Being green comes at a price, however. The company says that you should plan to travel 50% to 85% of the time. Mobile teens using SMS

tinyurl.com/krac5b

Average number of SMS messages sent and received each month Browser by mobile teens Wars 2009 Firefox 25.29% Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari and Safari all have issued new ver- 5.37% Average number of calls per month by sions of their browsers. Have Chrome teens on their mobile handsets. any of the upstarts succeeded 1.56% in cracking Microsoft’s con- Source: Nielsen tinued dominance? Opera .54% Top 5 Browsers in North America, July 1, 2008, to July 12, 2009 Other .92%

Source: StatCounter Internet Explorer 66.31%

Broadband Goes Even Broader After years of stagnation and slow growth in U.S. broadband penetra- tion, the adoption of high-speed Internet connections has jumped a surprising amount just in the last year. In April, 63% of adults accessed the Web via broadband, up from 55% in May 2008. Higher usage among seniors and lower-income Americans demonstrates that faster pipes are now seen as a basic utility. Households with income below $30,000 grew their broadband adoption at an impressive rate of 34% despite a withering recession.

Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project

CPU / October 2009 13

Vista Explorer 8.0

fter seeing Microsoft butcher Vista, I wrote a column claim- This was the featured ad on the A ing that I would not be surprised if Microsoft could never IE8 download page (right). pull off a major OS release again. In my own defense, I would You can’t make this stuff up. I point out that history shows few examples of companies who lose thought we were all getting fat? their way that badly and ever recover, but then Microsoft has I’ll check . . . . always been an exceptional company. After using Windows 7, I America is home to the most had to pinch myself and ask where I went wrong. It was like an obese people in the world. Ac- entirely different corporate mentality and culture had taken over cording to the CDC (Center for Microsoft OS design. Disease Control and Prevention), I contacted some old friends at the empire and asked what had obesity in adults has increased by happened. Apparently, after the Vista debacle, Microsoft had a 60% within the past 20 years, and obesity in children has tripled in major housecleaning. They purged the old guard, and a new gen- the past 30 years. A staggering 33% of American adults are obese, eration of up-and-coming executives took over leadership of Win- and obesity-related deaths have climbed to more than 300,000 a dows and managed to reestablish a consumer-centric focus on year, second only to tobacco-related deaths. usability, leanness, stability, compatibility, and security. Don’t get In other words, IE8 is so useless to me that Microsoft’s best idea me wrong, although I have a list of things I’d love to see done for a guilt trip to get me to download it anyway is to threaten to better in Windows, it’s great to see an overall shift in focus from starve obese children if we persist in using IE7? By “struggle” do the egocentric “What’s best for us is what’s best for you!” ap- they mean it’s hard to drag our fat butts away from World of proach to OS design demonstrated in Vista to the humbler, more Warcraft long enough to reach the refrigerator? service-centric “We’re going to just make everything work and Okay, I’m digressing. So, I finally managed to download IE 8 try to stay out of your way” philosophy that seems to embody without all the other crapware and got it installed and thought, “So Windows 7. let’s see what Microsoft Of course, if everything was right in the world, I’d have very lit- means by faster, safer, tle to write about, but fortunately for me the humility memo did and more user-friendly.” not reach all of Microsoft’s product groups. Take IE 8, for exam- So the FIRST user ple, which is the subject of an enormous Microsoft marketing experience in IE8 is a push. (Note: If you have to spend a lot of money marketing a free, dialog box that obstructs electronically distributed upgrade to the most widely used browser me from quickly getting on the Internet to get people to try it, there must be something online to tell me how seriously wrong with it!) Microsoft claims the product is “safer, IE8 “helps” me to use faster, and easier to use.” So what’s the very first thing Microsoft the Internet faster. The tells you about how great IE 8 is when you visit the download dialog doesn’t actually page for it? ask me a question (which makes it just a pop-up ad) but offers “Install Windows Internet Explorer 8, MSN Toolbar, and Next and Ask Me Later buttons as options to escape the dialog. Microsoft Silverlight in one click.” As it turns out, neither option is an appealing one. If you click Now there’s a compelling value proposition. For reasons I Next, thinking there is some essential installation step you’ve don’t understand, I can get IE8 together with a toolbar that will missed thus far, you are mistaken. Microsoft just wants to take enable Microsoft to track my browsing behavior and sell adver- you on a little tour of IE8 and try to trick you into replacing your tising, bundled with a technology nobody uses that will help default search provider with Microsoft’s. If you click Ask Me Microsoft kill Adobe Flash. What’s in this for me? Oh wait, way Later, you can go straight to browsing the Web with your default down in the lower-left corner of the page in small print, it says: search provider and favorites in place and unmolested; however, “Search smarter, work faster, and browse more safely, all within a IE8 will continue to display this obnoxious dialog every time you familiar environment.” launch it until you get fed up, click Next, and accidentally switch They just sort of threw that stuff in at the bottom in case get- your search provid-er away from Google. ting a free MSN toolbar and Silverlight was not a sufficiently com- That dialog alone spoils all pretentions IE8 had at being faster or pelling reason to upgrade. After some digging, I found a download user-friendly; if they couldn’t figure out that doing something that page that didn’t bundle that other . . . what did Microsoft call it in obnoxious immediately on first launch was unacceptable, what when referring to other peoples’ Internet applications shipping hope can there be for the rest of the product? Just out of curiosity, with Vista? Oh yes, crapware. what feature could they have put in IE8 that everybody wants and

16 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com loves about Firefox, actually makes surfing faster, and could have out that IE7 was the worst-performing browser at blocking mal- provided a great opportunity to offer better security? How about ware attacks, suggesting that people would be well-advised to adding a download manager? I guess those engineers were too busy upgrade their browser to almost anything else immediately. working on the MSN toolbar or Silverlight to get that feature done Given the fact that Microsoft claimed security leadership with in time for IE 4, 5, 6, 7, or even 8! IE7 (technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc512583.aspx), these I know, I’m being a little silly. I’m sure there is some great folks should also ask themselves why they should trust Microsoft stuff in IE8; let’s go back to the download page and read about an eighth time. it from Microsoft. We’ll just click the Also note that the report is selective- “Speed and ease in the real world: ly titled: “Socially engineered Malware Learn how Internet Explorer 8 deliv- Protection Comparative Test Results.” ers the best web experience” link What is socially engineered malware? (tinyurl.com/chwfke). Well, you have to read between the Bear with me now, I’m using IE8 on lines a little bit, but the study does the IE8 download page . . . are you expressly explain that “Exploits that ready for this? Pop! install malware without the user being Apparently, delivering the best Web aware are not included in this study.” experience didn’t include shipping Now let me get this straight . . . this Adobe Acrobat or Macromedia Flash study is not a survey of actual browser with IE8! If I had the space, I’d walk security vulnerabilities, it’s a study of everyone through the process I went which browsers are most effective at through to download and install discouraging stupid people from delib- Adobe Acrobat just so I could read erately installing malware on their own Microsoft’s treatise on why IE8 deliv- machines after IE8 has just finished ers the best Web experience. It’s a confusing them about whether they damn funny read in that context. can trust a download from, say, Adobe? Follow that laugh by clicking the For one last great piece of irony, the “Find out which browser protects big feature in IE8 is a porn browsing against more socially engineered mal- mode that prevents your spouse or ware” link (nsslabs.com/anti-malware parents from seeing where you’ve been /browser-security). surfing—and accidentally downloading Not surprisingly, the report concludes Alex St. John was one of the founding malware instead of porn. I shouldn’t even that IE8 is superior at preventing malware creators of Microsoft’s DirectX have to point out that most malware is downloads, which it claims are responsible technology. He is the subject of the distributed via porn sites and downloads for 54% of malware infections. IE8 ap- book “Renegades Of The Empire” about targeting children, or that IE8 doesn’t pears to accomplish this brilliant security the creation of DirectX and work well with Vista’s broken parental feat by consistently obstructing all down- Chromeffects, an early effort by control system (www.philstar.com/Article loads, including Adobe Acrobat, which Microsoft to create a multi-media .aspx?articleId=479453&publicationSub they require for reading their own reports! browser. Today Alex is President and CategoryId=90). Maybe people would be less inclined to CEO of WildTangent Inc., a technology I think I just guessed which product download random Internet plug-ins if the company devoted to delivering group all the Microsoft folks who screwed ones they used commonly were already CD-ROM quality entertainment up Vista wound up in after the company’s included with the browser? content over the Web. big housecleaning. ▲ The NSS Labs study Microsoft directs you to is a great read for the critical Send your feedback to thinkers out there. It raises many more [email protected] questions about IE 8 security than it answers. For example, the study doesn’t mention who funded it, and NSS Labs is a commercial enterprise. The study points

CPU / October 2009 17 ately we’ve been living an Indian summer, as this L month’s ration of dreaminess has more of the wet- and-wild about it than the arid twilight of autumn. Time to splash out on some outrageous fun. These Gizmos Don’t Sing It, They Bring It by Marty Sems

Code X When you have the bank to pick up an impulse buy like this, you want to have your cake and eat it, too. Depending on the date you’re trying to impress, you can show off your green cred or your utter dominance of the sea. Should she be of an environmentalist bent, you can spend a mini-break getting back to nature while the solar-powered hybrid drive cruises along. If it takes torque to set her heart athrob, the Code X’s 93mph top speed ought to do it. Simply tap a touchscreen to stoke the dual 710hp, 8.3-liter V-10 engines from Ilmor. There’s a jacuzzi onboard, plus an air conditioner that can run on the sun’s rays. Let’s face it, Cap’n Casanova; you probably had her at “yacht.” All that Swiss shipwright Code X AG (www.code-x.ch) helps you to do is to run up the score.

Stealth.com WPC-500F You already know that low-power chips such as the Atom and Nano make possible some remarkably functional applications, such as netbooks with long battery life and silent HTPCs. Now take that fanless thing a step further. With the right enclosure and some judiciously placed heatpipes, you can completely seal the case. Stealth.com did just that with its WPC-500F ($1,995 and up), a dual-core Atom 330/945GC Express system that’s rain- and splash-proof. Those are military-style sealing connectors on the back, one of which is able to send video to the company’s TT-840 waterproof LCD touchscreen ($2,295). Step up to an SSD instead of the base model’s hard drive, and you’ve just solved your all-weather computing problems.

VirtualHUD Three cheers for add-on gear that brings vintage tech into the new millennium. In certain classic car circles, it’s called “restomod,” which stands for “restoration with modifica- tion.” The concept is even more exciting when applied to avionics. No matter how quaint the means of propulsion, any single-engine aircraft with a front propeller can benefit from 21st-century attitude and position feeds. Witness the world through a VirtualHUD (www.virtualhud.com). Using a small aircraft’s nose propeller as a projection screen, this windshield-mounted, GPS-enabled gizmo gives you an eyes-up view of critical flight info such as your heading, airspeed, pitch, and roll. A VirtualHUD can tie into additional devices, such as infrared imaging units, and can “paint” highways and terrain on a dark or obscured landscape. Models include the LED-powered NightVU ($7,495) and the ForwardVU ($8,995, fully loaded), which adds a xenon lamp for daytime visibility. An RGB color laser-based unit is on the horizon at press time. ▲

18 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com

reviews | hardware Resplendent Rigs PCs That Shred Benchmarks & Wallets Alike

hen it comes to CPU’s dream PC SSDs featured Intel’s X25-M—many with CUDA, and Open GL processes. Note W challenge, the latest, most powerful two or more in RAID 0 configuration for that in our 3DMark Vantage benchmarks, components are a given. Our competitors, fast boot and load times. Almost all com- we disabled PhysX to produce accurate which are some of the top boutique ven- petitors used Intel’s Core i7-975 Extreme, CPU scores in 3DMark Vantage. We also dors in the United States, also use their and all who did were able to clock it past learned SSDs in RAID 0 (a four-SSD con- overclocking, case-mod, airflow, and paint- 4GHz. PCs came in both Quad SLI (one figuration was most popular), dominated ing expertise to design systems worthy of Quad CrossFire) and 3-Way SLI configura- HDDs in our benchmark tests. the moniker “dream PC.” Even better, if tions. Interestingly, 3-Way SLI-based sys- Even with similar hardware, each sys- you have the cash (and these wonders tems performed better in Far Cry 2, and tem showcases unique design creativity aren’t cheap), each PC is available for pur- one vendor told us that it’s because 3-Way and overclocking skill. Some systems were chase from its respective custom builder. SLI features more memory bandwidth per heavy on hardware prowess, while others Although each system was unique, we GPU. In the future, the greater shader balanced artistic taste with processing did notice a few trends in the builds. For horsepower of Quad SLI will be seen when power. Prices listed were the configura- instance, seven of the 11 vendors used Evga games are more shader-intensive. tions we tested, at press time. Read on to motherboards (five X58 SLI Classified, two Additionally, a few vendors included a discover which systems we found to be X58 SLI), and nearly every system with dedicated graphics card to improve PhysX, the most intriguing and powerful. ▲

AVADirect Custom Gaming PC graphics cards: two BFG Tech GeForce GTX 295s in Quad-SLI (factory over- he Custom Gaming PC features an front-panel LCD, and large side-panel clocked) and one Nvidia GTX 250 for T automotive-grade coating of AVA- window, you’ve got a desktop that stands dedicated PhysX processing. AVADirect Direct’s Viper Blue, which is a nice com- out from the pack, even among our dream tells us that “true multithreaded games plement to the smooth contours of PC competition. have yet to arrive, so any way to increase Cooler Master’s Cosmos S case. And The Custom Gaming PC offers a frame rates without increasing CPU load when you combine the reflective auto number of unique design elements. is optimal.” The Custom Gaming PC paint with the case’s bright silver handles, The first thing we noticed was the three also features Swiftech’s cooling kits that pass liquid through three thermoelectric units, and the loops of green liquid add a “cool” (pun intended) look to the case. Custom Gaming PC At the front of the case, AVADirect $6,889.29 (as tested) added a 5.25-inch backplane that lets you AVADirect hot-swap and lock four SSDs to save drive www.avadirect.com bay space as well as an Alpha Cool LCD ● ● ● ● (takes up two 5.25-inch bays) that AVA- Direct configured to display pertinent system information, such as free storage space and system temperature. The Custom Gaming PC was packed with hardware, but three high-speed AeroCool fans (one in front of the drive cage, one at the base of the case, and one rear exhaust) and the Swiftech liquid cooling did an excellent job of moving the heat out of the case. Other vendors did a better job of hiding the system cables, but there’s enough free space to

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20 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com reviews | hardware work in the case. The Custom Gaming PC sent to us also featured several white cold- cathode lights to show off the hardware from the large side-panel window. For our benchmarking purposes, AVA- Direct set up three overclock profiles (adds $230 to setup cost; AVADirect offers its mild overclocking service for free, while extreme overclocking will cost you $100) in the BIOS to provide quiet computing (4GHz), high all-around performance Specs: CPU: Intel Core i7-975 Extreme @ 4.7GHz; Motherboard: Evga X58 SLI (4.4GHz), and best gaming (4.7GHz, Classified (X58 chipset); RAM: 6GB Corsair Dominator XMP DDR3-1600; HDDs: 1TB Samsung SpinPoint (x2; RAID 1), 30GB OCZ Vertex SSD (x4; RAID 0); GPUs: BFG Hyper-Threading disabled). We bench- GeForce GTX 295 (x2; Quad SLI), GeForce GTX 250; PSU: Corsair HX1000W; Optical marked using the third option, which Drive: LG GGW-H20L produced 47.06fps in Far Cry 2 and 162.55fps (the highest frames per second disabling Hyper-Threading brought down The Custom Gaming PC offers plenty of all our test systems) in Left 4 Dead. its 3DMark Vantage, PCMark Vantage, of distinctive features and produced great The high overclocks also put it into the and SiSoftware Sandra scores. Of course, we gaming results at its 4.7GHz speed. We top three scores in Dr. DivX, POV-Ray, could have simply switched profiles if we also thought AVADirect’s Viper Blue and Cinebench 10. On the flip side, wanted to use a multithreaded application. automotive paint was a nice touch. ▲

Digital Storm Benchmark Crusher radiators, and Digital Storm overclocked the Core i7-975 Extreme to 4.4GHz. As e have to give Digital Storm cred- lettering along both side panels and the part of Digital Storm’s Stage 2 overclock- W it: We’ve seen three Benchmark top of the case. Digital Storm painted the ing package, the builder also installed a Crusher systems, including this year’s exterior white, the interior black, and Corsair Airflow Fan above the north- entry, and have yet to see a single paint used black faceplates to create a desktop bridge cooler on Evga’s X58 SLI Clas- bubble, scratch, or adhesion error with with attractive contrast. sified motherboard. Digital Storm tells us its high-gloss automotive paint. The Similar to last year’s entry, Digital that it does so to ensure that the mother- unit submitted this year also features Storm uses its FrostBite cooling that runs board runs cool and stable for the long Digital Storm’s color logo in raised a single loop of liquid through three term. In terms of airflow, Digital Storm uses a modified Silverstone Temjin with a 240mm fan in the center of the case to push outside air over the GTX 295 graphics cards. Two 120mm side-panel Benchmark Crusher fans and a 120mm exhaust fan also help $7,965 (as tested) move hot air out of the case. Digital Storm The Benchmark Crusher was one of www.digitalstormonline.com two systems to offer Nvidia’s single-PCB ● ● ● ● GeForce GTX 295 reference boards, which deliver the same performance as the dual-PCB version but wouldn’t require as complex of loop to water-cool. The single- PCB GTX 295 in the Benchmark Crusher used Nvidia’s stock cooler setup. Between the two graphics cards, Digital Storm installed an X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional sound card. The hardware and liquid-cooling loops were nicely illu- minated by white LEDs in the two side- panel fans and two white cold-cathode lights attached to the side panel. Overall, the Benchmark Crusher features a number

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CPU / October 2009 21 reviews | hardware

of nice touches that you won’t find from every custom builder. In terms of performance, the aptly titled Benchmark Crusher scored in the top three in five of PCMark Vantage’s tests, including first in TV & Movies, Communications, and Productivity. The Benchmark Crusher was also the fastest in WinRAR and in the top three in Sandra 2009’s Processor Algorithm and Memory Bandwidth tests. Specs: CPU: Intel Core i7-975 Extreme @ 4.4GHz; Motherboard: Evga X58 SLI The blemishes on the Benchmark Classified (X58 chipset); RAM: 6GB Mushkin Redline DDR3-1866; HDDs: 160GB Intel Crusher’s scores were in our games tests, X25-M (x2; RAID 0), 2TB Western Digital Caviar Green; GPUs: Nvidia GeForce GTX 295 (x2; Quad SLI); PSU: PC Power & Cooling Turbo Cool 1200 ESA; Optical Drive: where the stock-clocked Nvidia GeForce Lite-On iHES206 GTX 295s lagged slightly behind the competition’s factory- and vendor-overclocked graphics cards. Digital Storm Although some of our entries were contrast, and Digital Storm designed can also overclock (at a cost, as with showy and others focused on raw power, the system so it’ll last. The Benchmark the processor overclocks) the graphics the Benchmark Crusher offers an elegant Crusher is backed by a three-year ex- processors and memory in your system. appearance with its crisp white and black tended parts and labor warranty. ▲

Hypersonic PC Sonic Boom ATS or paint jobs (from ColorWare) on a per- order basis. s last year’s champ, we really expected side panels. Although not as impressive Inside the foam-lined case, you’ll A a lot from Hypersonic. The Sonic as a full coat of paint, it’s probably more find Intel’s Core i7 975 clocked up to Boom ATS they sent us came in a Cooler durable for LAN party use. According 4.43GHz and 6GB of OCZ Blade PC3- Master ATCS 840 tower painted and ad- to Hypersonic, the custom paint job by 17000 RAM overclocked to 2,350MHz orned in the Digital Urban Assault scheme, ColorWare adds $2,700 to the bottom (PC3-18800), and Hypersonic informs which consists of a three-tone, automotive- line. Because they’re not offered on the us that any failed Elpida-based modules grade paint job on the frame, front, and top Web site, you can request any custom will be replaced, no questions asked. panels and a custom appliqué on the two chassis modifications (from Hypersonic) Hypersonic also tweaked the timings on the memory and liquid-cooled the CPU, voltage regulators, and chipset with its slick-looking HydroX system, composed Sonic Boom ATS of Koolance and OCZ parts. LED light- $13,999.99 ing and a mirrored side-panel window Hypersonic are nice touches, as well. The dual-fan- www.hypersonic-pc.com equipped OCZ XTC (Xtreme Thermal ● ● ● ● Connection) kept the memory cool, and the motherboard that provided the foundation of this system was the ever-popular Evga X58 Classified. Without a doubt, Hypersonic aimed for the stars with its HDD configuration. The OS and applications directory consists of four OCZ Vertex EX 120GB SSDs in RAID 0. The media directory consists of a pair of 1TB Western Digital WD1000FALS drives, also in RAID 0. Let’s let that sink in for a second. Yep, instead of opting to deliver redundancy, Hypersonic decided to see how far it could push the performance envelope. When we

CPU RANKING ● 0 = ABSOLUTELY WORTHLESS | ● ● ● 2.5 = ABSOLUTELY AVERAGE | ● ● ● ● ● 5 = ABSOLUTELY PERFECT

22 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com

reviews | hardware

asked Hypersonic for its justification, “performance” was the response we got. OCZ’s SSDs, while more affordable, just can’t achieve the performance of Intel’s X25-Es. Gamers are Hypersonic’s bread and butter, so that’s who the company built this system for: “The Sonic Boom ATS was designed for an extreme gamer with superior performance expectations,” says the builder. For handling the multichan- nel aural demands of games and movies, Specs: CPU: Intel Core i7-975 Extreme Edition @ 4.43GHz; Motherboard: Evga X58 Hypersonic included the Asus Xonar Classified; RAM: 6GB OCZ Blade DDR3-2133 @ 2,350MHz; HDDs: 120GB OCZ Vertex D2X sound card. The graphics horsepow- EX SSDs (x4; RAID 0), 1TB Western Digital WD1000FALS (x2; RAID 0); ODDs: LG GGC-H20L Blu-ray writer/HD-DVD ROM, Samsung SH-S223 DVD-RW; GPUs: Evga er under the hood of the Sonic Boom ATS GeForce GTX 285 (x3; 3-Way SLI); PSU: PC Power & Cooling 1200W Turbo Cool Series consisted of a trio of Evga GeForce GTX 285s in Tri-SLI, which, at least in the DX10 heavyweight Far Cry 2, outper- bandwidth, and that, coupled with one of rigs, making it a well-rounded PC for gam- formed quad-SLI. The Sonic Boom ATS the higher overclocks we saw for the Core ing or professional-quality content cre- finished fifth in Left 4 Dead but scored i7-975, makes this machine really shine ation. A questionable storage choice and a blisteringly fast 140fps doing so. The with CPU-intensive applications. the lack of Web-advertised paint options memory configuration also garnered the In overall performance, Hypersonic’s are the only things holding this system system the runners-up prize in memory entrant scored a spot among the top three back from dominating the competition. ▲

iBuyPower applied a two-tone black and iBuyPower Gamer Paladin XLC red paint job to a Cooler Master HAF 932 case, which we found to be an n the quest to create an aesthetically USB ports, one FireWire, and one eSATA attractive design. I appealing system, boutique builders port; an NZXT Sentry LX fan controller; iBuyPower overclocked the Intel Core sometimes leave out all the front-panel con- 22X DVD-RW and 6X BD-RE drives; i7-975 to 4.2GHz using an Asetek liq- nectivity and control conveniences. iBuy- a 12-in-1 memory card reader; and au- uid-cooling kit with a 240mm radiator, Power’s Gamer Paladin XLC offers a front dio controls for Creative Lab’s Sound which was attached to the top of the panel with—from the top down—four Blaster X-Fi Titanium. Additionally, case with two 120mm fans both above and below the radiator. There’s also a 360mm fan in front of the hard drive cage, a 360mm side-panel fan, and Gamer Paladin XLC 120mm rear exhaust fan to cool the hard $5,999 (as tested) drives and two Palit GeForce GTX 295s. iBuyPower The large fans let iBuyPower cool the www.ibuypower.com Gamer Paladin XLC without the need ● ● ● ● for a multitude of high-speed, silent fans. You can adjust the fan speed and monitor system temperature from the NZXT front-panel fan controller. The Paladin XLC features two 160GB Intel X25-M SSDs in RAID 0 for speedy OS access, and the three Hitachi Desk- stars are set up in a RAID 5 configuration (an option you can request from iBuyPower) and offer data protection and high storage capacity. There’s 6GB of Corsair Dominator GT DDR3 running at 1,866MHz, but because Corsair has temporarily discontinued the Dominator

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24 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com reviews | hardware

GT line, iBuyPower tells us the sys- the difference wouldn’t tem you purchase would offer different be too large in real- 1,866MHz modules. We like that iBuy- world performance. Power included a Sound Blaster X-Fi If you’re looking for Titanium and Xeno Pro NIC to a system a system that offers with all the hardware a gamer could need. plenty of connectivity Similar to the system hardware choices, and an attractive design, the Gamer Paladin was an all-around per- the Gamer Paladin XLC former in our benchmark tests. For exam- is a good option. iBuy- ple, the desktop was in the top five in all Power offers a standard of PCMark Vantage’s synthetic tests. In three-year limited war- particular, iBuyPower’s RAID configura- ranty with lifetime tions helped the system deliver 22035 phone support. ▲ Productivity and 34035 HDD scores. It also produced some of the highest marks Specs: CPU: Intel Core i7-975 Extreme @ 4.2GHz; Motherboard: Evga X58 SLI Classified in 3DMark Vantage’s GPU-based tests. (X58 chipset); RAM: 6GB Corsair Dominator GT 2000 DDR3-1866; HDDs: 160GB Intel The 34.55fps Far Cry 2 and 134.81fps X25-M (x2; RAID 0), 1TB Hitachi Deskstar (3x; RAID 5); GPUs: Palit GeForce GTX 295 Left 4 Dead scores were a few frames per (x2; Quad SLI); PSU: Corsair HX1000W; Optical Drives: LG GGW-H20L, LG GH22NS30 second below the top competitors, but

Maingear Ephex window and the white LED lighting bundle round out this system’s aes- aingear’s offerings have always been automotive-grade paint jobs—white thetic touches. Msolidly built and subtly impressive, Smokewerks ($999.99)—which makes this Under the hood, Maingear equipped and this year’s Ephex refresh is no excep- PC stand apart even in a room full of top- the Asus Rampage II Extreme X58 tion. The version we tested sports Quad shelf rigs. Another Maingear mainstay is motherboard with Intel’s current flag- SLI, but Maingear also offers a CrossFireX the Silverstone TJ10 case, which was wild- ship Extreme Edition processor, the version. Like last year’s Ephex, this unit ly popular last year but unique to the Eph- Intel Core i7-975, and then Redlined it comes with one of Maingear’s signature ex this year. A laser-etched clear acrylic (a free service) from the stock 3.33GHz clock to an impressive 4.3GHz. If you want to take the wheel regarding overclocking, Maingear mounted the LCD Poster adjacent to the motherboard’s TweakIt Extreme OC controls. Main- gear’s Arctic X20 Liquid Cooling system keeps the CPU as close to ambient temperature as possible and adds a little visual flair with clear tubing and Tang- colored coolant. The liquid-cooled loop consists of the CPU block, a Swiftech pump, and a large radiator bolted to the top of the system and saddled with a pair of quiet 120mm fans. The Ephex we tested came with 12GB Ephex of Kingston HyperX DDR3-1600 memo- $7,864.25 ry. The internal storage subsystem consists Maingear of two Intel X-25M 80GB SSDs in RAID www.maingear.com 0 and a 1TB Western Digital Caviar Black ● ● ● ● hard drive for media and applications. One of the more impressive aspects of this system was the graphics. Maingear decided to cram a ton of graphics horsepower

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CPU / October 2009 25 reviews | hardware

into this system: It features two single- PCB GeForce GTX 295s in quad-SLI and a fifth GPU in the form of a GeForce 9800GT to act as a dedicated PhysX, CUDA, and OpenCL accelerator to offload those CPU-crippling calculations. But that’s not the only aspect of the system designed to give the CPU a breather; Maingear also installed a Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series sound card. Specs: Intel Core i7-975 Extreme Edition @ 4.3GHz; Motherboard: Asus Rampage II Other highlights include an “all-in- Extreme X58; RAM: 12GB Kingston HyperX DDR3-1600; HDDs: 80GB Intel X-25M SSDs one” memory card reader, two optical (x2; RAID 0), 1TB Western Digital WD1000FALS; ODDs: LG Super Multi Blue Blu-ray Writer/HD-DVD ROM, Dual-Layer DVD-RW; GPUs: Nvidia GeForce GTX 295 (x2; Quad- drives (LG Super Multi Blue Blu-ray SLI), GeForce 9800GT; PSU: PC Power & Cooling Turbo-Cool 1200W Writer/HD-DVD ROM and Dual-Layer DVD-RW), and a modular 1,200W PC Power & Cooling Turbo-Cool PSU. The Ephex was decidedly middle- at the composite scores, Maingear’s Maingear includes lifetime labor and of-the-road regarding the benchmarks, offering was consistently better than phone support and a three-year hardware scoring hightest in only PCMark Van- average, and, considering the competi- warranty in the price. tage’s Gaming test, but when we looked tion, that’s no mean feat. ▲

Overdrive PC BigBlock GTR system featured prominently on Velocity Micro’s system last year. Incidentally, elocity Micro-parented Overdrive The case, the same customized alumi- it’s a similar cooling setup to the one V PC really impressed us last year with num Lian-Li case OPC sent us last year, installed in the AVADirect system. its iridescent paint job and component came bare and unpainted (though paint OPC’s attention to detail and cooling choice. (OPC sent in last year’s only is still an available option), but this time expertise really comes across in the sys- dual-core CPU, but the system dominat- there’re side-panel vents on either side of tem’s wiring, from the completely con- ed in games.) This year’s BigBlock GTR the Boreas 12 TEC Peltier cooling sys- cealed PSU to the cascading SATA and also stands out, but not for the paint job. tem, which is the same active cooling tightly bundled PCI-E power cables. With such a capable cooling system, OPC was able to “HyperClock” the Intel Core i7-975 to an impressive 4.32GHz. The motherboard in this system is the Evga X58 Classified, and the triple-channel memory OPC went with is 6GB of Kingston HyperX DDR3-2000. But in order to lower latencies and boost stability, OPC underclocked the memory slightly to 1,653MHz. Perhaps one of the most impressive features of this system is the hard drive configuration. Because the Peltier cooler takes up the portion of the system traditionally designated for hard drives (and completely blocks the two external 2.5- inch drive bays), OPC installed a modu- BigBlock GTR lar, hot-swappable HDD bay in the top $11,395 three 5.25-inch drive bays, with a maxi- Overdrive PC mum capacity of five drives. Here OPC www.overdrivepc.com installed four 64GB Intel X25-E SSDs ● ● ● ● ● in a RAID 0 array and a single 1.5TB

CPU RANKING ● 0 = ABSOLUTELY WORTHLESS | ● ● ● 2.5 = ABSOLUTELY AVERAGE | ● ● ● ● ● 5 = ABSOLUTELY PERFECT

26 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com

reviews | hardware

Seagate hard drive for photos, videos, and music. If you’re reading this, you probably already know Intel doesn’t affix the term “Extreme” to just any old component. These drives consist of SLC (single-level cell) flash memory, which is significantly faster and more reliable than the MLC (multi-level cell) flash used in Intel’s M series SSDs. But the tradeoff is lower capacity and higher cost; the four hard drives in BigBlock GTR represent a Specs: Intel Core i7-975 Extreme Edition @ 4.32GHz; Motherboard: Evga X58 stunning $4,185 of the bottom line. Classified; RAM: 6GB Kingston DDR3-2000 @ 1,653MHz; HDDs: 64GB Intel X-25E For optical drives, OPC again went SSDs (x4; RAID 0), 1.5TB Seagate; ODDs: LG Super Multi Blue Blu-ray Writer/HD-DVD ROM (x2); GPUs: Nvidia GeForce GTX 285 (x3; 3-Way SLI); PSU: 1,200W XIgmatek over the top, with two LG Super Multi Power Supply Blue Blu-ray Writer/HD-DVD ROM drives. The graphics subsystem consists of three Evga GeForce GTX 285s in PCMark Vantage Overall, Music, and, can’t judge a PC by its panels and paint Tri-SLI. The BigBlock GTR garnered unsurprisingly, HDD. The BigBlock job (or lack thereof). But even among the top spot in 3DMark’s Overall score GTR also finished second in both Far the heavyweights of extreme PCs, it’s as well as the best scores in the overall Cry 2 and Left 4 Dead. what’s under the hood that makes Over- GPU and the best frame rate in the Like the visually uninspired Nissan drive PC’s BigBlock GTR stand above GPU 1 test. Other bests include the GT-R, this rig demonstrates that you the rest. ▲

Puget Systems Genesis II To house all of these components, Pu- get uses the highly capable Antec P193. uget Systems submitted the most processors, capable of processing a stun- The system’s Extreme Liquid Cooling P unique system of the bunch, the ning 16 threads at once. In another Package consists of a bevy of Koolance Genesis II. The version we tested is departure from the boutique builder parts, including CPU and GPU blocks, built around Intel’s S5520SC Shady groupthink, Puget equipped the system two radiators, and a reservoir and pump Cove motherboard and a pair of with a pair of Radeon HD 4870 X2s in combo that shows temps and fan speeds 3.33GHz quad-core Intel Xeon W5590 quad CrossFireX. on the front panel and lets you adjust settings as needed. The window kit also gives you a nice view of the blue-tinted interior (thanks to blue LED fans, lighted cables, and cold-cathode lights). When Genesis II the system first arrived, the 3/8-inch tub- $10,414.01 ing was severely kinked in several places, Puget Systems but once warm water began circulating, www.pugetsystems.com the kinks vanished for good; and the liq- ● ● ● ● uid-cooling system looks great overall. To feed those thread-hungry processors, Puget selected 12GB of DDR3-1333 Kingston ValueRAM (three 2GB sticks per CPU). Regarding hard drives, Puget’s president, Jon Bach, chose to forgo RAID altogether, saying that although customers can request RAID, “We are very big on building high-quality, highly reliable computers. . . . I felt like including RAID was selling out for the sake of benchmark scores.” As such, a single Intel X25-M 80GB SSD serves up the OS, while a

CPU RANKING ● 0 = ABSOLUTELY WORTHLESS | ● ● ● 2.5 = ABSOLUTELY AVERAGE | ● ● ● ● ● 5 = ABSOLUTELY PERFECT

28 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com reviews | hardware

Western Digital Caviar Black offers an additional 1TB of storage. Although benchmarks don’t test for reliability, Puget’s no-RAID policy does make sense for most users. However, if Puget wants to become the solo hero of reliability, perhaps RAID 1 or RAID 5 would’ve been a more compelling banner to hoist, not the white flag of “we’re not playing.” Technically, my mom’s PC storage is more reliable than any of those Specs: CPU: Intel Xeon (Nehalem) W5590 @ 3.33GHz (x2); Motherboard: Intel tested here, but my mom’s PC is hardly S5520SC (Shady Cove); RAM: 12GB Kingston ValueRAM DDR3-1333; HDDs: 80GB the stuff of enthusiasts’ dreams. Intel X25-M SSD, 1TB Western Digital Caviar Black; ODD: Pioneer 8X Blu-ray burner; GPUs: Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 (x2; CrossFireX); PSU: Corsair HX 1000W Puget didn’t exactly cede benchmarks to its competition, though. As you’d expect, the Genesis II owned almost every test that the antialiasing. With the in-game AA set- Overall, the system is great for multi- favors the CPU, getting downright biblical tings at 8X, FC2 runs at 10fps, but when media enthusiasts and professionals who on Cinebench R10. All that CPU muscle we disable the in-game AA and set the enjoy gaming, as well, but in the end it did trip up 3DMark Vantage; because the Catalyst Control Center AA setting to 8X, lacked some of the wiring expertise and benchmark can only handle 8 threads at the system managed more than 80fps, case customizations seen from other once, we disabled Hyper-Threading to right in line with the top gaming systems. builders. All of Puget’s systems come with complete the test. Graphics tests represent- According to an ATI spokesperson, the lifetime labor and one-year parts warran- ed this system’s biggest weakness. In Far dismal Far Cry 2 scores were simply the ty, but our configuration had the three- Cry 2, we narrowed the culprit down to result of an overwhelmed frame buffer. year parts warranty built into the price. ▲ Smooth Creations Reaper Extreme Edition

he Smooth Creations Reaper Ex- at a high level, is built solidly, and demonstrated decent parity, performance- T treme Edition is an example of tak- looks incredible. wise. However, the Reaper Extreme ing the notion of a dream PC holistically For the most part, the benchmark Edition performed near the back of the by building something that performs scores for the dream PCs we reviewed pack in many categories. That said, a dream PC isn’t just about performance. One must also consider the construction and looks of such a Reaper Extreme Edition machine. After all, if you’re laying down $8,800 thousands for the best system you can Smooth Creations find, you don’t want parts to fall off www.smoothcreations.com when you’re schlepping it around to ● ● ● ● LAN parties. And when you get there and fire the thing up, you want everyone’s jaw to drop. The attention to detail on the paint job is impressive, with an automotive-quality, two-tone red and black scheme and a grim reaper on the side for extra pizzazz. Even parts such as the underside of the partition containing the PSU and optical drive are painted. Smooth Creations even went so far as to paint the included keyboard and mouse (Logitech G15 and G5, respectively) to match the color on the Danger Den Tower 26 case.

CPU RANKING ● 0 = ABSOLUTELY WORTHLESS | ● ● ● 2.5 = ABSOLUTELY AVERAGE | ● ● ● ● ● 5 = ABSOLUTELY PERFECT

CPU / October 2009 29 reviews | hardware

The look is complete with a clear Lucite side panel, which reveals the guts of the system, including a red-colored watercooling system. This is highlighted further by the cold-cathode red lighting at the bottom of the case and the red LEDs next to all seven case fans. The back panel is also clear Lucite, inviting gawkers to behold the system from multiple angles. The cooling system itself is well-made, with heavy-duty coupling and Tygon tubing. There’s nary a kink to be found, despite the fact that there are tubes ev- Specs: CPU: Intel Core i7-975 Extreme @ 4.16GHz; Motherboard: Asus Rampage II erywhere, pumping cooled water to the Extreme (X58); RAM: 6GB (x3 2GB) Kingston DDR3-1600; HDDs: 300GB Western CPU, graphics cards, memory, north- Digital VelociRaptor 10,000rpm (x2; RAID 0), 2TB Western Digital Caviar Green (x2; bridge and southbridge, and a host of RAID 1); GPUs: BFG Tech GTX 295s (x2; Quad SLI); PSU: Topower PowerBird 1100W; ODD: LiteOn DH-4B1S 4X Blu-ray/DVD Burner power phase chips. The Reaper Extreme features an Intel Core i7-975 Extreme overclocked to (10,000rpm) in a RAID 0. The build also SATA and power connectors on all four 4.1GHz, 6GB of DDR3 RAM, and two includes a convenient front-panel card hard drives are glued into place to pre- BFG Tech GTX 295s in a Quad-SLI reader and a standard one-year warranty. vent shipping mishaps. The Reaper Ex- configuration. In terms of storage, this rig All told, the Smooth Creations Reaper treme could do with some performance is a monster, with 2.6TB of total storage Extreme Edition embodies the spirit of a tweaks to catch up to the rest of the field capacity spread over two 2TB WD Cav- dream PC, with a near-perfect custom of systems we tested, but overall it’s a iar Green drives in a RAID 1 configur- case mod and paint job coupled with build that virtually anyone would be ation and two 300GB VelociRaptors sturdy construction—for example, the proud to show off. ▲

Velocity Micro Raptor Signature Edition

elocity Micro is very proud of its For this round, we can only assume that Under that liquid-cooler you’ll find the V case. So proud, in fact, that the VM wanted the guts to do the talking, same Intel Core i7-975 Extreme Edition builder sent this year’s dream rig naked so the Raptor Signature Edition came processor most of the rest of the systems (read: unpainted). It’s called the Ve- with a windowed side panel that shows use, but VM overclocked it to 4.15GHz. locity Micro Flagship LXe-W, and it’s off the VM-branded Domino A.L.C. For the motherboard, VM again waded really a customized aluminum Lian-Li CPU Cooler and VM’s unmatched into familiar territory, with the Evga X58 that basically acts as a giant heatsink. wiring expertise. Classified. Like the Overdrive PC, this system boasts 6GB Kingston DDR3- 2000 and the strategic underclock to 1,653MHz to improve performance. Like the Overdrive PC BigBlock GTR, VM chose to pull out all the stops for the Raptor’s storage configuration. Here, VM installed the same quartet of 64GB Intel X- 25E SSDs in RAID 0, which represents the current epitome of performance among this year’s dream PCs. A single 1.5TB Seagate fills in for media storage. On the inside, Raptor Signature Edition VM secured the hard drives in removable $9,999 trays that slide the SATA power and data Velocity Micro ports right into a hot-swap backplane. www.velocitymicro.com ● ● ● ● Two optical drives provide all the disc reading/writing you’d ever need; the top

CPU RANKING ● 0 = ABSOLUTELY WORTHLESS | ● ● ● 2.5 = ABSOLUTELY AVERAGE | ● ● ● ● ● 5 = ABSOLUTELY PERFECT

30 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com

reviews | hardware

drive is an LG Super Multi Blue Blu-ray Writer/HD-DVD ROM, and the bottom is simply a dual-layer DVD-R/W drive. The graphics subsystem on the Raptor Signature Edition consists of three Evga GeForce GTX 285s in Tri- SLI. A custom-lit GPU fan with a cut VM logo helps internal airflow and adds a nice visual highlight to the side of the case. VM also threw in its gaming bundle, which consists of Far Cry 2 and Supreme Specs: Intel Core i7-975 Extreme Edition @ 4.15GHz; Motherboard: Evga X58 Commander. Other bundled software Classified; RAM: 6GB Kingston DDR3-2000 @ 1,653MHz; HDDs: 64GB Intel X-25E includes Nero 7 and Norton Antivirus, SSDs (x4; RAID 0), 1.5TB Seagate; ODDs: LG Super Multi Blue Blu-ray Writer/HD-DVD but you’ll be happy to know that these ROM, Dual-Layer DVD-R/W; GPUs: Nvidia GeForce GTX 285 (x3; 3-Way SLI); PSU: 1,200W XIgmatek Power Supply titles don’t come preinstalled and are yours to do with as you please. When you look at the performance liquid-cooler instead of the all-in-one Vantage and also scored the bronze in chart, the Raptor’s CPU scores tend Domino A.L.C., this system might have both Far Cry 2 and Left 4 Dead. The to trail those of the rest of the field, been a better-rounded rig. As is, though, Raptor Signature Edition comes with a and that’s largely due to the meager gaming is this system’s strong suit. It one-year Velocity Micro Standard parts overclock. With a more substantial achieved third place overall in 3DMark and labor warranty. ▲

Vigor Gaming Force Recon T7N even with all case fans reduced to mini- mum, Vigor’s prototype CPU cooler was igor’s Force Recon T7N comes to us on the 12GB of Kingston HyperX DDR3- audible even at idle. Though it was un- V in a modified Antec 1200 painted a 2000MHz memory. Blue LEDs adorn the named as we went to press, Vigor tells us muted shade of gray. Vigor also plastered motherboard, two exhaust fans in the that the cooler performs on par with the its logo to the right side panel and affixed rear, three intake fans in the front, and Monsoon III LT, which was featured in placards with Vigor’s namesake on the the CPU cooler for a subtle splash of col- last year’s dream PC roundup. front of the case and on the CPU cooler. ored light. It’s clear that Vigor went to The motherboard used in this system The windowed and vented side panel pro- some lengths to tidy up the wiring, and is a bit of a departure from the field; Vig- vides a view of the graphics stack, CPU although the results are professional look- or used MSI’s X58 Eclipse Plus, which cooler, and blue anodized RAM heatsinks ing, the Antec 1200 does a poor job of includes the SLI-enabling nForce 200 providing PSU and wiring hidey holes. chip. Three MSI overclocked GeForce As the lone all-air-cooled PC in this GTX 285s fill in for the gaming and 3D roundup, we weren’t surprised to see that rendering muscle behind this system. the Intel Core i7-975 Vigor installed was These cards employ MSI’s SuperPipe only overclocked to 4.16GHz. A modest fansink and sport 680MHz core and overclock, indeed, but when you consider 2,500MHz memory clocks. that it beat the overclock in the liquid- Vigor also stepped up the audio per- cooled Velocity Micro Raptor Signa- formance by including a Creative Sound ture Edition, it goes from “ho hum” to Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Series sound card. “hmmm.” We paid close attention to the The storage subsystem is composed of two fan noise on the Force Recon T7N, and 80GB Intel X25-M SSDs in RAID 0 and a single 1.5TB Hitachi drive for media files. A single LG Super Multi Blue Blu-ray Force Recon T7N Writer/HD-DVD ROM drive is Vigor’s $6,499 optical drive of choice. Vigor also sent us Vigor Gaming the Logitech G5 Laser Mouse and the www.vigorgaming.com Razer Lycosa keyboard. Vigor also supplied ● ● ● us with a selection of preinstalled MAME

CPU RANKING ● 0 = ABSOLUTELY WORTHLESS | ● ● ● 2.5 = ABSOLUTELY AVERAGE | ● ● ● ● ● 5 = ABSOLUTELY PERFECT

32 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com

reviews | hardware

Souped-up Scoreboard We subjected this year’s lot of luxury a well-rounded workhorse. Gaming goliaths or we didn’t forget the tweaks: Any overclocked PCs to CPU’s latest gauntlet of syn- media-crunching maestros will also shine in their machine that remains stable throughout our test- thetic and real-world benchmarks. respective benchmarks, letting you see which sys- ing is surely stable enough to survive an enthusi- Although the real-world benchmarks tem best suits your power-user tendencies. And ast’s workload. ▲ we rely on show you how these systems handle specific applications, the synthetic benchmarks are also useful for demonstrating how the systems perform in a given type of application, such as those that heavily stress the CPU or GPU. Based on these results, you can safely assume that any rig that dominates in every benchmark will be AVADirect Custom Gaming PC Digital Storm Benchmark Crusher Hypersonic Sonic Boom ATS iBuyPower Gamer Paladin XLC Maingear Ephex Overdrive PC BigBlock GTR Puget Systems Genesis II 3DMark Vantage Overall 29170 30688 30659 30628 30120 31686 24002 GPU Score 30409 32389 32189 33612 31938 33970 22298 GPU1 (fps) 85.97 94.56 94.55 94.24 93.13 98.44 61.38 GPU2 (fps) 92.28 95.2 94.02 102.81 93.99 100.61 69.39 CPU Score 25994 26513 26832 25508 25726 26366 31144 CPU1 (Plans/s) 3042.98 3767.22 3799.03 3582.62 3618.93 3714.13 4403.01 CPU2 (Steps/s)1,024 x 768 33.3 32.67 33.4 32.48 32.62 33.3 38.94 PCMark Vantage Pro 1.1 Overall 10089 16338 13026 15421 15875 17212 11515 Memories 6553 10361 6864 9943 9919 9309 7649 TV And Movies 5053 17910 4794 6559 6116 7896 5382 Gaming 16790 13473 19157 20333 20874 17592 13300 Music 10513 10773 11814 13810 13526 14306 7412 Communications 8005 15501 11165 11463 13088 11894 9238

Productivity1,600 x 1,200 11958 25897 18358 22035 25558 24042 16931 HDD 12018 33221 12903 34035 38472 48490 9164 Cinebench 10 Multithreaded (score) 25072 24989 25543 24099 24103 25128 31608 Multithreaded (min:sec) 0:34 0:34 0:34 0:33 0:36 0:35 0:27 POV-Ray 3.7 Beta (pixels/s) 5443.64 5357.9 5427.07 5193.85 5341.37 5360.05 8249.49 SiSoft Sandra 2009 Lite SP3 Processor Arithmetic Dhrystone iSSE4.2 (GIPS) 106.60 106.28 105.72 101.18 104.52 104.49 168.40 Whetstone iSSE3 (GFLOPS) 92.27 95.57 89.90 88.32 90.43 90.00 136.70 Processor Multi-Media Integer x16 iSSSE4.1 (Mpixels/s) 222.77 220.50 219.00 211.40 217.41 218.00 350.85 Floating Point x8 iSSE2 (Mpixels/s) 167.67 165.38 169.42 163.00 167.57 168.00 270.00 Double x4 ISSE2 (Mpixels/s) 91.84 92.23 91.58 89.91 92.35 92.36 149.00 Memory Bandwidth Integer Buffered iSSE2 (GB/s) 25.50 30.74 31 30.25 24.22 28.33 38.78 Floating Point Buffered iSSE2 (GB/s) 24.74 30.89 31.18 30.45 24.22 28.42 38.84 Dr. DivX 2.0.1 (min:sec) 2:32 2:45 2:54 2:55 2:59 3:00 3:06 WinRAR 3.71 (min:sec) 1:09 0:57 1:05 1:01 1:06 1:03 1:20 Games Far Cry 2 (8XAA)2,560 47.06fps 27.82fps 83.57fps 34.55fps 37.50fps 82.79fps 10.75fps x Left 4 Dead (8XAA, 16XAF)1,600 162.55fps 123.65fps 140.25fps 134.81fps 127.03fps 146.44fps 106.97fps Price $6,889.29 $7,965 $13,999.99 $5,999 $7,864.25 $11,395 $10,414.01 CPUs ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

CPU RANKING ● 0 = ABSOLUTELY WORTHLESS | ● ● ● 2.5 = ABSOLUTELY AVERAGE | ● ● ● ● ● 5 = ABSOLUTELY PERFECT

34 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com reviews | hardware

Specs: Intel Core i7 975 Extreme Edition @ 4.16GHz; Motherboard: MSI X58 Eclipse Plus (w/ nForce 200); RAM: 12GB Kingston DDR3-2000; HDDs: 80GB Intel X-25M SSDs (x2; RAID 0), 1.5TB Hitachi; ODD: LG Super Multi Blue Blu-ray Writer/HD-DVD ROM; GPUs: MSI GeForce GTX 285 OC (x3; 3-Way SLI); PSU: Vigor Bolt 1000W Modular Smooth Creations Reaper Extreme Edition Velocity Micro Raptor Signature Edition Vigor Gaming Force Recon T7N

games (fully licensed of course) and an managed to score third place in PCMark 28425 30725 29556 arcade controller, which will be available by Vantage’s Gaming and Memories tests. It 30984 33178 31259 October for $250. A three-year parts and also placed fourth in Far Cry 2. Despite 88.33 96.03 90.78 labor warranty is also part of the package. never running ahead of the pack, Vigor’s 93.27 98.38 92.38 In the benchmarks, The Force Recon offering did manage to keep pace with 22779 25148 25402 T7N didn’t shine in any single test but the big dogs. ▲ 3201.73 3537.94 3581.58 28.95 31.88 32

10693 16789 14719 Final Word quality of the paint jobs on the single- 7535 11815 10259 colored Digital Storm, Vigor, and AVA- 6427 8200 6371 t’s no secret that the vast majority of Direct systems, as well. 11049 19025 19799 you (and us, too) aren’t capable of buy- In performance, no single system really 7699 14305 11937 I ing a $10,000 luxury PC. But just be- ran away with the top prize, although 9573 11451 11236 cause a top-of-the-line performance PC Puget’s unique dual-Xeon W5590 and 10547 22288 20317 painted to eye-popping perfection is likely Shady Cove combo brute-forced its way 7306 40883 29589 beyond your budget doesn’t mean you to the top in a number of the bench- can’t get a quality build from these builders marks. Although it’s not much to look at 21654 24173 23966 for a more affordable price. on the outside, the overall best perform- 0:40 0:36 0:36 CPU’s annual dream PC roundup is a ing system has to be the Overdrive PC 4551.43 5094.82 5199 chance for the best of the boutiques to BigBlock GTR, but Digital Storm’s strut their stuff, pull out all the stops, and Benchmark Crusher, Hypersonic’s Son- wow us all with the pinnacle of perfor- ic Boom ATS, Maingear’s Ephex, and 90.23 99.71 101.36 mance and peak of aesthetic brilliance. iBuyPower’s Gamer Paladin XLC also 80.00 86.44 87.00 Although this year’s batch certainly aced turned in respectable runs in a majority the first part, they generally failed miser- of the benchmarks. 185.83 207.64 210.76 ably when it came to pure artistry. The At the end of the day, all of these sys- 141.00 160.13 162.67 paint on Smooth Creation’s Reaper tems are more than capable of playing 77.64 88.16 89.63 Extreme Edition, while a bit cliché BDs, running current games, ripping (enough with the skulls!), is sure to CDs, editing video, rendering 3D mod- 23.30 26.87 27.48 impress even the most jaded LAN atten- els, folding proteins, or whatever else your 23.30 27.17 27.49 dees. The Smokewerks paint job on the enthusiast heart desires—sometimes all at 2:36 3:05 3:04 Maingear Ephex was a more abstract once and always without flinching. So 1:08 1:05 1:07 offering, but appealing nonetheless. Hy- until next year, dear reader, dream big personic’s paint/sticker approach and and save your imaginary pennies. ▲ 61.39fps 77.92fps 64.96fps iBuyPower’s two-tone number weren’t 122.92fps 142.46fps` 137.55fps quite as impressive but at least showed by Andrew Leibman, Nathan Lake, $6,499 $9,999 $6,499 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● some creative color choices. We liked the and Seth Colaner

CPU RANKING ● 0 = ABSOLUTELY WORTHLESS | ● ● ● 2.5 = ABSOLUTELY AVERAGE | ● ● ● ● ● 5 = ABSOLUTELY PERFECT

CPU / October 2009 35 reviews | hardware Antec Mini Skeleton-90

f you’re an SFF fan and you’re the hard- 33dBA noise output, Mini Skeleton-90 I core hardware type, then the Mini respectively), and the $119 Skeleton-90 may be for you. Like its 70mm rear fan whis- Antec slightly older and more publicized broth- pers along at 20dBA. www.antec.com er, the Skeleton, the Mini is an arched Considering this ● ● ● open-frame chassis based on slideout trays isn’t a quiet case per and a top-mounted, downward-blowing se, the end result is fan. Specifically, the Mini can host a respectably muted, Mini-ITX motherboard, one 5.25-inch especially when used drive, two 2.5-inch drives within the with a low-voltage chassis, and another two 2.5-inch drives CPU, such as the several Mini-ITX 80W draws before accounting for other that mount in brackets and hang from the options based on Intel’s Atom. hardware. You’re practically restricted to outer sides. If you need more than inte- But this brings up the core paradox an Atom platform. This is fine if you have grated graphics, the Mini supports a half- of the Mini Skeleton-90. Will an Atom a dual-core Atom config running some height expansion slot. owner want an open-frame case? Probably sort of multimedia app with a half-height A picture of this case doesn’t do its not. However, a power user armed with a PEG card and want to display it some- diminutive size justice, and it’s just as Mini-ITX board based on the G45 or where as a conversation piece, but this aesthetically impressive as its big brother. 780G chipsets would . . . if the Mini seems like a very niche role. You can set the top-mounted 150mm didn’t come with a 90W power supply. We found the Mini Skeleton clever, fan to 1,500rpm, 2,000rpm, and This is the case’s Achilles’ heel, as such attractive, sturdy, and a breeze to work 2,600rpm (22.8dBA, 28.5dBA, and CPU/board combos can easily exceed on, but it’s a solution in search of a problem, at least until Antec updates it with a ▲ Specs: Dimensions: 7.5 x 8.3 x 9.1 inches (HxWxD); Weight: 5.5 pounds.; Form factor: higher-capacity PSU. Mini-ITX; Ports: 2 USB 2.0, mic, audio out; Bays: 1 5.25-inch, 2 2.5-inch internal, 2 2.5- inch external; Fans: 150mm TriCool blue LED front, 70mm rear by William Van Winkle Aerocool Touch-2000

an controllers make it far easier to screen bright, crisp, Touch-2000 F manage your system’s airflow and and easy to use. $59.99 temperature. Aerocool’s Touch-2000 fan Other useful fea- Aerocool controller lets you connect and monitor tures include the abili- www.aerocool.us up to four fans with a single integrated ty to set an overheating ● ● ● ● control panel. alarm for each fan, The Touch-2000’s most prominent a lock function that feature is its LCD touchscreen, which prevents accidental set- accommodate our measures about 2.2 x 4.5 inches (HxW). ting changes, and the inclu- case, a component on the circuit The touchscreen displays the speed for sion of one eSATA, two USB, board blocked one of them, making it each of the four connected fans and, and audio I/O ports on the front of the impossible to slide the Touch-2000 depending on your preference, provides panel, adding functionality and accessibil- completely into the bay. Instead, it pro- individual temperature readouts in ity to the case front. truded awkwardly from the case front. either Fahrenheit or Celsius. Altering The Touch-2000 occupied two In other cases without bay spacers, the fan speed consists of touching a par- of our computer’s 5.25-inch external though, the Touch-2000 fit securely in ticular fan icon on the screen and using drive bays. Initially, we attempted to the front panel. the plus (+) and minus (-) icons to install the Touch-2000 in a case with With such a large LCD touchscreen, increase or decrease the speed, respec- an irremovable spacer between each built-in I/O panel, and nearly flawless tively. The touchscreen was responsive bay. Although the Touch-2000 had performace, the Touch-2000 makes for a and featured a backlight that made the notches on each side that looked to great buy. ▲

Specs: Display: LCD touchscreen; Connectors: 4 3-pin connectors, 4 heat sensors; Max by Kris Glaser wattage per fan: 6W; I/O: 1 eSATA, 2 USB, audio I/O

CPU RANKING ● 0 = ABSOLUTELY WORTHLESS | ● ● ● 2.5 = ABSOLUTELY AVERAGE | ● ● ● ● ● 5 = ABSOLUTELY PERFECT

36 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com reviews | hardware Alienware M17x

ince its inception (way before Dell’s M17x S acquisition of the company), Alien- $4,849 (as tested) ware systems, and the Alienware brand Alienware itself, have been synonymous with PC www.alienware.com gaming. Whether it’s the relatively afford- ● ● ● ● able Aurora or current flagship ALX X58 series of desktop systems, Alienware un- abashedly targets its machines at gamers and enthusiasts looking for high-performance and uniquely “alien” aesthetics. Like its desktops, Alienware’s latest flagship gaming notebook, the M17x, continues the company’s tradition of targeting gamers. As its name implies, the M17x is built around a 17-inch LCD and sports a similarly large form factor. Considering how powerful the M17x is, though, a large numerous color options. The touchpad If you’re in the market for a gaming or DTR (desktop replacement) form factor was less responsive than I would have DTR notebook, do yourself a favor and should be expected, as should significant liked and was occasionally jumpy, but it check out the M17x. ▲ weight. In fact, the M17x weighs a hefty didn’t hinder use of the machine. A row 11.7 lbs. It’s far more portable than a desk- of touch-sensitive buttons that runs along by Marco Chiappetta top PC, but this machine is far from a road the top edge of the keyboard, however, warrior’s best friend. were finicky at best and sometimes didn’t Benchmark Numbers The Alienware M17x’s chassis screams register any input. Thankfully, everything of quality. From its edge-to-edge glass-cov- these buttons control (media player, vol- Futuremark PCMark Vantage PCMarks 5567 ered LCD to its thick aluminum shell, the ume, Wi-Fi, etc.) can be altered using the Memories 4464 M17x inspires confidence. The honey- control panel. TV & Movies 4175 comb-textured touchpad and surrounding Connectivity on the M17x is superb. Gaming 4776 composite bezel also seem to be made of The front of the machine sports a hidden Music 4186 durable materials and resist fingerprints. IR sensor, and the back is home to only the Communications 5280 Aside from a couple of Alienware’s signa- AC power connector. The left side of the Productivity 5705 ture alien heads used on the lid and the machine is outfitted with several display Hard Drive 4130 power button, however, the M17x doesn’t outputs (VGA, HDMI/DVI, and Display- 3DMark Vantage (Extreme Preset) appear to be very . . . well . . . alien. The Port), a lock port, Gigabit Ethernet port, 3DMarks 4942 machine actually resembles a vintage mus- two USB ports, a USB/eSATA combo con- GPU Score 4737 CPU Score (PhysX On) 27525 cle car more than anything from outer nector with PowerShare, a FireWire con- GPU Test 1 14.75 space. With the lid closed, the front edge nector, and basically the system can GPU Test 2 12.98 of the M17x looks much like the nose of connect to any kind of modern display. CPU Test 1 1314.35 a Pontiac Trans Am from the ’80s, a la The right side sports a slot-loading optical CPU Test 2 99.12 “Knight Rider.” With the lid opened and drive, flash media and ExpressCard slots, Left 4 Dead the machine powered on, though, the light- two more USB ports, and a quartet of 1,920 x 1,200 (High ed keyboard, Alienware logo, and pulsating audio-related connectors. Quality, 4XAA, 16XAF) 59.25 alien heads tell you the M17x is The M17x is offered with a variety of definitely an Alienware-built system. configuration options, and, as such, has Specs (as tested): CPU: Intel Core 2 The M17x’s glossy LCD offers a 1,920 an equally wide array of prices. The ultra- Extreme Quad QX9300 @ 2.53GHz (12MB Cache, 1,066MHz FSB); GPU: x 1,200 resolution with excellent bright- high-end machine I tested, which was Nvidia GeForce GTX 280M (x2, 1GB per ness and uniformity. And its built-in equipped with a quad-core Intel proces- GPU, SLI); Display: 17-inch WUXGA speakers are some of the best I’ve heard in sor, GeForce GTX 280M SLI graphics, 1,920 x 1,200; RAM: 8GB Dual Channel a notebook. The lighted keyboard flexes a and a 1TB RAID 0 array, performed bet- DDR3-1333; Storage: 1TB (2x 500GB bit in the center, which is annoying, but ter than any other notebook I’ve tested. 7,200rpm HDDs, RAID 0); Blu-ray combo drive (BR-ROM, DVD±RW, CD-RW); it has good tactile feedback. You can cus- But even with a lower-end configuration, Windows Vista Home Premium (64-bit); tomize the keyboard’s backlighting with the M17x is sure to please. one-year limited hardware warranty

CPU RANKING ● 0 = ABSOLUTELY WORTHLESS | ● ● ● 2.5 = ABSOLUTELY AVERAGE | ● ● ● ● ● 5 = ABSOLUTELY PERFECT

CPU / October 2009 37 reviews | hardware

Enermax Galaxy EVO 1250W difference, you’ll find its lower efficiency is worth the added stability under f you’re familiar with Enermax’s Revolu- handful of helpful features (each labeled heavy load. ▲ I tion 85+ lineup, its Galaxy EVO series with a clever marketing term). HeatGuard, probably looks very similar, from the sleek for instance, keeps the power supply’s fan by Paul Cross black enclosure to the modular connectivity running for up to a minute after it has been and quiet 135mm cooling fan. But where shut off, dissipating latent heat and hope- Specs Enermax Galaxy the Revolution put a heavy emphasis on fully extending component lifetime. EVO 1250W Rated Continuous (W) 1,250W efficiency, the Galaxy is all about output. SafeGuard is a marketing term referring to Rated Peak (W) 1,500W Not that the Galaxy EVO sacrifices its the PSU’s built-in protections against 12V Rails 6 own efficiency numbers in the process: It under- and over-volt/current states, safe- +12V Continuous (A) 30A still achieved an 80 Plus Bronze certifica- guarding hardware against spikes and sags. +5V Continuous (A) 25A tion. Nvidia recommends the Galaxy EVO If you can get away with the less expen- +3.3V Continuous (A) 25A for systems running a pair of GeForce GTX sive, more efficient Revolution 85+, that’s Efficiency Rating Up to 89% 285s or a trio of GeForce GTX 280s. Of the route we’d recommend. But when (as advertised) (@ 50% Load) course, we previously found that the the Galaxy EVO’s extra 200W makes a Fan(s) Location Bottom (1x 135mm) 1,050W Revolution 85+ drove an Intel PCI-E 6-Pin/8-Pin 8x 6+2 Pin Core i7-975 Extreme and three GeForce Main 12V 24-pin GTX 280s without issue, so it wasn’t a sur- 8-Pin EPS12V 2 (1 8-pin, 1 4+4-pin) prise that the 1,250W Galaxy SATA 16 Molex 4-Pin Peripheral 6 EVO powered this demand- Galaxy EVO 1250W Floppy 4-Pin 0 $349 ing configuration. Finish Matte Black (textured) Enermax In addition to its com- Length, including cable pelling performance, Ener- www.enermaxusa.com bend (in inches) 21.6 max arms the Galaxy with a ● ● ● ● Warranty Three Years

Gigabyte MA785GMT-UD2H gaming system with the addition of discrete graphics. ▲ mall. Quiet. Fast. Those are the three 30-inch Dell display requires dual-link out- S qualities you look for when you’re put; this board should be able to handle sin- by Paul Cross building a business desktop or HTPC. gle-link DVI LCDs at higher resolutions. Gigabyte’s MA785GMT-UD2H mother- Though it’s newer than the 790GX/ board delivers an ideal feature list for either SB750 chipset combo, the 785G/SB710 is MA785GMT- usage model, thanks in large part to its actually more of a mainstream part, hence UD2H AMD 785G chipset. The board supports the MA785GMT-UD2H’s $89.99 price. $89.99 Phenom II processors through an AM3 And although AMD’s integrated Radeon Gigabyte socket interface. It enables dual-channel HD 4200 GPU sounds more advanced www.gigabyte.us memory configurations via four DDR3 than the 790GX’s Radeon HD 3300, ● ● ● ● slots. And it includes a new integrated gaming performance is actually a Radeon HD 4200 graphics core. little slower. Where the 785G’s Benchmark Numbers Sadly, the DVI and HDMI outputs graphics engine takes a big step Gigabyte ASRock can’t be used at the same time. If you want up is its UVD 2 support, acceler- MA785GMT-UD2H M3A790GXH/128M to drive dual displays with this board, you’ll ating all three codecs used to Far Cry 2 (in fps) either need to use the analog connector or encode Blu-ray movies. 640x480, no AA 13.98 17.32 buy a discrete card to drop into its PCI Clearly set up to excel in 800x600, no AA 11.82 14.65 Express x16 slot. Our review sample also environments heavy on A/V, WinRAR 3.9 Beta 1 1:35 1:39 wouldn’t get along with Dell’s 30-inch moni- the MA785GMT-UD2H is a tor, displaying a garbled screen at resolutions well-rounded platform that you MainConcept 1.6.1 2:05 2:04 larger than 1,024 x 768. Of course, the can convert into an inexpensive Note: The ASRock comparison platform’s 128MB SidePort memory cache was disabled for the most comparable gaming results.

Specs: Chipset: AMD 785G/SB710; Max memory: 16GB (DDR3-1666); GPU: ATI Test system specs: 3.2GHz Phenom II X4 955; 4GB Corsair Radeon HD 4200 (VGA/DVI/HDMI outputs); Slots: 1 PCI-E x16 2.0, 1 PCI-E x1, 2 Dominator DDR3-1333 (7-7-7); 300GB Western Digital PCI; Ports: 1 Gigabit Ethernet, FireWire 400, 5 SATA 3Gbps, 1 eSATA, 6 USB 2.0 VelociRaptor; Radeon HD 4200.

CPU RANKING ● 0 = ABSOLUTELY WORTHLESS | ● ● ● 2.5 = ABSOLUTELY AVERAGE | ● ● ● ● ● 5 = ABSOLUTELY PERFECT

38 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com

reviews | hardware OCZ DDR3 PC3-17000 Blade Series

riple-channel DDR3 memory kits as well as current 1.5V DDR3 specs. hit 2,133MHz at CL8-9-8-24 no problem T continue to be refined for higher per- When running at 1.65V, this kit is rated with 1.66V set on the memory settings in formance. We took a look at OCZ’s new for a top-end clock speed of 2,133MHz the BIOS. This was as fast as we could Blade series DDR3-2133 kit for a few with latency settings of CL 8-9-8-24. push the memory, however. Here we real- benchmark runs and were duly impressed. We found that the kit performed per- ized an aggregate bandwidth of 28.64GBps This Blade series kit (part number fectly as advertised in our Gigabyte EX58- in SiSoft Sandra’s Memory Bandwidth OCZ3B2133LV6GK) is built with Extreme motherboard test bed, with a test. With our processor dialed in to Elpidia Hyper J1108BASE-MNH-E IC Core i7-975 Extreme Edition CPU. (If 4.1GHz and a slightly more modest chips. These are new low-voltage 50nm you want to get the utmost performance 1,968MHz memory clock, we hit a blis- DRAM chips capable of running at both from this module kit, it’s best to tering 281fps in our Crysis 800 x 600 low-voltage 1.2V specification run them with one of Intel’s low-res gaming test. new D0 stepping Core i7 Of course, this bleeding-edge memory processors. This new CPU technology also commands a seriously DDR3 PC3-17000 stepping for Intel is noted for premium price, so unless you want brag- Blade Series having a slightly enhanced ging rights, you can definitely find better $409 memory controller capable of values out there. Regardless, OCZ’s 6GB OCZ higher top-end clock speeds Blade 2133 kit is undoubtedly some of www.ocztechnology.com over its DDR3 memory inter- the fastest triple-channel DDR3 memory ● ● ● ● face.) The Blade 2133 series kit we tested on the market. ▲

Specs: Capacity: 6GB (3x 2GB); Timings: 8(CAS), 9(tRCD), 8(tRP), 24(tRAS), 1T by Dave Altavilla (Command Rate); Voltage: 1.65V; lifetime warranty

PCMark Vantage ioDrive Intel X25-M Fusion-io ioDrive 160GB (4x RAID 0) Defender (MBps) 406.62 259.71 SDs as we know them are technically the ioDrive. We tested an 80GB variant Gaming (MBps) 483.51 198.44 S flawed. In fact, it’s arguable that the back in March (see page 40 in the March Photo Gallery (MBps) 482.82 302.60 SATA interface itself is flawed. You see, 2009 issue) and took time to revisit Fusion- Vista Startup (MBps) 657.59 313.26 the SATA interface is an adaptation of the io’s 160GB version to see how it stacks up Movie Maker (MBps) 399.85 376.21 ATA/IDE. Also, SATA chipset controllers against a quartet of Intel X25-M SSDs in Media Center (MBps) 496.54 156.80 bridge from the legacy but newer SATA RAID 0—a ridiculously fast competitor. Application interface to PCI-E, where they connect to The 160GB SLC ioDrive we tested is Loading (MBps) 460.30 267.05 these “native” serial links on the mother- rated for 750MBps read/670MBps write Windows Media board chipset. What does this “bridging” bandwidth. Those four 80GB Intel X25-M Player (MBps) 264.33 215.07 from SATA to PCI-E do for you besides SSDs theoretically are capable of 1GBps adapt an older, backward-compatible inter- read/280MBps write bandwidth. The num- HD Tach face to a newer interface? It adds latency bers speak for themselves, but it’s safe to Average Read (MBps) 581 702 and slows things down. say that removing the latency of bridging Average Write (MBps) 506 306 Solid-state storage of the future, in all SATA to PCI-E has its advantages. Burst Speed 702 1996 likelihood, will eventually do away with Currently, the Fusion-io drive is a bit IOMeter this bridging and direct attach NAND flash out of reach for the average end user, but Workstation – 8 IO/ memory volumes to PCI-E. The folks at enterprise applications that demand this target (IOps) 71544 35171 Fusion-io managed to bring a bit of sort of throughput will more easily justify Database - 64 IO/ the future to the here and now with its cost. Fusion-io is also bringing its end target (IOps) 69744 43753 user-targeted ioXtreme Test system specs: Intel Core i7-975 Extreme 3.33GHz, SSD to market sometime ioDrive 160GB Gigabyte EX58-Extreme, 6GB DDR3-1066, Windows in July with a much more $7,200 Vista Ultimate 64-bit SP2, ioDrive driver: 1.2.5.0 Fusion-io palatable price. We’ll be salivating until then. ▲ www.fusion-io.com Specs: 750MBps read/670MBps write; 50µs ● ● ● ● read access latency, 48 years 5TB daily by Dave Altavilla write/erase, PCI-E x4 interface

CPU RANKING ● 0 = ABSOLUTELY WORTHLESS | ● ● ● 2.5 = ABSOLUTELY AVERAGE | ● ● ● ● ● 5 = ABSOLUTELY PERFECT

40 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com The SSD Update

henever I write a big SSD article for AnandTech, I expect drives deliver better sequential write performance and cost less. W that the next one will somehow take less time or be less Both Intel and Indilinx SSDs are an order of magnitude faster involved. That never ends up being the case. The last time I tackled than the best hard drives, so it ultimately boils down to capacity SSDs, I came to the same conclusion I ended up with the previous and price point. time: Intel’s X25-M was the SSD to beat. Unfortunately, at the Intel offers two capacities for its drives: 80GB and 160GB. time it was still priced well above $400 for even the smallest 80GB Indilinx drives come in 60GB, 120GB, and 250GB flavors. And drive and wasn’t a very realistic option for many. Thankfully, things as it turns out, the companies’ prices actually work out to com- were changing, and while my conclu- plement each other nicely. Intel’s sions six months ago mirrored those 80GB is more expensive than a 60GB from the six months prior, I’m finally Indilinx but cheaper than a 120GB comfortable with recommending some- Indilinx. And Intel’s 160GB drive thing other than Intel’s drive. falls between Indilinx’s 120GB and Don’t get me wrong, the X25-M 250GB options. continues to be one of the strongest if Intel’s latest drive, the 34nm X25- not the strongest SSD on the market M G2, actually further improves ran- today; it’s just that we need real com- dom write performance, but as of now petition for this market to mature and the drive isn’t shipping. At the last develop. In terms of sheer numbers, minute, Intel caught a potential data Samsung is at the top. The No.1 sup- loss issue and stopped shipments until plier of SSDs to OEMs unfortunately a fix can be made public. It just goes doesn’t deliver the best performance. to show you that even though Indilinx The SSDs that you can get with your has had its share of firmware issues, Apple or Lenovo system are priced even the almighty Intel is not immune like a luxury item but don’t perform to them. like one. Compared to a mechanical My recommendation, if you’re look- hard drive, especially one you’d find ing to upgrade to an SSD, is as fol- in a notebook, the Samsung SSD lows: You can’t go wrong with either works well. The problem is that there Intel or Indilinx. Indilinx-based drives are other drives that just work better (OCZ Vertex, G.Skill Falcon, OCZ and at a lower cost. Agility, Corsair Extreme Series, Super Indilinx is the newcomer that caught my Anand Lal Shimpi has turned a Talent UltraDrive ME, and Patriot Torqx) eye the last time I did a serious SSD review. fledgling personal page on are cheaper per GB than the X25-M. The This is the company behind SSDs like GeoCities.com into one of the world’s problem is that if 60GB is too small for OCZ’s Vertex, the G.Skill Falcon, and most visited and trusted PC you, then you’ll actually have to end up Corsair’s new Extreme Series. Their Bare- hardware sites. Anand started spending more than Intel’s 80GB drive foot controller offers the most Intel-like his site in 1997 at just 14 years to get a 120GB Indilinx drive. Pick the performance out of anything on the market old and has since been featured capacity that seems right to you (keeping and generally for less money. in USA Today, CBS’ “48 Hours,” in mind that you’ll want to keep at least When I first met Indilinx’s Barefoot con- and Fortune. His site— 10 to 20% of your drive empty to keep troller, its performance was the only one I www.anandtech.com—receives more performance as high as possible) and go could bother recommending other than than 55 million page views and is for it. Intel. Unfortunately, it was quite immature read by more than 2 million Windows 7 is right around the corner, back then and needed several firmware readers per month. and regardless of what sort of system you updates and tweaks before it reached a truly have, an SSD will yield a significant competitive maturity level. Today, four improvement. ▲ major firmware updates later, Indilinx is at that level. Talk back to Anand at [email protected] The Intel drives still offer better random write performance, but the Indilinx

CPU / October 2009 41 hard hat area | pc modder

Enermax’s Magma line of case fans offers innovations such as “batwing” fan PC Modder blades and long-lasting “Twister“ bearings. Tips & Tutorials case fan, but Enermax has done just that with its Magma series fans. Magma fans are available in 80mm ($11.99; www.xoxide Modding does the body good. A PC’s body anyway, inside and out. Here you’ll find .com) and 120mm ($16.99) flavors and hardware, firmware, tools, tips, and tutorials for modding your rig’s performance and feature Enermax’s Twister bearing technol- appearance. Send us your own mod-related tips and ideas at [email protected]. ogy that the company claims doubles Magma fans’ life span vs. 2-ball bearing fans. Enermax claims these fans are the odding enthusiasts have a available in bottles that also come with world’s first that can operate at 85 degrees penchant for the latest toys. dropper caps to eliminate the need for a Celsius for at least 100,000 hours. M Fast processors, powerful funnel when pouring the liquid into The Enermax Magma Twister fans also video cards, silent SFF enclosures, and rad- right reservoir openings. Unopened bot- feature a batwing-style fan blade design ically lit motherboards are all fair game tles of F1, which are available in 1L and curved frame that combined offer an when it comes to a modder’s creative quantities, should last up to three years. additional 20 to 30% airflow over standard mind. Recognizing the appeal of uncon- fans. And the blades are even removable ventional customization, an entire industry Logisys FP708 for easy cleaning. The Enermax Magma has emerged to support the community. Thermal controllers are a popular way fans are rated at 18dBA and 21dBA for the to add some bling to a system while 120mm and 80mm fans, respectively, and Mods & Ends incorporating additional features at the vibration-isolating mounts help minimize Feser One F1 Cooling Fluid same time. As you can probably sur- even more unwanted noise. To keep a liquid-cooling kit function- mise, the Logisys FP708BK (black) and ing properly and operating at peak FP708SL (silver) give users the ability to Fashionably Fresh Firmware performance, a quality cooling fluid is connect and control case fans—three in LaCie LaCinema Rugged (v5.15E) paramount. Sure, plain old water treated fact—but they also incorporate a digital An update for the LaCie LaCinema with anticorrosives is fine for some clock that displays date and time. Rugged media player improves book- folks, but a high-end liquid cooling kit mark support. just begs for a similarly high-end cooling www.lacie.com fluid. Enter Feser One. Feser One F1 Cooling Fluid ($18.99; DViCO TViX M-6500 / 7000 (v1.3.137) www.crazypc.com) is available in a num- This firmware update for the TViX ber of colors and features anticorrosive M-6500/7000 series media jukeboxes additives compatible with aluminum, increases the readability of on-screen brass, copper, and nickel waterblocks. characters (including the subtitles), adds The Feser One high-performance flu- The Logisys FP708 mounts in a 5.25-inch drive support for more Wi-Fi modules, fixes id is also non-electrically conductive, bay and incorporates a digital clock with a some HDMI audio issues, and enhances so leaky fluid won’t short out any sys- thermal controller. playback quality of multiple file types. tem components. The www.tvix.co.kr coolant’s anti-algae The Logisys FP708 ($26.99; www properties keep your .xoxide.com) fits in an available 5.25-inch Qnap TS-109 (v3.1.0 build 0708) tubing clean. Feser drive bay and offers low, medium, and The latest firmware update for the One F1 nonconductive high fan speed controls and three tempera- QNAP TS-109 NAS server features a new UV cooling fluid is ture sensors that can be mounted any- UI design and resolves some issues relat- where in a system (but are labeled CPU, ed to IP Filter and Network Access Feser One F1 UV-reactive HDD, and SYS on the unit’s display). Protection, importing SSL Secure Certifi- cooling fluid doesn’t cates, and network service discovery. conduct electricity and is Enermax Magma www.qnap.com available in a multitude It is hard to believe that new innovations of colors. can be added to something as simple as a by Marco Chiappetta

42 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com hard hat area | pc modder

Radeon HD 4890 Overclocking Get The Most From AMD’s RV790

Some Radeon HD 4890 cards, such as the Asus EAH4890 TOP, give users the ability to alter GPU voltages using software. And with a bump in GPU voltage and enhanced cooling, higher overclocks should be possible.

MD’s ATI Radeon HD 4890 is Although their features are technically implemented around the chip to reduce an interesting product to both very similar, the RV790 does differ from signal noise. The changes to the core and A gamers and modders alike. It’s the RV770 in a number of key ways. the addition of the decap ring result in an both a relatively good performer, consid- Some may be tempted to say the RV790 increase in die and packaging size, but the ering its price, and it’s based on the most is simply an overclocked RV770, but that end result is a GPU that can run at much powerful single-GPU card from AMD to isn’t correct. The RV790 at the heart of higher clock speeds than the RV770. date, the RV790. But what makes the the Radeon HD 4890 is composed of It’s these high frequencies that we’re RV790 so interesting is that the chip was more transistors than the RV770 (959 going to explore in this month’s mod. designed from the ground up to operate million vs. 956 million). It also has a few We’re going to take an Asus factory-over- at very high clock speeds. inherent features that are conducive to clocked Radeon HD 4890, the EAH4890 Fundamentally, the RV790 GPU used higher frequency operation. The addi- TOP, increase its GPU core voltage, mod on the Radeon HD 4890 is very similar tional transistors are actually dedicated to its cooling, and see how much faster we to the RV770 used on the older Radeon updates made to the core in an effort to can make it. HD 4870. The two GPUs share many of achieve higher clock speeds. According to the same features, including the number AMD, it re-timed the entire chip and Physical Modifications of shader processors (800), an equal altered the power distribution on the The first thing we did to our amount of texture units (40), and similar RV790. In addition, a decap ring, or EAH4890 TOP was mod its stock cool- ROP configurations. a ring of decoupling capacitors, was ing assembly to ensure it was operating at

CPU / October 2009 43 hard hat area | pc modder

To enhance the cooling performance on our Asus EAH4890 TOP card, we replaced its stock TIM (thermal interface material) with a high-performing type from OCZ (in addition to polishing the base of its heatsink so it would make better contact with the GPU). Slightly stretching the springs used on the GPU heatsink’s retention clip also helped to ensure a tighter bond between the heatsink and GPU, ensuring optimal performance.

peak performance. The coolers installed on assembly and GPU/RAM. Even if you pattern and don’t overtighten too early. most graphics cards at the factory are usual- don’t plan to mod your Radeon HD 4890, Install one screw on the left side until it is ly treated to sub-par applications of TIM take a screwdriver to its heatsink retention barely tight; then, install one on the right (thermal interface material), and the bases screws and ensure that they’re snug. side, one along the top edge, and so on. of their heatsinks aren’t always perfectly A giant glop of thick, silvery thermal Working this way ensures the heat- smooth. Remedying these two problems paste was revealed after we removed the sink assembly stays flat and level, main- will decrease our operating temps, and it EAH4890’s stock cooler, so we carefully taining good contact with the GPU and doesn’t require anything more than some cleaned it up using some cotton swabs other components. good thermal paste and metal polish. and a lint-free microfiber cloth. Be careful Removing the cooler from the during cleanup to avoid dripping on the The Soft Mods EAH4890 TOP requires the removal of components mounted to the surface of After modding our card’s cooler, we no fewer than 14 screws. There are 10 the GPU, as this could cause a short cir- installed the card into our test system and screws holding the bulk of the heatsink cuit. We also cleaned up the base of the moved on to the second part of the pro- and cooler assembly in place, while the copper GPU heatsink and polished it to a ject, the GPU volt mod. Some Rade- remaining four are dedicated to the cop- near mirror finish using some wadding on HD 4890 cards, such as our Asus per GPU heatsink. To remove the screws, metal polish. The heatsink’s base was in EAH4890 TOP, can have their GPU we used a small Philips screwdriver; one pretty good shape from the get-go, but voltages altered using simple software util- with a magnetic tip is preferable. We there were some burrs along one edge that ities. The Asus Smart Doctor Utility, for should warn you that the four smaller we were able to minimize with polishing. example, gives users the ability to alter screws used on the GPU heatsink reten- While we had the heatsink assembly GPU voltages, fan speeds, and frequencies tion clip on the back of the card are removed from the card, we also took of the memory and GPU core. spring-loaded, so work slowly and be some time to clean the components in its With the card installed and Asus Smart careful when removing these screws. The VRM and its RAM chips. The solid-state Doctor fired up, we found that our card last thing you want to do is shoot one of components in the VRM and the RAM had a default GPU voltage of 1.312V. the screws across the room because you contact the heatsink assembly through Before altering that setting though, we were in a rush. thick thermal pads. These aren’t easy to decided to overclock the card a bit to see With all of the screws removed from the replace because they fill a relatively large how high it would go in its stock form. EAH4890 TOP’s heatsink assembly, some gap between the components and heat- So, we cranked the fan speed to max to slight rocking back and forth will free it sink, but ensuring the surfaces of both are keep temps down and raised the GPU from the GPU and RAM. Don’t rock it so clean certainly won’t hurt. and memory frequencies until the system far that you damage surface-mounted PCB With all of the cleaning and polishing was no longer stable. We found that the components; a slight tilt is all that is neces- out of the way, we applied a smooth layer card peaked at 965MHz/1,055MHz sary. During this step, we found that the of high-performance OCZ Freeze thermal (GPU/memory). screws on our card weren’t very tight. This compound to the GPU and reinstalled the Next, we increased the GPU voltage to is bad news, because it could result in cooler assembly. When tightening all of 1.45V—the maximum setting available— improper contact between the heatsink the screws, be sure to work in a rotating by moving a slider all the way to the right

44 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com hard hat area | pc modder and then proceeded to overclock the card clock speeds. These cards, of course, com- overclocker-friendly product. The features even further. Ultimately, we were able to manded a price premium, but other than AMD incorporated into the GPU’s max the GPU frequency available in the their frequencies, they weren’t any differ- design make it well-suited to high-fre- Smart Doctor utility at 1,000MHz and ent from the originals. By taking the time quency operation, and it seems to be pushed the memory up to 1,100MHz, to mod and overclock a standard Radeon comfortable running with higher voltages, increases of 11.1% and 10%, respectively, HD 4890, you should be able to hit the as well. With only some relatively minor over stock. same kind of frequencies offered by the mods, we were able to increase our card’s newer models without having to spend performance significantly. If some of you Worth The Effort? the additional money necessary for one of more adventurous overclockers take more A few months after the original the newer cards. exotic measures, even higher performance Radeon HD 4890 cards hit the scene, As is always the case when overclock- is surely possible. ▲ AMD and its partners released factory- ing, your mileage may vary, but the overclocked versions with 1GHz GPU RV790 GPU is definitely a modder- and by Marco Chiappetta

Performance: Before & After The Mod

sing a Core i7-920-powered subsequent frequency increases sometimes by as much as 13.16%. board. We witnessed double-digit U test bed running Windows affected frame rates. To more As an interesting aside, increas- percentage gains in 3DMark Van- Vista Ultimate SP2, we ran a hand- clearly illustrate the performance ing the GPU voltage also let us tage, and every game we tested ful of popular applications and increases, we have also listed the increase the card’s memory volt- showed higher performance, at games to see how modding and percent improvement over stock. age higher than its stock form, both resolutions. overclocking our Asus EAH4890 As you can see in the chart, presumably because the memo- Ultimately though, the TOP affected its overall perfor- there is a significant amount of ry controller was better able to benchmarks show that mod- mance. In the chart shown here, performance to be gained by handle the increased clocks. It ding and overclocking the we’ve listed the performance of modding and overclocking a certainly wasn’t due to the Radeon HD 4890 is worth the the Asus Radeon HD 4890 run- Radeon HD 4890 card. The GPU tweaks we made to the card’s effort. Measureable perfor- ning in its stock form, while un- volt mod and cooling enhance- cooler, because operating tem- mance gains are there to be modded and overclocked, and ments not only let us overclock peratures were actually higher. had, essentially for free, if you finally while volt modded and the card higher than was possi- Gaining 100MHz on both the don’t mind voiding your war- more significantly overclocked, ble in its stock form, but also fur- GPU and memory resulted in per- ranty and spending a little time to show how the mod and its ther increased its performance, formance increases across the tweaking frequencies. ▲

Radeon HD 4890 (GPU Radeon HD 4890 (GPU @ Radeon HD 4890 (Voltage @ Percent @ 900MHz, Memory @ 965MHz, Memory @ 1.45V, GPU @ 1,000MHz, Improvement 1,000MHz) 1,055MHz) Memory @ 1,100MHz) Over Stock 3DMark Vantage (Extreme Preset) Overall Score 4872 5112 5406 10.96 GPU Test 1 15.69 16.04 17.39 10.83 GPU Test 2 11.94 12.37 13.1 9.72 Enemy Territory: Quake Wars* 1,920 x 1,200 93.2 97.8 100.8 8.15 2,560 x 1,600 62.1 65.4 67.9 9.34 Left 4 Dead* 1,920 x 1,200 92.46 96.51 101.34 9.60 2,560 x 1,600 57.16 61.23 64.68 13.16 Crysis** 1,920 x 1,200 25.68 25.92 26.39 2.76 2,560 x 1,600 15.75 16.03 16.62 5.52

* High Quality, 4XAA, 16XAF ** High Quality, 16XAF Test system specs: CPU: Core i7 920 @ 2.66GHz (Turbo Mode Enabled), Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EX58 Extreme (X58 Express), Memory: 6GB OCZ DDR3-1333, HDD: WD Raptor 150 10,000rpm, Windows Vista Ultimate SP2, ATI Catalyst Drivers v9.7

CPU / October 2009 45 hard hat area | pc modder

Give Us Your Mod Have a computer mod that will bring tears to our eyes? Email photos and a description to [email protected]. We’re looking for rigs that are recognizable as PCs; your Wookiee mod won’t find a home here. If we include your system in our “Mad Reader Mod” section, we’ll help you load up your modder’s toolbox with $1,500 and a one-year subscription to CPU.

46 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com hard hat area | pc modder

Bren’s own steady hand (with a little help from his Tablet PC and Adobe Photoshop) created the dozens of characters that line the periphery of Monolith’s case panels.

Although Bren didn’t intend to show off his system’s internals, the cold-cathode lighting that illuminates Monolith’s intricate characters also gives the inside of the case a wicked glow.

A closer look at Monolith’s side-panel centerpiece shows the extreme detail that helped make this mod a winner.

“Originally, the characters weren’t the risk of scratching the paint.” Bren adds Monolith going to be on the case,” Bren says. The that he had to scrap his first front panel n Bren “Slyfox” Leach’s case, the apple characters were intended for a book he when he drilled holes for 140mm fans, I doesn’t fall far from the tree. Loyal was writing. Bren adds that he was writ- rather than the 120mm fans his rig uses. CPU readers may recognize the Leach ing the book for his own enjoyment Although it would’ve been easy for surname; dad Dennis “DeadGuy” Leach rather than to see it published. The work, Bren to go with a stock Danger Den case bested the competition to claim victory at which you might think of as a combina- (at this point, you’ve hopefully figured out CPU’s inaugural PDXLAN mod contest tion of science fiction and fantasy, was his dad is that Dennis Leach), he made back in 2007 at PDXLAN 9. Leach the also the inspiration for the detailed, I- Monolith his own. Bren added two inches Younger certainly followed in Papa have-to-get-one-more-look-at-that circu- to either side of what Dennis is using as Dennis’ footsteps with Monolith, easily lar designs on either side panel. his current case of choice. These dimen- the head-turner of PDXLAN 14 and win- Although the characters are laser-etched sions were crucial, as Bren needed to put ner of CPU’s mod contest. into Monolith’s 3/8-inch-thick acrylic suitable distance between the case panels Monolith’s calling card is its series of panels, they were far from easy to execute. and the six suspended 12-inch cold-cath- characters (we called them runes, but Bren drew each one by hand in Photo- ode lights that give Monolith its glow. hey, it’s not our mod) that line the edges shop on his Tablet PC before the charac- “Monolith” is an appropriate label of its top, front, back, and side panels. ters made their way to the case panels. To for this mod’s internals, too. A brace Although you won’t find these characters give the characters their wicked glow, Bren of Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9775 in any Rosetta Stone software, and Bren laid down three coats of black spray paint CPUs are yoked to Intel’s D5400XS himself hasn’t ascribed any meaning to and then added a coat of white spray “Skulltrail” motherboard. An ATI them, the characters nonetheless come paint. He then laser-etched the characters Radeon 4870 X2 brings the system with a story worth telling. through the paint into the acrylic. graphics muscle, and an 850W PSU “The glow is the best part,” Bren says. delivers plenty of gas when Bren puts “This is the first time we’ve tried to make Monolith’s pedal to the metal. And laser etchings glow like that.” you’d better believe that’s Danger Den Interestingly, Bren says producing the liquid-cooling gear. impressive panels wasn’t his biggest hur- Monolith isn’t Bren’s first mod, and dle. “The toughest part was assembling the with his pedigree, we’re guessing it case and keeping it together without ruin- won’t be his last. Aspiring to fashion a ing the paint,” he says. “Any slight gouge monolithic mod yourself? Bren offers would be obvious once the light shined the following pointer: “Make sure through. Even removing the screws and everything works before you [create] the transporting the case was hard because of pieces and build the mod.” ▲

Bren didn’t discriminate when he added liquid-cooling to Monolith; even the southbridge got the waterblock treatment.

CPU / October 2009 47 1 Little Caesar’s was one of the vendors on hand to periodically refuel hungry gamers.

2 Although the focus was on gaming, PDXLAN 14 had plenty of “extracurric- 2 ular” tournaments, such as a midnight “Thriller” dance-off. (Yes, these guys 1 practiced.)

3 Behold, the rarely-seen geekalete (or athleek; we’re not quite sure) in his natural environment, a Crucial-sponsored Dodgeball tournament.

4 PDXLAN 14 offers enthusiasts the chance to hang out, show off their rigs, frag their competition, and, of course, have a good time.

4 “Thriller” dance-off took place and was as 3 much a pacesetter for the LAN party as it was an homage to the late King of Pop. The next day, a Crucial-sponsored dodgeball tournament let attendees show off their ath- letic acumen. (Yes, Virginia, there is such a thing as a geek athlete.) And to help thirsty PDXLAN 14 dodgeball gladiators get their quench on, gamer clan Team TB teamed up with Bawls Welcome (Back) To Vector’s Packed House to serve up G33K B33R floats. Remember folks, PDXLAN is all about camaraderie. f there’s one thing Matt “Vector” Conwell come together for a great time. Hardcore I knows, it’s how to throw a party—specifi- cyberathletes need not apply. The Mod Squad cally, a LAN party. Of course, it helps that And Conwell’s gambit has paid off in PDXLAN also happens to be a haven for Conwell does this sort of thing for a living spades; PDXLAN 14 was host to another some of the most prolific modders we’ve (literally). But it’s PDXLAN, now in its 14th sold-out crowd. There were plenty of big- come across. As such, we gave modders the run (with no signs of slowing down), that time sponsors (Intel and Nvidia, among opportunity to showcase their rigs and their has a special place in Conwell’s heart. others) in attendance, too, and Vector gave talent in our mod contest. away piles of hardware at the LAN party With help from past mod contest winners A Different Kind Of LAN that spanned four days. Richard “Darth Beavis” Surroz and Rod For the uninitiated, the capacity crowd “[TB] Rod” Rosenberg, along with April that fills the PDX Holiday Inn’s convention Gaming, More Gaming 2009 Mad Reader Mod winner Brian center was Conwell’s brainchild six years & More Than Gaming Carter, we set out to pick a winner from ago. Conwell hoped to fill a distinct gap by The lighthearted mood that permeates among a field of exceptional mods. It was no hosting a regional LAN party in the Pacific PDXLAN, imbuing the event with its easy task, but in the end, Bren “Slyfox” Northwest, but when he approached the unique character, was evident in the gaming Leach’s “Monolith” mod took home top CPL (Cyberathlete Professional League) action. Left 4 Dead, Team Fortress 2, and honors. Check out Monolith on page 46. with the idea in hopes of sponsorship, CPL other tournaments are serious business, but didn’t bite. It seemed Portland, Ore., wasn’t bragging rights and trash talk are the spoils Coming Back Better Than Ever large enough to support the LAN party that of these victories. Battles in classic titles, such Like what you see? Feel up to making the Conwell envisioned. Rather than throw in as Warcraft III, raged, as well. The eclectic drive (or flight) to PDXLAN? Conwell and the proverbial towel, however, Conwell set mix of games underscores a LAN that’s all his crew are ready for you. The next two out to build a LAN by his own rules. about giving gamers exactly what they want. PDXLANs are on the books for Nov. 6, The result is PDXLAN, a LAN party And when the PDX faithful needed a 2009, and Jan. 15, 2010; reserve your seat, where camaraderie counts more than com- break from gaming, there were plenty of and we’ll see you there. ▲ peting; PDXLAN prides itself on being an extracurriculars to spice up the weekend. event where gamers of all skill levels can Shortly after Friday’s opening ceremonies, a by Vince Cogley

48 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com

Get informed answers to your advanced technical Each month we dig deep into the CPU mailbag 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 contact you if Corner” is here for you. necessary, to [email protected]. Please include all Lincoln W. asked: I was browsing the Web the other day when I pertinent system information. noticed that Evga and a few other manufacturers had recently released single-board GeForce GTX 295 cards. I immediately began looking around for reviews to see how they perform but couldn’t really find anything useful at all. I’m wondering if integrating the two GPUs on a single board has increased performance over the original GeForce GTX 295, which uses two boards? I want to get the fastest graphics card available for my next build and want to know if it’s worth paying a little extra for the newer Evga card. Or should I just save my money and go with one of the originals? Thanks!

Even as we A: Unfortunately, we haven’t taken one of the single-PCB Ge- Force GTX 295 cards for a spin just yet, so we can’t give you any hard numbers at this time, but save for any GPU and memory clock speed differences, they should perform the same as the original dual-PCB variants of the GeForce GTX 295. write this, it’s very Although the new single-PCB GTX 295 cards look very differ- “ ent physically from Nvidia’s original reference design, the two cards employ identical GPUs, have the same-sized memory inter- faces, and are outfitted with the same amount of frame buffer memory. Although the single-PCB-based GeForce GTX 295 is a difficult to find any more elegant option in our opinion, on a basic technical level, it’s not much different from the original dual-PCB GTX 295. As far as your OS and games are concerned, the newer single-PCB and older dual-PCB cards will appear to be identical. With that said, if you think the older GeForce GTX 295 cards are going to drop in price due to the arrival of these new cards original dual-PCB (making them a more attractive option), think again. Even as we write this, it’s very difficult to find any original dual-PCB Ge- Force GTX 295 cards for sale. And some of the newer single- PCB versions, which cost less to produce, have already dropped in price to sub-$500 levels. If you wait much longer, the originals GeForce GTX 295 will likely disappear completely.

Stevie D. asked: I recently set up a RAID 0 for my pair of 80GB Intel SSDs. I have the new X25-M drives, and they are crazy fast. I use them as my OS volume and set up my critical files on a 1TB RAID 1 cards for sale. volume with another pair of 500GB WD drives I have. I run everything on my Intel DX58SO motherboard and the ICH10R controller that is onboard. 50 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com ” I recently noticed my performance in HD Tach had dropped off the map the apartment on her laptop, my brother’s mother-in-law is constantly for my RAID 0 Intel SSD array for some reason. Though the system feels coming into the house to use the computer—at all times of the day. pretty snappy, I’m seeing about 250MBps read performance, whereas pre- We’ve tried moving the wireless router to the kitchen, which is closest viously I had been pulling more than 500MBps with this same exact setup. to the garage, but the signal is still too weak to be useful. Are there I’ve heard rumors that Intel SSDs have had issues with performance any high-powered routers he could buy? Is there a way to boost the degradation over time. Is this what I’m seeing here? It doesn’t make signal to better move through walls? He’s got a very nice D-Link much sense to me actually because I thought, if anything, these drives 802.11g router with multiple antennas that I told him to buy, but it’s dynamically adjust to user work patterns over time, which should actually not cutting it for some reason. optimize performance over the long haul. What am I really seeing here and how can I get my performance back in check? A high-gain directional outdoor A: That, Stevie my man, is a very good question. The anomaly Wi-Fi antenna is a great tool to with the Intel X25-M SSDs that you noted is observable and boost Wi-Fi signals and focus confirmed by Intel itself, as well. This was a fringe performance them on a specific area. issue that only really manifested itself when the drive was put into a heavily conditioned state after a series of benchmark runs that test a specific access pattern repeatedly. However, since then, Intel has released a firmware update that provides a resolution A: Whoa, this is one time we hope someone isn’t a CPU reader. to this situation. Point your Web browser here to get the latest If your brother’s wife sees this, he’s toast. Luckily, there are a firmware for your X25-M SSD: downloadcenter.intel.com number of quick and easy fixes that should help your brother out /Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=17485 so his wife won’t need to be doing any research on her own. That said, we’re highly skeptical that it was actually an anomaly We’re going to assume that running a wire is out of the with the Intel SSDs you have in that RAID 0 setup. More than likely question and that getting a usable, stable Wi-Fi signal to the it is a glitch we’ve seen in testing SSDs that involves a setting under garage apartment is the only option. Signal boosters that the Windows Vista Device Manager Properties button and the Pol- increase range are available, but they need to receive a clean icies tab. On this tab is where you can enable write caching for the signal to amplify, which likely means leaving it in the house. drive (which we recommend), as well as set the Enable Advanced That may not overcome the interference issues you think are Performance feature. We’ve found that this “advanced performance” being caused by the walls, so a signal booster probably isn’t a option can sometimes become stuck in some sort of unstable state good option. that can dramatically skew performance results. Check here for clues Instead, we’d suggest investing in an outdoor, directional Wi- (technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/2007.04.windowsconfiden Fi antenna that can focus the signal directly on the apartment tial.aspx). We’re still confirming the instance of this bug with Intel, and also eliminate the need for the wireless signal to pass through but it was repeatable in our labs on a test bed similar to yours. one of the house’s walls. If possible (and it seems to be, based on This particular bug manifested itself back in the day of the information in your question), place the router in an area of Windows 95, believe it or not. It involves a cache flush mecha- the house that’s close to an outside wall or window facing the nism that still seems to be similarly implemented in Windows garage. Then, all you have to do is remove one of the router’s Vista. Theoretically, it should also affect any SSD, not just Intel stock antennas, connect the directional outdoor antenna, and aim SSDs. There’s good news, though: To get rid of the anomaly, we the signal directly at the garage apartment. It may require drilling simply needed to uncheck the Enable Advanced Performance a hole through a wall for the outdoor antenna’s cable or purchas- checkbox. Try this yourself and you might see your performance ing an extension cable to run from the router, through a win- in HDTach return to expected levels immediately. You don’t dow, and to the outdoor antenna. Doing so will result in a much have to reboot even to see the results (if this is what is affecting stronger Wi-Fi signal centered on the apartment, which will like- your performance). We’ve also been able to re-enable this feature ly solve your brother’s “problem.” without witnessing any ill effects (or gains, either), at least with Although the antennas included with most routers are good Intel’s X25-M. enough to send and receive signals in and around the average We’d suggest just leaving it disabled, with write-caching enabled. home, they are not powerful enough to overcome strong interfer- Try it out for yourself and let us know what you find. Good luck! ence or obstacles that a higher-gain antenna could. A good high- gain directional antenna from a company such as Hawking, Chris R. asked: My brother is in mortal danger (his words, not Netgear, or Trendnet should be all you need. ▲ mine) and has asked for my help. His mother-in-law recently moved into an apartment he and his wife have above their detached garage. by Dave Altavilla and Marco Chiappetta, The place is actually pretty nice, but it’s either not close enough to the experts over at HotHardware.com pick up the Wi-Fi signal from within his house or there is something in the walls of his house or the garage that is blocking the signal. It’s not For bonus content, subscribers can go to a huge deal, I guess, but because she can’t get Internet access from www.cpumag.com/cpuoct09/q&a.

CPU / October 2009 51 X-ray Vision: Microsoft’s Project Natal Hands-Free Gaming

f star power is any indication of future from Nintendo’s Wii for natural interac- Microsoft is hoping to give Xbox a sim- success, Project Natal is off to a great tion with games. ilar boost among nontraditional gamers I start, with guest appearances from with Project Natal. However, Project celebrities such as Steven Spielberg and Gaming Market Natal goes beyond the interactivity found Paul McCartney during Microsoft’s Among serious gamers, Xbox and Sony’s in the Wii, making gaming even easier announcement of the Xbox system for PlayStation 3 lead the way. However, the with more intuitiveness. No controller is hands-free gaming control at the E3 con- Wii is the platform with the most sales and required. Instead, Project Natal uses cam- ference in the summer. Surprisingly, media buzz. The Wii’s interactive con- eras to measure the movement of players, Project Natal easily outshone all of the troller, which allows players to make natur- recreating those movements in the games. stars, generating a lot of excitement after a al hand and body movements to indicate variety of demonstrations during E3. moves in the game, has brought the Wii Xbox Moves Forward Microsoft has not released many into homes of recreational gamers, such as It’s unclear when Microsoft began details surrounding Project Natal, includ- those who don’t want to take the time to working on Project Natal, but it appears ing a projected release date nor an expect- learn how to use every button on the com- the project took a big step forward with ed price. However, if the technology plex Xbox and PlayStation controllers. Microsoft’s recent purchase of 3DV works as hoped, it appears Microsoft will Wii made gaming easier, and Ninten- Systems of Israel, which had worked on a have more than answered the challenge do has been rewarded. 3D depth camera. Project Natal Components Microsoft has not released a lot of specific details about how Project Natal will work, but here is what we know after the announcement at E3. ▲

Hardware. The Project Natal hardware, Compatibility. When released, Project shown here in black, has a shape a little like Natal will work with any Xbox 360 system. the sensor bar on the Wii. However, it will do far more work, as it contains the various components listed below. Software. Obviously, to successfully pull off all of the tasks listed here, Project Natal needs incredible software that can Video camera. The RGB video camera work quickly and accurately, avoiding tracks your body's position and records latency. Some of the challenging items the your movements, allowing the software to software must deal with include being able interpret your moves and recreate them to pick out the striped pattern in your in the game. It even calculates the shirt, differentiating it from the difference between a gamer who is striped pattern of the sofa. sitting vs. standing.

Microphone. The multi-array microphone can pick up voice Depth camera. The 3D depth commands from players and, in camera measures the depth of multiplayer scenarios, recognize your body as you move, allowing Project Natal to measure forward and different players’ voices. It also can backward movements. Although the technology behind the depth camera isn't differentiate between users’ voice commands and exactly known yet, it is believed to use a 3D sensor and infrared technology. stray noises elsewhere in the room.

52 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com With little official information to go Game developers are currently working As we wait to see whether Microsoft on, we are left to speculate when and with Project Natal development kits, but and Xbox can make this hands-free gam- how we will begin to see this technology such development probably will require ing system work in the real world, Project hit the consumer market. It’s possible several months, so you shouldn’t expect to Natal does have one advantageous posi- Microsoft will offer Project Natal in a see any actual products until at least mid- tion: It already appears to have the stars variety of configurations, potentially as a 2010. In addition, even though the de- aligned in its favor. ▲ standalone device to add to current monstrations looked great, putting such Xbox 360 systems or as a bundle with technologies to work in the marketplace is by Kyle Schurman new Xbox systems. always a difficult step. Project Natal Demonstrations During E3, Microsoft demonstrated several games and movements. of Microsoft Game Studios Europe. Molyneux also founded Lion- We’ve listed some of the interesting capabilities of Project Natal head Studios, which created “Milo,” one of the highly interactive here, along with quotes from Peter Molyneux, the creative director demonstration pieces used.

Mimicking tools and objects. When you play a Strength of movement. Project racing game, for example, the player must mimic Natal can tell the difference between the steering wheel, the gear shift, and the acceler- a forceful punch and a light tap, ator pedal. As shown here, a second player can such as in the martial arts game serve as the “pit crew” for the racer, changing (above). Project Natal's software tires by mimicking body movements of lifting a can recognize even subtle gestures, tire. Project Natal can determine the “force” the such as a nodding of the head, as player uses on these nonexistent tools and well as more pronounced gestures, objects by measuring the movement of the player's body and limbs. such as the swinging of an arm through a pond (below). Notice Realistic feelings. As the players be- how Natal creates a reflection of the come more involved in the Milo game, actual player and her red jacket in they naturally react to the character Milo. the pond, distorting the reflection For example, after several minutes of as the ripples of water cross over it. play in this video demonstration, Milo “She’s in that pond,” Molyneux says. “Every hand movement is being rec- throws a pair of goggles toward the play- ognized, being able to swish the water with her hand. Everyone that has er. In this demonstration, the player experienced this, the hair is standing up on instinctively moves her arms to try to catch the graphical object. the back of their necks.” “She felt the need to reach down for those goggles,” Molyneux says. “That was not acted. Every single person that has experienced this reaches Recognition. Project Natal will differentiate down, because they feel so connected to Milo’s world.” between women and men, as well as children and adults, automatically loading the correct Using personal objects. During avatar. As players return to the game, Project a demonstration of a skate- Natal recognizes individuals. The software boarding game (at right), also tracks 48 joints in the body, allowing it to Microsoft showed Project Natal correctly monitor movements and gestures. could conceivably scan the players actual skateboard using Beyond gaming. Xbox is more than the video camera, then reproduce that skateboard graphically in the game. In a gaming machine, and Project Milo (at left), the player draws a picture on a piece of paper, holds it up to the Natal will work beyond gaming, Natal camera, where Milo “grabs” it and brings it into the game. The paper in too. For example, you could search the game includes a scanned representation of the player’s drawing. for downloadable movies using “The piece of paper was held up only your voice or hand gestures to Milo,” Molyneux says. “Natal rec- to “sort” through movie titles, as ognized the piece of paper, scanned shown here. Then operate the the piece of paper in. Milo looked at movie with voice commands such that piece of paper, recognized the as “play” and “pause.” shape, recognized the color. … This In addition, a few weeks after the E3 announcement, Microsoft’s Bill Gates is true technology that science fic- said in an interview with News.com that future versions of Windows could tion has not even written about. And make use of Project Natal's interactive technologies, especially for Web video this works today, now.” conferencing and other types of communications. ▲

CPU / October 2009 53 hard hat area | white paper

White Paper: GlobalFoundries’ 22nm Process New R&D Company Makes A Splash

f the recent announcement that HKMG (high-k metal gate) transistor thinning the EOT, the leakage of electric GlobalFoundries demonstrated a that can scale down to the 22nm current through the transistor gate has I 22nm equivalent HKMG transistor node—and smaller. This announcement increased dramatically,” says John Pellerin, caught you by surprise, you’re not alone. occurred during the 2009 Symposium R&D director for GlobalFoundries. Not only is the technology behind the on VLSI Technology in Japan. Such leakage continues, even when 22nm process groundbreaking, but With the new 22nm technologies, the transistors in the circuit are turned GlobalFoundries probably isn’t the first GlobalFoundries has demonstrated the off, which consumes power and lessens company that comes to mind as a leading ability to allow for low-power opera- battery life. With the amount of gate advanced semiconductor manufacturer. tion in transistors for mobile devices leakage occurring, conventional gate Don’t feel bad if the company name while avoiding increased leakage cur- technologies (using silicon dioxide as behind the announcement blindsided rent. Such improvements should mean the insulator and a poly-silicon gate) you, though: Technically, Global-Found- increased performance and battery life, reached a barrier, preventing them ries has only been an “official” company especially for ultraportable notebooks from shrinking further without signifi- for a few months. and smartphones. cant power consumption and perfor- Certainly, work toward the technolo- Essentially, as the transistor shrinks in mance problems. gies behind 22nm transistors has oc- size, the switching precision of the tran- With the new technologies developed curred over the past several years, but the sistor suffers. Shrinking the EOT in the by GlobalFoundries and IBM, however, announcement wasn’t a bad way for high-k oxide layer retains the necessary scaling the EOT for the 22nm node is GlobalFoundries to celebrate its three- precision in the HKMG transistor, now possible. month anniversary. but shrinking the EOT also typically “The idea of a high-k dielectric is to increases leakage current, causing the use as thick of a dielectric film as possible, The Need For 22nm Technologies chip to consume more power and gener- which reduces the gate leakage while In June, GlobalFoundries demon- ate more heat. maintaining the high speed capabilities strated for the first time a thin EOT “As transistors have scaled to improve associated with a very thin gate dielectric (equivalent oxide thickness) in an performance by shrinking their size and material,” Pellerin says.

Shrinking The EOT

With 32nm nodes, the required EOT (equivalent oxide thickness) decreases below 1nm. To achieve an even smaller EOT requirement for the 22nm node, the BIL (bottom inter- facial SiO layer) must be modified and shrunk, allowing the EOT to potentially shrink to 0.5nm. As shown in this image, the BIL is not visible in the gate stack, allowing for a scaling down of the EOT. To greatly shrink the BIL, a metal alloy is included with the TaN (tanta- lum nitride) layer. This combination, along with the CAP (k- boosting capping) and HO2 layer, is believed to scavenge oxygen from the BIL, nearly eliminating it and allowing for the much smaller EOT. ▲ Source: GlobalFoundries

54 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com

hard hat area | white paper

Founding GlobalFoundries GlobalFoundries “was launched to • AMD has entered into manufacturing Officially, GlobalFoundries became a address the evolving needs of the indus- commitments with GlobalFoundries. company on March 2, 2009. AMD and try,” he says. “GlobalFoundries is built • The company has a technology part- ATIC (Advanced Technology Investment on the philosophy that manufacturing nership with IBM. Company), a high-tech investment com- operations must embrace both high effi- • GlobalFoundries is a member of both pany owned by the emirate of Abu ciency and extreme flexibility to meet the SIA (Semiconductor Industry Dhabi, formed GlobalFoundries. customer needs.” Association) and the GSA (Global AMD has provided many of the Through collaboration with companies Semiconductor Alliance). researchers and research projects for and universities around the world, the • The CNT (Center for Nanoelectronic GlobalFoundries; in fact, sometimes the researchers behind GlobalFoundries have Technology) involves GlobalFound- two companies are referred to inter- been able to contribute to and benefit ries, Qimonda, and Fraunhofer- changeably, even though GlobalFoundries from chip-making technologies and work Gesellschaft, along with university is its own company. As an independent that occurred for several years before the researchers, to advance nanotech- company, GlobalFoundries can provide founding of the company. nologies. cutting-edge silicon technologies to Some of the collaborations involving • As a part of its research and develop- the entire market, Pellerin says. GlobalFoundries include: ment, GlobalFoundries is a member of

Working Together

The ISDA (International Semiconductor Development Alliance) is Such collaborations have a history of successes in semicon- a technology alliance including GlobalFoundries (along with AMD), ductor technologies. For example, as part of the current collabo- IBM, Chartered, Freescale, Infineon, NEC, Samsung, STMicroelec- ration, GlobalFoundries and IBM are working on next-generation tronics, and Toshiba. The companies also work together as part of EUV lithography, including the creation of a test chip. the ASTA (Advanced Semiconductor Technology Alliance) and the “We are actively investing in the development of next-genera- IBM Technology Alliance. tion techniques, and it is our belief that a collaborative R&D Within the framework of their collaborative R&D model, the model is the most effective way to continue to break through companies share three things: these barriers and ensure the industry can continue to bring • Objective. They work together on the early stages of research leading-edge technology to market,” Pellerin says. ▲ and development, bringing technologies to market more quickly. Source: GlobalFoundries “The success of the alliance has led to multiple extensions and expansions of the relationship, which today encompasses development of technologies through the 22nm node, early- stage exploratory research beyond 22nm for both SOI and bulk silicon capabilities,” says John Pellerin, director of R&D for GlobalFoundries. • Investment. The companies share some facilities. For example, GlobalFoundries researchers are in place at advanced IBM facilities, working together under an agreement through 2015. • Return. Under the agreements, GlobalFoundries works with advanced technologies and next-generation technologies. As GlobalFoundries advances these technologies, such as with the 22nm breakthrough, the other companies will receive the products based on the technologies more quickly and in greater volume, all at a workable price-to-cost ratio.

“The costs associated with research and development for advanced technology nodes are projected to reach more than $1 billion at the 22nm node and beyond,” Pellerin says. “We embrace a collaborative approach to innovation that combines a shared objective with a shared investment by partners around the world. Our partners range from early-stage R&D to the evalu- ation of production-ready process technologies to the most advanced technologies and manufacturing processes.”

56 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com hard hat area | white paper

the NRI (Nanoelectronic Research fundamental building blocks of chip “We have been in active discussions with Initiative). The NRI looks at semicon- designs,” Pellerin says. the world’s top 20 fabless semiconductor ductor technologies a decade or more providers, and there is tremendous inter- in the future. Going Beyond 22nm est in our capabilities as a leading-edge • GlobalFoundries is continuing sever- Even though actual manufacturing of foundry,” Pellerin says. al partnerships AMD initially formed, transistors using the 22nm node won’t With the quick start GlobalFoundries including memberships in the FCRP begin for a few years, GlobalFoundries is has had as a company, additional an- (Focus Center Research Program), the already looking beyond 22nm. nouncements of new technologies and SRC (Semiconductor Research Corpo- “We are committed to long-term, partnerships wouldn’t be a surprise at all. ration), and Sematech. next-generation technology develop- It might be too much to expect ma- ment at the 22nm node and beyond,” jor technological advancements and “Since 2003, when AMD joined the Pellerin says. announcements at the company’s initial IBM Technology Alliance, our engineers So, over the course of the next few pace of every few months, but there’s no have been working with IBM and years, look for additional announce- doubt GlobalFoundries is off to a fast its alliance partners to enhance the ments concerning collaborative efforts start with no plans of slowing down. ▲ performance and power efficiency of in research and development between transistors and interconnects, the two GlobalFoundries and other companies. by Kyle Schurman GlobalFoundries Roadmap

This roadmap shows manufacturing nodes already in the pipeline, of all other foundries at the 32nm mode, and we are committed including high-performance 65nm SOI and 45nm SOI chips. to maintaining this leadership position at the 28nm mode and In mid-2009, GlobalFoundries began construction of a fabrica- beyond,” Pellerin says. ▲ tion facility in Malta, N.Y., that eventually will work with 22nm Source: GlobalFoundries production, beginning in 2012. When the fab is completed in 2011, it will work initially with 28nm designs (and possibly 32nm). Along with 32nm SOI manufacturing in 2010, GlobalFoundries should begin manufacturing LP (low-power ) chips based on a 40nm or 45nm manufacturing process. By 2011, 28nm chips, both in LP and high-performance/G (general-purpose) chips will be in the pipeline, followed by the 22nm production in 2012. The research into the G and LP chips focused on HKMG technologies. G chips focused on gate scaling, while the LP chips focused on preventing gate leakage. “We are on track to introduce HKMG ahead

CPU / October 2009 57 hard hat area | white paper

32nm HKMG Technologies

The use of HKMG by GlobalFoundries in its 32nm manufacturing materials have a dielectric constant (k) of about 3.0. With the process (graphic A) will continue through 22nm manufacturing in air in the pores, the k value drops to about 2.4, an improve- the next few years. As shown in graphic B, HKMG is the latest tech- ment of about 20%. nology that has allowed for continuing shrinkage of transistors. • Reduced power. HKMG requires less power to operate, pro- HKMG offers several benefits, including: viding improved performance, especially for mobile devices. • Improved circuit speed. Even with less power consumption, • Scaling. GlobalFoundries’ researchers aren’t stopping at 32nm the circuits in HKMG work more quickly than other transistor with HKMG. technologies. • Minimizing complexity. By employing what GlobalFoundries “HKMG transistors will be a fundamental element for technolo- calls a "gate first" approach in the R&D phase, HKMG is a low- gy scaling beyond 22nm,” Pellerin says. “HKMG is a critical com- cost, low-complexity technology. ponent of our technology roadmap, especially for applications in • Reduced capacitance. By introducing pores into the dielectric, the fast-growing market of ultraportable notebooks and smart- HKMG reduces the capacitance of the insulator material phones with extended battery life.” ▲ around the copper wires (graphic C). Today's low-k dielectric Source: GlobalFoundries

Cu Cu 33nm

50nm Pores in dielectric

58 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com

60 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com we suggest yourself, because the version we used may be different from the one you download, or perhaps come from a hat is it about cool little apps different source. W that power users find so appeal- Because these aren’t full-blown reviews, ing? Does it make us feel smarter for there’s no official CPU score. On the other getting more work done in the same hand, we invite you to check out our 2009 amount of time as mere “normal users”? lineup of power user apps and see if you Do they confer upon us “computer wouldn’t give it four or five stars. superhero” status whenever we trot them out to perform a task? Perhaps it’s Performance Tweakers based on the same core) have thermal just the thrill of discovering something AlacrityPC sensors that A) are slightly tricky to read new before it makes it to the main- Ken Salter and B) don’t have a published upper stream? Whatever the reason, every year alacritypc.kensalter.com temperature limit or thermal offset we bring to you a list of our favorite lit- Free value. The result is that many CPU tem- tle (and some not-so-little) applications A modern PC needs lots of back- perature-reading programs seem to be that do something way-cool or way-use- ground processes and services to support running a little “off” when gauging ful (and usually both) and hope that all your hardware and accessories, but these processors. RealTemp was written you’ll find them as invaluable as we do. those background tasks can slow down by someone who calibrated program We’ve been presenting this list for your PC when playing those hardcore readings with an infrared digital ther- four years now, but for you new people, games. With just one preset icon, mometer, so its measurements jibe bet- here are the ground rules: First, if an AlacrityPC temporarily shuts down the ter with real-life observations. It also app made our list last year, then it sits background processes you designate as includes a basic benchmark and Taskbar out this year (observant readers will “not currently needed” and then launch- Tray displays of core temperature. know that we broke this rule for a cou- es the game. When the game shuts ple of apps); apps that have been on our down, AlacrityPC reloads your back- Drivercleaner lists before 2009 must have received a ground processes as if nothing happened. Driver Heaven significant upgrade since then to be If you don’t know what processes are www.drivercleaner.net included now. Second, the app needs to worth shutting down, AlacrityPC can $9.99 be malware-free, which we check by take a pretty good guess that, in our You’d be surprised how often scanning it with one of our top-two experience, is normally correct. Windows problems all come down to security suites (Norton Internet Security drivers, and not just buggy ones. 2009 or ESET Smart Security 2009) on Real Temp Sometimes when you upgrade to the lat- two different computers, and then mon- TechPowerUp est drivers, portions of the old ones are itor with a firewall to check for illic- www.techpowerup.com left behind, and often the results are it Internet communications behind Free strange crashes, hang-ups, and/or slow- our backs. Just to be safe, however, Unlike earlier CPUs, Intel’s Core 2 downs. Drivercleaner knows how to you should scan any of these programs and i7 line of processors (and Xeons remove drivers from Nvidia, ATI, Intel,

CPU / October 2009 61 Logitech, Realtek, Creative Labs, hard drives, for not only does it use gov- Microsoft, and more. Just run it and ernment-approved algorithms, but it select the drivers you want to remove, also does so in a way that you can plau- reboot, and install your new driver as if sibly deny the very existence of encrypt- the old one was never there. ed volumes (meaning the encrypted area looks like random data whether it is full Autoruns or empty, letting you claim that there’s Mark Russinovich and Bryce Cogswell nothing hidden). The latest version of technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals TrueCrypt goes a step further, allowing /bb963902.aspx you to encrypt entire operating systems Free and boot drives (including Windows), There’s no point to running back- through the years (Ad-Aware and Spybot- and the program now takes advantage of ground tasks that you don’t really need, Search & Destroy, anyone?), and this multicore CPUs to employ paralleliza- and Autoruns is the best tool for ferret- year’s cream of the crop comes from tion and pipelining, which “allow data ing those programs out. Sort of like Malwarebytes. It’s so good there are to be read and written as fast as if the MSConfig on steroids, Autoruns dis- unconfirmed reports on blogs that a drive was not encrypted.” We didn’t test plays programs that automatically major antivirus program’s tech support this claim, but the new version is signifi- launch at Windows launch—be they staff directed users to run it first before cantly faster than the old. executed from the Startup group or the installing their own AV product in times Run or RunOnce Registry key. It also of trouble. The paid version ($24.95) VirtualBox displays auto-start services, BHOs offers real-time background scanning, Sun Microsystems (browser helper objects), Explorer shell scheduled foreground scanning, and auto- www.virtualbox.org extensions, toolbars, Winlogon notifi- matic update downloads, but we find the Free cations, and more. It can optionally free version an invaluable first step to Running a virtual OS inside your ignore all Microsoft-sourced apps, clearing off owned machines. main OS is probably the safest way to try making it easier to zero in on third- out an unknown program or potentially party programs. Process Explorer malicious Web site, but for years, to get Mark Russinovich good performance and useful features HDTune Pro technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals you had to shell out serious coin for EFD Software /bb896653.aspx VMWare Workstation. Sun’s VirtualBox www.hdtune.com Free brings virtual machines to the masses, $34.95 Mark Russinovich’s Process Explorer is providing good speed and powerful net- Your hard drive is arguably the most so good at what it does that Microsoft working features as well as a good sys- important component in your PC, since started distributing it (along with tem for taking “snapshots” of virtual both your OS and your personal data Russinovich’s other tools) itself; it’s essen- machines. VirtualBox is only a year or reside there, and HDTune is the best tially what Windows’ Task Manager two behind VMWare in features, but for program for keeping track of your drive’s should have been, exhaustively listing most power users, this is plenty. health and speed. There’s a free version running processes and providing you with that covers the basics of read perfor- more details for any executable by simply VMWare Player mance testing, SMART drive health clicking on it. As programs start and stop, VMWare attribute monitoring, and error scan- they remain visible with green or red www.vmware.com ning, but you’ll want the Pro version’s highlighting in order to call attention to Free handy tools such as folder size scanner, themselves, while right-clicking some- If you don’t want to go through the write speed testing, and secure drive and thing in the list reveals many useful hassle of creating your own virtual file erasing. Both are attractive and easy options, such as a Google search or a machine(s), then the free VMWare to use. breakdown of what DLLs or network Player is worth checking out. With hun- connections a particular program is using. dreds of free and commercially available Security environment images (called “Virtual Malwarebytes Anti-Malware TrueCrypt Appliances”) already made, VMWare Malwarebytes TrueCrypt Foundation Player makes it easy to check out differ- www.malwarebytes.org www.truecrypt.org ent OSes, run different server programs, Free Free and diagnose complex networking Many foreground malware (aka spy- For years, TrueCrypt was the best issues—all directly within Windows. ware) scanners have risen and fallen way to encrypt USB flash drives and Given a strong enough host machine,

62 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com running a “live” server with VMWare remove all metadata from DOC (though Player isn’t out of the question, yet it not DOCX) files or whole folders full of Active Ports retains the advantages of easy backup DOC files in a single pass. DeviceLock and portability inherent to all virtualiza- DeviceLock tion offerings. inSSIDer www.devicelock.com MetaGeek Free VirusTotal Uploader www.metageek.net If you’re looking for a simple way to VirusTotal Free determine what programs are communi- www.virustotal.com cating on the Internet and what remote Free IP address they’re talking to, then Active VirusTotal.com is a Web site where Ports is for you. Upon startup, a you can upload a file and have it auto- sortable list appears instantly, displaying matically scanned by 41 antivirus the process name, the IP addresses and engines, all of which are always kept ports (both local and remote), whether up-to-date. Odds are, however, that it’s an active connection or merely an VirusTotal has already seen the file you open port listening for something, and want it to scan, so it can show you the the pathname of the file that’s running. last test result instantly, saving you the If you’re suspicious about a particular frequently minutes-long scanning queue. process, clicking the Terminate Process A new Windows-only uploader makes button will immediately stop the pro- submitting files a snap: Just right-click If you’ve ever tried to set up any wire- gram from running. the file and choose Send To VirusTotal less networking in a crowded down- from the pop-up menu, and off it goes. town area, you know how clogged the Miscellaneous Tweak Tools The results appear automatically in your 802.11 airwaves are. inSSIDer scans HWiNFO32 default Web browser. these airwaves with any wireless card in Realix Windows, displaying all the access www.hwinfo.com Doc Scrubber points it finds in a table, with the signal Free Javacool Software strengths of each AP in two graphs. Determining what hardware is inside www.javacoolsoftware.com Once your network is set up and you’ve a desktop isn’t that tough: A screwdriver, Free set your wireless security settings, you flashlight, notepad, and pencil are pretty can use inSSIDer to verify the changes much all it takes, along with some you’ve made. Unlike similar programs, patience. Notebooks are trickier, because inSSIDer works with Vista and Win- you can’t normally open them up and dows XP 64-bit. take a peek. HWiNFO32 is the best sleuth we know for getting to the nitty- AnVir Task Manager Free gritty details of a computer’s hardware. AnVir Software Everything, including RAM timings, www.anvir.com LCD build dates, battery wear levels, Free and more are instantly visible with If you think Process Explorer is too HWiNFO, making tweaking your hard- simple, then AnVir Task Manager is for ware drivers or replacing components a you. ATM has several modules living snap. The DOS version is similarly pow- within its tabbed interface, such as a erful and runs from a floppy, excellent if Do you know what your DOC files say detailed task monitor (complete with you want to run it from a bootable about you (other than that you’re bril- drill-down screens for active DLLS and thumb drive or floppy or if you don’t liant, of course)? Stored within each network ports), a startup program en- have Windows. DOC file are details like who your word abler/disabler, a hardware/SMART hard processor is registered to, how long you’ve drive monitor, a VirusTotal file submit- SIW had a file open, and how many times it’s ter, and a lot more. AnVir offers four Topala Software Solutions been printed. There may even be early versions (free, $39.95, $59.95, $79.95) www.gtopala.com revisions and edits, which could be with different capabilities, but even the Free embarrassing if brought to light, stored free version is stuffed with handy tools. Short for System Information for there that you thought were long gone. You’ll want to keep a copy on your Windows, SIW takes a detailed inventory Doc Scrubber can display and optionally emergency thumb drive. of your Windows computer, both on a

CPU / October 2009 63 log files, recently accessed file lists, NirSoft offers 16 free password recov- abandoned uninstallers and entries in ery tools, which generally work by the Add/Remove Software Control decrypting the password file of various Panel, and more. It works for all major applications such as Outlook Express, and most minor Web browsers and can Internet Explorer, Firefox, and AIM/ clean out “Registry rot” from all the Google/Yahoo! Messenger. It can also dis- major Window variants. play the wireless encryption keys and passwords Windows saves for network EeeRotate shares, Remote Desktop access, VNC Edw accounts, and dial-up passwords. Each is hardware (rather like HWiNFO, but vk.edward.li.googlepages.com/eeerotate invaluable when fixing problems related slightly less detailed) level and software Free to forgotten passwords. Some security level. If you need to know your registra- Reading ebooks on your notebook or software flags these applications as “hack- tion keys for various software; email pass- netbook would be a lot easier in some ing tools,” but, really, they’re virus- and words; and lists of file associations, circumstances if you could rotate your malware-free. These tools are packaged as installed applications, registered DLLs, device 90 degrees counterclockwise, a ZIP file, letting you choose the recovery and scheduled tasks, SIW has you cov- with your screen on the left and the key- apps you want to install. ered. It also adds handy tools such as a board on the right, sort of like an open network port scanner, MAC address book. The developer of EeeRotate had Half-Open Limit Fix changer, real-time monitors for your that very idea but realized there wasn’t Half-Open CPU and other hardware, and even a always an easy way to tell Windows to half-open.com/home_en.htm monitor tester. There’s even a portable rotate the display 270 degrees and then Free version that works from a thumb drive. rotate the orientation of the trackpad to match. Hence EeeRotate, which works USBDeview on all WinXP notebooks (not just NirSoft netbooks) and uses two simple key- www.nirsoft.net board shortcuts to work the ebook-read- Free ing magic. Windows keeps a permanent list of all USB devices that you have ever connect- PureSync ed to your PC, which is why you only Jumping Bytes In an effort to limit the ability of infect- receive a “New Device Found” message www.jumpingbytes.com/en/puresync.html ed Windows systems to make jillions of the first time you plug in a particular Free Internet connections at the same time, USB device. Occasionally, Windows There are a lot of backup methods Windows XP SP2 and Vista limit the num- gets confused about these devices, out there, but simply synchronizing ber of “half-open” network connections it and they can suddenly stop working. folders (one on your internal hard drive can make to 10. While we can only guess USBDeview lists this database and lets and the other on a separate drive) is a how effective it is at keeping bots from tak- you edit its contents, effectively unin- good strategy that’s easy to conceptual- ing over the ’Net, a side effect is that stalling any previously installed USB ize. As a bonus, after the first synchro- BitTorrent and other P2P programs work device, meaning you can insert it again, nization, successive syncs are generally at a snail’s pace. Although there are several get the “New Device Found” message very fast. Microsoft’s own SyncToy has workaround patch programs that eliminate again, and reinstall its driver. It also lets made our list in the past, but PureSync this limit, HOLF is the easiest to use by far you forcefully disconnect any active goes a step further, offering binary file (and just as effective as other methods). It USB device. comparisons, its own automatic sched- also offers a convenient way to revert back uler, a thumb drive mode that starts the to the default system settings. CCleaner syncing when a certain USB drive is Piriform attached, a camera mode (which is as SpyMe Tools www.ccleaner.com effective with your camera’s photos as it LC IBros Solutions Free is with other files), and a lot more. www.lcibrossolutions.com CCleaner (short for “Crap Cleaner,” Free really) is the easiest and safest way to Password Recovery Tools for Windows The most surefire way to see if your delete all those superfluous files that tend NirSoft computer has been changed without your to clog up a system over time, such as www.nirsoft.net knowing is to check the Windows temporary Internet cached files, cookies, Free Registry for changes, but what’s the easiest

64 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com

way to do this? SpyMe Tools is the easiest If you capture more than three screen you could duplicate this functionality way we’ve found: Just run it, click Scan, shots per month, you’d really benefit with a Web browser, Zinc simplifies sort- and then save the results. Then install from a dedicated screen-grab program. ing through programs and episodes to some software you think will change the SnagIt is the leader in this field, but it child’s play, and almost fun. Registry and run another scan, saving the isn’t cheap, and you have to buy into its results. Finally, click Compare and choose workflow system for maximum effec- PeaZip the two saved results; in a moment a col- tiveness. CaptureWizPro, on the other Giorgio Tani lapsible tree appears with the Registry hand, does almost everything SnagIt peazip.sourceforge.net changes. An additional real-time mode does (including video capture with Free displays Registry changes as they are made. sound and autoscrolling windows; plus, You say you’re hungry for a WinZip it can capture tricky items such as screen alternative that’s free, opens up more Executor savers and mouse tooltips), but its inter- archive formats, works as a portable app Martin Bresson face is more like a conventional Win- on your thumb drive, and has versions executor.dk dows program. At $39.95, it’s also that work identically under Windows Free slightly cheaper. and Linux? If so, look no further than Although Launchy is the most popu- PeaZip. Windows users can enjoy full lar “keyword launcher” for Windows, VirtualDub shell integration, while everyone gets drag Executor has the goods to take away the Avery Lee and drop, a basic scripting feature for former’s crown. A keyboard combination www.virtualdub.org repeating similar compression jobs, makes Executor appear, and typing pro- Free impressive file-splitting functionality, gram names, URLs, or keywords executes If you’ve ever worked with video files strong encryption, checksum/hash file programs, jumps to Web pages, or per- and wanted to do some basic editing, integration, and even a benchmarking forms tasks that you’ve preprogrammed. cleanup, and file conversion, you know program (in case you’re curious about Executor has niftier skins, “fuzzy logic” that the software that comes bundled how swiftly your system can handle com- that interprets things better even when you with most video capture hardware, in a pression/extraction). As a bonus, PeaZip make typos, and easier keyword creation word, stinks. Commercial apps such as is attractive and easy to use. for custom tasks. Executor was written by Adobe Premier are somewhat expensive someone who found Launchy wanting but and are overkill for simple processing. MediaMonkey still good, so if you use Launchy now, VirtualDub, however, is free, simple, and Ventis Media you’ll find Executor has a familiar feel. fast. Written by a talented programmer www.mediamonkey.com frustrated with commercial offerings, Free Media File Utilities everything about VirtualDub is slick and iTunes may be the world’s most popu- Badaboom Media Converter quick, and it generates impressively lar media player, but you need to play by Elemental Technologies smooth and attractive results. Apple’s rules. MediaMonkey is perhaps www.badaboomit.com the world’s best “alternative” media play- $29.99 Zinc er, and it lets you play by your own rules. Your iPhone and PSP are starved for ZeeVee Keep your music stored in different fold- media that’s been transcoded to fit their zeevee.com ers or network drives. Sync with a broad small screens and low-power processors, Free range of portable devices (including the but the process normally takes more than Zinc is a combination of Web brows- iPod). Rip music to MP3, M4A, OGG, an hour or two for a full-length movie. er, browser plug-in, and video streaming WMA, or FLAC. Fix incorrect tags in Badaboom harnesses the power of your service that works well with a PC remote bulk with powerful editing tools. Burn Nvidia video card’s GPU to slash the and a computer connected to your TV in audio CDs or data CDs filled with MP3s processes to close to 10 minutes, yet the the living room. It streams television pro- and playlists. You can even create a pub- picture quality is actually better than most grams, Netflix movies, and even Hulu lic jukebox where listeners can select other transcoding programs that rely on programming directly from the content music without altering your library. It’s your supercharged CPU. Although not creator’s Web sites. In other words, all good with MediaMonkey. cheap, it pays for itself after five movies if “Lost” episodes typically come from your time is worth more than $3 an hour. ABC’s servers instead of Hulu’s, so you Miro can watch programming that might not Participatory Culture Foundation CaptureWizPro be on Hulu. Though Zinc keeps track of www.getmiro.com PixelMetrics what you’ve watched, it doesn’t store Free www.pixelmetrics.com programming; that comes though a Miro is a combination media player, $39.95 streaming Internet connection. Although media downloader, and BitTorrent

66 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com client. You may think this an odd com- Web site, which makes interacting with As amazing as it sounds, Windows bination, but consider this scenario: You the programming from your couch and doesn’t include a way to make a find an RSS feed that lists torrents for a computer remote somewhat annoying. bootable flash drive or USB thumb new episodes of television programs Hulu Desktop is a standalone, fullscreen drive, but it’s clearly possible. You could available for download. You point Miro application that makes Hulu much more follow several complicated tutorials on at the RSS feed, and as new episodes friendly when you aren’t using a key- the subject, but the easiest method become available, Miro starts download- board and mouse, and it’s fully integrat- comes from HP in the form of its USB ing them via BitTorrent and offers them ed with your Hulu account—all your Disk Storage Format Tool (aka to other peers for a period you desig- programming is ready to go. It’s still SP27608.exe). Just install it, point it to nate. As episodes are saved, they appear slightly buggy in Windows (the Mac the system files from a bootable floppy in TiVo-like listings, ready to be version is solid) but worth using as-is. disk (hint: bootdisk.com has dozens of watched on your schedule. Miro also different ones), and then unleash it on a downloads YouTube videos and video Boxee flash drive. (It also works with conven- podcasts (and queues them up, too). Boxee tional memory cards.) With just five www.boxee.tv/homepage clicks and 10 seconds, you wind up with iTunes Agent Free a bootable flash drive, suitable for Jaran Nilsen and Justin Katz Boxee takes Hulu Desktop a step fur- updating BIOSes, running Norton ita.sourceforge.net ther, letting you easily enjoy your own Ghost, etc. Free videos, music, and photos from your Despite having just badmouthed couch, assuming you have a PC (or Mac) Clonezilla iTunes, there’s no denying that it has connected to your television and you have Steven Shiau many sterling qualities. And now that an appropriate remote control. It also lets clonezilla.org you can purchase DRM-free songs from you view Hulu’s television content (for Free the iTunes Store, you can play your now) and stream Netflix movies, making it Norton Ghost, while a favorite of purchased music on many non-iPod an all-in-one media player. Optional plug- techies everywhere to clone disks and devices. iTunes doesn’t know how to ins let you view photos from Facebook, make partition images, is getting a little sync with other portable players, but download videos from MTV.com, or listen long in the tooth, and without updates, it iTunes Agent does. Simply keep it run- to music from Pandora.com. Its interface is isn’t always able to recognize the latest ning in the background, and it detects arguably more clunky than Hulu.com, but hardware. Clonezilla consists of a Linux your devices and “tricks” iTunes into the content should keep you occupied for LiveCD (running either Ubuntu or syncing with the device. Configure hours on end. Debian), a collection of Linux tools, and iTunes Agent once, and iTunes works a usable (if not terribly attractive) text- with your player automatically with- DVD Flick based GUI to create and restore disk out fuss. Dennis Meuwissen images to other HDDs, USB storage www.dvdflick.net devices, or network stores. It’s as fast as Hulu Desktop Free Ghost and has full support for Linux Hulu Say you want to enjoy watching and Mac partitions. Up to 40 copies www.hulu.com Internet videos on your TV in your living can access a disk image server at the Free room but don’t want to make a dedicated same time. HTPC. If you have a DVD player (and who doesn’t?), then DVD Flick will save TeraCopy the day. DVD Flick converts nearly every Code Sector video format used to encode Internet www.codesector.com videos to standard DVDs. If you spend Free more than five minutes with it, you can Copying hundreds or thousands of easily add a menu system, subtitles, and files with Windows’ own Explorer is just custom audio tracks. torture. It’s completely incapable of properly estimating how long the job Disk & File Tools will take, and it stops cold if it has trou- Hulu has done more to legitimize HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool ble with even one file or directory, leav- TV-over-Internet than anything else, HP ing no log for you to determine what with buy-in from most of the major h50178.www5.hp.com/local_drivers file was the problem. TeraCopy takes television networks greatly improving its /17550/SP27608.exe care of all these problems, making several long-term survival prospects. Still, it’s a Free attempts at reading damaged files before

CPU / October 2009 67 moving on to the next file. A log win- the volume of your computer. You can dow alerts you to the problem file(s). As also program other mouse buttons or a bonus, it’s normally faster at copying hotkeys to activate the volume-control- files than Windows, and there’s a flash ling scroll wheel. Or just set it to use the drive-compatible portable version. scroll wheel to adjust the volume whenever a certain program such as Winamp VirtualCloneDrive or Windows Media Player is active. SlySoft Never bother with the tiny Taskbar www.slysoft.com Tray volume icon again! Free If you want to open and use an ISO StrokeIt file without having to burn a disc, then TCB Networks VirtualCloneDrive will save you some www.tcbmi.com time and sanity. It emulates a CD/ Free DVD-ROM drive in Windows, letting whether you’re trying to fool a teacher Winning this year’s “Funniest Utility you double-click an ISO file to mount or boss into thinking you’ve complet- Name” prize is StrokeIt, which adds it as if it were an actual disc. It also ed a task ahead of schedule or you’ve mouse gestures to pretty much any lets you to extract specific files within got some idea of indicating version Windows program and even Windows an ISO as needed. You can store disc numbers with date and timestamps, itself. By default, StrokeIt recognizes 80 images on a network share for using ISO SKTimeStamp makes it easy. Just right- mouse gestures (performed by holding files among multiple computers with click a file or set of files, choose Proper- down the right mouse button and drag- virtually no loss in speed vs. regular ties from the pop-up menu, and then ging the mouse in a certain pattern) optical media. change the date(s) and time(s) in the that correspond to performing actions in TimeStamps tab. 20 programs, including Firefox and ImgBurn Internet Explorer. Most gestures look Lightning UK! Hard Disk Manager 2009 Professional like capital letters, but the classic “for- www.imgburn.com Paragon Software ward” and “back” gestures of a simple Free www.paragon-software.com horizontal line drawn either to the right Windows includes almost no tools for $129.95 burning CDs and DVDs, and the OEM Although GParted has made it easy for software that comes with CD/DVD/BD anyone to perform basic disk and par- burners is sometimes quite lacking. tition manipulations, due to its nifty What’s On ImgBurn is a good compromise between GUI, there are some tasks it can’t per- “powerful” and “easy.” A straightfor- form. In these cases, Paragon’s HDM Your Desktop ward interface makes copying discs a 2009 Professional is the best tool for the snap, along with ripping (ImgBurn job. Partition resizing, copying, moving, GoToMeeting. A good way to organize doesn’t circumvent copy protection, backup, restoration, MBR editing—it’s impromptu meetings between friends however), creating discs from ISOs and all there. It also comes with two boot discs and work mates. Skype is good, too, other images, and creating audio CDs (one Windows PE-based and one Linux- but not as easy to set up in advance. from a wide range of digital for- based) to ensure compatibility when mats. Given the proper VIDEO_TS, restoring from bare metal. It isn’t terribly BBC iPlayer. Unfortunately, unless you are HVDVD_TS, or BDAV/BDMV folder, cheap, but it is fast, easy, and reliable. a UK license payer, the BBC won’t let you it can create DVD, HD-DVD, or Blu- use this. But one day it might. ray Discs with ease. Customizations VoluMouse AlShow. An alternative to the Windows SKTimeStamp NirSoft Media Player—it’s freeware and fast. Stefan’s Tools www.nirsoft.net CCleaner. Tidy up everything and tools.tortoisesvn.net/SKTimeStamp Free recover wasted space from Free Frankly, almost all of NirSoft’s cata- Windows .TMP files and others. There are many reasons for wanting log is pretty great (we’ll wait while you to manually alter the Created, Last check it out), but VoluMouse is, as far AnyPlace. Lets you access remote Modified, and Last Accessed date and as we know, unique. Once installed, just PCs, handy if you need a file and time of a file in Windows (and some of hold down the Alt key and roll your it’s not on your notebook. them may actually be legitimate). Still, mouse’s scroll wheel to raise or lower -Mike Magee

68 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com or left can do program-specific tasks, never heard of. Klipfolio’s sidebar con- if you regularly switch between desktop such as skip to the next track in sumes less memory and feels more spry sizes or monitors. Winamp or read the next message than the competition (Microsoft, Goo- in Outlook Express. You can also cre- gle, and Yahoo!) and has thousands of Batchrun ate your own and associate them with widgets (called Klips) available. Klips are Outer Technologies specific apps. collapsible, so they don’t take up much www.outertech.com space when idle, but they display lots of Free Power Meter Plus information with a mouseover. The There’s nothing inherently wrong with Matt Collinge built-in RSS reading Klip is especially DOS batch files for some simple mattcollinge.wordpress.com/software attractive and useful. Windows automation, other than you /power-meter-plus have to Google how to write them (who Free Wubi honestly remembers?) and a DOS win- The battery life icon in the Taskbar Agostino Russo, et. al. dow appears when they run. Batchrun Tray is among the more annoying aspects wubi-installer.org uses simple point-and-click and wizards of using a notebook. It’s hard to tell how Free to write scripts that can start programs, much battery power is remaining at a Want Linux on your PC but don’t kill processes, copy and paste text, and glance. Power Meter Plus puts a “power want to mess around with repartitioning copy/move/delete files. And even if doing thermometer” right on the desktop that’s or replacing the Microsoft boot loader all this wasn’t blindly obvious from its basically transparent when your battery is with Grub or LILO? Wubi comes to the simple interface, the built-in Help file full but becomes more opaque as it rescue, automatically creating a “parti- will get you going in no time. Batchrun drains, calling attention to itself. It man- tion file” on your NTFS hard drive and is only 800KB, and there’s even a por- ages to not interfere with your programs installing Linux onto it. It alters the table version for thumb drive use. or Desktop icons by jumping out from Vista or WinXP boot menu to add a under your cursor whenever it gets close, Linux entry and lets Linux run with TrayEverything and it has other options to tailor its 98% of the speed of a native installation Massimo Galbusera appearance to match your desktop. with almost no drawbacks. Wubi comes www.winapizone.net/software/trayeverything with Ubuntu and Mint Linux, but the Free PStart base version of Wubi lets you install If your Taskbar is crowded with all Pegtop Software more distros. the minimized apps you have running in www.pegtop.net the background, then TrayEverything Free IconRestorer should take care of all your problems. Having a thumb drive full of portable Freesoftland TrayEverything can make all your apps applications is amazingly handy, but fsl.sytes.net/iconrestorer.html minimize to a Taskbar Tray icon or manually jumping through subfolder Free make the app essentially turn invisible after subfolder to find that executable upon minimization. TrayEverything can can get annoying. PStart is an “instant collect up to five child windows of a sin- start menu” for portable programs, let- gle app and reduce them to just one on ting you manually create a Taskbar Tray the Taskbar and even password-protect icon and menu for all the apps on a minimized apps. thumb drive, or you can just let it scan for all executables and make a menu Internet Tools automatically. The menu stores relative So you have all your Desktop icons Digsby pathnames, so assigned drive letters can arranged exactly the way to want them, dotSyntax change, but the shortcuts still work. You but suddenly some utility or game www.digsby.com can also define hotkeys and perform changes your Desktop resolution, Free searches for programs. spreading your icons all over the place as If you have multiple email and instant a result. IconRestorer takes a snapshot of messenger accounts as well as at least one Klipfolio Personal Dashboard all your icons’ positions (and, optionally, social networking site, then Digsby will Klipfolio your wallpaper) and lets you restore save you lots of time and effort. Digsby www.klipfolio.com their position with just two clicks. monitors your email (letting you mark Free IconRestorer can optionally run the spam in many cases), lets you instant- There is no shortage of sidebars avail- background and save your icon positions message with AIM, Facebook Chat, able for Windows, but the best one comes every few minutes. It also stores different Google Talk, ICQ, Jabber, MSN, and from a company that you’ve probably icon arrangements for multiple resolutions Yahoo! accounts while maintaining a

CPU / October 2009 69 unified buddy list, and monitors your response to a surge of downloading, then people who are spread out around the Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter ac- NetWorx is the program you’ve been world, then Skype is a godsend. For com- counts. It takes up much less RAM than yearning for. NetWorx is essentially a puter users with broadband connections having all those Web browser tabs and “smart meter” for your network (or dial- and Skype (with versions available for IM clients open and consumes a lot less up) connection, constantly monitoring Mac, Windows, and Linux), Skype is on-screen real estate. your connection. The Taskbar Tray essentially a free long-distance telephone bandwidth bar displays all network activi- and videophone network. Postbox ty in real time, while the Quota feature Postbox, Inc. lets you know how much you’ve down- Wireshark www.postbox-inc.com loaded overall and can warn you when Wireshark Foundation Free you approach a limit. Lots of other handy www.wireshark.org Postbox gives you the power of features make it an essential tool for net- Free instant searching and filtering (via an work troubleshooting, too. One of our favorite open-source apps, integrated search index such as Google Wireshark is the latest and greatest ver- Desktop) of your email messages with FavBackup (IMAGE: 30jc10) sion of Ethereal, a network packet snif- an interface that’s much more conven- FavBrowser.com fer with an elegant GUI that makes sort- tional and inviting than the essentially www.favbrowser.com ing and analyzing the results a snap. similar Opera M4 Mail module. Add Free When fed raw packets with the appro- tabbed browsing and Gmail-like thread- priate hardware and software drivers, ed message views, and you get what may Wireshark can read Ethernet, 802.11, be the best email client in the world. It’s and PPP packets and break down the based on Mozilla Thunderbird, which communications of hundreds of pro- means it gets regular updates/patches tocols. There’s simply no better net- and has all the “conventional” email fea- work troubleshooting tool available—at tures you need. any price. ▲

Google Gears by Warren Ernst Google gears.google.com Free Google’s Web applications seem With Web browsers becoming the poised to make substantial inroads in the “new OS,” our browser settings and What’s On desktop software market, but there’s a lit- bookmarks are now valuable enough to Your Desktop tle problem: You need to be online in be worth saving, but backing up this order to use them. Google Gears is a information can be tricky. FavBackup Foxit Reader. An Adobe Reader framework that allows Google Reader backs up and restores things such as lookalike that’s much faster and Google Docs to work on your PC bookmarks, certificates, cookies, skins, and takes up less memory. even if you aren’t connected to the toolbars, mouse gestures, and stored Internet. And it automatically resyncs passwords, though that isn’t exactly new. AdMuncher. I hate pop-up ads, and your data to the Google cloud when a However, FavBackups works with Ad-Muncher’s rate of success connection is reestablished. Several third- Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, Safari, is very high indeed. party sites now also use Gears (such as and Chrome. FavBackup works fine Zoho and Remember The Milk), with from a thumb drive and makes transfer- GetRight. My download manager of choice. more on the way. In short, Gears makes ring your browser settings from one Web apps better. computer to another a snap. Ultimate Defrag. For my defragger, I NetWorx Skype prefer Ultimate Defrag for its wealth of configurable options and hard Softperfect Research Skype Technologies disk defragmentation strategies. www.softperfect.com www.skype.com Free Free Configuration Mania. This Firefox If your broadband has a monthly limit, If your circle of family and friends all add-on adds dozens of new you’re wondering about instantaneous live in your city, then Skype probably controls, from line scrolling with bandwidth at a given time, or you want holds no appeal to you. But if you want the Spacebar to link prefetching. your computer to perform an action in to call or have video conferences with -Barry Brenesal

70 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com

The Bleeding Edge Of Software Inside The World Of Betas OpenPandora 0.7.0 Beta 2

ost users of the Pandora Internet own icon in the Taskbar Tray. The main Mradio service are pretty happy with OpenPandora window looks and feels a the wide variety of music choices the ser- lot like Pandora’s Web site, but Open- vice offers, and the almost magical way it Pandora reorganizes Pandora to take up psychically zeros in on the music you like a lot less space on-screen by converting OpenPandora 0.7.0 Beta 2 is uncanny. Still, Pandora works through previously clickable regions into pull- Publisher and URL: Eitan Pogrebizsky, your Web browser, and always having a down menus. getopenpandora.appspot.com browser window (or tab) dedicated to Of course, OpenPandora does more ETA: Q1 2010 music playback can be annoying. But than just put Pandora in a window. It adds Why You Should Care: OpenPandora is an open-source solution in the form of features commonly found in standalone the best way to enjoy the Pandora Internet OpenPandora takes care of nearly all of players. You can operate Pandora’s controls radio service, bar none. Pandora’s browser-based annoyances. directly from the Taskbar Tray icon. You OpenPandora is actually a shell pro- can also enable the controls on your multi- The most annoying was the Taskbar gram that uses the Internet Explorer ren- media keyboard to work with Pandora or Tray controls for Skip and Play becom- dering engine to connect with and play set global keyboard shortcuts. Enterprising ing disabled at seemingly random times, content from Pandora, and it therefore users can even use a Wii remote to operate but at least the global hotkeys for these still makes use of and requires the IE Flash Pandora from a distance. OpenPandora can commands worked fine. Overall, Open- 10 plug-in. Still, it feels like a standalone send song information directly to Windows Pandora enhances the intrinsic goodness of application and works independently of Messenger, Xfire, or Skype. Pandora; it’s well worth checking out. ▲ any browser window, even minimizing to Perhaps because the beta is unofficial, its own Taskbar icon and possessing its we encountered a few glitches with it. by Warren Ernst

RealPlayer SP Beta (Build 12)

here was a time when RealPlayer was Video” tab appears over the video, let- T the de facto standard in streaming ting you download and save the video Internet video and audio, though, of course, to your hard drive. By default, it adds that was a long time ago. Since then, Real- the saved file to your RealPlayer li- Player has taken a beating from iTunes and brary, letting you view the video as the Windows Media Player on one side, often as you like—even when offline. and embedded Flash videos (from sites You can share and upload saved videos such as YouTube and Hulu) on the other. to your Facebook or Twitter account. RealPlayer SP Beta (Build 12) Hoping to still stay relevant, RealNetworks Once saved, RealPlayer SP can convert Publisher and URL: RealNetworks, claims it has “totally rewritten” RealPlayer. the file to a format compatible with your www.realnetworks.com In some ways, RealPlayer SP is the best portable media player, including most ETA: Q4 2009 version of RealPlayer yet. It still integrates smartphones and iPhone variants, option- Why You Should Care: Real takes a stab paid and free downloads of music, videos, ally depositing the video within iTunes at dethroning the dominant media players, and somewhat basic games through its own to facilitate the transfer. Even for older zigging where others zag. online store and still rips and burns music PalmOS devices, the videos look good. and (unprotected) video discs. RealPlay- On the other hand, many desirable features free. What you’re really paying for er SP, however, adds plug-ins to your goodies aren’t unlocked unless you pay is the convenience of not having to fire up a browsers (IE and Firefox for now, though $40, such as H.264 video transcoding, second program to do what you want. It’s a Google Chrome is an option during instal- high-speed CD burning, DVD burning, tough sell, but perhaps the ease of one-stop lation) to interact directly with many Flash- and a graphic equalizer. We understand shopping is worth the price. ▲ based streaming videos. Visit YouTube, for RealNetworks needs an income source, example, and a RealPlayer “Download This but the competition generally offers these by Warren Ernst

72 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com software | upgrades

Safari 4.02 With Apple claiming more than 11 million downloads in the first three days of its release, the Safari 4 browser clearly is finding its niche. The iterative update addresses stability issues in the Nitro Java Script engine in the first release. The Internet is king this month, as the update world is dominated by Mozilla’s There are also security patches that plug a hole in the WebKit sites that allowed and Apple’s new browsers, along with Microsoft’s updated Silverlight. To make cross-scripting attacks from malicious it all safer, Norton’s next-gen security software gets a public beta. Web sites. www.apple.com/safari Software Updates LimeWire 5.2.8 & 5.2.7 µTorrent 1.8.3, Build 15772 The popular file-sharing software issues two This is the most recent of several builds Adobe Lightroom 2.4 updates within a day of each other. 5.2.8 from June leading to a more stable ver- In addition to bug fixes for recent versions patches bug fixes, but 5.2.7 fixes a specific sion of the 1.8.3 version. Some of the last of the image organizer and editor, Adobe issue of LimeWire Store downloads not three builds include fixes to memory adds support for several digital cameras, being added to iTunes in Mac OS X. leaks in the main window and protocol including the Nikon D5000 and Canon www.limewire.com associations. Version 1.8.3 should also EOS 500D. apply the following fixes to handling of www.adobe.com Microsoft Silverlight 3 seeds: applying an alternate upload rate Microsoft has launched a new version of its when the seed is prescheduled, restarting Adobe Camera Raw 5.4 rival to Adobe Flash. Silverlight 3 lets devel- HTTP seeds after a pause, and HTTP The RAW image converter for Photo- opers add more out-of-browser experiences, seeds for multiple torrents. shop CS4 and Elements 7.0 adds support so Silverlight apps have more functionality www.utorrent.com for newer digital cameras, including the when offline. New IIS (Internet Informa- following: Canon EOS 500D, Nikon tion Services) Smooth Streaming adds Winamp 5.56 D5000, Olympus E-450, and Sony A380. 1080p HD video streaming capabilities. The media player that helped spark the www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/ A new SketchFlow workflow process allows MP3 revolution adds “Orgler” function- cameraraw.html faster prototyping (creating models to test ality that lets you track and share your an application’s UI or screen layout). own listening history. Winamp 5.56 CCleaner 2.21.940 www.microsoft.com/silverlight should be much friendlier with iTunes/ The system file cleaner adds support for iPod: There’s better syncing with iPods, the newest versions of a host of programs, Norton Internet Security 2010 Beta and now you can import your iTunes including Adobe Photoshop CS4, Illus- Norton puts its next-generation security Library. New language packs are avail- trator CS4, and Reader 9.0; OpenOffice suite online for public beta. This iteration able, too. 3.1; Nero 9; and AVG AntiVirus 8.0. promises superior performance and built- www.winamp.com Windows 7 operations are improved, in tools to further enhance a PC’s overall and 64-bit Registry cleaning should be speed with the new Norton Performance Driver Bay more accurate. System. A rebuilt security engine com- www.ccleaner.com bines zero-day detection of unknown mal- Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Series ware threats with profile-based detection 2.18.0013 Firefox 3.5 of known threats. For most of the X-Fi family of Creative The official release of the browser’s www.symantec.com audio cards, this set of drivers enables the promised upgrade delivers faster perfor- What U Hear feature. Both Dolby Digital mance, easier tab management through OpenOffice.org Portable 3.1 and DTS support have been restored for drag and drop, and a private browsing The popular, free Microsoft Office alter- cards that included those decoders in their mode that leaves no trace of your Web native gets squeezed into a USB flash drive Windows XP drivers. This set of drivers history. On the other end of the privacy so that your programs and files can be supports both Windows 7 and Vista. spectrum, you can turn on Location- used on any PC. Version 3.1 brings the support.creative.com Aware Browsing that tells sites where OOo Portable up-to-date with the most you are surfing from. recent upgrade to the core programs. by Steve Smith www.getfirefox.com portableapps.com

CPU / October 2009 73 reviews | software Web File Delivery Services Like FTP, But Without The Tears

et’s make no bones about it: As our wouldn’t mind seeing a space between the however, you can only send one file at a L file delivery needs continue to grow, words in these names from time to time. time. You can sign up for a free Lite ac- we must turn to the Internet for help. For the most part, we avoided services, count, which offers simple amenities: the Yes, we have baby servers in our homes, such as online file storage, that tack on file ability to send any file up to 100MB with FTP accounts, and file sharing between sharing and delivery as additional, rather 100 downloads per file and access to a computers—each option is great for some than primary, features. Most online backup Knowledge Base if you have questions. At things, but they all lack one desirable fea- services include some form of file sharing or this level, you can still only send one file ture or another. delivery options, but for this article, we’re at a time. Email services are handy for sending more interested in delivery services that The next bump up, the Pro plan, offers and receiving files, but they have caps on may also offer some amount of storage, be much more. The maximum file size in- the size of file attachments you can send. it permanent or temporary. creases to 2GB, with 500 downloads per Typically, 10MB or so is the limit. This The services we took a look at primarily file. Additionally, you get 2GB of online limitation is a pain for anyone who needs hang their hat on delivering large files to storage, the ability to send multiple files to send a video clip or audio file and sim- other people rather than acting as an online and folders, the ability to control the expir- ply can’t, in some cases even after refor- storage space that allows users to retrieve ation dates on sent files, and live chat or matting the file to a lower quality. files when they need them. Think of these email support in addition to Knowledge Historically, the alternative to emailing online file delivery services as being similar Base. You also get a dropbox, which is large attachments is using an FTP site, to FTP sites without the storage. essentially just a waiting room of sorts for but these, too, have their limitations. One all of the files people send you. Instead is the fact that you need to provide and YouSendIt of having to follow each download link maintain local storage for the site; another YouSendIt is a popular file delivery ser- separately, you can just visit your dropbox is that any type of online file transfer is vice, and with good reason. Although for and grab what you need, all from the only as effective as how well the person a fee YouSendIt offers more feature-heavy same place. on either side of the transfer understands options, anyone who needs to send a large The other available plans are designed the process. Ever try explaining to a file (up to 100MB) in a pinch can do so for use by companies rather than individ- grandparent who lives far away how use right from the Web site’s home page. uals and have more features than the Pro an FTP client to retrieve the video you All you have to do is enter the recipient’s or Lite plans. You can try any of the plans took of the family reunion? email address, your email address, and for free for 14 days. (Incidentally, this is Web file delivery services are a viable attach a file. Click Send It, and the task is our kind of free trial—no credit card re- alternative to both of the above means of complete. The recipient will receive an quired. Just sign up and enjoy.) transferring. For one thing, they take the email with a download link, and they can We were tempted to use our 14-day burden of administration off of your simply follow it to retrieve the file. The free trial testing out the Business Plus shoulders and put it on an Internet-based download link remains active for a week. plan instead of the Pro, but a closer file delivery service provider. This requires nothing from you mone- examination revealed that the options Yes, we DIY types are understandably tarily, nor do you even need an account; between the two differ little enough to hesitant to give another entity control over . . . well, anything, really. But for the sake of convenience and ease of use, consider using one of the services. The only annoying thing about this type of service is that their names are all mashups. We

YouSendIt Free (Lite); $9.99 (Pro) www.yousendit.com ● ● ● ●

CPU RANKING ● 0 = ABSOLUTELY WORTHLESS | ● ● ● 2.5 = ABSOLUTELY AVERAGE | ● ● ● ● ● 5 = ABSOLUTELY PERFECT

74 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com

reviews | software

YouLoad The other two available plans, Pro- $9.95 (Basic); fessional ($19.99 per month) and $19.95 (Professional) Enterprise ($29.99 per month) offer Load only slightly better features for the www.load.com money. The Professional plan offers ● ● ● 1GB file transfers, SSL encryption for your dropbox, 100 uploads and 150 downloads per month, and longer ac- for the Basic plan, which is cess to sent and received files. The En- $9.99 per month. The Basic terprise plan offers a 2GB limit on file plan offers middling features transfers, unlimited uploads, and 200 warrant the extra cost for an individual such as a 100MB file transfer size limit, no downloads per month. user. A business would want those extra SSL protection for your stored files online, Like YouSendIt, YouLoad does a good features, such as unlimited downloads and 50 uploads and 100 downloads per job of giving appropriate features to of a particular file and detailed tracking, month. On their own, the features are each plan. Both the Professional and and be willing to pay for them. Thus, decent and include reporting and tracking Enterprise plans also offer branding the Business Plus plan is appropriately tools, the ability to manage sent files and options for your dropbox, which allows named and aptly featured. Kudos to downloads, and SSL encryption for sent you to set up custom folders for other YouSendIt on that one. files, but for 10 bucks a month we expect a people to access. It’s an important option You can also use the Pay Per Use option little more horsepower. for businesses to have as they swap files in a pinch. It’s actually a lot like sending a physical package in that you pay a fee for “postage.” The difference, of course, is that Web File Sharing your “package” gets there faster and is digital. The fee for a one-time delivery of one close cousin of the be entirely private, but you • Syncs files between file up to 2GB is $8.99 and includes the A file delivery services can also make certain files PC, Mac, and mobile ability to track it. You can also spring for a described in this article are and folders public so that devices return receipt, password protection, and file storage and sharing other people can access • Share folders with certified delivery ($3.99 each). services. These are de- them. Here are a few such specified users YouSendIt Express is the desktop client signed less specifically for services to try out. for YouSendIt. It’s a free download and sending and receiving large Sugarsync promises to offer you a 25% increase in files and more for light to Wuala www.sugarsync.com upload speeds. In our tests, however, there moderate file storage with www.wuala.com • 2GB of free online was little difference in speed between a sharing capabilities. • 1GB of free online storage (upgradeable Web-based YouSendIt upload and one The idea is that you can storage with paid plans to from the desktop client. An upload with move some of your storage • Desktop client that 30GB, 60GB, 100GB, the client was 5:47 (minutes: seconds); to the cloud, which makes syncs with your online or 250GB) without the client, it was 6:03. Still, You- two things easier. One is account • Continuous real-time SendIt Express is a nice tool to have, as it the ability to transport your • Compatible with backup to cloud offers drag-and-drop functionality, the abil- files more easily than keep- Windows, Mac, and account ity to send folders, and extra options in- ing a flash drive in your Linux • Desktop client that cluding password protection and certified pocket all the time. (Ever • No file size restrictions syncs your files delivery conveniently on your desktop. had one go through the between your online wash? Or be gnawed on by DropBox account and any other Load YouLoad a puppy? We have.) www.getdropbox.com computers running the YouLoad is one of the services provid- The other computing /home client ed by Load, which also offers hosted activity these services • 2GB of free online • Syncs files between email, Web analytics, hosted DNS, and make simpler is sharing storage PC and Mac computers content management. It’s designed more certain files with other peo- • Desktop client that and iPhone, iPod touch, for businesses than individuals, but you ple. asically, you get a syncs your files Windows Mobile, and may find that it works for you. certain amount of online between your online BlackBerry devices We were disappointed to find that You- storage and in many cases account and any other • Share folders with Load offers no free trial. If you want to try a desktop client. You can computers running specified users the service, the best you can do is sign up configure your account to the client

CPU RANKING ● 0 = ABSOLUTELY WORTHLESS | ● ● ● 2.5 = ABSOLUTELY AVERAGE | ● ● ● ● ● 5 = ABSOLUTELY PERFECT

76 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com reviews | software with clients, though it’s not such an im- FileSend portant feature for individual users. You Free (Basic); don’t really need branding options to $8.95 (Premium) send a video to your brother-in-law. www.filesend.net One impressive feature of the Enterprise ● ● ● ● plan is that you can send visitors of your Web site to a YouLoad upload page and give them a custom URL from which to download files. The custom URL can downloads, download build on your site’s address—such as www acceleration, and no .[genericwebsitename].com/download1. download wait time. Overall, YouLoad has fairly low pricing Another nice perk is options, especially for its top-drawer that you can park your plans, with smart extras, but the core fea- files in the My Files tures are somewhat disappointing. to register for the free account first and dropbox, and they’ll never be deleted as then read the confirmation email carefully long as you maintain the account. (You FileSend to learn the other details. can still download your files for 60 days Like YouSendIt, FileSend lets you up- In the end, the Basic account includes after you terminate your account.) This is load and send a file right from its home some strong features, such as the afore- sort of a roundabout way to get online page. No account of any kind is required mentioned 300MB file size limit, the abil- storage capability, in that you can upload for these last-second or one-time file trans- ity to recover lost file links and manage a file, and instead of sending it, you can fers. You can send a file up to 120MB to uploaded files, and less download wait click the Files tab, and on that screen, as many as three email addresses, or you time. You can store up to 300MB of files you can create folders and move files. If can simply copy and paste the download in a dropbox on the Basic account, al- you click one of the files, it will take you link. Enter the email addresses, click Send though those files will be deleted 60 days to a download page. So, you can park up It, and away it goes. after their last download. some of your files online and download Creating an account requires that you You can upgrade to a Premium account them as you need them. enter a username and password, re-enter to get more features and a larger file transfer A knock on FileSend is that download the password, and provide an email address. size. Prices for a Premium account vary ac- speeds were slow compared to the oth- Click Register, and the process is complete. cording to what length of time you register er services. Whereas the other services One thing we found odd was that for. For example, you can get 30 days for downloaded the test file in about 90 sec- locating the list of features for the free $8.95, but if you pay for a year up-front, onds or less, it took FileSend 4:45 to account was an endeavor in link hunt- it’s only $49.95 for all 12 months. A Pre- complete the task. ing. In fact, at press time, there was no- mium account offers a file size limit of FileSend offers a Rewards program where on the Web site that listed any of 1GB, fewer advertisements than a Basic wherein you receive a point for each down- the features of the Basic account, other account, and support for uploading multi- load on your account. You can build up than the 300MB file size limit. You have ple files. You also get unlimited parallel points and exchange them for money off of the price of some services or, in some cases, cash. Granted, the first item you can cash Need For Transfer Speed in on requires 8,000 points (and therefore esting upload and download speeds is easy enough to do, but the results will vary 8,000 downloads), but it’s nice to know the possibility is there. T widely depending on various factors, including the time of day, the type of Internet connection being used, and even geographical location. Thus, your results may vary. We liked that FileSend is so simple. The Further, some sites throttle speeds depending on the type of account you have, so that Web site is relatively uncluttered save for issue was an unavoidable factor, as well. the occasional ad, and it’s easy to use. Con- We tested these services on the same machine with the same wired Ethernet connec- sidering the low price and high perfomance tion. All tests were conducted in mid-afternoon. Suffice it to say that each service was of its services, FileSend is an attractive tool. compared equitably to all the others. YouConvertIt Upload Download We used a stopwatch to clock the YouSendIt 6:03 0:48 upload and download speeds of a Although it’s still in beta, YouConvert- YouLoad 8:28 1:33 42.7MB video file. When appropriate, It’s Send File(s) tab is a sublimely simple FileSend 5:12 4:45 we also checked speeds when using a way to send large files online. There are YouConvertIt 6:13 1:03 desktop client. Results are reported in no plans to compare and no account to reg- SendThisFile 8:32 0:25 minutes:seconds. ▲ ister for. Just enter a recipient’s email

CPU RANKING ● 0 = ABSOLUTELY WORTHLESS | ● ● ● 2.5 = ABSOLUTELY AVERAGE | ● ● ● ● ● 5 = ABSOLUTELY PERFECT

CPU / October 2009 77 reviews | software

address, browse for and attach a file (or SendThisFile files), and click Send It. You can also opt to Free include your own email address to get a $4.95 (Starter); delivery notification, add a title, and add a $9.95 (Pro) message. The recipient will get an email www.sendthisfile.com with a download link, and they can retrieve ● ● ● ● the file at their earliest convenience. Yes, that sounds virtually identical to some other services described herein, but any given time, the the difference is that YouConvertIt’s E-Z only way to manage Web interface is not designed to entice your uploads is by you to use their service; it is their service, wrangling a pile of or part of it. Although it works well, emails—one for each YouConvertIt’s Web-based file-sharing upload. That can be a tedious task, so in to files for six days instead of three, and functionality is not necessarily the site’s that sense, YouConvertIt is woefully the option to set the maximum number bread and butter. There are four tabs on under-featured. of downloads per file. A downside is that the site: Convert Files(s), Convert Online The Web site’s interface is very clean you only get 500MB per month of files to Video, Send Files(s), and Convert Units. and easy to use. What YouConvertIt will transfer. The only differences between the With these other online tools, YouCon- look like after it’s through beta remains to Starter and Pro plans is that the Pro plan vertIt converts files from one format to be seen, but it looks promising. If you need gives you 10GB of file transfers per another, lets you download or convert on- better FTP-like file management, skip this month and files are available for eight line video, and even has a tab where you service for your file delivery needs. But days; it also costs twice as much. can convert various measurements, such as bookmark this site, as you’ll find its other The two top-tier plans are Business Plan U.S. dollars to English pounds. Hundreds features eminently useful either way. ($19.95 per month) and the Enterprise of file formats are supported, including var- Plan ($69.95) per month. Aside from ious types of productivity, audio, and video SendThisFile greater per-month transfers (25GB and files. All of this functionality is as simple to The strength of SendThisFile is that it 90GB, respectively) and more days the files use as YouSendIt’s Send Files function. For offers plans for virtually anyone and every- are available for download (10 and 14), example, to convert online video, you sim- one. That said, the features in the lesser they offer a host of additional features over ply enter a URL and click Download, or plans are somewhat weak. With a free plan, the Starter and Pro plans. These features enter an email address and a file format to your upload speed is slower than with a include ad-free and customizable FileBoxes, convert it to another format. paid account, any uploaded files will be emails, and file link retrievals. The Enter- Another aspect of YouConvertIt that deleted after three days, files can only be prise plan also offers stronger encryption makes it stand out from other Web file downloaded three times before being delet- (192-bit Triple-DES) and immensely more delivery services is that you can attach mul- ed, and you can only upload a file at a time. options for administrative flexibility. tiple files (up to five), up to a total of 1GB You get significantly more for a paid All the plans offer a FileBox, which is in size, right there on the home page. Thus, plan, including password protection for essentially an inbox where people can send even in its free and simple status, YouCon- files, secure file transfers, download no- files to you. With a Standard FileBox, you vertIt offers some strong features for send- tices, deletion notices, the ability to de- essentially get a short form visitors to your ing files online. lete a file after a user-specified number of Web site can fill out to send large files to The downside to YouConvertIt is that downloads, and the option to have a copy you; SendThisFile provides the code for it, there is no dropbox to store and manage sent to you as well as the recipient. You so it’s easy to add it to any Web page. files. If you have several files in the mix at can send up to five files at a time. Each plan also features a dropbox-type The Starter Plan is in- area called My Files, where you can keep expensive at $4.95 per track of the files you’ve been working with. month (or $49.95 per It’s not particularly useful for managing the year), and offers full- files in the sense that you can’t organize speed file transfers, access files into folders, but it does give all the information you could ever want about when files were uploaded and downloaded, YouConvertIt who received sent files, and more. ▲ Free www.youconvertit.com ● ● ● ● by Seth Colaner

CPU RANKING ● 0 = ABSOLUTELY WORTHLESS | ● ● ● 2.5 = ABSOLUTELY AVERAGE | ● ● ● ● ● 5 = ABSOLUTELY PERFECT

78 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com

loading zone Open Sores The (Other) Google Operating System

ecently, Google dropped a veritable R bombshell on the computing world when it announced that it will be developing a new operating system, Chrome OS. Such an announcement immediately generates questions about how it will compare to the two dominant operating systems, Windows and Mac OS X, and what the implications will be. The foremost question on most minds, of course, is whether Chrome OS will be a “Windows killer.”

What It Is, What It Isn’t Chrome OS is set to be released into the wild (on netbooks, at least) in the second half of 2010. Until then, or until betas start hitting the Web, all we have to go on is what Google tells us about this project; everything else is rampant speculation. So, what do we know? We know that Chrome OS will be built on a Linux kernel and that Google is eagerly recruiting the open-source community to participate in building the project. Also a matter of public record is the fact that Google sees Chrome OS as a fresh approach to operating systems by optimizing it for the Internet. Most of the tasks one will perform on Chrome OS will take place online. (The “Chrome” moniker, evoking Google’s Chrome Web simplicity, and security. The company Web browser on steroids, as many appli- browser, is certainly telling of the direction intends to keep it lightweight, capable of cations already run within Web browsers, Google is taking.) starting up and being ready to go in mere but ostensibly, Chrome OS will take this Characteristics that Google asserts seconds. By the description, it almost idea to the next level. Chrome OS will embody include speed, sounds as if it could be construed as a Google is also already working with hardware vendors, including Acer, Adobe, Asus, Freescale, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Android & Chrome OS? Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, and he astute observer no doubt has a major question at this point: Doesn’t Google Toshiba. An impressive cadre, indeed. T already have a Linux-based operating system in the works? Whatever it may be, Chrome OS is not Indeed it does—Android, and the two will overlap somewhat. Although Android is start- Windows or OS X. But it doesn’t claim to ing to appear on netbooks, its purpose is primarily for devices such as smartphones. For be; the intent of Chrome OS is not to cre- that matter, Android may find its way onto TVs, car navigational or entertainment systems, ate a better version of what conventional or any other low-power computing environment you can imagine, while Chrome OS will be wisdom says is an operating system. It’s developed to run on netbooks, notebooks, and desktops. ▲ going to be a different animal altogether.

80 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com loading zone

areas, and there’s no reason to think that it Unix, and Apple is essentially synonymous The Windows Killer? can’t continue its streak with Chrome OS. with “closed source.” Chrome OS will not be a Windows But what of the Mac factor? A discussion However, there are plenty in the open- killer—at least, not in the way one might of competing OSes isn’t complete without source community who see Chrome OS think. Windows and Mac OS X go toe- mentioning OS X. However, the reason as the most promising avenue for a suc- to-toe on consumer operating systems; this is a battle primarily between Microsoft cessful Linux-based venture since Ubuntu they serve essentially the same purposes and Google is that they’re not only compet- made a splash on netbooks. They have for users, and they’re found mostly on ing for market share, but also for space on cause for optimism for the same reasons the same types of computers (notebooks the same devices. Mac software exists on some are deeply suspicious of Chrome OS and desktops). Mac hardware, but Windows, Chrome OS, as an open-source project: Google is huge, Chrome OS is not playing the same and other Linux distros, such as Ubuntu, with virtually unlimited resources and a game. For the foreseeable future at least, are all vying for a presence on multiple ven- powerful brand name to throw behind it. you won’t be choosing between Windows dors’ hardware. or Chrome when buying a PC; potentially, Waiting you’ll run Chrome OS alongside Windows, Open-Source Reaction We’ll all have to wait until Chrome OS or possibly in a dual-boot configuration. A fascinating wrinkle in the story of is at least in beta shape before further com- In order for Chrome OS to kill Win- Chrome OS is that although it’s techni- mentary is warranted. For the time being, dows, the game has to change. This cally open-source, the open-source com- we know very little about how this new Web-optimized OS needs to be so su- munity as a whole may not fully support operating system will impact the market perb and indispensable that it alters the the project. and computing in general, and it’s any- fundamental way the vast majority of us After all, Google is a giant in the tech body’s guess as to how Google’s ongoing compute. Cloud computing, although industry, no longer a charming grassroots relationship with the open-source commu- it’s presently all the rage and certainly startup; consumers in every market have nity will impact the project. For that mat- offers many attractive amenities, has a learned to distrust The Man, and the ter, nobody knows if Chrome OS will long way to go before it even begins to open-source community is no exception. achieve success or if it will be a colossal, supplant local machines as our de facto Further, there is some speculation as to embarrassing failure. choice for computing. Chrome OS may how exactly Google is going to pull off What we can be assured of is that the push technology a step in that direction, relying on the open-source community to release of Chrome OS will be an impor- and it may take a bite out of Microsoft’s build Chrome OS while ultimately main- tant moment, and the effects of the pro- market share here and there, but it seems taining control of the project, especially as ject—good, bad, or both—will be felt on unlikely that it will supplant Windows it matures and hits the market. a large scale. ▲ anytime soon. Other concerns include whether Remember, Microsoft has been in the Chrome OS will be thoroughly open- by Seth Colaner operating system business for a very long source, or if it will end up licensing time, and whatever one may think about codecs and software Microsoft in general or Windows specifi- from third parties cally, every computer user has used a Mic- such as Microsoft, as rosoft operating system at some point. well as how Chrome Clash Of The Titans There’s a reason why XP and Vista are OS may negatively icrosoft and Google have been duking it out for years, so ubiquitous and why netbooks largely impact the adoption M and the emergence of Chrome OS is just another battle abandoned Linux-based OSes in favor of of existing Linux in the war, albeit potentially a deeply significant one. Though XP. There’s a reason why Windows 7 will desktop distributions. the two companies started on completely different footing— likely be everywhere soon, too. Perhaps open- one making the most ubiquitous software in history, one per- Yes, Chrome OS will be based on source apologists have fecting arguably the greatest Internet tool of all time—they Linux, which has also been around for reason to fear that have gone blow-for-blow on many fronts. ▲ quite a while, but there’s so much more their contributions to to an operating system than just the ker- such an endeavor may Google Microsoft nel. Just ask the makers of every other eventually be sub- Google (search engine) Bing Linux distro that have fought for space sumed into what will Google Docs Microsoft Office 2010 online in the consumer market. become a proprietary Google Chrome OS Windows 7 (and Vista and XP) All that being said, it would also be fool- (although potentially Android Windows Mobile hardy to count out Google. There’s a rea- free) operating sys- Gmail Hotmail son we all say “Google it” instead of “search tem. After all, Mac Google Talk Messenger engine it”; Google has succeeded in certain OS X is built on Chrome Internet Explorer

CPU / October 2009 81 caught in the web

Web Comics For Everyone Our Generation’s Funny Pages

sk a Web comics aficionado to represent a range of tastes and topics that name the “best” or the most make the back page of newspapers and A “popular” examples of the form even the comics shop racks look narrow. and you are likely to get an impatient The form has evolved far beyond simple lecture on the inherent diversity of “Dilbert” wannabes and gag strips. Josh the medium. Neufeld’s “A.D.: New Orleans After The “Any rational person will have their Deluge”, was visual news reporting of own answers,” says Gary Tyrrell, host of the effect of Hurricane Katrina on the the hub for comics creators Fleen.com. city’s residents. When Google released “Librarians line up twenty deep to throw its Chrome browser, legendary comics money at the guys that do ‘Unshelved’ artist and theorist Scott McCloud (www.unshelved.com), [a comic set in a received the commission to explain the library]. Grad students worship Jorge new software to users via an enormous Cham’s ‘PhD: Piled Higher & Deeper’ Web comic book. (www.phdcomics.com). There’s a lot of “I think as far as the scale, importance, terrific work out there.” and community of Web comics, I don’t Tyrell’s point is well taken and in fact think anyone can be disappointed in how fundamental to the phenomenon that is it has grown and how important it Web-based comics. Although the Comics continues to be,” says McCloud, who page of most newspapers may squeeze in devoted half of his bestselling book 20 syndicated and comic strips, the infi- “Reinventing Comics” to the possibilities nite pages and no-cost distribution mech- of online, graphic storytelling. When anism of the Web have allowed a very McCloud wrote the book in 2000, he different ecosystem to evolve. envisioned an emerging digital comics Web comics may be off the radar for a whole new generation of cartoonists, the aesthetic that included animation and many, but the numbers tell the tale. Web has become a viable starting point multimedia formats and nonlinear forms “Penny Arcade” (www.penny-arcade for a cross-platform comics career. of storytelling, what he calls an “infinite .com) claims to reach more than 2 million “They don’t see syndication as offering canvas.” Generally, he admits, this vision unique hits each month, according to co- anything they can’t do easier or better for has not yet come to pass. Most Web author Jerry Holkins (see sidebar), and themselves [online],” says Tyrrell. “And comics follow the one-panel or three- and the popular Web comic brand has its own you know what? They’re right.” four-panel gag conventions of newspapers annual Expo for tens of thousands of Literally thousands of strips now live and magazines. But he is encouraged by attendees. Other leading comics, such as online, each finding unique niche audi- the ways the Internet has transformed the “PvP” (www.pvponline.com) and “xkcd” ences that never would have been comics industry. (xkcd.com), can draw several thousand vis- available in print, where a handful of syn- “There is no question that distribution itors a month just to their home sites (up dication gatekeepers control the flow of is where the revolution went from 0 to to 80,000 and 800,000, respectively), creativity. The aforementioned ubiqui- 60,” he says. “There are no filters. You according to Web analytics firm Compete. tous, long-running “Penny Arcade” by have a much bigger freshman class thun- The Web comics phenomenon is be- Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins (see dering through the doors and a much ing felt in the print world. Nicholas sidebar), the wildly innovative “Pup Pon- more natural evolution of genres. People Gurewitch’s series “The Perry Bible ders The Heat Death Of The Universe” really forget how incredibly limited the Fellowship,” started as a college newspa- (www.drewweing.com/pup/13pup genres of comics were, at least in North per comic, became a Web hit, and then .html) by Drew Weing, the highly person- America, back in the early ’90s. There is turned into a hot seller on Amazon.com al “Mom’s Cancer” (www.momscan more of a biodiversity of ideas, of styles, when the book collection hit in 2007. For cer.com) by Brian Fies—Web comics of approaches, of voices.”

82 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com caught in the web

of merchandise sales, on-site advertising, But one of the distinguishing charac- Comics Culture Digitized and reselling original art to cobble together teristics of the Web comic is its unique Although there are thousands of a business. Although various strips have relationship to the audience. Being cre- comics on the Web, this is different from tried over the years to exact direct subscrip- ator-owned and living on a highly interac- “Web comics,” aficionados of the form tion payments from users online, the paid tive medium, the artists usually maintain insist. Companies such as Marvel and DC content model never took hold with a user a direct dialogue with their readers. and the newspaper syndicates have been base that is accustomed to free content and “It is a radically different kind trying to leverage the Web as another way usually consumes too many different of relationship with their audience,” to distribute and promote their print for comics to make any one subscription says McCloud. years. But Tyrrell and others argue that Web comics represent a different culture and business model. “Web comics are creator-owned, specifically intended to be published in electronic form (but may be collected in print at some later point), [and] may change size, shape, format, and art style rather than stay within strict boundaries,” he contends. Tyrrell estimates that literally hundreds of thousands of such comics have been produced over the years, but only a couple hundred have attracted serious business models and critical attention. The Web helped comics artists explore a range of genres that few newspaper comics syndicates The Web allows professional print comics ever considered publishing. Web comics portals and ratings hubs such as TopWebComics.com artists such as Karl Kerschl (“Teen Titans: help users discover everything from sci-fi epics to highly personal and real-life narratives. Year One,” “The Flash”) to have independent projects online, such as his tale of a Comics artist and theorist Scott McCloud was one of the early champions “dim-witted Yeti,” “The Abominable of Web comics as a new direction for graphical storytelling. Charles Christopher.” But the Web has also built for some appealing. Re- The popular strip xkcd, for instance, popular comics creators real sustainable portedly, the mak- has tens of thousands of posts to its site business models. “There are 10 people here, ers of “Ache- forums. Authors now make the rounds of all told,” says “Penny Arcade” co-creator wood” (achewood the comics conventions. Comics artists Jerry Holkins of the staff his decade-old .com), “xkcd”, “Girl Genius” (www.girl also leverage the community power of the comic now supports. Many other comics genius.com), “Ctrl+Alt+Del” (www.ctrlalt Internet to help one another and generate post irregularly and give up quickly. del-online.com), and numerous others new audiences. Collectives of artists, such Holkins says the secret of their suc- derive their makers’ primary income from as Dumbrella (www.dumbrella.com), cess is no secret, really. “We update a range of revenue streams. bring together groups of Web comics to when we say we are going to,” he says. Although some in the print industry offer common Web hosting, shared ecom- And they stuck around long enough to look down on Web comics creators as merce platforms, and cross-promotion. emerge from the clutter and the Web mere “T-shirt merchants,” Tyrell con- Because so many niche Web comics are booms and busts. “We showed up at a tends that the new business model emerg- available, word of mouth and Web comic very auspicious time.” And since its ing for the online comics industry isn’t portals such as the TopWebComics.com launch in late 1998, “Penny Arcade” has much different from those for traditional ranking engine and Webcomics.com become the model for subsequent Web syndicated strips. directory help match the right strips to the comics successes. “Charles Schulz didn’t get to buy his right audiences. “A very small number make a spectacu- own hockey arena from syndicating lar living, and others clearly are managing ‘Peanuts’ to 2,000 papers worldwide. He The Perfect Medium to pay the bills,” says McCloud. “There got it from putting Snoopy on everything In many ways, the Web comics phe- are real business models, but they are a lot from baby underwear to insurance nomenon is one of the best and long-lived of work.” company blimps.” More and more Web examples of how the Internet can funda- Tyrrell estimates that 60 to 75 Web comics are finding a home, and revenue mentally change a medium. Almost from comics actually support their creators. offline, in book reprints and tradi- the beginning of the Internet, and even Most self-publishers use a combination tional syndication. earlier, graphic artists seized upon digital

CPU / October 2009 83 caught in the web

platforms as fertile and new ground for they get from reading a good book or mechanisms for finding it [will develop]. comics and distribution. Widely credited watching a great movie. I don’t think Problems precede solutions, so first you as the first digital comic, the Colorado that is what the long-form side of need too much good stuff and then you Daily strip about college life “Where the [comics] has delivered as often. When find ways to find it all.” ▲ Buffalo Roam” by Hans Boordahl came there is a clear source of endlessly onto Usenet in 1992 in simple GIF form readable long-form stuff on the Web, by Steve Smith to find an audience. Others such as “Doctor Fun” and “NetBoy” were appearing on the Internet by 1993. Q&A with Tycho: From these earliest days, the promise of the Internet to generate a wider range Penny Arcade Talks Outside Of The Speech Balloon of comics—and audiences for them— became clear. In this, Web comics have With its wide syndication in books, newspapers, and even into a series of video games, been scouts on the forefront of the digital “Penny Arcade” is the most recognizable Web comic strip of all. Launched in 1998, the media “revolution” that many theorists strip is also among the longest-running series online. Co-creator Jerry Holkins (aka the envisioned a decade ago. Newspaper strip’s Tycho Brahe) tells us comics embodied a century of “mass what it is like to sit atop media.” In that model, economies of scale the world’s biggest Web allowed the cheap distribution of infor- comics empire. mation to everyone, but it required the centralized control of the medium and CPU: Do you two still do your the gateway. By lowering the barriers of own artwork and writing? entry for media production and allowing Holkins: We’re the only ones effortless distribution to anyone via the who work on the comic strip Internet, a content producer no longer itself, yes. That’s the part of needed a “mass” audience to make a liv- the job we like! We wouldn’t hire anybody to do it. ing but could assemble a dedicated group of readers to support an effort. CPU: What technical tools do you use to make the strips? More than 15 years after the appear- Holkins: The text itself is written wherever we are, on whatever I have available. Tool- ance of the first Web comics, literally wise, [co-creator Mike Krahulik] draws the strip using a vast Wacom tablet and the latest thousands of comics series abound on the Photoshop. Nothing special. He does it on a Mac, I guess, but that’s not especially novel Web. There are so many comics with for weirdo creative types like him. The process is so organic, essentially the result of our dedicated followings that aficionados like conversations. We’re essentially trying to please ourselves, to the exclusion of the greater McCloud and Tyrrell blanch at the very universe. idea of listing the “most popular” or “best” Web comics. “Blockbusters,” CPU: It seems that Penny Arcade comes closest to the traditional success model of “bestsellers,” and “Top 40” charts are the comics, syndicating and licensing into multiple platforms. Are you the exception that relics of a mass media age. proves the rule that most Web comics don’t get the recognition print comics have? If anything, the choices are so vast now Holkins: Even with the recognition we’ve garnered, our footprint is infinitely smaller that the key problem of post-mass culture than any Sunday comic, let alone a monster cultural foundry like a Dilbert or a Far Side. emerges: discoverability. How do you find It’s a matter of scale, and I’m careful to avoid anything approaching Web comics boost- the comics and artists that match your erism. The Internet is a transmission medium, and we’ve leveraged it—accidentally at sensibility and tastes? Sites such as first, and now with greater confidence. But that’s all it is, a way to get ideas from one Webcomics.com and TopWebComics.com place to another, and it is not host to some mystical power. are a start. But McCloud expects we will resolve the current “needle in the haystack CPU: Do you read other Web comics yourself? problem” with the other tools of discovery Holkins: Lots and lots, but I am partial to “Achewood” and “xkcd.” now germinating online, such as social media sharing and social networks. He still CPU: Looking back at the history of Web comics and their initial promise to proliferate new hopes that some of his original dreams of multimedia formats and audiences, are you disappointed at some of the paths not taken? richer, deeper, long-form digital comics will Holkins: I think you may be talking to the wrong dude. I just make my little JPEGs and come true online. upload them to the Internet. I’m not looking at the state of the medium cluckingly, shak- “I don’t think people often find that ing my head with sadness at its squalor. Unless someone is stabbing me with a knife, I kind of extreme visceral pleasure that don’t care what they are doing. And if they are stabbing me with knife, I ask them to stop.

84 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com

orwell.txt

ecently, one of many nightmare DRM scenarios reared its new device. This is incredibly convenient, but as recent events R ugly head; a bookseller released the George Orwell clas- have illustrated, that convenience comes at a cost. sics “Nineteen Eighty-Four” and “Animal Farm” to be sold by As “the cloud” becomes more pervasive, more and more of Amazon.com for use on its Kindle ebook reader. Amazon sold your data is stored in the cloud. The iPhone is a very controlled many copies of the books, only to find that they’d purchased system where applications are limited to those approved by a sin- stolen merchandise: The bookseller in question wasn’t actually gle corporate entity. Most of the earliest online music stores re- the legal copyright holder. When the true rights holder figured lied on DRM with restrictive and sometimes ridiculous limits out its books were being sold illicitly, on when and how you could use your it contacted Amazon. own content. You probably already can see where But what content is actually yours, this is going. The Kindle is a closed and what content are you just using? device. Amazon owns the operating The answers to this question aren’t as system. And when the dust settles, simple as they once were. Are you even though you have paid for the simply renting a copy of a book? books that it hosts, they have a kill When the second edition is released, switch that they were all too happy to should first edition owners get a free flip. Suddenly, anyone who had a update? And when the third edition copy of “Nineteen Eighty-Four” resid- rewrites a chapter, will historians be ing on his Kindle found in its place a able to see the contents of the first hole: Amazon had reached into the edition to see the effects of subse- devices owned by individuals and quent revision? deleted the ebook’s file. History was There’s more than a little irony in rewritten. We’ve always been at war the fact that the biggest case of DRM with Eurasia. run amok so far involves a novel like Amazon, of course, issued refunds “Nineteen Eighty-Four.” Most of us to affected users, but to me that’s not read this book as kids, and over time really the point. The point is a corpo- scary imagery of governments moni- ration reached into its customers’ toring and controlling the information devices and deleted content without flowing to the population in an effort permission. This is the problem with to control history only becomes increas- having a device where the hardware and Rob "CmdrTaco" Malda is the ingly real. software are controlled by a single entity. creator and director of the popular We can happily proclaim that America If you bought a printed book from News for Nerds Web site Slashdot.org. doesn’t have it as bad as Iran or China, Amazon that later turned out to have been He spends his time fiddling with where the government firewalls your illegally reproduced, would someone from electronic gizmos, wandering the ’Net, packets and monitors what you see and Amazon be able to walk to your home, watching anime, and trying to think hear. You shouldn’t kid yourself—the enter with their master key, and rummage of clever lies to put in his bio so that Internet is definitely being monitored by aorund in your bookshelves to find the he seems cooler than he actually is. your government—but in America, the book and take it back? Of course not. But government has been replaced by corpora- in a world of DRM, this is almost exactly tions that we don’t elect. Corporations what happened. that operate with one purpose: Maximize That’s not to say there aren’t substantial Shareholder Value. benefits to electronic distribution. If your On second thought, maybe that’s house burns down, Amazon will not send even worse. ▲ you a new copy of a paperback it shipped to you before the fire, but if your Kindle’s Contact me at [email protected] screen cracks and you need to have it replaced, you can freely download your ebook purchases and load them onto your

86 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com Games Digital Living Gear Movies At Your Music The entertainment world, at least where it pertains to technology, morphs, twists, turns, and fires so fast it’s hard to keep up. But that’s exactly why we love it. For the lowdown on the latest and most interesting releases in PC entertainment, consoles, DVDs, CDs, and just leisure and lifestyle stuff we (for Leisure the most part) love and recommend, read on. A udio V ideo Corner by Blaine A. Flamig DVD Elvis Presley—“From Elvis In Memphis: Legacy Edition” Byte The word in the late 1960s was that Elvis’ better days were behind him. With his leather-clad, senses-battering “Comeback Special” in 1968, he emphatically squashed such sentiment. On 10/6 the heels of that TV special, Elvis returned to Memphis to record. A wise move, as the tracks Anvil! The Story Of Anvil from those sessions resulted in several stellar albums, including 1969’s terrifically soulful, expert- Bones: The Complete ly executed “From Elvis In Memphis.” This two-disc edition contains all the tracks from those Fourth Season $13.99 sessions, including “Suspicious Minds,” “In The Ghetto,” “Kentucky Rain,” and even “Hey Jude.” Snow White And The American Sound Studios Bluesy, countrified, and deftly arranged, the “From Elvis In Memphis” sessions marked Elvis’ last Seven Dwarfs www.elvis.com hurrah recording-wise and perhaps his greatest musical achievement overall. Red Dwarf: Back to Earth Stargate Atlantis: The Bill Frisell—“Disfarmer” Complete Series Within American music circles, jazz/folk/roots guitarist Bill Frisell is considered royalty based Collection on a career of sustained excellence. On the thoroughly engrossing “Disfarmer,” Frisell displays Snatch (Blu-ray) exactly why his talent is so well thought of. Commissioned to serve as a soundtrack to the strik- ingly dour yet beautiful black-and-white Depression-era photos that Michael Disfarmer shot of 10/13 his fellow Heber Springs, Ark., residents, “Disfarmer’s” songs feel as if Frisell grew them straight Legend of the Seeker: The $11.99 from the earth. Oozing with authenticity, these instrumentals from Frisell and his Complete First Season Nonesuch Records crack band—including “That’s Alright, Mama,” “Lovesick Blues,” and “I Can’t Help Lovejoy: The Complete www.nonesuch.com/artists/bill-frisell It”—float weightlessly but carry mountains of substance. Ethereal yet anchored, Season Six “Disfarmer” is musical interpretation at its finest. Natural Born Killers (Unrated Director’s Cut) The Great Buck Howard You’d figure a guy whom Johnny Carson booked 61 times on “The Tonight Show” could get 10/20 some respect. Such isn’t the case for Buck Howard, a washed-up but still egomaniacal “mental- The L Word: The ist”—not magician; that’s a dirty word to Buck. Buck’s aim is to recapture fame and get booked Complete Series in Vegas, but only his half-packed audiences in Akron, Bakersfield, and the like care. What little It’s Garry Shandling’s we learn about Howard comes from the viewpoint of Troy (Colin Hanks), a law school drop- Show: Complete Series $19.99 out who becomes Buck’s road manager. As Howard, the always captivating John Willy Wonka & The Magnolia Home Entertainment Malkovich is gold. Cameos from Tom Hanks, Conan O’Brien, Jay Leno, and others Chocolate Factory (Blu-ray) www.greatbuckhowardmovie.com don’t hurt, either. The real treat, however, is the subtle life lessons writer/director UFC 100: Making History Sean McGinly’s script provides in a satirical approach that’s loving vs. cruel.

Watchmen 10/27 The Guardian: The First Vision—the key element missing from director Zack Synder’s “Watchmen.” Sad really, consid- Season ering the universally revered, 12-issue graphic novel source material. Snyder’s lukewarm inter- Battlestar Galactica: The pretation of “Watchmen’s” world of flawed vigilante superheroes is unattached viewing—like Plan safely turning pages in a photo album vs. experiencing history up-close with life-and-death consequences at stake. That said, Jackie Earle Haley’s emotionally grinding take on the fascinat- Life After People: The Series $29.98 ingly conflicted Rorschach and Billy Crudup’s spot-on turn as the god-like Dr. Manhattan go Warner Home Video far to combat Snyder’s blandness. A three-disc director’s cut does add 24 minutes to the the- Monty Python: Almost www.watchmen.com atrical cut, but there’s something to be said for saying more with less. The Truth

CPU / October 2009 87 No-Frills Fun — by Chris Trumble $19.99 (PC) • ESRB: (T)een • Tilted Mill Entertainment • www.tiltedmill.com/hinterland

he gameplay vs. graphics issue is of course building, smart use of your re- T largely a matter of taste, but even given sources (natural and human), the considerable popularity of retro gaming, in and occasionally a bit of luck. general, gamers tend to put a lot of stock in a You begin the game with only game’s graphics. As such, we should point out your house and one or two visitors right away that Hinterland: Orc Lords is not a milling about and must decide graphical tour de force; it’s not unfair to com- which of your visitors would be the pare the game with older stuff like Diablo II or biggest assets to your nascent com- casual-gamer fare such as Fate. It looks decent, munity; you are responsible for your and we love that your character displays the followers’ spiritual well-being and gear you equip, but even the much-maligned happiness in addition to their food supply and deplete your town’s resources, so success in graphics of World of Warcraft (for example) physical safety. You make visitors residents by Hinterland requires vigilance and some inge- are a significant step up by comparison. Which building them houses and/or farms, churches, nuity on your part. You won’t micromanage brings us to another interesting thing about or places of business, and when you make smart research and resources to the extent that you Hinterland: In a world where single-player- choices, you improve your town’s appeal, which must in games like Civilization, but you can’t only games are often pilloried in the press, makes future recruiting easier. (Each visitor has a focus entirely on combat, either; it’s a nearly Tilted Mill staunchly stuck to its game’s core list of standards that you must meet before they ideal blend of gameplay elements, especially strengths and elected not to bolt on some can become part of your town.) You make when combined with Hinterland’s relatively half-baked multiplayer mode just to appease money and win the fame you need to build quick games and immense replay value. The keepers of the status quo. your town through adventuring in the sur- class you choose at the outset affects nearly The result of these things and some very rounding countryside, on your own at first and every aspect of your path to victory, and each clever game design on Tilted Mill’s part is a later with a small contingent of your town’s resi- time you start a new game, Hinterland ran- fun, addictive game with a small footprint dents. Like you, they gain experience as they domly generates a fresh, new region, stocked that is simple to pick up but tough to mas- fight, leveling up or getting hurt (and sometimes with differing resources and monsters for you ter. You play as one of a number of charac- dying) in the process. The difference is that if to gather and hunt, respectively. ter types (knight, scoundrel, orc lord, etc.; you die, you are ported back to town and resur- In short, the game is manageable enough these are called “backgrounds” in the game) rected—you are only mostly dead—whereas a to play in short stints, is highly engrossing, and must secure an entire region in the follower that falls in combat is gone for good. and perhaps best of all, costs a mere $20 ($15 name of your king. Doing so entails a tad You can lose fame more easily than you if you know where to look). That’s what we of exploration, lots of combat, some town win it, and raids from surrounding areas can call a stimulus package. ▲

88 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com Free to $9.99 (PC) ESRB: Varies By Game GOG.com www.gog.com

A Service For Good Old PC Games — by Dr. Malaprop

ovies, music, artwork. These all reflect culture and can be revisited with bundled add-ons (wallpa- M with relative ease. For instance, you can easily watch films made pers, artwork, game guides, offi- decades ago, such as 1927’s “Metropolis” or 1982’s “Blade Runner,” to see how cial soundtracks, and more)— they influenced modern cinema. Music and photos are easy to find and enjoy. DRM-free and for a reasonable Revisiting classic games is much more difficult. Content is often tied price. The company is aware closely to source platforms. Sure, Xbox Live’s XBLA or Wii’s Virtual Con- that plenty of great classics sole make some retro games playable, but that doesn’t provide you access haven’t yet been added to its to the majority of videogaming’s library that’s splintered across long-lost catalogue but is working dili- hardware. Think of PC games such as Descent: Freespace or Fallout from gently to grow its library. Keep in mind that some publishers don’t like the the 1990s. You’re not going to walk into a store or even the official com- idea of making games available DRM-free, and signing deals with publish- pany site to purchase those games. Furthermore, many of these older ers is a time-consuming process, especially when they no longer exist. games don’t run on modern hardware. The service has been adding at least two games per week, so the library is GOG.com (currently in beta) is a new online service that takes a step in growing steadily beyond its 130 games as we went to press. GOG.com seems the right direction. Any of us can rattle off dozens of PC games that are no like it’s on track to be the ultimate place to find classic, long lost PC games, so longer playable on current hardware or legally available for purchase. GOG be sure to check it out. As for older computer games (Commodore 64, Sin- is working toward building a library of classic PC games for sale—often clair Spectrum, etc.), you’ll be stuck with emulation and abandonware sites. ▲

$59.99 (360, PS3); $39.99 (PC) ESRB: (T)een Codemasters www.overlordgame.com

When Dungeon Keeping Isn’t Enough — by Dr. Malaprop

hen Codemasters released fires. You gain control and unlock as a minion for brief spells, which W the original Overlord in the four types of minions over the we enjoyed. At the end of the day, 2007, it was lauded as a Pikmin- course of the game. You control Overlord II provides more varied style action-strategy game. The your minions through a combina- gameplay, keeping you more sequel is in the same vein as Bull- tion of puzzles and RTS-style action engaged as the game progresses. frog’s comedic, good-to-be-bad against the Glorious Empire (pat- Targeting gave us problems and Dungeon Keeper games from the terned after the Roman Empire). could be improved, but overall we late 1990s. Overlord II picks up Many shortcomings from the had a good time playing the bad years later with the son of the original are addressed. For exam- guy. Graphics are a visible step original Overlord. In the early lev- ple, you can now see a minimap as up from the original, and the els, you lead him through a prov- you play. The camera control is voice acting continues to ing ground (which doubles as a updated but causes conflicting charm. This is a no-brainer if training ground) to ensure his evil control issues when sweeping your you liked the original. ▲ is truly of legendary value. minions into place. We liked that As in the original game, you will minions can ride. For example, control the Overlord and his min- Browns mount wolves to make ions. Each minion type (Browns, them more effective at battering Reds, Greens, and Blues) has special through reinforced forces, and skills. For example, Reds are vulnera- Greens can mount spiders to ble in melee but can set and absorb climb walls. On occasion, you play

CPU / October 2009 89 I Ain’t ’Fraid No Ghost Sim-ply Irresistible —by Dr. Malaprop —by Dr. Malaprop

$49.99 (PC) • ESRB: (T)een $59.99 (360, PS3); $29.99 (PC); $39.99 (Wii) Electronic Arts • www.thesims3.com ESRB: (E)veryone • Atari Games www.ghostbustersgame.com he idea of having little computer people fascinated us from the n lieu of a film sequel to “Ghostbusters II,” you can think of this vid- T moment we first played Activision’s Little Computer People on I eogame as the third installment of the series. Writing comes courtesy the Commodore 64 in the mid-1980s. By fast-forwarding beyond the of Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, who also star in the game in likeness debut of The Sims in 2000 and its sequel four years later (with nu- and voice, along with Bill Murray and Ernie Hudson as the remaining merous expansion sets along the way), you’d find that our interest in two iconic Ghostbusters. You play as a rookie fifth member of the the game had waned. It was just too much reliving the trials and team. Sigourney Weaver does not return, but Alyssa Milano steps in tribulations of a fake person in your computer. as Venkman’s love interest, Dr. Selwyn. The Sims 3 surprised us, and we’ve found ourselves guiltily The story picks back up in 1991, a couple of years after “Ghost- sneaking back to spend more time with the game. There seems busters II,” in New York City. A supernatural shockwave leads to all to be a bit less content, but the game feels more focused. And manner of phantasms and monsters, requiring the services of the don’t fret—many (many) expansions are planned. Having a sin- Ghostbusters. The game pays ample fan service to the films, and gle town that’s easy to navigate with speedy load times makes you’ll don a proton pack and PKE meter as you set out on mis- getting around convenient, which leads to greater exploration. sions. All manner of fun technology will be introduced as you Configuring new characters is simple but feels limitless. The progress through the game. You’ll spend plenty of time new Trait system provides an easy and unique way to imbue wrestling and capturing ghosts with your proton stream and your characters with personality. There are numerous interface resuscitating your injured AI Ghostbusters. The game does not improvements, and the game makes it easy to play the way you offer much in the way of depth, but Ghostbusters want without force-feeding chores down your throat. meets our expectations and stays true Overall, The Sims 3 is a relaxing and enjoyable way to its legend. ▲ to pass time. If you’d given up on The Sims franchise because you didn’t want the responsibility of living an alternative virtual life, The Sims 3 may just change your mind. ▲

Hefting Iron In The Wild West —by Dr. Malaprop

his prequel to 2007’s Call of Juarez is an can use a lasso to jump to higher ground, and Timprovement. You opt to play as either fight stealthily with knives and arrows. How- Thomas or Ray McCall, two brothers fighting on ever, as Ray, you can be more brash, knocking the side of the Confederacy. A military decision down doors or wielding dynamite and a hand- puts their family farm in harm’s way, and they gun simultaneously. With these options, we desert to take care of business. Their action expected co-op campaign play, but disap- results in a commanding officer hunting them pointingly that’s only available in more lim- down, heading to Mexico in search of Aztec ited multiplayer capacity. We enjoyed the treasure, and bloody betrayal over money. classic Western narrative, but the overly Women, heavy irons, quicktime chases, horse- similar enemies and repetitious missions de- $59.99 (360, PS3); $49.99 (PC) back riding, gunfighting duels, and double-cross- tracted from the game. Still, Bound In Blood ESRB: (M)ature es abound—all of which keeps things interesting. brings satisfying variety to the genre and Ubisoft Each brother has his own pros and cons. led us to finishing the game in a hair under www.callofjuarez.com Play as Thomas and you have greater agility, 10 hours. ▲

90 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com

Kaypro II

raditionally, in European cultures, a woman brings to a mar- Nor is there any doubt that the Kaypro II was cutting-edge in its T riage a dowry. This can be financial wealth, lands, furniture, heyday, with a devoted following through hobby groups. The parent silverware, and jewelry, but in my wife’s case, it was simply a Kay- company was smart enough to set up a training regimen for its dealer- pro II. It wasn’t a dowry, either—just something she had from the ships, giving owners a feeling of both security in their computers and early 1980s through the mid-1990s, when it got lost in a move. an abiding interest in their concerns. This was only sensible, since the That’s too bad. I’m sure in a hundred years it will be worth close to original retail price, $1,795 (later dropped to $1,595), wasn’t the kind what she paid for it. of investment people made on easily disposable goods. Kay and his Lest you think I’m being unfair, I people realized that the personal comput- promise to dispense equal justice next er was a luxury item, and as such, provid- month to my own Radio Shack TRS- ed luxury support. 80 of roughly the same time period. Need more info to make you go out Though, at least, I had the sense to and invest? The Kaypro II came with a throw it out. My wife kept her CP/M whopping 64K memory, and both serial disk copies of old bundled Kaypro and parallel ports. It utilized a Zilog Z80 software, such as Perfect Calc, Perfect processor, with a system clock rate of Writer, and Perfect Files, through into 2.5MHz. There were 2K bytes of static the early years of this century, perhaps RAM for screen memory and a charac- hoping with an admirable but forlorn ter-generating ROM. Games were rather faith that the operating system would limited, though I do remember my wife come back into fashion. showing me its version of “Star Trek.” The Kaypro was produced by Non- As to its name: It was called the Linear Systems, a firm founded by Kaypro II because the Kaypro I was a Andrew Kay in 1952. Kay’s early claim demo unit. Or because the Apple II to fame was the invention of the digital was the bestseller back in the day. Or voltmeter, but by 1982, he presciently because a 2.0 version impresses people realized that the non-Apple personal as something that has all the 1.0 bugs computer market could sustain more removed. Each of these theories has than just the then-popular Osborne 1. been advanced, and all may have fig- The 9-inch green phosphor Kaypro II ured into the final choice. screen, with 80 columns and 24 lines, Kaypro and its computers ultimate- was easily superior to the Osborne 5-inch Barry Brenesal has written more ly died like the dinosaurs and civilized screen with 52 columns and 24 lines, and than 1,000 published articles and conversation because of an unwillingness this greatly hurt the latter system’s sales. reviews on electronic technology since to adapt to changing times. Kaypro lost The Kaypro also possessed a solid alu- 1987. His first personal computer many users before switching operating sys- minum case with a detachable keyboard was a Radio Shack TRS-80 model 100. tems and architecture in 1985, moving to that slotted onto its screen and a pair of It was last seen functioning MS-DOS compatibility with successive double-density 5.25-inch floppy disk drives as a boat anchor. releases of the Kaypro 16, PC, AT, 386, for sealed storage. At close to 30 pounds and 2000. This stumbling entry into the (and with a folded size of 8 x 18 x 15.5 PC market has been repeatedly blamed inches), promoting it as portable was for the company’s downfall. It continued stretching matters a bit. In fact, a contem- with diminishing revenues for several porary “Byte” review noted that “a ma- years, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy chine of this weight needs a comfortable in 1990, and chapter 7 in 1992. handle,” and comfort in a handle was Still, there remains to this day a small, de- something the unit didn’t provide. But voted following of Kaypro users. And there, contemporary users lugged it everywhere but for a moving loss, would be my wife. ▲ with the same enthusiasm shown by Olym- pic Bulgarian weightlifters for their train- Wax nostalgic with Barry at ing equipment. [email protected]

92 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com

tips & tricks

for the page itself. By default, Picasa puts your HTML code in the necessary tree of folders and subfolders within My Documents\Picasa HTML Exports\Page Title; you can change the location for easier retrieval. Click Next to go to the Web Template selection window where you can preview six default templates with various layouts and colors. Choose one and click Finish to generate the code and automatically launch the page. You can upload this code to your own Photo & Video Editing For Budget-Tightening Times Web site. For even greater design flexibility, some enterprising photo enthus- imes are tough, and budgets applying a gradient sky to a landscape, iasts have developed additional Picasa are tight. For many of us, this because the gradient will be applied in a HTML templates for you to try. The is no time to invest in high- level fashion and will look askew if the folks at The Future of Memories T end photo-editing software. main image is not squared. (www.futureofmemories.com) have creat- It’s time to make do with the free tools. Now go into the Effects tab and click ed much fancier templates than Google. As we move ever closer to the snapshot- Graduated Tint. Click the Pick Color Go to www.futureofmemories.com taking holiday season, let’s drill into a few area and move the eye dropper to just the /templates and look for the Download surprisingly advanced capabilities avail- right shade for your sky. For now, don’t Now link to download templates. You able from some of the most basic image- worry about it only filling half your image. will need to unzip the folder into your editing software. You might be surprised We’ll adjust positioning by the features that have migrated into next. Click when you have these familiar and free downloads. With a the right color. You want few no-cost tools, you may be able to put to match the intensity of off that expensive software purchase until the color in the sky to the after the economic rebound. color saturation of your When Google’s Picasa launched several foreground to make the years ago, it was the most rudimentary of skyline look natural, so image organizers and uploaders. With the don’t overdo the tint you release of Picasa 3.0 recently, however, we choose. In the photo itself, are getting some very fancy image- and locate and move the cross- even video-editing tools. hairs to just above the horizon, and this will give Blue Skies you that graduated sky Ever see those gorgeous azure skies in effect. Now, use the Feath- professional photographs? With a little er slider to adjust the The once rudimentary Picasa photo organizer has now become trick, you can get them, too. In most intensity of the grada- a surprisingly adept editor. Here, we straighten an image and cases, digital camera shots tend to “blow tion—nothing but blue add a gradient blue sky. out” the skies to an unappealing white. skies from now on. Picasa 3 users can mimic the Photoshop Program Files\Google\Picasa3\Web\ masters by very easily laying in a digitized HTML Photo Galleries Templates folder. gradient sky. The first thing you need to A little-known feature in Picasa is its Once you’ve unzipped the templates, do with a landscape, however, is level the ability to create Web photo galleries that repeat the process outlined above for horizon. Double-click your image in the can be uploaded to your Web site. In exporting images into HTML. You will Library to bring it into the editor. In the Picasa 3.0, simply create or highlight a see that the Template selection window is Basic Fixes tab, click Straighten. This folder or select the multiple files you want populated with more options. Each tem- superimposes a grid so you can move the to convert into a Web page gallery. In the plate also has a preview to explain the lay- slider to line your horizon up with one Folder menu, click Export As HTML out. And don’t forget that the templates of the reference lines. Click Apply Page. The next page lets you choose the from The Future of Memories are dona- when done. This is a critical first step to image sizes for your Web page and a title tionware. Give if you can.

94 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com tips & tricks

a folder of videos in the Library window pull stills into Movie Maker. For now, just Video Editing On The Cheap and use the Movie button in the bottom import one image. Now drag the image Curious Picasa users may already have launch bar. This puts you into the same three times into the Video layer of the sto- discovered the video slideshow maker Movie Maker interface you would use for ryboard on the bottom of the screen. You included in the program. But Picasa also animating stills. But in this case, you will will have three instances of the same has one of the fastest and easiest video find all of your video clips lined up in the image. Drag the Ease In effect onto the clip trimmers and YouTube uploaders storyboard on the bottom of the screen first instance of the image. Drag the Ease around. In Picasa, simply find the video where you can rearrange them, add title Out effect onto the second instance. If you clip in the Library or use the File/Import slides, captions, or soundtracks. This is click the Play button now, this combina- From menu command to find your clip. video editing, simple and super cheap. tion of effects will give you a zoom in and We have had good luck with Picasa recog- out animation on the same image. Now, nizing and editing WMV and MPEG for- Still Life Movie Making drag the Grayscale effect onto the first mats but mixed success with AVIs. For One of the coolest digital imaging slide. If you play the sequence now, your the quickest route to YouTube, double- tricks combines still pictures with video video will open with the image in black click your clip. storyboarding. Video slideshows let you and white and zoom out in full color. In the video screen, you can drag the control the timing of individual slides in Now, you can add different transitions start and stop blocks on the progress bar to a sequence, apply a range of effects or between the slides to add another layer of trim your video on the fly. But also look for transitions, and add soundtracks. The animation. Play with it on your own to the tiny icon below the progress bar for the process turns all of these stills into a find a host of creative slideshow effects. Captioning option. Click the button and video file. Google Picasa 3 will do this in Next time, we’ll drill deeper into free enter a caption, and the caption will appear a very basic way, but ambitious docu- photo and video editors, just in time for superimposed on your clip in the finished mentarians on a budget might prefer your camera’s holiday workout season. ▲ product. When done with trimming and Windows Vista’s Movie Maker that is captioning, clicking Create Movie will fin- included in Vista Home Premium and by Steve Smith ish your project; you can click the Upload Ultimate versions of the OS. Here is a To YouTube button to send it directly to quick trick that demonstrates some of the your account with title and tags. program’s potential. That was the quick way. For more in- Open Movie Maker and click Pictures volved multi-video presentations, highlight in the Tasks column to open the Import Evil Robot Theory Media Items window. This is where you Continues To Be Windows Tip Of The Month Advanced If you have persistently slow boot and shutdown times or you just can’t figure out which program has been making your hard drive thrash like a relentless coffee grinder, then Artificial intelligence and robotics are advanced users might want to try peering into the Event Viewer for some clues. Just type serious business. So serious, in fact, that Event Viewer in the Vista Start search box to bring the application to the surface. Once a number of leading minds in the field the program is open, drill down to Applications\Microsoft\Windows\Diagnostics gathered in a secret meeting (well, not Performance\Operational. In the middle pane, you will see a long scroll of Warning and so secret anymore, it seems) to discuss Error messages with precise timestamps. Highlighting one of these events will reveal the possibility of an AI over- details about the file or service that is causing performance degradation, such as excessive throwing its human disk access or delayed boot and shutdown times. The tool can’t tell you what to do about masters. These fears the problem, but it will help you identify the persistent aren’t without drags on your system. merit, either: The Registry Tip Of The Month military already Windows Vista has added an extra irritating step when opening the Display Settings win- uses unmanned dow from the desktop; now, we have to go through the Personalize window. You can drones to attack use the Registry to create a more direct right-click shortcut to Display Settings. Go to targets, and South HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shell and right-click to make a new key that Korea has intro- you name “Display Settings.” Double-click the Default Value for this new key in the right duced robotic bor- pane and input “Display Settings” as the Value data. Return to the Display Setting key in the der patrol guards left pane, right-click, and make a new key you name “command.” Double-click the Default capable of shooting their Value in that new key’s right pane and make the Value name “rundll32 shell32.dll, marks. As far as we Control_RunDLL DESK.CPL,@0,3.” The effect will be immediate. When you right-click the know, though, John desktop, you will see a direct context menu link to the Display Settings window. Connor is still safe.

Source: technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article6736130.ece

CPU / October 2009 95 tips & tricks

OSS in favor of ALSA. This caused the organization behind OSS to shift gears again and offer OSS in open source. This battle between two competing audio subsystems is one of the biggest causes that there is not a wider array of audio-related software.

Can You Hear Me Now? Certainly there are applications that help with sound manipulation on Linux, but very few of them are general- purpose graphical utilities. Most of the programs that deal with sound on Linux Mixing It Up With Linux are very niche-oriented, such as music notation editors, guitarist-specific utilities, MIDI sequencers, and file convert- s Linux gains in popularity, OSS was originally released as free ers. But if you’re looking for something there are two forces that software, and independent developers to dip your toe in for sound editing, contribute to its growing gravitated toward it and added drivers. that’s hard to find on Linux. In your A software base. One force is As it became more popular, the lead search for that general-purpose GUI that as Linux gets more followers, more developer chose to switch it from open sound editor, you’ll come across a lot of casual programmers become involved to closed source. This move alone abandoned projects. and contribute to projects that whet turned off many Linux developers who Thankfully, Audacity is not one of their appetites. The other force is that as believed it should remain open. To those. Even better is that Audacity more nonprogrammers adopt Linux, make matters worse, the development doesn’t limit itself with just basic fea- those users gravitate toward programs cycle of OSS was measured in years, not tures. It comes with some advanced that interest them. Audacity (audacity weeks or months; bugs with OSS would stuff, so it’s a great program for begin- .sourceforge.net) is an open-source, gener- not be fixed in a timeframe that most ners to moderately advanced Lin- al-purpose audio-editing program that is other developers wanted. Because of its ux audiophiles. curiously driven by both factors. It start- popularity, it was eventually merged By being an open-source application ed out life as a research project that with the Linux kernel itself. But because that lets you record and edit sound files, attracted casual programmers. But as it of its shift to closed source and slow Audacity comes with the standard suite evolved, more nonprogrammers jumped development response, an opening for a of basic sound manipulation tools, such on it and started contributing to it. different audio subsystem appeared. as adjusting the volume of sound files, It is one of the few general-purpose The ALSA (Advanced Linux Sound doing fade in/out effects, inserting sound-editing programs freely available Architecture) was created as a replace- silence, white noise, and so on. You can for Linux. ment to OSS. It’s designed to provide work with a number of different non- drivers and a common programming proprietary file formats, such as WAV The Sound War interface for programmers who want to and MP3. However, it can’t handle If it seems odd that Linux doesn’t add sound to their programs. It also has proprietary file formats—Apple AAC, have a host of audio-editing programs, features that didn’t exist when OSS was RealAudio, and Windows WMA files. part of the reason is due to Linux’s his- originally designed, such as hardware On the surface, file format support does tory. Because Linux traces its roots to mixing of multiple audio channels. The appear limited, but Audacity offers a Unix, most Unix systems didn’t have common programming interface is way around the problem. sound until very recently. Additionally, intended to abstract as much of the Most other sound-editing programs during the early developmental years of audio hardware from the developer as will let you record sound from any of Linux, there were a lot of proprietary possible. However, by supporting all the hardware devices, and Audacity’s no sound cards. As a result, it was difficult this disparate hardware and adding new different. However, Audacity also lets to create a unified audio subsystem for features, programming is a bit more you record the sound coming out of Linux to work with. One of the first complicated with ALSA. your speakers. If you do have a propri- attempts at creating a common envi- Eventually ALSA gained enough etary sound file, you can essentially ronment for programmers to code is popularity among programmers that, by use your speakers as a converter. For OSS (Open Sound System). 2002, the Linux kernel switched off example, if you wanted to work on a

96 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com

tips & tricks

RealAudio sound file, set Audacity to unlike those two competing record the playback and then play the standards, VST is available on Linux, RealAudio file. Audacity will capture Windows, and Mac. This gives you the sound that was played, and you can access to far more effects plug-ins than save it into a supported file format. either of the other sound technologies. But that’s the kind of stuff we expect There are literally hundreds of VST from most other basic sound-editing plug-ins available, and more are devel- programs. Audacity also has some more oped by communities of other sound- advanced tricks up its sleeve. editing programs. Be advised, however, that VST plug-ins are platform-specific, Do More With Audacity so you won’t be able to use a Windows With most other basic sound-editing VST plug-in on Linux. programs, you can usually only edit one VST plug-in support or two files at a time. But one of Au- with Audacity is done dacity’s more powerful features is that it with an Audacity plug- gives you the ability to work with multi- in, the VST Enabler. ple tracks within a project. This type of Although the VST En- ability is something usually reserved for abler does what it’s commercial grade audio-editing software. supposed to do, that is So if you have a lot of different support VST plug-ins, sound files you want to edit, Audacity is some plug-ins will look well-suited for the task. All you have to or behave differently do is import the files you want to work than expected. The ap- with into the same project. You can edit pearance issue is due to them all at once, one at a time, or any the VST Enabler pro- combination. You can insert silence viding generic controls into two tracks, apply a fade effect to instead of custom controls that the plug- You can split and mix multiple sound files three, or split a single track into multi- ins may call for. And some of the behav- separately with Audacity. ple pieces. However you want to slice ioral issues with a plug-in are due, quite and dice each track, or a group of simply, to bugs within the VST Enabler. tracks, it’s very easy with Audacity. To be sure, Audacity isn’t quite an Another powerful feature of Audaci- industrial-strength sound-editing pro- ty’s is in its effects library. Unlike some gram, but it’s well on its way. It has audio-editing programs that have their some features that rival audio-editing own effects library, Audacity gets its programs that cost several hundred dol- U.S. Military Takes effects from two different sources. One lars. It has a good foundation for source is the Nyquist programming lan- expandability with the Nyquist pro- Pain Laser To The Sky guage, which was developed for sound gramming language and existing VST OK, we’ll fess up: This addition to the synthesis and music composition. You plug-ins. And most casual users will Pentagon’s Active Denial System (see can use it to design instruments and probably never outgrow Audacity’s page 46 in the July 2007 issue of CPU for then have those instruments generate capabilities as they are right now. more information) isn’t a laser, per se. sound. You can write your own custom It should come as no surprise then that On the other hand, it certainly will “rain effects in Nyquist and have Audacity some audio vendors include Audacity pain from the sky,” as NewScientist interpret it directly. You can download with their products. The products points out. The nonlethal weapon plug-ins from others, or you can write Audacity is bundled with range from employs microwaves to heat skin to your own. professional audio equipment to con- painful levels without causing a burn. But Audacity isn’t just limited to a sumer sound cards. Some vendors even (That’s the idea, anyway.) But will ADS specialized programming language for its go so far as to customize Audacity for get off the ground? (If you’ll pardon the effects. It’s also capable of handling VST their specific use. pun.) The U.S. GAO (Government Ac- (Virtual Studio Technology) plug-ins. So even if you don’t use Linux for countability Office) indicated that ADS VST is a way of integrating synthesizer mixing sound files (and more), it’s hard is the lowest-rated of eight nonlethal and effects plug-ins with sound editors. to beat Audacity’s features and price. ▲ It competes directly against Microsoft’s weapons the military uses. DirectX and Apple’s Audio Units. But by John Jung Source: www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327185.600-microwave-weapon-will-rain-pain-from-the-sky.html

98 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com

Intel Loves Chrome & You’ve Got To Ask Why he buzz over Google’s Chrome OS when it was announced in not up to the promise of WiMAX broadband. If you’re in the T July mostly focused on how and when it might compete with middle of a mob all using iPhones, you might well experience a the mighty Microsoft on operating systems, but the likelihood is lot of contention. that, at least in the short term, it won’t. Earlier this year, AT&T announced it would upgrade its 3G I’ve written before about how Intel has been pushing the Linux- HSPA network to 7.2Mbps with 2011 being the date set for the based Moblin operating system for all it’s worth, so I took the time whole of the USA to benefit. The USA is lagging behind some to put a call in to a contact in Santa Clara to ask for Intel’s view on other regions; 7.2Mbps has been on offer in Europe for some the Google announcement. I made the time. I’ve used it for the last nine call not out of idle curiosity but because, months, and while it sounds like a among other connections, the chip dream, it’s not as good as it’s made out firm’s CEO Paul Otellini sits on the to be. If there’s contention or if you Google board. find yourself in a little leafy hollow, I wasn’t surprised to hear that not the speed drops down to very much only did Intel collaborate with Google less than this. That’s OK if you’re to help with the Chrome concept, but using Skype, but it plays havoc with the company is all behind it, too. There browsing or transferring other data are a number of reasons for this, and and email. It’s simply not consistent not just the bad blood between Intel enough to be of much use for a and Microsoft. Chrome netbook unless you’re in a Chrome, as Google made clear at the major population center where there’s announcement, will primarily be aimed plenty of bandwidth to take. at the netbook market and is browser- WiMAX is still relatively untested based, so it depends on an Internet con- apart from a few select sites, and it’s nection being omnipresent. Intel has its arriving far later than Intel originally fingers in the netbook concept in several intended or predicted. And right now, ways: The first is that the overwhelming few PCs or other devices will support it majority of netbooks use its low-cost natively and instead need add-in cards Atom microprocessor. The second is that or dongles to work at all. This will many telecoms around the world are change, though, and there are some practically giving away netbooks as part of solid implementations beginning to their service contracts. The third is that Intel Mike Magee is an industry veteran. appear around the world. Intel’s WiMAX is pushing the small form factor for all it’s He cut his teeth on ancient products plan seems to have legs—if not this year, worth, in a bid to beat off the ARMs and like the Dragon and the Japanese PC then next year, we suspect. Qualcomms of this world. A fourth reason platforms long before the IBM-PC won. All the ducks have to be in a row. There is that Intel still believes that WiMAX will He worked for a corporate reseller in has to be the right kind of support for be the true broadband of the future. the mid-’80s and saw the Compaq 386 WiMAX at the infrastructure level, net- The rather nebulous agreement Intel sandwich box and every GUI known books have to have built-in WiMAX made with Nokia just before the Google to humankind. Mike decided that the chipsets, and a slim OS is preferable to a Chrome announcement all forms part of the way to go was the Interweb around fat OS like Windows to keep the overall same pretty picture. Intel believes in conver- 1994 after editing PC mags in the late price of netbooks from rising. As we write gence big-time, and it wants to be there be- ’80s and ’90s. A co-founder of The this, a couple of market research compa- cause it will sell CPUs, it will sell chipsets, Register, Mike started the chip-driven nies estimate that netbook sales will dou- and it will sell WiMAX wireless kits. INQUIRER (www.theinquirer.net) in ble this year, and by the time you read Chrome will work with 3G, and it will 2001. He has contacts from top to this, Google thinks there will already be work with WiMAX and with Wi-Fi. The bottom in the business, spanning the Chrome-equipped netbooks. How will cost of 3G services is falling because the entire chain, who help him root out Microsoft react? ▲ operators realise that they have to go with interesting rumours and speculation. the flow. But the speed and reliability of Send rumours to “Mad Mike” Magee at 3G, despite enhancements made to it, is [email protected]

100 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com What’s Cooking Technically Speaking An Interview With Kaspersky’s Roel Schouwenberg

oel Schouwenberg is a senior antivirus researcher for Kaspersky R Lab Americas, where he has nearly a decade’s experience. He is also a part of Kaspersky’s Global Research and Analysis Team.

by Barry Brenesal

CPU: According to information on your Schouwenberg: I do believe that one Schouwenberg: Very competitive. company’s Web site, not only can people billion people have access to the Internet, Somebody may buy malicious code for, easily buy virus code on some Web but those figures aren’t necessarily useful. let’s say, $300, then turn around and sell it forums, but now they can actually lease There are people who have access to as elsewhere on the Web for nearly twice that. bots—the computers they control many as four machines, after all. through malware. CPU: Has there been, to your knowledge, CPU: It seems a bit sensationalist, much success from international organiza- Schouwenberg: That’s very true. The though, to claim that anywhere from 5 tions in closing down these people? underground for viruses now functions as an to 10% of the computers that are con- entire ecosystem. You have certain groups of nected to the Web at any given time are Schouwenberg: We know that some people who are busy writing malicious code, actually infected. successes have not been made public. We’ve and others who sell these. You have the ones also seen some publicized victories. There who try to infect as many computers as pos- Schouwenberg: I think 5 to 10% is a was an instance of a forum called Dark sible, and then those who put up parts of the reasonably good estimate, though some Market, a sort of get-together place for cyber botnets created in this way for rent. They put it higher, closer to 20%. But it is criminals and their customers, to arrange any advertise: “We have 5,000 machines avail- admittedly hard to quantify, and certainly services the latter were interested in. It was able, to do with as you wish. You can down- working for an anti-malware vendor I’d actually taken over by the FBI in an under- load other malicious software onto these rather not hype up the numbers. That cover operation. Last year they made quite a computers, get passwords, etc.” would be scaremongering. number of arrests, in the dozens. Another case, which I think may be a CPU: How many bots are we speaking CPU: How much are these leases go- bit ahead of its time, was when we of when we talk about the kind of control ing for? worked with the Dutch police. The lat- this malware provides to its leaseholders? ter shut down a botnet consisting of Schouwenberg: They follow the mar- 150,000 machines and arrested its Schouwenberg: I find it rather hard ket—to use the old expression, “as much owner. I do believe that in the future, if to speculate myself, but there are several as a fool is willing to pay.” We have seen we really do want to make the Internet respected figures who have done so about some cases of people paying thousands safer, law enforcement will play the pri- the number of infected machines at any of dollars to control 25,000 infected mary role. It will also have to work given time. Most of them agree that it’s in machines. But you can look around and together with the private sector in order the hundreds of millions of computers. get that usually for $500. Maybe $300, if to be particularly effective. you find a good deal. CPU: So if we were looking for some per- CPU: How is international law enforce- spective, how many computers are active CPU: So the marketplace for infected ment doing against cyber criminals, in on the Web, infected and otherwise? computers is pretty competitive? your opinion?

CPU / October 2009 101 What’s Cooking

Schouwenberg: Other anti-malware For example, in Japan, a malware author regularly to see if critical updates are available vendors are certainly doing as we do and was arrested last year. Why? Because in that for these applications. working around the world with law malware he used a cartoon graphic. This The second important thing is installing enforcement agencies. But at the allowed the authorities to arrest him for anti-malware software with a good firewall. moment, this is missing from key global copyright infringement. At the moment, The final thing is that you need to be care- organizations such as Interpol. It’s a really issuing malware in Japan is not illegal. ful. This isn’t easily quantifiable, but when big hurdle, because international coopera- you get an email saying, “Do you want to tion is difficult to get going with current CPU: The Japanese don’t have on the see this celebrity without any clothes on?” resources. And these criminals have got- books a law against the distribution of then it’s really highly unlikely that clicking ten very good at cutting down on the malicious code? on it means you’re going to see that image. amount of time necessary to switch bases I think that rather than believing whatever’s and relocate servers. Law enforcement Schouwenberg: They don’t, and that’s coming your way is legitimate by default, takes weeks to move on such cases. the case in a number of other countries, as we’re at a stage in the Internet’s evolution Catching small-time cyber criminals? In well. What we’ve seen is discussion in these where we need to consider whatever we many instances, it’s not that hard. They forums of where they may go next to be receive is malicious by default. Only when make mistakes, and they can be tracked hosted—to Panama, for example. The local we check with the source can we trust it. They follow the market—to use the old expression, “as much as a fool is willing to pay.”—Roel Schouwenberg

down. But the big-time criminals are laws don’t affect them. The FBI can come CPU: Was there ever a point where the much more professional. They cover up to them, if it wishes, but it has no jurisdic- Internet consisted of a lot of nice little much better. tion. There is nobody who can touch them houses with picket fences, and it was safe at the moment in such a situation. to go everywhere? CPU: Care to make an educated guess how many of these sites offering illegal CPU: I’m sure you’re asked this all the Schouwenberg: The Internet was cyber services are active? time, but given the level of sophistication built on trust, as it were. It was not built displayed by today’s malware, what steps with the idea of it being a warzone. A Schouwenberg: I think there are hun- can we as individuals or as owners of lot of the old protocols, how we com- dreds of these sites around the world. We small businesses do to lessen the risk of municate, were created with the idea in know of a couple of dozen of these inter- ending up as a tiny part of somebody’s mind of peace and quiet. Some of these national online marketplaces, but there are botnet leasing agreement? protocols are being improved and be- also plenty of regional ones—for example coming more resistant to attacks, but for in China, which is responsible for roughly Schouwenberg: There are a number of compatibility’s sake, it’s taking quite a 50% of the malware out there. pretty easy steps you can take. First, you long time. always need to make sure that your operat- CPU: Are the Chinese authorities not ing system is up-to-date, that you have all CPU: Do you think we will end up with being particularly helpful in efforts to crack the patches installed. Criminals these days a safer Internet? down on this kind of illegal behavior, or will exploit flaws in programming to install do they simply lack the resources, in your malware into a system. You could be visit- Schouwenberg: It’s going to be very opinion, to get a handle on the issue? ing your favorite news Web site which has challenging. One of the big problems of been compromised—and you’re now mak- the Web is that it is very, very easy to be Schouwenberg: The Chinese govern- ing a connection to a malicious server that anonymous. The obvious solution ment hasn’t been as proactive in trying to will try to exploit these vulnerabilities. So would be to make an Internet on which tackle this as, say, the U.S. The FBI made your computer may end up getting infect- anonymity is no longer possible, but cyber crimes one of its announced top ed simply by visiting a legitimate site. that’s something I’m not sure quite a lot three priorities a few years ago. On the It’s not just your OS you should update. of people would like to see. The majori- other hand, it took until 2009 for a U.S. It’s also third-party applications, such as ty of people would prefer an unsafe president to note that his country had a QuickTime, RealPlayer, and, most impor- Internet over one where they’ve lost big problem with malware and botnets. tantly, Adobe software. You should check most of their privacy. Legal systems around the world are in many cases not sophisticated enough to Subscribers can read bonus content with Roel Schouwenberg deal with the cyber world. ONLINE www.cpumag.com/cpuoct09/Schouwenberg

102 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com

What’s Cooking . . . by Anastasia Poland Under Development A Peek At What's Brewing In The Laboratory Virginia Tech’s RoMeLa Gives E-readers To A Big Hand To Robotics Research Bloom With Color

ou dig your e-reader. But why, ake a moment to review the intricacies eliminating [the need] for the complex control in this day and age, with all the of your hand. Consider your ability to of the individual joints.” Y T funds directed at electronics devel- pick up, move, squeeze, and throw things; One thing that is extremely important in opment, “they” haven’t released a type; strum; etc. The challenges of replicating development of a usable hand is “compli- full-color version, you’ll never know. the functionality of this delicate and compliance,” or what Hong describes as “the con- Turns out, “they”—Gamma Dy- cated appendage have been many, especially trollable amount of ‘squishiness.’” This namics’ Principal Scientist Jason because traditional robotic design includes “squishiness” determines a robot hand’s abili- Heikenfeld, Ph.D., with support from heavy and awkward electric motors and actu- ty to grasp lightly or clasp tightly as needed. the University of Cincinnati, Sun ators . . . until now. High-end robots use costly force control to Chemical, PolymerVision, the Na- Professor Dennis Hong is directing the team monitor compliance, but RAPHaEL simply tional Science Foundation, and the of researchers at Virginia Tech’s RoMeLa changes the air pressure. Air Force Research Laboratory—are (Robotics & Mechanisms Laboratory) that has Hong describes one of his team’s break- working on it. Heikenfeld (also an eschewed the traditional route and come up through moments with a bit of amusement. assistant professor of electrical engi- with an alternative for powering robotic hand “When we saw the performance of the early neering at UC) and team have created movements: compressed air. prototype, we all shouted ‘Aha!’ Immediately what they call Electrofluidic Display Hong explains the functionality of after that, the hoses popped out due to the Technology, or EFT. EFT utilizes RAPHaEL (Robotic Air-Powered Hand with pressure, and we all shouted, ‘Aww . . .’” tiny (about 300 microns) etched pix- Elastic Ligaments): “The dexterous robot hand As far as best uses for RAPHaEL go, Hong els with reservoirs filled with liquid uses a unique corrugated tube actuator devel- envisions “low-cost prosthetics, sign language pigment to create vibrantly colored oped at RoMeLa . . . to simplify the actuation displays, factory automation, or audioanima- electronic paper. [and] design and to lower the cost. When tronics for entertainment.” In short, the reflective display compressed air enters the corrugated tube, it There are no plans to mass-produce contains two slender layers of plastic; expands and moves the finger. When the air RAPHaEL anytime soon. “We want to publish one houses the pixels and reservoirs goes out, a “rubber band” (elastic ligament) our work for other robotisists to use and even- and the other a translucent electrode. pulls it back to its original position. To further tually benefit the [larger] society. Making The reservoirs are shaped such that simplify, all three joints of a single finger money is good, but we are just having too most of the pixel area (thus pigment) are actuated by one compressed air line, much fun now.” ▲ is hidden from view. When the electrode is activated, the pigment is drawn from the reservoir and distrib- Virginia Tech lends a hand to uted as a thin layer behind the view- robotics research in the form ing surface, mimicking the colorful of their dexterous RAPHaEL. display of traditional print media. Heikenfeld is excited that the technology surpasses any out there, especially in delivering “brightness, color saturation, and video speed,” according to a UC press release. Uses for the ultra-thin (less than 15 microns thick) EFD are many and varied. Beyond the e-readers, Heikenfeld and his team expect EFD to work handily in electronic windows, cell phones, foldable displays, and signs. ▲

104 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com

What’s Cooking . . . Under Development

High-End Medicine For Your Doc’s Pocket

ou live out in the boondocks and you raw form, this data may be saved in the The current cost for a probe is between Y love it. But your sister has a baby on memory of the phone or sent over the cell- $2,000 and $3,000, depending on the the way with pregnancy complications the ular network to anyone who has the same desired functionality. However, Zar and local doctor isn’t quite able to figure out software installed on their phone or a team are “looking at completely new with the tools he has at hand. Your dad has viewing application running on a standard designs that may be available for less than that heart condition that requires attention, laptop or desktop.” $500 in the next couple of years.” but monitoring it would mean an expen- Zar was responsible for developing the “The modified probes are available sive extended hospital stay more than probe’s software and drivers, while Richard today to developers who wish to integrate 100 miles away. Medical needs are more shifted necessary data acquisition hardware them into systems,” Zar says. “As a plat- than inconvenient. and associated electronics. They reduced form on a smartphone, there needs to be a When David Zar and William Richard power consumption 100mA, while the fair amount of customization to integrate of Washington University in St. Louis data rate had to be reduced to 12MBps the remote capabilities of the handsets to began working to upgrade an ultrasound (compared to 500mA and 480MBps, the cellular networks and back-end data- probe they developed five years ago, that respectively, on a notebook or desktop.) bases being used (if any).” ▲ sort of rural community was a perfect scenario to try their invention on. Well, that and developing countries, folks requiring at- home monitoring, and emergency medicine on the go, such as battlefields or patients being transported to the hospital. Originally designed to plug into a laptop’s USB port, it’s now compatible with a USB- enabled smartphone and small enough to slip into your pocket. Zar explains how the device works: “The probes are USB-based and communicate to the phone in a similar way to how a flash memory drive does. The software on the phone tells the probe when to start and stop sending data, and the software can also configure certain data acquisition parameters for the hardware inside the probe. “Raw data [is] sent from the probe to the phone, where the software then pro- duces an image based on that data, user- New mobile ultrasound probes developed by Washington University in St. Louis are specified contrast enhancement, and so on. USB-enabled and work with smartphones. (Credit: David Kilper/WUSTL Photo) Since the data sent to the phone [is] in a

“Real Virtuality” Delivers Sensory Delights

n a move to out-sci-fi sci-fi, a group of scientists from a host stimuli, but “Real Virtuality” plans to offer olfactory, gustatory, I of U.K. universities (York, Warwick, Bangor, Bradford, and and tactile stimulation, too. Alan Chalmers and his University of Brighton) have received funding from the EPSRC (Engineering Warwick team are still in the early development stages for the and Physical Sciences Research Council) to develop a project breakthrough technique that will incorporate a “predetermined called “Real Virtuality,” essentially a helmet, complete with smell recipe on demand,” says Howard, through a series of puffs of computing capabilities and electronics, that cocoons a user’s scent delivered through a tube under the nose. A device will stimu- noggin to present a multisensory virtual reality. late sensitive areas on the tongue and convey a sense of texture, What sets this project apart from other VR development is the such as crunchy or chewy. Tactile devices will vibrate the skin. team’s work incorporating all five senses into the apparatus, accord- Still more theoretical than ready-for-market, the researchers ing to David Howard, lead scientist and a professor at University are hoping that their “virtual cocoon” will eventually be helpful of York. Typical VR projects only supply visual and auditory in education, onsite job training, or even medical consults. ▲

106 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com Look For CPU At These LAN Parties Across The Nation—& Beyond!

08.13.09 09.25.09 11.14.09 QuakeCon - Dallas, TX FragFest - Utica, NY CapLAN - North Vancouver, BC, Canada www.quakecon.com stgc.yuku.com/topic/17 caplan-bc.com 08.14.09 09.26.09 LAN Lordz - Wichita, KS www.lanlordz.net Carolina Armageddon - North Carolina NCGC LAN Party - Grovetown, NH PNP LAN - Largo, FL www.carolinagaming.com www.electronicesthetics.com/LANParties.htm www.pnplan.com The HOLY LANs - Bristol, CT RIGG LAN - Maricopa, AZ Traverse City Fragfest 15 - Traverse City, MI www.forumjunkies.com 11.15.09 www.fragfest.cx 10.02.09 Whempy's LAN Party - Columbus, OH whempyslan.org 08.15.09 Brainerd Area PC Gamers - Brainerd, MN LANmine - Chicago, IL bapcg.org 11.20.09 www.lanmine.cc 10.03.09 Intel LAN Fest Infernal LAN - DuPont, WA Meno Falls LAN - Pewaukee, WI lanfest.intel.com E-Town LAN - Emporia, KS www.menolan.lastnightinmybody.com Super Gaming Center - Neptune Beach, FL www.etownlan.com NGC's LAN-A-GEDDON - Greenville, TX sgamingcenter.com LANManiac - Brea, CA www.networkgamingclub.com ZonaCon - Orlando, FL www.lanmaniac.com PNP LAN - Largo, FL www.seads.org/LANParty/lanparty.htm www.pnplan.com 10.09.09 11.21.09 Protocol 42 - West Jordan, UT The HOLY LANs - Bristol, CT JaniCon - Jacksonville, FL www.protocol42.com Network of Gamers - Janesville, WI www.seads.org/LANParty/janicon.htm www.networkofgamers.com NGC's LAN-A-GEDDON - Greenville, TX 08.20.09 UWL LAN Computer Science Club - La Crosse, WI Super Gaming Center - Neptune Beach, FL www.networkgamingclub.com www.uwlax.edu/csclub sgamingcenter.com 10.10.09 11.25.09 Krosswirz - Quincy, IL 08.22.09 LAN Lordz - Wichita, KS AsylumLAN - Evansville, IN www.krosswirz.net www.lanlordz.net www.asylumlan.com/legacy SUNYIT Gamers Club - Utica, NY E-Town LAN - Emporia, KS 10.17.09 stgc.yuku.com/topic/17 www.etownlan.com Arkansas LAN - Arkansas 11.28.09 The Geeks' LAN Party - Yellow Springs, OH www.arkansaslan.com KC Beatdown - Overland Park, KS geekslan.wikidot.com NGC's LAN-A-GEDDON - Greenville, TX www.kcbeatdown.com LAN Lordz - Wichita, KS www.networkgamingclub.com NCGC LAN Party - Grovetown, NH www.lanlordz.net TigerLAN - Hays, KS www.electronicesthetics.com/LANParties.htm Muncie Gamers - Muncie, IN www.tigerlan.org www.munciegamers.com 10.18.09 12.05.09 LANManiac - Brea, CA Whempy's LAN Party - Columbus, OH 08.28.09 www.lanmaniac.com LANsomnia - Miramichi, New Brunswick, Canada whempyslan.org PC-Gamers.net Frag-Fest - Fishersville, VA www.lansomnia.ca 10.20.09 www.pcgn.net 08.29.09 Super Gaming Center - Neptune Beach, FL PNP LAN - Largo, FL NCGC LAN Party - Groveton, NH sgamingcenter.com www.pnplan.com www.electronicesthetics.com/LANParties.htm 10.23.09 12.12.09 Overkill LAN Party - Tampa, FL LAN OC v5.0 - Ohio City, OH LAN Lordz - Wichita, KS www.overkill-lan.com lanoc.org www.lanlordz.net/index.php?page=home Protocol 42 - West Jordan, UT Maryland LAN Gamers - Greenbelt, MD www.protocol42.com www.marylandlangamers.net 12.20.09 Super Gaming Center - Neptune Beach, FL Necronomicon - St. Petersburg, FL 09.04.09 sgamingcenter.com Chibi-Pa LAN Party - West Palm Beach, FL www.seads.org/LANParty/lanparty.htm www.seads.org/LANParty/lanparty.htm R-Dot LAN - Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada 12.30.09 Penny Arcade Expo - Seattle, WA www.r-dot.org Krosswirz - Quincy, IL lanfest.intel.com Ubercon XII - Piscataway, NJ www.krosswirz.net 09.05.09 ubercon.com 01.02.10 Cold Fusion LAN - Mentor on the Lake, OH 10.24.09 LANManiac - Brea, CA www.coldfusionlc.com/cflan Carolina Armageddon - North Carolina www.lanmaniac.com LANManiac - Brea, CA www.carolinagaming.com 01.15.10 KC Beatdown - Overland Park, KS www.lanmaniac.com PDXLAN 15 - Portland, OR www.kcbeatdown.com PNP LAN - Largo, FL www.pdxlan.net www.pnplan.com Krosswirz - Quincy, IL www.krosswirz.net 01.16.10 09.11.09 Protocol 42 - West Jordan, UT Midwest LAN - Darien, WI The HOLY LANs - Bristol, CT www.protocol42.com www.midwestlan.com 09.12.09 10.30.09 01.17.10 KC Beatdown - Overland Park, KS The GXL 768 - Millville, NJ Whempy's LAN Party - Columbus, OH www.kcbeatdown.com www.thegxl.com whempyslan.org LANifesto LAN - Clanton, AL lanifesto.org 10.31.09 02.06.10 LAN Lordz - Wichita, KS NCGC LAN Party - Grovetown, NH Carolina Games Summit - North Carolina www.lanlordz.net www.electronicesthetics.com/LANParties.htm www.CarolinaGamesSummit.com Shadow Company Elite Tournament - Semmes, AL Peace, Love, and Rockets - Keller, TX LANManiac - Brea, CA www.wix.com/audiodell/SCE-TOURNAMENT www.peaceloveandrockets.org www.lanmaniac.com 09.18.09 11.06.09 03.01.10 Midwest LAN KC (PC Night) - North Kansas City, MO PDXLAN 14.5 - Portland, OR Madicon LAN Party - Harrisonburg, VA www.extremelankc.com www.pdxlan.net www.madicon.org 09.19.09 11.07.09 03.05.10 Cold Fusion LAN - Mentor on the Lake, OH LANManiac - Brea, CA Digital Overload - Providence, Rhode Island www.coldfusionlc.com/cflan www.lanmaniac.com www.digital-overload.com Krosswirz - Quincy, IL TechLAn - Montgomery, WV www.krosswirz.net www.lanville.org For our full list of upcoming events, NGC's LAN-A-GEDDON - Greenville, TX 11.13.09 visit the CPU LAN Yard page at www.networkgamingclub.com TusLAN - Tuscan, AZ 09.20.09 www.tuslan.net www.computerpoweruser.com/LanYard. Super Gaming Center - Neptune Beach, FL sgamingcenter.com Whempy's LAN Party - Columbus, OH whempyslan.org Would you like us to help promote your next LAN? Give us a call at 1.800.733.3809 or visit our LAN Yard site at www.computerpoweruser.com/LanYard to input your own information and see your LAN party name in our upcoming issues. We'll be glad to consider your event!

CPU / October 2009 107 Kevin Nowak’s Antec Twelve Hundred- Michael “Cincy” Meyer’s sweet watercooled gaming Brentt Graeb’s case mod contest-winning based mod muscled out the competi- rig was a bridesmaid at PDX 14, but finally became system, seen here in action at Desert Bash. tion at LAN Fest Colorado. a bride at LAN Fest Sacramento. Or something. Intel LAN Fest What We Did This Summer

e at CPU have been proud to and running an AMD Phenom 9950 mod contest included a repeat entry by W work with Intel this year in bring- Black Edition quad-core, overclocked Michael “Cincy” Meyer, who came ever ing case mod contests to many of the to 3.2GHz. so close to victory the previous weekend events in the LAN Fest event series We sent a contingent to Arizona on in Portland at PDXLAN 14. (See page across the country. The summer months June 13 and 14 for Intel LAN Fest Desert 48 for more info.) His unnamed rig was have been especially busy, as gamers Bash, which took place at the El Zaribah a watercooled monster with a Mini-ITX have flocked to several LANs to have a Shrine Auditorium in Phoenix. Organizers server nestled inside; the main system good time, in the process helping Intel (including local gaming clan LANCamp) ran an Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650 raise more than a quarter-million dollars battled a generator snafu for a while, but with 8GB of OCZ Reaper memory and for outstanding charities such as United pulled off a great event, packed with tour- a GeForce GTX 295. The gaming ser- Way, Child’s Play, and Shriners Hos- naments, prizes, food and drink, and of ver consisted of a Zotac GF9300-D-E pital for Children. course a case mod contest. Our friend mobo, 2GB of G.Skill RAM, an Intel On Saturday, May 23 through Sunday and modding guru Dewayne Carel from E8400 CPU, a Seagate 320GB hard May 24, we headed to The Ranch in pic- Modders-Inc.com graciously helped us drive, and a dedicated Silverstone 350W turesque Loveland, Colo., for Intel LAN out in judging the contest, and in the end power supply. Fest Colorado. This 34-hour frag-fest was Brentt Graeb’s watercooled rig with exter- Congratulations to all our LAN Fest a credit to its volunteer staff, who took nally mounted aluminum enclosures case mod contest winners! We’ll choose advantage of the excellent venue and put housing a RAID setup took top honors. an overall winner later this year, which together a first-rate LAN. We did a little In July, we attended Intel LAN Fest will be featured in our “Mad Reader gaming, chatted with some old friends, Sacramento 2009, held July 24 through Mod” article, so if you have a mod you’d and made some new ones, including our July 26 in a cafeteria at Intel’s Folsom like to show off to the world, check the mod contest winner, Kevin Nowak. His Campus. This event included a BYOC LAN Fest event schedule at lanfest.intel rig was built into an Antec Twelve Hun- and a console-only lounge, and seats sold .com, and maybe we’ll see you at the dred with all sorts of cool stuff bolted on out well in advance of the LAN. Our next LAN. ▲

108 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com

back door | q&a

Q&A With Dr. Mark Re Seagate’s Research VP Gets Spun Up Over Storage As Seagate’s senior vice president of research, Dr. Mark Re not only gets to see the technologies that will be holding our terabytes of personal data someday, but he’s also on the front lines of creating the technologies that will make that storage possible.

What are you working on challenges to get to that Q right now? theoretical limit.

All kinds of good stuff. One Do you have 3TB MR that we’ve been working on for Q and 5TB drives pret- quite awhile is called heat-assisted magnet- ty much in the closet, just waiting for At least in the time frame ic recording, or HAMR. The magnetic the market to catch up? MR we’re talking about. disk is made up of small grains of magnetic materials that are isolated from each other I would say we have a steady Is this a passion or a job? Why are with very thin layers of some sort of oxide. MR path where we’re doing evolu- Q you interested in storage? So today’s disk storage material is a cobalt- tionary development of the drives, scaling based alloy for the magnetic material with the current technology with obvious im- ’Cause it’s cool! Two surfaces some oxide around it. Today, these little provements in the architecture, electronic MR are flying over each other, basi- magnetic grains are about 10 nanometers channels, format efficiency, etc. We’re cally atomically smooth, spaced about 10 in diameter. As you make them smaller, trying to poke around and see when the nanometers apart. The coatings on there they have a tendency to become thermally next technology transition is going to are just a couple of nanometers thick. unstable, even at room temperature. If they come. Clearly, we’d like to take whatever That’s a chemical and mechanical marvel! got too small, the magnetization would the incumbent technology is and keep Within the recording head alone, there start slipping around randomly. So you using and scaling it. There’s probably a are three quantum mechanical effects at have to increase what is called the aniso- good three to four more generations of work. It’s just an amazing amount of tropy of the magnetic material—basically products we can make with what we’re technology in there. the stickiness, how hard it is to flip the doing today. Beyond that, we make 40 million or so grains. At some point, you get to a stage drives a quarter, so it’s extremely high vol- where the recording head can’t produce It seems like the biggest threat to ume at very low cost. To me, it’s kind of enough field to flip the grains. Q your business is cloud computing. the X Games of high technology. That’s where the heat-assisted part With cloud, we don’t need local storage. comes in. The idea is to incorporate a laser If you could pick one major break- into the drive and then use near-field op- Even in these clouds, there’s Q through that you want to be a part tics on the recording head. The media MR going to be huge amounts of, what would it be? Something you’re that’s heated is easier to switch. When it of storage. You’re still going to have to still working on that hasn’t happened yet? cools off, it goes back to a very stable state. store data somewhere, and hard drives, at least as far out as we can see, are the I’ve gone through quite a few Where are we with areal density? most cost-effective, reliable way to mas- MR technology transitions that Q sively store data. were pretty big. We always worry that the And I think there’s another human sky will fall and things will break on that The current state of the art aspect to this. We have a packrat gene. next technology transition. So I think . . . MR in shipping products is some- Cloud computing will certainly become a whatever we’re going to do beyond per- thing on the order of 300 to 400 gigabits part of the storage infrastructure, but I pendicular recording, being the first per square inch. And, theoretically, with still think people are going to want to company to implement that would be the materials we know, we could get to have something physical they can hold. something I’d be really proud of. ▲ something like 50 terabits per square inch. There’s a lot of runway, and So the death of Seagate’s retail divi- Subscribers can go to www.cpumag.com obviously there’s a lot of engineering Q sion has been greatly exaggerated? /cpuoct09/re for bonus content.

110 October 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com